...
Marcus suddenly opened his eyes and saw the blue sky above. With its beautiful azure, and the seemingly carefree clouds floating without care.
How?
Seeing the state of the sky and the peaceful atmosphere, Marcus somewhat thought that the sky is strange, it seems so natural yet also seems unnatural at the same time. That it was not supposed to be like that, that it wasn't supposed to be beautiful. It's like there is some kind of subconscious force making him think that the sky isn't supposed to be looking like what he is seeing right now.
Strange…
Suddenly a flash of thought came to him. That he was supposed to be in a chaotic place of some kind with a different sky, doing something of importance.
What place was it again? and what was I doing?
Marcus tried to remember his recent memory but finds himself unable to remember no matter how much he tries to do so. Finding himself confused, he was getting somewhat anxious as he then subconsciously moves his hand onto his chest.
Finding himself touching his bare chest for no reason, his thought moved on to the hand on his chest.
Not minding that he is currently naked, there is another unexplainable feeling, that there was supposed to be something there on his chest.
Something...
There was supposed to be something there, cause just the emptiness he felt on his hand is making him several times more anxious than any kind of confusion he has earlier.
Anxious about the missing item, he tried to remember what it was and suddenly finds himself thinking that it was supposed to be something that was familiar to him, something that used to be with him almost like a part of his body. And right now, without it, he finds himself feeling unsettled that a part of his body was gone. It was not even just a matter of memory anymore it was like a matter of instinct.
Knowing that it was very important, he was afraid that if he doesn't remember it right now then he would forget the familiar feeling. Never giving up and trying hard to remember what it was, the familiar feeling was getting stronger. Something was forming on his mind like it was suddenly there but after a blink, it was suddenly gone again.
Weird as it was, he tried and tried again in recalling said item, and as the familiarity grows, an image suddenly started forming on his mind, but still, he couldn't figure out what it was. However, noticing the improvement, he was getting confident and continued trying to recall it. And little by little, the image suddenly became clearer and clearer. And then, after a time, he recognizes what it was.
It was a necklace. It was a familiar old-looking necklace with an unknown dark gemstone. And the reason for the familiarity was something that of course...
And like the unsealing of a clogged vessel, a bunch of memories suddenly came to his mind like the breaking of a dam on an overflowing river.
And then... it came.
"AGhhhhhH!!!"
It was a brutal headache and words were far from enough in describing it. But if he would try to describe it, then It was like getting stab straight into the brain by a scalding giant fork and then twisting it like spaghetti.
"AGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Moments after, the pain continued to worsen becoming almost ten times than before. The pain is too brutal. But brutal as it was, he never fainted.
...
Marcus is breathing roughly and exhausted, feeling feverish and numbed, dirty and naked on the ground like a victim of a sexual assault.
His eyes turned around to check the surroundings.
Looking on his right side, he saw some kind of an old-looking stone table where he was probably laying earlier when he was regaining his memories.
It seemed that he rolled and has fallen earlier when he was moving crazily after being attack by a perverted headache.
Because of the crazy movements, other parts of his body are aching too.
Right now, he could still feel his mind burning, but still, it doesn't stop him from checking the surroundings now that the pain somewhat settled down a little.
His earlier shouting could attract any kind of living being nearby, trouble or help, no one would know, and he would always prefer thinking of the former just to be safe.
Looking around, the place seems like ruins of an ancient civilization.
The floor made of marble at the center where the stone table was, seems intact albeit there are some cracks here and there with green grasses growing. And as you look further away, the floor's destruction would be seen clearer and the debris of ancient buildings could be seen here and there. Like broken pillars and walls. Broken statues and other hard to identify wreckage.
He could only imagine how magnificent could this place be long ago.
As you look further and further the ruins, you could see which are trees, and the further they are, the denser they get putting up the thought that the ruins are inside a forest, based on the current information, he could exclude some of the places that he knows.
But as he tries to search on further in his memories to try to pick off what and where, he suddenly finds himself unable to remember many things.
Like the names of places, countries, and etc... A large part of his memories is missing.
"F*ck"
A sense of loss and helplessness attack his very being as he couldn't help but put his palm on his forehead. He always thought that memories and experience distinguished a person's personality. With many of its missing, he felt that he is somewhat incomplete.
He suddenly finds himself touching his bare chest again trying to reach for an item. And the emptiness made him depressed even further.
"Right! the necklace is gone... Sh*t!"
"D*mn hell"
"F*ck"
The necklace was a memento from his mother, and she said that it was a magical necklace.
And though at first, he had his doubts, it turned out that it really did in fact have something magical. And because of it, it doesn't just serve as a thing that would remind him of his mother but it is also something that he had for survival.
The necklace saved his life many times before.
It was a necklace that could detect dangerous and malicious intentions against him, be it predatorial intent of nearby predators or malicious intent from fellow humans, it would detect them all. And because of it, he survived many dangerous situations before.
If it had any weakness then it would be that it couldn't detect natural disasters and accidents that could be fatal to him. And because of that, being around a clumsy shooter was much more dangerous to him than being up against a sharpshooter.
Marcus didn't remember how he died, but he does remember that he did in fact die, so either of these two are the most likely reason that he died, or he could've been up against an unescapable threat.
Right now, Marcus can't feel any immediate threat or danger from the surroundings. But with the necklace gone, he could only use his own knowledge on jungle survival and it's not where his expertise lies.
"Hu- So cold" Muttered Marcus as he rubbed his hands on his body to lessen the cold he is currently feeling.
Feeling cold, he started to think about what to do about his clothing, but as the surroundings get colder and colder, he now started to get suspicious. Particularly on his back, it was starting to get freezingly cold.
'Strange'
Curious, he stood up and turned around slowly… and what he ended up seeing is the surprise of his life.
Face to face to him was a human-like shadow floating, like an amalgamation of black smoke in human form. Marcus and the thing's face were so close to each other that they were only an inch away for a nose-to-nose to happen.
Shocked, Marcus stood still for a few seconds in a mixture of feelings with his mouth open.
The feeling of facing the unknown, the feeling of not detecting danger, the feeling of the chilling coldness.
'!?!?'
The absurdity of this creature is beyond Marcus' knowledge!
As Marcus stood face to face with the unknown shadow, the freezing coldness surrounded his whole body as the dark shadows surrounding the entity danced around menacingly. The entity then suddenly opens its mouth and said "CoN...Tr-"
But before the shadow could finished its words, Marcus suddenly turned around and ran as fast as he could, like his life depended on it.
Run!
Run!!
No turning around, don't look back.
He ran so fast without minding his unprotected thing that was dangling around.
Run!!!
…
Marcus already ran so far that he had long been out of the ruins.
Keeping his eye out on the forest, he keeps on moving forward without stopping, there was only one thing on his mind right now and that is to run far away from that thing.
But as he keeps on running, he suddenly felt a nostalgic yet foreboding feeling...
A feeling so familiar to him.
"This is-
Suddenly, he stops his running abruptly.
Shhh!
An arrow landed down in front of him.
"Danger" Finishing his words, he looked on the direction where the arrow came from, which was at the same time where the feeling of having an aggressor points out.
There it was, the owner of the arrow which was aimed at his leg, the purpose was to cripple him.
It was a two-meter tall bipedal pig that has better clothes than him currently.
A bipedal pig archer wearing a thong.