-45-
There was no sound from the opposite side of the cliff. I assumed Miyka'el was dead, but with the roar of the water below, it was hard to tell.
I glanced down over the edge. Sure enough, the lake I had seen before originated from a massive waterfall almost as tall as the cliff we were standing on. I was amazed I hadn't heard it before, but perhaps the sound of the Jabberwocky had drowned it out.
Nam and I stood and stared down for quite some time. I had no idea what the other guys were doing. They were probably sitting around, waiting for me to come back. I was their savior. I had killed the Jabberwocky! There was nothing I couldn't handle, right?
Except this. Except these guys, and the concept of having to choose between them. Who was right? Who was wrong? And what was I going to do about it now, if Miyka'el was already dead?
I tried once again to pry my blade from Nam's hand, thinking I could use it to unbury Miyka'el from beneath the rocks. Nam easily pulled it away from me and shoved me to the ground, approximately where he had previously been lying.
"Why do you keep doing that?" he asked.
"I have to see if Miyka'el's alright," I explained from my spot on the floor.
"We don't need him."
"Yes, we do. We all need each other."
Nam shook his head.
I was beginning to get angry. I got up again, and pulled at the knife once more. Nam and I were getting into such a tussle that we both failed to notice when Zale casually stepped onto the platform.
"Hey, you guys okay?"
Nam and I quickly turned our heads, as one, to look at him.
"Where have you been?" I demanded. "Nam's snapped. I think he killed Miyka'el."
"What?"
"The rocks." I motioned to the pile of stones with my head and went back to pulling at the blade as Zale went to investigate.
"No," Nam cried, distracted. This allowed me to pull the blade away from him, a little too roughly, resulting in yet another tumble to the floor for yours truly.
I got up just in time to see Nam going for Zale.
"Zale! Nam, don't!" I yelled, getting to my feet.
Zale turned, then unsuccessfully grabbed for a rock as Nam knocked him to the floor.
"Use your freaking fifty-six deadly arts!" I said as I approached them.
"I can't!" Zale replied, knocking Nam over as he pulled himself back to his feet.
"Why not?" I asked.
Nam stared at Zale from the ground.
"I don't want to hurt him," Zale explained.
"He's going to hurt you."
As if on cue, Nam shot up and leapt forward, pushing Zale over the cliff edge and toward the rocky lake edge below.
"No!" I cried, too late.
Nam, half-standing, pushed me away from the edge. Angry, I gripped my blade harder and crawled toward him.
He pulled something out of his pocket. "I don't think so." He pressed a button.
I screamed. This must've been what Zione felt when he touched Caol. So I had a device in me after all. And somehow crazy Nam had gotten his hands on a controller for it.
"Get back, dear. Get up and step away from me. I don't want to hurt you."
I pushed myself away from him in a backwards half-crawl, still gripping my vorpal blade. "Right. You just want to hurt everyone else here."
"You're surprised? I thought you'd remember it all by now, or at least figure it out."
"What are you talking about?"
Nam grinned, a frightening Cheshire Cat grin. "You really do have amnesia, don't you?"
"You thought I was faking it?"
"Yeah. That's what we agreed upon."
"What?"
"You and me, and Caol once he came around, if you know what I mean."
I didn't like where this headed.
"I was kind of hoping we'd run into Fiore before we really started getting rid of the guys, but I guess this'll do."
"Wait. You put me through all this crap, and now you're surprised that I have no idea what's going on? You thought I knew what you were planning?"
"Yes," Nam said, exasperated. "Because I told you."
I thought back to how I had awakened to find Nam sitting on the edge of my bed. Had he been telling his master plan moments before I had fully awakened? "When I was asleep?"
"You could say that?"
"If I was asleep..."
"Never mind."
I didn't quite understand, but then again, I didn't really expect to. The guy was nuts.
He was also rummaging through his bag. I hoped he wasn't looking for more devices to torture me with.
"I didn't think they were serious, when they said you had forgotten everything. I thought it was a clever ploy. You calling me Surrender threw me off guard a bit, I have to admit." He shrugged. "I guess I was no better than Miyka'el. Foolishly hoping you'd remember, because you know, if you really cared you wouldn't forget. Everything we stand for, I thought... I thought you'd remember."
"We?"
"You, me. The Queen."
"But I thought..."
"That I was on Zale's side, with the King sympathizers? No way. I'm undercover, and probably the only one here who knows who our mysterious benefactor really is. Well, you do, but I guess you don't remember yet. Shame." He continued to shift through the items in his bag. "Maybe he can fix you, you know, help you regain your memories."
"What was the last thing I was doing before I lost it?"
"Your memory? You were wandering about WoNDeRLaND with the rabbit. I know you remember that."
"How much time passed before I woke up? You said the rabbit is dead now."
"Is likely dead. And you were out a long time. Comatose, you know. The guys didn't want to say anything about it, but you were just asleep. We thought you weren't going to make it."
"None of this adds up."
"I know. You're just going to have to remember."
"YOu don't think I've been trying?"
"Not hard enough." He finally pulled out another device and grinned. "Perhaps I can help you."