Forgotten Memories Chapter Twenty

Chrono Crusade

Date Started: November 21st 2005

Sora Kazuma

With a groggy mind and my head still full of sleep, I arose from the silken sheets that I was lying in, blinking as I stared around the room. This place was beautiful, a very work of art, a testament to just how much money was placed into this home, though none of it was familiar to me. Did I know this place? Had I been here before?

What caught my attention the most was the chair pulled up near the bedside and the man sleeping in it. He was handsome, though he looked quite young…probably no older then eighteen or so, and his hair was off, but beautiful, a dark cyan that had highlights of both cerulean blue and emerald green that shimmered in the low light as it fell against his face and over his shoulders. The white shirt, khaki pants and gray trenchcoat he was wearing made his golden tan skin seem even darker. There was something about him, something familiar about this striking creature that pulled at me, as if I should know him, though my mind was drawing a complete blank.

Before I knew what I was doing I reached out, tucking a few strands of hair behind his ear. He stirred at that, moving into the touch, and his eyes opened to reveal bright golden eyes that widened as they stared at me. His body froze in the chair and I pulled back as if I'd done something wrong. "I-I'm sorry…I didn't mean to wake you." I said softly, hoping I hadn't angered him from waking him from his nap.

Dark cyan eyebrows furrowed for a moment in concern as he looked at me, though he said nothing. The feeling that he felt so familiar to me was nagging at the back of my mind. I was so sure I had seen him before…suddenly it clicked, and with an accomplished smile I felt the lightbulb go off, though I could hardly believe it. Could it be…?

"You're Yugo, aren't you?" I asked eagerly, not able to contain my excitement.

His eyes widened and his jaw sort of dropped for a second there. "W-Wait a minute…y-you know who I am?" He asked after a second, leaning forward to put a hand on my shoulder. "You recognize me? Say it again."

There was desperation in his voice, and pain, and hope…he sounded so strained that I couldn't possibly see what was wrong. "You're Yugo, right?' I said again, slower. "Are you really a devil? Where are your wings and your tail? When I saw you in my dreams you always had your pretty black wings, and your doggy ears and tail. Where'd they go? Come to think of it, looking at you now, you look a lot younger now then you did then, and not nearly so musclebound. Did something happen to you after you met that woman?"

His hand on me slowly let go and he sat back into the chair. I could tell he was thinking this over, though he looked completely crushed. Had I caused that? I was going to apologize but he spoke before I could reply. "What woman?" He asked after a moment.

"The redhead, you know the one who was chasing you in the cave. When all that rock came down on you guys you told her you would enter a contract with her, but that was as far as my dream went. When you said that you would, I just…woke up. I didn't get to see what happened next."

He chuckled then, though I didn't know whether or not he was laughing at me or just laughing in particular. "Eavesdropping in on my memories, eh? I suppose I can't blame you…you needed somewhere to hide and recover from the blow of losing your own." He looked back up at me and those amber eyes were so close to tears, I was shocked he was able to hold them back.

I didn't know what he meant by that, by I didn't like him so painstricken with grief. My heart was aching from this pain welling inside my chest. "Hey…" I whispered softly, holding out my hand and letting it slide over the side of his jaw. "What has happened to make you look this way? What has pained you so?"

For a minute, he froze again, wary of my touch and then he lifted a hand to rest against my own, pinning my fingers against his face. His eyes closed and he flinched as if he had been physically attacked. "You…you don't remember anything. And this…is all my fault." He whispered, voice choked with tears. His hand went limp and fell from mine, freeing me from his warm skin, though he brought his amber gaze back up on me again. "You mentioned a woman who was chasing me, a redhead, a holy woman for the St. Magdalene Order, but you do not recognize yourself. You are that woman. You're name is Sora Maiko, and you were supposed to be my murderer." He hesitated. "You saw that…in your dream…what did I say I was going to take from you…?"

I didn't know what he was getting at but suddenly I was frightened. I was Sora? The name…it sounded so familiar, I should know it as my own but I didn't. The dream…in the cave, what did he… "Memories." I said after a moment, my eyes widening. "My memories." And suddenly, like putting the last couple pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together, it all clicked. I couldn't recall a damn thing as the price of my contract…to save me then meant that now I…I couldn't remember… "No." I shook my head furiously, crimson hair swishing around my face. "No. It can't be."

Yugo stood up, his body shaking, and turned his back on me. "I'll leave you some time to think on this." He said softly, and was gone from the room, swiftly shutting and locking the door behind him.

I sat there, taking this blow, shaking myself as I pulled the covers up over me higher. I laid back down against the sheets, sinking my face into a pillow and for a long time, I just spaced out. I didn't know where I was, what was going on, who I was, or what I meant to anyone else. I knew nothing.

Frustrated for lying there in self-doubt after a while, I sat back up, and that's when I noticed the few articles sitting on the bedside table. One was a beautiful necklace, or had been a beautiful necklace. The heavy chain held part of a beautiful clear crystal within the casing while the rock was jaggedly cut and the other half sat a few centimeters away. Picking up the roped chain, I smiled, running my fingers along the polished stone. I recognized it as the one Yugo had worn in my dream, though I wasn't sure how the rock had become white or how it had been broken. I put the chain over my head, slipping it through my hair, and held it tightly against my chest. There was a small comfort in the odd piece of jewelry, and I don't know if it was merely because it was the devil's trinket or that it was calling to me, but I felt better with the piece around my neck.

The other item on the table was a small but thick leather bound book securely closed with a golden buckle on the front. Undoing the heavy flaps I stared at the yellow parched paper, which was adorned with small scratched words surely written with a quill pen of some kind. I recognized the letters, and after sounding most of them out loud was satisfied with being able to comprehend the writing that had been written out.

"My name, is Julius Weyr, and I am sixteen years old. Currently I work for the Magdalene Order, a religious group that helps exorcise and eliminate demons and devils whose mission is to reek havoc on the human race.

I was brought into this institution nearly six months ago, by my dear sister, Sora."

I paused there, realizing now that the person writing this was a relation to me. My brother? I could not picture his face, his voice…anything. Swallowing another knot of fear, I continued.

"My sister saved me from a group of demons who had been torturing my brother and myself. She risked her own life to save mine and took me in as her own, and for that I will always be grateful. Sora has a partner, a devil, who goes by the name of Yugo. Due to the contract held between them, my sister will eventually lose all memory, and forget everything that has happened within her life.

This book is, to put it bluntly, a record of all events that have happened during my stay within the Order, every shred of evidence, every piece of knowledge about my sister that I know. It is a place for forgotten memories, a testament to the events taking place from September of 1928 to current day."

I continued to read on, going through page after page of events, and with every passing one, I became more distraught. The days spent at the Order, the appearance of the devil known as the Sinner Aion. My relationship with Yugo and a rivalry with the one known as Aidan. All of these people I could tell to be true…I had seen several of them in my dream. Possibly the one thing to make me smile was the reunion between Yugo and his brother. Knowing what had happened between them and seeing them together for the first time in what was said to be centuries made me grin among my tears. But it still hurt because I could not remember any of it. This was my life, all written out in one book, and I could not believe any of it, I could only accept it as what was true.

I don't know how many times I broke down that night, because there was to many to count. I read the book over and over and over, trying to pull something from memory, trying to regain anything truthfully from these tales, and with frustration and irritation setting in, I curled up with the book around sunset and cried myself to sleep. When I reawoke in the morning, Yugo was there, and although he was sitting in the same exact spot he had been the day before, he looked like he hadn't slept all night. His gold eyes were just staring at me, weary and broken with such a stricken look that he startled me when I opened my eyes and saw him again.

Whatever spell had fallen over him in his tired haze, it was broken, and with a bat of his lashes, that overwhelming look was gone from his face as if it had never been there. "G-Good morning." He said softly, smiling, though it was obvious it was forced.

I sat up, my hand lying on the book as I pushed myself away from the sheets, and after staring at the leather bound cover for a moment, recalled what I had read yesterday with a sense of relief…at least I still wasn't losing memories.

"No, you won't." Yugo shook his head. "The contract was fulfilled when the necklace shattered…it can't pull anything way from you anymore." His golden eyes blinked when he realized I was clutching the stone in my hand, staring down at it. "You're wearing it."

I smiled sort of sheepishly. "I-I'm sorry. I just sort of saw it lying there on the table yesterday and for some reason, I put it on. I felt better having it around my neck. I'll take it off if it bothers you-"

"There's no need to. I gave it to you, a long time ago." He said quickly, gaze averting from my face.

I nodded slowly, still not letting go of the gem. "Okay…" I swallowed. This was rather awkward, though now it made a little sense as to why he was acting the way he had been. "Eh…uhm, Yugo?" I felt myself blushing as I spoke. "I…read what my brother wrote about us…in this book. Is it really true, that we were…"

He huffed. "It must be true you don't remember anything about Julius…you would know that the kid doesn't lie."

I winced at that, feeling like I had been slapped across the face. I bit into my bottom lip, not minding the pain from it as much as I was the ache in my chest that was coming back. "I-"

"I'm sorry." He cut me off his voice soft again. He glanced back at me, that wounded animal look crossing his handsome face once more. "But what do you want me say? That we were lovers? That we were in love? Yes, it's true, all of it. We were planning on getting married when we got back to New York. I don't know what I was thinking…I was hoping that maybe somehow, you would remember all of that, but after unleashing that hell of a contract I had no control over it."

My insides were quivering, my heart rushing in my chest, though how it could be beating like that while it ached so I don't know. My hand was still clutching that pendant but it felt more like I was trying to cover my own feelings because I internally felt like I was being ripped in two. "Yugo…" I started after a moment, not so sure what to say. This was a disaster, and it was getting worse by the moment.

"You told me that it would be okay, that we would get through this, and I tried to believe you, I wanted to believe you when you told me that you would never forget me. I expected nothing out of you, and I guess I don' know. The contract has ended, and you're allowed to go your own separate way." He wasn't even looking at me then, his gaze fixiated on some other place in the room, though his voice was pitching high and low, strained by the sound of tears.

The thought of Yugo going off and leaving me alone was something that for some reason, I couldn't bear. My wall around me snapped, something completely broke and before I realized it I was crying like a baby, tears slipping down my pale cheeks onto the nightshift I was wearing. "Yugo, will you stop talking this way, you're breaking my heart!" I demanded of him.

His head jerked up and he looked over at me then, golden eyes wide. I didn't even realize he had moved and suddenly I was in his arms, my head cradled up against his chest. "I'm alone…and I don't know anything anymore…you're one of the only people that I believe I can trust right now…so don't say you're going to leave me alone…I don't want to make it through this on my own!" I was torn between feeling things for him that I should outwardly know as love, and regarding him as a complete stranger. I didn't know what to say, or do, to make anyone better to make myself feel right. All I knew at the moment was that it was nice being held close, feeling his strong arms around me, and I was grateful for a little bit of comfort. Gradually my sobs quieted down and he continued to hold me there with him, though his hold loosened slightly to let me know I could back away at anytime I wished.

"I'm sorry, for being so hard on you…I will try to be better. I know this is rough on you…but you'll be better in no time. You've been given a second chance to live your life your way with no regrets, and if your path strays from mine, then so be it." He whispered softly, though he sounded defeated.

"I want you with me." I told him, my face still buried within his shirt. "I don't want you to leave my side. Please. I need you with me."

"You are such a downer sometimes Brother. Honestly, lighten up. It's not as bad as you're making it out to be."

The sound of another voice caused both of us to jerked our heads up and we looked over to see the white wolf appear from the shadows. "Jin!" Yugo snarled, a little upset for ruining the moment, though his sibling just quietly came over and sat down on the side of the bed by my side.

"Hey there." He whispered softly, watching me with amber eyes so much like his brother's own before directing his gaze back at his elder sibling. "I've been doing some research on the nature of contracts, and with yours you are not completely out of luck. See, the two of you contained a strong psychic link, a link that was then implanted from the two of you into Julius when he entered in on the contract. And since Yugo had since regained his full memory of what happened, and Julius had his all along, the two of you can psychically overtime restore some of her own memory from what the two of you know. Of course it will be a little off, since it's going through your own memories and not through her, but the ideas in the right place. You'll have to be careful, her mind is pretty battered and bruised right now from the duration of the contract, but I think the idea might just work."

"There's a chance…I could get my memory back?" I asked him wide-eyed.

"Jin, you are a genius." Yugo flashed him a small smile.

"It all depends on whether or not her psychic connection stayed open. If her mind closed off any mental path to the both of you then it's not possible, but if…well try it." He said, glancing between the two of us.

Yugo looked down on me, blinking his golden eyes. A noise buzzed through my head, like the humming drone of a fan or raw electricity. I winced under the strain that it was suddenly putting on me…my head throbbed and my body shivered. The pain was increasing drowning out everything else except for that noise, that irritating horrible drowning noise. I was sure my brain was splitting open with the sound of it coursing through me. 'Sora…Sora…can you hear me…?'

"Enough Yugo!"

Instantly the pain was gone and I was so lightheaded that for a moment the world lurched around me and I felt my body sink, a pair of arms holding me as I went to sink into the sheets.

"The connection's there." Yugo's voice was ecstatic, I could clearly hear him, and the excitement there was enough to make me smile. I was suddenly exhausted, and I didn't know if I could open my eyes any longer. I felt his fingertips running through my hair as he held me to him…this feeling was kind of nice, and I enjoyed it. I listened to the two of them talk, lying in my sleepy haze, drifting in and out of consciousness as they fussed over me and the situation. Did Yugo have any idea how beautiful his voice was? I could listen to him talk for hours. I seemed to recall a morning similar to this, lying in a bed in a room very different from this one as Yugo attended to me like he was my personal bodyguard, shooing away the girls who wanted to wake me for morning mass. And so I dreamt again, of a time in the summer, of a gorgeous moonlit forest and of afternoons spent with long-forgotten friends of mine in the great hall of an old elaborate church.

When I awoke again it was morning, and the dreams of the church and the woods and Yugo were gone, though when I sat up, I found him curled up next to me on top of the covers, his trenchcoat pulled up over his shoulders to keep him warm. I smiled, grateful of his company, glad that he was still with me.

I leaned over to run my fingers through that spiky mess of cyan hair and the moment I touched him an image shot through my head, of a moonlit night spent in this room, his body shadowing mine, wings wrapped around us both as we held each other, fingers intertwined in the bed sheets as the blankets plastered themselves to us with sweat. My mind gave a sharp shot of pain that had my body trembling moments after, but the image was real enough to keep me distracted from the agonizing oncoming migraine. My heart was pounding in my chest, leaping as if it remembered that exact moment and a wave of panic washed over me. Was I regaining some of my past?

I withdrew my touch from the handsome man, and quietly slipped out of the bed, hoping I wouldn't wake him. I need some time to think, on my own. Leaving the room, I wandered the halls in search of someplace where I would find something to eat and drink…I was starving now that I was wide awake and capable of moving around.

Turning a corner, I bumped into a young girl, with long raven hair, who was much shorter then I was, with big bright emerald eyes. "Uhm, s-sorry…" I murmured watching her…she seemed a bit distracted. Upon hearing my voice she looked up at me in shock, and saying not a word, pounced me with a hug.

I was startled, but she seemed to be someone I knew. Looking down on her after a moment, I blinked. "Are you…Hirelena?" The black-haired girl I used to play with when I was younger. There was an awfully strong resemblance, and by the wide eyes and nod of her head I smiled. "You were in a dream I had last night. It's nice to see you again. How have you been?"

She opened her mouth as if to say something and then stopped, putting a hand to her throat, her cheeks blushing. I blinked, a little surprised. "You…you…can't talk?" I asked her after a moment. When she nodded, I smiled. "Well…that's okay. I can't remember anything. My memory's gone and I'm having a hard time adjusting to everything. Do you know where I can find food or anything?"

She gave another small nod and took my hand, leading me down the stairs and into the gigantic kitchen. I have to admit, everything was of interest to me. While Hirelena found us some food, I explored every nook and cranny of the kitchen, several times having items taken away from me mostly knives, but I didn't realize that they came in all shapes and sizes. The woman finally settled for two slices of cake and then carried them out to the much larger dining hall, ushering me out of the place before I found anything else to amuse myself. Upon watching her use the fork to eat, I tried it myself and realize it really was as simple as she had made it out to be. The food hit the spot, I had been in need of something and demolished the simple slice in minutes. Hirelena giggled, but when I gave her a questioning look, she just brushed it off with a small wave of her hand and went back to eating.

Suddenly the large wooden door to the dining room flew open and a young man stalked in, his crimson cloak swaying behind him as he walked. He looked important, with the golden badges clinging to the scarlet material and a hilted weapon of some kind hanging off his hip. Shoulder length dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and his golden eyes were narrowed, but more out of concern then a look of anger. "Sora!" He called upon seeing me and I blinked up at him, setting down my fork.

"Uhm…hi?" I said, looking up at him. He was rather young, but very handsome, and yet again, I had that familiar feeling like I knew him. "Ehm, er….do I know you?" I asked sheepishly, really kicking myself for not knowing who this cutie really was.

"The name's Julius." He said softly, his eyes starting to waver.

I recognized the name instantly, standing up to look up at him. "As in, my brother, Julius, right?" I asked, watching his face for some sort of reaction.

That made him smile, though it was a very sad smile that showed. "When Yugo told me you couldn't remember anything, I was so upset. I had been hoping that somehow when the necklace shattered you would be alright, but Jin said the probability of that happening would probably be less then zero. Still, I'm glad nothing else happened to you…we haven't been as fortunate lately…a lot has happened while you've been asleep. I have a report to give to you, when you are ready." His arms reached out and he pulled me in close. "I'm so glad that you're okay."

I blushed, though I let my own arms wrap around his waist. This was my brother, my family, one of the only ones I had left. "Julius, thank you. I appreciate what you've done for me. That book that you wrote…it told me a lot, about myself. I owe you."

"It was nothing." He pulled away, and I got the feeling he suddenly felt a little awkward. I remembered reading in the book he didn't take to well to having people close to him, and so I instantly stepped back.

"I have to thank you two Hi-" I turned, going to talk to the little girl and realizing she was no longer there and that our plates were gone. "Hey, where did she go?" I glanced around, though Julius's small smile just vanished.

"She has to get back to Joshua's side. Come on, Yugo was looking for you." He said, offering me his hand.

After returning to my room and changing into a proper outfit at the boys' disgression I sat down on the side of the bed, brushing my hair, which I found somewhat amusing. "Alright. Now this report of yours." I said softly, looking at the boy who had taken the chair by the bedside.

Yugo got up from his seat beside me, squeezing my hand as he left. "I'm going to head out for a while. I'll be back later on." He said softly, and I blushingly nodded, the image of us that I had had this morning instantly coming back with the feel of his touch.

Julius nodded and waited until he had left before he started. "I don't know how much you read, so I will just tell you the entire series of events. The other night, you and I, along with Yugo and a group of others that have been staying here were out at a festival and were attacked by the Sinners. Do you know who they are?"

I tried to remember back to what I had read. "The…devils who had killed Pandaemonium and are waging a war against heaven for their freedom, right?"

"Yes." He nodded. "As you may or may not remember, Yugo is one of them, as is two of our allies, Chrono and Sieg. That night, the Sinners collected the apostles, and performed a ritual called the ritual of the atonement. This, was after you had already gone into acoma." He paused, debating on how to tell the tale. "Aidan was sent as a decoy to stall Yugo and you from interfering. Yugo…ended up killing Aidan that night, and that was difficult on you because you cared for him."

"Aidan…?" I swallowed. "The one who killed my sister…the one who wanted to protect me…he's dead now?"

Julius nodded, and then decided it was best to continue on. "You were attacked, and your necklace broke. Jin told me that as the container of the contract and the place for storing your memories, the second it was broken, the contract was fulfilled, you lost everything and Yugo regained both his memory and his strength, but we almost lost you. The ritual of the atonement was fulfilled, and Rosette, Chrono's partner and a friend of ours, was taken by Aion. Although we did manage to defeat all the other sinners, Aion and Rosette escaped." He smiled slightly. "You'll be happy to know that we've regained Joshua and Hirelena. Lena was the reason you wanted to come out here because she was kidnapped by the Sinners. However, to help keep Joshua's powers in check, she was forced into a contract with him so that Fiore would be able to continue to look after him, and then kept as a prisoner. When Joshua's horns were ripped from his head, the contract broke much like how your own was, and she has lost all ability to speak. Joshua is in an a coma much like you were…we don't know if he's going to live. Satella and Sieg are now back on speaking terms…Sieg has had several talks with Fiore, as they believe her to be Satella's lost sister, but Fiore has been brainwashed by Aion and not even Sieg can undo the spell placed on her." He stood up then, and I looked up at him, more lost and confused then ever before. "I know that a lot of this doesn't make sense to you, but it is honestly what has happened. You'll learn a lot more of what is going on soon the more you talk to people and realize what is happening in the world around you. Don't look so hopeless." He leaned down and kissed my forehead gently before backing off. "I have reports to give now back at the Order headquarters. Be strong…we'll need you with us." And with that he was gone, leaving me alone in the room, in the empty silence to think.

I ended up reading through the book several more times that afternoon, piecing together parts of what Julius had said with pieces that now seemed to sync up in the paragraphs. The text was like reading through a novel, and although I could convey the feeling of it all, I had no recollection of any of it, and it was only in frustration that I threw the book down again to take a nap. This is what I was turning into, a hopeless cause who had no way of helping those that I cared about.

I was awoken later with a splitting headache, the likes of pain I had never felt before. It was dark, endless dark around me, and I could not see a thing. There were whispered voices in my head, voices I knew, and although I trued to block them out, they just came back.

'Jin, you idiot, I can't believe you! How could you do this! You know-' It was Yugo's voice, choking back grief. Something had happened, and something was horribly wrong.

'Don't be that way Brother. You know as well as I that it was bound to happen one day. Besides, I am tired of waiting, of running and feeling endless grief. Now, I can return to her side, where I belong. Will you tell Little Sister thank you for me? Thank you for accepting me as family after the horrible things I have done to you.'

'Jin! Don't talk like that! Jin…?'

The connection went dead, it was broken, forever gone. I was crying, tears running down my face and not sure whether it was from the pain of the unruly headache or the fact that I knew. Jin was dead. I don't know how it had happened, but we had lost another one. And my heart now grieved for him.

Yugo appeared in the room sometime after. I wasn't exactly sure how he got there because I had buried my head in my knees, only that suddenly he was there. He pulled me into his arms, holding me close to him, trying to soothe my tears when he was crying too, tears running off his face and losing themselves in my crimson hair. "He's gone off to a better place, love," He whispered softly, rocking me gently against him, his deep voice slurring with sobs as he spoke. "He is back by Rei's side now, where he should have been years ago."

I heard the door open, light from the hallway, shining into the room and Julius was there too. He climbed up onto the bed by us, one arm wrapping around Yugo's neck the other running against my back as he hugged the both of us. He was in tears also and I wrapped an arm, around him too, pulling him closer to me. There were no words that needed to be said between us, because we just knew. Even in my heart of hearts, even in my broken mind, this was right. The three of us were meant to be this way, a family, and nothing would ever tear us from one another.

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Author's Notes- Well now, after four long months, Forgotten Memories finally has an update! These would have been up long ago, had I not lost my flash drive with chapter nineteen and twenty on it. I am doing the best I can to finish this series, since I was trying to release them with the DVDs and well, volume seven has been out since September, which is really sad.

Now that I've caught myself up, the following chapters should be out pretty soon…we've only got a couple more to go now.