Why did I jump through that portal again? Oh right, because I'm an idiot.
Since I jumped through the portal I've nearly fallen to my death, had a minor heart attack, run through a jungle, had a minor panic attack, swim across a freezing cold lake, been flung around like a ragdoll, nearly fallen to my death again, and annoyed within an inch of slapping someone. So forgive me if I was a little tired and when Laon formed a warm soundproof bubble around me and gently raised me into the air, I was out like a light.
I opened my eyes to find a meadow. I was sitting in the clearing my sister by my side. She turned me and wrapped her arms around me, "I've missed you so much."
She began crying into my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her, squeezing, "It's ok, I'm here now." We let go of each other and smiled. A bright light and noise cut through the scene.
I blinked a few times sitting up to find myself surrounded by people. I shot up and everyone took a step back. "What is going on here?" someone called from the back. Everyone turned to look at the person who asked. In unison, they all crossed their arms, tapped twice then went down on one knee, heads bowed.
Now the only one standing, I had a clear view of the room. I realized it was a throne room. The floors were large, smooth marble tiles with a reddy pink, velvety rug in a wide semi-circle. This rug went up two steps to a platform and under two thrones, one in dark pink, one in a deep red, both framed in gold. Each had what looked like a coffee table in gold with a base cushion and three sides made up of rolled cushions in the same color to the side. Behind the thrones a mural of a floating island with a greatly varying landscape ranging from one end to the other, a city with a castle into the jungle with hills that slope up into sharp cliffs on the tops of which held a savannah. There were scraggly cracks in tops of plateaus and a river that ran branching across it. On the other side, the plateaus dropped a bit then sloped gently up into a mountain range with two particularly tall peeks close to the middle these mountains sloped down with a city perched on their face. In the center of the island, an aqua crystal was set into the wall and it glowed with a soft light. The tall ceilings were engraved with depictions battles and celebrations. To the left and right were halls that presumably lead further back into the castle.
A Zonoya was walking up the steps to the dark red throne closely followed by two cheetahs. She had a cheetah's ears and tail, something I realized I hadn't seen on any of the other Zonoya. She was wearing a black catsuit with red piping making two stripes down her front disappearing at the belt around her waist. They traced the outside of her legs curling around her legs three times at the knee before continuing down to a pair of low wedged boots where the color curved down to the back and twin lines framed the heels. Her shoulder-length hair was in braids and was pulled back in a low ponytail with one curl free and dipping down the side of her face which I saw as she turned and sat down, legs crossed.
The cheetahs were identical, from what I could tell, both wearing collars. One of them was wearing a bunch of earrings in one ear and something glinted in the other ear while the other didn't appear to be wearing any jewelry. The one without jewelry jumped up on the low, dark red throne and sat down while the, for lack of a better word, shiny one lay down in front of the dark red throne in the other side. The Zonoya in the big throne flicked her tail and a pair at my sides stood and reached for my arms.
I hugged them to my body taking a step back, "What do you think you're doing? Get back." I backed up into another Zonoya that stood to grab me. I freaked and instinct kicked in. I threw my elbow back into the one behind me followed by a kick to the knees of the one on the left. I dashed forward as the one on the right grabbed for me. I turned to face them, "Just tell me what's going on and I'll go quietly."
In response, multiple weapons appeared in their hands and the mob approached, grins on their faces at the prospect of a fight.
"Ok then, we're doing this the hard way."
They rushed forward. The first one to reach me swiped at me with razor-sharp claws. I dodged to the side, grabbing his elbow and using his momentum to swing him around and into the next Zonoya coming at me with a pair of batons. They crashed and fell to the floor as blue glowing tendrils arched out of the floor towards me and two Zonoya came at me from the front. I weaved through the tentacles as the stabbed down at me towards a cat carrying swords. At the last moment, I slid at her, hitting her leg and throwing her over. I stood up to survey the situation as one of the tentacles wrapped around my foot. My other attacker came to bring a mace down on my head. I reached up to meet the handle, a shock going through my arms as it hit. I got a better grip, hauling the mace out of his hands and smashing it down on the tendril wrapped around my ankle. They both shattered as soon as they connected and I promptly kicked the very shocked Zonoya. Spinning around, I searched for the cat controlling the tentacles and spied a tiger making strange hand movements. Got ya.
I ran towards her, weaving and dodging attacks from all sides. As I neared, I felt a power in my legs that wasn't there before. Following the urge I sprung into the air, pulling my arm back and came down hitting her square in the jaw and, of course, superhero landing!
"Stop," someone called from above us and they all came to a halt, all signs of aggression gone. The Zonoya that floated down from above us, I realized, was the one from the throne. She came down a few feet away, looking at me intently. My mouth dropped open, she looked exactly like me. Well, me in my twenties but still me. "Huh," we said at the same time. Now that she was closer I noticed a gold heart-shaped locket around her neck. A wave of visions hit me and I fell to my knees, clutching my head. The memories were coming faster than I could take. Flashes of her, Laon, a man, and other Zonoya I couldn't put names to. I vaguely registered someone talking about a healer in the background and someone wrapping their arms around me and picking me up. There was warmth and the last memory, a word before everything went black, "Sister."
***
I woke up in a dim room in a bed of pillows. I sat up then realized that was a terrible idea and lay back down again, staring at the ceiling. I heard a door click open and then close again. "You're awake," a smooth voice said from the corner. It wasn't a question but she still waited for a response. "Yeah, who are you?"
"Vern," she responded, making me jump as she appeared next to me after having moved silently to my bedside.
"Here," she handed me a bowl with purple liquidy mush inside, "Hold this."
She was fair-skinned with jet black hair, cropped in a bob, her face pressed in a grimace as she studied my hands a moment. It was hard to make out specific features in the low light but she seemed shorter and more stockily built than the supermodel figures of the other Zonoya I'd met so far. Her ears appeared to be a caracal's due to the tufts of fur off the top of them however it was hard to tell without seeing her tail. "You have eleven fractures in your wrists, your lucky you passed out when you did. it would have taken a minimum 3 days to heal if we hadn't found it so soon," she said telepathically as she dipped a cloth in the goo and smoothed it across my wrists.
"Get out of my head," I said with a jolt.
I tried to sit up again but she pressed a hand to my chest, holding me down, "You're hurt, let me work." I sighed, lying still as she finished with my wrists by wrapping them in a clean cloth. Once she finished she helped me stand up, supporting my weight. She curled one arm around my waist and lifted me off the ground like I weighed nothing. Walking over to the door and opening it. I glanced down, "Definitely a caracal."
"Good job", she said and I realized with a start she could still hear my thoughts even if she wasn't speaking telepathically to me. She closed the door and pushed into the air, floating down the hall. I searched my mind for an unfamiliar presence but although something was off, I couldn't pinpoint an exact disturbance. I tried the wall technique and she smiled a tiny bit as the walls I put up were blown to pieces in my mind with a distant chuckle. I winced at the spike of pain this caused and her ears perked up for a moment before rolling her eyes and muttering something under her breath. We turned at a window and flew towards and straight through it. I chanced a look down and immediately regretted it, we were 5 stories up. "Relax," she said gliding down gently.
There were Zonoya of all shapes and sizes walking and floating around the courtyard. The courtyard itself was beautiful, spacious with a winding tiled path, sculptures and fountains, grass cut, flowers blooming, shrubs and trees swaying in the light breeze. Basically, everything I would ever want in a courtyard. In the center, there was a dip in the earth with a small training arena. Inside six individuals were circling Laon who stood hip cocked, hand on her hip, studying the nails of her other hand, looking slightly bored. We landed just outside the circle next to who I was now convinced was Coco and the two cheetahs from before. The one with all the piercings stared at me intensely as the caracal set me down. I was steadier on my feet this time, only swaying slightly when she let go.
We watched the Zonoya in the arena circle Laon and I recognized one of them to be Kegan as they made their last circle. They all stopped suddenly and Laon made the cross sign with her arms and they all followed suit. They all dropped to a lower stance then ran at her from all sides. She didn't move until a moment before they reached her when she suddenly jumped out of the way and they all crashed together. She, daintily, used one of their heads as a springboard, backflipping off it landing and turning to us to bow as the others recovered. She turned back as they all bowled into her. She was pushed back as she grounded herself. Once she had her footing she pushed back against them shoving the whole group back before leaping into the air and roundhousing the nearest one in the face who flew across the arena smashing into the wall. I winced in sympathy as his body crumpled to the ground.
She continued forward, raking her claws across the next one's face until they hooked into the flesh in her shoulder at which point she spun the cat around into another one, sending then both flying. Another attacked her from behind, raking his claws down her back then spinning to sweep her legs out from under her with his tail. At the last moment, she jumped his tail, landing and bringing her knee up to smash him in the face. He fell backward, unconscious or possibly dead, hard to tell from here.
The two remaining Zonoya were Kegan and another female, a blond leopard. He made a lady's first gesture and she slugged him in the arm. Throwing her long braid over her shoulder, she rolled her shoulders and approached Laon slowly. They grinned at each other, "You're going down, LayLay," she said, tail flicking.
Laon laughed, "Just 'cause you're pretty much my baby sister does not mean I'll go easy on you, El."
"Bring it on."
With that she ran at Laon, catching her across the face with her claws and dodging around Laon's swipe at her retreating back. She circled Laon darting in to make small swipes then backing off. Eventually, Laon seemed disorientated so her attacker went for her legs approaching from behind. This girl was fast but just before she reached Laon she recentered herself, ears pulled back, she looked pissed. Laon slammed her tail down on her attacker's head, pushing her into the ground. Laon's tail wrapped around the leopard's neck lifting her off the ground. Her legs flailed as she tried to pull at the tail. Eventually, she stopped struggling just hanging there and gasping, "You're getting better," she said, as the other girl hung there, "One day, I'm sure you'll win but sadly today is not that day." She flung the leopard across the sand.
While she was distracted Kegan ran and tackled her, managing to pin her down. "Been waiting for this one, kitten," she said with a grin. She leaned up as close as she could get, "Although these aren't exactly the circumstances I imagined when I thought about being under you."
She grinned as Kegan looked shocked for a moment before regaining control. "I know what you're doing," he stated bluntly.
She gave him an innocent look batting her eyelashes, "Who? Little ol' me, I'm not doing anything."
"You know I'm stronger than you so your trying to distract me so you can throw me off, but it won't work", he said with a triumphant grin. She arched an eyebrow at him then glanced at me. A slow and clearly evil grin spread across her face.
Her eyes still locked on me she said, "Oh, look your humie's back." Kegan twisted to see where she was looking and as soon as he did she twisted and threw him off. He landed on all fours, growling. "What?" she said with a wink, "I play to my strengths."
They charged each other, claws extended and grappled to the ground. He tried to get her in a headlock, at which point, she bit his arm. She then grabbed the closest appendage and flipped him. Now on top, she pinned him down with a knee in his throat pressing down, "Now let's hear the magic words." He narrowed his eyes, bringing his tail up to knock her off. He lunged after her grabbing her by the tail and spinning her around by it before letting her fly into the opposite wall. She curled up in a ball so her side would take the impact. She hit so hard the wall cracked but she unfurled and shook her head a couple of times to clear it then stood up with that same wicked grin. She rushed Kegan and jumped twisting so she was upside down, flying feet first in the air. She grabbed his head then landing, she flung him over her head so he landed hard on his stomach, flat on the ground, the wind knocked out of him, gasping for air, she perched on his back and brought him up into a headlock, "Now, once again, say the magic words."
He struggled against her, pulling on her arms but couldn't get free eventually he stopped, face turning red from lack of air. "Fine," he choked out, "I surrender." She immediately released him throwing her hands up in victory as the Zonoya around us cheered and applauded her. She turned in a slow circle, basking in her win. She stopped when she turned to Coco and made the cross-motion while bowing her head. She floated up and over while Kegan picked himself up off the sand. The leopard from earlier floated over as well and the two of them landed in front of us. The leopard socked Laon in the arm, "Oww, what was that for?"
"That was your prize for winning and my consolation prize for losing," she replied with a smug smile.
She turned to look at us and squinted at me, "Wow, she does look just like her." She grinned at me and flash of memory hit once again. This same Zonoya smiling at me as we flew over a forest with the Zonoya next to me, Vern, I realized, Laon, and two others, a cougar and an ocelot, whose names I couldn't quite remember. But the one standing in front of me, "Elly?"
"Woah, that's so freaky," she said ducking her head to peer at me as she circled me. She ducked between Vern and I and grabbed one of my hands lifting it and turning it over to inspect it. "Ummm.."
I shot a sideways look at Vern as she rolled her eyes and facepalmed shaking her head, "El, let go of her."
Coco's mouth curved up slightly in one corner as Laon muttered, "Yeah, you don't know where she's been."
"Rude." I shot them both a glare. "Would someone tell me what's going on?" I asked looking around at all the new yet familiar faces.
"I would love to be filled in on what's going on here too," Coco said as she and all the others turned to look at Kegan who was gingerly toweling the blood off his cuts. As he did, I could literally see the cuts closing up. He froze as soon as he realized we were looking at him expectantly. "Hey," he said holding up his hands, "I already told you everything."
"All you've told us is that she's out of her mind," Elly said, sidling up to poke him in the ribs.
"Exactly," he said flashing my glare a smile as he batted away Elly's hand. As I continued to scowl at him, I heard his voice in my head, "Stop thinking what your thinking, you know I'm right."
"I don't have to admit anything," I thought right back at him.
To my right, Vern snorted, "Yeah, if you can keep your brain shut for long enough to stop admitting things."
"What part of stay out of my head are you not getting," I asked, crossing my arms.
"It's decided then,'' Coco said to Laon, "We'll take her to Carniva and see what her verdict is."
"Wait a minute," I said holding my hands up as the cheetah with all the earrings approached me, "Who's Carniva?"
***
"Explain to me why I can't just ride on her back?" I asked. We were current lifting off from the ground and the back of my new shirt was grasped in the jaws of a cheetah as the others floated around with Coco sitting jockey-style on the other cat's back. "Because," the other cheetah started hauntily, "You are not worthy of the honor."
"You're kidding, right?" not even phased at this point that I was arguing with an African wild cat, "You're not worthy of the honor, what are we in medieval times, you overgrown house cat."
Everyone went silent for a moment before the cheetah carrying me burst out laughing, nearly dropping me, "She's got ya there, Wizz." She flipped me up in the air and caught me squarely on her back. "I'm Speedet", she said glancing up at me as I copied Coco's position.
"Inaya," I responded, "Nice to meet you, Speed."
A rumbling purr came from the cat as she smiled at me before looking at Coco, "Even if it's not her, can I keep it?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it", Coco said. Then, with a grin, she finished with, "but no," before the two of them took off closely followed by the rest of the group.
"You ready?" she asked and I felt all her muscles coil beneath me.
I instinctively lowered my body till I lay across her back, hands firmly wrapped around her collar, "Let's go unless your not ready."
She grinned, "Hold on, Hot Shot."
We shot off together, streaking across the sky and I got to see the castle for the first time. It was exactly as I imagined it, massive stone towers soared into the air with vines growing up the sides so the castle itself seemed to grow straight out of the ground. We were flying over a city filled with old stone buildings that had clearly been revamped and maintained over the years, giving it a rustic, retro feel. The main road went from one end to the other in the city. On the other end of the city a second castle, much smaller than the one we'd come out of made of some sort of gray bricks with cobalt ones sprinkled throughout. It was built on both sides of the road with glass walkways connecting the two halves.
We flew around the second palace and out over the jungle. The group slowed to a gentle glide and we caught up to them. Speed overshot them before making a hard left closely followed by the others. We picked up the pace as we neared the edge of what looked like a cliff. On the outer edge of the jungle, the trees abruptly disappeared in the nearing distance. As we got closer I realized it wasn't a cliff but the literal end of the planet just as it was in the mural. As soon as we passed the edge Speed's tail suddenly stopped and we went into a nosedive freefall down toward a strange sea below the planet.
The wind whipped at my face as tears leaked from my eyes. The others had pulled up already but Speed waited till the last minute to pull a flip then using the momentum of the fall to soar back towards the planet's fractured bottom. I saw the others disappear into a crack in the side which we then dove into a moment later. She made some tight turns in the narrow passage before it widened into every little girl's dream. I held in a gasp.
The cavern glowed with rainbow light as sunlight filtered through the walls into the massive space filled with more crystals than any single person should have access to. The walls were made up from them growing from the ground into the ceiling. The floor was a huge sheet of crystal. Basically, we were standing inside a massive geode. This place was a lot like the city with Zonoya of every shape and size everywhere you looked. Most tended to be in groups lying on beds of moss or lounging ledges. Some of the Zonoya bustled between the groups bringing food, blankets, drinks, or games. From somewhere in the cavern there was an ear-piercing shriek and those tending to the other Zonoya all rushed towards the sound.
Speed touched down and I climbed off her back. The rest of our group started towards the sound. We rounded some crystals into a room where a Zonoya was whaling, rolling around on the floor, while the others in the room tried to hold her down. She suddenly shrunk to the size of a paperclip then just as quickly return to normal size. An ocelot leaped on her from the corner and injected her with a pinkish substance. The woman slowly calmed and eventually curled up with her tail around her, eyes closed. The ocelot turned to the others and started giving instructions. Her voice was soft but firm even though you could hardly hear it with her back to you. She had long red hair that ended right around her tail. Once the last Zonoya had dashed off, she turned to face us. She was very thin to the point where she looked slightly underfed. Her cheeks were hollow with her cheekbones sticking out making her face very angular. She had very pale skin with bright green eyes and a scattering of reddy freckles across her nose.
She gave us a gentle smile and a memory flashed into view. This same cat writhing in pain on the ground as her skin seemed to break apart, making way for thick muscular limbs coated in thick brown fur. After a moment the transformation was complete and a lion the size of a rhinoceros turned to look at me with gleaming orange eyes. Its eyes narrowed and suddenly it leaped at me, huge class extended, massive teeth bared. I stumbled backward into Kegan, who was standing behind me, and he wrapped his arms around me to stop me from falling. "Oh dear," the ocelot said, rushing over to me and pressed a hand to my forehead. Still on edge from the memory, I tried to reverse climb Kegan to get away from her. She drew her hand back at my obvious fear and Kegan turned me to face him and pulled me into a hug, one hand cradling my head. "What's the story here?" she asked still looking at me.
"We think she's her and we wanted your professional opinion," Kegan answered.
"Huh, well the resemblance is striking," she said.
"But the fear, that's a distinctly Coco trait," Laon said, laughing as Coco cuffed her over the ears.
"Well, it's possible that it's one of the side effects of the obvious memory wipe that's occurred."
"Memory wipe?" Speed asked.
"Yeah, if she is her a memory wipe was one of the suspected side effects of the accident," Vern said, tapping her chin.
"But that's not possible," Wisdom pointed out, "If her memory had been wiped how would she randomly know names and places and that sort of thing."
"Yeah," Speedet piped up, "It would have to be a memory block in order for her to know anything about this planet."
"I'll see what I can find but no promises," she said and everyone began to leave.
Kegan looked down at me and untangled me from his arms, "I have to leave so Carniva here can figure out what's wrong with you but I'll be right outside if you need me." I glanced at her uncertainly and then looked back at Kegan. He smiled, "Don't worry, she's one of the good ones."