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Jason was lost.
There was no other way to say it. There was no other beginning to this. As he walked the well-trodden path from the shore of the lake, he watched Oriana's figure ahead of him, pausing to look at the fields and raising a hand to shield her face from the sunlight. Her dark hair whipped behind her like a black banner against the luminous sky. She looked golden under all that light. Of the sea of faces that surrounded him, she was the only one he recognized, the only inkling of familiarity in the blankness of his memory. Everything else was dark but she emerged, reminding him of what he had lost. If she was the only thing he remembered — a familiar stranger that walked with him and echoed in his head — he needed to know why he dreamt of her. There had to be a reason. She was the key. He supposed that he might not be the answer she was looking for but she could be his.
Catching up to her, Jason walked up and as soon as he was by her side, he asked, "Why did I dream of you?"
Oriana sighed, casting him a side-long glance. "I wish you hadn't said anything."
"I was told I can ask you whatever I want."
"Well, anything but that," Oriana said, kicking rocks as she walked ahead.
Jason stumbled, trying to catch up. "Wait — come on, I'm lost. I'm not supposed to be here."
"I gathered that," she said. "You're not like us, Jason."
"Exactly! Thank you," he said. "So, how long am I supposed to stay? I have to find where I need to go."
Oriana snorted in amusement. "Good luck with that, golden boy."
"Can you please stop calling me—"
"Unless you suddenly remember who you are and where you're supposed to be, you are going to be stuck here for the time being." Oriana watched as a frown formed on his face. "Don't give me that look. You'd be much safer in camp anyway. Do you think you can take on those storm spirits on your own? There are many other dangers that will eat you alive out there. You won't last a day."
"I just think you have the wrong guy," Jason tried to tell her, and something in his voice made her stop in her tracks, "I... I don't think I belong here. Why am I here?"
"Why the fuck does anything happen to people like us?" Oriana asked exasperatedly. "This entire world is the reason. Your blood is the reason. It doesn't go much deeper than that."
At her explosion, Jason went silent. "You think so bitterly of all this."
