Soon Owen and Scott woke up. The llama, despite having a tight bandage around his neck, craned its head to face Scott's bed and spit in his face. "Owen, I know you're happy I'm alive, but just stop spitting!" Scott sighed. He sat up and rubbed the green saliva off of his face. "Wait, is llama saliva green?" Grian asked. "Yes." Gem and Scott said at the same time. Then Scott shot the double take. "And why does Owen have a bandage around his neck?!"
"Sorry Scott for that concussion we gave you." False apologized. "And for accidentally slicing your llama. Apparently having a pvp match in a flower field wasn't such a good idea and now you've gotten hit in the head." Gem confusedly wondered what False was saying. She's lying. Why's she lying?
Scott narrowed his eyes at the hermit. "You're lying." He said. "I feel like I just had a concussion and maybe amnesia, but I clearly remember False from Cogsmeade trying to kill my llamas. So don't try to give me a false memory if that's what you're doing, because it won't work."
False clenched her teeth. "Why couldn't her amnesia potions have worked in our favor for once?" She muttered under her breath. Gem suddenly remembered the hermits talking about a potion used on Jevin that made him forget things.
Oh! That must be the potion that she just threw at us. Gem thought, remembering the shattered vials of elixirs that bad missed their mark lying wasted on the ground. False must have recognized them and tried to give Scott a false memory of what happened here so he wouldn't ask questions and get involved in this evil twin business. I can see why False doesn't trust him, but he's too cynical to get tricked so easy.
Once she saw she didn't need to be there any longer, False started to flee in the same direction her clone did. Cogsmeade. "Don't ask any questions, Scott!" She called over her shoulder as she ran away with the other hermits soon following suit. "I'm just going to stop her from hurting anyone else!" Scott just rolled his eyes and started to fiddled with his bouquet of poppies.
Gem turned and went with her fellow hermits blindly for a little while before she thought of Scott. He would need some answers and Gem didn't exactly want to leave him in this situation alone with his llamas.
And he might spill something important to the wrong person. She needed to warn him before he did anything rash, shifting into her princess persona because she thought it would be less suspicious for a fellow emperor to be running to tell Scott something important rather than a shady hermit.
Gem found him picking more poppies to add to his bouquet, or maybe to keep out of the way of hungry llamas, and then talking to Jimena. Gem didn't want the girl to know anything about what went on before the two Falses so she took Scott to his mega base to have a private conversation before he spilled the beans.
Gem had barely started to explain when she heard a creaking coming from outside the door. She shifted into her elf form as she flung open the door, ready for a fight just in case. Instead she found Jimena and a Siamese cat and she'd heard everything. Without thinking, Gem cast her magic and knocked the girl out.
Her head hit the floor with an alarming thud. Gem took a step back, letting the green light around her hands dissolve and fade away. Scott curiously poked his head out of the doorway to see who'd been spying on them.
"Jimena," He said, and he sounded like he wasn't surprised. "Did you knock her out or...?" "Of course I just knocked her out," Gem snapped, feeling slightly unhinged. "What, did you think I was going to kill a child? I'm not like them!"
"I wasn't implying anything like that, Gem," Scott said. "You're getting jumpy." Gem ignored him for a second and pressed her hand to Jimena's forehead, concentrating. Spirals of green wrapped around the little girl and Gem started to rearrange some memories.
"What are you doing?" Scott asked curiously. "Giving her a false memory." Gem explained. Weird, I'm not the only one who's been in Jimena's mind. The other two have been in here too. That can't mean anything good. "I'm giving her something else to believe because she can't just remember what I said about False." "Why?" Scott asked.
As Gem worked to create a false memory, being careful as she needed practice although that was the whole reason why she wasn't just wiping the girls memory, she explained the whole situation between the two Falses to Scott, who just absorbed it all silently. Once she was done, he said, "Why can't we ever have a normal server?"
Gem laughed. She smiled at Jimena and did the finishing touches on the false memory and then picked the girl up, with the Siamese cat hissing violently at her. "Hush, I'm not hurting her," Gem said to the cat, who didn't look like she believed her. "Scott, help me take her back to Cogsmeade."
"What's our cover story?" Scott asked as he did what he was told. "Jimena was walking the cat and got hit on the head by a rock. That happens a lot on Cogsmeade, right? Anyway, we were nearby and are taking her back to her house of anyone asks. And you handle her cat."
They arrived in Cogsmeade and set Jimena back in her bed in her house with the Siamese and exited to find the other hermits in False's surveillance tower, where Scott left to go check on his llamas and Gem rejoined her friends. "Gem, where were you?" Grian asked in concern.
"Nothing bad. I just went to explain stuff to Scott before he told anyone. And it's a good thing too; he was about to reveal things to Jimena." Gem said. "And he's trustworthy, False, at least to me." The elf added at the False's worried look. "Yeah, Scott's got a sense of honor and doesn't go back on his promises." Grian said.
"What happened with your clone?" Gem asked, hoping no one was hurt while she wasn't there to help, although everyone looked mostly fine. "She gave herself what I assume is an antidote for the poisonous poppies and then went back to sleep." False said. She sighed and held her head in her hands. "I thought I fixed her. But I apparently didn't. Now I'm starting to worry that she'll never be fixed."
"Let's not worry about that now," Cub said, not unkindly. "We need to get a meeting of all the hermits and emperors. We need to warn them that she's on a killing rampage in broad daylight." Everyone soon realized Cub was right. They needed to stop being so secretive about the evil clone. If she was now attacking people without worrying about secrecy... False nodded in agreement but didn't budge from her seat by the telescope. "You guys do that. I'm staying here to watch her."
---
Jimena was having the void dream. But it was different again. She wondered if she would continue to have these unpredictable dreams as she flew around looking for Qiron. Eventually she found herself in a familiar place. Her mind. The place with memories flashing by her as 4d images and where Grian and Qiron had fought. And Jimena had fought too, although it took her a while to remember that.
And then she saw him. Qiron. He was working his blue magic on some gray memories. He looked up and saw her. What are you doing here? Jimena asked. My brain feels fuzzy. <That's because your memories were replaced with a false memory.> Qiron answered, still using his power on gray pictures.
What?
<You heard me right, Herodias. What do you remember?>
I... there was a rock slide. A small one. But it was enough to knock me out.
<That was a false memory implanted by Gemini.>
Gem did that?
<Yes. I am currently working on fixing them. Now don't resist; it was hard enough to get in here with Xelqua's power keeping me out.>
I see a lot of blue memories. More than just you fixing the false memory Gem gave me. Jimena thought, glancing around her head and noting the profusion of memories awash in deep blue. Qiron tensed but continued to use his power. <What I am doing is none of your business. Now wake up.>
Jimena sat up in bed with Ginny curled up on her lap. The cat immediately meowed in relief when she saw that she was awake. Jimena didn't notice the cat, though, she was focused on memories that were currently being restored and flashing before her eyes.
It was like watching two movies projected on top of each other. The false memory of the rock slide tried to drown out the other memory, but eventually the real one won. And Jimena could remember. And then she got another pressing migraine. I really need to stop having mental issues.
When the pain had subsided she went to the kitchen where she found grand architect False cooking some bacon. "Oh, you're finally up." She said, them yelped in surprise when the girl rushed to hug her and squeeze her tightly.
"Oh! Um... good morning to you too, Jimena."
"Where were you?! I was out searching for you!"
"What are you talking about? I went out for a short walk while waiting for you to wake up. But wait, if you were asleep, how did you notice me gone?"
"You literally sleepwalked to Chromia with your eyes open!"
"I did? Jimena, I remember just having a normal walk and being completely awake."
Jimena opened her mouth but then shut it again. She didn't think she could explain anything right that second. So she sat down and ate her bacon. After a late breakfast that was actually lunch, she tried to go about her day as normal but she kept on thinking about Gem and Scott and False. Trying to calm down, she flew around a bit to unwind. And of course she flew into a certain pesky bird.
---
"Stop flying into me!" Grian and Jimena said at the same time when they crashed into each other. "How does this keep happening?" They muttered, also at the same time. "Good morning, Grian," Jimena said, not sounding very good herself. "It's actually afternoon." Grian said. "Anyway, goodbye!" He turned and flew off back to spawn to make it to that important meeting Cub made.
"Where are you going?" Jimena asked. "Meeting, and you're not invited." Grian said. "Oh, okay," Jimena said, hovering. After a pause, she suddenly said, "Trigger." "What?" Grian asked, not looking back. "Memory trigger," Jimena said. "Say it again." "What, meeting?" Grian asked. Jimena said nothing for a few seconds, and then she said, "I think I remember a Watcher meeting."
Grian whirled around to face her. "What?" Jimena continued, closing her eyes. "There was a meeting the last time I was with the Watchers. I don't remember what the meeting was about, but they told me to go here and I flew to Cogsmeade after that. Argh, why can't I remember anymore?!"
Grian blinked. "Hang on, that can't be what happened. The memory I saw showed you flying for your life from Qiron and he hurt you bad. You literally lost your memory because you crashed from your injuries. Or maybe it was the trauma amnesia thing Cub talked about." "I don't remember it happening that way." Jimena said, frowning. "I remember flying here perfectly fine and then landing perfectly fine."
"But that's not how it happened." Grian said. "How else did you think you lost your memories?" Jimena was silent for a few seconds until she spoke again. "I don't know. But I remember differently than what you told me." "Well, you're remembering wrong." Grian said. "Oh, this must be that psychological phenomenon called a 'false memory'. You just remember something different than what actually happened."
"False memory. False." Jimena said, as if trying out the words. Then she looked straight at Grian. "It doesn't feel like a false memory. I think you're lying." "What? Why would I?" Grian asked, taken aback. "I don't know, maybe to make me believe I left the Watchers." Jimena said somewhat coldly.
"What? But the whole reason why we peeked in your memories was to prove to me that you left the Watchers!" Grian exclaimed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Well, you haven't exactly helped me get more of my memories back, have you?" Jimena continued in the same flat tone.
"Yeah- but- that's because we're worried about your psyche!" Grian snapped. "Look what's happening to you! You can't tell your true memories from false memories and that's probably all because of me messing around in your head!" "Or maybe I'm finally seeing the truth and you don't want to believe it." Jimena said.
Then with an audible wince she held her head and Grian could tell from the fractured expression on her face that she was having another painful migraine. He flew closer to her in concern but she waved him away. "It will go away soon." She said, and soon enough her expression cleared up and she didn't look hurt at all.
"Jimena-" Grian started, reaching for her. She moved distinctly away. "Leave me alone for a bit." She said softly. "There's something going on inside my head and I think I need to sort it out myself. Go ahead to your meeting Qiron says it's rude to be late."
Before Grian could say anything else she flew away back to Cogsmeade. Grian watched her go with a sigh. He wanted to help the girl, but he just didn't know how. He glanced at his watch. The meeting at spawn was fast approaching and he was bordering being late. Then Jimena's words came back to him.
"'Qiron says it's rude to be late'." Grian said aloud. The gears in his mind began to turn. Something was wrong with Jimena and he was almost entirely sure it was 2's fault. Of course it was his fault. He was a Watcher after all. But Grian couldn't deal with all this just yet. There was a certain meeting be needed to get to and he was was probably not going to be on time.
Predictably, be arrived late. At least he wasn't the only one. All of the hermits were early because Hermitopia was right next to spawn and therefore the meeting area, but there were some empires that loved a little too far away for convenience.
Once everyone had arrived and had gotten comfortable, Cub went into the middle of the room and called for silence. "Look, there's something important we have to tell you guys. We've been keeping it a secret for a while but now it's been deemed too dangerous to not tell anyone."
There were quite a few murmurs at this. "Who's 'we'?" Someone asked. "Well, most of the hpermits, I guess," Cub said awkwardly, fiddling with his fingers. "But anyway, this is about False." "Our False or hermit False?" Asked Lizzie, who was intentionally seated very far away from any of the hermits because of her tag hat. No one wanted any murdery incidents.
"Well, kind of both. Look, it's a long story, but empress False has gone... insane and she's been going around killing people. Scott can tell you that she randomly went to Chromia and tried to kill his llamas." Everyone looked at Scott who nodded.
They started to panic somewhat, and Cub had to call for silence a lot while explained some of the other stuff about the two Falses, like how one was trying to stop the other and the clone's usage of amnesia potions. Shelby suddenly gasped loudly and everyone looked at her.
"My amnesia potions!" She blurted. "They went missing and I- False must've stolen them! Oh, this is all my fault!" She moaned, burying her head in her hands. "It's not your fault that False stole them for her own use," Cub told her kindly. Then Shelby sat up straighter. "Hey, I have another potion! Kind of like a counter potion. It makes you remember everything you forget."
"How much of it do you have?" Cub asked. "Definitely enough for everyone here," Shelby said after glancing around the room. "Be right back!" She grabbed her broom and flew away. "Why do we want to remember what we forgot again?" Grian asked.
"Because our memories might teach us something important and we'll find out how long False has been all murdery." Cub said. "It seems like she usually tries to cover up her tracks at least a little with the amnesia potions so who knows what well uncover."
Soon Shelby was back laden with phials and she passed it around. As Grian took a vial of cloudy white potion he wondered what would happen if Jimena drank it. Maybe she would remember everything about her time with the Watchers and her life before she joined them.
But then Grian remembered Qiron and all of the blue he'd seen in her mind and doubted any potion could compete with the power of the Watchers. 2 was certainly up to something in there but Grian just couldn't figure out what.
Sighing, he uncorked the bottle and began to drink. It tasted slimy and unappealing. But then the memories came flooding back through his mind and some things that he'd taken as true before were irrevocably proven to be false memories.