When All Was Lost...
Chapter Three
3
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Akarii groaned as her eyes slowly opened to the room around her...
"Good to see you waking up..." a familiar voice spoke softly from a chair beside her.
"Akiza?" she grunted as she struggled to sit herself up, "This is..."
"The Arcadia Movement." Akiza reminded, "Welcome home, Akarii."

Home...

That's what she calls it...

But...

Akarii was certainly not on mutual wavelengths with that thought.

"How did I get back here?" she ask softly.
"You don't remember much of anything that happened, do you?" asked Akiza, "...Some girl dragged your unconscious body back here and Sayer took care of the rest." she said softly, "Apparently...you had some kind of break down...and wound up passing out, or something...How are you feeling now?"
"Like I got hit by a freight train..." Akarii groaned.
"Do you remember anything at all?" Akiza asked curiously.
"I think...I was dreaming again." she said softly.
"Really?" Akiza blinked, "About what?"
"People." she said point blankly, "Familiar ones."
"Really? Friends of yours? Family?"
"Hard to say..." Akarii said softly, "I'm not really sure but..."
"But what?" Akiza probed, her brown eyes were focused and curious upon her.
"All I really know is...that when I saw them...my heart hurt." she said softly.
"I see..." said Akiza, "Well...there's no need to worry about them anymore." she stated, "Obviously whoever they were, they hurt you before right?"
"What? Well I...I don't know...Maybe?"

But...that didn't sound quite right...

"We're your family now, Akarii." said Akiza, " This is your home...and so long as you're here...they can't hurt you anymore...No one will."
"Right..." Akarii said softly.
She doesn't tell Akiza this, but she has already been having her doubts about this place too...
"Come on, Akarii...you should eat." she said softly, "The truth is you've been out for a few days so I imagine you must be hungry, and you need to get your strength up."
Come to think of it, Akarii's stomach really did hurt, and it gave a loud growl to confirm this few day old hunger, arousing a chuckle from Akiza.
"Come on..." she said softly, "Let's get to the cafeteria."
xxx

Lunch was rather peaceful.

The courtyard had some nice gardens around it, which was why Akiza liked eating out there.

Though it was gated.

You could still see some of the outside world here...and as long as Akarii looked to the sky, then she didn't feel so trapped behind bars...

Like a bird in a guilded cage.

Black birds flew and scattered into the skies as Akarii zoned out, focusing on them.

"Crow..."...she whispered the word softly.
Something about saying it gave her a wave of peace some how...
Did she perhaps like this particular bird for some reason...?
...Is it...someone's name, maybe?

"Akarii." Sayer's voice cut through the silence, startling her out of her zone and pulling her attention to him, "Happy to see you up and about again." he said softly, "You gave us quite the scare when that girl dragged your body back home to us."
"I'm sorry, Sayer." she responded softly, "I don't know what happened."
"You don't?" Sayer questioned, "You can't remember anything at all?" he began to probe...

"Anyone you met? Anything you saw...?"
"I...mean aside from that girl I'm not..." she paused, pondering.

Scowering her memory for anything significant about her last mission...
She remembered...
Jack Atlas...
she thought to herself.
She remembered...
"The sky..." she said softly.
"The sky?" Sayer asked, "What about it? Something you saw in the sky? Akarii?" he was probing her once more for answers... For more information...

He was searching for somethng significant...

She could feel him.

Slowly running his fingers through her mind...
Figuratively speaking.
He was trying to find...something...
And it was making her uneasy...reluctantly though...she fell further...and further...until...

That Dragon!
There was a dragon in the sky-
Could this be what Sayer might be searching her for!?

"Akarii?" Sayer's voice snapped her back from her memory once more- Amber eyes wide and darkened looking over at him- before gradually re-focusing...
She couldn't peg why...she just knew...for whatever reason-

She couldn't tell him about it.
Sheshouldn'ttell him about it...

"...Nothing...that's it." she lied, "Maybe there was a storm...it did rain so...that's all. I'm sorry, Sayer."
Sayer's eyes narrowed.

A look of doubt danced in his eyes, but she didn't falter from her resolve.

This was her story...and she was sticking to it.

"No need to apologize, Akarii..." he said softly, "You had quite a day...you did well." he hummed, "You deserve to rest." He smiled at her...and gently placed a palm flat to her head.
An affectionate gesture from the outside-
But it brought shivers down Akarii's spine.

Sayer knew she was lying...
And she knew that he knew that she knew...

"Be sure to get plenty of rest..." he said to her softly, retracting his hand and folding it behind his back, "After all..;I still have plenty of use for you..."
And with that...he walked away.
xxx

Sayer wandered into his observation room...a small space where he could watch the monitors of all that goes on, caught on his many security cameras around The Arcadia Movement.
"What do you think, Sayer?" one of his assistants questioned him while focusing on the one he had on Akarii, making her way alongside Akiza back to their room.
"Yes..." Sayer said softly, "She definitely has connections to The Crimson Dragon..." he stated, "Keep eyes on her...for sure." he commanded softly, "I have a feeling that Akarii and her unique skillset and pecuiliar connections will prove more than useful for us and our cause..."

To Be Continued...