╔═══════════════╗
PROLOGUE 
the smell of ocean water
╚═══════════════╝

The thunder woke him.

Corvus's eyes shot open — wide and frantic — at the sound of thousands of raindrops falling onto the roof above. Sitting up instantly, his sweaty skin peeled uncomfortably off the tiled floor and felt strangely numb against his body. Black, fuzzy dots flooded his vision while his head became light and blurry from a blood rush at the quick movements. Trying to blink the sleepiness away, Corvus rubbed harshly at his eyes and tried to get his vision to adjust to the absence of light.  He felt underneath his hands a very smooth, cold, metallic surface that he was not familiar with, but at the same time, all too familiar to the touch.

Why was he on the floor?

A sudden streak of lightning lit up the scene for a split second, but during that quick second Corvus was able to make out a body sitting a few feet across from himself. The sudden presence of another person caused a scared and sharp intake of breath to be taken in and his blood to run cold in his cheeks. He waited in a tense silence for the person to say something, but they remained completely wordless and all he could hear was the rain and the echoing of his own frightened breaths. His body felt unnerved by the other person and he tried to quietly scoot himself backwards, but his back hit a wall and he couldn't move anywhere else. An overwhelming feeling of helplessness crushed him as he realized he had no idea where he was.

Another flash of lightning lit up the room and the other person was shown again, but this time, they were further away. As Corvus's eyes start to get adjusted to the dark, he could see the other person sitting the exact same way as he was. He could see a boy's features; he was a tall-looking, lanky boy who's pale skin clung to his bones with a head full of long dirty looking white hair that was brown at the bottom and hung to his shoulders. He was copying Corvus. Every time Corvus moved, the blonde boy did, and in the exact same way. His eyebrows furrowed, and an idea popped into his head. Corvus swallowed a lump in his throat and waved his shaking hand — the person waved back at the exact same time.

It was a reflection. Pushing himself forward, he got close and looked in the mirror. He saw he had a thin, pointed nose, sunken silvery eyes, and prominent, high cheekbones that made his cheeks look hallow; he felt his stomach drop when he realized that it was his own reflection, and he had no idea what he even looked like. He ran his hands over his face and felt of his features, why couldn't he remember what he looked like?

Another streak of lightning illuminated where he was; a room full of reflections.

Repetitions of his same, unfamiliar face and thin frame was surrounding him on every wall, highlighting every move he made. Frantically looking for a different reflection, he saw the door leading out into the pouring storm outside. The door seemed to be wide open, that's what caused the loud clattering of rain to echo all around him; Corvus decided there must be answers for him out there. His heart began to thump against his chest as he attempted to stand and make his way towards the door, but his legs failed. He crumpled to the ground loudly with a smack as his hands slapped against the floor. Cursing under his breath, Corvus looked down at his bony legs in exasperation as annoyance flooded his system. His own body wouldn't work with him; almost like it wasn't even his own.

With a grunt, he took a deep breath and used a nearby wall to shakily push himself up. All of his bones popped and creaked as he moved -- his joints felt extremely sore and his arms felt like jelly as he used the wall for balance. As he took a few steps towards the exit, he unexpectedly bumped into something hard. Stumbling backward and almost loosing his balance, his mind couldn't really comprehend what had just happened. Rubbing his bruising forehead, his other hand reached forward and was met with another mirror, angled so it looked like the exit was right there when it actually wasn't. It was a trick. With a deep frown, he looked around and saw there were multiple mirrors that looked like this, tricks, so it was hard to leave.

"Hello?" he fearfully called out, he was surprise about how his own voice seemed so foreign on his tongue. Why was he here, did someone put him here? As his heart started to beat faster and his breath quickened, he blindly stumbled around the room, slapping against countless mirrors trying to find the actual exit, internally begging there actually was one. The rain beat down continuously and the loud echoing in the room made Corvus even more confused. Finally, as he went to what he thought was another reflection of the exit, he fell through the doorway and tripped down a small staircase leading outside the room full of mirrors. He felt every step collide into his body, definitely leaving more bruises, as he rolled down, trying not to hit his head.

Eventually, he hit a puddle of thick mud, which barely broke his fall, as he crashed into the earth. He sat there for a moment, realizing what had just happened and groaned in pain. His teeth immediately started to chatter as his body quickly became soaked with rain and cold mud. Moving slowly to avoid making his injuries any worse than they were, he stood up. Corvus clutched his right elbow, which must have hit a stair particularly hard by how much it was pulsing underneath his skin, and limped forward a few steps. He turned to look at the building he was just in, shielding his eyes from the rain with his hand. It was bright and colorfully painted with people with round red noses smiling with strange makeup on their faces. Across the front in big bold letters, it read:

"FUNKO'S FUN HOUSE OF WONDERS!"

The building made Corvus's stomach knot as he stared at the paintings and wondered the origin of it, the purpose of it. Why would anyone want to go into a room full of mirrors? He turned away and tried to put as much distance between the fun house and himself as he looked around and he soon realized that every building surrounding him was similar in colors and were adorned in blinking lights that lit up the street with a bright yellow hue.

"Is anyone there?" he asked again, desperate to hear he wasn't alone.

Why was he in this place?

A large noise caught his attention and a strong smell of salt stung his noise suddenly; he was near the ocean. Why was he near the ocean, did he live near here? The body of water to the left of him, at least a mile away, looked restless and angry as it's dark grey waves crashed onto the shore with vigor. The storm made them look dangerous, but Corvus was not focused on the lethality of the ocean in a storm. He couldn't focus on anything but figuring out where he was and why he couldn't remember anything.

There's was cool, black asphalt underneath his bare feet, trash and grime littered the street he was now currently walking on. Trying not to fall down every few seconds without anything to steady himself against the harsh winds that continued to whip his long hair in all kinds of ways, he walked through the street. Large machines covered in glittering lights surrounded him, all full of seats like they are supposed to be ridden in some way, but Corvus couldn't imagine how they could ever be ridden. As he searched the machines almost erratically after seeing that there was no one nearby, he found a large sign that displayed a map. There was a green dot that said that's where he was, and he looked at the top to see the title of the place he was in.

"WELCOME TO SIX FLAGS AMUSEMENT PARK!"

A park. That's where he was. Corvus knew that people went to parks. There was a dot that was labeled 'security center', and that's where he was now heading. It took a little while to get there, but he finally made it to a building that looked more normal than the others and he knocked on the door.

"Hello?" he muttered, his voice sounding like it was being carried away by the storm. As he listened, he hugged his body and shivered violently. When there was no response, he called out as loud as he could and slammed his fist against the door, "Hello?! Is anyone there? Please, I need help!"

As he let out a shuddering breath, he punched the door. And then again, and again, and again until his knuckles were bleeding and covered in red and black bruises. Screaming until his throat felt like it was being ripped in half, Corvus continued to strain himself hoping -- praying -- that anyone would be able to hear him and come to his aid. 

"Please, op-open the door! Y-You've got to let me in! Please, I-I-I don't know where I am, I don't know w-who I am, please, please! LET ME IN! PLEASE!"

His next shout was caught in his throat by a sob that he couldn't hold in anymore. Letting it all out, Corvus collapsed against the door, his tears mixing with the rain as he continued to defeatedly pat his hand against the door, mumbling to himself as he felt himself getting very exhausted. 

"I don't know who I am. Please, help me. I don't know who I am. I don't know who I am."