My mom…made a deal with her? Wait, first I need to get out of here, who knows what else in this place!

“Wait, before you tell me, let me leave the house. What if that thing comes back, I need to get out of here, please!”

“Sigh, if your that worried fine. Leave”

I’m suddenly back in the real world, I finally see the front door. It was right next to the living room I woke up in, the rhyming man must of hidden the door from my sight too. How is that possible. I run outside. Finally free, no more dying, no more murder. I’m safe.

Suddenly all I see is darkness again.

“There, now don’t say I never did you any favors. Back to the point, when your father snuck behind and struck you, while your siblings were distracting you, you fell immediatly. It was sad, I mean in terms of how weak you were, not even being able to stand after such a weak attack. You were so close to death. Your mother was crying. It was kind of funny, in a sad way. Long story short, in return for restoring you, I was promised something.”

My mother?? What if she’s in danger too. Maybe the rhyming man has her locked up…no, I won’t let him, it, whatever that thing is get to her, I have to find her now.

“My mother, where is she. Is she okay?”

“No clue, she was with you when your family murdered you. But she fled after she called me, asked me to save you. Your father and siblings looked pretty upset at her after that, and seeing as they were willing to murder you she probably made the right choice, running away. Besides, she would of known they couldn't really kill you from now on.”

If she’s telling the truth…. I’m so confused. But I need to find my mother, I can’t let the rhyming man get to her too. Dammit, I can’t remember anything about her either, where is she!

“Can you help me find her, please”

“I can assist in … small ways like I did with your transmuting, but I can’t just magically figure out where she is. But remember, in return for restoring you I was promised something.

Dammit, what if what she asks takes years to do, this could be the difference between finding my mom in time or...to late. I don’t have time for this.

“And what did she want me to do”

“….Be honourable. Help the needy, protect the weak. Be the living symbol of justice in this land. Kidding just kidding, I’ll tell you the truth. In return for saving you and murdering another, she offered to get me something.”

Murder….wait what

“my mom..wanted you to murder someone?”

“Not me silly, us, she knew I couldn’t directly kill anyone, that you would have to do it.”

What..this can’t be real, what kind of freakshow of a family did I have. There’s no way any of this is true.

“Hah, you look so confused. You don’t remember anymore but you are a soldier, or the you you used to be was. You’ve killed people before. Why do you think the rest of your family was so upset with you in the first place haha”

The rhyming man called me a soldier too, maybe I was one. But if I was a soldier would I have been so afraid back there? Maybe the dark lady’s damage changed something about me, not just my memories and transmuting, but something else too…

“I don’t think I’ve killed anyone before, just the thought of it is making me feel sick. And why would my mother want somebody…murdered?”

“Hmmm you certainly tried to kill your siblings when they cornered you. You were very different when I first saw you, compared to now. You seemed calm, composed, stern. Maybe I damaged, changed you more than I thought I would. And don’t worry about the why, that's the only way I'll help you find your mother, that's a good enough reason.”

That doesn’t sound like me at all. I can't remember anything, but I know I'm not the type of person to attack my own family. But right now I need to figure out what to do next. I was with my mother before I died, and if the rest of my family really tried to hurt me…maybe she’s in danger too. Its so hard to believe, the dark lady and rhyming man keep telling me my family murdered me, and now the dark lady is even saying I was ready to kill them….. there must be more to it then she’s telling me.

Plus I have to kill somebody for her, for my mother…. but who? Maybe its someone that I can deal with without killing, find some compromise to get her what she wants. There’s no way my mother even asked me to do this.

“Who is the man you want me to kill”

“Man? It’s a child silly”

Child?!?

“I can’t do that, I never would of let you save me if I knew that’s what you wanted, ask me to do something else!”

“I didn’t make any deal with you. I made one with your mother. And for that deal to be complete, you need to kill this child. So maybe you would never of agreed to these terms but your mother did, and if you want me to help you find her, you must do this for me. If you refuse, I’ll let you return to death, where you should be. Is that what you want, to die? Is that what you want for your mother, to lose her child?”

I froze again, I don’t even want to think about it.

“Please, just let me go. I can’t do anything useful, I don’t even remember anything about who I am, where I’m from. Just find someone else to help you, please”

“I wish I could. Every second there are countless people dying more powerful then you, who could do this task in seconds instead of…however long it will take you. But your mother offered to get me something so precious. Something only she could deliver me. So I need to make sure you do this, remember it's something your mother wanted you to do.”

Something only my mom could get her?

“What did my mom promise to give you?? Maybe I can get it to you myself! Please just let me go and find my mom, I’m begging you I can’t do what your asking me to do!”

“No, what’s done is done, now were in this together. Besides, you could never get me that….thing. But your mother knows how to, we just have to hold up our end of the bargain.”

Dammit. But if she leaves I die she said….I’ll have to figure something out later, for now I just have to make sure she thinks I’m willing to go through with it. I need her to find my mom.

“So once the kid…dies I’m free?”

“As soon as your mother returns that item, but it should be soon after the kid dies.”

“Why would my mom want this child..dead? Maybe she meant something else, maybe she mispoke”

“No it was quite clear, and hmmmm maybe for fun. For laughs. For money. For infamy. For any reason she wanted, it doesn’t matter why”

“And if I refuse?”

“HAH. You can’t even transmute on your own anymore, you have no memories, you're not even the s-.... Listen closely, without my aid, you could neve find your mother. She would never re-unite with her son. Refuse to do my task and I’ll say goodbye now, and a long with me you can say goodbye to your mother.”

She’s right… I’m helpless without her. I’ll find a way to get out of the kid killing later, I need her help to find my mother.

“Okay then lets go, where should I start looking for my mother”

“You mean the child. Your lucky, because they are both not too far from each other. I don’t know where exactly, but I know someone who might be able to point you in the right direction. Head to the hotel at the end of the street, in an old run down foyer you’ll see a man with thick dreads, green eyes, and tanned skin. He will tower over you. Go in, transmute and attack him”

Okay got it, thick dreads, green eyes, tanned skin, go in and… wait ATTACK HIM??

“Why the hell would I go and attack him. In a hotel lobby too? Are you insane, I’ll be arrested, or maybe he’ll kill me before the police arrives.”

“Your not intelligent enough to understand my machinations, so I won’t bother explaining why to you. And don’t worry, the hotel will be empty, its been shut down for years. Now no more discussion, head to the hotel, and attack that man with your transmutation”

The darkness disappears and I’m back in the real world again. What the hell is going on. I am about to walk into a closed down hotel and attack some random person.

I guess I have no choice, if I want to find my mother, and figure out what really happened between me and the rest of my family.

The street was somewhat lively. Woman in their fancy dresses, men in their suits and top hats. Horses and wagons galore. I see a lot of men who look like soldiers marching down the roads as well, is there something going on? I look down the street and see the desolate building that looks like it was once a hotel. I should probably rest before heading dow-

“NO REST, GO”

For a split second I was in the darkness, long enough to get the message. That was really unsettling. I'm kind of hungry, but I guess that can wait until I’m done getting beat up or killed by the mysterious tanned man relaxing in a closed down hotel. Why was he in there again?

I pass by some giant posters put up on business walls. “SUPPORT THE WAR EFFORT, DEFEND OUR BORDERS AS YOU WOULD DEFEND YOUR LIFE” A picture of a group of soldiers underneath a man in a very fancy uniform accompanies the text. The man looks quite old and ragged, like someone who has been through too much. He must be a king or general. I wonder who this country is fighting, I can’t remember, I was a soldier but can't even remember the war I was in???

There are some stalls around me, people selling all sorts of trinkets and foods. I’m so hungry, but no time to for that I guess. Wow, one of the booths seems to be holding some type of competition. “PICKUP SPOON, WIN SILVER”. I see a big burly man trying, his feet are planted hard into the ground and his back fully extended in the opposite direction, hes yanking as hard as he can, but the spoon won’t even budge…but the spoon looks normal? How could that be? Must be a trick or something, I don’t have time to spend on this, got to keep moving.

I reach the hotel. It’s definitely derelict, wooden boards nailed across most of the windows, cob webs covering the front door. I head inside. First thing I see is broken chairs and dusty tables. Ragged and torn carpeting underneath me. Seems like this place has been shut down for a while. I wonder if the old me ever visited this place. Wait, was that place I was in even my house?

I look around the foye, and then I see him. Sitting against the wall, feet crossed on the floor. He had long black dreads, tan skin, and although I was too far away to see his eyes I can only assume they were green too. This is it. Transmute, and attack. Even if he kills me I guess she’ll save me. Wait I just realized, am I immortal??? Can I really never die? There’s no way I won’t find my mom if that’s true, I can keep searching forever... I really need to keep the dark lady on my side, I need to keep her happy, until I find my mom.

I slowly walk towards the tan man. He notices me, and stares intently. I’m close enough to see his green eyes now. His skin is wrinkly, he’s an old man, at least double my age, or atleast double how old I look. He’s wearing loosely fitting robes, the robes are brown, or just covered in dust. He must be from somewhere far away, no one in the streets was dressed like this.

How did I transmute my hand last time? Ah yes, I focused on how afraid I was to die, how badly I wanted to live. But now my focus is something else. I need to keep the dark lady happy, keep doing what she asks, so she helps me find my mom, my family. Find out what the message I died over was. I need to do what she asks to find my mom. I need to keep repeating that to myself over and over.

I’m only a few feet away from him now, but he still hasn’t gotten up. He must think I’m coming to talk to him. I wish that was the reason. I’m more focused than the last time I had to do this.

I raise my fist, and point it at the man sitting on the floor. I focus on cutting him. I feel energy swelling up in my hand, and a split second later it goes black,,,,incredible. The mans eyes open wide. But he still doesn’t move.

I focus on cutting him, that’s all I’m thinking about. I stop walking forward. I’m about a foot away from him, last time that’s as far as my black lines could reach from me. They start appearing in the air. This time it looks like more of the lines are pointed the direction I want, but I can still see some of them on my legs and arms. Its okay, the dark lady will heal me.

This is it, I don’t want to kill him, but I can’t control my powers anymore than this. I can’t avoid his vital organs, the lines go mostly where they please. I’m amazed most of them are in his direction, I didn’t think I could even do that. I feel bad, but I have to do this. Last time it took about a second for the lines to cut, based on how long it took for me to enter the darkness after seeing them. Its about to happen.

The man inhales, and then blows some air in my direction, The air is cold, chills me to the bone. I… I think I’m passing ou-

....My eyes open, I'm on the floor. I yank my body up to my feet immediately. What happened? Did I die? No, I didn’t see the darkness, the dark lady. That must mean I was really just knocked out this time? I guess that’s a little bit of a relief. WAIT, the deal with the dark lady, she said I had to transmute and attack, dammit. Well I almost attacked him, its not my fault he knocked me before I could finish. How do I even talk to her without dying.

"Uhhh...lady, dark lady are you there"

I feel almost stupid talking to myself outloud.

“Shut up, you look insane talking to yourself. When I need to speak to you I will”

I see darkness, and her silhouette through it. I guess it worked?

“Listen, the man will explain how to find your mother”

Back in the real world, I notice I’m still in the hotel. It looks even more run down then I first noticed. There are broken glasses covering what looks like a bar, and there's mold on the ceilings. Wait, why would this man help me right after I attacked him??

“I felt a strange energy from you just now, did someone from the darkness just speak to you?”

I raise my head and see the old man speaking to me, still sitting exactly where he was before.

“..how … how did you know about the lady in the darkness”