I'm sorry for the late update, but with all the stupid tests at school, and the fact that I'm -cough- grounded from the computer, and all theses other issues, I haven't been working on this story much.

Hope you like it!

Possessed by a Memory: Chapter 10

Thatz bit into his apple, whistling merrily as he walked along the halls of the dragon palace. Now that Kaistern was back, and Rune, so he thought, was looking a bit better, everything would be fine in a little while. And technically, Kaistern had recognized them, when he'd said 'It's you'. Or he thought that counted. He certainly looked like he knew him and Kitchel. Speaking of Kitchel, there she is, he thought.

"Hey baby," he called, wrapping his arm around her waist as she fell in step beside him.

"You just saw me a couple minutes ago," she said, but kissed his neck anyway.

"Yeah, and your point?"

"Nothing. Have you seen either Rath or Cesia?" she asked, taking the apple from his hand and taking a bite herself.

"Um... I think Rath is possibly in either Rune or Kaistern's room. Why?"

"Cesia's worried about him. He' spends all his time in those two rooms, or outside alone. I think she's getting kinda lonely as well," Kitchel said.

Thatz sighed, "Who can blame him? The two people he's most connected with are in bed, so he's naturally worried about them. He'll be fine."

"Thatz... I'm scared," she said quietly. He looked down, surprised.

"About what?" he asked worriedly.

"Rune... and Kaistern, and Rath. And about all of us. Something doesn't feel right," she stroked the stone at her neck, "And I've been asking it questions... most of them it can't tell. But some of them it has, and the answers aren't pretty."

"You mean the fortune-teller stone?" he asked, taking a close look at it. She nodded. He put an arm around her and rocked her back and forth slowly.

"It's okay. C'mon, we're the dragon tribe. Whatever happens we'll be alright," he murmured softly. The pink haired girl sighed softly and leaned into him. Suddenly he snapped his fingers, "Oh yes, I was going to see Rune. He must be getting lonely in that room all day. Although everyone stops in all the time to say hello and bring him candy and flowers and stuff."

OoO

Opening the door to Rune's room, they found him asleep. But instead of leaving, Thatz felt like staying in there. He gathered Kitchel in his arms and sat her on his lap, just enjoying each other's company.

"It's been ten days," he muttered. Kitchel looked at him.

"Since what?"

"Since he fell sick the second time," Thatz responded, looking at Rune's pale face, closed eyes and strands of gold thread that surrounded his face.

"He's a cute elf," Kitchel said. Thatz raised his eyebrow.

"You're not thinking of cheating on me are you?"

"Of course not. He's too innocent. He can't possibly know all the tricks you do."

"Is that why you like me?"

"Of course not. It's just a plus that makes it all the more fun," she winked at him.

"Hehe..." Thatz sweatdropped. The both looked up as Rune groaned and thrashed in his bed.

"No... don't kill her... NO! Tintlet!" he muttered feebly, his voice growing shrill and then erupting into sift sobs as he struggled frantically in his bed. Thatz's face grew serious and he stood up, dropping an indignant Kitchel.

"Sorry Kit," he muttered, kneeling besides Rune, "Rune buddy, c'mon wake up. Rune?"

Rune didn't hear him and continued to sob softly, "She wasn't supposed to die... I'm sorry. I was supposed to heal you... Tintlet I killed you!"

"Rune! Rune wake up!" Thatz shook Rune, who grabbed his arm, eyes shut tight.

"No! You won't take her again from me! I'm sorry!"

"Damn it, wake up!" Thatz smacked Rune and the elf's eyes shot open. He seemed to reel for a moment, taking in his surroundings, and then Kitchel and Thatz, who still had his hand up. Rune's hand reached up to touch the red mark on his face. Thatz put his hand down and said quietly, "Sorry. I didn't mean to hit you hard, just enough to wake you up."

Rune swallowed, shaking his head as he trembled slightly, "N-no. I'm glad you woke me. I didn't w-want to be in that dream any more."

"Oh Rune..." Kitchel stood and hugged Rune tightly, Thatz putting a hand on his shoulder as Rune continued to shake, still sobbing slightly. He let go of her, wiping his face with his sleeve and laid back.

"Better now?" Thatz asked. He didn't ask about the dream, having a pretty good idea what it was about. Rune nodded.

The door opened and Rath came in, leaning wearily against the doorframe.

"Ooh, what happened to you? Get run over by a demon?" Kitchel asked, noting Rath's disheveled and tired appearance. He glared at her.

"I'm fine. And no demon would even get a chance to run over me."

"Didn't sleep well?" asked Rune. Rath shrugged, sitting down at the foot of Rune's bed.

"How are ya?" he asked.

"Fine," he glanced at Thatz, pleading with him not to worry Rath anymore than he was already. Thatz closed his open mouth. Rath sighed.

"Good..."

"How's Kaistern?" Kitchel asked.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him yet. I just woke up..." his stomach rumbled. The crimson eyed knight laughed, "I haven't eaten breakfast yet either."

"Breakfast? More like lunch by now. Youjust woke up?" Thatz shook his head, "Buddy, how about you go to sleep early today?"

Rath shrugged, "Doesn't make a difference," he said, swaying ever so slightly as he left the room, "See ya later Rune."

Rune nodded a goodbye to Rath and leaned back, "I'm more worried about Rath than myself."

"Man, that idiot hates my advice doesn't he?"

"No, he just hates you being right about it. Rath doesn't hate you," Rune tried to soothe Thatz's hurt pride.

"Right, right."

"Oh shoot..."

"What Kitchel?" Thatz asked.

"I forgot to tell him that Cesia was looking for him."

"You seem to forget a lot of stuff."

OoO

Rath walked wearily to the dining hall. He needed to eat some food before visiting Kaistern. Taking a jug of water and some bread rolls with him, he said hello to Cernozura and left. He passed Alfeegi and Ruwalk, the first one muttering something angrily into the other's ear, as he giggled stupidly and took a tighter grip on the other's waist. Rath stared at them a second, sitting down, arms all over each other. They looked almost drunk or something. 'Weirdoes' he thought turning his gaze back ahead.

Knocking softly on the albino's door and receiving no reply, he opened the door slowly and walked in. He set the water down on the table and took a bite out of the bread, sitting down at a table and resting his sore head on it. He took another bite and closed his eyes, opening them every couple minutes to check on Kaistern...

OoO

What woke Rath up first was his stomach, making a loud, and painful roar. Sitting up groggily, he reached up to rub his eyes with his hand and instead met up with a half eaten roll. No wonder he was so hungry, he'd only taken two stupid bites out of the whole thing. Wolfing down the rest hungrily in hopes of gaining some energy, he saw that the second thing that had waken him was Kaistern's stirring.

Jumping to his bedside immediately, Rath looked on anxiously and impatiently for him to wake up. Finally, the albino opened his pale blue eyes, and rubbed his head. Rath threw himself onto the blue officer, making sure not to harm his broken arm and hugged him tightly.

"Kaistern! You're back! I'm so glad, we were all worried about you. I missed you so much!" The red-haired boy spouted off, anxieties melting away at the feel of the officer's skin under him. But his happiness was shattered with one sentence.

"What are you doing? Who are you?" Kaistern asked, confused, trying to pry the boy off of him. Rath's wide eyes stared numbly at him and he fell back onto the floor.

"W-what... It's Rath... what are you talking about? You remember me!" the knight stared at the officer in front of him. The man in front of him shook his head and looked around his room.

"Where the heck is this place? Rath? Was that your name? What am I doing here?" The blue officer got no response from the younger man in front of him, who shook his head slowly, unbelieving.

"No... you gotta remember. Damn, Kaistern, it's me! You're back home, in the stupid castle!" His voice grew louder with alarm and frustration, then suddenly reverted to a horrified whisper, "It's Rath..."

"I... don't remember you. Or this place. Where am I?" Kaistern looked at Rath curiously, wondering why the boy was so worked up, and where the heck he was. None of this made sense, one moment he was... doing... something? The next moment he was here. But what was he doing before he woke up?

"I- I can't remember anything from before... Kaistern... you called me Kaistern?" the bewildered and now highly alarmed blue officer turned back to the red-haired guy that had been there a second ago. But now he was gone.

OoO

Cesia sighed, defeated. Was it just her, or had Rath been avoiding her ever since Kaistern had come back? Which was only two days, to be sure, but she'd still noticed it. Now she was looking for him, and couldn't find him anywhere. And her stupid crystal ball couldn't be used to find Rath either. Was he mad at her? 'Oh, where was he?' she pleaded mentally.

Her answer came running in front of her, heading outside.

"Rath? Rath!" she took off after him, wondering what he was running from, "Rath, what's wrong? Hey, I'm calling you! Shoot, why does he always have to go on his little lonesome deal..."

Finally, he tripped, falling forward on the ground and lay still. He didn't stir at all. Now Cesia was worried. Kneeling quickly in front of him, she lifted the hair off his face and lifted his chin.

"Rath? What happened?" he averted her gaze, instead staring at nothing with frightened eyes. Sitting up, he fell onto her and began sobbing, but she didn't feel any tears on his face.

"Kaistern doesn't remember me..." he finally gasped. Cesia frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"He lost his memory!" he yelled frantically. The realization shattered across her otherwise peaceful mind like an arrow. And suddenly, she realized as well how hard it must be on Rath. Kaistern, his mentor and best friend, didn't recognize him.

"Oh Rath..." she murmured, taking him in again and holding him close. He seemed to relax under her grip and pulled himself closer, his body still shaking slightly.

"Don't worry... He'll get his memory back. It's just a little temporary thing, and soon it'll fade away," her words seemed to reassure him, because he looked up at her.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. He'll be back to normal, just have patience. He probably just got a bump on his head or something."

"Cesia..."

"Hm?" she smiled as he looked at her sheepishly.

"Thanks..."

She smiled wider and helped him stand up, "Better now?"

"I feel sick," he admitted. She rubbed his back slowly and noticed that indeed he looked sick, although he'd been looking much like that for a couple weeks or so.

"Well, we better tell the Lord that Kaistern's awake."

The cold knight nodded, but Cesia could still see a hint of... apprehension and doubt in his eyes. Well, maybe some time in bed and she could help him get rid of it.

OoO

Delte had stayed in bed most of the day, complaining of a headache when one of the maids inquired. Luckily, she was the only one who had asked. She was just a minor fortuneteller who happened to abide in the castle, no one paid any heed to her. Sometimes that was a good thing, since being with her could prove depressing. Other times, it wasn't so good, because she was alone.

In any case, she really didn't have a headache. But she wasn't feeling quite right either. The feeling came from a strong demon aura she was sensing. Amazingly strong. What she found the most peculiar, was that no one else seemed to have noticed. She knew this by the way everyone was acting as she caught a glimpse of them down in the gardens from her room. But the demon presence was there, and strong. She would have thought Rath Illuser would have felt it, of all people. It should at least be unsettling him in much the same way it was her. Her body tensed as she fought the urge to throw up the small breakfast she'd had. Yes, if she was sick, then so should he. What she wasn't sure was as if to alarm the dragon tribe or not. She was fairly sure they would believe her, even if they didn't feel it, but what was she supposed to warn them against? 'Lord, there's a demon aura around, but I have no idea where it's coming from, or what kind it is. Much less how to stop it.' Yes, that sounded very reasonable. She settled back into the covers, letting sleep proclaim her. If she had the strength and magic required, she would do a reading tomorrow.

OoO

Ruwalk and Alfeegi walked out from the garden, heading into Lykouleon's office. The aquamarine haired officer glared at his companion, but was powerless against the sweet feeling of his arm around his waist.

"I don't want to!"

"I think it's better to tell him ourselves instead of him finding out and getting mad."

"I think he'd enjoy it much more finding out by himself."

"You think so?" Ruwalk murmured thoughtfully. Then he grinned, "But I wanna see the look on his face."

"Why do you have to go around spewing personal info to everyone?" Alfeegi asked exasperatedly.

"Aw... c'mon, it won't be that bad."

"You are a horrible convincer."

"Then why are you still coming along?" Ruwalk laughed. Alfeegi pouted and glared at Ruwalk as they stood in front of the half open door.

"Lykouleon – eep, I mean, Your Highness!" Ruwalk rephrased himself at Alfeegi's glare.

"Oh, I guess it's you and Alfeegi. Come in," they heard the Lord laugh. Ruwalk opened the door, taking a tighter grip on Alfeegi's waist as the white officer blushed heavily, and stepped inside. Lykouleon looked up from the various papers in his hands, although most of them looked like comics...

"Lykouleon. Alfeegi and I wanted to tell you something," Ruwalk began, stifling a laugh at Lykouleon's curious and shocked face, and Alfeegi's shutting his eyes as if in preparation for something very painful.

"Why are you two... well, holding each other?" the Lord was starting to look more bemused than shocked.

"Alfeegi and I are... you say it 'Feegi."

Alfeegi yelped and muttered almost incomprehensively, "We're... together."

"He said that we're together," Ruwalk clarified. Lykouleon looked at the two of them for a second then cracked up.

"My Lord, you're not supposed to laugh!" the little white officer said, horrified.

"You... you two? I thought... ooh, this is good, wait until I tell Raseleane..." Lykouleon had to gasp for air in between laughing fits. He pounded the table, tears running down his face, while his two subordinates simply stared.

"Um, Lykouleon, are you going to stop laughing anytime soon?"

"Ah, that was good..." Lykouleon finally calmed down, a long while later. He straightened up, "Well, you two are very cute together."

"Yeah, but you're still looking way too amused for our own good..." Alfeegi was much more relaxed, but the blush hadn't left his face.

"Aw, c'mon he just paid us a complement," Ruwalk held Alfeegi in front of him and kissed his neck.

There was a knock on the door, and immediately Alfeegi tried to jump away from Ruwalk, but he held on firmly.

"Come in."

"My Lord?" Cesia appeared, pulling a miserable looking Rath behind her.

"What's wrong with Rath?" Ruwalk asked, taking in Rath's appearance as the problem.

"It's not Rath..." Cesia began.

"It's not me, it's Kaistern!" Rath interjected. Lykouleon stood up, all trace of amusement gone from his face. Ruwalk and Alfeegi tensed too.

"What happened to him?" Lykouleon asked. Rath appeared to sag, and Cesia held him.

"K-kaistern lost his memory. For sure. He couldn't remember me..." Rath whispered, his red eyes whirling in darker shades with his distress.

The others stood shocked, not sure how to respond to it. Sure, they had... speculated, but Thatz had assured them that he had recognized them, so they hadn't worried too much about it. Now, they had no idea how to respond to it.

"Well, first things first, and that's going to see him. He's not well enough to escape, so we don't have to worry about that," Lykouleon spoke with authority. They nodded, and he turned to Cesia.

"Cesia, why don't you take Rath to his bedroom to sleep?" he suggested.

"No!" Rath protested, "I want to help him regain his memory!"

Ruwalk sighed, "Let's go," Alfeegi nodded and pulled him out of the room, not wasting any time.

Lykouleon looked at Rath, "Are you sure you're up to this? It' s not going to be easy on any of us, much less you, especially in the state you're in."

Rath gave the Lord a look of pure loathing, and Lykouleon's face saddened immeasurably.

"You don't tell me what to do with myself. Isn't it good enough that you already have my life and liberty in your coddling hands? Stop playing with me, because I won't listen," Rath bit out venomously.

"You're right..." the Lord murmured, walking out. Now that he was gone, Rath didn't have to put up with his pretense of strength anymore, and fell against Cesia.

"I don't want to go. Not while they're around," he mumbled tiredly.

"So you are taking the Lord's advice?" Cesia was still shocked at the way he had spoken to the Lord.

"Only because it's the only thing I can do..." he stood up, leaning against Cesia. She led him to his room, setting him on his bed, where he fell asleep within seconds.

"Oh Rath... you're so pale. Everything will be alright," she murmured, stroking his forehead and brushing his hair off his pale face. Bending down, she kissed him tenderly.

...I'm deleting all my author notes, cause they're all POINTLESS rambling... I was shocked...