Chapter One - A New Life

Evermore

Elswyth Forest.

Where am I?

I open my eyes again only to find myself standing in a vast, dark yet beautiful forest. Silver moonlight seeps through the tree branches, allowing me some light to take in a bit of my surroundings. Trees as big as mountains, a river so long there's simply no end to it, flowers of every shade hide themselves in the shadows of gigantic shrubs. But it was quiet, not a single chirp of a bird, or croak of a toad, just the soft whistle of wind in my ears. 

How did I end up here? The last thing I remember was lying in my bathtub, staring at my ceiling. And now I'm in some creepy looking forest? Was I successful? Did I die? Am I dead? But then how am I standing here? And where is here? Thoughts swirl in my head as I try to process everything. I turn my head left and right, looking up and down. I felt a sudden chill down my spine as another thought came to me. Am I in a dream?

I go to take a step only to stumble forwards. My eyes widen before I face plant into the muddy ground. I let out a small cry as pain spreads across my nose, and tears burn the corner of my eyes. No, not a dream. This feels too real to be a dream. 

I lift my head up from the ground, softly rubbing my nose to ease a bit of the pain when I pause. My nose feels small. Looking down at my hands I frown as I took in the tiny, yet chubby features. What the hell. My head suddenly aches, a pulsing pain starting from my forehead. Lifting my hand, I gently press the area that hurts, wincing at the stinging feeling before pulling my hand away. I stare at my small chubby hand, watching as dark red liquid drips from the tips of my fingers, sliding down my inner wrist, and leaving a trail of dark red streaks.

Blood? My blood? Slowly I manage to climb to my feet; which was also small and chubby looking. What is happening? I think to myself as I look around. My eyes spot the long river just a few feet away from me. Slowly I stumble towards it, my bare feet getting dirtied by the mud and tiny rocks stabbing the soles of my feet. Why is walking such a struggle? It's not like I'm learning to walk. Reaching the river I look at myself through the clear rippling water.

As the moonlight beams down softly, I stare at the distorted image of a young child, maybe around three years old. She has soft pastel green hair that barely reaches her shoulders and bright sapphire blue eyes. She has bruises and cuts covering her skin and wears nothing but a small white dress that stops just at her knees. The dress is stained with dirt and blood and is ripped in many places. Blood drops down the side of her face from a large wound just above her right ear.

I blink. The image of the child blinks. I open my mouth. The image repeats my movement. Is this me!? Gasping at the thought, I stagger backwards, the back of my heels hits a fallen tree branch causing me to stumble and hit the ground once more. Oh my god. Oh my god! I think as I grip my soft pastel pastel-green hair in confusion. 

What the hell happened? I was a teenager only a few moments ago. How is it possible to suddenly become an infant? I glance around the forest, my heart twists with fear and anxiety. Maybe I'm just dreaming, Yes that is it, just a very realistic dream. I didn't die and I'm in some sort of coma dream. I repeat, trying my best not to lose my mind. 

I suddenly felt this urge to cry, I try my best to fight the urge, but another jolt of pain spreads throughout my body and I no longer can fight it. Tears begin to fall and loud cries escape me, which soon turn into infant wails as my sobs of pain echo throughout the darkening forest.

Unknowingly, drawing in creatures and beasts.

The silver moonlight fades away, and the wind slowly picks up. But I remain sitting on the grown crying like an infant who isn't able to control her emotions yet. Confusion fills me as I try to come up with every possible reason as to what the hell is happening with me. 

A rustling sound catches my attention, breaking me from my clouded thoughts and I turn to look at some bushes nearby. The bushes shake and I can make out movement between the branches. My wailing slows down into sniffles as I hesitantly I climb to my feet, my body heavy as my eyes staying on the bushes. 

DING!

My eyes widen as a large translucent screen appears in front of me. It looks like the one I saw after dying. Only this one has a red hue instead of the blue hue. My eyes glance across the screen as words start appearing.

{MAIN QUEST ONE!}
{ESCAPE ELSWYTH FOREST PART ONE}
{Your cries attracted the attention of the monsters hidden inside Elswyth forest. You must escape them. If you are caught your life ends. You have 20 seconds before the monsters find your location!}

20...

19...

18...

17...

Loud howls and growls suddenly erupts all around me causing me to climb to my feet as fast as I could. My heart begins to beat faster as fear sets in. What is going on?! What is this? Main quest? Another howl fills the cold air causing goosebumps to form on my skin. The moonlight disapperas completely, coating me in darkness and the weak ability to see darker outlines of trees and bushes. Within seconds the once beautiful forest turns dark, giving off a deadly aura. 

Whatever those things are, they're getting closer. I glance around the forest that surrounds me, the suddnely feeling of needing to run fills me and before I could process another thought, I'm turning and running. Or I'm trying to run. My body feels heavy, and I could hardly run without stumbling a bit. Every step I take sends pain through my bruising feet.

My body aches too much, I've lost too much blood for a three-year-old's body. My breathing feels heavy and my vision blurs for a moment causing me to suddenly trip over something and hit my head against the ground again. The howls sound closer and I let more tears fall. Curling into a ball on the forest floor I close my eyes waiting for my life to end, once again. 

Suffering, even in a coma dream. I can't escape this pain, this fear burning inside me. I failed in my dreams just as much as I failed in life. If I let myself die in this dream, will I die in real life? 

DING!

I open my eyes at the familiar sound. Through my blurry vision, I can see the screen above me, this time the screen has a yellow hue to it.  

{HIDDEN OBJECTIVE!}
{THE BEJEWELED BEAST!}
{Some monsters appear scary, but some can benefit you in many ways. Find the creature with jewelled skin hidden in your area!}
{Rewards upon completion:
-1000XP
-A mystery reward}
   {Accept Quest}     {Do Not Accept}

I stare at the screen with teary eyes. What's this? Another quest? The howls and growls grew louder as the monsters or creatures-whatever they are, grew closer. The twenty seconds is no doubt over by now which means the monsters found me. 

Find the bejewelled beast? Is this really just a dream? I reach my small, chubby hand up but pause just before I push a button. No, I'll just sit here and let the monster, creatures-whatever they are, kill me. I'm tired of struggling to live. I want to die, I want to stay dead. 

I'm tired of it all. I'm tired of surviving. I want to break free from these chains. 

DING!

The sound wakes me from my death thoughts and I look up at the screen. 

{Accept Quest Selected}
{You've Accepted the hidden objective}
{Hidden Objective activated; THE BEJEWELED BEAST}