Chapter Three
"...The first thing you should know is that you're not eighteen, Mairin," Professor Sycamore's voice was quiet, and he took in a deep breath. "You're twenty-three."
If Mairin had been standing up, sure was sure that her legs wouldn't be able to support her in that moment. She stiffened up as the words left his mouth, gawking up at him. Mairin blinked, making sure she had heard him correctly, hating how everyone was watching her sorrowfully.
She then closed her eyes, letting out a shaky laugh.
"Ha... v-very funny guys..." Mairin muttered, sitting up slightly. She looked around, before scowling at them. "Actually– n-not funny at all! I'm not in the mood for jokes, I... I want to know..."
She slowly trailed off, a look of seriousness on everyone else's face. Once again Mairin tensed up, hands tightening around the edges of the chair. She whipped around, looking over each person in turn. Professor Sycamore couldn't look her in the eyes, his gaze distant and sorrowful. Sophie and Cosette had only worry in their gaze, while the blue-haired man was looking at Mairin with a look that could only be described as pity.
Finally she looked towards Alain, who was pale. He was staring at Mairin, pure unbelief and fear in his eyes. He swayed slightly in his chair, jaw slack.
"What are you guys saying?" Mairin whispered.
Twenty-three?! There was no way she was twenty-three! Mairin closed her eyes, trying to shove the possibility aside. She was eighteen, she knew that– she just couldn't have jump five years in age!
"I don't know..." Professor Sycamore said uncertainly. "But Mairin, clearly something is wrong."
No, she wasn't twenty-three... but the doubts began to run through her mind– the fact that Chespie was now evolved, that this Absol acted as if it were her own... And her room, there was no way that had been transformed overnight.
"W-wrong?" Alain sputtered out, and he rose to his feet. "How could you just say 'wrong'?! She– this–"
"Alain," Professor Sycamore said firmly. "Calm down."
"'Clam down'?!" Alain cried. "Don't you dare tell me to calm down, not when my Mairin clearly isn't remembering things right–!"
Mairin flinched at the words 'my Mairin'. She swayed in her seat for a moment, trying to take in what she had just been told. It made sense, in some crazy way, but it was too much to digest.
"Alain– enough!" Professor Sycamore's voice echoed through the lab, and his assistant fell silent. He then took in a deep breath, straightening his lab coat. "Yelling will get us nowhere," He turned towards Mairin, smiling slightly. "Let's take this one step at a time, okay?"
One step?! Everyone was apparently convinced that she was twenty-three! ...Or she was convinced that she was eighteen...
She shivered.
A warm hand was placed on her shoulder, but Mairin didn't look up as she stared down at her hands. The confusion was rushing through her mind, and her stomach was beginning to churn unhappily. She felt like throwing up, but she managed to keep the feeling down as she sat there.
"Mairin, what's the last thing you remember before this morning?" Professor Sycamore asked.
"I already t-told you..." Mairin muttered.
Professor Sycamore nodded a bit, uncertainly glancing over Mairin's shoulder. "Yes... the fight. Well, um, how clearly do you remember it? Is it blurry at all, did it feel dream-like or–?"
"It felt like," Mairin growled in a low voice. "I was belittled and screamed at for trying to comfort Alain!"
Silence took hold of the kitchen once more, and the hand on her shoulder tightened.
"Alain?" Professor Sycamore asked. "What was Mairin doing last night? Was there anything about her that seemed off?"
Mairin jumped as soon as Alain spoke– realizing that he was standing right behind her.
"She said that she wasn't feeling well, but nothing serious," Alain said quietly, and Mairin quickly jerked herself forward, realizing that he was the one with his hand on her shoulder. She glared back at him, and Alain pulled his hand back. He looked so worried, so sad... but Mairin couldn't find it in herself to forgive him. Yet.
"Mairin, what exactly can you remember?" Professor Sycamore asked. "Details are important, I want to see if this is something we can recall, or if this is somehow... a creation of your imagination."
She glared at the professor. "I'm not crazy."
He took in a deep breath. "Mairin, if you think you're eighteen then something is wrong. No, I don't think you've lost your mind, but I want a full understanding of what's going on here. Please tell me what you remember of this fight."
She didn't respond right off, closing her eyes as she shoved the idea of something being wrong to the back of her mind. She was fine... she was fine...
"A letter came in the mail for Alain," Mairin said simply, looking up at the professor. "You want details? It was a white envelope and everything in and on it looked to be typed. Alain came back to the lab from a trip to the store, and you gave him the letter. He read it, and after that he became very distant and wouldn't talk to anyone."
Professor Sycamore's lips pressed into a thin line, and his eyes flickered towards Alain. Mairin didn't turn around to look at him though, but continued her story.
"He didn't come down from his room for dinner, and told me to leave him alone when I tried to bring him food. After that you tried to approach him, but that only made him more upset," She paused for a moment. "At that point it was dark outside, and that's when Alain stormed out of the lab demanding to be left alone. You then told me to go after him, saying I was probably the only one that he'd listen to, so I did."
Professor Sycamore nodded slowly, and Mairin could tell that he knew this story. She smirked to herself– she knew she wasn't insane.
She hesitated. "Then... Then..."
"Then I treated you like you were the scum of the earth," Alain finished from behind Mairin, voice sounding gruff.
She said nothing.
"...And you remember nothing after that?" Professor Sycamore asked softly.
"I went to bed, and th-then I woke up..." Her throat tightened, stomach churning, and her voice was small. "In A-Alain's room..."
Nobody spoke, but she could hear the sound of Alain's footsteps walking away. She turned in time to see him staggering towards his chair, collapsing down into it. His hands were curled into fists, and he stared down at the floor.
"And you're positive that you remember nothing after that?" Sycamore asked again.
Mairin hated how everyone was staring at her. "Yes. Nothing else."
He let out a long sigh. "That all did happen..." The professor's eyes were gentle. "But that was ages ago."
"Five years ago," Alain said hollowly.
Mairin struggled to breath for a moment, taking in their tones. She knew that they wouldn't lie to her... Mairin's mind started racing as she took in the possibility.
There was the fact that everyone seemed... different. Not completely new, but still different. Mairin gulped slightly, uncertainly running her hands through her hair. The red hair fell down past her shoulders and across her back– much longer than what she remembered last night– and there was no way had it grown that long while she slept.
Her eyes shifted to the Absol who watched her from the doorway– a Pokemon that had stuck by her side this whole morning, that others claimed she had named, and that acted as her own Pokemon– but yet she didn't know her. Her breathing became ragged, slowly realizing that the only thing that made sense, that the only thing that could explain all these changes– was if yesterday hadn't been yesterday, if there was a gap between what she remembered, and what she believed to have been yesterday.
Mairin looked down at her hands, they weren't necessarily unfamiliar, but... She twisted them about, examining them. She frowned as she noticed white marks running down her arms, something she had never seen on herself before. But before she could exam them further her heart began to race– freezing as she noticed a small silver band resting on a finger. She stiffened up even more, bringing her left hand closer, studying the beautiful ring.
It was thin and small, the band twisting about her finger, a beautiful emerald sprouting up from the top of the ring. Mairin felt her mouth go dry as she touched the ring, wondering how she hadn't noticed it before. She twisted it, but was beginning to realize that it felt like it had always belonged there, and did not feel out of place like when she usually wore jewelry.
"Wh-what's this?" Mairin whispered, instinctively shoving aside the ideas that were forming in her mind, studying the ring on her in shock. It shouldn't be here– she never wore jewelry! Mairin hated the way her stomach tightened, throat clamping up.
She knew what this was, even if the idea sent chills down her spine– but there was only one reason why someone would wear a ring of this quality on this finger.
Alain turned towards her, looking down at her with an unreadable expression. His gaze looked just as disbelieving as Mairin's, but clearly for a different reason. Alain closed his eyes, and when he opened them again only pain could be seen in his gaze. He stood up, setting his left hand down on the table, carefully moving it forwards as he walked towards her. Mairin felt her blood turn cold, but still she leaned forward, looking down at the matching silver band on Alain's fourth finger.
Wedding rings.
"Mairin..." Alain said slowly, and she pulled back.
She was missing something– Mairin couldn't do anything but accept that. This lab– whenever it was– was not the same lab she had fallen asleep in last night. Her memories she saw as yesterday she knew in no way could be yesterday, because things had simply changed too much. Mairin didn't want to believe it, but she had no choice but to accept that something in her memory was missing.
She could accept that Chespie was now a Chesnaught, that Ruby the Absol was clearly hers, and that things were not the same that she had known.
But there was no way that she was married– let alone to her best friend.
"No," Mairin said hoarsely, scooting her chair back as Alain came closer.
But she had woken up with him next to her.
"Mairin–" Alain began, but she rose to her feet.
"N-no!" She repeated a bit harsher, and Alain went still. He just looked down at her, those blue eyes unreadable. "I'm– no– not– I'm not–"
Professor Sycamore stepped forward. "...Alain, I believe it would be best if you were to go contact a doctor, this is a matter we shouldn't keep waiting on."
Alain didn't reply, just staring at Mairin. She stumbled to her feet, slowly moving towards the counter. Her hands pressed up against the cold marble, heart racing as she stared at Alain. Her throat was tight, memories of waking up haunting her mind more than ever. It wasn't right, the idea wasn't right at all...
"Mairin..." Alain whispered.
"Alain," Sycamore said, tone stressed. "Please– you need to call someone. Um... Sophie– why don't you and Cosette get Mairin some breakfast?" Professor Sycamore stepped towards Mairin, grabbing her shoulder. "Max, would you please go get Chespie, I'm sure he'll want to be with Mairin right now," He took in a deep breath, giving her a gentle tug, before guiding her back to the chair. She followed him and sat without a fight. "Mairin... just take it easy for now."
Mairin buried her head into her hands as everyone slowly stood up from the table, and her fingernails dug into her skin. This is just a dream... some messed up dream... this isn't happening, this isn't happening...
She let out a hiss of pain as nails dug deeper into her skin, the pain very much real. She pulled her head back, watching as white marks faded from where her fingers had been, however the twisting white marks she saw on her arms before remained. Her heart thumped, hating the reality of this situation being placed in front of her.
"This isn't happening..." Mairin whispered.
"You're not alone with that thought," Sophie said, placing her hands on Mairin's shoulders. "Don't worry though, we'll be right here until this can be... fixed."
Mairin pulled away uncertainly, while Cosette flashed her a smile. "Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
She shook her head– she doubted she could stomach anything right now– and the forced cheerfulness from them wasn't helping. Cosette frowned, while Sophie began to urge her to at least have some toast to eat. Mairin didn't say a word, but yet she heard the sound of the toaster being pressed down a few moments later– it seemed she would be getting breakfast no matter what.
Mairin stared down at her hand– at the wedding ring on her finger.
Married?!
She had never even dated before– how on earth could she be married?! That was something that she had never planned on, something she had thought would never happen. There was no way she could be married, who'd want someone like her?
Apparently Alain...
She cringed at the thought. Alain was her best friend– he was like a brother! If he had ever asked her out she would have probably said no, and if she would have asked him she was sure Alain would simply laugh because it would of course be a joke! She closed her eyes, rejecting the image of her and Alain being together– it simply wasn't right.
Though Mairin did have to admit that the ring was beautiful, just what she would have wanted in a wedding ring.
...But not with Alain.
Mairin grabbed the ring, struggling to pull it off from her finger. It took a few moments, but she swiftly set the silver ring on the table– that was much better. Mairin ignored the bare feeling her finger now had, and rubbed at where the ring had been.
She bit her lip, remembering this morning, waking up with Alain's arms around her... Mairin slowly took it in, hating how the thought of her and Alain being together would solve the last piece of this mess she had woken up to. They were married, husband and wife, and that would explain why they slept in the same bed.
But she didn't want to accept that she was married.
Heck, the only reason why she was even considering this whole... missing memories thing was because it was the only way to explain everything! That still didn't mean it settled with her, nor that she was content with the idea.
Because if this was all true, then that meant five years worth of memories were gone. Five years of her life– her adult life– had just suddenly vanished.
She rubbed her head, but aside from the headache that was forming from the confusion, there was nothing to suggest how she could have possibly lost all of these memories... Maybe she hadn't lost anything, but perhaps this was just a strangely realistic dream! Or an Illusion created by a Zoroark! She bit her lip in thought, maybe she ate some bad berries? Or had she gotten drunk? There were so many other possibilities besides her memories being gone!
Because in what world would she marry her best friend?! She would have never risked her relationship with Alain!
...Even after that fight last night...
Mairin sat up slightly as a plate of buttered toast was set in front of her. If this whole thing were real, then that meant there had been no fight yesterday. Whatever had happened to Alain had been five years ago– merely a distant thing in the past!
"Mairin, you need to eat something," Sophie said.
Tears stung her eyes– she needed to get her mind off of things.
She picked up a slice of toast, placing it slowly in her mouth. "Um... who's the blue haired guy?"
"Hm...? Oh, that's Max, he started working here several years back," Sophie said.
"He and Alain are good friends," Cosette added. "They battle sometimes."
The toast tasted horrible, like cardboard in her mouth. Mairin still forced herself to chew, but her stomach was twisting, a queasy feeling coming over her. Chills raced through her, knowing all too well what this dreaded feeling was.
Mairin sprang to her feet, racing towards the sink. She pushed past Sophie as a sickening taste rose in her throat. Her stomach heaved, the sensation of throwing up running through her. She hovered over the sink, the horrible scent rising up as she emptied her stomach.
"Mairin!" Sophie cried, quickly hurrying to her side, and her stomach heaved again.
"W-water..." Mairin whispered, a foul taste lining her mouth. "Please..."
Sophie swiftly guided her away from the sink and the horrible smell, while Cosette grabbed a pitcher of water from the fridge. Mairin gratefully took the glass of water that was offered to her, chugging it down.
"Sit down," Cosette insisted, but Mairin shook her head.
"I... I want to go lay down..." Mairin whispered, stomach still twisting.