Everything was black, black as a starless sky. Her body felt as if it were being thrown about like a plastic bag stuck in a wave of water that tossed it whichever direction the tide seemed fit. She did not fight the black winds. Instead, she allowed them to throw her body this way and that, as they took her far, far away from the world she thought she knew.

At a moment like this, the child would have thought she would be shaking as fear coursed through her veins like ice water. On the contrary, something else stirred in her bones with a much stronger vibration; something that not only stirred but shook her soul with a form of exhilaration she had never known before.

As the black wind of night tore her away from all she had ever known, she could sense something happening to her body as she flew. At first, it started off as a tingle in her back, which barely even occupied a thought in her head. However, the tingle in her back soon grew to a stabbing pain that made every part of her body tense in shock.

She broke the nothingness with an ear-bleeding cry that split the air itself--cracking the night into shards in her agony. If a human heart could have listened to the sound she made in her pain, it would have fallen to pieces in a second, for the sound was so pure and raw that it sent the black spinning in spirals of night.

Then, as soon as it had started, the pain was gone in a snap. Still tense and hardly believing the pain was gone, the child gasped for air as she attempted to fight the winds as sweat dripped from her brow.

Something new began to pull at her now: her long, brown hair. It felt as if it were on fire and the once soft brown curls now burned with tongues of flame that she could not set eyes on. The pain made her mind begin to become awfully fuzzy. The black seemed to be burning her thoughts, starting at the roots of her long hair and allowing the flames to scorch their way to her mind where they left her feeling fuzzy and not even capable of remembering her first name.

After that, it was over; all of it. Not a sound disrupted the silence of the black, not a scream, nor the rustling of bleeding wings. As soon as it had started, it was over, leaving her broken and confused until the black swallowed her whole and she was forced to fall deep into a nothingness sleep which could last forever.

***

Her eyes shot open. Everything felt wrong. Not a bone in her body felt the same. Her thoughts scrambled anxiously to find a detail that would tell her, where she was, or even who she was.

The child sat up from where she was lying and rubbed the sore eyes of someone she now called herself. Her brain searched for a logical explanation of who she was, how she had gotten here, where she had come from, or even where here was.

These questions choked her mind before she even had the time to examine her surroundings. The child forced her body to stand. Something was oh so wrong. No, everything was wrong. Even though her memory failed to tell her who she had been before now, a feeling remained in her bones. It was like a residue upon her heart.

Something tugged at her back; something heavy yet strong; something she felt she did not remember yet the girl was not entirely sure because she could not remember anything clearly. The girl turned her head and nearly jumped at the sight of them. Even though she did not know from whence she had come, she knew one thing: these had not been a part of her before and she was sure of that.

They were large, larger than her. There were designs covering the slick white things. These designs fell somewhere between what she believed to be a snowflake and a crack. The designs were black, disrupting the flow of the appearance of the things in an abrupt yet subtle kind of way. At the ends on the things, there were thick, horn-looking spikes that were sharp as knives and black as... night. They were wings; strong, heavy wings.

Their fierce, angelic, yet subtle appearance made the girl not help but smirk a little. She felt so weak, confused, and scared on the inside but these told a different story. They made her appear brave and strong, someone with a fire inside her soul that she somehow knew would not be put out no matter where she woke up.

In the corner of her eye, she caught sight of another part of herself, her hair! She almost wanted to laugh at the sight of it. It was loosely tied into the messiest braid that ever existed. However, it was not the messiness of the braid that caught her attention, it was the color... Her hair was the color of flames, a red-orange color that looked as if it would almost burn down the back of her black and white wings.

When it came to her colors, she was stunning and there was no denying that.

"You done checking yourself out, darlin'?" Someone from behind her laughed. The girl spun around in embarrassment--her cheeks as red as her hair. "Eh, don't worry about it, beautiful. The names Yadiel, you?"

She was frozen in surprise at the way he spoke. It was almost as if his strange accent attempted to mock her ignorance.

The child took a good look at the boy. The creature standing in front of her, Yadiel that is, appeared to have silver wings, slightly thinner than hers, yet longer. The creature had a paper-white skin tone that almost looked sickly and his eyes were a subtle gray with a hint of mischief in them.

"The name...?" Yadiel said, smirking a little as he said it. "Eh, you probably don't remember it anyway. Do... you remember anything at all...?" He smiled slightly, staring the girl down like a hunter stares at his prey.

"Uh- no- I- uh, don't remember anything?" the girl rushed, finding her voice. "Am I supposed to? Sorry, what is this place? I don't know my name, should I know it? Where am I? Can you help me get back to... uh, well where I came from?"

"Whoa, whoa, slow your roll, beautiful. Nah, you're not expected to know anything. It's natural, I just always like to see if the younglings remember a thing. Well, I didn't expect to ever be the one to introduce a youngling, but you know, mistakes happen. Anyway, sweetheart, you're now a Kellestri and this is Merveille. I know, I know. You're confused and want to go crying home to your mommy right now if you knew who she was so that you'll be safe from the scary wings and creepy creatures," he smirked, using a baby voice and putting on a pitiful face of mockery.

"No, I don't want to go home, it was awful there. And I don't know my mom. Never have." The words came out of her like vomit, uncontrolled and spasmodic. It felt like instinct and as soon as she had said it, she had no idea if it were true or not.

Yadiel's eyes grew wide as marbles. "You... remember?" He spat, almost shouting. He began to walk around her now, looking her up and down and mumbling something under his breath.

"No! Uh, I don't know it just came out. I swear. I don't know what came over me. Look, I don't remember anything. Well... I don't remember anything, except for feelings that is. I don't know!"

The girl's words did not sway Yadiel's stare whatsoever. He continued to look her up and down in suspicion. Eventually, he shrugged whatever he had been thinking off and looked into the girl's eyes.

"Well, Ms. Mystery, what's the name then?"

"Excuse me, sir? I told you I didn't know," the girl spoke frustrated, throwing her arms to her sides in annoyance.

"Of course, you don't know, beautiful, that's why you need to make one up! Just close your eyes for a second and listen to the breeze and it will tell you what you must be called."

The girl stared at Yadiel for a second as if he were out of his mind and then shrugged her thoughts off and did as he had told her. She allowed her eyelids to close and she opened her ears to all that was around her.

"ShnothesburgerRrRrRrrr"

Neha's brow creased in disappointment and then opened her eyes, "ShnothesburgerRrRrRrrr...?"

Like a balloon being popped, Yadiel burst out laughing at her. "Ha, you, you really though! Ha, I like this one! She's stupid enough to really think I wouldn't trick her! Ha!"

His face was bright red for he was laughing so hard now he could barely breathe. The girl, however, did not find the circumstances amusing whatsoever. She instead crossed her arms and tapped her foot, watching Yadiel make a fool of himself.

That was when she detected it. So silent and soft she wondered if it were anything more than the wind itself.

"Neha." She repeated softly as her gaze fell to the floor.

Yadiel stopped laughing and came to his senses and stared the girl dead in the face, that spark of humor still lurking in his gray eyes. "What'd you say, darlin'?"

"My name... it's Neha," she said, raising her eyes to meet his with not a spark of playfulness in them.

Yadiel's face turned whiter than before, which Neha was surprised was even possible. All humor and mockery drained from his eyes.

"What... what, you know your name, girl?"

"Yes, 

I Said My Name Is Neha."