Author's Note: A few things I need to say. Firstly, updates might stop for a day or two, because I need to reformat my computer. I was going to do it tonight, but managed to persuade my brother (since I dunno how to do it and he does) to put it off until tomorrow. So there might not be an update for a day or two while I get everything sorted. Sorry everybody! Don't mean to let you all down, but there's not much I can do.

Secondly. Spider story? Urm, yeah, I'm gonna side with Phabrizoe and hope it's false. Sadly, I'm not sure if the reasoning holds up, because the eardrum is living meat for it to eat (eeeeew) and she still would have been able to hear inside her head with one eardrum (louder than outside, really). Either way, I might be wrong on those bits, and I certainly don't wanna make an arachnophobic feel worse, so I'll be quiet. That and if I keep this up I'll be the arachnophobic one!

Plus the spider story overshadowing my own is getting embarrassing.

CHAPTER 45

MEMORIES

The crew were lazily grouped together in Trevia's house. Olose and Arcadia were sat on the sofa, Arcadia slumped against his shoulder. A lose strand of hair fell down her face and Olose tucked it behind her ear, prompting her to smile, indicating she was not as asleep as she appeared. Suse was curled up on the floor while Nadia and Phabrizoe were slouched in the chairs scattered around. Trevia was stood up by the window, looking out over Kazham. It was getting dark.

Olose wanted to get up and talk to her, but with Arcadia slumped against him, couldn't. She clearly had a lot on her mind. The door creaked open and, much to Trevia's surprise, Jeren walked in.

"Can I have a word?" He whispered, noticing the peaceful atmosphere.

"What is it?" Trevia asked, trying to hide how guilty she felt.

"I wanted to apologise for before. I'm sorry. I should never have made you return." He explained. The two paused.

"I'm sorry I can never be the girrrrrl you want me to be." Trevia said bluntly.

"That's okay." He laughed. "At least let me buy you a drink before you leave. Could even let you in on what you've missed around here."

"Not rrrreally interested, thanks." Trevia sighed. "But I could go forrrr a drink." She decided, catching Jeren's sad expression. He smiled.

"Great!" He exclaimed.

The two were sat outside a tavern, enjoying the warm Kazham air.
"You know, I hate to admit it, but I've really missed this place." Trevia said quietly. "Just the warrrrmth. It's so cold everrrrywherrrre else."

"Well, my offer stil stands for you staying." Jeren told her. She laughed.

"Thanks, but my life is with my crrrrew." She answered. He sighed.

"I understand." He rose from his seat. "Here, let me grab us a drink. Want anything specifically?"

"I'll drrrrink anything." Trevia smiled. Jeren nodded and wondered into the tavern.

Trevia turned back to the street, watching the mithra go about their business. The hot air was so soothing, it was pleasant not to have goose bumps from the cold all the time. And there was something delightfully simple about the place, the way everybody just thought about surviving in the little town, there was no worries about the outside world. Nobody cared about the wars on the mainland or what occurred to the people there. It was all about Kazham. It was nice. It was simple. But it wasn't for her.

Jeren emerged and passed Trevia her drink. She looked down into it and swirled it around.

"Hope ya like it." He grinned.

"I'm surrrre I will." She said, taking a gulp. Her face made an incredibly sour expression and Jeren laughed.

"Suppose it's a bit strong for you." He mocked. "Guess you just can't handle your drink. That's okay."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She said playfully, far more playfully than she should have. She lifted up the mug, and downed the entire drink in one. "Therrrre! See! Too strrrrong my tail!" She suddenly swayed.

"Trevia? You alright?" Jeren quickly asked. His concern was real, but his puzzlement was not.

"I feel…" She managed to splutter. "….Dizzy." She collapsed to the floor.

"Trevia?" Jeren cried, lifting her up.

"Who's Trevia?" She muttered. "Who am I? What's happening?" Her mind was pounding, emotions ripped through her in a way they never had before. "I'm scared! What's happening?" She cried. Jeren's eyes went wide. She had just admitted she was scared. He knew, even from their short contact, that Trevia would never do that. The potion was taking effect. "Help me! Help me Jeren!" She sobbed, cuddling him for comfort. He was taken aback. He hadn't expected it to quite happen like that. "No! No!" She began to shout, drawing much attention. "I'm Trevia Heart! I will not forrrrget! I will not! I will not!"

I will not forget!

Olose. Arcadia. Suse. Phabrizoe. Nadia. The Destiny. Everything we've been through. We're a crew and a team.

All for one and one for all.

Olose taught me that phrase after he had come back from San d'Oria. Said a friend had said it to him.

I will not abandon them! I won't! I will not forget who I am! Who they are! You cannot take my memories from me! You can't! And you won't!

I am Trevia Heart. Member of the crew of the Destiny. Olose Sampson is my Captain and my friend. I am Trevia Heart. I am-

Who am I? What's my name?

T-. It began with a T. Trevia. That's it. Trevia. Where am I? Heh, this bed is soft. Hey! This is my room! But it's changed. It's all clean. Where's all my things? And- I'm big! I've grown up? What? How? HELP! SOMEBODY HELP! SOMETHING STRANGE IS HAPPENING! Where is everybody?

"MUM!" Trevia bellowed in fear, desperate for the arms of her parents. She sprang up in bed. Her mother quite rapidly entered the room.

"Trevia? Are you alright?" She asked quickly.

"Mum? What happened? My rrrrroom. It's all differrrrent." She cried in a panic.

"What? Your rrrrrroom has been like this ever since you left." Her mother said in confusion.

"Left? Left wherrrrre?" Trevia was sobbing in confusion. Her head was pounding.

"What do you mean?" Her mother asked. "Jeren carried you home last night. You were unconscious. Guess you drank a drink that was a bit too strong for you."

"Therrrre! See! Too strrrrong my tail!"

"Urm. I did?" She repeated. "Why would I be drrrrrinking? I'm too young, nobody would everrrr serrrrrve me."

"Trevia, honey, you're plenty old enough." Laughed her mother. Trevia sat up in confusion.

"Urm, I am?" She suddenly started shaking. "Mummy! I can't remember!" She hugged her mother, crying. "I can't remember! What's happened to me?"

"Shh." Her mother said gently. "Calm down."
"I can't remember!" She sobbed. "I was- I was- What was I doing? Who am I? I'm old. How am I old? I'm only twelve!" She buried herself in her mother's shoulder, crying.

"Trevia. It's okay. It sounds like you have amnesia. I'll get the doctor to look at you." She said softly.

"I'm scarrrred." She sobbed. "I want to see Jeren!" She suddenly decided. Her mother let a slight smile edge across her face. Trevia had been best friends with Jeren when she was little. With the right persuasion, when she was this distressed, then perhaps she would still marry him. She shook the thoughts from her mind as Trevia curled up on her bed, sobbing.

"I'll go and see if I can find him." She said gently.

Olose paced, frustrated, down by the shoreline. He had gone to prepare the rowing boat to leave while Trevia slept in, apparently sick, but now it was the afternoon and she still hadn't shown up.

"Right! That does it!" He snapped. "I'm going to look for her!"
"Olose." Arcadia said gently. "Are you sure that is the best course of action?"

"What do you mean?" Olose asked, sounding slightly offended. He knew exactly what she meant.

"You are not our best diplomat." She stated.

"Diplomat? I'm just gonna go in there and pick her up. Simple." Olose shrugged.

"Exactly." Arcadia said with a slight smile. "You will anger most of Kazham in doing so. Let me do it." Olose paused in consideration.

"You won't do anything stupid like get kidnapped, will you?" He asked. She put her hands on her hips and stared at him.

"Look. Just because I happen to have been kidnapped just once or twice does not mean it will happen again." She said sarcastically.

"Yes ma'am!" Olose saluted. Arcadia shot him a stare and he shrunk away. He swore he could hear Suse giggling.

There came a tapping at Trevia's front door, and her mother answered it. Arcadia was in the process of straightening out her dress when she saw her.

"Hello." She said with a curtsey. Trevia's mother rose an eyebrow. "I am afraid we were not properly introduced last time we met. I am Lady Arcadia Sampson." That still sounded weird to her. "You are Trevia's mother, correct?"

"Yes." She replied, a little taken back by Arcadia's formality. "My name's Helena. Did you want something?"

"Trevia." She answered simply. "We're looking to depeart, and cannot leave without her."

"I am afraid she doesn't want to go with you. She's decided to stay here." Helena told Arcadia.

"Oh?" Arcadia sounded a little surprised. "Can I see her?"

"Mum? Who arrrre you talking to?" Came a voice as Trevia marched out into the living room. Arcadia blinked. Trevia was wearing a long brown dress, with her put in pretty little pigtails.

"Trevia?" She asked in shock.

"Hello." Trevia smiled. "Who arrrre you?"
"What do you mean?" Arcadia asked, confused.

"It's a simple question, even for a hume." Trevia laughed.

"Trevia!" Snapped Helena. "Behave yourself."

"Yes Mum." She replied, looking to the floor and fiddling with her dress. Arcadia was struggling to speak.

"What has happened to her?" She managed to stammer.

"What does she mean, Mum?" Trevia asked, whirling around in a circle and watching the tails on her dress spin behind her. She giggled a bit, and stumbled slightly from being dizzy.

"Nothing, dear." Helena told Trevia. Arcadia rose an eyebrow.

"Nothing? Nothing?" Arcadia repeated in shock. "That is not Trevia! What have you done to her?" Arcadia's voice had risen far louder than she had intended, and Trevia fell silent in shock.

"What do you mean?" Trevia stammered, sounding quite scared. "I'm Trevia." She whimpered. "Mum! Is she going to do something to me?" She looked like she was going to cry.
"No. Don't worry honey. The nasty woman was just leaving." Helena slammed the door and Arcadia blinked again.

She had clearly failed when it came to diplomacy. She had lost her temper, and may have lost Trevia because of it. She waited a few moments, taking a few calming breaths, and then knocked again. There was an uncomfortably long pause before Helena opened the door again. Trevia was nowhere in sight.

"What do you want? We have nothing left to discuss." Helena snapped.

"What has happened to Trevia?" Arcadia inquired, this time taking a step inside the house so that the door couldn't be slammed on her again.

"I don't know what you'rrrre talking about." Helena said casually.

"Do not pretend." Arcadia sighed in exasperation. "We all know something is not right here. I appreciate you want your daughter to stay with you, but something is clearly wrong with her."

"It's just a bit of amnesia." Helena answered. "Nothing you should interfere with."

"Amnesia?" Arcadia whispered. "But, how?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter. Trevia has made the decision to stay with me and Jeren." Helena explained.

"Jeren?" Arcadia quickly repeated. "But that means-"

"Yes. Jeren has been comforting her up in her room." Helena told Arcadia. "And it appears they arrrrre quite close. Especially with how distressed Trevia is at the moment." She paused. "You know what that means, don't you?"

"If you are planning to use Trevia's amnesia as an excuse for their marriage, then we may be forced to take action." Arcadia warned. Helena took a step closer to Arcadia. She towered over Arcadia (despite Arcadia's high heels giving her extra height), and her bare arms flexed with muscle, she was an experienced mithran huntress after all.

"If you interfere with Kazham affairs, you will be punished." Helena warned.

"And if you do anything to harm a friend of ours, mother or not, you will be punished." Arcadia shot back, once again forgetting she was supposed to be diplomatic.

"Is that a threat?" Helena growled. Arcadia shivered.

"No, of course not." She quickly back peddled, clearly scared. "I am just informing you that Olose will not stand for any harm you bring to Trevia. She made her wishes perfectly clear before she suffered this damage to her mental state." Arcadia paused. "Making her marry now is nothing less than exploiting your own daughter. Surely you can see the flaw in that?"

"She hasn't been my daughter since she ran away." Helena stated. "She's changed. The person you and your valued friends have made her was a twisted, horrible woman. Now she's a sweet young girl again. You tell me, Lady Arcadia, which do you think is better?"

"That is not a judgement for me to make." Arcadia told her. "It is simply who Trevia was. If you do not allow her to be that person, then you have essentially killed her." The door behind Arcadia suddenly swung open. Arcadia was already tense from the looming threat of Helena, so she screamed and jumped away.

Olose stood in the doorway, looking quite casual.

"What are you doing here?" Arcadia cried, still shocked. Helena just rose an eyebrow.

"I followed you to make sure nothing happened to you." Olose explained.

"Nice to see there is trust in this marriage." Grumbled Arcadia.

"And then heard your raised voice. I also heard the world 'amnesia'. What's happened?" He asked.

"Nothing concerrrrning you." Helena snapped. "My daughter is my concern." Olose rose an eyebrow and stepped forwards.

"You certain that's the way you want to play things?" He inquired with a deadly serious face.

"Yes." Helena snapped.

"Very well. Come on, Arcadia." He turned and exited casually. Arcadia looked a little startled, and then followed.

Arcadia hurried to catch up with Olose, who was marching back to the shore.

"We are not just going to leave her, are we?" She panted. Olose froze.

"She's got amnesia right?" Olose asked. Arcadia nodded.

"I have never seen her behave in such a way. It is almost like she is a little girl again." Arcadia explained.

"Great. All we need. Another Suse." He sighed. "Right. Course of action. We get Trevia back. We get her memories back. We put Kazham behind us and never come back."

"But she is just a scared girl. She does not even know us. How do you plan to do this?" Arcadia asked. Olose paused.

"What's a plan?" He said blankly, and Arcadia smirked.