Sorry for not posting for a while! I've had quite a lot of stuffs to do and to top it all off, I don't have a laptop of my own. So I have to use my sibling's laptop, which they hog almost 24/7. But no, I love them to death. XDDD Anyway, I hope you enjoy! ^^

Claude gazed at the sea as he steered the ship, the wind blowing a nice breeze. Then, he heard someone behind him. He already knew who it was though, and before he could attack, Claude turned and caught his fist.

"What the hell was that!?" Erick said angrily. He, being a spell user, knew well those symptoms that Ailith was showing.

"As Mages we both know that memory spells don't work with fake memories. So why!? She's the only thing I have left! Do you understand this!? " He yelled and then Claude laughed silently.

"You're a smart one. You already suspected this from the very moment Ailith broke down didn't you? Even before anybody tells you, you can already make such accurate predictions of what's going on." Claude said, smirking. Erick clenched his fist and couldn't restrain himself anymore. He threw a ball of lightning Claude's way but Claude only moved to the side, dodging it. Erick's eyes grew brighter as his knives unsheathed themselves and began slashing at Claude, his mind controlling them as his arms fired blasts of energy, fire, and lightning at Claude. Claude managed to doge Erick's spells that were thrown at him, however he couldn't dodge the knives and found one slashing a good part of his stomach. Claude stepped back and yelped slightly, his blood splattering on the deck of the ship. He held his stomach and glared at Erick and suddenly an overwhelming guilt overcame Erick. His eyes widened and Erick found himself in a not so familiar memory.

~~O~~

Erick looked around and almost instantly, found himself fazed in an abandoned castle. The floor was blanketed by a red carpet and the walls were of sturdy stone. Torches hung on the walls, and there were statues around. He has never gone to this place, nor has he even heard of it, however, it looked familiar...incredibly so. His attention was suddenly drawn towards how bloodied the entire room he was in, was. Then, he heard them, his comrades yelling. He heard Claude's voice and turned around, only to see a boulder smash before him and Claude shielding him from it. Claude stumbled back and then held his stomach, which was bleeding profusely. He noticed how pale Claude was but Claude only shook his head and looked at Erick. Claude's expression was full of pain, his body trembled uncontrollably, and his clothes were soaking with blood, his own blood.

"Brother...don't be so careless. Not here...not now." Claude said and then charged forward. Erick looked and saw four giant creatures and a knight fighting his comrades. But there was another fighting alongside him he didn't recognize yet...was too familiar. He swore he knew her.

~~O~~

Erick blinked and found himself in the deck of the ship again, with Claude in front of him holding his stomach, his expression the same as what Erick saw in the memory. Erick shielded his knives and backed away, as Saria, Leon, and Ailith bashed through the door leading to the deck. He saw that just before they bashed through it, the same blue aura that was faint in Claude's eyes disappeared from the door. Claude smiled and laughed faintly.

"I thought you'd never...Hahaha..." Claude laughed and fell to the floor, unconscious. Leon, Saria, and Ailith went to Claude and looked at Erick, their expressions full of anger and confusion. Ailith went up to him and nearly punched him, had he not caught her hand.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ailith said and then turned from him. Leon carried Claude back into his room and Saria healed him. Erick didn't have anything to say and couldn't speak. He, being a mage, knew exactly that what he saw was a memory and not some trick. Erick sighed and went back into his room, pondering.

~ Some time later ~

"C-Claude...I'm sorry...on behalf of Erick. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm it's just...w...I mean, you understand don't you? His village burned down and I'm the only thing he has left of it. I-I mean...I feel the same way about him. I far from want anything to happen but I...I guess I'm just not as vocal about it as he is I...ah..." Ailith ranted and then stopped, noticing Claude opening his eyes. He regained consciousness and looked around. He got up and noticed the wound healed completely, a bandage wrapped around the scar of the wound. Claude at Ailith and smiled.

"A...What happened?" She stuttered, looking at him worriedly. Claude smiled almost triumphantly and laughed silently.

"He remembered something." Claude said and got up. He opened the door just as Saria and Leon were about to open it and announce dinner, startling them. Of course though, Leon jumped. Claude didn't say anything and marched towards Erick's room, determined to find out what he remembered. Then, almost immediately the three knew where he was going and tried to stop him. Leon ran in front of him but Claude only pushed Leon gently aside. The three of them ran towards him and caught up, bombarding him with warnings and pleas.

"Claude. This isn't smart. I'm telling you stop!" Leon said sternly and demandingly, his voice changing from his usual cheery voice to that akin to a king. Claude actually stopped because of this, but after a short while kept on going. He didn't say anything and headed straight for Erick's room. His face hiding the excitement he felt to know what Erick remembered.

"Erick." Claude said and then opened the door to Erick's room. He went in and found Erick going through some books with runes on them. Claude immediately went to Erick's side and examined some of the books, helping him. The others didn't know but Erick and Claude knew what the other was thinking at the moment.

"I already searched those." Erick said, glancing at what Claude was doing. Leon walked up to Claude and grabbed him, although Claude only brushed Leon's hand off gently.

"Leon, Saria, Ailith, it's fine. We're still on good terms. We just...kinda got caught up in a friendly fight, that's all." Claude said and earned another glance from Erick. As Erick glanced he opened his mouth slightly, as if about to say something, then closed it and looked back at the books. Although brief, Claude could already tell what Erick was about to say.

"Oh yeah sure Claude. And I'm a cyborg ninja with a psychotic attitude that he's trying so desperately to hide but can't because it's who he is." Leon said sarcastically and made everyone stare at him, even Erick...and even Leon was weirded out.

"Look I don't...I dunno what the hell just came out of my mouth, but that's not the point! The point is, you're not supposed to be hanging out with someone who almost KILLED YOU." Leon tried to reason with Claude but didn't get a response from him. Claude only helped Erick search his books more. He glanced at Ailith and smiled slightly.

"Guys...let's have dinner. I think these two'll just...catch up. Come on." Ailith said and dragged Saria and Leon out of the room. Leon and Saria both pushed her gently away, but then were alerted when Ailith grabbed their shoulders. They looked at her and she shook her head. Leon and Saria hesitated for a while, before going out the room.

"...You must have a lot of questions in mind." Claude said, finally breaking the heavy silence.

"Not like you'll answer them anyway. Just...I'll figure this out. Right now I don't know what you're up to but what I do know is that you want us to know something. Something that perhaps you can't just straight out tell us..." Erick said, sighing as he looked through the books.

"You're smart. Although maybe there's something that I can answer for you?" Claude said and Erick paused for a while, looking into his eyes.

"What's your last name?" Erick asked. Claude's eyes widened with shock and he couldn't answer. Erick just sighed and shook his head, getting up to leave the room. However, before he went out, he stopped and looked at Claude.

"I thought so..." Erick said and left Claude with eyes wide and mouth agape.