Anya felt her throat tighten the minute she woke up. Her head felt like it was floating, her limbs felt heavy like lead. She vaguely noticed she was getting up and starting to walk out of Zeter’s room, somehow not stepping on any of the various knick knacks spread across the floor. She registered that the clock read 5:20 am. She continued on nevertheless. Anya picked out her jacket from the coat rack, checking that her bus card was still safely tucked away in the pocket. She pulled sneakers onto her bare feet, rolling up the legs of her plaid pyjama pants. The jacket went over the Fall Out Boy t-shirt she wore to bed, and so, she walked out of the house.

Anya didn’t quite know where she was going. She was aware of what was happening, but her head still felt strange and her limbs still felt the same way they did when she was laying down. She couldn’t control them at all, but despite this she was completely calm. She wanted to see where her body would take her mind.

The cold air hit her face as she stepped outside, making her stop for a moment to recollect herself before briskly walking to the bus station. She sat down on the bench, staring straight ahead, blinking only occasionally. The bus arrived about a minute later, with a drunk couple tumbling out of the middle door with loud laughter. Anya paid them no mind; the sounds of their cheers muffled in her ears. She paid and went to sit.

No one else was taking the bus. It was only Anya and the bus driver. Instead of looking out at the scenery or at her phone, Anya stared blankly ahead. She wasn’t even sure if she had brought her phone.

The bus driver would look back at Anya’s still body every time the bus hit one of the few red lights. There was clear concern in his face, but Anya still only stared ahead. She barely noticed herself press the button to stop the vehicle and get up to stand still at the door.

She did notice stepping out of the bus, and stare at the vast forest behind the bus stop. The full moon was shining bright, bigger than it ought to look, the trees stretching up towards the sky. It looked pitch black inside. After standing still for one more moment, Anya walked in. Past the tall trees, past the bushes, past the darkness. Anya was trapped inside her mind, not feeling anything happening outside. Only watching, silently, as her body moved towards the middle of the woods on it’s own. Her sneakers were getting dark from the wet ground beneath her feet, the tree branches were hitting her face. She moved forward.

She walked until the shack from yesterday came into view. There was a faint purple glow coming from every window, every crack in the wall and even under the building. This made Anya feel at peace, although she didn’t know why. With little effort she opened the door and walked right up the stairs, without giving any thought to the first floor whatsoever. She turned left, then right, through the room covered in the ashes of whatever it had been before. The round window showed a dark sea, deep blue and mysterious, reflecting the light from the stars and the moon above it. There was no movement, not even wind. Anya walked past that, opening the last door to the room where she had found the box addressed to her. But this time, she knew exactly why she was there. Or at least her body did.

The swirling light illuminated Anya’s body with purple, blue and green hues, going around in a slow pace as if someone was slowly stirring it. Anya removed her jacket and placed it on the desk, taking a moment to remove something from the pocket. She wasn’t sure what it was, or why it was important, or why she had it. It looked like a decently sized fire opal, and it felt faintly warm as Anya slipped it into her pant pocket. She turned to the light show in front of her, slipping her hand into it first. Her fingers felt tingly, as if they were regaining their sense of touch. Anya smiled, looked back at the room, and walked into the light.

---

All Anya’s senses came back to her and she immediately realized she was falling. She then hit the floor with a thump, probably bruising her knees in the process. She didn’t dare look up from the polished wooden floor, seeing blood drip from her chin and staining it. This wasn’t the shack anymore, evidenced by the distinct lack of ash on the floor. Her head was swimming and her throat felt tight, her chest heaving and trying to get as much oxygen as she could. She could move her legs and arms, but it took effort and felt choppy. Where was she?

“Anya? I- Anya it can’t be I- this has to be a vision it has to this doesn’t make sense-“

Anya whipped her head up to see a girl around her age in a fairly small room devoid of personality staring right at her with dark grey eyes. Her floofy brown bangs and chin-length hair covered most of her forehead and face and she looked like she had just woken up. Prominent dark circles stood out under her bright eyes. Anya felt her chest tighten. She felt like she should know this person, but she couldn’t put her finger on why or who this was supposed to be. Was it an elaborate dream?

“Anya, what colour are my eyes? Oh great, you aren’t answering, good that means this isn’t rea-“

“Dark grey. Your eyes are dark grey.” The girl stared at Anya in shock, and Anya stared back from where she was kneeling on the floor. She could feel blood slowly trickle down from her cheek and her feet felt cold. The girl in front of her whimpered as tears slowly started rolling down her face.

“Anya I… I thought you were dead.” The girl moved to the floor, a few meters away from Anya. Anya swallowed, feeling her chest constrict. Where did she know this person from?

“I’m sorry, you have to be confusing me with someone else, I have no idea what is going on.” Anya took a deep breath. “I have no idea who you are, I just want to get back home…” she whispered. The girl moved closer, tears openly still streaming down her tanned face.

“Do you have scar on your leg? That came from you playing around with an axe at your grandmother’s cottage when you were five?” She took Anya’s hand in hers, covering it with both of her hands and holding on for dear life. Anya nodded in response to the girl’s question. She let her hold on.

“Do you remember who was there? Try to visualise that moment, please, I need to know.” And Anya could easily visualise it. It had been only her and Zeter and… There was someone else. Someone who hadn’t been in her memories before. Was her mind playing tricks on her? She pushed that thought away. She had been trying to lift the axe, maybe to play some kind of warrior? Some legend her mother had told her. Her mother… Who had come to the scene alerted by Anya’s screams and the sobbing of her cousin. Which cousin? Anya asked herself. Didn’t she only have one? But it wasn’t Zeter who was crying.

Her mother, with her strange tattoos and bright red hair. Since when did she remember her mother? Hadn’t she died when Anya was born? Wasn’t that why her grandmother avoided the question every time it was asked? Her mother’s face seemed familiar, as if Anya had seen it recently. Another memory flashed before her eyes faster than she could process. The queen from her dreams, white eyes heavy with worry. Her mother had those same eyes.

She urgently focused back on the memory of a mother who by all means shouldn’t even have been alive. But here she was, in a flowery summer dress, comforting her daughter and her niece. Niece? Did that make sense? And Anya’s father was there too, blond and tall and comforting and so much like the king from her dreams and none of it made sense anymore. They were dead. Her parents were supposed to be dead. And yet she could feel the warmth of her mother’s hand on her leg, see the green light emerging from the fingers that were patching up her wound and hear her soothing voice. The last thing Anya registered before the memory faded away was a female voice saying “You’re alright, Anya. See, I fixed it.”

With a broken sob Anya came back to the present moment. She was still kneeling on the floor of this strange room, clutching her hands back and shaking. Anya slowly moved her hand to where the axe had hit her, to make sure she hadn’t been dreaming.

Because her parents had died when she was born.

Because they can’t have been there when she had injured herself that time.

Because she only had one cousin.

Because her parents couldn’t be the king and queen from her dreams, no matter what some strange stupid memory made it seem like.

What could she believe anymore?

“Do you remember?” Anya looked up at the girl. With a start she realized she knew who she was.

“You’re… Are you my cousin?” Anya was still shaking, her chest tightening with every syllable. It couldn’t be real. But the girl smiled and sobbed in joy, her hands tightening around Anya’s.

“Yes! Yes… oh I’m so glad you’re back, Anya, I had no idea what happened to you, Uncle Ben just took me away and- Why are you crying?” The girl’s, Anya’s cousin’s, hands moved to Anya’s face to hold it and wipe away tears with her thumbs.

“I don’t remember your name, I have no idea what’s happening or why this is happening and-“ Anya felt herself start to hyperventilate. Her cousin’s hand moved to Anya’s chest where her hands were clutched together, taking Anya’s hand to her own. Anya could feel the calm breaths and took the hint to copy them. Tears continued to fall, mixing with the blood from the scratches on her face. Anya looked up at the girl.

“My name is Cora,” she said with a wet smile, “and your name is Anya Heatherson. You’re my cousin.” Anya nodded.

“Your mother was the queen of this realm, your father the king. You were taken away to safety at the end of the attacks on Commonia. You broke a prophecy by not returning three years ago, when you were supposed to, and you’re the first one to do so. We were best friends, and we had a third friend called Moldav. When your dad came to get me and send you to your mother’s lab, we were playing with the miniatures your dad used to make and tell us not to play with.”

Anya remembered. And Anya listened. Soaked up every word her cousin gave her until she could feel her head start swimming. Cora seemed to notice, as the last thing Anya saw before passing out was a smile on Cora’s face.

---

Anya woke up in a strange bed, feeling worse than she had in a while. She seemed to have looked that way too, because she felt hands gently guide her to the edge of the bed where she could throw up into a bucket without much mess. She dry heaved a few times before wiping her mouth and collapsing onto the bed.

“How are you feeling?” She head Cora ask her.

“Like my whole life is a lie. And also kind of sick.” Anya heard Cora giggle. She liked that giggle. It was comforting. It meant that her family was safe.

“You’ll get used to it.” Cora started gently combing through Anya’s hair and braiding it. It felt nice. Anya sat up.

“Why are you here when I was… not?” Anya asked.

“I don’t know. Adults make weird decisions sometimes.”

“I wish they wouldn’t have made that decision.” Anya grabbed the braid from Cora, tying it with one of the hair ties from her wrist. They sat in silence.

“I thought I was insane, you know? I had these dreams, these memories and sometimes I was sure they were real and it pained me to hear doctors tell me it was just my imagination. To wake up at 5:20 am almost every single night and try to remember what those dreams were, to make even a little sense of them but they always left and I could never remember them properly and it was unfair.” Anya stared down at her clenched fists.

“If they didn’t send you away you could have died, Anya. Everything with you and about you was so unsure.” Cora carefully tried to comfort her.

“Then they should have let me stay and die with them. Maybe that would have been better.” Anya hissed out. She hated this. Why her?

Cora took Anya’s hands in hers again, to offer any kind of comfort at all. What was one supposed to do? What was one supposed to say? “But they didn’t, and now you’re here.” Cora decided on.

“And now I’m here.” Anya let her hands relax.

“All we can do is try to fix the problems left to us, whether we want to or not.”

“Are you saying there is more shit I need to know?” Anya looked at Cora quizzically. Cora laughed nervously.

“Yes, yes there is. But I don’t think you’re ready for all of that yet.” Anya felt her body sag with relief. No more life altering revelations today. “You had one of your mother’s crystals in your pocket, and I was able to create a portal back to your home.” Anya looked behind her in this strange chamber, and sure enough, in there glowed the same swirling purples blues and greens as in the shack.

“What about you?” Anya asked Cora.

“I’ll stay here and wait for you to come back.” Cora helped Anya stand up, handing her the warm orange crystal in the process. Anya pocketed it immediately. “When you’re ready for more, come back. I’m sure you’ll find a way.”

Anya didn’t have the effort to question what Cora meant. She nodded and dragged Cora into a tight hug. After a second of shock, Cora hugged her back. They held each other tightly, knowing that the universe, or fate, or time didn’t care how long they stayed. It had already been broken, and they were making their own. Anya buried her face in Cora’s shoulder, giving her one last tight hug before letting go.

“I’ll be back. I promise.” Anya said.

She walked towards to lights, giving her newly discovered cousin a quick wave before stepping through the lightshow. The last she saw was her cousin smiling bright and waving back.

She knew in that moment that it didn’t matter what fate said, because they were already making their own.