Disclaimer: I don't own GC or any of its rights, I just own my story plot and any other OCs.
a/n: I've been working on this for quite a while, without any internet to post it. CAUSE' I'M ON HOLIDAY~ BUT NOW I HAVE INTERNET~ CAUSE' I WENT TO AN INTERNET CAFÉ~
Sigh. By the way, these paragraph thingos are not really closely linked together. More like flashbacks in chronological order. I don't know why I wrote it like this, it just felt…appropriate at the time. e_o
P.S: For all who are following Momento, I'm very, very (x100) sorry, but it's on hiatus. FOR THE MOMENT! I REPEAT: FOR THE MOMENT! (How nice, the fic title is Momento. It lives up to its name. Haha. ) I'm just stumped for what to write in the next chapter, so maybe suggestions please? Leave it in my inbox or in my reviews. :D
. f i g u r e e i g h t .
'What side effects are you feeling after taking the pills?' The sickly saccharine voice implied and Lass muttered a long list of unintelligible words.
'Well,' the therapist sighed dramatically and leant back into her swivel chair - tapping her pen impatiently on the dark, wooden table. 'I'm afraid that you may need to increase your dosage by...'
This was the part where he tuned out.
Same procedure every time - face the heavily made-up, artificial counsellor, pretend to look interested with a few 'hmmms,' while contemplating logical things.
Like why he was in this hellhole.
Obviously the Chase had forced him to attend counselling sessions, but then Amy had suddenly suggested a type of 'special' counselling, one that involved the use of 'magic'.
Note the sarcasm.
He agreed, only to stop her nagging - dumped his lazy butt in her car, and drove to this…this, place, and hated it instantly.
The first thing he noticed was the flyers. Overly colourful and glossy, they littered the otherwise bare plaster wall – all screaming out, 'Teenage pregnancy, we can help!' or 'Quit smoking now!' or the clichéd 'Depression. You can fight it!'
The first glance made him want to tear them all apart, douse them with kerosene oil and set them on fire.
Then he hated the smell. He had always associated things with smells, the warm comfort of the sun on his duvet, the patchouli fragrance of the Chase's house and the tense aroma of a battle, all sweat and heat and smoulder.
He could see why others thought it was un-normal, but this…this stench, was unbearable. It wasn't that it was in literal sense stinky, but had this bitter aftertaste that made him reel. Mixed with the clean hospital kind of scent that he had always loathed, a vile composition of tears, laughter, pain and every other emotion possible churned in the air.
Every time he inhaled, it was like a ton of bricks hitting him in the face. Reality on why he was here.
Lass shook his head to clear out any other unwanted thoughts before facing the waiting therapist.
'So, approximately what time of the day did you find out that your parents had died?'
'Lass?'
His head whipped around so quickly, it was surprising the therapist could even keep up with the blur - eyes hazy and bitter.
'I'm going.'
It took all his might to keep his sharp, crushed voice from breaking.
x x x
'Hey you there!'
He turned lazily and came face to face with a petite, out-of-breath girl. Her hair was an unusual shade of violet, framing her ivory skinned face. Her prominent feature was most likely her innocent doe eyes, which took up the majority of her tiny face – or maybe her long, thick la-
'What do you think you're doing huh?' She yelled and clamped her tiny fingers around his wrist – surprising him by her strength.
'Ya know,' he drawled lowly, watching the heat creep slowly up her cheeks. 'You're pretty strong for such a small girl…'
'Yeah, I know.' She puffed her chest out proudly and looked slightly miffed when she realised he was teasing her.
'Anyway,' she rushed, plopping herself down on a revolving chair and spinning circles around the room. 'I'll be your new therapist. Name's Arme.'
'You?'
She glared at him.
'What? You think I don't look like a therapist?'
You look like a girl who plays with bunnies and hops over rainbows in the sky,' he wanted to say.
x x x
'What's your favourite number?' Arme implied randomly, twirling a loose bit of hair between her fingers.
He laughed and wrote something on the tiny blackboard on the door of her office.
You're so random.
Arme pouted and rubbed the chalky words out with the duster, before tucking the tendril of hair behind her ear and chewing her lip.
Seriously though, what is it?
She wrote the question firmly on the board with big block letters, but couldn't help adding a doodle or two of a tiny heart.
Lass smiled and bent forward, altering the heart into something unreadable. Almost like a …
Eight?
Yeah.
Staring at him incredulously, she erased their conversation off the dark green slate, leaving a light sheen of chalk dust behind before mouthing –
'Me too.'
x x x
'Have you been taking your – your – p-pills?' The purple haired girl slurred before stumbling into the therapy room, her breath reeking of alcohol.
'Arme…'
'I-I like pills~!' She half stuttered, half drawled.
'ARME…'
'Pills a-are YUMMMMMYY!'
'What's the matter with you Arme?'
'M-my p-parents! They're d-d-d-..d-d-ead!' She managed to say, and for the first time in a long time, ever since she had sworn she would never cry since the death of her real parents, ever since she had become Lass's therapist – two hot traitorous tears rolled down her face.
He stood frozen for a few seconds.
'…Oh.'
x x x
'They liked the number eight too.' Her feet were propped against a rock with soft tufts of yellowed grass growing around it. Her face was lifted towards the sky, the first rays of daybreak lining her face.
She looked celestial.
'Who?' He murmured dreamily.
'My adoptive parents,' she whispered and plucked a white peony from the ground. The summer air smelt of apples and heat – humidity settling onto her shoulders like a protective, homey fog.
When he did not reply, she continued.
'They thought it symbolised togetherness, since the two separate segments where so closely knit together they become one.'
For a moment, she thought he was ignoring her, due to the silence.
But then she turned around, ready to reprimand him – and found his eyelids closed and heavy with sleep.
x x x
'I-it's…pretty!'
'You sound like you're surprised.'
'W-well, I never knew you were into…'pretty things.''
They were sitting along the isolated river, the wind whipping their hair into a mixture of violet and silver. A tiny waterfall spilled down and the purple broke away from the silver, running excitedly back and forth the banks, like satin ribbons.
'Let's swim!' She yelled over the roar of the water, a cold, light spray covering her skin. It was freezing, but she didn't exactly care. He hesitated, before following her into the smooth water.
Right on cue, the sky opened and a torrent of water poured down, swallowing the omnipresent sun into a curtain of grey clouds.
The wind blew the droplets of water into a whirlwind of glistening hurricanes above their heads – while they explored the icy water, diving deep, deep down into the black liquid. Hair dancing on the surface, her violet locks stood out more than anything – like a gem amongst ashes.
'Marry me,' he shouted without thinking.
Her tinkling laugh was incessant.
'Sure!'
'I wasn't kidding when I said that,' he muttered.
'I wasn't kidding either,' she replied.
x x x
Through the smoky haze, his eyes watered and burned, burned even more then blisters and welts that he had when he was combating, burned even more than the fiery nothing in his heart.
The flames licked up their home, consuming all the photographs of them, all the memories.
So much for reminiscence, he thought bitterly, knocking away a piece of rubble in his way.
'Help!' A infinitesimal voice screamed.
I'm coming, Arme, he yelled inside his head, fearing if he opened his mouth – the sobs would not stop coming out.
x x x
Her mind could not comprehend what was happening. It felt like she was in one of those movies which fast-forwarded a little too fast, like she couldn't keep up with reality. The only thing that kept her sane was the newly placed ring on her blistered fourth finger, shining dangerously in the scarlet light.
The wind howled and blew the tips of fiery flame outward, as she cowered in the centre of red halo.
Help, help, help, help –
'A-Arme..' A weak voice groaned and she entangled her limbs with his fiercely.
'I love you Lass,' she whispered.
I love you t-
x x x
The orange uniform clad, young girl stood by the rubble, her blonde head in a stationary mourning position.
As the sun came out behind a cloud, she caught a glimpse of something shimmering in between a piece of broken drawer and singed bedpost.
Two rings. One contained a violet stone, the other a cerulean one.
'They were the only things that were not harmed in the fire,' she realised and inspected them closely.
They had been melted and melded together – into some kind of shape, which seemed to her a meaningless blob.
But if she had looked closely…
They were bound, bound so tightly that one could not tell the difference in which one ring ended and the other began, bound so tightly they had become one.
Even the gems at been swirled into a beautiful, colourless stone. To others, this didn't mean anything.
To them….even as they were watching their home destroyed from the clouds, they smiled.
An eight.
x x x
a/n: Wow…:) This is one of my confusing pieces…heh. I think all my stories are confusing. I have a confusing mind. I think the ending is a bit abrupt. It's just so…lalala, we're getting married~!
-ten seconds later-
Dead.
I keep writing long author notes! Grr…
ANYWAY!
Make me smile and review/fave/whatever! Or just read/enjoy/hate/discard…Either way….
I'm blabbering nonsense again….T_T
-R