Memory of Lies

Road to Recovery

"Listen, I don't mean you any harm. We're stuck in the same situation for now. Might as well get to know each other?" Phil shrugged. Slowly, he sat down, and smiled warmly at the dragon. "My name's Phil. I've been in this cave for awhile" 

The dragon watched him carefully, sweeping the half of his tail he had left to clear the bones. He sat down carefully. 

"How can I be sure you wont hurt me, Phil?" The dragon asked. Phil sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Because if I was, I would've already" Phil replied, leaning his head back against the stone wall. 

The dragon relaxed just a moment. "Qwuen" he said. Phil looked up surprised.

"My name is Qwuen" the dragon said again. He sat down and looked away. 

"Now we're getting somewhere" Phil grinned "what brings you here Qwuen? Adventure? And it looks like something did a number on you too." 

Qwuen shook his head. "I came- I was looking for my sister" He mumbled.  "I went to a village to ask for help finding her, but- My sister said people were nice. That they didn't attack us like the hunters who come to the end do" 

Phil snorted and shook his head. "Humans are cruel, and very unusual creatures. Whoever your sister is, she's got her memories wrong" he said. "Humans are animals, just like everything else up here besides mobs. They're a hive mind type of deal. Always following one another. You probably caused a panic, and that's why they attacked you. You're lucky to have gotten away" 

Qwuen nodded silently. He looked down at his claws again and sighed. "How much do you know about the overworld?" he asked, looking up at Phil. "I mean, I've read books before, but there's so much here I didn't know about" 

Phil laughed. "We've got plenty of time before this rain lets up. Ask away" He said, smiling. He wouldn't admit it to himself, but it was nice to have someone to talk to.

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Colin watched Kye from across the table. It was silent in the dining hall, and even the guards around them seemed nervous. Nova was silent beside Kye, and Jonas was watching all of them from beside Colin, eyes narrowed. 

The doors slammed open as Endra walked in, a frustrated expression on her face as always. 

"Find anything?" Kye asked calmly, hands crossed on the table. Nova looked over too, calmer than the rest but not as calm as Kye seemed to be at that moment. She was always calm now, and always distant. 

"Nothing. Again" Endra growled, walking over. "Phil's disappeared and could be anywhere by now and he was the only one who knew where she is" 

"We'll find him eventually" Kye replied, adding a small smile in at the end. "In fact, he may just lead us to where we want to go" Slowly, she stood up. "Take the bounty on him down. We no longer want to catch him, we want him to go where he's going" 

Endra looked at her confused. "Where would he be going? He just seems to be wandering around"

"That's what he wants us to think" Kye smirked. "He's going home. And when he gets there, we get him"

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Crystal stared out of the window absentmindedly. The rain outside drizzled down in streams inches from her face, but she didn't seem bothered by it. 

Out in the kitchen Steve was cooking dinner. Every now and then he'd poke his head around the corner to look in, but she was always in the same state. Not moving, only blinking every now and then as she stared outside into the forest. 

After a while, Steve walked over with a cup of hot chocolate and offered it to her. Crystal looked up surprised, but took it carefully and took as sip as Steve sat down in the chair across from her window ledge seat. 

"You doing okay?" He asked gently. Crystal nodded and set the cup down. 

"I'm fine" she replied in a hoarse whisper. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders tighter. 

"you sure?" Steve asked pushing the point. Crystal looked back out the window and didn't respond. 

"You can tell me anything Crystal, you know that" Steve said, pushing it more "Please, you can't go through this alone"

Crystal sighed and looked over. Her grey eyes were full of tears as she looked back at him. 

"What's real?" she asked in a shaky voice. "What actually happened, and what didn't?" 

Steve smiled sympathetically. "well, let's sort through them. I can't be sure about a lot of it, but I can help with the majority" 

Crystal nodded. "Are you really my dad?" she asked quietly. Steve looked at her with a pained expression.

"No. I'm not" He replied "But I know who is"

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A/N Hey! I'm sorry to keep leaving you on cliff hangers like this but it's really fun.