It was almost a year from the events with Rexa and the unfortunate murder of the original human governor. Majority of citizens in the colony lost the memory in the daily grind of survival. However, there was a certain group of dragons who had a hard time forgetting.
"Why the long face, Sebastian?" asked a rather large bronze earth dragon his much smaller brown runner friend. The runner just sighed.
"I don't know, I've got one of those blues I suppose," said Sebastian, looking down his half-empty cup of tea.
"Hey, it's almost Spring again, cheer up," patted the bronze dragon his friend on the back. That didn't seem to help at all though.
"That's the problem, Bryce," snapped Sebastian, hitting the table with his fist. "This day, it's almost a year we've lost Anna. She was one of us and we let her die."
Bryce put on a serious face, "You or I couldn't do anything to stop her. Besides, she would most likely get executed."
Sebastian was ready to argue some more, but Bryce was in the boss mood, "And I forbid you from thinking about her, or I'll tell Adine."
"Please, no. She almost killed me last time with those comforter cookies. My jaw still hurts," waved Sebastian his talons in the air, knocking over the now empty cup of tea.
Bryce looked down at Sebastian and deep down, he felt sorry for him. He had his heart broken by someone he knew for years. He also envied the power to go on pursuing the same person who had broken him. Bryce gave the small dragon a smile.
"Just take it easy. Who knows what might happen," he said, leaving Sebastian alone.
In the cafeteria doors, Bryce exchanged place with Lorem and Vara. One could wonder how could the pair fit next to the police chief in the narrow door frame.
"Hey, Seb. What's up?" said Lorem upon spotting the peacekeeper officer. Sebastian face-palmed then turned to the blue dragon and responded, "I am fine."
"Oh damn, someone had a bad day," whispered Vara on Lorem's right. Lorem smiled at his girl, "Dear, could you get us our portion of rations for today, please."
Vara nodded and like a fox, disappeared in the crowd of people waiting for their meal.
The blue dragon took a seat across the table so he could face the peacekeeper.
"So, what's really been going on?" said Lorem to Sebastian in a concerned voice.
"Bad day, just as your girlfriend has said. Nothing else" snapped Sebastian. Those people asking him about his mental state weren't helping his sorrow at all.
"I refuse to believe that, sorry," closed Lorem his eyes, "It's about Anna, isn't it?"
Sebastian gasped, "How the hell do you know?"
Lorem showed his teeth, the eyes still closed, "You are not the only one with a memory, Sebastian."
The room seemed to get dark as if the world ceased to exist around the two. Lorem continued, "I've never told anyone the truth. I wasn't the one who shot Rexa. Anna was."
Sebastian was looking straight at Lorem, his heart pumping.
"She chose the exile over the death by humans. She's still alive, but doesn't want to be discovered," finished Lorem the strange talk.
The world returned to its normal pace. Next to Lorem was Vara, balancing two plastic meal boxes on her nose. Lorem took them, unwrapped the silverware he had in his bag and together with the pink dragoness, they started eating.
Sebastian, both eyes wide open, was lost in his thoughts, completely taken over by the moment. "What the hell just happened? What were you talking about just a minute ago?"
"I was talking about how the food improved over the last year, wasn't I? What do you think, Vara?" said Lorem. The pink girl nodded, as she couldn't respond properly with her mouth full.
Sebastian picked up the empty cup of his and sniffed it. It smelled alright. He had to be imagining things. He raised himself to his feet, shook the head of his, fixed the police cap back in its place. He looked down at the couple eating together and he felt his stomach move.
"I'll be on my way," said the peacekeeper, pointing behind himself, "Bryce is waiting for me."
Lorem saluted in his direction and Vara gave him a warm smile. Sebastian was good to go. He also felt a bit of shame, because he used Bryce to get away from the situation he didn't fully understand.
The air in the colony was getting warmer. Snow was slowly going away, but it would take a long time to melt it all. They had about a week to pursue repairs and maintenance before another deep frost would hit. Sebastian walked through the empty streets. Long shadows suggested the night was approaching.
What was the thing that happened in the cafeteria? Was Sebastian losing it? Lorem had to be a key, or maybe he wasn't. Sebastian grabbed his temples as a sharp pain hit his brain. He had to get home and lie down ASAP.
His head ringing, he walked forward until he found his doors. God knows how he got inside. Sebastian certainly didn't care a second later, after his head hit the pillow.
Phone ringing pried Sebastian from his slumber. He opened his eyes, looking for the source of the noise. He didn't have a land-line, did he? So, why he was hearing a damned phone. He had to be cursed by Anna's spirit. Oh, that was it. Anna was haunting him for thinking they could be a couple.
The ringing didn't stop though, even after he had focused on it. The doorbell, that was the only option.
"Keep it down, will ya. I am coming," yelled Sebastian across the room, not sure if the one disturbing his day off could even hear him. He raised himself from the bed and realised he had slept in all of his gear. Great...
His back hurt like seven hells put together, but he still managed to limp over to his apartment doors.
"You better have a good reason for waking me up," he groaned through his teeth, half hoping it was someone he could use as a verbal punchbag.
Yellow skin, nose with two green stripes and eternal goofy grin. Only one wyvern could look like that.
"Food delivery!"