An hour or so after my strange dream, we were walking down the street a block or two away from our hotel. We had decided to do some looking around and getting to know the city while at the same time, we were looking for anything to connect to our missing person's case. On the outside we probably looked like typical tourists, carrying our cameras and maps, while we walked down street after street. Eddie did what Eddie did best, he memorized. Street names, shop names, buildings, everything. I guess it was because of his dhampir training or whatever, but it was impressing. I could barely remember how old I were from time to time. After a while of walking in blazing sun, I was understandably tired. I decided to head into a small coffee shop while I told Castile to go on for a while without me. He could always come get me when he was done. I sat down by a small table in the air conditioned shop and ordered a coffee when the impossible happened. In through the door walked a girl who wore a plaid brown skirt and a short sleeved creme blouse. The girl had blonde hair and eyes like gold, and on her left cheek I saw the glimmer of a golden tattoo. She was here. Sage was here. All casual, in a coffee shop in San Francisco. Without thinking, I was up on my feet and standing in front of her. I could feel tears streaming down my face but I didn't care. I did it!

"Oh my god, Sage is it really you? The alchemist and me have been looking everywhere for you!", I wanted to hug her but she seemed freaked our so I resorted to put a hand on her arm. That's when she tried to push past me.

"Excuse me, you must be mistaken. I'm not this 'Sage' you speak of and I don't know what an 'alchemist' is either.", she looked down at the floor and refused eye contact like I was some lunatic. Since I couldn't read her face, I decided to check her aura. Her aura that was once so bright and shining yellow was now covered in a thick layer of something gray. Had someone tampered with her? What was going on?

"Come on Sage, I came all the way from court looking for you.", I was not giving up.

"I'm not named Sage. Just, let me pass.", she was still trying to push past me. I was holding my ground.

"Yes you are. You are Sydney Sage, alchemist. I am Adrian Ivashkov, moroi.", I was confused. She couldn't have forgotten me, right?

"What? What the hell is a 'moroi'? And what is an 'alchemist'? My name is Sydney, sure, but not Sage. Now if you'll excuse me.", This time she did push past me. She went straight and placed her order at the counter and I stood there, baffled. Did she just swear? Sage swore? What the actual fuck was even going on here? Why did she say she wasn't named Sage? Why didn't she recognize me? Why didn't she now what either a moroi or an alchemist were? So many questions, so little answers. On her way out, I stopped her again.

"What the..- Can you move?!", She was super pissed by now. I would've been too.

"You're telling the truth? You don't know what an alchemist is? Or a moroi? And you're not named Sage?", I needed answers immediately.

"Yes I am telling the truth.", She stared me down. When her eyes met mine, I could see something spark under the cloak that was over her aura. Somehow, a small hole was poked in the fabric-like material and a small ray of light flooded out. In her eyes I saw recognition spark and then disappear. I stared her down and blocked her path, I needed some more details.

"Okay, look, you're cute and all, but you seem crazy and I have an appointment to get to, so can you move?", She was speaking with a softer tone now, like I really was mental.

"Never thought I'd hear those words slip out of your mouth, at least not in the nearest future. Are you sure that you have no idea what I'm talking about?", The sadness hit me again mixed with disappointment. They were not a cocktail I would recommend to anyone.

"Yes, I'm sure. Can you please let me out of the door?", Something about that small spark in her aura had made her more gentle towards me. I didn't want her to leave, but with my heart feeling like a stone in my chest, I stepped aside. She stopped for a second on her way past me and patted my cheek. She even smiled and whispered a 'thank you'. That broke me inside. Suddenly I was tired and lonely. I was disappointed and filled with nothingness. Everything felt hopeless. She didn't remember me. She didn't remember anything. She was gone. This was what the ghost Sage had been talking about. Sage was here, but still she wasn't here. Her body walked around with a tampered mind. She wasn't Sage, she was someone else. Someone else who had looked into to my eyes and recognized me. Somewhere, hidden underneath the new Sydney Sage, was my own golden-girl. The realization crushed me. She was there, somewhere. She was a prisoner in her own mind. Somehow, I managed to get back to my table and sit down on a chair. I had no recollection whatsoever that I had even moved, but suddenly I was sat there, elbows on the table and head in my hands. The world seemed faded around me. The colors were dull and the people were like shadows brushing past me. After what felt like a lifetime sitting there trying to form a coherent thought, I felt a shaking on my shoulder. Suddenly I was woken from my thoughts and the world came crashing in on me. The colors intensified and the details became sharper. I wanted to shield my eyes against the brightness of it all but I fought it. At a chair next to me sat Eddie, looking concerned and at the same time as he watched me, I could see his eyes darting around the room, looking for threats. I was probably looking pretty spooked since my encounter with this weird new Sage.

"What's up Adrian?", Castile tried looking casual and calm but his aura gave him away. He was scared. Scared and worried. I wondered if he also had seen the same Sage as I had.

"Did you meet her?", No time to waste. I would have to tell him about her anyway if he hadn't seen her.

"Who?", He asked. Such a dumb question. Who did we know in San Francisco? Nobody.

"The Queen of England.", I said ironically. "Sage of course. Did you meet her?"

"Very funny. No I haven't found a trace.", He answered matter of factly.

"I didn't ask if you found any traces. I asked if you met her.", I didn't feel like being nice anymore.

"Um, no.. Did you?! Adrian, did you find her?!", He seemed hopeful at that. If he only knew.

"I did.", I answered weakly. I saw his face switch from hope to excitement. "But I also didn't.", I added.

"Wait, I don't understand.", He seemed confused now. By all means, he should be.

"I met Sage but she wasn't Sage anymore. She was this weird person who didn't even know who the alchemists was. She was clueless.", I sighed and put my head in my hands once again.

"What?", was all he could muster. His world seemed upside down.

"Her aura was kind of cloaked by this gray thing, I have no idea what it was but it seems to keep her memories away.", I felt that I needed to tell him everything. Maybe we could figure this out if we used our collected brainpower.

"Cloaked? Okay, this is getting to weird for me. Spirit isn't exactly my department.", He said truthfully. I understood him even though he annoyed me. I wanted help, but he didn't know a thing about spirit and its different quirks.

"Yeah, like someone had put a blanket on it. When she looked at my face, a small part broke and made a little hole where her aura kind of shone through like a ray of sunlight.", It was best to keep the explanations simple. Eddie seemed lost in a train of thought so I decided to do the same. What had happened to Sage? How did she end up in San Francisco with her memory wiped? Why was she just walking around town all casual? Why would someone take the effort of kidnapping a teenage girl, wiping her memory and then set her free in a big city? Nothing added up. Everything was just so strange. We sat there, deep in thought for a very long time. No one spoke. We just sat there. Eddie alone with his guardian mind working in overdrive, while I was alone with my misery and despair. I had finally found her but she had turned out to be someone completely different. After a while, the customers were fewer and the sky changed its color. The owner of the small shop grew tired of us just sitting there and told us that it was closing time. By then we had been sitting in our own thoughts for several hours. We walked back to the hotel in silence. Everything we did was in silence until we were in our room and the night was well on its way to becoming morning. It was Eddie who broke the silence, sitting in an armchair at the feet of our beds.

"I just can't believe it."

"Me neither.", I grimly spoke and turned my face to the wall. I was laying on my side in my bed, looking at the patterns in the wall. I had stopped thinking a long time ago. Now I was just kind of floating around.

"How are you holding up? I mean, you have been so intent on finding her and then you find.. this..", I could hear him sighing and leaning back in the chair. I sighed too. He didn't even know about me and Sage and everything that had went down between us before all this. He didn't know she was the love of my life.

"I'm not.", I answered. I wasn't holding up. I was a mess on the inside. I was filled with chaos and mayhem. My feelings didn't know how to feel and my thoughts didn't know what to think. Nothing was in order and everything was incoherent. I hated it.

"You seem fine on the outside at least.", Castile mumbled. I could hear him getting up and pacing the room.

"I know. I'm a natural at seeming normal, remember?", I couldn't help it. My usual snark crept in and decided to act while I couldn't stop it.

"Yeah, I know. I just.. I can't stand this confusion. Are we missing something? Is it something we need to know to solve this stupid puzzle?", Eddie was getting frustrated. I could sense it.

"We need to know who the fuck is able to erase memories. That's the missing piece here.", I simply stated. We really did need to know that. Without that very important piece, we were just fumbling in the dark.

"I suggest we sleep on it. We won't come up with better ideas when sleep deprived.", Castile's guardian mentality took over and I decided to obey. I might as well sleep.

"Okay. Nighty night guardian boy.", I spoke before making myself comfortable. I could hear a distant 'Yeah, goodnight Adrian' before I drifted into the merciful daze of sleep. It felt good.

A/N: Happy new year to all you lovely people who read this silly story, you are amazing!