Acacia felt a throbbing pain in her head, her gaze couldn''t focus and everything felt like it was spinning and suddenly everything went dark.


    "She fainted."


    "Maybe your face scared her."


    ".... you''re lucky you are useful in combat."


    "We should get going before the Iron Fangs show up."


    The group of people started to walk away, the leader carrying Acacia''s body on her shoulder as they left the scene. After about, thirty minutes, they reached an abandoned factory. They passed through a magical barrier that was a few feet away from the factory. The leader knocked on the double metal doors.


    "Open up!"


    The large double door creaked open and once they were all inside, the door closed back shut.


    "What on earth did you bring? She stinks and looks like a half dead rat." A man asked with disdain.


    "Found her inside an egg or something like that,"  Kel replied and shrugged.


    "And you all decided to bring her here? Are you that desperate for more members?"


    "Well I couldn''t leave the poor thing on the ground when she is clearly alive." The leader replied and laid her body down on the couch.


    Acacia''s face scrunched up and she panted heavily. "Get off! Get off!!" Her eyes snapped wide open and she immediately sat up on the couch.


    "Wow...bad dream?" Kel asked with an amused smile.


    "Yeah...wait, who are you?" Acacia nodded before she snapped her head towards him, her eyes flickering over the unfamiliar faces.


    "We are the Apex Conquerors!! The best kins in this cursed land! And my name is Edwin, never forget that." Edwin whipped out his hand fan and fanned himself as he spoke with pride. He has long lavender blue hair with green eyes and donned in a baggy loose shirt and black pants. Kel stifled a laughter from coming out and the others cringed visibly.


    ".... okay?" Acacia blinked a few times in confusion and took in his features.


    "Don''t mind him, my name is Kel!" He gestured to himself. He has short orange hair with gold eyes and a scar that covers half of his face.


    ''What happened to his face?''


    Acacia thought to herself as another person introduced herself. She has a muscular build with short light brown hair and grey eyes.


    "I''m Zephyra, the leader. The scowling lady over there is Bella," She gestured towards a girl with black hair in a pixie cut. She has purple eyes and her lips are painted a bright purple color.


    "The big guy is Maximus," She pointed to a really big and muscular guy with two horns on the opposite side of his head. He has black hair and a buzz cut with blue eyes. He seemed to be the only one that was taller and bigger in the room.


    "That is Elric, quiet guy." She grabbed the guy by his shoulders in which he grimaced at the contact but said nothing. Elric has short grey hair with brown eyes.


    "And finally our cute doctor, Jahir!" She introduced the last person who blushed and waved his hand awkwardly. He has white hair with red eyes and four walking legs clinged to his shirt on each side. "So what''s your name, kid?"


    "My name? What''s my name....?" Acacia looked down at her lap and her head started to throb. She felt a bit dizzy and held her head in her hands.


    "Come on!"


    "Goodness, Mirkil heal her quickly."


    "Weaklings!"


    "Tsk and I was looking forward to that but oh well."


    "Goodbye, Acacia Algernon"


    Acacia groaned as different memories flashed in her head and she slowly removed her hands from her head while her left index finger twitched.


    ''Why can''t I remember anything?! Who are these people in my head?''


    "Acacia, my name is Acacia." She panted and said her name while rubbing her temples.


    "Hey, don''t stress yourself too much maybe your memories are all fizzled up because you were in that egg." Zephyra patted her back to calm her down.


    ''Egg? Why was I in an egg?''


    She thought with a confused expression on her face and she sighed heavily.


    "How about a nice, warm bath? Might clear up your head and then some delicious dinner?" Zephyra asked with a smile and her sharp canines peeked out.


    ''I do need a bath, I stink and I''m hungry.''


    Acacia thought and nodded her head, Zephyra helped her up to her feet and turned her head to face the others. "Kel start dinner! Make sure it''s delicious to welcome our new member."


    "You can count on me," Kel shoved his hand in his pocket and walked away towards the kitchen.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "I don''t like her." Bella muttered under her breath.


    "Well, she doesn''t seem to have any bad intentions. Let''s wait and get a good idea of who she is before judging." Maximus shrugged and stretched out his arms.


    Zephyra helped Acacia up the stairs until they reached the upper floor, there were two doors opposite of each other and Zephyra led her into one of the doors. She saw two mats on the floor with blankets and a makeshift pillow. She could roughly guess that the room was for the girls.


    "This is the girl''s room and we have our own bathroom and the opposite door is for the lads. Now get in the bathroom and clean those musty dirt off your skin." Zephyra pointed towards the bathroom and she slowly walked to the bathroom. She entered and closed the door behind her, taking in the sight.


    The tiles were a bit old, the mirror was broken on one side and the shower was by one side of the bathroom with a bathrobe hung on the wall.


    ''How did I end up like this?''


    Acacia ran her fingers through her hair and noticed her fingers tangled a bit in her hair. She raised a brow at the length.


    ''It was definitely short.''


    She moved towards the mirror and her hands slowly touched her face, her eyes watching her reflection in disbelief. Her hair was longer and disheveled, her eyes were cerise in colour and seemed to change from red and pink as she moved her face in different directions to stare at her facial features.


    ''Why do I look so different, my memories might be foggy but I know what I looked like before. Well, I don''t look that different, just eye color change and long hair.''


    She thought as she continued to inspect her face and noticed a black flower mark underneath her right eye. She rubbed it but it didn''t clean off, she then pinched her skin and winced at the pain.


    "I guess it''s stuck there." She muttered and rubbed her skin, soothing it. She then turned around and faced her back to the mirror, a long pair of black butterfly wings with red patterns attached to her back.


    "Now, how did I get these?" Acacia muttered to herself and moved her back muscles causing the wings to flutter slightly.


    "Everything is so confusing." She stripped off from her clothes, turned on the tap and watched as the water filled the tub before entering inside.


    She washed her hair thoroughly and scrubbed her skin until it was clean. She came out of the bathroom wrapped in a clean towel with her worn out uniform in her hands.


    "Ah, there you are! You look prettier now that you are clean, here is a bag of clothes. You can pick up your choice since most of the clothes in here are clothes we don''t need so we just kept them for future use." Zephyra grinned and pulled the bag towards a new mate by another corner of the room.


    ''Huh? I clearly remember two mats''


    "Is that for me?" Acacia asked.


    "Yup, you need a place to sleep if you are going to stay here from now on. Meet us downstairs when you are ready." She replied in a casual tone and left the room.


    "That was nice." Acacia smiled at herself and walked towards her mat to get dressed. She dressed up in a baggy black and baggy sweatpants. Her wings felt uncomfortable underneath the top.


    ''This is going to take a while to get used to but now that I think about it. What happened to Encer? The earthquake? Why can''t I remember? I''ll have to ask them if they know anything and ask about these weird wings on my back.''


    ? You can ask them everything except for the changes on your bodies.?


    ''....Did I just hear a man in my head? Am I going crazy?''


    ? No, you are not going crazy. I am in your head, your soul to be more precise.?


    ''How on earth did you get inside my soul? Why are you in my soul? Are you the reason I lost my memories? Did you change my eye color? Who are you?''


    ? Slow down with the questions, you brat! You accepted me inside your soul and our souls bonded causing the changes on your body. You lost your memories because you were far too weak to handle our bond and my powers. So much that you took a really damn long nap before your body could change.?


    ''Why did I accept you?''


    ? Because you were died and I had to bring you back.?


    Acacia was silent and didn''t say anything for a moment and her heart started to race. She clenched her fists and felt a mix of anger and sadness.


    ''Can you tell me what happened?''


    ? No, you have to earn your memories.


    ''Earn them? They are my memories and I have the right to know what happened.''


    ? And I don''t care, either work for them or wait until your brain aches. ?


    ''.... how can I earn them?''


    ? By training.?


    ''Training for what?''


    ? Survival.?


    ''Well, I''m not a fighter. So, is there another way?''


    ? No, we will discuss more of your training later. For now, get acquainted with the humans downstairs but don''t under any circumstances tell them about me or that you looked different before. ?


    ''Why?''


    ? Because humans are dangerous and I don''t trust them. Now shoo, I have things to do.?


    ''Huh? Hello? Man in my head! What on earth do you have to do in my soul?!''


    Acacia called out in her head but got no response, she sighed and grumbled under her breath in frustration. She decided to leave the room and headed downstairs and saw them arranging a table with different foods and plates. She raised her head and looked around the place.


    ''I guess they made the abandoned building their home but why? Encer provides for everyone even those in the lower class.''


    She stared around and noticed the worn out couches, the painting on the walls and lots of tools and crystals. There was a karaoke machine by one corner and two different bean bags.


    "Finally came down, come over." Zephyra gestured for her to come as everyone took their seats.


    Acacia quickly walked towards the table and dragged out a chair and sat next to Maximus and Elric while Zephyra sat at the head of the table.


    "Now let''s feast! Congrats on joining us and we hope you stay with us for a long time." Zephyra cheered and took a sip of water from her glass.


    "Uh... thank you." Acacia replied in a soft voice and felt a bit awkward with the stares directed at her. She looked down at her plate and squinted her eyes, she picked up her fork and poked the meat that was green in colour.


    "It''s a forest raphat, extremely delicious but hard to hunt." Kel mentioned as he took notice of her expression.


    ''Hunt? Why would they need to hunt, something is wrong here.''


    "I see." Acacia asked with curiosity and confusion. She decided to cut a small piece and chew on it, surprisingly tastier than she imagined.


    "So, how did you get stuck in whatever that thing was." Elric asked with a hint of suspicion.


    "I don''t know, I was running away from something with someone? There were earthquakes and monsters everywhere but I don''t remember what happened after." Acacia replied as she ate with impatience and focused on her food.


    "Uh...that was three years ago." Jahir said as he adjusted his glasses.


    "What?" Acacia slowly stopped eating and her lips parted in surprise as she noticed everyone''s gaze on her.


    "Cool!" Kel mumbled out with his mouth full of food.


    "Stop talking with your mouth full." Jahir snapped at Kel.


    ''Three years?! I was asleep for three years?''


    "The earthquake and monsters happened three years ago. There is no way you were stuck there for three years and you didn''t die from hunger." Bella added and narrowed her gaze at Acacia.


    "Maybe a monster kept her inside and died before it could eat her. Like storing its food and maybe it affected her memory." Jahir put his hand underneath his chin as he thought about it.


    ''I need answers from that man.''


    Acacia made a mental note to try and persuade the man in her head or rather soul. In the meantime, she will have to keep that part about her a secret.


    "....I don''t know, maybe that''s what happened?" Acacia rubbed her face and sighed.


    "We can discuss this after dinner, please. It''s a feast not an investigation." Zephyra spoke out and everyone immediately focused on their food.


    Acacia felt her stomach grumbling and decided to just focus on her food for now. Tomorrow, she must find out about everything.