Fragments of Ash Vol. 3 (Urban Fantasy)

Chapter Two: Awakening

Ada could see the steam coming from her breath. She shivered, she had found herself in a mysterious room, small and isolated. The room was pale white with frosted up walls, a bright light at the centre of the room lit the whole room up far too brightly, Ada had to cover her eyes for a moment as she got up from the hard, plain bed that she was lying down on.

She looked at her body, she was naked, but it was weird, there was a mirror right in front of her and the image there showed her in her bounty hunter garb. She had her sword in her hand and her hair was scruffy, her face was furrowed, constantly frowning. There was a mirror to her left, this one looked like the girl from before the war, before the scar, her before it had all happened; on the right, herself during the days when she couldn't bring herself to kill, back when she would wander the war-torn earth stealing books and studying magic. The scholarly side of herself that was breeding itself to be a killer. This was the side of herself that told her not to kill, she hadn't seen it in a while...

"Good morning. How are you doing?" said a voice echoing from around the room. No speakers, Ada wasn't sure where the sound was coming from,

"What the hell is this!?" Ada exclaimed,

"Oh my, so violent. It seems Amelia was right about this one."

"The hell you talking about? Are you the one who trapped me here?"

"We didn't trap you; we created you."

"Created me!?" Ada frowned, "what do you mean?"

"You were only born a few minutes ago. We haven't even named you yet!"

Ada had no idea what was going on, were they teasing her? Maybe they had her confused with someone else,

"My name's Ada," she said bluntly, "and I don't like being messed around with."

There was no reply for a while, it sounded like the voice was conferring with some other voices,

"Sorry," the voice finally replied, "did you say you had a name?"

"Of course I do. It's Ada. Now let me out, I've got a mission to follow, and friends to be with. God knows how worried they must be right now..."

"I'm sorry 'Ada' but you honestly were created. Whatever nonsense you're saying right now is a form of delirium."

"No... I was fighting some psycho called Amelia, and then she trapped me, then I talked to god, but actually it wasn't god, and..." it was a blur, "how the hell did I get here!?"

"God?"

"Ugh, forget that part."

"So you still remember meeting Amelia? How curious. Most people lose their memory at this stage... After all, memories are locked to the physical brain."

"Ok, invisible man. If I were to humour you, would you tell me what you meant when you said you created me?"

"Of course. After all you won't be able to make a conscious choice about this without all the facts."

"Alright, tell me already."

"I suppose there are a few gaps I don't need to fill, seeing as you somehow already know a lot. Do you by any chance know what Spell Fencers are?"

"Yeah, Soldiers that specialise in certain magics. They can cast spells instantly. No runes or incantions."

"Exactly; or, to be more accurate, magic was created for the sole purpose of powering creatures like our Spell Fencers. The gods used this technology to power their golems, but we've perfected it. We can make actual people with powers comparable to golems. Actual beings with conscious thought who can use magical attacks."