Author's Note: Well, I got up a few hours early so that I'd have time to do this for you before I had to wipe the computer. I'm tired, but it's done at least! I didn't like the thought of letting anybody down. Unfortunately, I still can't guarantee I can get an update done tomorrow, which I'm really sorry for.

Anyway, this chapter has one weird bit I guess, which I'll mention after you've read it.

CHAPTER 46

MEDICINE

"Olose!" Arcadia whispered angrily.

"Hey, trust me." He smiled, half climbing up the wall of Trevia's hut.

"Trust you? You are just going to scare her!" Arcadia snapped.

"Yeah, maybe, or maybe I'll jolt her memories back into her. Either way, we'll find out how bad it is." He grinned from his position of hanging off of Trevia's hut.

"What part of plan did you not understand?" Arcadia grumbled.

"This is a plan." Olose half-shrugged, almost falling off of the wall. He reached the window to Trevia's bedroom. He made a 'shhh' motion with his hand and scampered inside. Arcadia rolled her eyes.

Trevia was curled up on her bed, peacefully asleep. She was smiling, which was an odd sight in itself. Olose stood in the window before hopping down. Trevia didn't move, still asleep. He reached out and gently rocked her. She moved and her face suddenly turned to a frown. Olose took a step back. She curled up tighter.

She was having a strange dream. She was on a boat. Why was she on a boat? She had never been on a boat in her life. There was this gigantic monster, a sea horror. How did she know that? She'd never seen one, or even heard anybody mention one. It was ripping the boat to pieces, and she was fighting it, along side some stranger. A man she didn't recognise. The sea horror grabbed her in a tentacle and threw her across the deck. She crashed down and woke up with a scream.

She panted for a few moments as she came to her senses. It was just a dream. A bit strange, but a dream. She figured she must have heard somebody mention a sea horror somewhere before, probably one of the sailors that would occasionally call in for much needed supplies. She curled up again, it was late and she was tired. Besides, that man looking over her was scary.

Man looking over her?

She bolted up and went to scream. Olose put his hand over her mouth quickly, and put his finger over his lips, telling her to shh. She started to shake.

"I'm not here to hurt you." He stated quickly.

"W-who arrrrre you?" Trevia quaked through tears. Olose forced a smile.

"A friend." He answered. "A loyal one at that."

"I don't know you." She whimpered. "Go away!" Her voice was getting too loud, so Olose put his finger on her lips, making sure she was quiet.

"You do know me, only you don't remember." Olose explained. "We've been through a lot together, ya know? We chased down a crime lord, saved San d'Oria, we've fought a giant, we've battled a warship of Windurst, taken out a fleet of elvaan vessels, hell, we even killed a sea horror."

"I haven't done any of those-" She suddenly paused. "Wait. What?"

"What's wrong?" Olose asked.

"Sea horrrrrror?" She repeated, shaking. That man in her dreams, was it him? No. He was taller. Had shorter hair. And a different face. But then why could she see the stranger in her dreams so clearly? She shook her head in scared confusion.

"Yeah, it was pretty scary too." Olose smiled. "Even though you didn't want to admit it."

"I've never left Kazham." She stated.

"Yes, you have. They've done something to your memory." Olose told her. "Please, trust me."

"Trrrrrust you?" She asked in disbelief. "I don't even know you!"

"Shh. Listen, Trevia, you're a friend, but this isn't you. That much I can tell you. The Trevia I know is cold hearted, but I think she cares deep down. Hell, I know it. But she doesn't behave like this, she doesn't like to show her emotions. They've changed you, they've messed with your very identity!" Olose told her, tinges of anger in her voice.

"This Trevia you know sounds like a horrible person." She muttered. "I don't want to be her."

"You are her!" Olose explained.

"I'm not!" Trevia screamed, turning away. "I'm not! I'm not!" She sobbed. Helena rushed into the room, but Olose was already gone.

"Are you alright?" She asked quickly. Trevia just shook in her mother's arms, remaining silent. "What were you screaming about?"

"H-he was here." She shivered.

"He? Who?" Helena asked in deep concern.

"He said I was this perrrrrson I'm not." She spluttered. "What's happening to me, Mum?"
"Don't worrrrrry." Her mother held Trevia in her arms. "We'll sort it out tomorrow. Just rrrrrest for now." Trevia pushed a smile, and curled up, still shaking. "Do you want me to fetch Jeren for you? I'm surrrre he'd keep you company if you'rrrre scarrrrred." Helena offered.

"No Mum." She said quietly. "Can you stay with me for a bit?" Helena smiled warmly.

"Of course I will." She replied, holding Trevia. Trevia snuggled into her mother's warm arms, and fell asleep.

Trevia slept heavily, constantly dreaming about boats, and that strange man she had seen before. There were others too. Occasionally she swore she saw that girl who had called on her house earlier, and seemed to argue with her mother. She couldn't help but feel something unusual was happening, and that she was missing out on it all. Something was being kept from her. What if what that strange man said was true? What if she was somebody else, and they'd stolen her identity. She didn't want the one he talked about back, she sounded like a mean, cruel woman. She much preferred who she was. Of course she did. An offer to be a completely different person, that's what it was like. She didn't want her mind to change. She didn't!

She woke up sobbing. Her mother was there, as well as a strange hume. He had a long jacket on, a strange hat and long curly hair. It was a lot of clothing, considering the heat of Kazham, but apparently that's how he liked to dress. His eyes beamed brightly, he looked like a very scary and very strange person.

"Ahh!" She shrieked in shock. "Who arrrre you? Mum!" Her mother hugged her with a smile.

"Calm down." She said gently.

"Hello." The man waved. "I'm the Doctor."

"Oh." Trevia let out an embarrassed laugh. "Sorrrrrry."

"That's perfectly okay." The Doctor replied.

"Urm, why arrrre you a hume?" She asked nervously.

"Why are you a mithra?" The Doctor casually responded, searching through some tools.

"No, I meant, what happened to ourrrr doctor?" Trevia explained. The Doctor smiled.

"I was in the area." He replied.

"He came here while you were-" Helena paused, not wanting to tell Trevia she was 'gone'. "In the bit you've forgotten." She explained. "He's the only hume who's ever been allowed to live here. His skills are incredible, far beyond any Doctor we've ever had."

"Just shows you what the outside worlds can do." He said casually.

"Worlds?" Trevia repeated. "You said worlds."

"So I did." The Doctor said in a moment of observation. "Well spotted." He then went about sticking a thermometer in Trevia's mouth.

"She hasn't got a fever, Doctor." Helena told him. The Doctor paused.

"I know. I know. But at least it makes me look professional." He played with a metal cylinder for a few moments, which made a strange noise, but he promptly gave up on that. He shone a small enchanted crystal light into Trevia's ears, and looked around inside. They twitched nervously, making his job difficult. "Hm. A blood sample would be useful." He decided, pulling out a needle. Trevia thrust herself away, pulling her knees to her chest. "Oh, come on, it won't hurt." He looked at the needle. "Much." He decided, observing it. Trevia shivered. "It might be the only way to find out what's wrong with you."

"She has amnesia! We know that!" Sighed Helena.

"This is the kind of important information you should tell me beforehand." The Doctor replied with a smirk. Helena rolled her eyes.

"I did." She groaned.

"Do all mithra not understand a joke, or is it just your mother?" The Doctor asked Trevia with a warm smile. Trevia giggled.

"I think it's just herrrrr." She purred. "She's always- ow!" While Trevia was unprepared, the Doctor jabbed her and drained some blood out of her with the needle. He pulled it away and Trevia shook her arm. He put a slight bit of cotton wool to her arm.

"Hold that there for a few minutes." He said casually.

"Wow." Helena said in shock. "I've neverrrrrrrrrrr seen such an effective way of getting blood."

"Like I said, the medical technologies beyond Kazham are incredibly advanced." The Doctor explained. "You may be able hunters, but you certainly aren't doctors."

"If it's so grrrreat, then why don't you go back?" Helena asked. "You were only ship wrrrrrecked here, you can leave."

"I can, but being a doctor is about being where you are needed." He explained, casually packing away his things. "I shall see you later, once I've looked at the blood sample. If I can find out the problem, we may be able to isolate it and then find a cure." Trevia whimpered.

"I'm not surrrre I want to be cured." She told him. "I'm not surrrre I want to remember who I was."

"That's not a rare problem in amnesiacs." The Doctor said gently. "But remember, just because you receive your old memories again doesn't mean you snap back into that personality, you'll still have the memories of these past few days and you can still choose how to shape your life from there." The Doctor stood, and smiled. "I will let you know of my progress." He said, tipping his hat.

"Don't work too quickly Doctor." Helena whispered to him.

"Ah. Yes. The marriage." He replied. "A horrible exploitation of a horrific condition, if you ask me, not that you did. But that hardly stops me giving my opinion, does it now?" Helena shot him a stare. "Until next time." He turned and exited.

Olose was sat by the rowing boat on the shore, where the crew had set up a tent.

"So, Captain, what now?" Phabrizoe asked. "We can't just leave Trevia."

"I know, Phabz." Olose said, agitated. "But as long as she doesn't remember who we are, there's nothing we can do."

"But if she gets married in her amnesiac state, she'll be bound by Kazham law to stay in that marriage." Phabrizoe explained.

"I know!" Olose growled. "But there's nothing we can do! And worse, if we interfere with the marriage, we'll be exiled from Kazham. And then we really won't be able to help her."

"Why don't we just go and pick herrrrr up?" Suse asked in confusion.

"Because she doesn't want to come with us." Olose told Suse. Suse blinked.

"But she's our frrrrriend." She muttered.

"Not anymore. Not while she can't remember anything." Olose sighed. "Our only hope is that the doctors here can cure her. I've heard they have a hume doctor from the mainland, very latest medical supplies. That, at least, is a plus. I'd hate to know how mithran doctors work in a society like this one."

"I have done some research." Arcadia told Olose. "And at her age, the mithra will expect Trevia to join them on their hunts."

"But Trevia has no memory of combat." Olose thought aloud. "It would be like sending a twelve year old girl out to fight."

"Exactly." Arcadia replied.

"When's the next hunt?" Olose quickly asked.

"Tomorrow." Arcadia answered.

"Then we have a day to act!" Olose decided. "The doctors here may take too long, even if they could cure amnesia, which I don't believe they can. We need a course of action." Olose paused. "I talked to Trevia last night and I felt she was close to finding her memories. Perhaps if I talk with her again."

"Is she at her house still?" Arcadia asked. Olose paused, frozen. "What is it?"

"That's strange." He said to himself. "I can't smell her scent. She's disappeared."

"What?" Arcadia whispered.

"This place is full of mithra, so it's hard to pick out, but it seems to have vanished completely." Olose said to himself. "Maybe I just can't pick it up here." He shrugged. "I'll go and check her house, either way."

Olose walked through the hot streets of Kazham, observing the strange mithran culture. They were chopping up fish on a large table, and putting them on sticks to sell. The smell of fish was strong, and make it harder for him to find Trevia in the mess of smells. But he would still be able to pick out her scent, and it wasn't there. It didn't exist. As if somebody had changed it. He shook his head and continued to observe the strangeness of the small town. The lack of clothes mithra wore for one, wearing very little, was odd. The heat should burn their skin, but it didn't, even in their skimpy clothing. He certainly wasn't going to complain. The shops were all rather strange too, large wooden signs hanging outside before small doors leading within, but no windows, like they didn't want to advertise what was on sale. The guards stood outside a particularly large hut were strange as well, and Olose guessed that somebody of great importance lived within. He spotted the doctor's surgery, although what the blue box outside was he hadn't a clue. Probably some kind of strange storage shed. He walked into a cool cave, and heard water dripping. He stood under it for a moment. Kazham may be confusing, but it was a nice place. A gentle place. He walked along, and spotted somebody showering under one of the waterfalls coming from the nearby river. Trevia? But- how? He couldn't smell her, but there she was. Her scent had changed. He looked on in confusion. Making her an amnesiac was one thing, but changing her scent? Only a werewolf would notice the change. But that meant whoever was responsible knew who he was. What he was. He turned away from Trevia. He suddenly had a very bad feeling that this wasn't just about her. This wasn't just about the marriage. This was something to do with him!

Jacob stood by the bubbling heat of Ifrit's Cauldron. Behind him stood a figure of a powerful looking man.

"Is it done?" He inquired.

"Trevia's memory is crushed, sir." Jacob replied. "But I don't understand, how is one mithra a key to our ultimate victory, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Don't be foolish. Trevia's memory loss is but a convenient ploy to bring about the wedding." The lava bubbled behind the speaker. "When the wedding comes about, every mithra in Kazham will be forced to attend. It is then we strike."

"Wipe Kazham from the map and the female mithra population will be gone, leaving the males to dominate." Smiled Jacob. "We will no longer play second fiddle to anyone. We shall be our own race, free of the shackles they enforce upon us!" He sneered in victory. "This Olose Sampson may be a problem though. He could interfere."

"I am counting on it." Grinned the figure.

"Shall I dispose of him if he does so?" Jacob asked.

"Yes." The figure replied. "But to do not underestimate your foe." He passed a sheathed sword to Jacob. Jacob drew it. "The blade is pure silver." The figure explained. "You will be needing it."

"Pure silver?" Jacob repeated.

"The foe you face is no ordinary enemy." The figure spoke quickly. "Olose Sampson is a cursed being. A lycanthropic plague upon this world. It falls to you to cure us of his existence."

"Anything to further our goal." Jacob smiled.

"Good." The figure smirked. "Olose Sampson shall die!"

Author's Note: Well, the bit I would figure as 'weird' is the Doctor, who I obviously tried to give some bizarre character instead of just being another dull figure. I don't know how it came off. It also evolved into an inside joke when I kept referring to him as 'the doctor'. Wonder why it's capitalised? Well, it's no coincidence he has a blue box outside his surgery! I doubt anybody'll get the joke there, but I put it in because I couldn't resist. Bootus is reading this story finally, and I know when (if) he gets to this bit, he'll shout at me lots. He hates it when I do things like that.

As usual, with the actual plot line, TheFrogKiller has given me lots of help. So thanks again, and remember to give him credit for this storyline, he came up with lots of the ideas!

I'm also sorry for ending it with typical 'villain speak', which I know is a bit of cliché, but it does make for effective cliffhangers!