Cue the magical flashback noises!

Now, what I'm about to explain to you is what I saw in Lydia's memory. Long story short, we fused for a few minutes (it's really not something one should do on a regular basis) and she gave me access to her memories. I was seeing what happened as though I was there. Don't be surprised if your image of the Lost City of Atlantis changed after you hear what I saw.

Anyway, on with the story!

* * * * * * * *

Opening my eyes and finding myself in someone elses body was probably the strangest thing I had ever experienced. [Yes, Ly, I did realise how you felt. Now shush. I'm trying to tell the nice listeners a story and you're interupting it . . . Well, you can't tell it yourself because your voice can't be heard over a recording, so you're just gonna have to deal.] Okay, now that the little interuption has gone, I'm going to start from the beginning. Again . . .

Take two with hopefully no interuptions this time.

Opening my eyes and finding myself in someone elses body was probably the strangest thing I have ever experienced, and I've experienced some pretty weird shit. For some reason, the first thing I did was look down. I was wearing a long black dress. It wasn't very impressive, but I do have to admit that it was very confortable. There were no sleeves, instead black ribbons twisting down my pale arms to my wrists. I could feel the cold stone of wherever I was under my feet, making it clear I was barefooted. Almost unconciously, I grasped a strand of hair. It was blonde.

That was when I actually took in my surroundings. I was standing in the middle of stone ruins. The smoldering told me the building had been destroyed recently. Rising smoke in the distance made it clear this was not the only place, as did the wails. I foudn myself running in the direction of one particular plume of smoke, only to find nothing left when I got there. What the hell is going on?

"Lydia!" I spun at the sound of her - my name. There was a man running towards me. I found myself unable to move, only taking in his appearance. Like me, he was dressed in black - black shirt, black pants - and barefooted. His tawny hair was tied at the nape and streamed behind him as he ran. The second he reached me, he grasped my hands. "I saw the smoke coming from your house and I feared for the worst!"

"I am okay," she - I assured him. Ugh! This is confusing!

The man squeezed my hands before pulling me into a tight hug. A loud bang in the distance and we pulled apart. "We have to run."

"But what's happening?"

He looked around, still holding one of my hands firmly. "The enemy attempted to seige our city and -"

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"What!"

"Shush!"

His free hand went over my mouth as he pulled me into the corner of the ruins we were standing in. We peaked silently through a small hole. There were strange glowing beings streaming past our hiding spot. When they passed, the man turned back to me.

"As I was saying, the enemy attempted to seige our city. They broke the crystal barrier."

My eyes widened. "Don't they know what that is?"

He shook his head. "The second it broke, they were released. They took the enemy into the next world then begun to destory the city as punishment for the crystal barrier's destruction."

I pulled away from the man, beginning to rub my arms. I could feel a rising panic inside me. "If the spirits were released because of that, why are they attacking us?" I spread my arms. "We're innocent!"

"A lot of them were heading for the mountain." He pulled me back into the corner as the ground beneath us shook, the both of us holding onto the remaining corner of the building until it passed. The man seemed to be as close to panicking as I was. "The gods are mad," he murmured. "They are helping the spirits destory our city."

"Is there nothing we can do?"

The man took my hand once again, entwining our fingers before kissing me firmly. I won't deny how off guard that took me. "We run. Together." I could almost see the plan forming in his mind. "We go to the Docks and we leave. That's what others are doing. Some were already leaving, but I refused to go with out you."

Okay," I said. "Okay, let's go."

I had no idea how far it was the the Docks but my body - Lydia's body - knew the way. Every now and then, the ground would shake. It was so hard to run with that happening. There was a massive bang in the distance and a shockwave swept us off our feet. I shook my now-unbound hair out of my face and pushed myself to my feet, the man staying close beside me as we ran.

The sky became dark. The part of me that was still, well, me, knew it was the ash cloud coming from the volcano. The "mountain" they had been talking about was what had created that loud bang as it erupted. A fire-like glow behind us gave me all the motivation I needed to keep on running, though I had a hunch I knew what was about to happen. I had enough time to think I hate being right before it did.

Lydia - myself - and the man had just reached the coastline when it happened. A massive stone landed in front of me. I could feel the heat from it though I was very much in shock. The man pulled me out of the way just before a second hit where I had been standing moments ago. There was another ground shaking earthquake, bringing down more buildings in a matter of seconds. Crack began appearing in the stone we were running on. One more tremor was all it took.

The ground split. I was on one side and the man had just managed to leap to the other side. He held his hand out to me. "Jump, Lydia."

I felt myself nod, taking a few steps back and beginning to run. The ground shook again. I fell just short of the ever-widening crevasse. It was too far now. "Go!" I yelled at him. He only stared. "I'll meet you at the Docks!" I knew I - she - was lying. There was no way for me to get to the Docks now. I was cut off. "Please, Ryan! You have to go now!"

The ground I was standing on shook again. I felt it beginng to fall into into the ocean beside me. I slipped at the sudden change of angle. I shreiked, stuggling to find something to hang onto. There was nothing. The man - Ryan - called out my name as I fell into the freezing water - the stone walkway I had been standing on seconds ago now on top of me. The impact was enough to knock me out.