Chapter 22: Revelations
Gaia - Midnight
Charley groaned as she rolled onto her side. Looking around at her surroundings, she realized that she must have passed out in the park. Rubbing her neck, she realized that her mother's necklace was missing. Panic coursed through her veins as she looked around in the grass for it and then came to the conclusion that she wasn't wearing her prom dress.
"What happened?" she whispered as her hands began to shake and then something caught her attention on her left finger. It was an unusual ring that she knew didn't belong to her.
"Oh gosh. I need to get home before papa and mom start to worry" she mumbled to herself as she shakily stood up.
Lifting the hem of her new and very elegant dress, she noticed her shoes matched the dress perfectly. As she slowly made her way through the park, Charley noticed that several things were different. She saw that the playground had been upgraded and many benches were added along with many lights. She also noticed a brick pathway and opted to walk on it so not to ruin her shoes.
It was at this point that she noticed a set of bathrooms had also been added. Walking into the women's restroom, she came to stand in front of a mirrored sink. Looking up into the mirror, she noticed her hair was pulled back in a french twist with several long strands hanging along the sides of her face. She barely recognized herself and began to wonder even further as to what was going on.
Walking back outside, she saw a pay phone but, she didn't have any cash on her and was scared to make a collect call but, she needed her father at that moment to help her make sense of everything. Picking up the phone, she made the call to the garage and prayed that he wouldn't be upset with the bill.
"Garage" came the sound of her father's voice on the end.
"Papa" she barely breathed into the speaker.
"Who is this?" he could barely make out the voice but, he could have sworn it was Charley.
"It's me, Papa!" she cried into the speaker.
"Charley! Where are you baby?" his voice was filled with panic and tears at the sound of her voice.
"I'm in the park and I don't know what's going on" she was frightened and shaking as she gripped the phone tightly in her hand.
"Stay right where you are and I'll be there in under ten minutes" he ordered, knowing that Charley was beyond scared at this moment.
"Okay. I'm near these new bathrooms" she stated as she started to sniffle.
"Alright. Stay there" he ordered a second time to make sure she understood what he was telling her. Hanging up the phone, he quickly grabbed the tow truck keys and raced out the door. Luckily, her mother was asleep so, he didn't have to say anything until he got back home.
But, right now, his daughter needed a hero to save her.
He left several black tire tracks as he squealed tires on the pavement, racing along through the late night. He couldn't believe it. His daughter finally found her way home after being gone for four years. Wiping away the tears that were beginning to drip down his cheeks, he could hardly contain his excitement as he finally made it to the park.
Quickly, he jumped from the parked vehicle and made his way over to the bathrooms. Sitting there, on a bench, under the light of the lamp, was a gorgeous young woman, all by herself. He watched as she lifted her head and turned to face him. It was Charley!
"Papa!" she rapidly rose and ran to him.
"Charley! Oh God baby girl! Where have you been?" he wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed into his chest.
"What do you mean? I was walking home from prom and I must have passed out" she said, not sure of anything anymore.
"Charley, sweetie. You've been missing for four years" he said.
P.O.V. - A cave on the outskirts of the city
"Throttle! Throttle" Morgan barked at his friend as he shook him awake.
"What? What the hell just happened?" Throttle asked, realizing that they were no long in the palace.
"Carbine took over the castle. Charley's missing. And right now, it's just you, me, and our bikes in this cave away from the city" he said.
"What? You better start from the beginning because, that was all over the place bro" he was beyond feeling odd. One minute he was asking Charley to be his wife and the next he was waking up in a cave with Morgan.
"Long story short. Carbine and a few of her guards drugged both you and Charley. She had the guards take her someplace. I don't know where as of yet. Melisande, and anyone who sided with you two love birds had been placed under arrest and thrown into the dungeon. Apparently, rumor has it, that the king is really pissed with how Carbine handled Charley. I don't know why on that either. Look dude, I don't know why your dad and Carbine have teamed up with the Plutarkian empire but, we need to find a way to save our people" it was very sobering to finally sit down and explain to Throttle what happened while he was out.
"Wow! Why would they do that? Anything else?" his main concern now was trying to find a way to free his people from slavery.
"Oh! Yeah. Before your mother shoved me into one of the secret passages, she handed these items over to me and told me to hand them over to you" he said, reaching inside his vest and handing over the necklace and the sheet of paper to Throttle.
"Wow! That looks just like Charley" he was astonished at the incredible likeness of the woman in the picture to Charley.
"Her majesty remembered reading about this girl and told me to make sure you got this" he said as he reached over and grabbed two root beers, handing one to Throttle.
"I guess we better locate Charley first and see if she is the one" he hoped that he could find her in time.
"There is another problem" Morgan stated as he opened his drink.
"What is it?" Throttle questioned as he took a long swig from his bottle.
"Carbine, in her infinite wisdom, wiped out part of Charley's memory. As far as I know, Charley won't remember you or ever having been enslaved. She has four years worth of memory that's been completely wiped out" he sadly stated as he looked at Throttle.
"Carbine tampered with her memory!? That's so illegal!" he found it incredible that Carbine would go to such extreme lengths to destroy Charley.
"Yeah. I'm sorry bro" he said.
"Don't worry. I have my memories of her and besides, the procedure isn't one hundred percent effective on any individual due to the fact that some of the memories slip through a person's subconscious" Throttle remembered reading up on how ineffective the procedure was and that it could possibly make some think that they were going insane, hence the reason why it was outlawed years ago.
"Explain. I want to make sure I understand what you're saying" Morgan calmly stated, hoping that there may be a way to find and save Charley.
"Basically putting it, some people will have visions during sleep. Others may see things that aren't really there. And some, may even hear voices. All of these will stem from their missing memories that actually get locked away because, they are never fully erased. They're just dumped into the subconscious area with a temporary lock" Throttle said as he finished his drink.
"Really? So, there might be a chance?" Morgan questioned.
"There's always a chance. Right now, we need to figure out where Carbine could have dumped Charley off at" he said as he stood up and then mounted his bike.
"I'm with you. Should we split up?" he asked, mounting his own bike.
"Yes. We can cover more ground that way. We also need to find out if any Freedom Fighters made it out of the city and gather them up. We're going to need as many able bodies as possible to fight and win back our home" Throttle said as he held out his hand to Morgan.
"Yes sir. I'm with you" Morgan accepted the Prince's hand and gave it a hard shake.
They quickly rode out and each of them went in search of their people and possible information on Charley's whereabouts. Neither of them knowing whether they would succeed.
P.O.V. - The castle
"You sent for me?" Carbine questioned as she stood in front of the king.
"Yes, I did" the king coolly said as he removed his mask and revealed his true Plutarkian self, Lord Camembert.
"What do you need from me, father?" she inquired with a saucy smile.
"I need you to explain to me why you deliberately disobeyed my orders when it came to the human female" he asked, drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair.
"I didn't think you mind me ridding us of that pathetic human. She's worthless. Besides, I removed her memories. When she wakes up, she won't remember a thing" she stated as she looked over at Melisande, who had a chain wrapped around her neck as she sat on the cold marble floor next to Lord Camembert.
"You may beautiful to look at but, you lack common sense. That girl is far from pathetic as you so freely state" he growled as he pulled on Melisande's chain, causing her to cough.
"I don't understand. Why is she so important? You only informed me that I had to marry Prince Throttle to secure the kingdom. You never bothered to mention anything about Charley" she was infuriated that no one trusted her with any information.
"Because, I needed her to marry your half-brother and secure the kingdom of Gaia" he bellowed.
"Why are you doing this Carbine?" Melisande finally spoke up. She had had enough of being kept in the dark.
"Well, my beautiful wife, I will tell you exactly what happened and why" he pulled her chain up, bringing her to face him.
"You're not my husband. You disgust me" she would do everything she could to to show her disdain.
"Oh. I am your husband and I'm going to tell you the story of how it all happened. You see, once upon a time, there was a king whom you were supposed to marry but, I took him out of the equation and took you for my own. Little did I realize at the time that you were already pregnant with that rebel's bastard child and not my own. But, as soon as young Throttle was born, I figured it out. Since he wasn't my own flesh and blood, and I had a daughter from another relationship, I figured that the two of them could wed without any issues and thereby secure my legacy" he began to tell Melisande.
"Then, lo and behold, just my luck, Charley appears up at the palace. I had hoped that you wouldn't be smart enough to figure it out. But, you did. Charley is the Queen of Gaia. You see, I also have a son as well that I was planning on wedding off to her several years but, he's an idiot when it comes to the the greater good of our people. But, being that my sweet prodigy erased her memories of the past four years, I may get a second chance to repair the damages that were done" he finished stated.
"You sick and twisted troglodyte. I'll see you both hanged for this" Melisande had no problems airing out her grievances to a false king.
"I doubt that" he said, pulling the struggling queen closer to him, forcing her to accept his hand stroking her face.
"LIMBURGER!" the king yelled.
"Yes, your melodious one. You bellowed?" questioned a Plutarkian guard as he entered the throne room and made a deep bow before the king.
"I did. Contact my son in Gaia. Tell him to move forward with my original plan. Seek out and woo Charley and then marry her as I had originally ordered" Camembert barked.
"Yes sire. As you wish" he said, bowing once more and then exiting the room.
"Where's the real Carbine?" Melisande finally put it together that the fake one was wearing a mask.
"She's also safe and sound but, not here" Camembert stated, shoving the queen back down to the floor.
P.O.V. Gaia - Limburger Tower
"My father wants me to do what again?" came the voice of Jack McCyber as he sat down on one of the over-sized chairs in the meeting room and then looked out the window.
"Charley's home. He wants you to go court Charley and marry her with due haste" came the sound of Limburger's voice.
"Charley's back in town. Look, she doesn't like me like that" Jack said as he watched the clouds roll by the window.
"He says it doesn't matter. Your sister erased her memories of the last four years, so there will be no problem. Also, you will obey his order and do as you are told" Limburger bellowed before slamming the phone down on the hook, effectively terminated the conversation.
"Is there a problem, sir?" came the sweet voice of a young, gray furred, black haired mouse as she placed a tray of doughnuts and coffee onto the table.
"Yes, Carbine, there is a problem" he sighed, heavily, as he stood up and came to stand behind the young female. Wrapping his arms around Carbine's shoulders, he inhaled her feminine scent and kissed her cheek. He had already fallen head over heels in love with her and didn't want to be a part of his father's schemes.
Carbine had been kidnapped and enslaved when she was seventeen. Lord Camembert said it was important that Jack's sister took her place and secure their future within the kingdom. His father had been the first male to be intimate with the true princess. He used and tossed the girl out like she was no more than a piece of trash. He told Jack, a couple of months ago, that he could have her for fun and, within minutes of meeting Carbine, Jack fell in love with her and wanted to be with no one else. He apologized for his father's mistreatment of her and promised her that he would treat her like the princess he felt as though she was. He later learned that she was a real princess who had been taken from her home and replaced with his sister. When Jack questioned his father about it, Lord Camembert didn't deny any of it.
"What is it?" she asked as she placed a hand on his arm.
"It appears Charley's back in town and father wants me to resume his mission. It's not what I what I want to do" he said, kissing he cheek as he felt the warmth of his hand on his arm.
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
"I'm going to do the right thing for all of us" he resolved to go against his own kind and fight for what was right, even if it meant going against his father.
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I finally am able to get back onto writing on a more frequent basis and hopefully will be able to post more chapters at a faster rate. If anyone has any questions, comments, concerns, or something that you would like to see in the upcoming chapters, please feel free to let me know. Many CYBER HUGS to all readers and reviewers.