Lexi's Legacy: A Daring Adventure in Ancient Legends of New Zealand

"Refreshing," I thought, as I took another sip of the ice cold water.

I had just finished a long day of hiking and exploring the New Zealand wilderness, and was sitting on a giant boulder near my camp. My pack - filled with my tent, sleeping bag, food and water - was perched behind me against a tree stump. It was beginning to get dark and the sun's rays were fading into nothingness, that eerie time between light and dark. The wind was picking up, sending leaves rustling on the forest floor; it must have been around 7pm or so.

I lit a cigarette and sat back on my rock, looking up at the sky. The stars were starting to poke out from between the wispy clouds, and they seemed particularly bright against a backdrop that was slowly turning black. It was peaceful; no sounds of traffic or passing cars, no sirens or voices in the distance. Just me, alone in nature.

I looked down at my pack again, leaning against the tree stump next to me. I got off my rock and walked over to it, then unzipped the top compartment. Inside was a small flashlight and some miscellaneous items - maps of South Canterbury that I'd bought at a gas station before leaving for this trip, extra batteries for the flashlight, a few granola bars that I hadn't eaten yet...

When I flipped through them, though, something caught my eye: A small box with what appeared to be a long necklace inside it. I didn't remember packing this into my backpack; in fact, I didn't even know where it came from. But as I picked it up and turned it over in my hand, I noticed that there were words etched onto the backside of it:

"Lexi." -R&W-

That was weird...I had never seen this necklace before in my life. Where did it come from? Why did someone leave me it? Maybe it belonged to one of these hikers that had gone missing...but still...why would anyone leave me their necklace? And how did they even know who I was? Never mind all that for now...let's just see if this thing works!

I opened up the box again to reveal what looked like an old key with an intricate design carved into its head. There were two holes in the necklace itself; one near the top end of it, presumably for hanging around one's neck if you wanted to wear it (which I didn't), and one near the bottom end of it which looked like it could possibly fit into those two holes on the key - but how could you put something like a key into a necklace? That made no sense! But whatever...I figured there must be some kind of trick to this thing...so let's see if there is!

As soon as I placed the key inside the hole at the bottom end of the necklace, however - BAM! - bright white lights flashed behind my eyelids as blinding pain rushed through my body! A powerful energy felt like it simultaneously surged through me from every direction all at once; my hands felt tingly and numb from being thrust forward in front of me; my legs went shaky underneath me as though they were about to give out from under me at any moment; my neck felt stiff and rigid as though frozen in place; and finally - wait..am I flying?! No...no..I'm falling down towards what appears to be a stone floor moving away from me quickly! What is going on?! There are too many sensations happening right now too understand anything clearly! Hmmm....that feels nice though....it's warm here....in fact....it feels like summer or spring here....wait...what? Summer? Spring? Where am I?! This can't be New Zealand anymore!! How can there be such hot weather here?! Wait...how long has it been since I left New Zealand? Wasn't it winter when I left?? What happened to all those months between then and now?? That doesn't make any sense!!