Chapter Two: Awakening

I awoke.

The dark and dreamless void was gone. A pair of turquoise eyes stared down at me.   I wrenched away, stumbling backwards into a pile of snow.

"Easy now!" he said, holding up his hands. "We're not here to hurt you!"

My hands clenched at my sides. Snow coated them. It was cold, numbing. The last thing I could remember feeling, really feeling, had been all-consuming heat.

I breathed in. The cold crept into my core. I breathed out, and a cloud of mist formed in front of my face.

I was alive.

I looked back up at the boy with the turquoise eyes.

"Who... who are you?" I asked.

He knelt down, holding out his hand. "I'm Reece." He gestured over his shoulder. "That's Daria, Nirina, and Hale. We... umm... we kind of.... brought you back."

"Brought me... back?" I said, my brow furrowing.

"Yeah." Nirina said. "From the dead. You're welcome."

"Death." I said, turning away from the group. "I remember dying."

I crossed my shaking arms and stared back at my grave.

"What sorcery is this? How is such a thing possible?" I asked.

"I figured it out!" Reece said, jumping forward with a wide grin on his face. 
"You see, all the usual methods for resurrection, ambrosia, the sunlight charm, the genie's spark of life, could have never worked on you. Ambrosia and genie magic require a ghost of substance. The sunlight charm requires a body... and um..." Reece scratched his head, his cheeks flushing, "... a wizard with a substantial amount of skill..."

"More skill than guppy could ever dream of having." Nirina interrupted.

"Ambrosia?" I questioned. "Genie's... spark? Sunlight?"

"Uhh... yeah." Reece said, letting out a nervous laugh. "I guess magic has kind of evolved since you were alive. Anyway! I figured why not try a combination of sorts? So I-!"

"How long?" I asked, cutting him off.

"Uh, I'm sorry?" Reece said.

"How long have I been gone?" I said, my voice shaking as I spoke.

"Umm..." Reece started, glancing back at the group behind him. "Well... about six hundred years."

The air seemed to freeze around me. The biting wind ripped straight into my core.
Six hundred. 

 

Everyone I knew would be dead. Everything I'd known would have crumbled. 
I felt lightheaded, and I took a step back.

"Sophia...?" Reece asked, reaching for me.

I turned from him and ran, shoving past Nirina and Hale. 

 The gates of the cemetery loomed over me. I stumbled, my feet hit cobblestone.

I heard a roar, and a jolt of fear ran through my body. It must have been a dragon, it could only be a dragon! A set of bright lights shined on me, blinding me. I stood frozen in front of them.

"Sophia!" I heard Reece cry.

He slammed into me and we tumbled into the soft snowy ground. 

The rumbling monster roared past, blasting a horn as it did.

"Watcher!" I heard Hale swear. "I thought we were going to have to resurrect you all over again."

"Are you alright?" Reece asked, touching his hand to my shoulder.

I rubbed my arms again, standing to my feet.

"Yes. I suppose." I answered.

I breathed in, and out. I was alive. Still alive.

"We should take her back to your place, Reece." Daria said, stepping up.

Reece looked back at me, and then clapped a hand to his head.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! You've got to be freezing!" he said, motioning for me to follow him. "Come on."

"Cold is better than heat." I whispered.