"Bright...So Bright..."
The brightness of the sun shines through the balcony into the dark room. With squinted eyes I sit up and put a hand above my eyes so I could see better. I didn't remember falling asleep, but I was definitely not awake. I recognized the large canopy hanging above me. I recognized the cold concrete floor and the stone brick walls. Even though the rest of the room was somewhat hazy, the balcony with the view of the pyramids is what really made me comprehend where I was. Yep, this was the Pharaoh's bedroom. Another weird dream...
I looked beside me on the large bed. This time there was no one at my side. However when I looked in front of me at the foot of the bed, someone was sitting there. Though his back was turned to me, the hair immediately made me think it was the Pharaoh. "Good Morning, Pharaoh." I spoke unconsciously once again. The male didn't respond to me. I found this odd. "The sun...is quite bright right now~"
"That is because Ra is in the middle of rising." He stated bluntly. Something wasn't right. Kicking back the covers I crawled a little closer to him. I couldn't see his face. His hands were gripping each other tightly, while being pressed against his forehead.
"Pharaoh? What's wrong?" When he doesn't respond right away, I speak again. "Did something hap~"
"It is deceitful to lie." He says to me, and I grow confused. "Everything. Everything you told me was a lie. Since that day...and I believed you."
I straighten up next to him, "What are you talking about?" The Pharaoh removes his gripped hands from his forehead and leans them against his lips. He wouldn't look at me, his gaze angrily staring at the wall in front of him.
"And it is not even that I am upset that you lied. I'm upset because I can't trust you anymore." The Pharaoh continues to speak, ignoring my questions as if I never asked anything. "A man...A man who is lied to, listens to that lie and comes to believe it. Then, he unconsciously, is able to lie to himself until it comes to the point where he cannot distinguish his own lies from truth. Or others' lies from truth. That is when he loses all respect for himself and for everyone around him. And having no respect, he ceases to love."
"Pharaoh?" His words seem so sad and distant. I could only think that what ever I "did", I really messed up this time. If only I knew, or rather remembered.
"...Do you love him?" I blink unsure of what to say. I was still clueless. "You had too. You wouldn't have done so without justifiable reason." His eyes narrow, "But if you did, why did you have to lie about it?" He closed his eyes running his hands through his hair. He tilted his head up to the ceiling as he spoke. "I'd had always wondered why. Out of all the universes, out of all the realms. Out of all the countries, and out of all of the males in those countries, you chose me. You could have chosen ANYBODY else, and I knew there were many who were willing to devote themselves to you."
"But I loved you ****~" For some reason I couldn't hear his name. But of course it wasn't too hard to remember what is was. I had tried to touch his shoulder, but something shocked me violently and I pulled away quickly. It felt so cold, so dark.
He just continued on, "On our wedding day, you promised to love, only me. If you knew you couldn't do that...Why would you, promise me anyway? I would have understood. Now I can only feel an unrequited like love between us." His mild chuckles turned more into light cackles. Finally he looked at me. His normal crimson eyes were a mixture of purple and red instead. They were narrowed with tears as he shot me a sad smile. My heart ached violently in pain. "Can I...even forgive you?"
________________
Corrine's POV
I felt a darkness envelop me and grew scared. It had felt like I was getting swallowed whole. "...Ah!"
Immediately I sat up in bed awakening from the nightmare. I slap my cheeks in order to fully pull me out of it. I looked around to make sure a second time. When I had done so, I did it again looking around for my necklace. I felt around my bed and under the covers for it, but it was nowhere around me. Frustrated I held onto my head. Usually, when a dream or nightmare like this occurred, my necklace was somewhere near me or on my person, shining like crazy when I'd wake. This time it was no where to be found. It just didn't make any sense.
"Stupid Yugioh dreams...dammit leave me alone!" I held my arms.
"*cough cough*" The coughing I hear in the very next minute, brings me back to my senses. Instead of just looking around, I actually try to analyze the situation. The bedroom I was in, was not my own and not one I recognized either. I looked at the shirt I was wearing. I was then reminded of last night.
"The hotel party..." I grabbed my head. Even though I knew I wasn't drunk, I finally felt what I thought was a hangover. Kai and I had gone upstairs to get away from everyone after the boys' performance, and then the cake served afterwards, as well as the pool incident with me and the younger kids. And then the water gun fight between Kai and the boys, Kai I remembered being undefeated. I can't seem to remember much after that, but it was enough to be familiar with where I was. The bedroom I had not recognize, was a hotel room, one that Kai had booked for the two of us.
"Wait could that mean that~" I stared down at the over sized white collared dress shirt. I peaked on the inside to find that it was the only thing I was wearing, and it wasn't even mine. I dropped the wrinkled collar and screeched in horror in my head. "Did we? Oh my gosh did we~?"
"*cough cough*" I looked over to the open door. The feeling of the cold floor hit by bare feet when I got up from the bed finally towards the sound. Through the door way, I knew the bathroom was right ahead. I'm cautious as I approach the door. I start to put my hand on the knob, but someone comes out before I can do so. The person I was looking for. "Corrine. You're up~"
"Kai." I say quietly. I felt his forehead, "You are coughing a lot. Are you sick?" He didn't seem to have a fever.
"If I have a fever from anything, it'd be from seeing you in nothing but one of my own shirts." I blush immediately and don't respond to him. "Hot Damn. Who knew? Even Queen CeCe is capable of pulling off the boyfriend shirt look." He hugged me around the waist, his exposed abs brush against my stomach. He looks good, really good right now. "But seriously, you're so small. It's so cute!" Seeing me pout, he gets in my face and smiles. "Good morning, Corrine." He steals a light kiss from my lips as if it has always been a normal thing and breaks away from me that quickly. "I know you're hungry. Room service should be here soon, I heard they had already started delivering to the other guests already." I remember talking with Kai last night just then. He had told me that anyone that couldn't go home right away after the party was aloud to stay in a room for the night for free. So there are suppose to be other rooms on the same floor and the one below us that were occupied.
As Kai walks towards the kitchen, I follow him. "Did you catch a cold from getting wet yesterday?" I tried to press on.
"Even if I had been cold, I was able to use you for body heat." I blush again as he dismisses my question with another smart comment. He continues to talk as if it had never happened. Noticing this, I drop whatever I was going to ask next. "I would make you some tea while we wait, but you know why that's probably not a good idea."
I sit down at the island, "You're still not good with man made objects are you? Honestly, how do you live on your own?"
He leans on the island from the other side, "Corner store."
"But I know you don't just eat junk food..." With a figure like that. Oh man. "...Don't you have to use a microwave or oven to heat up boxed meals?"
"I'm pleased to find out you're checking out my figure, CeCe." He says easily seeing through my words. "Of course the corner store is for junk food, which I still eat. It's just a matter of how you burn the weight off afterwards." He reaches over and pinches my side, making me wince. "But why eat boxed meals when I can have someone cook for me?"
"Then who cooks? Samantha can't cook, Mrs. Winters is too busy to come over and cook for you all the time, and you haven't been able to use a single appliance in your life."
"Ouch. I must have deserved payback for pinching you just now huh?" Kai screeched as he gripped his stomach like he was in pain, even though he wasn't. "But I was able to come over to eat at your house."
"So you only came over to get a free meal?"
"Luckily your mom was always kind enough to feed the needy." He joked, "And of course I continuously snuck out to see you my dear, also."
"Uh hmm." When Kai comes over to kiss me again, someone comes in without knocking. It's a hotel worker, with the room service Kai must have ordered.
"Speaking of free meal~" Kai said cheerfully. "Hello Charles!"
"Nothing is ever free, though to you it be. Somewhere, somehow, someone paid." The middle aged black male fixed his uniform after setting down a tray of things on the island in front of us. He doesn't look at me after glancing at me once. It was most likely out of respect, because I was only wearing a shirt.
"Is that your quote of the day or something?" I ate as they talked.
"Joke as much as you want now Kai." The male said, "Your disrespectful self won't be laughing when you are paying me back for all the chaos of last evening."
Kai laughed nervously, "Thanks again for letting me host, Mr. C. Nothing was broken just like we agreed...well nothing expensive. And the place is still in order...mostly..." I snickered at Kai getting scolded like a little kid. After he told Kai he would see him first thing tomorrow morning in the lobby, Mr. Charles fixed is glasses and left. Kai sighed in the relief of stress.
"You didn't tell me you made a deal promising the hotel staff that you'd clean up after everyone if you could hold the party. That's a lot of work for one person Kai." I said already swallowing a pancake.
"I'll manage." Kai insists, "Sometimes you have to sacrifice for a little more enjoyment in life. If I was gonna splurge this one time, I wanted to do it up right~ Besides if I had told you..."
"If you had told be I would have never let you do something this extreme. And you're damn right!"
"Which is why I didn't tell you." Kai wiggled my nose. "You always worry too much. Let me handle this."
"Then I'm helping you~"
"No. This party was my way of not only congratulating Trey, but thanking you all for basically treating me like I was part of your family at this point. It's my present, I'll do it alone." I glare at Kai.
"We're tried of you always doing things for us to thank us, you know. We're just doing what's right."
"And for doing all that, I thank you." After swallowing a strawberry, Kai kisses my forehead. "I refuse to let you and your family's kindness go unnoticed. Even if some of them can't be physically thanked anymore." He says solemnly. "I'm deep in the Casterwills' debt."
"Then when will we be even?"
"I owe you guys my life. So maybe never~"
"I don't think so." I say looking up at him seriously after finishing my plate. Kai stares back at me silently before picking me up by the waist and setting me on the island. He looked right into my eyes before kissing me. I couldn't help but kiss him back now. Kai is such a kind and generous person. It's amazing that there is actually someone in this world like him that exists, and I'm lucky enough to have him. All to myself...
'Can I...even forgive you?'
My last nightmare flashes in my mind again and I panic, pulling away from Kai. I grip his shoulders, "Corrine, what's wrong?"
"Kai." I start to ask, "Did we...last night did we?" I look to him hoping he would get what I was saying to no avail. "We didn't do it, did we?"
"What makes you ask that suddenly?" I look at his shirt on my upper half, "What? Are you starting to overheat, Corrine?" He whispers in my ear and I cross my legs before he can get any ideas. He chuckles wholeheartedly, "What do you think?"
"There's no way I'd be ready for that...would I?" Kai gives me a dangerous looking, devious face. "Oh gosh, we did didn't we!? I can't believe it! How could you, how could I~How come I don't remember at all!? I should remember, you...t-t-touching me...and all..." I feel turn red all over. "AHHHH!"
"Calm yourself sweetie. A real gentleman wouldn't take a woman on the first night." Kai lightly smiles gripping my waist tighter. I glare at him realizing he had just been faking me out. "Aw, 't-t-touching me'. Is that what you had wanted me to do? Touch you? How cute~" I cry out in embarrassment. He laughs, "Nice try dirty mind, but your wet clothes from when the kids pushed you in the pool are in the dryer. I washed our stuff before we went to sleep. I let you sleep in the shirt since there wasn't an extra robe for you remember?"
"Oh...yeah...right..."
"But if you want me to fulfill your dirty minded requests, I'm all ears." He says playfully and I shake my head furiously. Kai kisses me again when suddenly we hear the phone ring. Kai moves into the living area and grabs the hotel phone. "Hello?" He asks as polite as possible. Two seconds later he's handing the phone out in my direction. "It's for you, CeCe. The boys are already wondering if you and I did it or not." He jokes, I frown.
"NO WE ARE NOT! STOP MAKING UP LIES." I can hear Treyvon's voices shout from the phone, "JUST PUT MY SISTER ON!"
I take the phone, "What's up Treyvon?"
"Corrine! I know it's really early, and you're probably being lovey dovey with Kai right now, but I need you to come down here now! Tyler and I are in room 420."
"420?" I eyed our suite room key on the couch, 520. So they are right below us.
"I know. Blaze it!" I frown at Trey's joke. "But seriously, can you please get down here? We need you."
"Fine. We'll be right d~"
"Alone. Hurry." Treyvon doesn't say another word and hangs up. I put the phone back on its hook.
Kai stares at me, "So? What's up?"
I gripped my fingers, "Apparently, he wants to see me. Says it's urgent." I look at Kai to see his reaction. He was particularly surprised, and surprisingly not disappointed.
"Really? This early? I thought Treyvon would be pestering his girl around this hour instead. Guess he misses big sis more huh? Haha." I smile at his joke. Kai walks over to me and rubs my shoulders. "I guess that means you have to leave me so soon." He pretends to pout, "But hey, let's at least leave here together okay? Since it's Sunday, it would be nice to sleep in before we have to start training the kids for Nationals tomorrow. But since you're heading out, why don't we meet up a little later and do that at my apartment instead?"
"Don't you have some cleaning to do?" I teased.
"Pfft. Didn't I tell you to let me worry about that?!" He said, "Also if you were heading for the door, I suggest putting some decent clothes on first." I gasp in realization and Kai amusingly points to the door where my clothes should be. I speed walk in the room in order to hide my embarrassment from him. After reattaining my clothes from last night, I put them on without hesitation and go into the bedroom to grab my phone. I was going back into the front room, but not before something gold caught my attention. I look down into the trash can out of my peripheral vision. A lollipop wrapper? I guess? That was odd though, Kai didn't usually eat sweets. Maybe I had one and didn't remember. I wasn't remembering a lot today...
"Corrine! If you don't leave soon Trey will call back! You know how anxious that boy can get!" Kai yells to me. I choose not to dwell on it anymore and go back in the front room. "Jeez, you look as pretty as you did last night. Except the bed hair~" Kai praises in a sing song tone.
"Ha ha. Good thing I'm only going down a floor." I tell him, "I'll see you later then."
"Call me when you guys wanna head out. I'll keep myself occupied until then."
"With cleaning?" I teased again. He flicked my forehead, "Oww~" I whined. Kai then kissed where he had flicked me.
"Don't keep me waiting for too long." He says quietly before kissing me again. The guy is such a good kisser, I have trouble keeping up with him. Not only that, but I start to feel weak in the knees when he touches me. This makes it harder for me to stay balanced on my tippy toes, which I have to stand on to reach his face. Kai must have realized my struggle and picks me up by my thighs, making his way to the couch. What was suppose to be a goodbye kiss, turns into something a little more steamy that I didn't even think I was capable of.
After setting me down, Kai squeezes me around the waist and I gasp when he uses the opportunity to slip his tongue in my mouth. His kisses leave me so breathless, I have to grip the newly found shirt he had acquired to keep myself from going crazy. He runs his fingers through my long hair and my legs rub against his own. I put my arms around his neck craving his kisses more. Rather, him more. "If you kiss me like that, I don't think I'll want to let you leave. Ever, ha." Kai breaths out with lustful eyes. I frown realizing that what he had just said had been similar to what someone else had said to me before. Even though the strong memories kept nagging at me, the indescribable magnetism between Kai and I, I felt was stronger.
I kiss Kai one more time to dismiss the memory. I just have to keep remembering. Kai is here right in front of me, he's not, so let it go. "I really, should head out now. Before I tempt you too much~"
"Too late." Suddenly the hotel phone rings again. My best bet was that it was Treyvon again.
I stood up, "See, I'm being told to leave. Sorreh, hehe."
"Bummer." I look at him after hearing a word I haven't heard him say in a long time. I notice Kai actually pouting genuinely, which makes me laugh. He rubs his neck with one arm and pushes me with the other. "Yeah yeah, go go. I'll miss you." He mutters with a cute expression, opening the door. Why has it taken me so long to accept his love again?
I hesitate a little, a blush appearing on my face once again. It was finally okay to say this. I can actually say this. "I-I'll miss you, too!" I run down the hall without seeing Kai's reaction from that.
_______________
"Hey! What's going on? Is Tyler having some kind of mood swing again~Ummm!" As soon as I reach the door to suite 420, Treyvon covers my mouth.
"Shh! Don't draw the rest of the people outside their rooms!" Trey whisper shouts.
"Is there someone dangerous in there? Is it a burglar?" I jump to conclusions really quick, "Isn't Tyler in there!?" Trey covers my mouth again.
"Dammit Corrine don't draw suspicion to us!" Treyvon says to me with and irritated look. From the looks of it, he hadn't gotten much sleep. On top of that, he looked like he was awoken right after he had tried to sleep. The red eyes, bags, and bed hair were evidence. "A burglar, no. Now a dangerous person, just maybe...and yes Tyler is still inside. But he's sleeping..."
"How does that make it better?!"
"LOOK Corrine!" He growls to get my attention, "The truth is I don't know what this thing this! But I know who it wants, and it's you." He takes my necklace, the one Rashidi had left for me, out of his shirt. "And I know because of this. Honestly, you won't believe this one." He cracks open the door and gestures for me to peak inside. "Does she look, familiar to you? At all?" I look in the crack and immediately froze. "I know it's been a while since you played the game but...she's hard to forget."
Sitting on the couch, was a woman. A very beautiful looking woman, with long silver locks and a long white dress that stretched from her place on the couch and across the floor. The white, gold rimed helmet on her head looked uncomfortable as she stared at her white gold rimmed shield in her hand. The good news was her spear like weapon was placed on the table in front of her, the bad news was it was in her reach though. I easily recognized her form even after 5 years of staying away from Yugioh. "Athena? The Yugioh trade card version?" My mouth stood agape as I stared at the woman. I shut the door back slowly so it didn't click. "Is that from my deck? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?" I ask trying not to be too loud.
"I'm wheezing internally too." Treyvon said to me, "I stayed up a little longer than usual, and looked at your deck that I had brought with me to the party. I was gonna duel some of the kids, because you know, ain't no Studio Di party without at least one Yugioh duel..." I glared menacingly at him, urging him to finish telling his story quickly. "Anyway, I must have drifted to sleep at some point with the card in my hand. And I've been wearing your Realix since we left the apartment. Maybe something triggered it, and brought her to life?" He asked unsure, "All I know, is that she wasn't there when I went to sleep, but the next thing I know is she's waking me up out of nowhere. One look at her and I had to suppress a scream. I ran outside as fast as I could, and tried to call you from the front desk."
"So you just left our brother in there, alone?"
"Yes."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"YOU CAN NOT TELL ME YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE THE SAME THING DAMMIT!" We hear a bang coming from inside. "Damn, she must know you're hear now." Treyvon hands me the necklace back. "We just have to play it cool. Ask her what she wants." Treyvon takes a breath and then slowly opens the door.
The woman on the couch stares up at us entering the room. Her voice is light, "Please, close the door behind you. Spectators are troublesome." Treyvon closes the door and puts the lock on it. "Move in closer." We inch our way towards her, and she gets a good look at the two of us.
"This is her, A-Athena ma'am." Treyvon says slightly intimidated. I try to move closer, but then her weapon suddenly shot up and pointed at us. This is the first time in a while I felt Treyvon clinging on to me from behind.
"There is suppose to be another. There was another."
"My brother! You mean him?!" Treyvon asked hesitantly. I glared at him, "What?"
"Yes. Bring him out as well." Her spear stood straight up. Treyvon runs to the bedroom as fast as he could tripping and almost falling. I go after him but the spear drops back down in front of me. "Do not move. He can do it."
Two seconds later, Treyvon comes back outside with Tyler, who's rubbing his eyes slowly. "Oh my goshhh boy, stop it. Tell Kai, I'm not in the mood for early morning pranks tod~"
"Casterwills." Tyler looks up and immediately Treyvon cover Ty's mouth before he could scream.
"Treyvon what is this? Did you order a cosplayer or something!?"
"No."
"Then what the he~"
"Casterwills!" Athena shouts in a deeper tone then before. Her spear is back trained on us. "My name is Athena. I am a powerful duel monster, from a realm in the outside world. I was sent here as a messenger, and my time is short. So listen up, GOT IT?" Both Tyler and Trey now stand behind me, gripping each of my arms.
"Gee, I have such brave brothers." I mutter.
"Tyler Casterwill. Treyvon Casterwill. Corrine Casterwill." Athena starts, "I've come to tell you that your time in this place can now come to an end. You are now allowed to drop your aliases and return back. The Princess must now return home. And you are needed back on duty." The three of us say nothing, clearly not believing a word this person was saying. Athena tries again, "The world we are in right now, is called the Realm of The Real. In this world, magic does not exist and that makes it very hard to connect with this place. I'm here to tell you that outside this place, where you belong, is calling for the three of you to come home."
Treyvon steps out from behind me, "W-Who sent you here?"
"I have been brought to life as a proxy on behalf of the Queen of Realms." Trey and I freeze, "Do you not believe in me still?"
"Lady, I have no idea what you are doing here, or who this Queen you're talking about is." Tyler started, "Or how you got in. Or how this spear is following me around..." He made his way slowly to the couch near her, her spear following him. "But I think you need to leave, take an aspirin, and head back to your own room to wait out your hangover." He clearly thought this was an drunk adult from the party last night. How wrong he was.
"Big bro wait! She's telling the truth." Treyvon holds up and shows him the duel monster's card she came from. "She's 100% a duel monster. See, the card is empty." Tyler frowned seeing that the picture that was suppose to be there wasn't. "Besides, mom talked about this remember. That Corrine would one day get us back home."
Tyler's eyes narrowed, "Treyvon, not this again."
"Niall! It's Niall remember!?" Tyler frowned, "Athena was sent by the Queen to show Corrine how to take us back home! "
"And how am I suppose to do that? Didn't she just say magic doesn't exist here? Which is another thing, how come you're here if that's true?" I frown asking Athena.
"Unfortunately, I am not able to travel to this world because of this place's lack of magic. It would have many risks I cannot afford to take. So, I was able to do the next best thing. Transfer my mind into the object of my parallel existence of this world."
"The Yugioh trading card."
"Correct. It was the best way to properly send the message. But my time is running short." Athena takes a hold of her weapon, "There's no time to waste. You must use the Realix and go back home now. Imagine the portal and go."
"Wait wait! This necklace's power hasn't worked for me in years. How come it's working now? You can't just expect me to accept all this at once right? Surely you can explain a little more before you have to go!"
"You will only believe me once you see it for yourself anyway, right Princess?" I frown again and Athena sighs. She uses her weapon to blasts out a sphere towards the floor, which opens up a portal, one like the one Treyvon and I had used before. At the sight I grip my necklace. "In this world, it's called anime right? Is there an "anime land" you'd wish to go to? I can send you there, and you will then have your proof."
"Seriously? Any anime? Ever?" I gripped my necklace tighter. 'Any anime...then surely...'
"SPIDER RIDERS! I WANNA GO TO SPIDER RIDERS!" Treyvon says before I can say what I was thinking. "I've been binge watching it lately! That is an anime, right? Not a cartoon..."
"You mean the realm belonging to Hunter Steele?"
"How do you know Hunter Steele?" Trey and I say in unison.
"You'll understand soon enough. Perhaps meeting one of your guardians will make you see things more clearer. I'll send a message to your guardian stationed in that realm and let him know you are coming." She is quiet for a moment, so she must have sent it mentally. "Try it. Enter this world and experience it from its beginning past point, where I will send you, as well as it's central present point, the point in which your guardian will take you." Her words confuse me as the 3 of us cautiously approach the void like space in the middle of the room. We all face the inside of the void. It's inside is initially dark. "You all will be in good hands then. My time is up. Good luck and farewell." Then she disappears.
"No way, she's back in the card..." Tyler mutters, "What the heck is going on?! And what is that thing?!" He gestures to the portal.
Treyvon looks me in the eye. His expression is half, "I told you so!" half "Can we go!? Please!?" I sigh in defeat and give a light nod.
"Ah what the hell. If this sh*t can be explained, I'm all for it~"
"Corrine! Don't curse! No matter how weird this is." Tyler scolds me. "How did she make this huge hole in the floor!? We need to call the co~!" Trey and I lock arms with Tyler before he could say more.
"Screw the coppers! The Po Po ain't gettin' near this!" Treyvon exclaims.
"Sorry big bro. But we're doing this." I tell him.
"We'll explain later! The portal is starting to close!"
"Here goes!" I say before we jump into to the void deep enough to suck us in, dragging a screaming Tyler in with us this time. Treyvon smiles brightly.
"Back in the land of anime we goooo!" He screams, "WAH HOO!"
________________
The power of my necklace guides us through the maze of multiple worm holes. Without it, we could have just ended up floating anywhere and getting lost inside this never-ending space. The unknown force drags us up and down a certain path, sucking us into one of the similar looking holes. Not long after we had entered, we had ended up at our destination. We land painfully on the ground.
"Ow...Big Brother! Get your freakin' arm outta my face!" Treyvon groaned in pain.
"Maybe you could get your tiny, strangely heavy body of my chest first, I could move! And I could breathe again!"
"HOW BOUT YOU BOTH GET UP NOW?" I shout angrily from underneath the both of them. They immediately jump up and I stretch my back out in pain.
Tyler bends down, holding out a hand. "Sorry Corrine, can you stand~"
"AH!"
"WHAT!? WHAT IT IS NOW!?" Tyler jumped too much at Treyvon's sudden shout. I refuse Tyler's hand and get up on my own.
"This is the pyramid!" Treyvon's eyes lit up, "This is that pyramid with the portal to the inner world!"
"How do you all know about the inner world?" We all turned around at the same time after hearing a new voice. I cringe.
"OH MY GOD." I say not being able to keep it to myself.
"HUNTER! MAH MANZ!" Treyvon shouts in a ghetto voice uncontrollably. He restrains himself from jumping on him like a little kid. "So nice to meet you in person!"
"I guess I could...say the same?"
"Wait a minute. That's Hunter Steele?" Tyler asks, "Oh yeah I remember this kid. This is that whiny brat from that show you've been binge watching recently."
"Hey! Who are you calling a brat!? You old lady!" Hunter shouted at him. Tyler's face became blank. I wanted to laugh, but the irritation growing on my brother's face makes me hold it in as best I could.
Unlike me however, Treyvon likes to be brutal. "Damn Big Bro. You were called old, AND a wahmen! Hahaha!"
"Hunter, Tyler is a male." I clarify for him.
Hunter gasps, "What really!? Sorry. I assumed with the long girly hair and all..."
"WHY ARE WE HERE? AND HOW DID WE GET HERE!?" Tyler shouts between gritted teeth, pupils small. Treyvon chokes from Tyler gripping his collar too tight. "ALSO WHAT TYPE OF HOLOGRAM IS THIS? WHY DOES THIS LITTLE SH*T LOOKS SO REAL!?"
I wiggle my eyebrows, "Hey, what happened to not cursing?"
He let him go, "Oh screw you Corrine!"
"Oh come on Ty, you have to admit it's long and girly." Treyvon laughs gesturing to Tyler's long black hair, which he had refused to ever cut. It dangled past his knees, especially in this place. "But no Tyler this the real deal. Just like Athena, Hunter's real!"
"WHAT?" Tyler breaths then pinches the bridge of his nose. But Treyvon doesn't give him time to think. He grabs him by the head so that they were both eye level.
"I don't want you to be all like that "I don't believe any of this crap" cliche, ya hear me?" He says to Tyler. "As your younger brother, who clearly knows better than you, I expect for you to trust me on this. So that we can progress this part of our journey much faster."
"What makes you so sure? About all this?" Tyler glares at his words, "Do you know something I don't?"
"In the bluntest way of putting it, yes. Both me and Corrine do, because we've been here before. Or I guess I should say, we've been through this before. Cause we haven't been "here, here" before." Tyler's eyes widened.
"Yeah Ty, he's right. "This" maybe new for us, but "this" isn't new for us at the same time. You know what we mean?" I muffle a laugh knowing I'd only confused him more.
"Hey guys? I'm really happy for you and your revelations, but you're kind of in the way of the entrance. If you don't have anything to say to me or tell me about this place, I'm gonna ignore the fact that you fell out of the sky and leave now..." We all realize and step out of the way. "Well I'm off! See ya!" With a dark expression, Treyvon suddenly grabs Hunter by the shoulder.
"WE CAN'T LET THE PLOT MOVE AWAY FROM US." Treyvon shouts a cringy sentence in a cringy tone. "AND THE PLOT FOLLOWS THE MAIN CHARACTER." Hunter steps back intimidated.
"Trey can you just explain to Hunter why we're here, you're scaring him."
"I'm still waiting for a proper explanation myself here." Tyler grimaces, "You've been here?"
"Not here."
"Then..."
"In Yugioh."
"...Yugioh?"
"Yugioh season zero yes. We lived there for like half a year, then came back like nothing happened."
Tyler's face tightened, "You both were in the world of the most dangerous Yugioh series there is, and you never told me? When the hell was all this?"
"...The day your mom died. That's why we were late. Please don't ask anything else." Tyler stood there, mouth agape awkwardly.
"That would...explain...some things..."
"Guys! Hunter's agreed to let us in on his journey!" Treyvon says to us, "Come on! Let's explore the pyramid!"
Hunter walks in right after him, "It's not like I had a choice..."
"Hey you two! Wait up!" I run inside and Tyler does right after me. Foolishly we all bump into each other and end up falling down the large shoot that was waiting inside. We end up falling into a bunch of items in a pile in the center of a room.
Hunter groans and looks up, "No way...A dead end?" He quickly jumps up and does a manual search of the room, while the 3 of us still recover. "But we followed the path in my Gramp's journal exactly!"
Tyler wobbled on his hands and knees, "Why do I somewhat remember this happening? Wait a minute, are we...reliving the anime with this character?"
I rub my head, "Yeah, that's kinda how it worked for us so far."
"Or~" Treyvon sits up smiling, "We could interfere with the timeline and make it better! Because it's more fun that way!" He gets up, "Yeah, we're doing that!"
"Wait Trey, remember what happened before? The plot didn't allow us to do certain things remember? We had to follow the storyline..."
"I said nothing about changing the plot or not following the story line Corrine Onee-chan." Treyvon smirks, eyebrows up confidently. "Just speeding everything along~Watch and learn..." Treyvon pretends to trip into Hunter and they both fall into a nearby wall. "Ow! Sorry Hunter! There just so much stuff on this floor~" He looks up. "Oh my! Look Hunter! A secret door! But it's jam shut!"
"He wouldn't really fall for his fake acting right?"
"Holy crap Treyvon! It's Treyvon right?"
"Yeah."
"Holy crap Treyvon! Your falling may have just saved our lives!"
Tyler's eyes narrow, "Seriously?"
Hunter tries to pry open the door, "Ah man, it won't budge! We'll never get out of here!"
"Neh Hunter...what would your Grandpa say in this situation?" Trey asks with another sneaky, all knowing grin.
"My grandpa?" Hunter frowns then bangs his head, "He'd say "Don't ever stop! Don't ever give up!" Then he'd jump up and yell..."
"ARACHNA POWER!"
Tyler is the only one that doesn't shout this and only stares at the hidden door as it opens. "Wow, what a plan."
"Aw, don't be sad you didn't get the clue." I tease. Tyler rolls his eyes.
"Great, we've just moved into another room, with more junk." Tyler mutters, "Significance please?"
"Good things come to those who wait, brother." Treyvon only tells him, provoking an irritated look from Tyler.
"I dunno what you guys are calling junk. Have you actually took a look at some of this stuff?"
"She's right you know." Hunter picks up a small vase. "I bet all this stuff would actually be really valua~" A spider crawls out of the vase at that moment. Hunter and I freak out at the same time. "SPIDER!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I let out a Starfire-like scream, that's how terrified I was. Bugs creep me out!
After accidentally pushing Hunter, who was holding the vase, into a pillar, the platform it held up collapses. All its items sprawl out on the ground, including hidden contents of a nearby brass box. Out falls out what I recognized as a manacle from the show. But at the blink of an eye, 3 more manacles digitize on the ground beside it. I'm the only one who notices it seems. "Ow! What the heck was that?!"
"Sorry, I'm not good with bugs."
"Ya huh, totally not planned." Tyler folds his arms as I scowl at him.
"I was serious dammit!"
"Look! The timeline's changing already!" Trey shouts excitedly.
"Timeline?" Tyler and Hunter asks to no avail of an answer.
"Whoa! They look even cooler in real life!" Treyvon's eyes light up. "I wanna wear one!"
"Yeah, they look cool enough. Why not? Let's all have one! Since there's enough for all of us." Hunter says excitedly, "I'm sure whoever once owned these would want us to have them. Here you go, one for you..." One manacles seemed to quickly attach itself to Tyler like a magnet. It sparked then faded. "And one for you..." When Hunter tried to hand me one, it shocked me and I stepped back. "Oh hey are you okay?" Hunter asks. I nod saying it only stung a little.
"Nee-chan, try this manacle instead." Treyvon encourages handing me the light blue, black trimmed one. When I do, it fits me like a glove. "See? And this one will be mine!" The green, red trimmed manacle that shocked me attached to Treyvon and he smiled. "So cool! It looks like my fake one back at home!" He muttered to himself.
"Yeah I guess it is sort of like a manacle." Hunter agrees, "Okay! We are calling these manacles now! Yay!" Treyvon shouted "Yay" the same time that Hunter does. "Arachna Power!" He says out of nowhere. Suddenly the floor cracks up underneath us. "Ah! What happened?!"
"Did you make the pyramid gods angry?" Treyvon asks immediately clinging on my arm.
"You just had to trigger something didn't you!?" Tyler shouts at Hunter. The extremely cracked floor opens up completely. "Guys run!" It only takes a couple seconds for us to have nowhere to go. A bright purple liquid glows from down below. "LAVA!? WHAT IS THIS!?"
"What did you think was under pyramid ruins!?" I shouted at Tyler.
"This whole place is coming down!" Hunter complains, suddenly slipping and falling onto a fallen rock. He uses it to surf around the center of the light. "Aaaaaah!" He ends up getting sucked into it.
"Hunter!" Treyvon lets go of my arm and jumps, "Cannonballlllllllll!"
"Treyvon!" Tyler and I shouted in together on impulse.
"Follow me! It's safe! Before it's too late!" Trey shouts before getting pulled under. Tyler instinctively grabs me by the waist and jumps in the pit before a giant rock crushed us where we stood. We were almost immediately taken under.
I honestly couldn't tell you what happened in the vortex; things moved so fast. All I could see around me was bright colors everywhere. "Hey Corrine, are you good?" Tyler asks me when we were safely back on the ground. I nodded and tried to sit up quickly. Bad idea. "Easy there." He cooed, "It seems Hunter and Treyvon are already gone."
"The plot must be moving around them then. You have to always be with the main character if you want to be caught up in the main story." I attempt to stand up again. Painfully, I succeed. "Tyler, what happened just now? In the vortex, you weren't next to me anymore?"
"I don't really know. We were falling together when I saw this really beautiful woman with orbs floating around her. She stopped me and wouldn't let me go any further, but then this other goddess like woman appeared in front of me and gave her a look. Then she just let me through." Tyler looked at his manacle. "That's when my manacle shined and I ended up here." While he was talking something rose up behind him. "This whole place is weird. Spider Riders...what is this world or rather realm about Corrine?"
I froze, "Spiders..."
"I figured that Corrine."
"No. It's a literal title."
"Real~"
"IT'S A LITERAL TITLE!" Tyler finally looks behind him. Two huge spiders look us in the eyes. I hid behind Tyler. At least he didn't seem as afraid as I was.
"What the hell~?" Tyler seemed to be talking to himself, as I grew scared outta my mind. "They're huge!"
"If you would have watched TV with Treyvon in the mornings back in the day, you would have known how big they were suppose to be!"
Tyler steps forward contrary to how scared he sounded, "But they're so cute!"
"What?"
"Especially this one!" He pets the one on our left. It tries to attack him with a leg but it lands a little ways away from him. He doesn't even notice. "Do you think it's a girl? Or a boy?" The spider tries again, but the same thing occurs. "No, you're definitely a girl." The spider gave up.
I look at my older brother's jovialness with my mouth open. Just then the other spider, that had been there the whole time, decides to strike him as well. But with a much clearer shot! "Tyler! Say the thing!"
"What thing?"
"What Hunter said earlier! To trigger the pyramid! Hurry!"
"Huh? You mean Arachna Power?" A blinding light from Tyler's manacle shot up into the air. At the same moment, I noticed two other lights had shot up into the air not far away from us. The same thing must be happening to Treyvon and Hunter too then. In the mist of the moment, the other spider on our right started to approach me.
I almost screamed holding my hands out, "Ah ah ah! Arachna Power!" The same light erupted from the manacle on my wrist. The four of us were enveloped in a rainbow like light. The colors blinded us completely. When the multiple lights finally died down, Tyler and I blinked.
"Well...that happened..."
"Yeah..." Tyler looked to his spider. He already seemed so close with it. "Hey, are you okay girl?" He asked. The spider nodded. It didn't talk to him like I thought it would. "I'm kinda shocked actually. But it's not as bad as everything else I learned today~" He seemed to be having a conversation with it. He was the only one speaking aloud though.
"Tyler? Your spider speaks?"
"Hm? Oh yeah she's speaking to me. Can't you hear her?" He asks. I shook my head, "Aw, are you a mute spider? Aww, it's okay. I have a friend like that. It's perfectly okay to be different." He comforted her. Tyler turned back to me, "She's speaking through her thoughts I suppose. But the other one can communicate normally she says. Apparently we can communicate with these spiders now. But of course you should have known that we could already Corrine, right?" I frown irritated.
"Who are you two~" When the other spider tried to talk to me, I ran a good distance away from it.
"Corrine, there's no reason to be afraid of Sil and her sister." Tyler and his spider approached me. "Meet Silvya and~"
"AHHHHHHHH!" I can't help but let out the shriek of terror I had been holding back. Immediately "Silvya" backs up a good 30 meters from me. Not saying anything still.
"Aw Sil! Don't worry! She's more afraid of you than you are of her." Tyler cooed, "That goes for you too Corrine! Grow up!"
"Do you understand how big these things are!? You can't get over arachnophobia like this in an instant!"
"Think of it this way. The bigger they are, the more love they have to give." I wanted to curse Tyler out right then and there.
"INCOMING! INVECTID ARMY!" Out of nowhere Treyvon appears from the trees riding a spider of his own. Not only does he already have his spider, but he is in full battle uniform. He jumps off the spider just as a few of those bugs come near us and slashes them with what looks like the cross between a machete and a katana. The huge blade enlarges before the attack, then deflates back to normal afterward. "Nice one, Orion. Nii-san! Nee-chan! Daijoubu!?"
"And enter our deeply involved otaku brother." I mutter getting to an equal distance away from each spider. Tyler didn't understand what he said so...
"Yeah we're fine. Why the huge blade?"
"Wait what?" I'm taken aback by Tyler's understanding and blank out for multiple seconds.
"Oh my weapon." He wiggles his eyebrows, "Like my Zanpakutō?"
"STOP." I say shutting his next joke down before he can say it. Hunter then rides up to us from behind on what looks like his battle spider, Shadow. He is in full uniform as well.
"Treyvon, there are more behind us! What do we do?!"
"My dear Hunter, WE FIGHT MY FRIEND. Til the bitter end!" Treyvon leans over to us. "You guys should try fighting too! It's fun!" He then joins Hunter in taking down the invectids that had slid in our direction.
Tyler suddenly looks up at the incoming line of invectids, like suddenly noticing multiple stains on a clean shirt. "Ty, are you cool? We gotta get outta here!" I tell him pulling his arm.
Tyler speaks slowly, "I dunno...I just have a strange feeling in the back of my mind. That I, know what I'm doing...like I've done it before?" Tyler places a hand to his chest closing his eyes. As the bugs get near us, I watch my brother's movements carefully. "ARACHNA POWER." His eyes open, a dark violet color. A violent wind erupts blowing the bugs away from us. I let go of Tyler as a violet light erupts from his black, purple rimmed manacle. Tyler stays calm as he and Silvya seemed to get dressed with armor. They transformed, and the light blinds me from seeing the rest. "Silvya, let's ride."
Tyler rides on top his spider as if it came naturally to him. With the Thor hammer like weapon he gained, he attacked the invectids that were around us. For the larger one he encountered, he swung the hammer in a circle before using the momentum to jump in the air and attack it. He landed back on Silvya like it was nothing. "Corrine!" He then called to me. "Stay with your spider for now! Silvya says that she'll protect you." I can't protest fast enough as Tyler scoops me up from the ground and places me on top the other spider, before jumping away with Silvya.
"He left me." I didn't know what to be more in shock about. The fact that I was on top a large spider, or the fact that Tyler had went from a confused side character to a male protagonist in seconds. I stared down at the spider I was on, then back at my manacle. "I guess...it wouldn't hurt to try..."
Something happened before I could finish my aloud thought. It happened so fast I almost missed it. A diamond shaped portal opened up in front of me. A taller version of Hunter with medium length hair jumped out of it with his mount, Shadow. The male jumped off, grabbed me around the waist with an armed and landed back on the spider before landing back on the ground. With another leap off the ground, we reached where Tyler and Treyvon were. He grabbed the both by the collar flinging them on the spider as well. He somehow opened another diamond like portal, and out of the place we were. "Claude Ostium!" He pointed at the portal gateway behind us, closing it with a spell. "Sleep Princess." He bent down and muttered to me. Before I knew it I was gone.
______________
"We...you...We need you." I wake up to voices on my left side. I sleepily open my eyes to see Treyvon and Tyler talking to three other people outside of the bedroom I seemed to be in. The taller Hunter from before was one of them, but the other two were too far behind the door to see. I lean up on my arm to watch them speak in the doorway. "It's important that you get back to work, asap."
"Yes it is!" One of the others said, "While you both were in the Realm of the Real, playing house with the princess, we've been over here protecting what you should have been here to protect! Overworking our azzes off for you without even the slightest bit of acknowledgement or reward!"
"Settle down Kirito." Hunter said having an arm out as a warning. The black haired male who had seemed to step closer to the two boys, moved a step back on command. He stepped back behind the door before I could see anymore of his appearance. No way...Kirito? As in the Kazuto Kirigaya "Kirito"?
"Your reward is being here, first of all. To serve and protect the universe isn't a chance given to everyone. You should be more grateful." And Takuto...Takuto Tsunashi, whom I met before. It sounded like he said this with an attitude. Since his back was turned to me, I could only imagine that his facial expression was less than happy.
"Yes. I-I'll try to be more humble, sir." I heard Kirito mumble.
"And second," Hunter continued for him, "They were sent there by order of the Queen. They weren't there to lollygag, they had a job to do. Protect the Princess. But now that they are back where they belong, it's time for them to get back to their duties."
"Look I have no idea what you all are talking about." Tyler told them, "Treyvon, I've tried pinching myself multiple times. But I still can't seem to wake up from this weird dream."
"That's because it's not a dream. Every character we've seen, everything in this place is real. No matter how much we can't remember it being so." Treyvon says to him, "And it's Niall. Niall, dammit." He said it as if he was trying to reassure himself that it was the truth. "But Hunter, no matter how much we try...how much I try, I don't remember anything! It's there, I know it's there, the memories. But I can't reach them. It's like I want to remember. But I just can't!"
"That's not our problem!" Kirito grabs Treyvon by the collar, "As you are right now, you're useless to the Animanian Empire! Either do something about it or step down from your position and stand aside!"
"KIRITO THAT'S ENOUGH." I'm taken aback by the sudden bass in Takuto's voice. He grabbed Kirito by the collar, "How dare you scold people who rank higher than you!? You better settle down right now and know your place! Or I swear on my own rank, I'll report you to the Queen and make sure that you are stripped of any rank you do have. You don't even have a position in our round of knights! Everyone here has authority over you. So shut the hell up and stop being so damn disrespectful! Are we clear?" Kirito hadn't uttered a sound. "I said are we clear!?"
"Yes! Yes we are sir!"
Hunter only watched as he got yelled at. The boys don't say anything either. "Kirito, go grab the crystals." He told him when Takuto had released the male. Kirito respectfully bows and in a flash a diamond portal opens and swallows him whole. Seconds later, the portal opens back up and he steps out, holding two glass cases. "Sorry, in order to keep these safe, we had to keep the crystals in separate confinement from their chains. We're only just now putting them back together." Hunter says carefully taking out the emerald gem that had been inside.
"Hey that jewel looks just like the one on Corrine's necklace!" Treyvon exclaims.
"But how?" Tyler asks. After place the gem back on its chain, the necklace looks even more similar to my own. I swallow hard.
Hunter holds up the necklace in front of Treyvon by the gem. Treyvon seems to wince. "Do you really want to know?"
"That stone's giving off a weird aura. Hold on~" Takuto covers Tyler's mouth.
Treyvon ignores him, "I do. I want answers. Answers to everything!" Hunter puts the gem inches away from his face. Trey's eyes start to glow a dark green.
Hunter's face hardens, "You want to remember?"
"Yes! Yes I do!"
Hunter holds the gem back, "Then remember! In the name of the Queen of Realms, REMEMBER!" The gem shines uncontrollably and Trey seems to freeze. He seemed to shutter violently under its spell. As soon as it looked like Treyvon was going to holler, Hunter pushed fingers into his neck. The poor boy immediately grew weak and fell forward, Hunter catching him in his arms. "It's okay. You're back under the presence of your Queen now."
"What the hell did you just do to my brother!?" Tyler shouted, squirming in Takuto's grip. After handing Trey to Kirito, Hunter removed the other gem from the case. The violet gem shimmered when he got it closer to Tyler. "No, get that thing away from me!"
"I gave your brother back the memories he was missing. And now it's your turn."
"Stop! I don't want this! Don't hurt me!" Tyler yelled, "Just leave us alone."
"I'm only doing what I was instructed to do. By you actually."
"W-What!?"
Hunter's eyes narrowed worriedly, "No matter what I can't fail you. Return to us, old friend." The gem's glow brightened and Tyler's eyes became a dark violet. He had frozen as well, but not for as long as Trey had. A moment later he was screaming. He sounded like he was in real pain, like he had gotten shot or stabbed. He was panting in between, wriggling around violently as Takuto tried his best to hold him steady. I started to lay up and run over, but for some reason, I felt like he wasn't in any real danger despite his screams. I concluded it was best if I just stayed quiet. They might end up trying to do me like that after all...
"Sleep already will ya!?" Takuto chopped in the neck hard, and he slumped over murmuring to a silence as well.
Hunter looked to Kirito, "Make sure they're taken care of. They need to recover properly. See to it." Kirito bowed and did as was told. Taking Treyvon through a void, then coming back for Tyler, and disappearing again. He didn't come back after that.
Hunter and Takuto faced each other. Hunter had both hands on his hips, "Dude, how come he's so out of control?" He asked. Takuto shifted away from him, with one hand on his hip. "Wasn't he once your apprentice? He shouldn't talk back to you like that."
"I dunno. He's just becoming more resistant these days. I just don't get it." Takuto sighed, "But he isn't my responsibility anymore." When he turned to my direction I jammed my eyes shut quickly, hoping I hadn't been seen. I could hear both sets of footsteps enter and settle on both sides of me. I could feel one of them caress my cheek with the back of their hand, "You were suppose to visit me in my world first. Dummy." Takuto muttered, and I figured it was him. "Alright. I'm heading out. I gotta report to Howl now. Keep me posted."
"About the boys? Sure." Hunter told him. "For Animania."
"For Animania." I let one of my eyes that were jammed shut, open. Luckily neither one seemed to be paying me any mind. Both boys took their right arms and tapped their chests with their wrists twice. It was almost like a salute of some sorts. With that Takuto left, leaving me with alone with Hunter. I pretended to sleep again.
I felt the older looking version of the character sit at the edge of the bed behind me. "So...How are you doing Princess?" When I didn't respond, I heard him sigh. "Geez, I get that this probably all seems so weird for you right now. But there's no point pretending to be asleep. The problem is head on, as Takuto use to say." I turn in the bed to face him. "Hi. Nice to see you."
"How did you know~"
"~Being awake? Irregular breathing pattern." Hunter tells me, "Sike. I saw you from the crack in the doorway earlier. I'm not that smart." He moved closer to me and I sat up against the pillow. "Take it easy." He coaxed, "I guess we should start over. I'm Hunter. Hunter Steele."
"We've already met."
"Of course we have. But you don't remember." He pulled out apple from a bag he had with him. "Hungry?" I denied the gesture. "Suit yourself." He peeled it while he talked, "The only interaction you must mean then, has to be when you met myself in my world's Beginning Past point. Speaking of that, I pulled the 3 of you out of there just in time. You almost permanently damaged my timeline, to no return." Hunter impatiently took a bite before continuing to skin the apple until none of its peel was left.
"I'm sorry? I don't get what you mean." Hunter's words were confusing me. But I didn't feel threatened at all by him, so I decided not to run away. Besides, I don't think I could get past him if I wanted to. Aside from the fact that he looked pretty surprisingly strong, he was armed.
He swallowed, "Ah, I guess I have to explain it in a little more simple terms. Wait, you only know me from a Tv show right?"
"Yes."
"Only there? And when you met my younger version just now."
"Yeah."
"I was afraid of that." Hunter took another bite, this time a smaller one. He seemed to be saddened, but most likely not from the taste. "You really don't remember anything. That sucks."
"What is it I'm supposed to be remembering exactly?"
"Your past. Your real one." I raised an eyebrow, "Oh don't look like that. Like you don't know what I'm talking about. Missing memories ring a bell? Hm?" My eyes widened, "Only remembering as far back as a few years right? Because they were to lazy to not implant you with fake memories, plus it would have been a risk. Instead they just told you something easy to believe and led you on like that. Can't blame them though, it's their job after all. I would have done the same thing in their position."
"Led me on?"
"Well, at least you're past the 'This is all a dream' phase. One step closer to getting your life back to normal, the real norm."
"The real norm?" I pushed further, "How do you know about my memory loss? What happened to my memories then?"
"The spell, or rather a hex, there's no specific name for it. It did major damage, taking away your memories, or rather hiding them from you. I was once told that you can't ever really wipe one's memories only conceal them. And that the strong-hearted can eventually break the seal with time. All we can do is hope that's the case for you. And guide you the right way."
"You mean the ritual right?" It's hazy. But, I remember hearing about this before. "A ritual that broke my soul or something...into 6, no 7 pieces?" Hunter looked surprised. I guess he didn't think I knew about that. His bang covered his face suddenly. "You know about that right? Maybe you can help me clarify~"
"~Nope, can't tell ya. Drawing the line there I'm afraid. I'm not explaining that." Hunter says quickly, "I'm the last person that would have the answers to your questions, as well as the first person to get in trouble if I say too much. Not that you need to know, but I wasn't there during the incident, I didn't hear about it until late, and I was not assigned onto the task force afterwards. But that's all can say. I'm under oath."
"Under oath? By who?"
"The Queen, duh." Hunter throws away what's left of the apple. I hadn't realized he finished it. "The Queen has authority over you, Princess. So her proclamation to keep quiet stands rock solid. And frankly, I'm not aloud to talk about this with you any further."
"Then what are you here for? Honestly..." I say frustrated.
"Honestly, OUCH." He says with heavy enthusiasm. I guess I should have mentioned it before, but I'm one of your designated Knights of the round. Knight Number 9 to be exact. Takuto says you might refer to us by the term...Loyal Royal Knights."
"...I-I may have." I mutter in disbelief. It was starting to come back to me. All the information I had been fed back when I was...in...that place. "You're my knight, Hunter? Do I have more?"
"I'm not at liberty to tell you anything about the past. I am to only help you recover them over time. That's it." I grimaced. Hunter caught my expression and frowned. I thought about pushing him some more, but I didn't think Hunter was going to crack anymore. Realizing this, tears stung my eyes as I combed my hair back and sulked in my hands. I was angry, annoyed and frustrated. It wasn't Hunter's fault exactly, since he was just the messenger of the news, but he contributed. I felt Hunter get up from the bed. "Look, you've heard a lot today. I can imagine you're overwhelmed. Get some rest and just chill here for a while. Then you'll be able to hear more when you're ready." Hunter frowns when I don't respond. He moves to the door. "Things will get easier Princess. They will. For now just trust us. We'll take care of you." He then shut the door. I still hear him mutter, "Like we always have." before leaving.
_________
MPK: I know it's been a while. But I still want to know what you guys think! Summer vacation is coming at some point. And I'll be somewhat more free than usual! More chaps on their way!