"The Anmesia Chapter" with other stuff in there.

Ahm it's kind of a turning point in the book that we've reffered to as "The Amnesia Chapter" for so long it doesn't actually have a title. ^^, I know, fail.

             

Tao's Perspective

 

              "We're all going in there to save those girls," I implored quietly, "Right?" The rest of the guys of the rebellion somberly nodded in their aggreement. The cavern below had an eerie blue glow to it, and different runes glowed against the cavern walls. my mind flashed to Ari, then Kaydra, then Ari again. I shook my head to lose the images.

              "Then let's go." I said, creeping into the cave,along with all of the rest, bumbling in the tunnels and then doing some fancy James Bond moves with my gun.

              We got the shock of our lives when our "super villain" was Professor Cedric Cobbleton in a batman nightshirt and glow in the dark slippers.

              Byron's jaw dropped.

              "W-what?!" Avryn stuttered.

              Alex just stood there, dumbfounded and confused.

              "Excellent work, boys." the old man smiled, "You've passed one part of the test."

              "Test?" Alex repeated.

              "I Hate tests!!" Byron whined.

              "Yes, this indeed, was part of a test." Cedric went on, ignoring Byron.

"I needed to make sure, though I already was, that you were those whom were wholly dedicated to all of your comrades. You have shown your loyalty to everyone by coming here tonight."

              "So... Where's the girls?" Edvard said quietly.

              "The girls are safe. But your test isn't over yet."

              He walked into one of the tunnels, and came out with the girls chained to each other with a blind, dazed look in their expressions.

              "What'd you do to them?!?!?" I asked.

              "They are all dosed with a heavy amount of amnesia. They are so heavily dosed, that they don't even know or remember their own name-yet they can still talk and have intelligent conversation... if you remind them what everything means. Example."

He turned to Kaydra and snapped his fingers, while pointing at her. "You." he said firmly.

              She looked around for a while, then realized he was talking to her. "Yeah?"

              "What is your name?"

              "....My name?"

              "Yes, your name.”

              “Uhm...”she said, squinting one eye,“Does... it start with an S?”

              “No.”

              "Z?"

              “No.”

              “L?”

              “No. That’ll be enough, thank you.” he said, probably thinking he’d used a little too much of it on them...

              “So. About your test.” he continued, “The test is on how well you are in your judgement skills. We realize at least one of you have had a relationship with one of these girls, and/or are having one right now but we won’t get into that. Your test is to see if you have chosen correctly.”

              “How is this supposed to show us that we’d 'chosen correctly' if you’re told at age one not to judge a book by it’s cover? If they are as lost as you say they are, aren’t they just going to remember what they thought about us when they first met us?” Alex asked.

              “Ah. Good. You are observant enough to find the supposed mistake in this test. But, no. They don’t really remember you, but in the back of their minds, they’re choosing you on their present feelings. They just don’t know who you are at the moment.”

              Why would that make any difference? I thought. Kaydra’s liked him since day one...

              “I'm going to start asking the girls questions now.  Please don’t laugh at their... There’s no other way to put it... temporary stupidity...” Kaydra was currently quite obsessed with her inability to scratch and itch on the back of her head, while the others held the board down and Ari hit her, knocking them all over.  Cedric facepalmed.

squiglYlinesbecauseidon’tknowwhattosaY

Alex’s perspective

              Cedric explained what they were supposed to do. That’s weird.

              They were all chained to a long board to prevent any escape attempts... as if they’d be able to remember where the door out was anyway...

              Kaydra whistled at us. Ari attempted to, but couldn’t remember how. Huh. We all had brand new armor, shining and tinted in the color of our element. “Not too shabby.” Ari said, jabbing her elbow at Kaydra. All of us had grown silent. They were already about to say whom they preferred. I hung my head low, humiliated. “I feel like I’m on sale.” I whispered to Tao, who just laughed quietly in agreement.

              “I prefer the blue one.” Ari continued. Wait... blue one?? I saw Tao look down. Nope. Not even close. He realized that there was only one person here in blue, standing right next to him. I had somehow missed the fact that I was, in fact, the blue one. Byron was quick to correct that flaw. My jaw dropped, and I bent over a little to see through the line to make sure there wasn’t anyone else in blue at the moment.

              Tao started moping at the fact he wasn’t in blue.

              I just sat there, confused.

              Kaydra answered to Ari’s revelation. “Huh. I like the pale, pasty one with the multicolored cape.”

scribblescribblescribbelscribble             

Tao’s Perspective

              My train of thought stopped dead in its tracks, nearly derailed, pity party not only over, but dead and buried. I was in utter shock, knowing I was the only one that fit that description. I was dumbfounded at the truth that Kaydra, my Arch Nemises, had in fact chosen me.

              I sat there, not knowing what to think about this. I looked over. Poor Alex. He’s going through the same stuff in his mind.

              “I like Skunk Head.” Megan piped up, staring at Byron. How’d she manage to remember that one?

“YES!” he shouted, pumping his fist in the air. “Points for skunkhead.  HEY, wait a minute!”

              Kaydra looked over at Megan through the chained up crowd, smirking. “What?!? At least he has a tan.” Kaydra shrugged her shoulders and pretended not to have any clue what Megan was talking about.

              “Well, Auria, which one do you like?” Cedric said. He’s getting a tiny bit too pushy for my taste.

              “Uhm...” she said, turning beet red, “I like the shiny one.” she finished off, muffled by the shackles in front of her face.

              “Shiny one?? We’re all shiny. Specify?” Ed pointed out. Auria blushed even more and jabbed a finger at Avryn, who was indeed wearing a metalic, shiny cape.

              “Ooh, now there's a shocker ..” Alex said, evidently not wanting to be here.

              The last one was Hanako and we ALL knew who she’d choose. "I like the black one."

              Kaydra dragged everyone -- heedless of their protests -- up to me and said shyly, “Uhm... I just thought you might want to know... I like you alot and all, but There’s this part of me that utterly loathes you and I don’t know why.” I sat there confused once more. I didn’t know she knew how to whisper...  Well she's just full of surprizes, isn't she?

              Then I remembered that this was supposed to be a test.

              I didn’t want to see the results of that quiz.

              “I won’t say anything about this. The ones who had trouble have good reason to.”

              That’s all he said.

              Huh.

              We did??

              "One last thing before you leave." Cedric said.  As if we weren't confused enough, there was more.  "I am proud to say, and one of these girls would be very helpful to have in a fight.  I want you to choose two -- the ones you consider to be the best warriors, in a state like this."

              Well, Hanako has special secrets to what she does that she probably forgot, Auria's kind of helpless -- no offense --  and Megan's not the most reliable person in the world, so...

              "Personally, I would have to say Ari and Kaydra."  I involuntarily winced at both names.  Ari had just melted her way out of the shackles, and was rubbing her wrists.

              "OH!  I know a trick too!" Kaydra said, seeing Ari's escape had succeeded.  "Watch this!" she shifted to fox form and fell out of the shackles, making the board unbalanced and tipping the others over.

              "Whoa, sweet Moses!"  Ari said, grinning at Kaydra.  I had never heard that come out of her mouth before, and kind of hoped I never would again.

              The others decided to agree with me, and Cedric handed them cloaks like those he'd given us.  Kaydra's looked more like a pelt, and Ari's seemed scaly like Alex's -- and it was blue too.  Oh great, Cedric's already color-coordinating them... I'm going to have to speak to that man.  He knows more than he should.

              “Now for how we get them out of this place. When I lift the amnesia, they’ll remember everything they used to except for the last two nights. Agreed?”

              We all nodded. Let’s hope we don’t have to remember any of this again either.

              “There are some pointers. Most of them don’t have problems with this stuff, and will never remember this ever again. But this works differently on different people. They won’t remember this. But if they remember even fractions of it... It’ll result to them thinking it as a dream, unless the facts prove them wrong.  I’ll lift it from them right after I get the chains off, but they’ll be asleep. Are you feeling gentlemanly enough to carrry them to their rooms? I left the doors unlocked.”

              Oh, he's so thoughtful... Oh well, this should be interesting.

              Alex, being somewhat braver than I was at the moment, stooped down and picked Ari up gently, cradling her in his arms, making sure her head didn’t dangle like limp heads usually do, and walked out of the cave. I then realized he was the first one to do it at all. The rest of us looked at him suspicously behind his back. The green monster of jealousy crept onto my back for a while.

              I heard Cedric chuckle at the irony.

              I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly too.

              Avryn, who thought Alex was Superman or something, looked at Alex and tossed Auria over his shoulder like a sack of flower and ran after Alex. I just then realized that Avryn's new haircut was exactly like Alex's. Ha.

sqigglesquigglesquigglesquigglesqui

Ari's Perspective

 

              Have you ever gotten up from a dream that left you feeling like, "what??" and you have a deep feeling in the pit of your stomach that it was real until you actually got up and you were in your bed and not where you thought you were?? That happened last night.

              All I can remember about it was an eerie blue light, and a cave with most of the guys in it.  Kinda weird, I know.

              I came downstairs to the common room. Tao was out there so I decided to let him in on the obscure dream. Tao seemed a bit uneasy with it, as if he knew something I didn't.

              He smiled at me, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. A peculiar expression overcame his face, filled with bitter sorrow, I think, or pain.  What.  The Heck.  Who is this, and what has he done with Tao?

              I smiled back, hugging him quickly.

              An uneasy air sifted among us, it seemed. He kissed my forehead and lowered his head to look at the ground.

              I'm too much of an empath to look into his eyes and not get a sick feeling in my stomach. So, I dropped my gaze.

              I made my way to our first class when I accidentally bumped head on into Alex. I braced myself for another argument, but he just laughed quietly and smiled, waving politely and dropping his gaze to the floor. I couldn't help my mouth dropping in complete and utter shock. He still sat by Kaydra, but he seemed a little less comfortable around her than usual. The air between them was cold, unfeeling.  Kaydra looked somewhat confused, but also...WAIT, relieved?  WHAT?

              I decided to turn around in my seat and make conversation with Tao to break the long stare I was receiving from Alex. Thankfully, it worked.

              Tao slowly started to cheer up again, but he still seemed unsettled about something.

 

aleXisactingreallYstrangetodaY

 

Kaydra's Perspective

 

              What is with everyone suddenly owning awesome capes and not knowing where we got 'em?  Well, only a few of us have one, Auria and Megs and Hanako didn't get one. Before 2nd hour I came up toward Ari to talk to her.

              "I had the strangest dr-" I started, then shut my mouth once I realized she said the same thing. Okay, so first we laughed.

              "What was yours about?" Ari asked.

              "All I remember was a cave."

              "Mine too." she said, cocking an eyebrow, "How about the guys? Were they in there?"

              This was just bizarre.

              "They were there in the last few minutes before I woke up."

              She sat down with me, bewildered.

              "I told Tao all that I could remember about the dream. He seemed like he knew something I didn't."

              "Alex won't talk to me."

              "Tao seems a bit confused."

              "What do you think-" I gasped.

              I remembered, as did Ari. I swear we have linked minds.

              "I admitted-"

              "I chose-"

              "I think I really do-"

              "Oh my gosh!" We both mumbled in chorus. We stared, shocked at each other.

              "I have to talk to Tao." I ran off to find out where Captain Obvious had gotten off to, to tell him my sudden epiphany -- I had fallen for him while I wasn't looking, and I never actually meant to tell him I was at his feet. That, and to appollogize to Alex. He actually has a reason to mope now.  Not that it actually mattered, he'd do it anyways.

ariisgoingtoscribbleonpapernow

Ari's Perspective

              A sick feeling hit me as the truth continued to slap me in the face. I felt horrible. What'll I say to Tao? I whispered to myself.

I pulled out a sheet of paper, remembering Kaydra was off to talk to him at the moment and scrawled onto the page:

              Dear Tao...

              I'm so sorry about all of this. I know that you're bitter, and I don't blame you.

I  wish that I could do something to make you feel better. I never ever wanted to hurt you. I don't think this is going to work out after all. I wish with all my heart you can forgive me and that we'll still be good friends. I hope that even after this you can feel comfortable with talking to me any time you need to. I'll be there for you no matter what. Please, forgive me Tao. I  love you like a brother.

                                                        Love(Or, whatever you want to put here...), Ari.

              I took a deep breath which unexpectedly turned out to be ragged. My fingers shook as I folded the note shut, edging toward the door after class. I looked at the note listlessly when the bell rang. I grabbed my bag and prepared to leave alone, the first one out the door as usual, when an unexpected tag-along waved to me with a greeting.

              I took a deep breath and responded to Alex, still uberly unsure about this whole scenario.

              "Uhm..." He started, kind of quietly, "We really got off on the wrong foot and I know I've been a jerk. I wanted to apollogize and I wondered if we could restart, you know, kind of on a clean slate." He said quietly at warp speed -- as in, without breathing.

              I looked up at him, probably looking like a whipped animal. My eyes had to be red from two minutes ago. I took another ragged breath and answered, "O-okay." in an unbeleivably cracked voice.

theguysbynowarereadytohideinacorner

Alex's Perspective

              I felt really awkward talking to Ari after deserving a Royal slap in the face. Whoa, really bad pun.

              She looked at the ground, her deep brown hair creating a veil between her and the rest of the world. She must know about last night. She was incredibly upset.

              "Alex," she said hesitantly, "I'm sorry, I need to speak with Tao really fast."

              "Okay." I said softly. I saw a tear slide down her face as it caught the light of the sun through the windows.

For some reason I felt like it was my fault she was crying.

sdkeonsmindoysdojwerlkdmiwkdje

Tao's Perspective

              Kaydra told me that both she and Ari had the other night cleared up. And they knew everything. I took a deep breath, knowing how all of this was going to happen in the next few days. She told me exactly what she said last night. She said she was going to apollogize to Alex. I saw Ari as she turned the corner, due towards me -- yes, that's now a cardinal direction. The all-too-familiar pain from before jabbed at me again. Kaydra said goodbye and edged out of the room. Ari looked toward the ground. I gently lifted her chin, brushing the hair out from in front of her face. She wrapped her hand in mine, and let go of something. I opened it and read it a couple times. I took an unsteady breath and nodded.

              "Okay. Okay, sweetie." my voice was tigher than expected. Tears dripped off of her chin, her head down and her hair in her face again. I held her in my arms, long and hard, knowing it was probably the last time.

              I pulled back and kissed her cheek, assuring her, "Ari, I will always think of you as one of my very closest friends. I will always be a friend you can talk to about anything."

              "I thought so." sounded from Ari, her tight voice telling me that she felt the same way I did -- confused, and hurt.

              "I'm sorry Tao. Please forgive me." she said, hugging me tightly. I hugged her back, not knowing what to say.

              When the words finally came, all I could say was, "I'm too lazy to hold a grudge, but since you won't be satisfied until I say so, I forgive you. Now I just need to find out what for."

aleXisgonnabealittlemopeYrodaY

Alex's perspective

              This shouldn't have been so much of a blow. I knew for a while that she liked Tao more than me. I may mope my whole life long, but I'm not stupid.  I can read expressions better than most scholars can read books, and so can she. I knew it'd be coming sooner or later, but it still hurt. But then a voice hidden in the dark and highly gaurded corner of my mind pointed out that I had been watching Ari for the past 3 months, though I most definitely wouldn't admit it.  And this is why that voice is in the detention corner.

              I saw at the end ot the hall Ari and Tao, and by the looks on their faces, I knew what had happened. We had to go to the dungeon for our next class and Kaydra played tag-along with Tao, which made Ari decide to walk alone again. Like me, she also didn't want to hear that conversation. I came toward her and smiled weakly.

              "You okay?"

              "No." she answered quietly, pain in every grain of her voice.

              "I'm sorry."

              "No. I have to get over this. My life is not going to be another sob-story." she said with a determined note buried underneath all the pain.

              There was a breif silence until she asked, "Alex, how come you've suddenly decided to like me back after finding out the truth?"

              Ouch. "Ari... I've actually liked you secretly for almost 3 months now. I didn't tell you because I wouldn't admit it to myself."

              She laughed quickly, the happiness gone a split second later. "We're too much alike." We edged toward the dungeon gate. I just shrugged. We're much more alike than you think.

              I sat next to Ari. I didn't know what to say, so I pulled out my Ipod.

              "Want to listen?" I asked.

              Her eyes narrrowed into tiny slits. "You actually have those here?" I shrugged.

              "Yeah well, if you haven't noticed, it's just about the same here as it is there. We just prefer magic on top of that. It's more convenient during power-outages."

              "And yet they hold schooling in Keeps." she said, confused.

              "Yeah well, like I said, we've got electricity, indoor plumbing, heating, tech... just held in a Keep.  Old habits die hard."

              "The least they could do was install heating in the dungeon. It's not like it's used anymore." she shivered, zipping up her jacket.

I then realized we matched. We both had black jeans and red checkered jackets. The only difference there was was that she had fur on the lining of her hood.

              "Well, do you or don't you?" I asked again, pulling out the earphones.

              "Sure." she pulled out a stack of paper and a pencil and began to draw things that I've only seen in Art Museums.

              I decided to watch her for a while, then said, "You're really good at that."

              "Yeah, well, I've had a lot of practice.You know, being locked up in the attic with nothing but paper and a pencil." she said, a sour note to her voice.

              Life in the HumanLands must have sucked.

              "Not that I don't like art. I really do." she said quickly. I shrugged, but continued watching.

              Simon came in and slammed the door behind him and immediately stopped in front of us. Tao and Kaydra had sat next to us, and that alone was new.  Ari sat next to Tao and I with Kaydra on opposite sides of the room on a daily basis.

              "Wha??" Simon marveled, "Did Heck freeze over, or what?" I looked up at him, giving him a look that made him say,

              "O-okay another time, then. I'm just glad there aren't any more cliques in our... well, clique, I guess. If that makes any sense at all."

okaynowthisisofficiallyScrewedUp

Ari's Perspective

              Kaydra laughed. Huh. I didn't feel like laughing. "We're just one big happy family, aren't we?"

              Tao entirely confused me when he laughed too. "More like disfunctional! But it's better than mine!"

              Alex smiled. "True. Too true." Whoa, double take- Alex smirked. The mope turned off!

              "Yes, Simon." I said, "I think Heck has frozen over."

              "Amen." said Megan. "I guess that's why it's so friggin cold down here." Byron, Hanako, Avryn, and Auria cracked up. Tao and Kaydra chortled. Yup, Alex and I are party poopers.

              I shivered and threw my hood over my head, looking down at my doodle. I didn't feel like laughing, as I said.

Pain and confusion were still pulsing through my veins like ice water.

              Simon eyed me suspiciously.

              "You okay, sweetie?" He asked.

              I realized my face had probably turned a sickly gray color as it usually does when I'm uber depressed. (Which is really rare, and don't ask about the face thing, it's an elf thing. Nobody's heard of it because elves are usually Zen.)

              "Yeah. I'm fine." I said, rubbing my eyes, which were still red. I looked like one sick dog.

              "Nothing's wrong?" he asked. For some reason he acted like I was his child lately. Calling me Angel, or Sweetie or something of the kind... Most people would find that freaky, and I do, but I'm not worried about Simon. Or me.

              He stood over me for a minute, then turned on his heel and left. I rolled my eyes, hearing Alex chuckle beside me.

              "What are you laughing at?" I said suspiciously.

              "Nothing. It's nothing."

              "Yeah right, don't give me that crap."

              "Ari, I'm laughing because I thought I was the only one that turned gray when I was being extremely moped out.

Sorry, but I just remembered my face when I look like that. It's kinda wonked out." he chuckled.

              What's happened here?? He's laughed more today than he has over the whole trimester.  I shuddered, blaming it on the cold.

              Alex changed the subject.

              “So about that pointless dance class...” he started. “I wondered if you wanted to try that again. You dance a load better than Kaydra.” he smiled. Kaydra glared at him, making him shift in his seat uncomfortably.

              I laughed. “Yeah. I’m out a dance partner anyway.”

sdfsdfeibsokyenidapkdjyroksmdess

Dante

              Later I had to go to the study hall and find something about this place's history for a research paper. I was paired up with a new guy, but at least he was from here, so he helped me out with the bookwork and crap. I think Step-Up writing should be banned. I'd been taught how to write correctly, and I wrote tons of books back in the humanlands. I have huge stacks of Bridget's books like Shakespeare and other world famous writers; here's a fast fact: none of them wrote in freaking step up.

              Okay, hopping off my soap box. Back to the story.

              "Thanks." I said, heading back toward the class.

              "So, what's your name?" he asked eyeing me intently.

              "My name?" I repeated.

              This guy had the whole Scene look, you know, kinda like Alex, with the fringe hiding his eyes most the time, only a little less awesome. His hair was almost an ink black color. He had dark brown eyes that left you wondering what he was thinking. Right now he was staring me down with those eyes.

              "Yeah. Kinda need to know your name so I'll know what to call you."

              He's got a point.

              "Uhm.. My name's Ari. And yes, I do know it's usually a guy name, but in my perspective, I find it more girly sounding than macho."

              "I wasn't going to say anything, Ari. I think you have a very cool name."

              Okay. Maybe I'll get along really well with this kid.

              "Okay, so then what's your name?"

              "Oh. Whoops, I thought I already told you. My name's Dante."

              "Dante huh? So judging by the background of your name here, you're a-"

              "-A werewolf."

              "I thought so."

              "You know more about this stuff than I thought you would."

              "They've told you about me? And you just got here?"

              "No. You told me you were new here too. Remember?"

              "Oh. yes. I'm sorry, you'll just have to bear with me here, I was out late last night." I said, feeling really airheaded. He smiled, his fangs peeking out at me. We found the right books, and I had 3 huge books in my arms, ready to slink out the door when someone opened it. Nobody did, so I attempted to open it myself. The books almost fell out of my arms.

              "Here, I'll get it." Dante said, 4 huge books piled up in his arms. He carefully balanced the books in one arm and opened the door with the other.

              "Thank you..." I said quietly, somewhat confused.

              Why? I just realized Dante was hitting on me.

              He shut the door after I went through and kept going on toward the class. He kept looking up and down at me with a sparkle in his eyes, and it was really getting uncomfortable.

              Alex came around the corner from whatever class he had at the moment. If he had a class this hour... His eyes darted from me to Dante, then back at me, and then came to a halt glaring at Dante. His jaw stiffened, his eyes narrowing into slits. Dante did the same.

              "Here, Ari, let me take those for you." Alex said, grabbing the books from me gently and walked to the other side of me.

              "Thank you, Alex." I smiled, blushing a little. He held all of the books in one arm and put his other arm around my shoulders.

Dante looked vengefully at Alex.

              Marvelous.

              Dante must sense Alex's vampiric blood. I noted that most Vampires don't get along well with Werewolves. Or... they could be having a cat-and-dog fight over what they think should be their property. Yipe.

              Alex's arm tightened around my shoulders as he leaned over to whisper something in my ear.

              "Who the heck is this guy?" He said tensely.

              "I'll tell you later." I whispered back, looking Dante's direction.

              "Do you actually know?"

              "Not really."

              "Might want to keep away from him, Ari. Something doesn't seem right about him."

              Dante cleared his throat, as if he'd heard every word that had been said. "I guess we should be headed back to class. Don't want your girlfriend to be marked truent, do you?" he said, jabbing at Alex with his words.

              "Next time, be gentlemanly enough to take the lady's books, if you can handle the weight." Alex snapped. He handed me my books after opening the door, saying a farewell until next hour. I blushed slightly again, telling him thank you.

              I caught Dante's eyes rolling.

              But, at least he didn't eye me so awkwardly anymore.

              "So," Dante said, clearing his throat, "Who was that guy? your boyfriend?"

              "Eh... yeah, I guess you could say that."

              "I'll take that as a yes... and a no?"

              "Wrong. That is entirely a yes." I said, blushing again. I'll just have to inform Alex later. Yeah, I lied. But I know that it's going to be saving my butt from getting stalked by Mr. Psycho later on. Alex would probably be thrilled that I made that lie.

              "Oh." he said, seeming almost put down. "He seemed cool."

              Yeah, stop playing butt-kiss.

              "So, I guess we'd better start working on the paper if we want it done when it's supposed to be." He said quickly, opening up a huge book, rousing dust bunnies from inside the cover.

              "Yeah... okay." I said, my mind still wandering off someplace.

Meanwhile,intheguy'sdormroomnoseriously

Author's Note

Ignore the separators. They were originally wingdings and such fonts. Yeah, they kind of sound funny.