Atlas

Volume 7 Ep. 8 - Shared Memories

"Mama! Mama! Auntie Fria's making the snowflakes dance!"

The young boy watches in awe as Fria plays with the snowflakes. The novice Winter Maiden would always visit her sister's family whenever she has the time.

"Careful, Y/N!" Fria stops him from touching the snow. "Remember what I said about my snow?" Fria asks her nephew. Y/N's eyes widen in realization. "I'm sorry, Auntie Fria... I forgot again..." Y/N apologizes.

"It's just like life, Y/N." Fria kindly smiles at him. "Whaaat?" Y/N breathes out in confusion, a little too young to understand life itself. "Watch... if something interrupts the flow..." Fria then curls her fingers, crushing the snowflake. Y/N's eyes watch in horror through the whole thing. "Oh no..." The boy whimpered.

"Then, something terrible will happen," Fria says with a serious tone. "But! If you contribute to the flow..." Fria unfurls her fingers and the snowflake starts to dance around her palm. She brings up her other hand and provided wind to the snowflake, causing it to fly higher into the air.

"Woooaaahhh..." Y/N says in awe. Fria chuckles at her nephew's exaggerated reactions. "I heard someone calling for me?" Y/N's mom enters the room. Overjoyed, Y/N turns to his mama and jumps up and down.

"Auntie Fria did the thing! She did the thing!!!" Y/N exclaimed as his mama gives her sister some tea. "You missed it...!" Y/N muttered. Y/N's mom chuckles to herself and sits next to her son.

"I've seen it many times already, Y/N." Y/N's mom tells him with a smile. "She's seen it many times that she's gotten tired of seeing it." Fria laughs. "That is not true." She scolds her older sister.

They all shared a good laugh as the adults sipped their tea. A thought came over Fria. She puts down her tea and looks over at her nephew. "Come over here, Y/N." Fria waves him over.

Y/N crawls over to his Auntie. Fria picks him up and places him on her lap. Y/N laughed out loud at his Auntie's cold touch. "Hold your hand out, Y/N," Fria tells him. Y/N does as he was asked and holds his hand out palm up.

"Now watch!" Fria exclaimed as she sneakily places her hand below his but a little farther away from his hand. A second later, it looked as if Y/N was the one who produced snow.

He started giggling to himself as he fiddled his fingers around, imitating his aunt. "This is so cool...!" Y/N mutters to himself.

Present

Fria's Hospital Room
Y/N

Ripping my hand away from her, I fell out of my chair and focused on catching my breath. "What was that?!" I shouted at her. "There's... there's no way that all of that was true!" I cried.

"There's no need to shout, child. I'll explain everything to the best of my abilities." Fria offered. "But... it felt real, and... I don't know anymore..." I mumbled to myself, gripping my hair.

"Child... Y/N... come here. Pick up your chair." Fria tells me. Shakily, I did as she told me to do. "Did you lose your memories, Y/N?" She asks me. 'There's no point in lying...' I told myself.

"I didn't lose them... they were stolen from me, for a good reason." I recovered. I look up to see that Fria wore a more serious face. "From who?" She asks.

'There's no point in lying...'

.

.

.

"Ozpin... he used his magic to seal away my memories." I truthfully answered. "And what of him now?" Fria asks. "He's... he's reincarnated." I answered. "So he has..." Fria muttered.

I looked up to her in confusion. She wears a kind smile and shakes her head. "It's to none of your concern, Y/N." She tells me. "But... may I see your hand again?" She asks.

"No more tricks." I tell her. "No more tricks." She smiles. I placed my full trust in her and held my left hand out. She grasps it with her two hands and closes her eyes.

Suddenly, soft blue energy seeps out of her arms and slowly makes its way up to me. With wide eyes, I try to rip my hands away, but Fria was too strong. After a few seconds, she finally lets go of my hand and falls to her bed.

"Auntie!" I called to her, standing from my chair. She slowly turns to me with a kind smile. "Not now, my child... this old lady needs her rest." She tells me before dozing off.

I stared at my left arm in fear.

'What did she do to me...?'