As I rouse from a heavy slumber, I am first aware of the coolness of the air and it's loamy fragrance. The ground is lumpy as if I were on a bed of earth and rocks. My clothes feel as damp as a flower in the dew of the dawn. I half wonder if I'm still dreaming as I sit up to take in the shafts of light that burst through the gaps in the leaf canopy above.
It would've been a lovely sight, if it wasn't for the realization that it wasn't the egg-yolk sun shinning it's warmth down and through the leaves above me, but instead, a small fire dancing inside a glass cage as the metal handles was held by a person standing beside my tired body. I felt my body tense at the touch of Ice emitting from their long fingers.
" What happened to you? " A cool yet cold voice spoke, sending shivers down my spine as he placed one of his hand beneath my back in order to pull me up. I followed the movement of his other hand as it went down to place the lantern down on the soft grass. The light from inside illuminated the grass, revealing it's differentiated shades of green.
" Samantha. " He called.
I closed my eyes, trying to find the specific answer out of my head to determine who he was, I swore I've heard his voice before.
" Schlatt? " I whispered, a wave of relief splashing over me as I slowly move my head, locking gazes with his deep eyes. He looked at me for a mere second before pulling his arms off of my body. Despite the lack of light, the lantern's faint light illumined his empty gaze perfectly, somehow making me feel afraid and made me clutch my arm gently.
" What are you doing here? " Schlatt asked with displeased look. The look of his stare immediately scaring me.
I looked away and took a second to register my surrounding. My eyes slightly widened as I stare at nothing but trees and darkness, while the bright sun's shine could be seen emitting from behind the tall mountain from afar, mixing with the dark skies. It was already at the crack of dawn, yet I'm here laying outside with no idea how I even got myself in to this.
" I-I don't know, Schlatt. " I responded and wrapped my hands around my head, feeling the heat transferring to my palms along with the strong pulse from the veins as the headache eventually came.
" You don't know? " He repeated in a questioning matter, frowning even more with an irritated groan slipping pass his lips. His hand raised and wiped it down to his face before grabbing my wrist. " Just- Get up. "
I felt myself shoot up from the ground as the force of his arm managed to pull me up. Schlatt gave me no time to process, making my headache worse. My legs failed to follow quickly as I kept stumbling here, and there, earning quite a look from him as he yanked me forward. With how fast we were both walking, it almost seemed that he was in a hurry, making me concerned as I looked around. No one was awake and most definitely inside their quarters, even our enemies would probably choose a better time than this. So, why is he in a hurry?
Upon reaching the door to the White house, he pushed it open, revealing Quackity sitting in front of a table filled with a messy pile of parchment. He didn't seem to notice us first, before he stood up and finally noticed us. His eyebrows raised while giving us each questioning looks.
" Can you grab the aid kit. " Schlatt asked- ordered, rather as he didn't even spare Quackity a requesting smile or simply just a glance of acknowledgement. Quackity left the room, while I was sat on one of the couch, slightly feeling bad for Quackity. I was now staring at the pile, realizing that this was all garbage that he need to clean, by himself.
As soon as Quackity came back, Schlatt left the room to enter his office. Both, him and I, exchanged looks of confusion. I was half-expecting Schlatt would do it instead, considering that Quackity already had a lot in his hands. He couldn't help but sigh tiredly before crouching down in front of me.
" You're a mess, what happened to you? " Quackity asked quietly, his voice so little that I failed to get it the first time.
" I don't know either. " I answered while watching him wrap fresh bandages around deep, long lines from all sides of both arms. I immediately stopped his hand to inspect the wound that I thought were just scars from before, when now it was bleeding after being re-opened. My eyes caught his Adam's apple moving up and down, swallowing thickly.
" Why is this bleeding? " I asked as I touched most of it, causing the blood to stain my pale hands. Not only did it surprise me, but confused me as well as I didn't even feel any of it before now.
Is it the reason why Schlatt was in a hurry a while ago?
" You're wasting blood. " Quackity wrapped his fingers around my arm gently and started continuing to wrap the bandages over the deep, bleeding wounds.
" I never knew I had more scars, fresh even... " I mumbled lowly, as my eyes followed each lines of the wound that most of it ended up on my shoulders. By the end of it, most of the skin on my arms were almost non-existent. I planned to stand up, when my knees bumped in to Quackity, who I expected to leave me immediately as we both never took the time to acknowledge each other, unless under orders from Schlatt.
" He's fooling you. "
I frowned. " Who is? "
His hand tightened around my wrist before falling down to my palm in order to pull me closer. By the corner of my eye, I saw him move closer to my ear.
" He's the cause of your scars, and you still chose to stand by his side. "
" I don't get you, Quackity. " I responded and attempted to move away, when I felt his hand tug on my arm, locking me in place.
" Do you really choose Manburg, " He started, feeling his breath brushing against my ear, sending shivers all over my body. I didn't like the sound of his voice, neither his words. " -over your family? "
I looked down, my breath hitched. " Family...? " I couldn't get it, the only man I knew as close to a family was Schlatt. After all, I knew no one but him.
All of a sudden, my head started to beat along with my heart, making ringing sounds go through an ear to the other. My body flinched at the ear-piercing sound as I close my eyes in attempt to ignore it, both the pain in my head and the sounds. The longer the second, the more it worsened, turning in to muffled sounds of voices, but none of it was clear enough to understand. I clenched my jaw and re-opened my eyes to a sight of a blurry room. My free hand made it's way to my eyes, feeling the salty liquid running down my cheeks.
" W-What? " I pulled away and stared down at my hands, watching each tear from my eyes dropping down on my palms. My face held a visible confusion, as I grew confused to why I felt the way I am now. I couldn't bare the heavinesss of my heart, causing the tears to spill even more. I pulled my head up and stared at Quackity with teary eyes.
Instead of seeing his emotionless face that he always wore whenever him and I were the only ones inside a room, his eyes finally lit up in emotions, but it wasn't what I was expecting. There was, sorrow, anger and mostly..guilt. why?
" He is not your family, this is not the place you should even call home...it's way far from it! " Quackity suddenly raised his voice and glared deeply in to my eyes. " Go back, find them- escape, don't be as foolish as me, Sam. " With our hands still connected, he tightened his hold on it, as if trying to wake me up.
I still couldn't understand him, but my tears worsened along with the painful pang in my heart. He must've seen the look on my face, making him groan out in frustration. My eyes remained fixated on the guy as I continued to listen to his low mumbles.
" Why can't you just remember..?! " He whispered loudly. It was obvious he was now letting his guilt and anger mix, which wasn't the best idea to anyone.
" Remember? " I asked while blankly staring at the floor.
" ...book. " He said, and I looked up. The look on his face was obvious that something dawned on him, something that seemed good enough to wash the bad things away in his head and apply a relieved smile on his face. He stood up and walked towards a room, opening it before slightly closing the door. I heard shuffled sounds, obvious that he was searching for something from inside.
At last, Quackity exited the room and walked towards me, carrying a small book in his hands before crouching in front of me as I look down at him. My eyes followed the book, the tears stopped as I couldn't help but touch it.
I stared at it, reading the words in a whisper- " L'manburg. "
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so what do you guys think? will she be able to read it and finally remember? ah im honestly so exited about this! i can't wait to show you all the next chapter(s)
btw this chapter might be a little confusing for some but dont worry, i planned to explain everything on the next chapter!
and if you couldn't tell, i went for a tangled type of vibe lmao and i absolutely adore that movie so if you did watch that (Big L for those who didn't) you'd probably know where i am going here.