Mysterious.

Prologue: Awakening

The morning sun escaped through the trees, shinning on the dark green forest bed. It hung just short of the center of the clear blue sky, awakening the city from their slumber. A gentle breeze played with the leaves, scrapping them together soft and gently. It smelled like morning dew and cool air.

The stream was still, all except the gentle currents from the restless Nymphs that lie beneath. The sun danced off the surface, sparkling like a thousand crystals.

A cat was curled up in the long green grass, his orange fur glowing majestically in the sun. He looked at me threw yellow eyes like glass marbles, gleaming mysteriously in the light.

A small grin stretched across my face. This was no he, let alone a cat. Those eyes, the one’s I’ve starred into countless times, could never be forgotten. When she saw my grin, she stood up to stretch. She extended her tiny paws out as far as they could, then arched her back to the sky. When she was finished, she opened her mouth as wide as it could and yawned sleepily.

“Good morning, Alectrona,” I greeted.

She slowly marched by my side, rubbing her cheek against my knee. Her whiskers brushed gently across my skin like straw. A low, throaty purr came out of her mouth as I scratched her soft fur. Her head leaned into my hand, forcing me to rub underneath her jaw. I continued to scratch her for what seemed like forever.

The leaves shook feverishly, swirling around dried pine needles and grass like a cyclone. Alectrona walked away slowly, placing herself in the middle of the whirlwind. I saw the orange fur start to retract and her body taking shape. The paws were spreading like roots, extending out into ten skinny fingers that were almost translucent. Her body began stretching and forming, filling in to her gracious posture. Her hair floated around her perfect heart shaped head, moving with the wind and the leaves. Her eyes were shut and her lips were sealed. There she was, floating above the ground like a spirit.

She seemed to really appear now, no longer resembling a spirit. She looked human; her hair as silky and white as a spider’s web, her eyes –now open- glowing bright emerald, her dress floating around her thin waist and her tiny arms open.

The wind stopped, resuming the gentle breeze it was once before.

“Ace,” She called.

“Good morning,” I repeated.

She smiled an eye glittering grin. “Good morning.”

She took a seat beside me, resting her back against an old tree and closing her eyes. She looked deep in thought, or maybe dreaming something pleasant. The smile was still resting upon her lips.

“Alectrona, will you tell me something?” I asked.

“Hm?” She replied drowsily. She turned her head toward me, but her eyes remained shut.

“What’s it like being immortal?” I asked curiously.

She chuckled softly, and then sighed. “Ah, dear Ace, it’s nothing you’ve ever imagined. It’s every women’s dream; frozen by the hands of time at thirty.”

I rested my back against a tree and closed my eyes, imaging what it’d be like to be immortal. I imagined watching the world evolving threw each stage, watching technology keep growing and growing…

A whisper tickled against my skin. “Wake up, Ace. It’s morning.”

“Alectrona?” I called, opening my eyes to emptiness.

“Wake up, Ace. It’s morning…” Her voice whispered, and then disappeared in the breeze.