I do not own the Inheritance Cycle or any of the characters.
Sorry it took so long to update, my computer died and I had to rewrite the chapter then it died again and I had to rewrite it again.
Worst Memory
He was in his bed, clothed, and with a severe hangover but aside from that he was fine. Arya was laying next to him with the empty bottle sleeping soundly.
"Ouch," Eragon said quietly rubbing his head.
Saphira took his hangover away from him then laughed at him.
"Did I do anything stupid?" Eragon asked.
"You got drunk," Saphira said. "You passed out after finishing your half."
Eragon sighed in relief then used a spell to get rid of the hangover Saphira had taken left the tent to get something to eat. After he ate, he went into a field to practice with his sword against Laufin. Laufin seemed to know that Eragon had gotten drunk with Arya because he kept making Eragon spin to try to disorient him.
"I don't have a hangover you know," Eragon finally said.
"Oh," Laufin said.
"How did you know I got drunk anyway?" Eragon asked.
"Simple," Laufin said. "I gave Arya the wine after I found it in Wyrden's tent."
"Oh," Eragon said blocking a stab.
Eragon swung at Laufin's neck but Laufin blocked it and kicked Eragon back. Eragon blocked another stab then pivoted as Laufin stumbled past and tapped him on the neck with his dulled blade.
"I half wish you were still only human," Laufin said.
"I don't," Eragon said. "I love winning."
"Well then you're going to hate me," Arya said walking over. "This time, you lose."
"Why's that?" Eragon asked.
"I have my reasons," Arya said.
"How's your head?" Eragon asked.
"Clear," Arya said. "Yours?"
"Perfect," Eragon said.
Arya drew her sword and swung it at Eragon's side in one fluid motion but Eragon easily blocked it. The moment their swords began to ring, Arya stumbled back covering her ears.
"Still hung over huh?" Eragon asked.
Eragon cured her hangover and she thanked him before attacking him again. This time, she was so fast that Eragon had trouble keeping up. He briefly remembered that she hadn't dulled her sword then the thought went away when she slashed his arm. the cut wasn't bad but it was enough for Eragon to realize she wanted him to stop holding back. He started fighting harder but Arya still outpaced him and continually looked angrier. Finally she tripped him and placed the tip of her blade to his throat.
"You're still holding back," Arya said. "You're completely useless."
"No he's not," Saphira said. "Against anyone else he wouldn't hold back."
"Then why does he against me?" Arya asked.
"When you regain your memories, you will see," Saphira said.
Arya looked confused, then irritated, then stormed off. Eragon stood and healed his injuries then sighed.
"How is her memory progressing?" Islanzadi asked.
"You would have to ask Blodhgarm," Eragon said.
"I asked you," Islanzadi said.
"I don't know," Eragon said. "She still hates me, tried to kill me, and the only things she says to me are how horrible I am at fighting and what a disgrace I am for not trying my hardest to kill her."
"I see," Islanzadi said. "That's about how Blodhgarm described her."
Eragon smirked then climbed onto Saphira.
"Laufin," Eragon said. "Please tell the others that Saphira and I are going for a flight."
"Sure," Laufin said.
Saphira leapt into the air and a moment later, Arya was standing behind Eragon.
"Where are you going?" Arya asked.
"How did you get up here?" Eragon asked.
"Jumped," Arya said. "Answer the question."
"For a flight," Eragon said. "We'll be back in a little while."
"I'm going with you," Arya said.
"Why?" Eragon asked.
"I'm supposed to make sure you stay safe," Arya said.
"Blodhgarm told you that you were in my security detail?" Eragon asked.
"No," Arya said. "That part I remembered. Then my mother told me."
"At least you remember something about me," Eragon said.
Saphira flew toward the west and around Helgrind. Eragon glared at the mountain in disgust and felt Saphira's emotions mirroring his own. Just as they were passing within ten feet of the concealed opening, a Laughing Dead leapt out of it and slashed Saphira's wing. Eragon beheaded him and the body flew past. Saphira tried to steady herself but the wind began to blow and she couldn't withstand it with only one wing. The wind blew them west over the mountains to the peninsula near Teirm.
Saphira crashed down hard and broke her good wing. Arya and Eragon flew into the air and Eragon shielded Arya as they crashed down into the water. Arya pulled him back to the surface and to the shore then tried to heal Saphira's wings. They wouldn't heal with magic, however, so she simply settled for using a spell to reduce Saphira's pain.
"Ow," Eragon said sitting up. "And I thought water was supposed to be safe to land in."
"Depending on your speed," Arya said. "At our speed a normal human would have died."
"Glad I'm not a normal human then," Eragon said.
"As am I," Arya said. "I was afraid I'd have to carry Saphira back all on my own."
"Funny," Eragon said. "She'd be dead. And she can still walk."
"True," Arya said. "But the more energy she uses, the more pain she will be in."
"I can walk," Saphira said standing and folding her wings gingerly.
Arya looked unsure but relented and they began to make their way along the Toark River.
"You should send a message to the others," Eragon told Arya. "They expect us back shortly."
"Good point," Arya said.
She used a spell to make and send a grass boat with a message about what happened. Then they continued. After a few hours, it began to get dark so they stopped and built a pile of wood which Saphira lit for them.
"So, Arya said. "Since Blodhgarm isn't here, you'll have to try to repair my memories. Try not to screw up."
"Repair your memories?" Eragon asked.
"Yes," Arya said. "He spends an hour every night trying to repair my memories."
"Oh," Eragon said. "How?"
"He says that the memories have been shattered and he tries to put them back together," Arya said.
Eragon shrugged and closed his eyes. He carefully reached out to Arya's mind again and this time began looking around. He could find a lot of pieces but had trouble telling what were for which memories. He found a piece of memory containing Saphira and the moment he touched it, it went back to the place it was supposed to be. He smiled and began moving around touching pieces of memory. Some went back into place automatically but most he would have to put back in place manually. After five hours, he finished three memories. One was of an argument with Islanzadi over whether or not Arya could continue being in the Varden. The second was of Arya killing Varaug. The last, was of Arya teaching Eragon to speak the Ancient Language.
Eragon retracted to his own mind and sighed. Arya thanked him but called him slow. Eragon stuck his tongue out at her and she laughed. Then both lay down and went to sleep. The next day, they trained with their swords for an hour then continued east along the river. Saphira complained about not being able to fly but Arya was able to get more than enough meat for her and Eragon was able to get enough edible plants for both himself and Arya.
Every night, Eragon spent a few hours working on Arya's memories. It was tortuously slow progress but they were making some. After five days, they reached the Woadark Lake. They made camp when the sun began to set and Eragon began his job of trying to fix Arya's memories again. So far, she remembered everything about Saphira but that was all he had been able to fix.
This time when Eragon got into her mind, it was more literal. He was standing in an enormous round room with several memories in the form or mirrors with small scenes playing out in them. There were large pieces of mirror laying scattered around the room. After about five minutes of not finding any that went back into place on their own, it was apparent that he would have to fix the rest the hard way. He could see pieces of images in the pieces of mirror and used that to attempt to rebuild the mirrors. Each time a memory went into place, the crack between it and the neighboring piece shone then faded. As he worked, it became apparent that not all of the mirrors were like movies. Some allowed him to feel whatever emotions were tied to a specific person or event.
After around three hours, he finished a mirror and his mind was flooded with mixed emotions pertaining to himself. Among them were pride, friendship, slight annoyance, fear, worry, and, shockingly, love.
Eragon smiled to himself but continued to work and after a short while finished a second. This memory, was of the fairth he had created of her. When she saw it, Eragon could feel pride and love, along with happiness and fear. This time it was more defined. The fear was fear that he would realize how she felt as well as the fear that he would be distracted from his duty as a Rider if he knew how she felt. To avoid this, she smashed the fairth.
Eragon finally withdrew from her mind and noticed that she wouldn't look him in the eye. He didn't say anything and instead lay down to sleep but couldn't. Try as he might, he couldn't make himself tired. Arya just sat there watching him for any reaction to what he had learned. Finally, she lay down and fell asleep. Once she was, Eragon got up and walked over to Saphira and lay against her. Finally, he drifted off to sleep.
That night, he dreamt that he was sitting in a field. Arya was leaning on his shoulder and they were watching their three children playing near the edge of the field.
All too soon, Eragon opened his eyes to see Arya packing up the camp. When she saw that he was awake, she smiled for a moment then her face fell and she went back to packing.
"We should get going," Arya said. "The Varden can't wait forever."
Eragon nodded then stood and walked over. She finished and handed him Brisingr. Eragon thanked her and they began moving. Saphira constantly pestered him to say something but he couldn't think of anything too say. Finally, they stopped for lunch and Arya left to get some food.
"What do you suggest I say?" Eragon asked.
"Little One, I have no idea what you should say," Saphira said. "You're the one who's in love with her, you figure it out."
Eragon thought on it for a long while and when Arya returned, he still didn't have a single idea what to say.
"Arya," Eragon said praying that he would get an idea while talking. "About..."
"Eragon," Arya said. "Please don't. You know what thought went through my head. You know why we can't be together."
"What if we could be?" Eragon asked. "What if I could stop Galbatorix and be with you?"
"Eragon-" Arya began clearly faltering.
"What if I could?" Eragon asked.
Arya stared at the ground for a long while then looked him in the eye.
"You can't," Arya said. "I'm sorry."
Eragon nodded and walked over to Saphira. Arya could almost feel how badly she had hurt him and had a sense of Deja Vu but couldn't remember for certain. Eragon rested one hand on Saphira's side and she pressed her snout into the side of his neck. He ran his hand over the scales on top of her head and smiled.
"I'm sorry," Arya said. "But you're human, whether your body is or not. You can't be with me and stop Galbatorix."
"I know you don't think I can but you're wrong," Eragon said. "If you would give me a chance. I'm sorry for wasting your time."
Eragon walked off and Arya felt even worse. When she was finished preparing their food, she and Saphira ate theirs then Saphira asked if Eragon was planning on coming back.
"If I come back now I'll lose my temper," Eragon said.
"Suit yourself," Saphira said. "He says that we can continue. He will follow."
Arya knew that he was trying to keep his temper under control, and knew it was her fault. She felt terrible but didn't feel like trying to apologize for now. She and Saphira continued and Eragon stayed exactly five miles behind them. Eventually, they stopped for the night and Eragon finally rejoined them.
Arya watched him carefully to see if he was still angry. He seemed to be frustrated but was fairly calm. After they had eaten, Eragon took a deep breath and asked if she wanted him to continue.
"Yes, please," Arya said. "I want to remember everything."
Eragon nodded and entered her mind the same as he had before. He was again standing in the room of mirrors and again he began to put the mirrors back together. After a couple hours, he finished one mirror and both he and Arya felt extreme pain before seeing anything. Then the memory started to play and they saw why.
Memory: Arya's POV
Arya opened her eyes and her body began, again, screaming in pain. This had been going on for weeks. The reason was simple, every bone in her body that wouldn't kill her and could be healed was shattered. The only ones that weren't were her first through fourth vertebrae. She had been making her way through Alagaesia with Saphira's egg and a group of imperial mercenaries had captured her. She had managed to hide the egg but couldn't escape since they meticulously spent exactly three weeks breaking every bone in her body in the most painful way possible to try to get information out of her. She had managed to withstand the pain for the most part but knew she couldn't last much longer.
"Good morning sleeping beauty," one mercenary said. "It's good to see you're awake. Don't suppose you feel like telling us everything you know."
"Go to Hell," Arya said.
"Didn't think so," the mercenary said pulling out a razor blade and a bottle of fluorosulfuric acid. "Last chance."
"Never," Arya said.
The mercenary sighed and cut Arya's arm then poured the fluorosulfuric acid in. The pain was beyond anything she had ever experienced. It was impossible to describe as anything other than something similar to someone trying to use white hot razor wire to remove the muscle and skin from her arm. While she was screaming, he dumped salt into her mouth enough to cover all of the inside of her mouth but not enough for her to vomit. She coughed some back out and regretted it when he pushed a chunk of ice into her mouth and held his hand over her mouth so she couldn't spit it out. She instantly began to get frostbite on ever part of the inside of her mouth. She screamed louder and louder by the second praying for the ice to melt faster but it didn't even begin to. Finally the mercenary removed his hand and she spit the ice out along with a fair amount of blood.
"You know I'm just going to get more creative right?" the mercenary asked.
Arya spit blood into his face and he wiped it away then poured fluorosulfuric acid into her mouth followed by more salt and ice. Arya screamed so loudly that it hurt his ears even though his hand was muffling her scream. Finally he let her spit it out and smiled.
"Just tell me what we want to know and we'll end this," the mercenary said.
"N...no," Arya croaked resisting the urge to scream due to the pain of talking.
"Okay," the mercenary said. "Then I am truly sorry. But now I have to start removing every sense you have except the ability to feel."
He poured more salt into her mouth then placed a larger chunk of ice that she couldn't possibly spit out in then poured in more salt. Arya began screaming louder and louder and it lasted for at least ten minutes until the ice was at long last melted. The mercenary removed his hand and sighed.
"Just tell us where they are and I'll heal you," the mercenary said.
Arya began sobbing and shook her head. The mercenary sighed and felt a pang of sympathy because he knew how bad the next one would hurt. He tilted her head to the side and poured fluorosulfuric acid into her ear then placed a cork into it before doing the same to the other ear. He let her suffer for about ten seconds then removed the corks and washed her ears out before her hearing could be permanently ruined.
"Will you tell me?" the mercenary asked.
Arya continued to sob as her entire body screamed in pain and throbbed between severe and indescribable pain. Finally, she nodded and began to sob harder.
"There there," the mercenary said. "Where are the STARS? Where is the elven Special Tactics And Recon Squad?"
"Thuh uh thuh fahustht uhthide Drath-Leona," Arya struggled to say despite the extensive damage to the inside of her mouth.
"Thank you," the mercenary said then healed her mouth and ears but then created several cuts on, and removed one chunk, from her arm.
He poured salt in some of the cuts and fluorosulfuric acid in the rest. In the gap left by the chunk, he poured salt then placed in a chunk of ice. Then he left while she screamed in agony.
End of Memory
The memory ended and a second mirror fixed itself. This memory was of the only living STARS member, Faolin, being tortured in front of her. The mercenary said it was as an example. Arya somehow managed to get free and snapped the mercenary's neck then freed Faolin before blacking out. When she woke up again, Faolin had killed the other mercenaries and healed her and they were heading back to Ellesmera.
Eragon withdrew from her mind to find her sobbing and shaking. Clearly the pain had been worse for her than for him, and it had been terrible for him. He remembered that she had told him that Faolin had been killed and somehow believed she might remember that as well.
He pulled her into a hug and she sobbed into his shoulder. Eragon gently rocked back and forth running his hands through her hair and tried to comfort her. After about three hours, she was still crying but not as hard as before. He continued to comfort her until she eventually cried herself to sleep. He continued to hold her and run his hand through her hair for a while longer then gently lay her down and sat beside her. He felt horrible for having fixed that memory and considered destroying it again but decided that he didn't know if that was a good idea and decided not to.
"What do I do?" Eragon asked Saphira.
"I have no idea," Saphira said. "Personally I would like to remove those memories altogether but I have no idea what the consequences would be."
Eragon nodded and brushed a strand of hair out of Arya's face. Then he looked around.
"What are you doing?" Saphira asked.
"We could be attacked," Eragon said. "Plus I can't sleep after that memory."
Saphira nodded and lay her head down. Then she closed her eyes and began to sleep peacefully. Eragon stayed awake throughout the night so he didn't fail to notice that Arya was having nightmares about being tortured again. He used a spell to keep her from having anymore nightmares and went back to being on guard duty.
The next day, Eragon was tired but was well rested compared to Arya. She was devastated by her memory but was able to function, barely.
THE END
Read and review. I am debating having her remember all of her memories or only some. Please tell me your opinion. I will take a vote.