Castaway

NIVEUS

Flowers, grass, birds, waterfalls… He couldn’t find out where he was. His eyes are still closed, yet he could hear everything around him. He couldn’t feel his arms and legs. ‘Am I dead?’ he thought. He remembered being attacked by a black thing. It flew over him and saw a pair of big round bloody eyes trying to eat him whole and sucked his soul.

“Ha!” He woke up gasping for air. It felt like it’s been years since he's breathing underneath and finally able to breathe above the surface. He checked his hands and feet. He was finally able to move. He looked around and found himself deep inside a forest, where birds he never saw before were flying around, flowers with colors so vibrant underneath the sun, trees as tall as buildings in the city, and waterfall that water shines like it was a diamond.

“A paradise,” he mumbled.

He saw a bird looking beautiful yet mystic with its bluish-green wings. Its tail was long with the same color as its wings and has a shade of pink. It flew over and rested above the rock where he was, and looking at it clearly made it even more magical. Its beak is shining like gold as well as its claws. It has a pair of small pink feathers on its crown, and its eyes reflected the largest body of water, the ocean.

It bowed its head in front of him, made him wonder if there’s someone around him but found nothing but himself.

“You arrived,” a voice echoed the whole place that made the birds went silent.

He looked around again but sighted none. Limo looked at the bird and saw it looking on its side. He followed its gaze and not too far from them. He saw a creature drawing near. The bird was a question enough to ask him where he was, and then another appeared made him question his whole existence in that place.

He saw a pair of golden eyes gleamed as the ray of the sun struck it behind the trees. It tells him something important, something that is bound to happen. He felt the connection he had with the creature, yet it was the first time he’d seen one.

“A white fox?” he mumbled as the creature revealed itself. His fur glowed and what made Limo surprised is its long and furry tails.

“A two-tailed white fox?” he asked himself.

“I’m Primo, the first Primo,” the white fox introduced as he sat down beside the mysterious bird.

“A talking two-tailed white fox?” His question didn’t only intend to ask himself.

“Niveus, as what she called me.” Limo saw his eyes found pain, like that name accompanied with something terrible, some sad memories. He felt his heart gave in with the sadness he felt. The connection he felt to him might be the reason why. But that made it even more questionable for him.

“You might be wondering if this place and conversation were even real or just a dream,” Niveus said.

‘A dream?’ He never thought it was a dream. He thought he’s dead.

“So, I’m not dead?” Limo asked him.

“About to?” He was confused by how things didn’t make any sense and want to find answers right away but tried to be patient, hoping this creature had all the answers.

“You had an accident with your family, Limo,” Niveus told him.

“How did you know my name?” he asked.

“Let me show you a few of my memories,” he said.

Limo saw Niveus put his left paw above his hand and closed his eyes. There Limo felt he got carried into another dimension. He saw some of Niveus memories as he struggled from a foreign sensation.

He saw the white fox turned into a man in his memories, a young lady sharing a bonfire with a man inside a dark cave. Some days they were happy, some are just normal like it is. He knew they loved each other in that glimpse of his past. The woman got pregnant, and he saw how happy they were, but when things turned out as magical as it is, the woman’s father found out everything and killed the man. The man’s soul went back to his home, the forest. Then he saw a baby girl was born and as it was a fruit of love forbidden by the sky, thunderstruck them and the woman died. The man cried, but he couldn’t get closer to them. He watched as his child received half of their curse.

He woke up still inside the forest, unable to meet his child. Years had passed, and his soul found a host, in a place where a swamp of shadows just like what Limo saw in their storeroom. The memories shuffled, but what remains inside the new host was that he’s the sick boy who grew up with the woman’s child, and he’s the next Primo. The boy gained power as Primo’s soul resides within him. But the curse must be passed down from generations. The bloodbath occurred, and the girl woke up crying. The boy watched as pain swallowed the child. Days had passed, and they were traveling from place to place when the day in which the boy must return the power he borrowed arrived. The girl had the boy in her arms as the white small rounded figure went out from his chest and traveled back to the forest. The Primo’s soul came back inside, where his soul was imprisoned. Now he had carried twice the pain.

For the years he found himself back inside the forest, the pain added up. It is his curse for reaching out to forbidden love, their curse.

Limo went back to his consciousness. He was out of breath and had his arms supported his weight on the ground.

“What was that?” he asked Niveus when he found his voice.

“A curse, Limo, our curse,” Niveus said as he tried to walk slowly in front of him.

“In every 8th generation, when the cursed child received her cursed mark, I am summoned in a body of the next Primo. The curse took my human form, and I have to live in somebody else. But as what you saw in the end—“

“This is insane. I’m dreaming, right? This is not real,” Limo’s voice was shaking as he summed up everything that happened. Niveus looked at him and understood why he acted like that, but he stayed calm and explained.

 “Before the Primo has to be awakened, he must have experienced death, traveled in a paradise in between heaven and hell, the Lost Forest. You may have realized where you are right now,” Niveus told him.

He then realized why he woke up in that place, the unfamiliar birds and plants, the astonishing waterfall, the two-tailed white fox, the memories, and the connection he felt to Niveus.

“So I am dead,” Limo said.

“Nearly.” Niveus sighed as Limo looked like he can’t believe everything he’d seen. 

“I know it’s hard for you to take all this, but I want you to be prepared and give your heart when you fully acknowledge the power given to you. When you woke up, you’ll find a woman trying to fight for you, trying to fight her own fate. You may find a clear understanding of all of this when you have a talk. If you ever come to a decision yourself, find me in your deepest dreams. Never doubt yourself, Limo.” Niveus voice lulled him to sleep.

He felt his body went light, and the next thing he knew, he heard a machine ticking, a tiny chuckle, and the heavy breathing of a person. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a white room. Some wires are connected to his body, and his right hand is wrapped in a bandage with a long narrow tube connected to a bag of fluid hanged on a standing metal on his right.

He looked to his left where he heard something unusual and saw a girl pinned a nurse on the wall while she’s trying to reach something in her pocket.

“Call… help,” the nurse asked for his help.

He didn’t know what to do in a state that he was in. Limo needed more help if you have to look at it, but he got up from his bed that made the metal below him clanked. The girl turned around to face him, and as soon as she saw Limo was awake, her grip loosened, and the nurse turned into a black shadow and flew away on the window.

“F*ck!” the girl cursed.

She turned around to face Limo and saw him looked like he lost his soul as soon as he woke up.

“Hey!” Devanna snapped him out to bring him back.

“What was that?” he asked.

“A Kabal,” she answered.

“A what?” It was the first time he saw a shapeshifter and was the first time he heard the word.

Devanna moved closer to him and pulled up his sleeves. Limo saw how pissed she was when she found nothing but skin below the fabric. She sat on a chair in front of his bed and rested her face above her palms.

“Are you okay?” Limo asked her.

“You have to awaken now!” she shouted while she still had her head facing the floor.

Limo felt his blood boiled and anger reached his head.

“You’re not the one to decide!” he said.

“Yeah? So you have met the fox? Call me selfish, but you only have two choices now as you should have been long dead, received the curse, or we’ll both die.” She looked at him with furious eyes.