A bottle and a bean

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The Mermaid Lagoon looked more frightful now that I was alone. I approached the dark waters and looked into them. Despite the mist, I could see my own reflection. I'd almost forgotten how I did look like.

I stared at the waters for a few seconds. I saw quite a young girl. She looked quite pretty; she had very dark brown hair –almost black– and icy eyes.

But she also had dark, huge bags under her eyes, which seemed to have lost their mischievous spark. I remembered seeing her glad a long time ago. But she was weak and exhausted now, and her only and little trace of happiness was gone. Yeah, that was me. And my soul was now reflected on my appearance.

A tear threatened to fall down my cheek as I dropped to the ground hopelessly. My only friends had gone and I wasn't strong enough to face Pan alone. I was tired of him and I was tired of his game.

Suddenly, I overheard low voices which seemed to be chanting among the mist.

"Missing them already?" a voice questioned behind me. I instantly turned around to face Pan as I wiped my tears away. He couldn't see me like that. I was not willing to let him.

"What do you want now?" I asked careless and tiredly. He raised and eyebrow, blinking.

"Help you." Pan answered innocently. I shot him an skeptical look. "I'll give you something... something that will help you remember." he handed me a tiny bottle with some dark liquid inside.

"Remember what?" I demanded taking the small bottle. He smirked deviously.

"Your past, of course." Pan finally answered. "It will lead you straight to your aim." the bean, I thought. I looked at the bottle, considering his offer for a moment. But it couldn't be so easy. Not with him.

"If this is some kind of trap..." I began, glaring at him. He chuckled in response.

"I may not be the most... well-behaved boy on the island, but I always keep my promises." he looked at me deeply in the eyes and I felt shivers running down my spinal cord. "You'll find the path for finding what you want after drinking this."

I stared at the dark liquid. My past? Would I really remember my past? But when had I lost my memories though? I had been living in that horrible orphanage since I was a kid. I was told that I was found near the building, left alone, so that meant that my parents had abandoned me. Was that what I would remember if I drank that liquid? I rose the gaze again, but there was no one in front of me.

I bowed my head and gulped the lump in my throat. Could things get even worse? I didn't think so, not after all what had happened those last days.

I opened the tiny bottle and lifted it to my nose. It smelled awful. I gulped once again, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I brought the bottle to my lips and swallowed the liquid quickly. It tasted even worse than it smelled.

I opened my eyes again and watched as the world around me became gradually blurrier. I gasped, feeling the air I was breathing heavier and heavier. I closed my eyes as I sensed how my hand was taken by someone. I tried to focus on his figure, but it all was too confusing.

"I'll be just over here, Sienna." a voice whispered in my ear. His voice, calling my name.

***

I blinked drowsily and looked around. I seemed to be somewhere at quite a big harbor. What had just happened? I glanced at the scene around me; everyone was very busy going up and down the port, carrying fish and seafood boxes and other type of goods.

I walked towards a docked, small rowboat. There was quite an old man inside, picking up some sort of big bags and what seemed to be merchandise. He turned around and left his boat. I tried to look at him as friendly as I could.

"Excuse me," I began, but he didn't even notice me. I decided to continue anyways. "Could you please tell me what this... this place is?" the man looked back as his boat and said nothing.

He took his bag and was willing to go away, when an amazing thing took place. I stepped towards him as he faced me, but still didn't see me. Then, he started walking towards my direction and incredibly went through me. Literally, he went through my body. I turned around, scared, as he continued walking.

"I am a ghost." I realized widening my eyes in shock. How could it be possible?

I shook my head to set that thought aside. Suddenly, everything became clearer: I remembered myself drinking the liquid in the bottle that Pan had given to me. I remembered his voice whispering in my ear just before I had lost my consciousness. So that meant that, at that moment, I was wandering around my past.

I focused on the fact that no one was able to see me nor hear me, what apparently was an advantage. I decided to follow the man that had left the boat.

"Smee!" someone called out. The man –whose name I had just found out was Smee– turned around to face another man.

"Captain," Smee replied. "I got what you requested."

I turned to the direction that Smee was looking at. There was a man standing in front of him. He looked quite young –around his early thirties–, was rather tall and well-built. He had dark, bright, messy hair and a three-days-beard. His eyes were light blue as the sea, but they looked darker due to some unknown reason; there was a clear trace of sorrow and rancor in them. He was wearing a black, long coat. I looked at him with curiosity, he was quite handsome. Who was he?

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