Jordan: I've decided to do another oneshot.
Kaitlin: (sighs) What does this one involve?
Jordan: Claus.
Kaitlin: CLAUS?!?!?! Lucas's brother Claus? SERIOUSLY?!?!
Jordan: (unnerved) Y-yeah…maybe I should get started…
Missing Memory
Silence. Total silence.
…?
Low voices were heard in the background, but it was impossible to hear words.
Where…am I…?
A door shuts. Footsteps.
What…
He woke up.
He seemed to be lying on top of a soft, comfortable surface. There also seemed to be something warm covering him. As he sat up, the blanket fell off him, and he looked around.
He seemed to be in some sort of bedroom. There wasn't much furniture, aside from the bed. Just a cabinet and a table, along with a couple of chairs. That was it. He was the only one in there.
As he tried to reposition himself, he realized that his arm was in a sling. He couldn't feel it at all. Now, normally for most people this would be cause for concern, but he merely regarded it with slight curiosity before turning his attention to the room.
Deciding that he was completely alone, he stood up and walked over to the door. As he reached for the handle, however, it turned and the door opened.
A pretty lady of twenty-six stepped in, holding a tray of food. She wore a pair of glasses on her face, and she had on a white buttoned-up shirt and khaki pants. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail. "Oh, you're awake!" she exclaimed.
He didn't know what to say. "Uh…"
The lady walked over to the bed and set the tray onto the table next to it. "Come on, sit down. You look like you've been knocked for a doozy."
Seeing as he didn't know what to do, he sat down next to her on the bed. As he made himself comfortable, she said, "My name's Josephine, by the way."
"Josephine? I'm…" he started. Then he faltered. "I'm…I'm, uh…"
As he attempted to remember his name, Josephine decided to break the ice. "I bet you're hungry, right?"
He shook his head. "No, that's not my name…"
She giggled. "That's not what I mean, silly! Don't you want somethin' to eat?"
Almost as soon as she said this, his stomach rumbled. Loudly. He blushed, embarrassed. Josephine giggled again. "I guess that's a yes, then. Well, don't worry, I have somethin' for you right here." She showed him the tray. "I have some noodles here, along with some beans and pork. You want any?"
"Uh…sure." He picked up the fork. As he ate quietly (mostly the noodles, because the beans and pork tasted HORRIBLE), he noticed that Josephine had a book in her hand with a dagger in it. She noticed his gaze. "Oh, this is a spell book. I'm a mage-in-training."
"Really?" He immediately became curious.
"Yeah, my boss says that you can't have too many mages around." She snorted. "Though I really doubt that he cares, anyway."
"Er…what makes you say that?"
"Because most of the time he only cares about either chocolate-flavored pork rinds or military tactics or spanking or whatever."
"Who is your boss?"
"Oh, he's this fat slob who barely raises a finger to do anything and usually makes me or Yokuba do all the work." She checked her watch. "Oh, darn, I'm sorry sweetie, but I have to be somewhere." She stood up and patted her young charge on the head. "You be a good boy and stay here, alright? I'll be back as soon as I can." As she walked to the door, she added, "Oh, and there's a bathroom across the hall if you need it."
Before she went through the door, he spoke up. "Uh, miss Josephine?" She looked back at him. "I can't feel my arm…"
She immediately looked concerned. "Really?" She quickly walked over to him. "Lemme see." As she examined his arm, she frowned. "I don't see anything wrong… I swear, if those quacks did anything…" She sighed. "I'm sorry sweetie, but I don't know what's wrong." As she walked back to the door, she called back, "At least it doesn't hurt, right?" The boy nodded. "Alright, I'll be back soon." She left.
The boy lay down on his back, staring up at the ceiling and thinking…
Why can't I remember my name?
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't remember a thing before he had woken up. And he had a strange craving for omelets. He stood back up, and noticed a knife left on the tray that Josephine had left behind. As he picked it up, he realized that it seemed somehow familiar…
The beast came closer, faster with every step, and he held up his survival knife, preparing to avenge—
He blinked, and the thought was gone.
Huh?
He shook his head; the sheer boredom was driving him nuts. But Josephine had told him to stay…
Well, she wouldn't notice if he looked around and came back before she did, right?
With this thought in mind, he stood up and walked over to the door, taking the knife from the tray.
The hallways were incredibly quiet, with his footsteps echoing as he walked. Most of the doors he found were either locked or wouldn't open at all. As he turned a corner, he saw something that caused him to stop cold.
Cages. As far as he could see. There were also some tanks. It looked like some kind of spooky zoo or jail. It was too dark for him to see what was in the cages.
As he walked, his breath rising in front of him like fog, despite that it wasn't cold, he thought he could hear strange sounds coming from the cages. He accidentally stumbled over something, tried to keep his balance, and fell against the wall. Groping for a switch, he threw it.
What he saw took his breath away. Inside the cages were strange creatures, both amazing and frightening. Some looked like hybrids of things he was familiar with, while others looked like nothing he had even heard of.
"Wow…" Walking over to one of the cages, he saw something that looked like a cross between a tiger and a monkey looking up at him. He extended his hand, and the creature sniffed it curiously before licking it, causing him to chuckle.
The things in the tanks were also notable. There were strange fish-like creatures in them, some looking like a cross between a dog and fish, and another even looked like a mermaid. "Cool!"
As the creature he was examining moved, he could see his reflection in the glass in the tank. But it wasn't just his reflection. He saw that there was something lunging behind him--
He immediately jumped to the side, causing the thing's lunge to miss him and hit the tank, causing it to slide to the floor before getting back up and facing him.
He had no idea what it was. It looked like nothing he was familiar with. It seemed like a sort of snake, though it was much too thin to be one, and it had a twitchy, convulsing mass for a head, making him feel slightly nauseous just by looking at it. It was apparently staring at him and making a high pitched sort of screech. It was clear that it was going to lunge again. He pulled out the knife from his sling, not expecting to have used it.
The…thing made another cry and lunged at him again, making him duck. As it zoomed over his head, he slashed at it with the knife, striking the mass that made its head and spilling blood.
The thing fell to the ground, twitching. The boy now had another feeling, a strange one…what seemed to be electricity coursed through his left arm as he readied the knife, and swung it towards the monster. Lighting apparently came out of nowhere as it struck the creature, frying it on the spot.
As the thing laid there, smoke and a sizzling noise coming from it, he dropped the knife, shocked by what he had done. But before he could do anything else, he could hear footsteps and voices.
"What the heck was that?!"
"Maybe one of the test subjects broke loose again."
Having no desire to be caught, he turned and ran, completely forgetting the knife. He had already left the room when the door opened.
"Huh? What was--what the hell?! What happened?! It's dead!"
"Looks like electrocution. I'll sound the alarm--"
"Don't bother." The two guards moved aside as their superior stepped forward, crouching down and picking up the bloodstained knife.
"I already know who did this."
Josephine hurried down the corridor, looking quite annoyed. "That is the last time—the LAST time—I help those morons with one of their screw-ups. Next time, I'll make Yokuba do it."
The small creature walking beside her yipped its name in agreement. "Graineon…"
As she neared the door to her charge's room, she muttered, "I mean, I already have enough to do here anyway, what with taking care of—"
As she opened the door, the sentence died in her throat as she saw that the room was empty."
"Oh, no," she whispered. "Oh, no, oh-no, oh-no…"
She quickly turned and ran out, her Graineon hurrying after her.
He couldn't have been more lost.
He kept cursing himself for not paying attention to his surroundings when he had been running. Now he couldn't remember how to get back to his room. The creepy décor didn't help matters either.
As he thought of what to do, he noticed a door on his left, but as he approached it, he could hear strange sounds coming from it. He placed his hand on the doorknob, then stopped. He didn't really want to know what was behind that door. But he couldn't help being curious…
Calm down, you dope, he thought, you're not a baby. C'mon, show some backbone!
He took a deep breath, then opened the door and walked in.
The room beyond could only be described as 'fancy'. Beautiful carpeting, strange paintings on the walls, a gigantic fireplace, the sort of stuff you'd find in some rich guy's living room. The fireplace was lit, casting shadows against the walls.
"H-hello?" he called out.
He walked over to one of the paintings on the wall, the odd scene it depicted catching his eye. It showed an enormous person, towering over everything around it, with gray stone-colored skin and huge, feathery wings coming from his back. He couldn't help but shudder at the sight of it, and moved onto the next painting.
This one showed what appeared to be a boy in his teen years, but the painting was so old and flaky that he couldn't make out the face. He moved on to the next painting, and stopped dead.
This painting showed someone—or something—that could only be described as terrifying. The figure wore a dark purple mask that seemed to look like a fox with the tusks of a warthog, with terrible crimson red war paint on each side of the face. The eye holes were unnaturally pale. He wore a jet black vest, with jet black wind-suit pants, and dark brown boots on his feet. From long sleeves were long, claw-like hands that resembled bones. This person sat on a throne, his hand on a giant black sword with an eye, a creepy grin on the mask.
He could barely breathe. The painting filled him with terror. Whoever the person it depicted was, he, she, or it was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen that day. After a minute, he finally tore his eyes away from it, and as he turned away, someone spoke.
"It is strange how such a harmless thing can fill your soul with fear, isn't it?" He jumped in surprise and whirled around to see a man, standing by a bookcase and looking as if he wasn't paying him the slightest bit of attention, his hand searching for a book. "And yet, the truth is that it is inside such things that the fear is from. There is fear, and there is darkness. Yet they are not the same. Or are they?" He finally turned to look at the boy. "Do you agree?"
This man was inexplicitly well-dressed; he wore a rather clean suit made of dark-red velvet, with a pair of black pants completing the ensemble. Pale-gray hair fell to his shoulders.
But it was the eyes that caught his attention. They were filled with hate; no, not just hate, but just loathing; there was so much loathing seeping his eyes that he felt dizzy from shock.
But almost as soon as he saw it, the look was gone. The man pulled out a book from the cabinet, apparently satisfied with what he had found, and glanced at the boy again. "Do you agree?" He asked again.
"Er, uh…" the boy stammered; he didn't realize that the man wanted an answer. "Um, I-I guess so?"
The man smiled. "Good. It appears that you possess a certain understanding of things." He placed the book down. "I don't believe I've seen you here before, child. What is your name?"
"My name?" He racked his brains, but he still couldn't remember. "I, ah, I can't remember…"
The man looked puzzled at first, then a look of understanding appeared on his face. "Ah, I see, you're the one they found today…"
Before either of them could say anything else, Josephine ran into the room, her Graineon trailing after her. "Oh, there you are!" she cried, running over and hugging the boy. "I've been looking all over for you, you pest! Don't you ever run off like that again, okay!?"
"O-okay, Miss Josephine…sorry…Oh, what's this?"
"This is Graineon--" As Josephine noticed the man, her voice trailed away. She stood up. "Oh, you're…uh… Pokey's guest, right?"
"I am. I believe he was here earlier, asking for you." He gestured to the boy standing by her. "I would suggest that you bring this one back to his room, before Pokey becomes irritated. And I believe that you--"
"I know what he's like when he's irritated," Josephine said. She took the boy's hand. "C'mon, let's go." As they left, the man went back to his book.
"This could be interesting…"
A yell of, "JOSIE! WHERE ARE YOU!?" reverberated throughout the halls.
"Oh, good grief…" Josephine muttered. "I told him not to call me by that annoying nickname…" She checked her watch. "Great. Won't be enough time to get back before the meeting…" She looked at her young charge. "Sorry, but there won't be time to get back to your room."
"Why? Does this mean I have to go to this 'meeting' with you?"
"Do you want to come?"
He thought about it. "Well, I don't want to go back myself…"
"I would never let you go back by yourself," Josephine said sternly. "You might get lost, and we don't want that, now do we?"
He wildly shook his head, remembering the incident with the snake thing.
"Good. Now, let's get going…"
The door to the meeting room slammed open as Josephine, Graineon, and the young boy ran in, panting. "S-sorry we were late…" Josephine panted.
"Don't worry about it." As the boy caught his breath, he noticed that the speaker was the same man he had met earlier. "Ah, and I see you've brought your young charge with you."
"There wasn't enough time to get him back to his room, so--" Josephine started, but the man cut her off.
"I understand. You aren't the only ones late, also. Pokey has yet to arrive."
"I'm not surprised," Josephine muttered. "That fat slob probably wants to make a dramatic appearance or something."
Her companion looked at her, surprised. "Er…Why do you call him that?"
"You'd do the same thing if he was your boss," Josephine said. "Thankfully, he isn't your boss, so--oh, wait, here he comes."
Almost as soon as she finished that sentence, they heard the sound of trumpets from outside, and the door opened to admit a guy in a pig-like helmet, who was rolling out a red carpet. He stood by the door with a salute as another helmeted guy coming in rolling out another carpet (this one was mauve) so another guy could come in to roll out another carpet (green), so yet another guy would come in rolling out a carpet that was orange.
Before the next carpet-roller would start, Josephine became impatient and snapped, "Just get that moron in here, for heaven's sake!"
This was more than enough to get them to stop. As the pig soldiers stood to attention, there was more trumpet music, and two people came in.
The taller one looked like the typical Arabian fellow, complete with a mustache. He was finishing off a banana and threw the peel aside, causing one of the pig masks to slip and fall on it (Gotta love the classics!).
The one next to him was not nearly impressive. He looked like a short, fat kid with blonde hair covering his eyes, wearing (of all things) a pinstripe business suit. His blond bangs were clearly unkempt, so that they covered his eyes.
Almost as soon as he and the boy made eye contact (at least I THINK they made eye contact), they immediately scowled at each other. Josephine noticed this and sighed. Oh, great, they don't like each other…
The fat guy spoke first. "Josie, Kavma…who's the twerp?"
Josephine's eye twitched. "FIRST OF ALL…" she seethed. She went over to him, then flicked him on the nose, causing him to grab it and go "YEOWCH!" "SECOND OF ALL," she snapped, "You know who he is, your soldiers brought him in the first place."
"They did?"
"YES!"
He thought a moment. "Uh…ermmm…hmm…Oh, yeah, now I remember."
Josephine slapped her hand over her face. "For crying out loud…you're the thickest person I've ever had the misfortune to meet."
"Graineon!" Her Graineon chirped in agreement, scowling at the overweight child.
He noticed. "Josephine, do you always have to keep that little rat around me?" Graineon responded by growling at Pokey.
"Call Graineon a rat again and I'll let him use Sand-Attack on you… THEN Sandstorm on your estate!"
I think I should describe Graineon here, since I didn't earlier. Basically, it looked like a basic Eevee, but only a few differences. First off, its fur is slightly shaggier and a lighter shade of brown than that of a normal Eevee. Secondly, it's a Ground-type. Thirdly, its tail keeps whisping away into grains of sand in the breeze (hence the name), but it never seems to shrink, just stay the same size.
Putting that aside, Pokey let out a rather loud snort (which is quite something to hear), then turned to Kavma. "Can we get started?"
"I suppose we can," the older man said as he sat down.
As he, Pokey, and the Arabian guy started talking, Josephine leaned toward her charge and whispered, "This is gonna take a while. D'you want to read this?"
She handed him her spellbook.
"Oh, uh, sure."
It probably would have been better if he had stared at the wall. There was so much mystical mumbo-jumbo and complicated stuff in the book he would've understood better if it was in Greek. After several attempts to read it, he sighed and gave it back to Josephine. Then he resorted to staring at the wall. After five minutes of doing this, he turned his attention to the others conversation just when Kavma said, "And now, I believe we must discuss the boy."
They all turned to the boy in question, causing him to suddenly become very nervous. Josephine took his hand and squeezed it.
Kavma seemed to contemplate him for a few seconds, then he said abruptly, "Pokey, why don't you take him with you?"
This was answered by both of them shouting "WHAT?!?!" causing the Arabian man and Josephine to wince.
"Why do I have to be stuck with HIM??" They simultaneously yelled at the same time as they pointed at each other (the boy using his left arm).
"I don't even know this kid!" Pokey shouted angrily.
"There's no way I'm going to be stuck with a fatso like him!" The boy said.
"FAT?!?!" Pokey shrieked indignantly. "Who are you calling fat?! This is all muscle!"
"Hmm, I never knew muscle drooped that much," Josephine said thoughtfully.
"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!!" Pokey yelled. He turned to Kavma. "Why do I have to be stuck with him?! I have nothing to do with this little brat to begin with!"
"I believe you are wrong there."
"HOW?!"
Kavma tapped the tabletop with his fingers. "As Josephine has stated earlier, it was your men who found him earlier today, so he is therefore your responsibility. Also, I cannot take care of him myself, as you very well know. And besides…" He stood up and grabbed Pokey's hand. "You remember the condition you were in when we met, correct? I gave you back your youth…" As he spoke, Pokey's hand, to his, Josephine's, and the boy's horror, started to wither and grow old before their very eyes. "…And I can very easily take it back."
Pokey let out a large shriek and tore his hand away from Kavma's grip, wringing it repeatedly. When he stopped, they all saw that it was back to normal. Panting heavily, he stared at it for a minute, then looked at the Arabian man.
"Yokuba? What do you think?"
The man, Yokuba, stroke his chin.
"Hmm…well, under the circumstances, I believe that it would be in our best interests to take the boy with us, not just for the reasons Mr. Kavma has stated, but also because…" His voice trailed off.
"Because?" Pokey said.
"Because I am sure that he will be willing to earn his keep, if he is to stay. Therefore, we will have another recruit for our cause."
"Oh, no, no, no," Josephine started, placing her hands on her charge's shoulders. "There is NO WAY I'm letting you make him wear those ridiculous helmets of yours, Yokuba."
"I never said he would be a soldier, Josephine. I am sure that we will find a job for him if King P allows him to accompany us. If it makes you feel better, you can be his caretaker."
"Me?" Josephine asked. She and the boy looked at each other. "Well… I…"
"I've made my decision!" Pokey declared. They all stared at him. "The kid stays…BUT…" He walked (or waddled, depending on how you look at it) over to the boy and stared him in the eye (though the fact that his bangs were so long made it hard to tell). "Do ONE thing that'll get on my nerves, and I'll boot you out of here before you can say Pork." He pointed at Josephine. "Josie will be your caretaker." He glanced at her. "Make sure he doesn't get in trouble, ya hear me?"
Josephine nodded, then took the boy's hand again as Graineon leapt onto her shoulder. "Okay, then."
"Alright now, Kavma and I have a lot to talk about, so shoo!" He waved them both out of the room.
"Okay, here's your omelet."
They were back in the boy's room. Josephine had decided to make him an omelet, and for some reason, the mere thought of the dish made him salivate.
"Try not to choke on it, okay?" Josephine said jokingly as she set the plate down in front of him. Approximately one instant later, she realized that she had been serious without knowing it.
Almost as soon as she had set down the plate, he had practically assaulted the omelet like a wolf, not even bothering to use a fork. It was rather alarming. But before Josephine's mind could even finish processing this information, he was finished.
She blinked. "That—that was pretty fast…how hungry were you, anyway?"
He merely replied with "I like omelets."
A long moment of silence followed, until Josephine started giggling, which erupted into full-blown laughter. The boy and Graineon joined in.
Outside, Yokuba listened to their merriment, holding the knife he had found earlier. "If my theory's correct…this could pay off big for us…"
~Three years later~
Josephine ran through the halls, her footsteps echoing in the silence. "Clyde? Clyde!"
He heard her, but he didn't get up from his bed. He just stayed where he was, his hand running through the sandy hair of the Graineon curled up on his chest. That doctor Josephine had taken him to had managed to fix up his arm rather quickly. What was the guy's name? Stake? Stales? He could never remember.
"Clyde!" Josephine came in, brushing her hair out of her face. "There you are! I've been looking for you, ya know."
"Sorry, Josephine," Clyde said sheepishly as he sat up, Graineon leaping off of him and jumping onto Josephine's shoulder. "What's up? Does Pokey need me or anything?"
"King P, Lord Kavma is here to see you."
"Bring him in," Pokey said gruffly.
The pig soldier bowed and opened the door. In came Kavma, wearing the same attire as before. He stopped before Pokey and bowed. "We meet again, Pig King."
"Is that the only thing you ever wear?" Pokey interrupted rudely.
Kavma ignored this comment. "You haven't changed much, I see. How is your 'project' coming along, by the way? Have the Maygypsies been giving you problems?"
"Just get to the point, Kavma," Pokey snapped. "Why are you here?"
Kavma looked up at him. "Oh, nothing special. I'm merely here with a proposition."
"Proposition?" Pokey raised his eyebrows (I think; curse the accursed bangs!). "What kind?"
"Nothing special. It merely requires the use of the boy, Clyde. He is still in residence here, correct?"
"Yeah…but what do you need the kid for?"
"Reconnaissance."
"What's the catch?"
"None whatsoever. If you do this for me, I will reward you handsomely."
"How much?" Kavma whispered the amount into his ear. "SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?! THAT MUCH!?"
"Do you accept?" Kavma asked.
Pokey responded by jabbing a finger onto the intercom. "JOSIE!!! GET THE BRAT TO MY THRONE ON THE DOUBLE!!!" He turned to Kavma. "That a good enough answer for ya?"
"Good enough. Now, as for the details of this task…"
Jordan: Finally done.
Max: I've never heard of a Graineon….
Jordan: It's something Jacob thought up. It's a Ground-type Eevee evolution.
Kaitlin: What happens next?
Jordan: You'll have to keep reading Sole Exception for that--
Kaitlin: WHAT?!?!?!?!?!??!!??!!?