Pieces, Part 26 - Trust

We spent dinner talking to people, inquiring them, as subtly as possible, what exactly were we supposed to be doing there. Most people weren't quite sure about the details themselves, saying that we were training to help people as if that was explanation enough. Others said that we were learning to harness magic with our flutes, and use the music to save people. No one knew what exactly that entailed, and what people needed saving from. Everyone kept repeating that the "cleansing" was getting very close.

I didn't like that word. It sounded... genocidal.

The dining hall was adjacent to the main room. It was also large, even larger than the main room in fact, though not as tall, and it had more of the winged humanoid statues lining three of the walls. One of them had a row of windows instead, looking out to the garden and fields that must've grown most of what the people here ate. It was empty now, of course, the snow thick on the ground. I stared out the window, stuck in my own thoughts after I finished and waited for everyone else.

Everything was so weird. None of the people I'd talked to seemed to mind living in isolation, but to be fair they didn't know about anything else. They thought they were here of their own free will, but they were being used, kept here without their consent. Meera and I had figured it out and that's why we'd escaped, right? Right?

I couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. A lot of things were wrong, probably.

After dinner we went back to the main room, but I retreated back to my own for the night soon after. We'd spent most of the day walking, either in the forest or around the facility, and I was tired and my feet were screaming for a rest. Rosa said they'd stay for a little while longer, trying to get something out of someone. I left them to it, after sharing a look with Avani. They'd find something, eventually.

~x~

About an hour later I was leaning back on my (surprisingly comfortable) bed when someone knocked on my door. I went to open it, assuming I'd find one of the other three outside it, coming over to tell me some kind of new revelation they'd uncovered. I was partially right, as Meera was standing a little further from the door, but so was the man from way earlier, the man who appeared to be in charge. He smiled at me.

"Nicolas, I heard you'd retired for the night, but I'm glad you weren't quite sleeping yet," he said, his voice overly sweet. "May we come in?" he asked, gesturing at himself and Meera behind him. I glanced at her quickly - she shrugged, an apologetic look on her face - and then I stepped aside to let them in. I closed the door softly behind them.

"I suppose you came to have that talk now?" I said, managing to keep my voice level.

"Quite right you are, my boy," said the man, turned around and stuck out his hand. "I never introduced myself, did I? My name is Damon. I'm the Organizer."

That gave me pause.

"The Organizer? I thought you were the Leader?" I said. Judging by the look on Meera's face, she'd thought the same. The man, Damon, laughed a little.

"Oh, heavens, no. Whatever gave you that idea?" he said cheerily.

"Well, you did seem like an important boss person," I said, uncertain of what exactly to say. We didn't want him to suspect we remembered more than we should. "And... Christoph said something about someone named 'the Leader'."

"Yes, there is 'the Leader', but it is not I," said Damon. "Although, as the Organizer, I do suppose I am the... 'boss person', as you put it. I'm in charge of making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible, as per the requests of the Leader."

"So who is this 'Leader', then?" asked Meera, sitting down on my bed and crossing her legs. Damon went over to the small desk in the corner of the room and pulled out the chair that was tucked under it. He took a seat, and I walked over to the bed as well, sitting down next to Meera.

"The Leader is the reason we're all here," he said, his eyes sparkling. "The reason this whole place exists. The Leader is wise and good, and wants to help the world beyond, and she needs our help to do so."

"'She'?" I said. Damon nodded and leaned forward.

"She has been working on the Plan for a long time, probably decades, and it is almost perfect," he said, continuing to lean forward. "And when it is perfect, the Cleansing will be done, and the evil eradicated."

"What evil, exactly?" Meera asked.

"Death," said Damon. "Terrible, horrible, black death."

"You're eliminating... death?" I said, not sure what I'd expected but pretty sure that wasn't it.

"Trying to, anyway," said Damon and leaned back again. "We're making people's lives better. As soon as the Leader perfects the Melody."

"And the melody is... the flutes, yes?" said Meera. "What exactly are the flutes?"

"They are instruments of great power," said Damon. "Used to control a lot of things, including magic and minds. But I don't really know the specifics, Instructor Manfred should explain that to you when you begin your training tomorrow. Either way that is not what I wanted to discuss with you..." He paused, just briefly, but it seemed clear that he wasn't planning on answering any more questions about that, so we kept quiet. "Nicolas, Maya... what happened?"

We paused. I glanced at Meera. She glanced back.

"Sir, I don't..." Meera started, her brow furrowed.

"Yes, I know, I know," he interrupted, sighing. "You don't remember anything, because of the river... But... are you sure? You don't remember... anything?"

"Specifics? No, not really," I said. "But there is a certain... feel in this place that seems, well, familiar. Like a really strong sense of déjà-vu."

"That... that's a start, yes," said Damon, nodding. "What about you, Maya? Do you feel anything?"

"I'm afraid not, sir," she said quietly. Her face was downcast, and her brow knitted together in sadness. "Everything is blank."

"How unfortunate..." Damon sighed and stood up. "Perhaps... with time. And perhaps once you get your flutes back in hand it'll come back to you. We do hope you'll remember us soon."

With that he bid us good night and left my room. The tension I hadn't really even noticed was in me washed away as soon as the door closed behind Damon's back and I really felt like just slumping down onto the bed and sleeping for so long, but Meera had stayed behind, still sitting on the bed deep in thought. I nudged her carefully.

"I think he really does think they're here to help people," she said, looking me straight in the eyes.

"Just because he thinks so, doesn't mean it is so," I countered. "And I still want to punch him in the face. He seems so... smarmy. Like everything he does has a hidden, selfish reason behind it."

Meera regarded me for a while, quietly studying my face.

"Are you sure you aren't letting your presumptions cloud your judgement?" she asked finally. I gaped at her.

"What?" I said.

"I'm just saying, that maybe you think everyone is so unpleasant, because you want everyone to be unpleasant. You're expecting to find some kind of, what? Evil organization that kidnaps people here? People who belong to something like that do sound very evil, but you mustn't forget that they are still people."

"Meera, they're keeping people here against their will," I said, amazed that I actually had to spell this out for her.

"I don't know," she said instead of understanding. "None of the people we talked to during or after dinner seemed like they were unhappy or felt detained."

"That's because they don't remember what it was like, before," I pointed out. A slave is a slave even if he doesn't know he's a slave. "Besides, we escaped, didn't we? Why would we have escaped, if everything here was so squeaky clean?"

Meera didn't have an answer for that, so she stayed silent for a while.

"In any case," she said, eventually. "What we need to do now, is figure out exactly what this 'cleansing' is, what the flute playing is for, and how to get everyone their memories back."

"Yeah... And that means," I said, looking over at her and she nodded, "that we need to go talk to this... 'Leader'."

~x~

The morning was clean and crisp, and I woke up without the sleepy haze one often has when one first wakes up; my mind was completely clear. I lay, staring up at the ceiling, for a moment, and then pushed myself up on the bed and got dressed. After dinner yesterday we had been told that breakfast was served flexibly, and that we could go over to the dining hall whenever we woke up to eat. I did just that, considering for a moment knocking on Avani's door, but deciding to let him sleep in case he needed it. He had seemed exhausted yesterday, even if he had slept well the night before. I also didn't want to wake either of the girls up, so I went to have breakfast all by myself.

Well, not all by myself, I thought, when there were already several people in the many tables dotting the large room. Lotta waved me over as soon as I had a plate in my hand.

"Hey, Nick, did'ya sleep well?" she asked, all big smiles and bright attitude. She did seem... happy, like Meera had said. And not like she was being forcefully kept here and used for her talents. Although she still didn't know.

"I suppose," I said, scooping a spoonful of porridge. "Sleeping in an unfamiliar bed is always a little so-and-so, but I guess I don't really have a familiar bed at the moment, so that one does just fine."

She laughed, a soft giggle she hid behind her hand, and I the corner of my lip tugged up as well. Then she flushed, suddenly realising that maybe I hadn't intended it as a joke, but when she saw the smile on my face she relaxed.

"Sorry," she said quietly, scratching her cheek. "I'm so used to your blunt jokes, I didn't didn't even consider maybe you weren't joking. But I'm glad that your weird-ass sense of humour is perfectly intact, even without your memories."

I shrugged. "I guess it's a core part of me. Good to know." I paused for a moment. "Could you maybe... tell me more about myself? What I was like, when I was here before?"

"Oh, you were great," she said happily. "You were kind and helpful and a hard worker, taking care of even things that weren't a part of your routine. But you were also kinda, well, rough around the edges I suppose. Quick on the uptake. Very blunt. You did prefer to fix things by talking but if that didn't take you really weren't afraid to throw some punches." She laughed a little, clearly thinking back at something. Avani had mentioned something along those lines too, didn't he? I guess I hadn't grown out of my habit of picking fights even when I'd lost my memory. "Most people still liked you well enough, especially Maya. You two were instantly drawn to each other and were basically inseparable. You did appear pretty soon after one another, so it was probably a subconscious thing, maybe you'd known each other before, of... You do look kinda same, you know. Which reminds me!" She leaned closer to me. "Miles and you look super similar. Do you think you're, like... related or something?"

I laughed, a little awkwardly. "I really wouldn't remember, would I?" I said, brushing her off. "It's possible, at least."

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't remember," said Lotta, sounding just a tiny bit disappointed. As if on cue, Avani appeared into the dining room doorway, and she instantly perked up, giving him a wave. I waved as well. He joined our table, once he'd gotten himself some food.

"What were you guys talking about?" he asked, pleasant enough.

"Lotta was telling me what I was like, before," I said. "Apparently I got easily into fights and no one understood my sense of humour."

Avani snorted behind his hand and started to laugh. Lotta flushed deep.

"That's not what I said!" she huffed.

"Sounds like a fun time," said Avani, a twinkle in his eye. It was my turn to snort.

We fell into a comfortable, light conversation as we ate. Nothing big, or game changing. Just... talking. It was nice.

But we couldn't get stuck on nice. We had a mission.

"Tell me, Lotta," I said when there was a lull in the conversation. "Who exactly is the Leader?"

"She's the one who is in charge of us," she said. "She's the one who built this place, and who took us in to teach us ways to help the world."

Again with the world saving. If the Leader's plan was seriously to "eliminate death", she must be all kinds of messed up. Death was inevitable, and trying to hold it off for good was against the very nature of, well, nature. I didn't say any of this to Lotta.

"So I heard," I said instead. "Tell me, is there some way to... talk to the Leader? To have a meeting with her?"

"Oh," said Lotta, slightly surprised, and scrunched up her face in thought. "I guess it's possible? Her study is just beyond the Organizer's office, but she's very, very busy so she's not usually bothered. Except with the most important things, the ones the Organizer can't handle on his own. But I think she'd be willing if you ask." She paused, looking up at me. "Why do you want to talk to her though? The Instructor, or someone else, can surely answer any questions you might have."

"Well, it's just..." I said, trying to come up with a reason that fit into my supposed situation. My eyes flicked to Avani on the other side of the table, and he looked worried. Was I being too obvious? "I wanted to ask her if, perhaps... she knew some way for me to retrieve all my memories? Not from my old life! But from when I used to be here before." That seemed to be a very good answer, as Lotta's face melted into a happy smile. "I really wish I could remember all of you."

"That's so nice, Nick!" she said, placing a hand on my arm and giving it a light squeeze. "You should definitely ask her! If someone can do it, it's the Leader!"

And with that I let the subject drop, and we returned to idle chatter once more. But in the back of my head I was formulating a plan to get into that study and confront the Leader.

~x~

At precisely ten o'clock all four of us met with Instructor Manfred in the main room. He lead us through the twisting corridors deeper into the building, until we arrived in front of a door marked "Instruments" and he opened it. Inside was a room, not too big but not very small either, and the entire room was lined with shelf after shelf of beautifully carved flutes. My heart did a somersault in my chest and tripled its pace, my breath catching in my throat. There were so many flutes, and they were all beautiful and unique and I wanted to play them all. I didn't even know where this sudden love for flutes came from, but they were amazing and I couldn't help myself.

"Woah," said Rosa as she looked around. "That's a lot of flutes."

"And both you and Miles will be assigned one," Manfred said. I had only time to turn to him and open my mouth when he added, "Nicolas and Maya naturally already have ones. We've kept them safe and perfectly working for you."

"Oh," I said. "Thank you. Where... are they?"

Manfred gestured to the right side of the room and I walked over, Meera on my heel. I looked among the flutes, trying to spot my own. I really wanted to spot my own.

Manfred picked one up, and gave it to me.

Oh.

I examined the flute in my hands. I couldn't recognize it. But I did feel like it suited me. Meera had also been shown hers, and she was turning it in her hands as well. She looked at me, and shrugged.  Rosa and Avani got flutes as well, after a selection process, and then Manfred took us to the room we were supposed to practice.

It was another large-ish room. I had no doubt it had good acoustics, which made sense since it was for musical practice. He took out several stands from the corner of the room, meant for music sheets no doubt, and brought them to the middle of the room. He went over to a sturdy, wooden table at the front of the room, and shuffled some papers around, before turning around and leaning against the edge. He crossed his arms. We looked at each other.

"Well then," he said and I swallowed. "Let's see if any of you can actually play anything."

I could. And Meera could. Rosa managed to make a few clean notes, but nothing too fancy. Avani couldn't play anything. Instructor Manfred called over a second Instructor to assign to Rosa and Avani. She took them into a different room to learn the basics, and Meera and I were left alone with Manfred.

He was pleased to find that we could still play so well, even if we didn't remember the Melody that was essential to the Leader's plan. I counted that as a small victory. He made us play tunes from notes he put on the stand - and which I was glad to notice I could also still read - and we spent several hours playing duets. Refamiliarizing ourselves with the flutes, Manfred said.

Half past noon he said we could take a lunch break. My stomach was grumbling in anticipation.

"That was really fun," said Meera cheerily to me as she packed her flute into a small box.

"Speak for yourself," I said with a crooked smile. "You kept playing so loud my ears are still ringing."

"Oh, hush, I didn't play that loud," she scoffed, and then grinned. "And you don't know ringing until you've had to sit in a bell tower for a day. Once an hour, every hour, right above your head. That's ringing."

I laughed softly and then...

"A bell tower?"

The bottom of my stomach lurched, dropping all the way to the ground. He had heard. Manfred had heard. We turned slowly to face him. He looked puzzled.

"I, uh," said Meera. "I mean... I think..."

She couldn't finish the sentence. I couldn't have finished the sentence. A realization dawned on Manfred's face and my blood ran cold. We were so busted.

"You remember," he whispered.

Busted.

I moved faster than I could think. My hand collided with warm flesh, and Manfred's limp body slumped forward and I caught it against my arm. I laid him against the big table, and checked his breathing. He was just unconscious, but I had no idea for how long. I turned to look up at Meera. She was staring at me, hands covering her mouth and eyes wide with... shock? Horror? I couldn't say. I couldn't think.

I forced myself to take a deep breath and stood up.

"We need to go," I said. Meera didn't move, just stared at Manfred's body. "Meera!" Her eyes snapped to me. "We need to go."

She drew in a shaky breath, steeled herself, and nodded. Her eyes flickered to Manfred once more.

"He's unconscious, for now," I said and walked past her. "Let's go. We need to find Avani and Rosa."

"And what then?" asked Meera, finally starting to move to trail behind me. My steps were determined, my destination unwavering.

"Then we take this party to the Leader," I said.

"The Leader?" hissed Meera and grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop. "Are you crazy? How do you even know where to find her?"

"I've been asking around," I said, trying to shrug her off. Her grip was ironclad. "And no. Manfred found out, and as soon as he wakes up he'll tell everyone. Now is our only chance to take them by surprise. We have the upper hand, but not for long. And yes, we do need to talk to her," I said before she had time to interrupt. "If we want to find out what is really happening here, we need to force it out of the mouth of the one in charge. Now let's go, we need to find Avani and Rosa."

She let go, hesitantly, and we continued our way, steps a little faster than perhaps usual. I led our way back to the main room, I knew the way, could remember it, and then through it to the dining room. Avani and Rosa were on a line to get lunch, and Rosa waved happily when she noticed us but when she noticed the looks on our faces her hand fell, along with her face. Avani was already walking quickly towards us, and she followed. A few heads turned to look as they left, but didn't linger.

"What's going on?" asked Rosa, voice quiet. "Something is going on."

"He figured it out," I said, glancing around. No alarm bells yet, so that's good. "We need to get going, they might be after us any minute."

"Wait, what?" said Avani. "Manfred did? What happened? Where is he?"

"It was my fault," said Meera, looking down with a frown. "I wasn't careful with my words. We left him in the music class, unconscious. But we might not have much time, we need to go."

"Right," said Rosa.

"To the Leader?" asked Avani. I nodded.

~x~

We came across no one on our way to the Organizer's room. It struck me as surprising, and frankly a bit weird but I'd take any small victory I could. As soon as we got to the large door we bust through it.

Organizer Damon was sitting at his desk and he jumped at the sudden, loud sound.

"What the..?" he said as we marched through the door but I didn't let him get any farther as I slammed my hands on the desk.

"The Leader," I growled. "We want to talk to her."

"Nicolas, what..?" he started.

"That's not my name," I said and slammed the desk again. "We want to talk to the Leader, now."

"What do you mean it's not your name?" said Damon, incredulous. He didn't seem to be aware of how close I was to punching him in the face. "You have no other name! You forgot it, like the rest of... oh."

I punched him in the face.

"Akash!" said Avani, and pulled my hand back.

"I've wanted to do that for a while now," I said.

"Wait... you remember? And he..? He remembers, too?" muttered Damon, holding his bleeding nose between his hands. "How..? How do you remember?"

"None of your damn business," I spat. "Now you let us talk to the Leader, or we'll let ourselves talk to her. Only one of these choices leaves the rest of your face intact."

"Calm, calm down, now," said Damon, holding up a hand in a defensive posture. I unfisted my hand and Avani finally let go of it. I leaned over the desk. "You can talk to the Leader. There's no need to get violent about it. Her study is just through there." He gestured at a small door on the right hand side of the room. It was very unassuming, so much so that I hadn't actually noticed it before.

"Much obliged," I said, and knocked him out. No need for him to start calling guards after us immediately after we went through the door. I looked back at my three companions. They nodded. I opened the door.

The room behind was underwhelming. It wasn't wide, but it was somewhat long. There were books strewn everywhere, as well as musical scores, and sheets and sheets of papers, and half finished flutes. Bookshelves covered the walls, and at the back of the room was a desk, and in front of the desk sat a woman.

The woman was old. Very old. She had tattoos on her wrinkly face and I suddenly realised that Damon hadn't had. Nor had Christoph. The tattoos were clearly only for a specific group of people... The pipers?

The woman was watching us calmly at her spot by the desk, leaning an elbow back on it. I hesitated.

"You are the Leader, yes?" said Meera, stepping forward.

"Yes, that is me," said the woman. She didn't seem at all disturbed by the fact that four random people had burst into her room, one of whom even had blood dripping along his knuckles. "What can I do for you?"

"You can start by telling us what exactly is going on here," I said. She turned her eyes on me, cool and calculating and way, way older than she looked.

"You might want to be a bit more specific than that, young'un," she said. "But I will gladly answer any questions you might have. I can see that the unexplained is eating you up inside."

"We could start with the beginning," said Rosa, seeming surprisingly unconcerned as she studied the books lining the walls. She seemed mesmerized. "Who are you, and why are you here."

"I am Sophia," said the woman. "And I am here because it is peaceful. It was peaceful."

"And why did a peace seeking old lady like you decide to start kidnapping people?" I asked. She laughed. I felt like a child.

"I haven't kidnapped anyone, goodness," she said. She hummed, thoughtfully. "Perhaps you would like to hear the whole story, hm?
"When I was younger, I used to live on the other side. Not this Other Side, but on the side where everyone else does too. The north side. I was a witch, which was slightly more respectable to be back then, but there have always been those suspicious of people who are different. I had a knack for divination, and fortune telling, and made my living by telling people about their futures. But one day a terrible vision struck me. A vision of death.
"But this wasn't any ordinary death, no. It was a vision of an epidemic, a disease of enormous magnitude that would sweep the world by storm, and many would succumb to it. I couldn't see how to cure it, but I did see what caused it, and so I decided to come over to the Other Side, to study it in peace, to find a way to stop it."

"So when Damon said the plan was to stop 'death'," I said, frowning. "He didn't mean stopping people from ever dying, he meant stopping..?"

"The disease," said Sophia. "The Black Death."

"The plague," breathed Rosa. "They're trying to cure the plague."

I stared at her.

"Not cure," said Sophia. "You cannot cure the Black Death. We're trying to merely... dispose of the cause."

"What is the cause?" asked Avani.

"Rats," said Sophia. "Infected rats, festering in the cities and passing the disease on to humans. And so, I thought, if I cannot rid the people of the plague, I must rid the world of rats."

"That sounds... insane," I said, running a hand through my hair. "How do you rid the world of rats? They're everywhere!"

"That is what I need you, my precious pipers, for," said Sophia with a smile. "As a witch, I had also dabbled in the art of hypnotism. I would play my pipe, and get people to do simple things, like clap their hands, or walk around, or dance, or whatever. And so I decided to apply this method to capturing rats. If I could get the rats to follow my playing, I could lead them out of the cities and away from the people.
"It was, however, not as simple as that... The songs that worked on humans, didn't work on rats. Rat's are different from humans, they have a stronger sense of preservation. They are pray animals after all. And so I had to practice, and change the songs, and try to find a melody that would work on them. And I finally did.
"But things got complicated. It was a complicated melody. And it was a large scale operation. If I wanted to rid an entire town, or even city, from all the rats that lurked around, I would need a lot more than one player."

"So you started to kidnap people?" I said, and immediately felt dumb again.

"I told you already, I didn't kidnap anyone," said Sophia with a shake of her head, and a disapproving purse of her lips. I looked away. "They came here on their own. I didn't put the spell on the river, it has always been there, or as long as I can remember. My magic was great enough that I could cross the river without losing myself, but many people along the years have crossed it as well, and their stories haven't ended as pleasantly.
"When the first person came knocking on my door, very, very long ago, I was surprised. He said he couldn't remember anything. He didn't know where he was. So I took him in, even though I only had a small cottage back then, and I tried to undo the spell that the river put on him. I couldn't. I can protect someone from being cursed, but I still haven't found the right counter curse to restore the memories that the river has already taken. That's why I decided they could stay with me. They really didn't have anywhere else to go, and I didn't feel right sending them back over without knowing that they would be looked after. At least on this side, they would be safe.
"And when I realised I would need more people to complete the melody, I thought I could teach the people who came across the other parts. That way they could still do something useful with their lives."

"And the more people that came, the bigger this place became," said Meera. "How long have you been here?"

"Decades," said Sophia. "Damon was the first to arrive, and he's been here near fifty years."

"Wait, you said you didn't know of a way to restore the memories taken by the river," I said. "But then why did I remember Avani when I met him?"

"Oh, I said I didn't know a spell to restore them," she said. "Sometimes, they come back on their own. The things that are most important, most vital to us and to who we are, they can be covered on their own. It happened to Maya, before."

"I..." said Meera, looking surprised. "I remembered something?"

"Yes, a few months ago," said Sophia. "It was very important to you."

"I... I remembered..." said Meera, rubbing a hand on her forehead. She was really trying to remember. "I remembered! I remembered you, Avani!" She pointed a finger at my brother's surprised face with a triumphant grin. "Oh, it had been bugging me for years, like something was left unfinished, and then I remembered that you were still on the other side! That you were the reason I crossed, and you didn't know if I was okay. I... I wanted to go tell you I was okay."

"We let you," said Sophia. "You begged us to let you go back over the river, so find Avani and tell him that you were okay and you were helping people, and that he needn't worry. And we let you. You took a boat over on the eastern crossing station."

"Crossing station?" asked Rosa.

"We have a few boat houses along the more calm parts of the river," explained Sophia. "We do occasionally need to go over the river, to get supplies and other things that we can't get here, and there is one to the northeast of here. A day's walk to Corsilva."

"That's why you came to our house!" said Rosa happily. "Because you crossed the river right near there!"

"Yes," said Meera, back in thought again. "But... the boat... It sank." Her eyes widened. "It sank before I'd made it across and I had to swim the rest of the way. The spell must've hit me after all."

"But... but if you didn't escape," I said, trying to fit the pieces together. Some things were making sense, but others seemed like they'd never fit. "If you didn't escape why did they send those men after you?"

"We waited two months," said Sophia. "You said you'd be back in a few week by the latest, but when we'd heard no news in two months. Every single piper is vital to the success of the spell, and the people who come across are so few and far between that I couldn't know when someone else would come along. We needed you back, and so I asked Damon to send out a search party."

"A search party?" I asked. "They were thugs! They were trying to forcefully kidnap her!"

"That is indeed unfortunate," said Sophia. Her head hung low and she did look sad. "The particular guards that Damon sent weren't the most agreeable ones, I will admit. They personally didn't appreciate that the pipers were higher up in hierarchy than they were, or so I've heard."

"Okay, but why did... why did I..?"

"That, my dear boy, I don not know. It is something that only you can answer."

Everyone turned to look at me as I tried to think, tried to remember. Why had I gone over the river? Why had I lost my memory if we could use the boats with the shielding spell? Why would...?

A sharp pain shot through my head and I winced, my hand flying to my temple. I could almost remember, I could...

The Organizer's room, dim light washing through the window. It isn't late but the days are getting shorter, the sun setting sooner. The Organizer sits at his desk. I stare down at him.

"You sent out the wrong people," I say, my voice kept pointedly emotionless. "Those thugs won't be able to convince Maya. They probably won't even try to talk to her, they'll just try to grab her and she will fight back."

"I understand your concern, Nicolas," says the Organizer. He doesn't look up from the paper he's reading. "But I trust my men to do their job well enough."

"You should send me," I say. Finally he looks at me. "I could get her to come back, easy as that."

"You are a piper, I can't send you," says the Organizer. "You're not indispensable. We need you here."

"But if I just..." I start but get cut off.

"We may have already lost one piper, we damn well aren't going to lose another!" His voice is loud and booming, and that is clearly the end of that. "You are dismissed."

The hands behind my back are clenched into tight fists and I forcefully relax them. "Sir," I spit out and turn around. Before the door has closed behind me I know what I need to do.

I was breathing hard, hands on my face. Another hand was pressed against my shoulder. Avani's. I knew it was Avani's.

"You remembered something," said Sophia. It wasn't a question. I nodded.

"I talked to Damon that day," I said, my voice hoarse. "I tried to get him to let me go after Meera. He didn't let me. So I snuck out, and went anyway. I... I took a boat, I know I did, but..."

"But there was no spell on it," said Sophia. "The spells only work for so long, and I only cast a spell on a boat when someone needs one. Or when I know someone needs one." She gave me a look and I flushed.

"I did not know that," I said.

"So that explains everything?" asked Avani.

"What about the tattoos?" asked Rosa. "Only some people have them, don't they?"

"Ah, yes, they are a part of the spell," said Sophia. "Every piper plays a different part of the Melody, and every piper has a different tattoo, that corresponds to their part."

"What about my abilities?" asked Meera, demonstrating by levitating a few books above head.

"And my drastic rise in fighting skill? Why would we need to know how to fight?" I asked.

"Your abilities were already in you, I just helped you get them out," said Sophie to Meera, smiling softly. "And as for the fighting, I do believe you and some of the other young men we have started some kind of... 'fight club', of sorts. I don't think we are supposed to talk about it."

Avani laughed, loud and hard. "Yeah, that sounds like you alright," he said, shuffling my hair. "I guess you might've learned earlier if I'd let you fight your own battles, but what's done is done."

"No need to worry about that anymore," I said, smacking his hand away. "So let me get this straight... Nobody is kept here without their consent, nobody is removing anybody's memories on purpose, you guys are actually trying to make the world a better place, the 'cleansing' isn't some kind of genocidal plot to take over the world, you aren't trying to control the minds of everyone in the world, and the whole reason this whole thing started is because the search party for Meera consisted of three jerks."

There was a silence. Then Rosa burst out laughing. Meera joined her soon after, giggling softly, a stark contrast to Rosa's full blown howling laughter. Avani's laugh was a bit awkward as he begun, but it soon grew more confident, a hearty chuckling. Even I couldn't help from snickering.

"I guess that's it then," said Rosa. "The end of out epic adventure. And no exciting conclusion fight, no dismantling evil organizations, and no blowing up an evil lair. Slightly disappointing, but I am glad that everything is fine after all."

"What do we do now?" asked Meera. "I mean..." She trailed off, gesturing vaguely. I understood exactly what she meant.

"I don't know, really," I said.

"Any and all of you are more than welcome to stay here with us," said Sophia. "If that is what you wish. I naturally understand if you don't, since you remember your old lives and want to return to them. I will provide you with a boat, though we would be sad to see you go."

"Well, we don't exactly have a life on that side anymore, but..." I said, and looked at Avani. I'd just found my twin again, I really didn't want to be broken apart any more. He looked at me with understanding, and concern. And then he decided something.

"I could stay here with you," he said and smiled. "I'm not particularly attached to my old place, and I am a story teller, so really I can work from anywhere."

"Really?" I said, my voice small in my ears. "You would do that for me?"

"I'd do anything for you," he said, his hand on my shoulder. "You're my brother. I've missed you so much in the past three years, I will gladly move here to spend time with you. If that's what you want, of course."

I looked at Meera. She seemed to have a similar idea.

"Well, ridding the world of the plague does seem like a very good thing to do with one's life," I said. "And we've come this far... If we can relearn our parts of the Melody, it would be a lot easier for everyone else as well."

"My thoughts exactly," said Meera, a face splitting smile on her face. "What about you, Rosa? What do you want to do?"

We all turned to her. She hummed in thought.

"I do think I should go back home," she said, eventually. "I have granny, and Custos, and I haven't finished my witch's training yet... I would love to visit, occasionally, if that's okay?"

"Of course," said Sophia. "Anytime you want. I can even teach you the shielding spell, so you can charm you own boat."

"Thank you so much," said Rosa, smiling happily.


"Wait, wait wait," said Meera suddenly. "What about the lanterns?"

"Oh yeah," said I. "Who the heck put those up?"

"There are mysterious things in this world," said Sophia. "And mysterious beings living in the Corsilva. Some malicious, some not, most... mischievous. I wouldn't think too hard on what exactly it was, you might never know."

I shared a look with all my friends. They shrugged.

Well, things weren't perfect. We still didn't have all the answers, and I still couldn't remember a lot of things, but for the first time in the entire week I felt like it might be okay. I had my brother, and I had Meera, and I had something meaningful to do with my life.

The rest, well... I'd take it one day at a time.
________________________________________________________

The end.

Haha, you thought they'd have to fight. They didn't.

Anyway, I don't know what will happen now, and it's super late so I'm just gonna end this here.

Byeeeeee.

Pie out.

Piecs, Part 25 - Creation

"Welcome home!" I was tired of hearing it. Instructor Manfred was a big man. Though not in any way that was obvious. He wasn't especially fat, or especially muscular, or especially tall. But somehow he was big anyway. Or then he had a way of making other people feel small. Either way, I didn't like it. He smiled a genuine, warm smile. Like he really was happy to see us.

"I'm so glad you returned to us," he said with a booming voice, "I know you don't remember anything or your training, but I'm sure it's still there. And for the other two of you, we'll get you right started."

"What training?" Rosa asked in a small voice.

"Well, Pearl, this is a place where we teach people how to help the world. It is a secret place, that only a few will ever be invited to, and you have been so lucky as to become a part of us. Everyone of you will be assigned an instrument, and with years of training we can use that magical music you will learn to play to make the world a better place.
It's confusing, I know. It is important that everyone who comes here is fully focused on the training and the helping, so we all make the sacrifice to forget who we were earlier, so our past will not come to haunt us on our important mission. This is done as we cross the river."

This guy was really beginning to piss me off. We all make the sacrifice. Blah.  You force us to make a sacrifice, because otherwise no one would want to stay. No one here chose this. No one was chosen for this. People wandered across a river and were taken in. I controlled myself and put on what I thought was my best confused expression.

"But Maya and me, we've been here before, right?" I asked, "Why don't we remember anything either?"

"You were sent on a mission, to the outside world. Something went very wrong. We lost contact with you for some time," instructor Manfred explained, regret shining on his face, "Your memories were lost again."

They do missions from here to the outside world?

"Mission?" I asked, uncertainty in my voice.

"Once you are far enough in your training, we send you out, sometimes, to right some wrongs in the world. Only small things. The most difficult things are left for those who have been training for a long, long time. Longer than you," he explained. We all glanced at each other, real confusion on our faces. There was a moment of doubt in my mind. What if all this was real? What if he was telling us the truth, that the people here were helping the world? But no, I pushed the thought away almost as soon as it found me. They took in people who accidentally crossed the river, like they thought we just had, and lost their memories. Otherwise there wouldn't be much point of there being a forgetting spell by the river. Both ways. And they wouldn't have sent someone after us. If they really wanted to make the world a better place, they should let people leave if they wanted. Even if they wanted to keep this place a secret, making leaving people forget would be enough. They wouldn't have to force people back.

"We are the Guardians of creation," Manfred continued, not noticing our glance, "And now, so are you. You are actually joining us just in time. Soon we will not be needed anymore. There will be a big cleansing, and there will be no more wrong in the world."

I glanced at the others. They were keeping convincing masks of awe and excitement on their faces. Of course anyone who would believe all this would feel like that. Instead all I felt was horror. I wasn't sure what the big cleansing was truly all about, but it didn't sound great for the world. I imagined everyone else felt that way too. I concentrated on keeping my face the same way as everyone else's.

"Now, off you go," instructor Manfred shooed us. "Lotta should be waiting for you just outside the door. She'll show you to your rooms. We will give you today to get used to things, to get familiar with the place and the people. Tomorrow we will begin your training."

"Thank you!" Rosa said with a clear, almost singing voice as we turned and headed back out of the room.

~x~

"We need to tell these people the truth about what's going on here," Rosa said.

"We don't know ourselves what the truth is," I noted.

Lotta had showed us to our rooms, and then around the area. I had to admit the place was impressive, no matter how little I liked it. There was everything here you might need. They were almost self-sufficient, too, with something like a small farm farther into the forest. But they didn't get everything here. Someone had to go across the river sometime, to get supplies, I was sure of it. We were now sitting in my room, discussing... well, everything. No one had thought weird about it. Apparently when ever more than one person came it at once, they let those people stay together for a while, to make them feel safer. Those people were after all, the first people they saw right after they had forgotten they ever knew them. So us spending time together was what everyone assumed.

We had also found out about the tattoos on our faces. We had gotten them here. Everyone of the trainees, trainers and instructors here had one, lines crossing their faces in different places. No one had told us what exactly they were for, but I was sure they served some purpose. If nothing else then being able to identify the runaways, like me and Meera.

"But we do need to get these people out of here," Meera said, "They don't know what they... haven't signed up for. The whole story the instructor told us was sweet and all, and I understand why people would buy it if they literally know nothing about the world, but..."

"But we know they're lying," Avani said, "I mean, we don't know that. It's possible they lost contact with you on a mission, but somehow it doesn't seem likely. Why would you have lost your memories if you had only lost contact?"

We were all silent for a moment.

"I guess that part is possible," I said, "We don't know enough to know if that's a thing that would happen. But we do know people these people don't choose to be here, to choose to give up their memories to fight for the good. Not that that would be a bad reason to give up your memories. But they're not choosing it. It's done to them, and they think they've chosen it, and they don't know anything else in the world. That's the biggest reason to doubt everything else he said."

"We need to do something," Rosa said, "We need to get these people out of here, to see the truth, to... stop the big cleansing."

"We don't even know what that is," Avani said.

"But it gives me the creeps," Meera said, "Based on everything else we know about these people, it can't be anything good."

We nodded.

"We need to find out more," Avani said. We nodded again.

"I think it's dinner time," I said. "Meera and me clearly have friends here. We'll try to get reacquainted, see if the people who we used to know know anything."

We started getting up. Meera didn't. We turned to look at her.

"I..." she began, then closed her mouth, thinking for a moment, "We don't know which of the people are in on the real plan. We don't know who we can trust. I guess no one, because everyone is on the side of whoever is running with this place, but that's because they don't know. I'm sure these are good people. They do believe they're trying to make the world a better place. They can't be bad people, right?"

I nodded, "The ones who don't know what is going on. I'd like to think they're good people too," I took Meera's hand and pulled her up from the bed. "Let's go get to know them, ok?"

Meera nodded. We all walked out of the door and headed to the dining hall.
______________________________________________________________

This story will never end. We already joked with dad about ending this more or less here and then writing a book 2. Because from here it's possible to either end it in a few parts (maybe) or to stretch it on with another thing as long as this one has been.

I don't even know.

Your topic for hopefully tomorrow is Trust.

~matu

Pieces, Part 24 - Wings

We stared at the man for a long, tense moment, the silence in the room poignant.

"Excuse me?" I said, frowning, and glancing around the room in a slightly nervous manner. My companions had similarly confused and panicked looks on their faces. It was play time. "Who are you? Where are we?"

The man walked around the desk, and leaned back on it, crossing his arms.

"Of course, you don't remember anything anymore," he said, sounding disappointed. He shook his head with a sigh. "Can't be helped I suppose, the magic is what it is."

"I'm sorry, magic?" asked Rosa, her face distorting into a scared frown. It didn't suit her, but the illusion was compelling. "W-what magic? What's going on?"

"Don't worry, child, everything will be explained. There is no need to be scared," the man said, his voice comforting but also incredibly infuriating. The urge to punch him in the face intensified, and I still had no idea who he was. On the surface he seemed polite and considerate, even nice. But I couldn't shake the feeling he was anything but. The man snapped his fingers, and a guard stepped forward. "I wish to talk to Nicolas and Maya," he said, looking straight at me. "Take the other two to the main room and make sure they're-"

He'd stopped, his eyes widening and mouth hanging slightly open and for a moment I couldn't understand why. Then I registered the feeling of cloth in my clasped hand. I looked to the side, slowly, and saw my fist grabbing onto Avani's coat sleeve. I followed the arm up and met his eyes. He looked as surprised as I felt. I hadn't even noticed I'd grabbed onto him.

"Nicolas," the man said slowly. I looked around and then looked at him. I didn't have to pretend to be confused this time. "Do you know that man?"

"I... I, uh," I stuttered. The man's eyes were narrowed and his expression was unreadable. "I don't... know?" I tried. "I can't really... remember." I paused, my eyes flicking towards Avani for a second. "We... we crossed the river... together... I think."

"I see," said the man, thoughtful. He stayed silent for a while. "Perhaps it's best I don't separate you four at this time. I understand you are confused and uncertain, and I wish to show you there is no need to be scared. If staying together gives you piece of mind at this time, that is exactly what i want to give to you." He snapped his fingers again. "Take them all to the main room. Offer them what they need, and make sure they're taken care of. I'll send someone out in a moment."

The guard saluted and then turned towards us. "This way," he said, and gestured for us to go back outside. We hesitated for a moment, but then turned to leave.

"I do still wish to have a chat with the two of you," called the man as we were leaving. I turned my head back. He was smiling. "Nicolas, Maya." I didn't like the name.

The door slammed closed and I could see the man no more.

~x~

We were lead through a different corridor, deeper into the building. Occasionally there would be a window, which showed either the woods outside, or a large indoor courtyard/garden. Everything was bare though, since it was winter, but the snow was plentiful, a thick while blanket spread across the ground. We turned again, and came to a hallway with dozens of doors with numbers on them. At the other end I could see a large room opening up.

A very large room, I noted when we finally emerged from the countless corridors of the building. It seemed to be some kind of common room - the main room, the man had called it, hadn't he? - with tables, couches, and bookshelves all around the room. There was a fireplace in one corned, made from white stone, marble most likely, and in front of it were three plush looking chairs. The room was tall, as well as wide, and along the walls were statues of humanoid creatures with wings and two sets of arms. They towered over the room, watching over everything that happened.

The room was also occupied by over a dozen people. They all turned to look at us when we arrived. Their faces split up into smiles when they saw Meera and me, and they quickly surrounded us, calling out our names. Our... wrong names.

"Nick! Maya! You've come back!" one was saying.

"Where did you go off to?" said another.

"You've been gone for months, Maya, got us really worried!" said a third.

I was very baffled, as was Meera next to me, and the crowd only dispersed after the guard loudly cleared his throat and told everyone to give us some room.

"They came over the river, they no longer remember anything!" he also said, and the faces of everyone present fell.

"Sorry..." I muttered, feeling bad for them. We had been here for years after all, we'd probably known all these people pretty well.

"That's okay, it's not your fault," said a woman with long brown hair. It was pulled up into a top-knot, with a few loose strands falling on her shoulder. "We're all just glad you're safe and sound. We had no idea what had happened to you after all."

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but a door to the side opened up at that moment, and an old looking man with a puffy white beard and bushy eyebrows walked through. All the people in the room bowed to him, and the guard snapped into attention. He waved his hand good-naturedly, and then walked up to us.

"Nicolas, Maya, how good to have you back," he said with a smile. "And how great to have new people join us as well. Tell me, do you recall your names?"

Avani seemed surprised to be addressed suddenly, but Rosa was quick on the uptake. "Not really, sir... Everything seems to be kind of... fuzzy."

"That's alright, child, that's the way with everyone at first," said the old man. "What about you, young man?" he asked Avani. "Do you remember anything?"

"Uh," said Avani. "I... I remember the river. And... music. But..." He shook his head slightly.

"Very well," said the man. "First things first, you need to be named. Please, kneel." Avani and Rosa glanced at each other, then at me and Meera, and then slowly, knelt in front of the man. I bit my lip. The man lifted a hand to hover over both of their heads.

There was a silence as everyone waited with baited breath for something to happen. It felt like forever and it was excruciating.

"By the power vested in me by the Leader," the man's booming voice suddenly filled the room. "I hereby present you new names, and welcome you to your new life as part of the Other. Rise, now, Pearl," he placed the hand on Rosa's head, "and Miles," the other hand landed on Avani. The two of them hesitated, and then stood up as the hands lifted from their heads.

The corner of my eye was twitching and I forced it to stop. The group of people crowded around Rosa and Avani to congratulate them and the old man stepped back a bit to let them. I walked over to him.

"Excuse me, but what just happened?" I asked. He looked up at me and smiled again.

"Ah, Nicolas," he said. "I heard you've lost your memory too. How unfortunate... I am Christoph, the Namer. I give all new ones the names they shall be known by in their new lives. I was the one who gave you your name, once upon a time."

"But... don't we already have names?" I asked. "What about those?"

Christoph shook his head, his bread swaying from side to side.

"Those are not important anymore," he said, a odd kind of certainty in his voice. How could they not be important? "Everyone here is turning a new leaf, starting a new life, and so everyone gets a new name."

"I... see," I said, not knowing what else to say. I wanted to protest, but I thought it would raise suspicions.

"Ah, well, I'm afraid I must take my leave now," said Christoph and patted me on the back. "The Instructor will be here in a moment to tell you what happens next."

He left, without waiting for a reply. Not that I was keen on giving him one. He, too, seemed like a perfectly nice man, but the way he talked about the lives we'd left behind sent a chill down my spine. How could he be so nonchalant? Most of the people here had had a life on the other side, families, loved ones... And now they were here and everyone else was stuck on the other side, mourning, not knowing what had happened, or if they would ever see them again. How terrible it must be.

I looked over to Avani, and saw him looking at me. He looked understanding, and relieved, and almost like he knew exactly what I was thinking. I sighed and smiled at him. Rosa walked up to me and sighed as well, tired.

"I don't like my new name," she whispered and made a face.

"That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet," I said.

"What," Rosa said. I glanced down at her. She looked at me like I'd suggested the sky was green and the ground was blue. I shrugged.

The brunette from earlier walked up to us.

"I didn't introduce myself earlier," she said, sticking out her hand. I took it. Her shake was firm. "My name is Lotta. I live in the room next to Maya's."

"Nice to meet, er, re-meet you, I suppose," I said. She gave me a sad smile.

"Such a shame you can't remember anything..." she said. "Well, as soon as Instructor Manfred gets here, he'll teach you everything you need to know."

"Who is this... Instructor?" I asked.

"He's a teacher, of sorts," said Lotta. "He should be here any minute now."

A grandfather clock chimed from the corner of the room, indicating it was noon. The door opened on the dot, and a man walked through. He had an almost regal aura, his white hair sleeked back along his head and his brow seemed to be etched into a permanent frown. His icy cold eyes searched the room, before they fell on me and I shivered. His steps were determined and brisk, like he didn't want to waste any time or energy.

"Good luck~" called Lotta as she ducked out of the way. Meera and Avani joined Rosa and I as we were confronted my Instructor Manfred.
________________________________________________________

what is this bullshit ahahahahahahahaha

Merry Christmas, y'all! I know I'm super late but yesterday was kind of a hectic day and I didn't really have proper time to write. Except in the evening but everyone else was going to bed and I really didn't feel like writing until.... two in the morning anyhow. But yeh, we're gonna be writing two (??) more parts I think. Until Boxing day. Probably. Unless Mutu wants to end this today, in which case be my guest.

Anyway. I hope you have a great holidays everyone! Th next topic isssssss "Creation".

Pie out.

P.S. Mutu accidentally used the names of the Ace Attorney main characters for Meera and Akash's fake names, so I shamelessly ripped everyone's names from the games hahahahahahahahahaa.

Pieces, Part 23 - Divide

I woke up with a feeling of calm. A whole different kind of calm I had ever (in the last four days) felt before. It was the kind of calm you feel when you don't feel lost or confused or simply have no idea who you are. The kind of calm you feel when a huge mess starts to be a little less messy.

I could still feel the shattered hollow inside me, but I could also feel many pieces had taken their correct places inside me. Some of them were pieces I had gotten from my brother last night, but some were new, that hadn't been there before but that were a part of me now, a part of a me I had never been before. I thought I quite liked the new me that all the pieces were building. There was still a lot to do before I could be entirely comfortable, but it felt good nevertheless. I was beginning to get glimpses of a me and a world that wasn't a complete mess.

My brother made a grunt next to me and I turned to look at him. He smiled at me.

"I thought it was a dream," he mumbled sleepily, "But you're still here."

"I'm still here," I said. He still looked tired, like he has yesterday when we first met him, but it seemed a different kind of tiredness. Like my emptiness, his tiredness seemed less today. He looked less weary. More bright. Like it would take time, but eventually he would be himself again, after the years of guilt. Not the same himself he had been before, but still himself.

"We should go see if the girls are awake," I said after a moment of silence.

"Yeah," he said, "And then we need to go over the river." He looked like he didn't quite know whether he wanted to make it a joke or not. I guessed he wasn't ready. I thought I wouldn't be.

We got up, dressed and met the girls for breakfast in the main room of the inn. At first everyone was relaxed, and happy, but the air started to become more tense as everyone realised as soon as we had eaten we had to go and cross the river and got increasingly nervous. We didn't know what we were facing. The only thing we did know is that there was someone there who trained pipers and wouldn't let anyone leave, and that first Meera and then I had ran away. We didn't know who they were. We didn't know why we had ran away. But my thinking was we hadn't liked it there, for a reason or another, and even though we must have known we weren't supposed to leave, we went anyway.

Eventually everyone had eaten and we took off, looking for the boat the men sent after us had told us about. Their instructions had been surprisingly good. We found the boat easily. It wasn't much, only an old rowboat that looked like it would barely stay afloat, so at first we were suspicious. Maybe the men had lied to us, tricked us into going back and taking our friends with us. Maybe we'd forget everything the moment we reached the other side.

"Do we have a choice?" Rosa asked. I shook my head.

"Not if we want to go over," I said.

"Do we want to go over?" Avani asked, his face pained, "We could forget all about them and go on with our lives."

This time it was Meera who shook her head.

"No," she said, "We have to go over. We have to find out what happened to us. We both need to know. And I'm guessing you need to too. And if there are people there, people who have no idea who they are and haven't really had any other choice than to stay, either because they're not allowed to leave or because they simply don't know any other way, we have to at least try to help them."

I knew she was right, and so did Avani. I could see it on his face. He was just scared. I was scared too. I had only barely gotten a glimpse of who I was, and I didn't want to loose it all again. We all looked at each other for a moment, and then, one at a time, stepped into the boat and sat down. I was the last one. I pushed the boat off the shore, and the girls grabbed the oars. It was silent. There was no sound in the wintry forest, and the river was big and calm enough that it didn't make a sound. The only sound was the oars dipping into the cold water, and up again, dripping.

It wasn't a long way. It wasn't a wide river. We stepped onto the opposite shore and tied the boat to a tree. We stood there for a moment, looking at each other.

"Does everyone remember who they are?" Rosa finally asked. We nodded. All of us. Relief was in all our faces. I'm not sure if any of us had believed we'd loose our memories, but at least I couldn't rule it out. It had been possible if not likely that all this had been a trick. But it didn't seem like it. Though I felt it was possible the spell didn't hit right at the shore. It might be we had to cross deep enough into the woods for us to lose our memories.

"Ok," I sighed, "Let's go."

We began heading deeper into the forest. We walked for some time. Every step made everyone both relax a little more, because it seemed like we really wouldn't lose our memories, but also get more nervous. We didn't know who or what we were looking for, after all.

"Does anybody know what we are looking for or where we're going?" we all turned to look at Rosa, who had stopped walking.

"No," I said. I felt like I should add something, but I couldn't figure out what. We didn't know where we were going. Truthfully there wasn't much point wandering a strange forest, trying to find something when we didn't know what it was or where it was, not that we had known where the place was even if we had known where it was.

We all stood still, looking at each other, trying to figure out what it was we were doing and where we were going. And maybe what we'd do once we found what ever it was we were looking for, but not knowing what that was, it was next to impossible to make any kind of a plan about that.

Suddenly a sweet sound reached us through the woods. It wasn't flute music, but it was some kind of a wind instrument. I knew I had its name buried somewhere in my memory, and that I would recognise the instrument as a source if I was it. Who ever was playing it was truly amazing. For a moment I forgot everything else and only listened to the playing. It was a fluid melody, like a tiny stream through a rocky woods. Like a spring after a long, cold winter. Like when you met someone truly amazing for the first time and they completely sweep you off your feet.

Nitya's low growl pierced the bubbling melody and brought me back to reality. Meera blinked and looked at me, surprise plain on her face. Rosa and Avani were not with us. Nitya growled again. We looked around spotted them almost disappearing into the woods. We looked at each other for a very brief moment and then hurried after them, before they were out of sight.

We reached them in a minute. They weren't moving fast. The moment I saw them a shock ran through me. Their eyes were blank. The looks on their faces would have been happy if it wasn't so obvious there wasn't much anything going on behind those eyes, inside that head. They were following the music, and we followed them, Nitya on our heels. We didn't have a choice. It wasn't like we could leave them alone. It might well be a trap, but at least the music would take us where we wanted to go. To the people we wanted to find. I tried to tell myself this was better than wandering blindly through the forest, but the look on Avani and Rosa's faces made me feel slightly sick to my stomach. It wasn't better. But there was nothing I could do about it. At least, nothing I knew I could to about it.

So I clenched my jaws and set my pace to match my friends', now even more determined to find whoever was behind all this. It was a surprisingly long walk. The music was there the whole time, seemingly always coming from the same distance, never sounding to be far or close.

Eventually we saw a big building ahead. A huge building, it seemed. Bigger than I'd ever seen. Well, I guessed I had actually seen this building before, only didn't remember it. The building could surely host dozens of people, if it was in that use. There were a bunch of smaller buildings out in the front. I didn't know how many. I probably couldn't see them all. As we grew closer to the buildings, a couple of guards came to us and began walking us towards the biggest building. They lead us into it through a huge door.

Only as the door thunked shut the music so far completely filling the air disappeared. Avani and Rosa blinked. Their eyes seemed to lost the glassy look, the stare into nothingness. I could see they were confused for a moment, their looks turning to panicked.

"It's ok," I whispered to them as the guards began pushing us through a large hallway. I hoped it was ok. The other two still looked a little frightened, but they clearly realised what had just happened. They realised, where they were. Or at least as much of where we were as I knew. They calmed down. Their eyes began glowing with the same determination I felt inside. That was good. But even so, I was worried of what would happen if or when the music began again. Meera and I were clearly immune to the music, being pipers ourselves, and Avani and Rosa clearly weren't. I was afraid what they could be made to do. I decided I wouldn't let these people, who ever they were, get another shot at controlling them.

We walked along the hallway, turned, walked along another. Another turn, another turn. A few more. I felt like I should've gotten lost a half a dozen turns ago, but somehow I remembered the all. I guessed it was because my head already knew the route, though the memory was already erased. Now that I was walking these halls again, my mind must have recognised them, even if I didn't, so now it remembered the way again.

Finally we stopped near a big door. Not a huge one, but a big one to be going into a normal room. Something important must be behind that door. One of the guards knocked once, and opened the door. The other one behind us pushed us into the room. I had been right. It was a big room, and an important room. Not an enormous hall, like I could imagine castles having, but for a room it was very big and high. There was a man sitting at a desk at the other end of the room. He looked up as we approached. He smiled as he noticed us. There was recognition in his eyes. I wanted to punch him in the face.

"Sir," one of the guards said as we stopped a little ways from the desk. The an behind it stood up, "We found new ones."

"Yes, I can see that. And some old ones too, it seems," the man said, satisfied, "Maya, Nicolas, welcome home."
________________________________________________________

Ok, so we clearly can't wrap this up yet tomorrow (why does this keep happening?), and you're distracting me with a movie. So I'm just going to end here. We'll figure out what we'll do with writing the end later. Meaning tomorrow.

Your topic for tomorrow is Wing.

~matu

Pieces, Part 22 - Hope

We decided to leave immediately, to go somewhere else, and I went with Avani to prepare the horses. We got as far as the stable before I felt a sudden presence behind us and I shifted to the side to see a fist flying through the space my head had been occupying a fraction of a second earlier.

Everything felt like slow motion. I turned, my hand jabbing upwards as the man behind me, colliding with the warm flesh just below his diaphragm. The man let out a pained groan, doubling over as all the air was punched out of his lungs. Avani was turning around as well, surprised by the sudden sound, the door to the stables open just a crack. I reached over, grabbing a hold of his sleeve and pulling him towards me, and he toppled, colliding with my chest. The hand that had emerged from the stable grasped at nothing and the second man stepped out.

"How good of you to joins us again!" I said, as the second man took a fighting stance. "I do hope you're planning on being more cooperative this time around. I am in no mood for games right now."

"A-akash," said Avani quietly, looking between the two thugs on our opposite sides. He was still pressed against me, my arm wrapped around his shoulders in a protective manner.

"Can it, piper," spat out the man I hadn't yet punched. "We're here for you and the girl, so if you come with us nice and easy, maybe we'll let the ginger and your little boyfriend there go unharmed."

"Actually he's my brother, but thanks for confirming you know absolutely nothing about me," I said, flashing him a sarcastic smile. "And you're saying that like you could, in fact, do us some kind of harm. It's funny, I do recall our last meeting implying something else."

"Well this time it ain't only your own hide that needs protecting," the man sneered, his mouth curled up in a sickening grin.

"Akash," said Avani, a little louder this time, his hand gripping my upper arm. I glanced down at him and then followed his line of sight to my other side. He pushed me, suddenly and quite violently, and I staggered backwards a few steps, managing to find my footing before falling down. The first thug had regained his breath and composure, and was throwing punches in the general direction of Avani. None of them were hitting. He was dodging every last strike.

It was almost like a dance, I thought as I watched him, mesmerized. He was swaying, spinning, sidestepping, making it look effortless. Had I looked like this, back in front of the bell tower? It was hard to imagine myself looking as graceful as Avani was at that moment.

An incoming kick pulled me back to the present and I braced myself against it, blocking it with my arms. The second thug let out a small laugh and prepared another kick, which I easily dodged now that I saw it coming. I spun behind him, to get back closer to Avani, to help him, just to see him grab a hold of the arm the thug had tried to punch him with, and sling him over his shoulder. His back hit the ground with a loud "thump" and an "oof". Avani dusted off his hands and looked up to see me staring at him, mouth open. I tried to say something but found no words, as I dodged the punch aimed at the back of my head, tripping the man up as he flew past me with the momentum of his attack. He fell face first into the ground, next to his friend.

"What?" said Avani, an amused smile creeping up on his face as I continued to stare. "You didn't think I could fight too? Who do you think had to always come save your ass when you badmouthed guys twice your size?"

"I..." I said. A grin spread on my face. My brother was so awesome. "That explains the feeling."

"Hm?" said Avani as he hopped over the thugs sprawled on the ground and joined my by my side. "Feeling?"

"I mean, I don't still exactly remember anything about our childhood, about me or you, but I have this feeling," I explained, trying to find the right words to explain it. "That with you everything will be fine, and good in the end. That I'm safe. I guess that's where it comes from."

Avani gave a small laugh and ruffled my hair. It was a bit weird since he was at least five centimeters shorter than me.

The thugs on the ground groaned and shuffled to get back on their feet. I rolled my eyes and scoffed.

"Still hadn't had enough?" I asked. "This would all be so much easier if you stopped trying to hit us and told us what we want to know!"

Instead of answering they lunged forward with a shout. My lips curled into a smile, inside me spreading that satisfying feeling you get when you know you're about to beat someone you've been wanting to beat for a long time. Figuratively or physically.

Two versus two, our fight was basically a brawl. A very one-sided brawl, but still. Avani and I worked amazingly together, dodging attacks, watching each other's backs, blocking hits that would've landed on the other. We were coordinated, in sync, and we were kicking so much ass.

After only a few minutes the two men were back on the ground, groaning again.

"Get some rope," I said, looking disdainfully at the two pathetic, huge men at my feet. A few second later a coil of rope flew towards me and I caught it. Binding the men was fast and easy, them being as out of commission as they were. "Okay then," I said cheerily as I shoved them into a sitting position. "How about you now tell us whatever we need to know?"

The thug that had seem more authoritative glared up at me but then his eyes flickered to something behind me. I turned to look behind me and saw three figures approaching from the direction of the house.

My heart stopped for a second when I saw Rosa and Meera walking over with the third, smaller man. I had been so preoccupied with our own fight I hadn't considered at all where the third man was, and if he'd managed to capture the girls our advantages had dropped to zero.

That line of thinking flew out the proverbial window however, as I noticed that the girls weren't the hostages of the man; the man was the hostage of the girls'.

"Well look at you, catching a fish of your own," I called out. Rosa gave me a thumbs up. "What happened inside?"

"The guy tried to apprehend a witch and a girl with telekinetic powers on his own," said Rosa with a grin. "I'll let you imagine the rest."

As they got to our side she shoved the man and he fell face first into the frozen ground, next to his grunts. Judging my the howl he let out it wasn't a pleasant interaction.

"Great, let's start again," I turned to eye the three men, sufficiently motivated to just punch the men unconscious and leave them in the woods if they proved to be uninformative. We'd spent so much time running away from their bullshit I'd just about had it. "Information. Now."

Apparently my face left no room for objections as the two thugs turned to the smaller man, who swallowed, hard and audible. It was clear by now that the small guy was the boss. I turned my complete attention to him. He squirmed.

"Why are you after me? After us? Who sent you?" asked Meera, stepping forward. Nitya padded behind her and growled at the men. The fox hadn't been far from Meera's side ever since the two were reunited at Custos's place.

The boss looked hesitant for a moment, like he was weighing the consequences of telling to those of not telling. One look at my face and he turned white as a sheet.

"We, we're from the Other Side," he said, quickly. "They sent us to get you back. B-because you left. No one is supposed to leave."

"Who's 'they'?" I asked, annoyed by the man playing the pronoun game.

"The... the Leaders," he said, unsure. "The one's who decide everything, I don't... I don't really..." He frowned as he looked away. "I don't know who they are, I just know what they want me to do."

"And what they want you to do is bring back everyone that leaves?" asked Rosa. "Why?"

"No one is supposed to leave," the man repeated. "And if they do, which they often don't, we're sent here to take them back. They don't often get very far, what with the amnesia and the forest between the river and everything else."

"So everyone who leaves forgets?" I asked. Finally, some new, useful info.

"It's a safety mechanism, a strong magic placed on the river," said the man, stammering. "Everyone who crosses the river loses their memory."

"Do you lose it when you go to the other side, or only when you come to this side?" asked Avani.

"Both," said the man. Avani deflated next to me. I don't know if that information helped him with the guilt he was feeling for being the reason both Meera and I had been gone for three years.

"But that doesn't make sense," said Rosa, thoughtful. "You came from the other side, didn't you? You said it yourself. How have you still got your memory of what you're supposed to do?"

"Well of course we don't lose our memory," said one of the thugs, surprising everyone, most of all the small man. "Because we..."

"Shhhhhh," hissed the boss, and the thug fell quiet. I glared at the man.

"Now is really not the time to get stingy with your information," I said, voice ice cold and just as emotional. The man paled even further.

"We have a boat," said the thug when his boss stayed silent. "It's warded against the magic and when you use it to cross you keep all your memories."

"Well that's convenient," said Meera. "How do we know you're not lying about that?"

The thug shrugged. "I got no reason to lie anymore. I know when I'm defeated, and between the four of you we never had a chance. I really didn't like working there anyhow, so what do I care if you go over and dismantle the whole operation."

"There's some kind of operation?" asked Avani.

"I don't really know what exactly the deal is, because it's pretty secretive and I'm just a muscle grunt," the thug admitted. "All I know is it involves training pipers."

"Again with the pipers," I said. "What exactly are the pipers?" The thug shrugged again.

"I think they're magic, somehow," he said, and then leaned forward. "They can charm people with the playing, or so I've heard."

"That sounds... weird," said Meera, her face scrunching up.

"But not entirely far fetched," said Rosa. "As a person who has a larger than average knowledge about magic, I have to admit that using music for spells doesn't sound that unbelievable." She paused, rubbing a finger on her lips in thought, and then spoke up again. "I think we should go to the Other Side."

"What?" squeaked Meera.

"Why?" asked Avani. His eyes were full of emotion, pain, loss, fear.

"When?" said I. The other two turned to look at me.

"You want to go back?" asked Avani, his hand gripping my elbow. He clearly didn't want me to do that. "Why would you want to go there again? After... after all this time I finally have you back and you..." he trailed off, his eyes downcast. I lifted my hands on his shoulders, and then pressed them to the sides of his face, forcing him to look back up.

"That is exactly why," I told him, my eyes serious. "Because it took us three years to reunite, and I don't want that to happen to anyone ever again. They can't just... just take people, even if they cross the river. So we need to go over there, figure out what's really happening, and then put an end to it."

Avani looked me in the eyes for a long while before nodding, his face determined.

"Alright," he said. "But I'm coming with you."

I grinned. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"So, where's this boat of yours?" asked Rosa, squatting in front of the thugs. The boss visibly flinched when she got close, which really made me wonder what happened inside.

They told us there were several points where one could cross the river. One was very near Corsilva. One was a little more west from where we were. We decided to go west. With the directions we got from the thug, and a third horse - Avani's - added to our party, we quickly started our journey west. Not before going into town to hand the thugs over to the nearest guard station for attempted assault and kidnapping. And arson, best not forget that.

The sun was beginning to set as we reached our destination, and so we decided to stay the night in the nearby village and leave for the river first thing in the morning. Going out in the dark and the middle of the night would be foolish, we didn't know the way on the other side, nor did we know when we could rest again. The river would be there tomorrow, and now that there were no kidnappers after us, the sense of urgency was gone. I did still want to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible, but it would be no good to burst headlong into unknown territory without being prepared.

We got two rooms from the small inn a little ways away from the town, one for the girls and one for Avani and me. We talked quite a bit that night, laying in our respective beds, about many things. I asked him things about our childhood (the best days of his life, so eventful, so fun), and our family (a mother and a father, both living happily in our old hometown). About the things we used to do together (everything). I asked him about what he'd been doing for the past three years (writing books, stories, and trying to forget).

He asked me what I could remember (I couldn't) and what I thought about myself. I had thought about myself a lot, and I told him as much, telling him what kind of person I thought I was. He laughed when I said I knew which fights you fought and which you fought by not fighting. I was always picking fights as I kid, he told me. He had a wistful smile on his lips when he talked about our past. I stared at him from across the room, and smiled as well.

Hours later, when I stared at the ceiling and listened to his soft breathing I thought about what would happen next. Tomorrow we'd dive into the unknown once more, and no one knew what we'd find from the Other Side. But still, as Avani shuffled and mumbled something on the bed next to mine, I couldn't help but feel hopeful.
________________________________________________________

gOD! Oh man. I don't even. I have gigantti in the morning I don't have time for this ending crap. I knew it would be so long, but somehow I managed to write it in ~1.5h.

Good night.

Pie out.

P.S. Your topic is idc "Divide".

Pieces, Part 21 - Luck

We held onto each other for a long time. My head felt like it was spinning, but at the same time I felt more sure-footed than ever in the time I could remember. It was overwhelming. Eventually he loosened his arms and looked at me. I noted he didn't have a tattoo on his face like me.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," my brother said. He turned to look at Meera behind my shoulder. He began towards her as I turned around to face the girls too. Avani opened his arms to embrace her too. The look on her face was uncertain. He noticed it too and stopped in front of her, clearly confused.

"Meera?" he asked.

"That's really my name?" Meera asked quietly, more herself than anyone else.

"What...." Avani began.

"She doesn't remember," I said behind him. He turned to look at me, still confused, his expression pained. "Neither do I. Except you. I remember you. I didn't until now. And I don't remember anything about you, but I remember you now. I think. It's... all very confusing, and overwhelming. And I don't know what to say."

I fell silent. I was too filled with feeling to know what to say, or what to do. Se all stood there for a moment. Apparently my brother - it was the weirdest thing to think that - didn't know what to do either. Rosa cleared her throat.

"Hi, I'm Rosa. I'm a friend of these two, and I think you have some catching up to do, who ever you are, so how about we move out of the cold and somewhere we can have a good long conversation," she said. She seemed to always know what to do. Her voice seemed to break the confusion and tension, at least for now. Avani nodded.

"We can go to my place. It's not too far," he said. He still didn't seem exactly comfortable, but he looked relieved. And happy. And had an odd air of determination around him. "Especially with the horses. I don't have one, though."

"These two can take all of us. I hope," I said, "If it really isn't far, and they get a good rest after. We've been pushing them way too hard in the last few days."

My twin brother looked like he was about to ask something, but I supposed he was thinking what I was thinking. That the time for proper explanations would be later. So he lead the way out of the center of town, and we got on the horses.

It wasn't a long way, like he had said. It was out of the way, a small place out in the woods. Not completely in the middle of the woods, like Custos' place, but more like Ulula and Rosa's place, by a road that was small but seemingly had some use nevertheless. He lead the horses to a stable. We took off their reins and saddles and brushed them in silence. I was about to leave and let Avani give the horses some food, and go inside with the girls when his voice stopped me.

"Akash..." I turned, almost not remembering to react to my name. It felt more familiar, more me, than Nemo, though. His eyes were teary again. "I've missed you. Both of you." His voice broke. I nodded.

"I'll see you in a moment," I said. It felt like a stupid thing to say, but I couldn't figure out what else to say. So instead I settled for feeling stupid. He nodded and I left.

His cottage was small. Smaller than Ulula and Rosa's. Maybe the same size as Custos'. It was cozy, but it was plain. It seemed like the place of someone who didn't either pay too much attention to his surroundings or to whom it didn't make a difference what kind of a place they lived in, as long as it had everything essential for living. The girls turned to look at me as I walked in. Meera sighed when she saw me.

"He's giving some food to the horses," I said and sat down at the small table.

"Nemo," Rosa said, "Who is he? You clearly know him. You clearly remembered him when you saw him."

I was quiet for a moment.

"He's my twin brother," I said quietly after a moment. The words felt weird in my mouth. The girls' attention snapped onto me.

"He's your brother!?" Rosa almost yelled. That was the moment he opened the door. For a moment he froze at the door, but stepped in and closed it then behind him.

"He's my brother," I repeated, still talking quietly.

"I knew your brother?" Meera asked, even quieter than I was talking. I could see in her eyes all the emotions that were raging inside me too. And fear. I didn't feel afraid anymore. Now that I had found my twin I felt like it was all okay. Like it was safe. She clearly didn't. But she didn't remember him, I could tell that too. To her he was still the man who was in her vague memory from her past. She didn't remember her. She only remembered she had known him somehow.

"I guess so," I agreed.

"That means I probably knew you too," Meera said.

"Probably," I admitted. "I don't remember."

"What happened to you two?" Avani broke our conversation, "You've been gone for so long, I thought I would never see you again."

"How long have we been gone?" I asked. My twin looked at me like it was a ridiculous question. Which it probably was, to someone who didn't know what was going on. Which was no one.

"You really don't remember?" he asked after a moment, hesitating.

"I remember nothing but the last three days," I answered. "Meera remembers nothing but the last... couple of months, I think."

She nodded.

"But you remember your names?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I've been called Nemo for the last three days," I said.

"I didn't know I remembered my name," Meera said quietly. Avani turned to look at her. "After I woke up I knew I needed a name, and I spent days trying to decide one that seemed to fit what very little I knew about me."

There was a silence as Avani took the information in. His expression was still confused.

"Can you please tell me what is happening?" he asked finally. So we told him. We told about waking up in the forest, and the confusion. We told about Meera finding a job and her talents and us trying to find her, about the guys that were after us and how we finally found him. We told him everything we knew. It wasn't much. It was plain on his face it wasn't much. he was quiet for a long while after me and Meera finished with our story. I was aching to know everything I had wanted to know about me and my past, and Meera's, but I knew I had to give him a moment.

"You have been gone for three years," Avani finally said. My heart skipped a beat. We all just stared.

"What happened to us?" I asked after I regained my voice.

"I'm so sorry," he simply answered, looking down at his hands. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have."

He was silent for a moment again, and sighed. When he lifted his face he looked tired.

"We moved to around these parts about a year before you disappeared," he began, "Me and Akash, and you Meera came with us, because your parents had just died. You were an only child. You felt you needed a change of scenery. But going out into the world completely alone is really tough for anyone. So you came with us. We heard the locals often talking about the other side of the river, and we took it as superstition. It was ridiculous, and nonsense. Like there was some mystical place simply across the river. We lived quite near the river back then, and one day for some reason, I don't remember why. I've been trying to figure out why I did it, but I can't figure it out anymore," he paused and looked Meera in the face, his face filled with regret and apology.

"You said as a joke I should go over the river," Meera said, staring at him, her eyes wide, the memory coming back to her. "We both thought it was stupid.That's the dare I remember. You made it into a dare. That I go across the river to the other side."

"You went, and I waited for you by the river," he said, "I waited for a long time. At first I thought you were gone so long to mess with me. But then I got worried. We both got worried. Eventually Akash went after you," he turned to me, "You told me not to worry. You told me you'd get her back. That you were feeling lucky. And I believed you. You never came back. Neither of you did. I gave up wishing you back ages ago. All this time, I blamed myself."

"We went to the other side of the river," Meera said, thinking to herself.

"What happened to us there?" I asked, as much form myself as Meera was talking to herself.

"You got the tattoos," Avani said, "And you learned to fight. And to play the flute. You didn't know how to do any of those things back when I last saw you. neither of you. And Meera, you didn't have any telekinetic powers. At least not that you knew."

"And it seems that the playing thing is somehow relevant," I said, trying to piece everything together, but I was still missing too many of the pieces. "Or... it somehow makes the people across the river somehow different than people on this side. Because the men after us used that to define me. And I guess define Meera too."

"And you have no idea who those men are or what they really want?" Avani asked. We shook our heads.

"Maybe they want something with us we don't even know ourselves," Meera said, "Or maybe they want us for the fighting skills. Telekinesis can be quite handy when you have to defend yourself. Or it might..." she paused, thoughtful, "Could it have something to do with the playing? Maybe there's something more to it?"

"Either way," Rosa interjected. We turned to look at her. She had been silent all through our conversation, giving us the space to try to understand. "Those men have Meera's notes about you. They know where you are. They can find their way to Cresentvalley. They might be coming for us as wee speak."

"She's right," Avani said, nodding, "We need a lot more catching up. I will help you find yourselves again, help you figure out who you were. But first we do need to make sure no one's coming after you. That we are all safe."

But I was already safe. Everything was a mess, and I didn't know who I was, and I wanted to know so much more about who I had been, but I knew everything was going to be alright. It had to be. It would be. I was with my brother again. With my brother, everything turned out good, eventually.
_______________________________________________________

There is too much we don't know yet, and only three parts left.

I don't even know what to say.

Your topic for tomorrow is Hope. I don't think we've used it yet.

~matu

Pieces, Part 20 - Ice

We started by heading to the town's marketplace. It seemed like the most logical place to go, when looking for information. If there was someone who knew something, chances were they'd be at the marketplace.

Rosa took no time to start investigating, walking over to the nearest stall and cheerily introducing herself to the girl selling vegetables.

"Hi there, mind if I bother you for a sec?" she asked, the girl blinking up at her in surprise. "Me and my friends are looking for a man. Has black hair, probably a bit darker skin... Looks kinda like this guy." She pointed at my face as Meera and I walked up behind her.

The girl at the stall squinted up at me.

"Yeah, I think I've seem a guy like that around here sometimes," she said. That was... easy. "Not sure where he lives though, somewhere outside town I think." Spoke too soon, I see... The girl shrugged. "You might get lucky and bump into him around town, I suppose, but I don't really know him, so I can't say where to go ask next."

"Well, thank you anyway," I said politely. "At least we now know we're in the right place... Approximately."

"No problem," said the girl. "If I see him I'll be sure to tell him you were looking for him. Now, you fancy a cabbage?"

We politely declined the cabbage, and moved onto the next stall, and the next, and the next, getting similar responses from most places. Everyone remembered seeing him around (apparently having dark skin was very unusual around these parts, so he stuck out easily) but know one knew exactly where we could reach him. He lived somewhere just outside of town, to the south was the most common guess, and he came to town to get supplies around two, three times a week. Maybe we'd get lucky.

No one really knew who he was either. He seemed to keep to himself most of the time, so no one we talked to knew his name, only that he was a story-teller of some sort. Some said he did have a friend or two around town, but none of the people at the marketplace.

"Try the bookshop," said woman selling ceramics. "I've seen him there through the window many times. I think he's friends withe the shopkeep. God knows why, that girl has the social capacity of a spoon."

"O...kay, thank you," I said, frowning. Interesting comparison, but I didn't dwell on it. Now we had directions. I turned to leave and then turned back. "Um, could you maybe give us some directions there?"

Across the marketplace, west end of town. Follow the main road and turn left at the bakery and you should see it up ahead. Big windows with a bunch of books showcased, you can't miss it. That's what the woman said at least.

We were making our way through the town, leading our horses by the reins and walking ourselves. The distance wasn't too long after all, and it was better to make sure the horses didn't get overworked. Our slow paced walking gave me a lot of time to think about what was to happen next. Time I wasn't sure if I wanted or not.

Everything at the marketplace had indicated that the man lived here, somewhere in, or near the town. And nothing indicated that the men after us had come through asking about him before us. Which meant that we would be found somewhere, and if the book shop clerk really was his friend, he would be found quickly. And that made me very nervous.

Of course I wanted to find the man, the sooner the better, but what happened then? Would he know who we were? Would he be able to tell us? What would he tell us? What if the me that is me now wouldn't like the me that was me before? Could I just turn my back to the old me and decide that I didn't want to be him anymore? That from now on I would be Nemo, and create a new life for myself, doing... whatever I wanted? What did I want?

I didn't know what I wanted. I didn't know if I wanted my old life back, because I had no idea what my old life had been. I had no idea how the knowledge would change me. Could I even go back to my old life, after everything that had happened in the past... three days? Had it only been just three days? It had felt so long, but then again I did get the feeling that normally people's days weren't quite as packed as mine had been.

But no, I did know one thing I wanted. I wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery. I had to. Who were the men after Meera and me, what did they want with us, how did they know us, what was our relationship? I needed to know who I was, who I had been, or I wouldn't be able to move on. It was too late for second guessing, I had to see this through and I had to -

My foot slipped from under me and the world rushed up to meet me.

Everything was white for a while, my head and body disoriented and confused, until Rosa and Meera crowded my field of vision. I blinked up at them, and at the clouded sky. If would snow later.

"Shit, Nemo, are you okay?" asked Rosa, worried, but also looking like she was trying to hold back laughter.

"I hope you didn't hit your head," said Meera. I lifted my gloved hand to the back of my head and felt it. I couldn't feel a bruise, I'd somehow managed to not keep my head from smacking into the icy ground. My butt had not been as lucky, and it was clearly sore as I pushed myself up on my elbows.

"I'm fine, I think," I said, running a hand over my face. "A little sore, but I'll live."

"That was quite a fall you took there," said Rosa, slightly muffled behind her mitten, and I knew she was clearly forcing back a laugh. "You were so deep in thought you slipped. Your face was hilarious."

I glared at the offending puddle of ice for a moment and then pushed myself fully up to a sitting position. I absently registered a distant sound of a bell tinkling.

"Your face was kind of funny," said Meera, looking away. "One moment you were all frowning determination and the next it looked like the world had disappeared beneath your feet."

"It kinda did though, didn't it?" I said dryly. Rosa offered me her hand and I took it to pull myself up.

"Meera?" said a new voice suddenly from somewhere ahead of us. Meera's eyes were wide as she stared down the road, a hand rising to cover her mouth. At first Rosa was blocking my field of vision, but as I stood up I could see past her, my mouth falling open as the view opened up before me.

It was the man, standing in front of the bookshop he had just exited, staring at us, at Meera, and he was just as I remembered him but older, why did he seem so much older? I must have moved, or made some kind of unintelligible noise as he blinked and bright green eyes turned to me. His breath hitched, a sharp intake of air as I struggled to remember breathing myself. His mouth was slack from surprise and he tried to say something but couldn't, unable to produce sounds much less words or sentences, paralyzed by surprise, and he couldn't tear his eyes off me and I couldn't tear my eyes off him.

"Akash..." he breathed.


My mind completely blanked out.

"Akash," he said again, tears welling up in his eyes and his hands flying to cover his mouth and the smile spreading on it, bright and wide and relieved.

My head was pounding, memories and feeling locked away struggling to be free once more, punching at the insides of my mind, and I could almost feel it I was so close. My mind was spinning, spinning, spinning trying to place the man, trying to finally connect the dots and all the while my heart and my soul were screaming. I knew this man, I knew I did, and if the pulsing in my head would just seize for a moment I could -

A single tear poured over the dam of his eyelids, rolling down his cheek and it all connected with a click in my head and I almost screamed out loud.

"Avani," I whispered, my mouth suddenly dry and whatever spell there had been was broken, shattered between us as Avani let out a gasped laugh and started towards us in brisk steps. I met him half way, my own legs feeling wobbly and unsteady, but as he wrapped his arms around me I felt more stable than I had for the whole three days. I still didn't know much, couldn't really remember, but I knew I'd be safe with him. With my brother.

With my twin.
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yooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

So that just happened. When I started to write all I had was the final scene and no idea how I'd get there, buutttttt it wasn't particularly hard in the end. idk why Avani is a story teller, I just thought it'd be fun and maybe something we can use later on? Who knows! Also I couldn't decide what relationship A wanted between Meera and the boys, sooo I didn't do anything with it yet. personally i still like the idea she's their sister but then it's kinda sketchy she and nemo didn't recognize each other but then again twin bonds are more intense or whatever so???

Ohh boy. I can't believe we have four more posts after this. I have noooo idea where this is going, but you know it's your turn tomorrow and we'll be learning a lot of new stuff so. Good luck with that. Your topic is "Luck" haha byyyyeeeeeeeeeeeee

Pie out.