Carpathia III: Episode 109: Slices of Life
Volcano, Inn
Ryuu suddenly became very busy in the last few hours. After everyone realized what he could do, many asked him to take some of their memories to share with others. None, however, were interested in the comprehesnive memory sharing that Jaze requested. Kaoru and Zet wished to share with Quilyon, Reuli, and Wolfram their path to rescue and, conversely, Quilyon and Reuli shared their ordeal of having been kidnapped. Kagurain shared bits of his memories of his life on the island, mostly so that he could remember himself. The system eventually quickly became so convoluted that Ryuu had to keep a memo pad to keep track of who had permission to see whose memories.
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Jaze and Ryuu
Jaze quietly knocked on the door of Ryuu's room and entered. There, he found Ryuu laying on his back on a bed, his head propped up on a pillow, reading Kaoru's book, Peter Pan and Wendy. Smiling at the scene, Jaze thought that the image could only have been cuter if Ryuu had been wearing a little pair of glasses.
Ryuu: Hi, Jaze.
Jaze: You're reading a book?
Ryuu closed his book and laid it to the side.
Ryuu: After reading so many memories, I thought I'd like to take in a story a little more slowly.
Jaze shuffled to the bed and sat on the end.
Jaze: You remember the blind angel from my memories?
Ryuu flopped over on his feet and trotted over to Jaze, sitting next to him.
Ryuu: You mean Hades? Yeah, I remember him.
Not only did Ryuu answer the question he was about to ask, but he was stunned into silence for a few seconds by the identity of the angel.
Jaze: Hades? You mean... the Hades?
Ryuu: I've seen some of your popular fiction on him. Don't believe what you read. Hades is a nice guy. Always has been. It's terrible that he's been locked away for so long. The dragons have been wondering where he went.
Jaze now started to wonder how much of what he thought he knew was actually real and how much was fiction.
Jaze: Obviously, you know a lot more about things than any of us thought.
Ryuu: That is true. Don't expect me to tell you too much, though. I might get in trouble for sharing as much as I already have without permission. That is... if we ever meet more dragons again.
Jaze took a deep breath as he thought more about what he has already seen and struggled to make sense of everything.
Jaze: Honestly, I think I have enough to sort out as it is.
Ryuu reached for the book again but stopped when his paw reached the cover. Sighing heavily, he spoke again.
Ryuu: Honestly, I was reading to distract myself. I can't help but wonder if there were any other devils that we missed back in the Dragon Wars. The planet was destroyed, so we couldn't check. From the memories, I'm sure Lucifer, Nibelakul, Leviathan, and several thousand others are surely dead. There are, unfortunately, about two dozen that I can't be sure of. I'm a little worried about Aionaptara and Lazmaedia. I'm not sure about them and they were really nasty.
Jaze felt a twinge of panic rise within him.
Jaze: You don't think...
Suddenly, Ryuu clasped his paws over his mouth.
Ryuu: I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say that out loud! Don't worry. I'm at least sure they're not working with Wishmaster. He only got on with Lucifer and he's dead. Even the other devils couldn't stand to be around him.
Jaze sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.
Jaze: Great. Of all the nightmares I have to encounter, it's the one that even the other nightmares don't like.
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Adell and Artemis
Adell laid flat on his back, entirely disinterested in Artemis, who was on his hands and knees over him. Artemis grimaced, wondering why Adell wasn't paying attention to him.
Artemis: Okay, what is it?
Adell put his arm over his eyes and sighed heavily.
Adell: I was thinking about Mitani.
Artemis leaned back until he was sitting over Adell's feet.
Artemis: I'm sorry. It was a lot of information and I'm still trying to make sense of it all. I forgot about Mitani.
Adell sat up and scooted backward until his back and head were propped up against the headboard.
Adell: I know we broke up and everything, but nobody deserves what happened to him. I'm just not sure how I feel about everything.
Artemis leaned forward until he was laying on top of Adell and wrapped his arms around his waist.
Artemis: Dealing with Wishmaster... I might have ended up just like him.
Adell smiled sadly as he ran his fingers through Artemis's hair.
Adell: Me too.
Artemis and Adell remained where they were in silence. With nothing more to be said, Adell took comfort in Artemis and continued running his fingers through his hair.
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Kaoru, Quilyon, Reuli, and Zet
Kaoru put his arm around Quilyon's shoulder as she perched upon her bed with her arms wrapped around her legs. Zet and Reuli huddled in close as well.
Quilyon: I can't believe Aunt Nita is gone. I never even got a chance to meet her.
Kaoru pulled Quilyon even tighter against his body and rubbed her back.
Quilyon: At least... with Jaze's memories, I feel like I had a chance to know her.
Reuli: Are we still gonna go there?
It was a question that none had considered consciously, though now that Reuli said it, the others considered the idea more deeply.
Zet: It seems like a place with good people, despite everything.
Quilyon almost imperceptibly nodded.
Kaoru: There's still Jacob and Roose there, along with everyone else. It's not that different from where we came from.
Reuli: I wanna meet Aten.
Quilyon: I guess they'll need help rebuilding.
Quilyon rubbed her nose and sniffled as she looked over at Kaoru.
Quilyon: And you... I know you told me the story, but you really were like some kind of crazy person when you were coming to find me.
Kaoru nervously scratched the back of his head while Quilyon turned her attention to Zet.
Quilyon: Zet, thanks for keeping him under control.
Quilyon smiled softly, now thinking of more of Kaoru's and Zet's memories that Ryuu shared with her rather than Nita.
Zet: We worked well together. Kaoru was determined to get to you and Kaut and I were determined that he make it there in one piece.
Kaoru: We have a good group right now, don't we? I think we can all work well together.
As soon as Kaoru said "group," Reuli's head darted around, scanning the room.
Reuli: By the way, where's Wuffie?
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Wolfram and Kagurain
Wolfram sat on the edge of his bed, alone, lost in his own thoughts. He chose not to share his own memories, but seeing Reuli's confirmed what he had been thinking. Reuli is a friend, a very good friend, even a brother, but he was now certain that's the way it would always be. Any hope of anything more was dashed. Lost as he was in his own head, he was startled when Kagurain suddenly popped up from behind the footboard.
Kagurain: Hiya!
Wolfram jumped and nearly fell off of the bed.
Wolfram: Ack!
Kagurain's ears immediately flattened on the sides of his head as Wolfram regained his composure.
Kagurain: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.
For a moment, Wolfram was angry that Kagurain interrupted his private moment, but he found that he couldn't remain that way. Kagurain also shared some of his memories of being alone on the island and Wolfram knew that Kagurain had no idea how to greet a person. The anger quickly subsided and was replaced with intrigue as he watched Kagurain crawl, cat-like, over the footboard and onto the bed next to him, his tail swirling excitedly behind him.
Kagurain: I know I'm... different. I don't get other people too good. I know that now. Seeing all the memories made me know that. But you didn't show any memories. I want to know you more.
More intrigued now, Wolfram turned and studied Kagurain's earnest face. Slowly, subconsciously, Wolfram's eyes drifted downward, to Kagurain's chest and arms, scarred from trauma that he chose not to share in his memories. Once Wolfram's eyes finally arrived at Kagurain's belt, he suddenly realized what he was doing and his head popped up again and he turned his gaze to the wall, gripping the bed with sweaty palms. Kagurain tilted his head from side to side, unknowing of what had just transpired.
Wolfram: I guess I just didn't feel like sharing memories.
Kagurain held his head low and began to scoot away.
Kagurain: That's okay. I can leave.
Suddenly alarmed, Wolfram turned to Kagurain again.
Wolfram: No, wait!
Kagurain stopped and gave Wolfram a doe-eyed stare.
Wolfram: I'd rather not be alone.
Smiling, Kagurain scooted forward again until he was nearly close enough to touch him.
Kagurain: We can be alone together!
Before he could stop himself, Wolfram let out a chortle.
Wolfram: Heh. I don't think that's how it works.
Looking down, Wolfram noticed that Kagurain's hand was within his reach. Slowly he reached over and, just before he made contact, a tiny spark bridged the gap between their hands for a split second. Surprised, Wolfram and Kagurain both quickly pulled back their hands.
Wolfram: What was that?
Kagurain held up both of his hands in front of his face and watched in awe as tiny arcs of electricity jumped between his fingertips.
Kagurain: I... I don't know.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
Miyumon
Atomic Clover
Thatwildmary
Iniphineas
Mountainlaurelarts
All city pictures from SimCity 4
