The Forgotten Past

The Lady Chell kept the vial of potion secret from Sir Wheatley. She was unsure if he would be willing to use it, for when he spoke of his past he seemed uneasy and afraid. Chell had recalled, if nothing else, her skill in the service of the King. Thus she hoped that perhaps if Sir Wheatley remembered his former days, he would realize his purpose and grow accustomed to life outside the Castle.

That night as Sir Wheatley slept, the Lady Chell crept into his room and, careful not to wake him, dropped a few drops of the precious potion into his mouth. She returned to her own bed and drank a few drops herself, hopeful that when morning came they would both remember what had taken place before the trial of the Bow.

Sir Wheatley did dream again, yet this time his dream was clear and soon he realized it was a memory. So also did the Lady Chell dream of her lost days before the trial, but here was revealed the strange effect of the potion. The dreamer who drinks after another shall share in the vision of the first. For as Sir Wheatley dreamed, the Lady Chell saw his vision, though much of it she had no knowledge of prior. As she saw his vision in her mind, it brought back memories of her own, and the full nature of their pasts was revealed.

And thus did they dream:

In the days before the trial, the Lady Chell had been a servant girl in the court of the King. She cooked and cleaned, speaking only when necessary. One day while carrying a stack of plates, she ran into one of the King's knights in training, a young man named Wheatley.

From the moment that Wheatley met the Lady Chell, his heart was full to the brimming with love. He thought that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He admired her poise and dignity despite being a lowly cook, and from that day forward, he took every opportunity to be with her. Wheatley had been training to be a knight, an occupation that had nothing to do with the lower servants of the Castle. Yet he somehow always found a way to pass through the kitchen on his way to the courtyard for training.

Chell's fellow scullery maids weren't all too happy with him. In fact, Sir Wheatley was so clumsy on his feet that, at the chime of the 10 o'clock bells each day, they all scrambled to their places to put away anything that could be broken, spilled or knocked over. Indeed, they braced themselves for the sound of chainmail, frantic footfalls and profuse apologies.

Yet unlike the others, the Lady Chell did not find his presence irritating. Although she did seem to wonder if he had another reason to pass through the kitchen besides partaking in some of their freshly baked bread. As time passed his love for her grew, and realizing that he could no longer be silent, the day arrived when he decided to ask the Lady Chell if she would allow him to court her.

But alas, it was not meant to be. For on the very day that Sir Wheatley had resolved to proclaim his love, the King died and the Queen became the unrivaled ruler of Aperture. She summoned all the knights, even those still in training, to the throne room. It was there that she laid the spell on their minds that they would forget all they had known in their days before and serve the Crown alone.

The Lady Chell wondered why Sir Wheatley did not pass through the kitchen on that day. On that very morning, she had baked a special loaf just for him. As the alarms rang out for all to flee, she reluctantly made her way to the Castle gate. She searched for the Knight in training that she had befriended, yet in the chaos he was nowhere to be found. And so it was that the Lady Chell was not swift enough to escape the Castle. She fell into the deep enchanted sleep placed on all by the Queen. So strong was the sleep that when she awoke to first take up the Bow, she had completely forgotten her friend and all of their encounters in Castle Aperture.

Sir Wheatley had born the worst on that terrible day when he had been called to the throne room. He beheld the slain forms of the learned men of Aperture and the burning wrath of the Queen. He tried to flee, but by her dark art, Glados laid hold of his mind and the minds of the other knights. His last thought before all memory and loyalty faded from him was of the Lady Chell and how much he loved her.

The Lady Chell woke first from her dream of the past, shocked and saddened by the memory of Sir Wheatley that she had seen. She thought to wake Wheatley, but guilt pressed in upon her mind. She had done a terrible disservice to them both for bringing back such sad and terrible memories, and she had seen things that only he knew. Instead, she left the cottage to walk alone and think on what she had done.

Even as the Lady Chell left, Sir Wheatley woke from his terrible recollection. He knocked on her door to speak to her about his vision, for he sensed that it was more than it seemed, but she was not there. He did however find the vial that she had obtained from Garret. Upon further examination of the remnant of its contents, he realized what she had done and once again he was angry.

Yet for all his frustration, the sorrow of his memories grieved him beyond measure. The memories burned in his mind and brought to light the truth that he had sought to ignore over the past few days. Without any knowledge of their prior meeting, he had learned to love the Lady Chell all over again as if from the beginning. Perhaps he was destined to always seek to be by her side, whether in the service of the King or in fleeing from the Queen. Even without knowing who she had been or how much she had meant to him, he had sought her out in his attempts to escape the Castle.

In the deep recesses of his mind, Sir Wheatley had hoped that perhaps he had not always been a fool. That perhaps somewhere in his past he had been useful and had a purpose, a purpose that had been cruelly stripped away from him when the Queen had meddled with his mind. Yet now was revealed to him that even in the days before the trial he had been no different than he was now. He was the man others laughed at, the one they had all said was more worthy to be a court jester than a knight.

Sorrow overwhelmed him even more as he realized that he had never had the chance to ask the Lady Chell if she felt the same for him as he did for her. And now in light of all he had done since those long lost days, the hope that she would love him in return was gone. He wished with all his heart that he could forget again. He wished to forget the love he had for her in the past so as to never have the thought to hope for it in the present. He wondered if there might be a way to reverse the potion's effects.