Chapter Six: Memories Gone By

They had traveled in absolute silence, with a tension in the air that Eve knew was suffocating. Archer hadn't overtly said or done anything to make it so, but his very presence felt stifling to the group and she was very aware that he was watching every move she made and every word she said.

The more time passed though, the more she felt herself slip back into her unemotional safe guard. Her temporary team performed well and listened to her, and she went on as normal, trying to ignore Archer and act as if he wasn't even there. In the meantime, Archer himself kept quiet and to the background, light blue eyes watchful but hard to read.

That was fine with her in the end. So long as they could keep apart.

Eve was glad when they finally made it to Viridian City though, because it meant that she wouldn't actually have to be in Archer's presence. But then they made it to headquarters and Archer's hand fell heavily upon her shoulder. However, he didn't address her at first. Instead, he addressed the others.

"Write up your reports and turn them in," Archer said stoically. "Eve, we will be returning here later. We have elsewhere we need to be."

Keeping everything off of her face, she nodded sharply. When the others dithered, she gave them a look that they quickly acknowledged before departing, even though they looked back to her hesitatingly.

"They're loyal," Archer commented blithely. "They haven't even known you long."

Eve stayed quiet and he gave her a short glance.

"You've always had that kind of charisma to draw others in," he continued and she froze up.

Sometimes, sometimes he or Giovanni made these little comments that hinted at knowing her before, and she never knew whether to ask or to bury it in her mind. Her past was the past after all, but there was always this little need deep in her that howled to want to know everything.

"Where are we going?" she went for instead.

"Pallet Town," Archer answered shortly.

Confused, she debated on whether or not to pester him for more information. He was already heading in the direction of the TR garage, so she followed and waited for him to choose what vehicle they were going in. He picked his personal car, slipping into the driver's seat. Without any prodding, she sat in the seat next to him and then he'd started the car and began driving out of the parking garage.

It took less than half an hour to get to Pallet Town, but Archer barely made it into the city before he found parking and stopped the car. He turned to her and she tensed up.

"Giovanni requested I take you to here," he revealed, surprising her. "It was his wish that you come to Pallet Town and that I have you go around the town and have a look."

"Whatever for?" she asked, still confused.

"That is for you to find out," he said vaguely. "Go on."

With one last hesitant look, Eve got out of the car and began to walk way. Glancing back, she saw that Archer was still in his car, but had taken out a book and was reading indifferently. Sighing to herself, she continued to walk, frowning as she tried to think why Giovanni had wanted her to be here in the first place. Taking out her Absol's pokéball, she released him and he easily jumped out and landed on all fours, already beginning to walk alongside her.

"Hey, you," she smiled slightly. "Looks like you and me are just going to be walking for a while around town. I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for, but at least we'll get a good walk out of this, huh?"

"Absol!"

Absol stuck close to her as they walked and though there were plenty of people around them, Eve paid no attention to them. Though walking around randomly, she soon found her feet taking her to a more quiet and out of the place road, where she traveled all the way down it and up to where she found was an abandoned mansion. To her surprise, the closer she walked to it, the more she began to feel uneasy. That doubled as she saw the state of the mansion and the way trash and graffiti decorated what she could imagine was once a beautiful home.

Licking her lips, she only started to move forward after her Absol surprisingly insistently pushed her onwards.

"Hey, boy," she murmured. "What's up?"

"Ab-Absol," he growled impatiently at her, making her startle but follow his lead.

With trepidation, she ended up walking into the mansion and looking around with a deep frown, trying to ignore the air of emptiness that surrounded the place.

Part of her whispered 'I'm empty inside too…'

She walked around and noted the faded grandness of the place, seeing a broken piano and a chandelier that had fallen apart. Up a beautiful staircase and down a maze of halls, she soon found herself letting herself reach out, the tips of her fingers running along the surfaces of this haunted home.

"A ghost's home," she muttered, looking around slowly and then stopping right in front of a certain door. Her hand went for the doorknob, only to pause and hesitate.

She swallowed heavily.

"Darling, you mustn't run down these steps!"

An image of a young girl flashed through her head, smiling and giggling. She took a step back.

"You should be more conscious of yourself. You're a public figure now, so don't do anything embarrassing."

An older man, eyes like hers, looking down on her indifferently. A beautiful woman with a bitter gaze and an angry twist to her mouth. And then for a moment, she saw a red-haired little boy –

Eve shook her head and turned from the door, snatching her hand away from the doorknob as she practically ran from that place. Her feet pounded against the carpet and then the marble floor of the foyer, until she was outside and getting the hell away from there, glad her Absol was keeping up with her but not wanting him to tire needlessly, ending up recalling him quickly.

The fact that that place brought up images of things and people she didn't recognize (or remember) bothered her a hell of a lot, but she didn't want to dwell on it at all. In fact, she was doing her best not to think about what had happened, and just focus on getting away from not only the mansion but probably Pallet Town itself, her goal being to find Archer and make their way back to Viridian.

It was just her luck, though, that she ran into someone. And not just anyone –she ran into the very familiar figure of Professor Samuel Oak. But after the two of them managed to straighten up and give out the normal apologies, he'd gotten a good look at her and for some reason his face paled. Her uneasiness came back worse than ever.

"I-I apologize," he said, still staring at her. "You look…like a very dear friend of mine, who I lost long ago." Still, he managed to recover enough and gave her a kind smile that she couldn't help returning for some reason. "I'm Professor Oak."

Eve kept her body lax, trying to keep her uneasiness at bay. "Eve," she said easily, letting her expression look open. "Sorry again for running into you."

He waved her away, smiling further. The corners of his eyes crinkled with his smile.

"It's no matter. May I ask what's gotten you in a hurry?"

"Memories," she found herself saying. It was vague but strangely true, and she wasn't sure whether she'd answered with that on purpose for the vagueness or if something about him or the strange easy, feeling she had with him had caused her to say something of the truth.

Oak laughed. "Is that so? Those are rather hard to run from. No matter how hard some of us may try, memories have a way of coming up and haunting us, don't you think?"

She felt a chill go through her at that. She didn't want her memories, not anymore. Right? She didn't…

Then again, a part of her she thought buried still longed to remember everything that used to be and that she'd forgotten, to somehow fill in the gaping hole in her that made it obvious she wasn't quite whole.

"You know, my friend used to think memories were precious," Oak mused. "She liked to claim she'd hoard them all and trap them into a memory chest, so that she could always find them and reminisce."

"Good and bad memories?" she asked softly.

"Good and bad," he nodded. "Memories make us who we are after all."

'Then who am I?' she almost asked. For she who was without memories was just a blank slate, right?

The word 'monster' carved and painted on the lonely walls of the mansion came to mind and she felt her lips twist into a wry, bittersweet smile.

She was a monster. That's who she was.

"What happened to your friend?" she asked.

Oak seemed to share her bittersweet look and it made her curious.

"She died."

Eve glanced at him. "We all die sometime though. Maybe, in this kind of world, she was the lucky one."

"Maybe," Oak hummed. "But the ones left behind certainly aren't."

She agreed. They were the ones grieving and remembering after all. She wondered if anyone mourned her, whoever she was before…

Giovanni's face came to mind, but she quickly shut that thought down. Then again, between he and Archer, a metaphorical memory chest might be in reach after all. But could she ask them? The idea of asking Archer anything made her balk, but Giovanni on the other hand…Part of her felt like he would tell her if she asked, but the other part was restless and cautious of doing so from him too.

"I wish I had a memory chest," she said aloud, making her blink in surprise at herself.

Oak gave her a long look. "Memories are precious," he smiled slowly, grimly. "Who wouldn't want one?"

The two of them talked more on other things, mostly idle talk, but it was calm and relaxing and Eve found she was enjoying talking with the professor. She'd heard from him, how he always got rather rattled during Trainer Days, and how he always had to get prepared and have all the pokémon together, as well as pokédexes and whatever else was needed to start a trainer's journey. It was such an easy, comfortable talk, that she was surprised at how well she got along and interacted with Oak. It was familiar too, though she couldn't put a finger on how or why.

That's why she was reluctant, a strange thing yet, to part ways with him, beginning to regretfully end their talk.

"It was lovely talking with you," Oak said, sounding just a touch wistful and sad. "If you're around the town, stop by my lab. I would love to talk with you again."

Eve smiled and agreed, though she inwardly doubted she would. Her job was to stay in the shadows and not linger too much in the open.

"Goodbye," she said and then she turned from him and began to walk away.

She strangely had the urge to look back at him.

It wasn't surprising to see that Archer was still in his car with his book in hand –the man had an impeccable sense of acting like a statue most times and Eve was well familiar with his stoic (if he wasn't being disdainful or cold) demeanor.

As Eve approached the car, without looking at her, Archer closed his book and put it aside before he started the engine. As soon as she slipped into the car, he spoke without an inflection in his voice.

"We're done here. We should head back to headquarters."

Confused but starting to fill with a quiet anger, Eve surged from her seat and pushed Archer roughly against his side of the car. He looked back at her angered form without a change in expression.

"You looked at me with rage like that once," he said quietly, almost in curiosity. "That fire, that passion…your deadened self is no match to her."

When he gently pushed her away, there was no resistance as she was set back, looking at him in disbelief and even a little bit of pain.

"Now you're nothing but a memory."

He turned back to the wheel and turned off the emergency brake, saying nothing more as he put the car into drive and drove from there.

Eve sat there, trying not to let the thoughts crowd into her head.

Started 6/8/17 – Completed 6/23/17

A/n: Here's to hoping for some reviews :D