Spirit of Life

[Nicolette Dia Vanille]

She woke up. Where was she? What happened? How much time had passed? So many questions.

She could not recall her name. She could not recall her past. She could not recall a word. Nothing. The only thing that remained in her mind was the moment of jumping into a some kind of blue nebula. And reality forming around her. It was beautiful and it was the only memory she had.

She opened her eyes. The first came the sight. She was in a dimly lit room with metal ceiling. Walls and floor also were made of the same iron-like substance, but without any trace of rust. She laid on a mat, covered with a blanket, but without any memory who might have laid her down here and helped her. Then, she started hearing sounds. In complete silence she heard short and regular metal-to-metal hits. And last came the smell. Pleasant, yet a bit pungent smell of ground herbs.

She turned her head to see the source of the noise. An older man crouched by an orange plant, picking parts of it and mashing them in a metal grinder. When he saw the girl wake up he moved closely to her.

"Lá! Faiea cuiveuth. Cairuthne hen aep saess enquiée. Ess'ath mil hi?"

She could only look blindly at the man, with absolutely no idea what he was saying. He looked friendly and with no intention to hurt her, so she relaxed. She just shrugged and shook her had.

"Etta?" His expression became more clouded as he pointed towards his head and shook. "Ist'ath munna? Ist'ath athné eneth?"

The girl realised he was talking about the state of her mind. She shook her head again. The man sighed.

"Enquett'ath," he said, then pointed at himself. "Ea."

She hesitated for a moment, but realised that the man was asking her to repeat. She pointed at herself as well. "Ea..."

"Ea essea Coivilissé," he introduced himself. "Ath?"

"Ea... ess-- essea..." She did not know her name. The man realised that.

"Ath n'istath athné eneth, etta? Hmmm," he pondered for a moment. "Ath essath... Nica... Nicolette. Enquett'ath. 'Ea essea Nicolette'."

She was given a new name. That was not difficult to figure out. And she liked it. It was beautiful. She didn't know where she was from, she didn't know who she was, it didn't matter. Her new life started here. She hesitated for a moment and smiled.

"Ea... Ea essea Nicolette."