Lexi could feel herself floating in a landscape of darkness, hazy silhouettes dancing in front of her just out of reach as she looked around herself in confusion.
"What the fuck is this?" She murmured to herself, struggling to remember where she was and how she got here.
She couldn't decide if it was she who was moving along through this strange landscape, or if the landscape was moving around her…well, what little she could see of it.
She shook her head in irritation as a dense fog seemed to have settled over her mind. She knew something was wrong, but couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
"Allen? Greyson?" She called out timidly as she squinted at the vague shapes that seemed to have slowed down around her almost to a stop.
"Hello?" she called again, this time her voice held a note of uncertainty to it as she shrank inwards, suddenly overcome by a feeling of dread.
An oppressive silence seemed to settle over her, the pressure in the air around her making it feel as though her ears were about to pop as they do on a flight, and with only a few seconds to register something was wrong, the sensation of falling overtook her.
"Fuck!" She yelped as the air whipped past her, her hair whipping upwards and lashing against her face.
Was this it? Was this the moment that she died?
Her heart felt as though it was in her mouth as she seemed to fall endlessly through the void. Then, as abruptly as she had began to fall at such a terrifying speed, she slowed to a stop.
The sound that left her mouth as she did so was something she had never heard before, and she wasn't entirely sure that she wasn't going to vomit, but the tiny pinprick of light below her distracted her long enough to almost forget the ordeal that she had just been through.
Lexi blinked around herself in bewilderment as she descended downwards at a far slower pace, and into a small clearing filled with the heady scent of the forest, a scent that pulled at familiar yet conflicting emotions in her chest.
"Wait…am I fucking dreaming again?" She murmured to herself, slowly beginning to register the figures below her.
A young girl who couldn't be more than thirteen was scurrying happily after some sort of lizard in the clearing. By all accounts, it was a very large, very odd coloured lizard, but somehow the scene felt familiar and Lexi knew instantly that this must be a recollection of when she was younger.
It wasn't the first memory that had presented itself to her this way, and she doubted it would be the last as these memories were pulled from her without any sort of structure to the order they presented themselves in.
"Bella! Wait! You're too fast! I'm not that quick yet!" The little girl shouted after the creature with a mixture of disappointment and amusement, pulling Lexi from her thoughts.
The creature paused and scampered up onto an uprooted tree that had fallen against it's neighbor at some point. The slippery moss that coated it's bark was evidently no hindrance to the inquisitive little thing and Lexi could feel her lips pull upwards into a smile as she watched younger Lexi play with what she assumed was Bella, the little pet that Eromaug had brought her.
She felt nothing but love radiating from that creature, and her heart reciprocated without question. She knew that on some level, she and Bella had bonded and watching her below awoke a deep sense of loss inside of her.
"You know you could play with her whenever you want if you would just visit me at my home, Lexi." A deep voice that sent chills up Lexi's spine rumbled from somewhere amongst the trees.
She glanced around fearfully as she sought out the owner of that voice, but she didn't have to wait for too long. Eromaugs imposing figure emerged from the shadows amongst the trees and strolled casually over to where little Lexi and Bella were rolling about happily.
"I know Uncle, but, you know how my father is…they don't want me to be near you." Little Lexi pouted as she turned her face towards him.
He smiled down at her indulgently and cupped her face gently, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.
"They won't always be able to keep us apart Lexi. One day, when you're old enough, you'll be able to come and go as you please and your father won't be able to stop you."
"I don't see why he won't let me just come and play with Bella though." Little Lexi moaned as she rubbed the spines under Bella's chin gently, "Even if I don't get to see you, it wouldn't matter…I mostly just want to play with Bella."
Lexi snorted at the look of irritation that flickered across Eromaug's face as her younger self remained oblivious to the fact that she had effectively told Eromaug that she felt more for Bella, than she did for Eromaug.
"Bet that was a blow to your fucking ego even back then you slimy fuck." Lexi hissed quietly to herself as she watched him school his face into a neutral expression and crouch down next to her, offering his hand to Bella to sniff.
She chirruped happily and nuzzled against Eromaug's offered hand.
"I think Bella would want to see us both together, Lexi." Eromaug said quietly and little Lexi turned to look at him with a frown.
"Well of course we would see her together Uncle. I've never been to where you live before so I might get lost if I'm wandering around on my own."
"I didn't mean like that Lexi..." Eromaug sighed and turned to look at her with a complicated expression.
"Then what did you mean?" Little Lexi pressed.
"It doesn't matter what I meant Lexi. You're too young right now to understand. When you're older…"
"Why is it always when I'm older?!" Little Lexi demanded furiously as she stood and glared down at his crouched figure, "I'm not a baby anymore! You and father are always talking as though I'm such a fragile doll but I'm not! Jimmy Tarlow was being an asshole to some of the kids at school and I beat the living snot out of him! Not even the sixth graders will dare to stand up to that bully but I did!"
A smile tugged at Eromaug's lips as he looked at her in amusement.
"And I'm sure that little Jimmy Tarlow deserved it Lexi. You certainly have an impressive amount of fire inside of you to take on someone so much bigger than you..."
"He deserved what he got way more than the little boy you killed just because he kissed me, Uncle." Lexi hissed back furiously.