Chapter 4 - Awake

Darkness.

It was the first thing that Gem noted upon regaining her consciousness.

Where am I?

The thought echoed in her head as she saw several rays of light piercing through the place.

Light.

"It hurts."

Slowly, Gem opened her eyes, complaining from the arrogant light that was bothering her slumber.

"Wait, where am I?" she wondered again.

The sight of several foreign things made Gem push herself back to the soft headboard of the bed upon her awakening.

A bed? What is this pleasant-looking room? There are flowers and expensive things all over and a human!

Gem wrapped the blanket to herself in a defensive stance upon seeing the figure of shining armor on the right side of the room beside a cabinet.

Slowly, she peeked outside the blanket when she felt that the human did not move even an inch from its position.

"Weird." she thought, putting down her defenses and cautiously approached the set of shining armor.

"It's just an armor." she flickered the breastplate of the armor and laughed to herself as the armor resonated a bell-like sound from her flicker.

"Whoa!" Gem shouted upon seeing the reflection on the mirror beside the armor stand, stepping back to her right feet, and raising her arms in a defensive stance, Gem was shocked to see someone completely different from what she usually sees in the mirror.

Wearing a cute strapped dress in white with pink ribbons on the waist, was a girl with long blonde hair and big light blue eyes, shielding herself from the mirror with her perfectly cured limbs and even healthier physique.

"W-who are you?"

Slowly, she lowered her defenses and stared at the girl who was also staring at her.

"Why are you copying me-" Gem ate her words when she pointed at the girl and the girl pointed back at her, their fingertips meeting at the surface of the mirror where Gem realized who it was.

"This is me?"

Without breaking her stare with the mirror, Gem caressed her own cheeks and pinched them hard until she saw the result that she was expecting from the pinch.

Mesmerized, Gem went closer to the mirror to inspect her cheeks that were now red, and her face that was unfamiliar to her.

During her time as a wastelander, Gem had always been used to seeing herself beaten and scarred with bruises and cuts from the ruthless adults and monsters alike.

She had only seen herself dirty, wounded, and starving from not being taken care of.

Not to mention that her hair used to be black and barely experienced getting brushed during those times but now they're blonde, soft, and well-kept.

"What happened to you?" she whispered to her reflection in the mirror while her tears burst out from her unintentionally.

As Gem was occupied with her sudden thoughts, the door to her room opened with a loud swing.

Gem looked at the person behind the noise.

It was a boy with bright red hair cut in short bangs, exposing his dead-red-eyed look and plump lips that uttered an unamused 'tch' before closing the door right away after seeing Gem's startled figure on the floor that was leaning back to the mirror.

"What's his problem?" she held her chest, calming her heart's wild beating upon being startled by the little boy's sudden interruption.

Not long after, she heard a knock three times that was followed by a long silence after.

"What is this now?" Gem muttered under her breath as she slowly walked backwards, looking around for a weapon, and found a brass spear on the armor's gauntlet.

She grabbed this and continued walking back towards the window, forming a plan of escape if things went wrong with the person who was knocking.

The door was taking too long to open so Gem wasted no time and prepared herself to jump on the window when suddenly, she was taken aback upon seeing that there was nothing there.

No floor, no nothing, where am I going to land if I jump here!?

Gem started hyperventilating upon realizing the situation.

"There were clouds underneath me, this only means one thing… I'm on a flying island!" she exclaimed at the same time the door opened.

A figure of an unruly lady greeted her. She was busy dealing with the little boy with a dead-stare earlier but was now sporting a warm smile upon hugging her.

"Mom," he called to the lady with short powdery red hair under a black cap and purple aviator glasses, she was wearing blue leggings and a partnered vest over a cream-colored button-up long sleeves.

The lady and the boy had the same eye color of red and their smiles sent comfort and warmth to Gem while she was hugging herself beside the window's cold breeze.

"Okay, just come back before sunset okay?" the lady fixed the little boy's fancy clothes and hugged him with a smile before sending him outside but the boy glared at Gem first before leaving.

Gem saw the boy's look at her and replied with a confused stare. She watched the boy leave with his mom but she did not expect the mom to come back immediately.

This time, she was carrying a golden tray with dishes in different sizes which she almost spilled the contents -if there was no table on the shelf beside the door- when she saw Gem curled up beside the window with a spear lying in front of her.

"You're awake!" the woman said exasperatedly which made Gem tighten her clutch on the spear.

The woman covered her mouth and her eyes suddenly became watery upon seeing Gem out of bed after three days of not breathing.

She thought that Gem had died but her stubbornness did not let her bury the child who looked healthier than before she was coated by the hardened liquid.

"I'm sure she's alive!"

"But she's not breathing anymore madame."

"Her heart is still beating! She's alive! Look at her! How can a girl look so healthy while being dead!? You're not making any sense! She's alive! I'm sure of it!"

"Do as you want madame but I am telling you, she's not breathing anymore-"

"Get out. I don't want to hear your nonsense. This child is alive and you can't make me believe otherwise."

Venedette recalled her conversation with the doctor last night.

Losing a child once had made her crazy but losing a child twice would probably make her insane.

"I knew you were still alive! Thank gods you're still alive!" she said and stood still while her tears fell endlessly from her eyes, she used her hands to cover up her sobs but it was not enough to hide her emotions from Gem.

Gem failed to find a reasonable answer for the lady's sudden actions.

"It doesn't make sense. Why is she acting like that?" she thought upon standing up, cautiously striding closer to the lady with the spear still in her hands.

Gem took a closer look at the lady, "Somehow she looks familiar."

When Gem stopped walking one foot away from the lady, the lady stopped crying and ridiculed herself instead.

"Hahahha why am I crying? This is supposed to be a happy occasion right, Gem?" the lady smiled at Gem who was taken aback by what she heard.

"Why does this lady know my name?" She panicked even more and decided to deal with this situation by talking it out instead of choosing violence for the lady seemed nice anyway, assuming that she was the one who put her in this nice room in the first place.

"Who are you and why did you bring me here?" she said, raising the spear in an offensive position to intimidate the lady at least but what the lady said next was unexpected.

"You're so cute." she laughed which tilted Gem's fighting spirit, making her lose her position and lowered her defenses.

Gem cleared her throat when the lady carelessly approached her, threatening with the spear again but the lady ignored it and hugged her instead.

"Welcome to my island," she whispered behind Gem while caressing her soft yellow hair, giving Gem the comfort that she had never known she needed the most.

Gem dropped the spear and reluctantly looked at her arms who was aching to hug the lady back.

"It's okay. You're safe here with me," she added with her soothing voice which made Gem surrender to her desire and hugged the lady back, burying her face in the lady's shoulders.

For the first time in her life, Gem felt like a child who needed protection. The warmth that the lady gave her was the kind of warmth that she had been longing for since forever.

'I don't know who this lady is but I like her and I feel safe around her.' she thought in her heart as they both cherished the moment that they were spending in each other's arms.