Chapter 3

A tiny spirit materialized from a peculiar looking book and drifted over to a sleeping figure. He floated above her face and watched her steady breathing. The girl looked rather blissful and his expression displayed a sort of relief.

A moment later he was standing tall by the foot of her bed. He pulled up a chair at her bedside and gingerly pushed away a few loose strands of chestnut hair. The brunette stirred slightly and rolled over to his side. She opened her eyes and reached out to him; gently brushing a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry for waking you."

"What's the matter?" She whispered softly. Her hand fell from his hair and cupped the side of his face. A thumb brushed the cool metal of his shackles.

"Do you ever wonder," She asked in a low voice, "What this world looks like?"

Tia woke up startled and sat up on her bed; looking around her room. Everything was where they were supposed to be.

Until she noticed a large breathing lump beside her.

"Kya-"She screamed.

She kicked it off her bed and sent it flying to the other side of the room. The 'thing' turned out to be Rempo, who landed on the other bed with a loud creak. The bed wobbled slightly and the legs soon gave out; crashing the frame to the floor with an accompanied boom.

"W-What are you doing here?! " She cried out, "I-I thought I sent you home!"

"You never said anything to me."

"That doesn't give you any right to come into my bed and- and…" She trailed off, "Wait." She lifted the covers and examined her clothes; she wore white sleeping shorts and a black tank top, "Did you do something to me?"

"I changed your clothes."

"Eh?!"

"You never liked to wear dirty clothes to bed, so I changed it for you."

"Nobody asked you!"

"I just did you a favor!"

"Being changed by a… pervert is a favor?!" She sputtered.

She ran up to the bed and grabbed his shirt sleeve.

"H-Hey! What are you doing?!"

She dragged him outside her bedroom to the living room, "Sending a bad dog in his proper place," She threw him onto the couch, "Outside!" She marched back into her bedroom and slammed it shut.

She walked over to her bedside table and grabbed her cell phone. She flipped it up and checked the time.

It read '5:30 A.M.'.

"Rempo! We're leaving in thirty minutes!" She called out crossly.

"School doesn't start until seven though." He groaned through the door.

"Have you been thinking like that for the past two years?! It starts at six!" She stated, "No wonder you're always an hour late to class."

Instead of going up the flight of stairs, Tia took a sharp turn down the corridor to the library.

"Tia, where are you going?"

"I'm getting a tutor of sorts today. Ms. Nanai suggested that I get a 'one-on-one' education."

Rempo rolled his eyes and followed after her, "Whatever the hell that means."

Tia found herself with Rempo at the library; browsing the books with a pager around her neck. She felt like a pet waiting to be adopted. She patiently waited at the table and watched the countless amounts of people pass in and out through the doors.

Rhoan Academy had a huge library; bookshelves lined up along every wall and crevice with ladders stretching from the bottom to the top of their shelves. It was simply amazing. The paintings of the new world peppered the dome shaped ceiling and the spiral staircases leading to the second floor of countless books.

Abruptly, her pager went off; alarming and sending her into a rather tall figure.

"O-Oi Tia, watch where you're going!" Rempo pulled her away and faced the person; only to be surprised,"Ur?"

Tia took the rumbling pager off her neck and fumbled to find the off button. Ur approached her and gently took it from her hands; shutting it off for her. He placed the pager back in her hands and took out his own from his blazer. She watched him turn his off as he placed it into his bag.

"I appreciate it." She thanked him quietly.

He reached out and ruffled her hair a bit, "No problem."

Rempo slid between the two and declared loudly, "Don't you be leaving me out!"

A handful of students around them sent piercing glares in their direction. Embarrassed, Tia hit him in the stomach.

"Damn it, Tia! Quit it!"

"You quit it!" She pulled him to her and hissed harshly into his ear, "This is a library, stupid!"

"I'm your tutor."

They sat around a round, wooden table with their bags down on the floor. Rempo popped a fresh piece of gum into his mouth and Tia gawked at Ur in disbelief.

"That can't be-"She gasped, "You're a student."

"Because this bastard is a smartass; he'll be tutoring you for the next two years," Rempo explained, "In replace of the old hag."

"Better than being a dumbass!" Tia stuck her tongue at Rempo,"And I told you she's twenty two!"

Blown away by her speech, Ur chided them both, "You two, hold your tongue." He gave a dissatisfying glance at Tia as he addressed his fiery tempered companion, "Rempo, you've finally influenced her. That's not something to be proud of."

A signature click of irritation from his tongue was heard in reply and Ur emitted a chuckle.

"Sorry," She apologized, "I need to control it."

"It's no problem," He said warmly, "But I do find it… odd."

"I know. It's been only recently since she started acting all abusive towards me." Rempo gave out a nervous laugh.

Ur placed a hand on his chin, "I do remember you suggesting …"

Their conversation drew on and on to the point where Tia could only watch their lips move; the rest was just silence. And all these references from a time she couldn't recall made her increasingly agitated. She started to feel bitter and left out. She finally found out how much she was actually missing and how valuable the memories were to her. She felt like it went beyond missing memories.

"Tia?" Two voices resounded in ears in unison. Rempo and Ur observed her worriedly as she placed her palms on her eyes. Two pairs of eyes widened once they caught sight of tears flowing from them slowly.

What she said threw them off even more, "I thought losing memories was fine 'Hey, I'll just get them back later or make new ones' was what I thought these past two days, but I think I lost myself."

The library continued up and about and nobody paid any attention to the weeping girl or their table. She removed her palms and tilted her sore eyes to the ceiling of the library. Nostalgia found its way back into her.

Tia then asked to no one in particular as she narrowed her eyes,"Why do I feel this way?"

"That page…" A voice said in front of her.

They were in a strange room; almost like a dungeon. They were atop a circular platform surrounded by a ring of water. She showed a page to the spirit standing high in front of her. A blotted out photo of a dark, purple haired boy was shown at the very top and below it were dark brown patches that splotched over words she was once able to read many times before.

"I see." He took the page and examined it and continued, "You lost someone dear to you during the chaos."

Tia observed the Ur in front her. His flaxen hair was kept the same way, but his appearance was otherworldly. He wore a sort of sleeveless armor with a pattern similar to the partial one on the cover of the book she held. A strange shackle ran through his eyes. His expression couldn't be read, but the atmosphere grew heavy and pained as he scanned the sheet. His gloved hands handed back the page and she shook of the feeling she had as she took it from him.

"Normally, when you Code Scan," He stated, "You only absorb its information."

"But in the chaos, he was sucked in alive…" She added.

"This has never happened before," Ur ran a hand through his hair, his shackles making a small chiming noise and admitted, "I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do about it."

Tia's grey eyes stared down at her feet and watched her tears wet the stone platform. Inside, she wanted herself to stop, but she wasn't capable of controlling any of actions. It was as if someone placed herself inside someone who posed as her and was truly forced to believe that she was watching herself.

"Tia?" His voice asked worriedly.

"I won't give up." She looked up at him and said confidently with all the anxiety in her face washed away in an instant, "I need to get it back to its original power,"

"A miracle may happen and he's depending on it." She slipped the loose page back into the book and whispered to herself, "I'm depending on it."

She looked back up at him and found an uncharacteristic frown that formed upon his features.

Her eyes snapped open and she sat up from… a bed? A throbbing pain occurred around her head and put a hand to her brow.

She scanned her surroundings; white tile flooring and a set of pasty colored curtains bordered her perimeter. It reminded her of the hospital all over again. "Is anyone here?" she called out. The clacking sound of footsteps grew closer and a shadow of a figure became visible on the sheet of curtains in front of her.

" Ur?" She asked.

Rempo drew the curtain with a grin, "And the amazing Rempo."

Ur revealed himself and seated himself in a chair beside the bed, "You passed out."

"Oh no…" she muttered to herself, "This is embarrassing."

"Don't worry about it," he lightly reassured, "How are you feeling?"

"Much better." Tia gingerly massaged the delicate skin of her forehead and assured him.

This whole setting reminded her of the time he came to visit her at the hospital. She took a deep breath and faced him sincerely, "Can you tell me who you are?"

His expression remained unchanged as he asked with light suspicion, "Why?"

She gazed at Rempo's desperate face, which was silently pleading for her not to address the subject he knew she was going to bring up.

"I don't know you," She stammered truthfully, "Or I think I've forgotten you…"

A/N: Still don't own Avalon Code.