Warning, This chapter is long.
Lucy stood there glaring at the windmill kids near her [exception of Simon]. Crook held close and ready. In a half second, she went from a still frightening figure, to sprinting at alarming speed knocking out children faster than Simon, Carmen, Summer, and Claude did. Some of the children try to regroup and take her down all at once but she was too fast for them. Each swing of that crook was already getting a quantity of kids in the tens either knocked out, injured, or worse.
"What's wrong with her? She's gotten bloody mad!" Summer asked. The kid that restrained her decided he should enter the battle. So did the other ones thus freeing Carmen and Simon.
"And scary!" Carmen said trembling seeing Lucy's horrifying expression on her darkened face.
"I know. If we don't do something soon, not only will she get herself hurt, but she will become unstable to the point where she will not be able to trust anyone or anything that stands in her path." Simon said.
"Why don't you go and stop her?" Summer asked.
"Are you kidding? I'm a windmill child! She'd mistake me for one of them and use that crook to cut me to smithereens!"
"Well I'm not doing it." Summer said.
"Me neither!" Carmen agreed.
"Then we need to wake up Claude. If he doesn't awaken soon, Lucy would already be lost to her anger and continue on with her killing spree."
*meanwhile at Meg's end*
Most of the children were backing off trying to escape Lucy's horrifying power.
"Meg! She's too dangerous! We gotta get out of here!" A Windmill kid suggested.
"Your right she has! She's even worse than the kids who don't even participate with us!" Meg agreed. Lucy was even more to deal with than a crazy windmill kid. Some of the crazy kids were on Meg's side while others were loners living somewhere in the windmill. But Lucy in this case was invincible with ferocious speed and attack power no other hostile windmill kid could match.
The next thing Meg knew was the windmill kids guarding her from the danger were thrown out of the way by the red headed windmill girl's harsh force. Lucy was standing in front of Meg and the thing that lay in her way from giving her what she deserves, the incubator barrier. Lucy jumped and struck the glass managing to leave a crack. The glass was quite thick. Lucy continuously began to strike the crack trying to break it.
"No! Don't do that!" Meg struggled trying shake Lucy off with her ongoing incubator on wheels. Lucy had great grip. "Don't break it! If this leaks and my incubator is drained, I'll die! Please don't hurt me!" Meg pleaded in a panic.
*At the gang's end*
"Claude wake up!" Summer yelled.
"Claude!"
"You got to get up before Lucy loses her mind!"
Claude finally opened his eyes. "Man, it's a headache having to be yelled at you know."
"Phew!" Carmen was relieved.
"Like finally!" Summer said annoyed.
"You got to stop Lucy now!" Said Simon.
"From what? Where is she-?" Claude asked but looked to see a site before him, Lucy was already trying to get Meg's incubator to leak out her life liquid. Lucy already got the crack to widen a bit and spurt out a thin fountain of liquid into the air.
"Cripes! What she doing?" Claude exclaimed.
"She must've thought you were dead and while you were knocked out, the windmill children already destroyed the container. I'm sorry."
"Don't be, it was my fault. I shouldn't have lost it. I was too busy avoiding girls than listening to Lucy."
"Claude…" Simon said surprised.
Claude stood up and began to walk over to where Lucy and Meg were. "HELLLLP!" Meg cried. Lucy was just near to draining the entire incubator at once. Lucy realized another presence near her and she jumped off of Meg and faced Claude. "Lucy." Claude said. "It's alright. I'm okay see? Calm down." Lucy was blind with rage. She charged towards Claude with her crook ready to hook him from under. Claude made his move, he spread his arms open and grabbed Lucy in embracing position. Lucy struggled but Claude's strength was stronger. Her arms below his arms. Trying to make a fatal blow on him with her crook was impossible.
"It's okay." Claude reassured. "I'm sorry for losing your memories to the windmill kids. If I let the kids take you away while I got the container, they would of done worse with you. I will not let anyone hurt you."
Lucy began to stop struggling and realize whose arms she was in. "Even without the container, I will find a away to get you to remember any and everything lost to Miss Weaver's experiment. I promise I won't let Miss Weaver or anyone or anything harm you in any way possible."
Lucy dropped her crook. "You have friends with you, they'll protect you too. Like Simon, even though you don't remember, you met him before. I swear, we'll take down Miss Weaver and put a stop to her experiments and plans and we could escape Hollow Fields together with everybody else! We can still turn you back to normal again. So Lucy, calm down. Anger is a powerful feeling that may seem to accelerate the body but it's a bad feeling. So forget the windmill kids, let it all go."
Lucy heard Claude's words. The other feeling made up for anger residing which was sadness again but it was also accompanied by relief and safety. Her eyes were no longer glowing and demonic looking, they got all shiny with tears that began to flow down. Lucy buried her face in Claude's chest but of course she only buried part of it to the point where someone from one side would be able to see her eyes closed tight trying to hold back some tears which kept flowing. Lucy cried softly in Claude's chest, her cries were muffled that they could only be heard by anyone near them.
…..
Meg stared at the sight before her despite her incubator leaking. Some windmill kids went up to her. "Meg let's go!" "We gotta get ya patched up!" Meg let the children carry her away from Claude and Lucy.
…
*ten minutes later*
The gang decided to take a break near the golem. There wasn't as much destruction present. Some buildings were destroyed outside but some still stood even though with severe damage. The others were exhausted from fending off the windmill kids. Summer was pacing out of whatever thoughts she had. Carmen sat near her golem. Claude and Simon were wondering what to do next, it felt like they missed something back inside the halls of the windmill. Lucy was sitting next to the golem a couple feet across from Carmen in a daze.
"AGRGHHH! We should get out of this place already!" She said aggravated . "The engineers could be coming out of nowhere blowing stuff up again!"
"Patience Summer!" Simon ordered. "I think we left an object of some importance in the windmill."
"I think we were talking about it earlier before we got the container but what?"
"Object huh?" Summer wondered.
"I wish I remembered what it was." Claude said.
"Let's see, I asked you about something…." she said to Claude
"Go on." Said Simon.
"I asked if we were there yet and we weren't."
"It was after that." Claude said.
"Well so much had happened that I almost forgot but… oh wait I asked about Lucy's toy."
"Dino."
"The only other thing we have to dig through is a dumb toy dinosaur now?"
"It's better if we retrieve it and have Lucy remember it again."
All of a sudden, Claude had an idea. "What if Lucy already recognizes it?"
"What do you mean?" Simon asked.
"We mentioned Dino in front of Lucy and she repeated after us. She didn't say any other word but 'Dino'".
"So you're saying that maybe the machine that took away her memories either didn't interfere with that one memory or wasn't able to retrieve it in time?"
"Exactly!"
"I see. How important is Dino to her?"
"Well she always brings it with her. She rescued it from being destroyed by Miss Weaver's clockwork robot. I guess it's THAT important she gets it back."
"So where do we start looking?"
Claude was about to suggest a place until they both spotted a crazy windmill kid wandering cautiously. It looked like he was looking for a hiding place of some sort. He had a familiar purple object in his arms. Claude focused on that object. "He's got Dino!" The kid noticed them and ran.
"After him!" Simon and Claude went after him.
"Oi! Where you guys going? Jeez!" Summer complained. She decided to run after them. "Carmen you stay here!"
Carmen nodded. It was better to stay with the golem and Lucy then leave them vulnerable. Otherwise Lucy could wander off or the golem would be found by engineers.
…
Claude, Simon, and Summer ran after the crazy kid. He didn't run for long as he found another room and dashed there. The three caught up and found the kid sitting near a pile of damaged machines and gears followed by dirt and rubble.
He had a couple other things piled around such as leftover toys and inventions he stole from some of the kids in the process of becoming a windmill kid.
Claude stepped forward but the kid snapped.
"NOOO! You can't have it! It's mine! MINE! ALL MINE!" He screeched while laughing insanely. That creeped Summer out.
"Are you a part of Meg's group?" Claude asked.
"No he isn't" Simon said. "He's one of the windmill kids that didn't stick with the rest."
"Meg you say human?" The kid said. "HA! She thinks she's leader! The kids follow her like some queen bee! They do all the work for her cause she's in the incubator. Even though they switch leaders every week or two, I follow no one! NO ONE! In fact, I got my own desires to settle! I collect! Stare in awe before my collection!"
"Where do you get these?" Claude asked feeling only a little of the same way Summer is expressing.
"You want to know? Fine then! The engineers take the normal kids right? While they take them to become apart of that excuse for Meg's society, the engineers throw away inventions or contraption they have with them into a storage that stores things they throw away! I occasionally check what they have to offer every week for the kids and every day for their metal hand me downs! This recent looking purple thing I got recently. While they were walking by as I watched from the vents, this week's human was a red headed girl with a ribbon!"
'Lucy' Claude thought.
"They swiped the contraption from her and threw it into the storage. I gotta tell ya, that girl was struggling to get that back. When they left, I came in and decided to put it in better hands. Mine of course!" He giggled insanely once again.
"Yeah well guess what, that same girl you saw get taken away is with us and it's important she have this back." Claude said.
"She can get her own! I got it now and it's mine now! MINE!"
"It's not you-!"
"MIIIIINE! O_O"
Claude sighed frustrated.
The next thing Claude knew Summer went up to the kid despite how insane he was.
"Hmmm?" The kid was curious but overly cautious and protective.
Summer held out her toy rabbit.
"*Gasp* Vat is this… this precious contraption?" He asked wanting to grab it.
"Oh it's just… well I gotta say something better." She said grinning. Simon and Claude thought she was crazy but she was holding her bunny with one hand and crossing her fingers behind her back. In seeing that Claude and Simon didn't make a move.
"Better you say? Better than what I tested with things I collect? This purple thing… uh…" He pulled Dino's tail to reveal the string connecting it. "How can it do better?"
After Summer adjusted a few things with her bunny, she gave it to the kid. "Oh it can do lots and I mean lots! You can have it if you give us the dinosaur. Would you really want a boring contraption that's able to do one thing and one thing only?"
While the kid was staring in awe at the bunny in his grip and kept his eyes there. "Yeah your right!" He handed Dino to Summer who gave it to Claude. "Wait for it…" She whispered to them.
"I have never negotiated with humans before!" The kid said joyfully. The bunny's face opened to reveal a fist. "Oooh! Vat's this?" The bunny then punched him against the wall knocking him out cold. Summer grabbed her bunny quickly. "Come on!" Claude ordered and the three ran back toward the direction where Lucy and Carmen were.
….
Carmen spotted Summer and the boys running back. "Hey guys!" She greeted.
Lucy spotted them and smiled.
"Whew! That was a handful!" Summer said as she went over to Carmen who was glad she was alright. Simon and Claude went over to Lucy. Claude was greeted with Lucy hugging him. "Well she's happy." Simon said grinning over the sight before him. "Shut up!" Claude said. Simon just laughed. After Lucy was finished hugging him, Claude began. "Lucy, you might not yet or maybe ever but do you remember 'Dino?'"
Lucy began to repeat him with eyes brightening up but still with a curious expression. "Di..no? … Dino?"
"Yes. Well you might recognize it now as I went and got it back for you. So say hello to the toy you once remembered!" He got out Dino, still in one piece and no damage done. Lucy gasped. Claude handed it to her and she gently took it. She had Dino in her hands and stared in awe of it. A feeling started building up in her. To her, she knew that feeling wasn't bad but was it a positive feeling? It made her feel more familiar with Dino. It made her somewhat recognize Dino. She held Dino close somewhat glad to have him back. But that made her curious inside, did she have Dino before? What does Dino mean to her? She felt that Dino had a connection with her. Some type of connection. But What? All of a sudden, her mind began process so much information and convert curiosity into answers. She got dizzy from it.
Lucy began to sway a bit but Claude caught her. She was unconscious. "Please remember.." Claude hoped.
Summer and Carmen wanted to see what was going on and found Claude holding Lucy upright but then decided to put her in sitting position against the golem.
….
*Lucy's mind*
Flashbacks and important memories were playing before her starting with when she first got Dino.
"Huh? …. Oh that's right, that's when I first got Dino…." She figured. In the memory her mother gave it to her.
A series of other memories played back before her. She'd always bring Dino wherever she went. From home to school, from to school to a shop, from a shop to the park and so many other places. Dino was there for her even when she went to the schools she was sent to up to now. If classes she went to disappointed her because she wasn't good in them or mean classmates, Dino was there to cheer her up again. She still made friends in her previous schools but Dino back then was the most important friend of them all even if only a toy.
The one particular series of memories caught her attention, when she was first sent to attend Saint Galbat's School for Young Ladies. She remembered getting lost in the forest trying to find that place but wasn't successful. That's how she ended up in Hollow Fields instead but it was a mistake. Miss Notch was nice enough to give Dino back to her even though Miss Notch herself thought Lucy was an intruder.
Lucy remembered the time she made her first friend in Hollow Fields which was Simon but he got taken away to the Windmill before the two could get to fully know each other. That was devastating. What got worse was it got harder for Lucy to make anymore friends because of both Hollow Fields and popular girl Summer Polanski. Claude was hard enough to make friends with. He wanted nothing to do with her.
She kept watching her memories play back before her and remembered the time when Miss Weaver was about to use Dino as a test subject for her example robot. Miss Weaver punished Lucy for rescuing Dino from the robot and destroying it in the process by forcing her to build a robot construct for homework and to have it done by the end of the week. She was able to when she found doctor bleak who helped her with it. Thanks to him, she was able to gain some understanding of the subjects in Hollow Fields.
Things started getting out of hand when she first entered Summer's lair though, she remembered Summer leading her and Claude into a trap. Lucy only came to Summer hoping they could be friends instead of enemies. She remembered also when she had to save Claude from falling. After that Miss Weaver sent both of them to the windmill.
Lucy remembered that somewhat depressing argument with Claude while she was trying to escape. He snapped when she mentioned Doctor Bleak and told her to not to get herself in any more trouble calling her a stupid girl in the process.
She was disappointed at what she saw. Lucy almost burst out crying like how she almost did in reaction to Claude's harsh words but held back tears when she watched the memory play the moment the engineers took her away and Claude yelling for Lucy while was yelling back for him. The memory also played the situation where they took Dino away from her and proceeded leading her to the machine room. It was horrifying to watch as they got started but she couldn't recall what they were doing for when the engineers commenced the operation, they put her to sleep with anesthesia that knocked her out but didn't relieve pain. (what kind of anesthesia was that? Dumb engineers! O_O) She couldn't recall anything else.
Lucy thought there was no hope for her right there until a special series of memories played back before her. It played back when she woke up to find Claude trying to get her out of the room along with her container of memories.
*a couple memories later cause you know what happened!*
Lucy was amazed at how Claude wanted to help her get her memories back and how he worked together with Simon to get up to that. Claude was so determined that he was able to get help from Summer and Carmen through the events that happened. Lucy was disappointed about how the container got destroyed and how she went on a rampage against the windmill kids until Claude regained consciousness and calmed her down. That's when her memories stopped playing before her.
…..
Lucy woke up to find Claude next to her. She also found Simon and the girls surrounding them.
Claude noticed Lucy had woken up. "Lucy, have you gained back your memories? Do you remember me?" Claude asked.
Lucy looked at him. "Cl.. Claude?"
"She remembers!" Cheered Simon.
Lucy looked around her. "Simon? What's everyone doing here? What happened?" She looked at herself. She was normal except for the her patched pale green skin as always. "What happened to me? My skin is patched up and so is my forehead!"
"You were experimented by the engineers." Claude answered. "They used a machine to drain your memories and the windmill kids destroyed the container that contained them. But I guess thanks to your toy dinosaur that even without the container contained better memories."
Lucy looked at Dino that she was gripping. "Thanks to Dino huh?" She smiled.
"Can we go now?" Summer said impatient.
"Summer!" Carmen said.
"What? If we don't get out of Hollow Fields soon we'll-!" The gang noticed that destruction from the engineers fighting started again. The windmill couldn't take anymore.
"This place won't hold up for much longer!" Claude yelled. Lucy got up. "Are the engineers doing this?"
"I'll answer that later." Claude said. They all hopped on the golem and dashed off away from the collapsing windmill. As they watched as the windmill collapsed, Lucy felt a strange ticking feeling inside her like the gears the engineers inserted inside her windmill body were slowing down and needed to be wound up….
To be continued.