Disclaimer; I own nothing, am poor and have been signed up to a beginners swimming course even though I can swim…

Chapter 12: Memories, dance and not so heartless
Ally's POV:

Evening had come quickly, and Zar-Nas had quickly made sure that both Kalina and I had gone to bed upstairs, saying that she too would come up soon enough, the boys were going to sleep in the cellar or something like that… basement I think they called it here.

Telling Kalina I was tired seemed to work, as I heard her breathing come heavier, more time in between each breath, showing that she already was asleep, soon afterwards Zar-Nas too came, also falling asleep within minutes, while I continued to have problems, yes, sure I was tired, but I really wanted to know what had happened. I'd already seen Kalina seem to recognize my clothing and my accent, as I'd recognized her from England, vaguely remembering something in the paper about a 16 year old English girl's disappearance a few weeks before I arrived… but perhaps that was simply a coincidence.

'You don't believe in coincidence's though, you haven't since you were a child' the stupid voice in my head commented, in a weird all knowing way.

'Shut up'

'Ooh… touchy subject, I know though Ally, I saw it all, especially while you were unconscious, I saw everything that's happened, even things that you've forgotten… what happened when you disappeared… or should I say when you were murdered?'

'What?' I questioned the voice's sanity now, honestly, I was or rather am still alive, I think I'd notice if I wasn't!

'Well… don't feel so bad, you're not the only one… it took me a while to figure it out, but after I saw what happened to you… your brother… that reminded me of what happened to me a few days after what happened to you, I remembered, and that's what helped me piece it all together' the voice, which was now developing an American accent said.

'So, what happened to us all Mr. Wise guy?' sarcasm, have I mentioned it's my best friend yet? Or at least one of my many close friends.

'I can let you remember if you want, perhaps then you'll understand why all of you forget… or rather why all of us forget'

'I think I can handle it'

'Alright then' he said, sounding sympathetic for once.

~Flashback~

I was watching everything that had happened shortly before I lost consciousness replay in my mind again, watching it all from my perspective, knowing that something would be different this time, though I felt the same annoyance, anger, the slight dizziness from the tension, the adrenaline from the fight.

"I said you could borrow it, now leave before I break your nose again" I felt myself sitting back down at my computer, rather lazily I guess, knowing that mum was meaning well after I'd told her I'd like to be a model, gymnast or dancer when I was older, so she was trying to put me on an exercise regime and a relatively loose, yet still somewhat helpful diet.

I continued playing from the last save point, annoyed as I realised this was the point in the game where Lucien was about to die, none of the cheats could change that… and he always was my favourite NPC…

I felt a blow to the back of my head, causing me to feel dizzy, though not enough to actually knock me out.

"Ally!" my brothers voice echoed through the hall, turning quickly I saw a man behind me, black clothes, and what looked like a black towel covering his face. David's face was a bloody mess, his nose looking broken… that man was going to get it! That was job, just as no one other than David was allowed to tease me. Sure, we seemed to hate each other with a burning passion, and yet he'd still protect me if the situation called for it, as it was know that he was fighting a man armed with a knife, and David simply with his fists.

Petrified I watched the fight, control of my own body seemingly gone as at moments my brother twitched violently.

"Run" he ordered, not bothering to look back to see if I was following his instructions.

Taking a moment, I managed to grab my bag which I was packing to go to a friend's place later on, placing my sketchbook in it as I knew pencils were already in it, as were most of my clothes. Sprinting, I tried to go around the fight, out of reach of the man wearing that towel thing, which might I say looked rather odd.

He lashed out suddenly, a stabbing pain in my back, staying there even as what hit me was removed, the little knife that he was holding. Ignoring it I ran, jumping out of the bathroom window as I had many times in the past when I was grounded, though I never expected it might save my life.

I ran, straight into a forest, following a route I also used often when I was grounded, to get away from home, a route which I found was the quickest way through the forest.

Unless that man was an awfully good tracker, he wouldn't be able to find me if I got out the other side, my brother would hold him up for at least 5 minutes I hoped, which would give me the advantage, I knew my way around, he'd have to stop to make sure he was following my trail properly. The wound in my back wasn't helping, but somehow I knew that it was the adrenaline of the chase that kept me going, a sort of instinct kicked in and for the first time, I felt what self preservation was on about, I felt that it wasn't simply a load of rubbish designed to make us feel better about ourselves if we ever got into any trouble or anything like that.

I broke out in a small clearing, a half-way mark, I'd stop here, I knew there was a tree house that was quite well concealed, stocked up with food every week by my parents in case my brother and I got into a fight and needed some space.

Climbing up was painful, but there I was, climbing the tree dropping into the 'nest', and it really was like a large nest, to me at least.

It was a home away from home.

Suddenly I saw the ground rushing up to my face after my legs gave out from underneath me. Finding the last amount of strength, I pulled myself onto the small bed, hidden in a closet, barely registering all the blood that now resided in the cubby house.

My parents weren't at home though, so they'd be safe, that was one good thing. They might come and find me here after they found my brother at home, most likely dead seeing as the way the fight looked as I left.

A strangled sob escaped my throat, my brother couldn't be dead. I wouldn't ever admit it but I truly needed him.

Unaware of how long had passed I couldn't find the energy to move, fighting against something that I didn't know what, do you know how hard it is?

All the energy was draining out of my body, and I tried to fight it, both mentally and physically, forcing myself to twitch as I lay there.

Then I found a blissful darkness, which didn't seem to go away. After a while of trying to wake up I managed to feel things.

A strange coldness and pain that filled my whole body; eventually opening my eyes to the sight of stone walls and floors of a dungeon I remember from not too long ago...

~End Flashback~

'You're death was in the news a couple of days afterwards, your brother was found immediately still being in the house' the voice said, a new image flashing into my mind, this time the beginning of the evening news that I tried to find all sorts of excuses so that I wouldn't have to watch it.

"We now come to the brutal murders of two young teenagers, David and Ally Valdez, two twins from Adelaide" the person went on, thankfully not giving pictures of any of the details that I'd seen from my memory.

And yes, David and I are actually twins… close at one point in time, but ever since he became friends with more popular kids as I already was, we've had our differences in opinions, surprising as how close we were until about… a year ago actually.

Suddenly something felt missing, a sunken feeling in my stomach. David and I had never been apart for this long, and now I'd possibly lost him.

I'd possibly lost my own twin as a permanent thing.

All the times where instead of a conscience like now I had a link with my brother instead, always being able to feel what he felt and hear what he thought, not having to speak up for myself and not simply being judged on my opinion.

For once, I missed my brother, and I missed him bad; it was like a sort of feeling of homesickness, only that for a person.

"So that's what happened" I whispered aloud, thanking the fact that Kalina seemed to be a heavy sleeper.

'… now you know as well, I have a theory though, it happened to me to, but I simply let it happen, only putting up a mental fight and I landed up in you're head, you put up both, so you have your own mind and your body…'

'So my brother could be in Cyrodiil'

'Or Tamriel' the voice stated helpfully, whilst I thought of a way of finding my brother, if I ended up in the dungeons it meant I was taking the 'heroic' path in the game… David on the other hand wouldn't know about any of this, and I had no clue where to look first as I was trying to avoid Imperial city.

Then I thought about the guild that my brother joined in all the games.

'But he wouldn't in real life would he?'

'Depends on his situation, both of you arrived without money' the voice stated, apparently meaning well. 'Only he also arrived with the memory of defending you, though without clothes, without anything he loved, you had your sketch book, and a great clue to where you were when you can, and immediately found out it wasn't simply your imagination playing games on you'

'Goodnight then…'

'Matt, Matthew Johnstone'

'Alright then Matt, but this defeats your argument of you saying you're me' I said, hoping that that would be the end of your conversation. I really needed some sleep, especially as part of me living here was that I to earn money, though I only have to give up about 10% of what I earn to go towards food for all of us while I live here, brilliant if I earn less than 3 gold now isn't it? Then there's one gold per day that I have to give in for food.

Not to mention I'd still have to try and find my brother, and then deliver the amulet to Weynon Priory before sacrificing myself to try and convince Martin that he's the stupid Emperor's son, all whilst avoiding the Imperial City and hoping that Padfoot doesn't buy himself a map.

No, that was really hoping for too much, I was going to die, that or possibly be found by the thieves guild, and soon!

Eh… the law was still on my side; I hope.

'I'm your conscience though, I know everything' Matt said mysteriously, and I couldn't be bothered to argue!

The next morning came quickly, partially because I woke at dawn, as seemingly everyone who lived in this house did, except Kalina… and nobody bothered to wake her up!

Instead they seemed to avoid her as much as possible, trying their best not to wake her up. Apparently she wasn't a morning person… and nobody wanted to be the one with the job of waking her up, so they decided, who cares if she gets up? She usually works in the afternoons anyway, so she can just sleep that little bit longer.

Myself, I'd come up with a bit of a plan to earn some money. Having learnt ballet and lyrical basically all my life, as well as a small amount of work on hip hop and ball room dancing, I'd use that to my advantage.

So I pulled my bag out, forcing myself out of the warm night gown I was given to sleep in, and then into the freezing leotard, which definitely didn't help my legs. Putting on my white tutu (which can sometimes be embarrassing) and then my ballet shoes; tying my hair up in an extremely tight bun, grabbing my bag and then walking out onto the streets at about 8:30.

I was freezing, but nevertheless I forced myself to do the routine warm ups that always bugged me to no end. Imagining the music to my latest routine I started, making sure to focus on my quadruple pirouettes, different leaps and bends. All the while trying to keep the slowly growing crowd focused, a few of them throwing a bit of money into a small bag I'd had previously stolen for me by Padfoot, thankfully none of the guards noticed like they did in the games.

In fact, I even ended up with some guards giving some money, which I found quite amusing, until I needed a break, feeling like I'd just been in one of those dance workshops which go for hours and hours.

I find them pathetic and pointless at times, I really do!

But now, just considering that it was quite often the guards that stopped people stealing my bag of money, which wasn't a lot but still a bit and they were often the ones that were more… generous in what they gave, I guess I couldn't call them heartless monsters, although some of them really seem as though they are.