Chương 16: Memories

Tiber's screaming and seizing suddenly stopped. A gorgeous torrent of mana came from the woman's hands as she circulated mana in intricate patterns around Tiber. It was hard to explain why he could see it: mana. He never could. Now, he could see it, see it like the warping lines that come from a cookfire during the daytime, see it like he could see the golden hair on a young woman with her hair in a bushy ponytail. She was desperate. Desperate to save: (Tiber.)"You're…"

Kyritus stumbled forward as the blonde said, "Thank God…"

"Sara?" he murmured. The woman, glowing in the moon's light, turned to him slowly, staring at him like a lost deer as she stared at him.

"What did you just say?" she asked.

"You're Sara. Sara. You're…" She swallowed and said something that didn't sound like she believed: "Your lover." —Sara Reece— Sara sat at The Harvest's bar, in the same place she sat for months and months after Emma's death. Kyritus sat right beside her. Tiber lay asleep in bed. Heian kept the twalla flowing. No one had said a word in the last twenty minutes. Sara spoke first.

"Heian. If you say one word about what you saw tonight, I'll carve your calcified heart into a goblet."

"Sara. If you didn't just warn me, I would've ripped out my own voice box anyway." Sara rubbed her flushed cheeks.

"Goddamn it. Why didn't you move the array?"

"Why would I?" Kye asked.

"I thought you were digging it up, not laying it down. Figured you'd be back to get it and then come find me."

"That's… fair. Fuck. This wasn't supposed to be how this all went down."

"How was it supposed to go down?"

"I was gonna put a bloom up for an auction, feed Tiber the cure as proof of its validity, and send the kingdom into a fucking flurry. Got the kingdom's head propagandist ready to spin the story and everything."

"And you?" Kyritus asked.

"What do you mean, you?"

"I mean with us."

"You'd never see me."

"Wait, what?" Kyritus yelled, and she jumped slightly.

"Why? What part of you shouldn't get involved with me don't you get?"

"The part where we're family!" Sara gripped her twalla mug.

"I may not remember most of my memories, but I got enough time to remember you tending to Tiber."

"And that's what I'm doing!" Sara threw aside her mug. It crashed as she stood and put both hands on the bartop.

"I'm curing her tyrexis and saving her from Jason. Or don't you remember running?"

"Who's…" Kyritus's face blanked out, and that's when Sara realized that she fucked up. She should've thrown away her plan the moment that she bumped into Kyritus. And she shouldn't've expected Kye to know anything, let alone the gravity of their situation.

"Seems that you don't remember that much, do you?"

"Enough." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"Well the same's true of Jason. His memories have helped him regain his circulation techniques already. It won't be long before he gets addicted to power. And then what? Just go on the run again?" Kyritus rolled his palms face up.

"Uh… yeah? We're family. I might not remember much, but I feel it. This bond. And if you think for even a second Tiber and I wouldn't put our lives on the line for you, you're wrong."

"I don't want to save her just to watch her die."

"That's bullshit. You cooked up that plan because you were afraid of rejection. Afraid we'd be different people. That's what you're afraid of, isn't it?" Sara tried to refute his statement, but her jaw was wired shut. She didn't even notice her tears until they pooled on the bar top.

"Kye… fuck. You really want to go through that again? I mean, Kye. You can remember it, but you can't feel it. The terror."

"I'm sure." He slid his twalla mug to her and asked Heian for another.

"But that's just how it is. Sara, I don't know much, but I'm changing. Look at me: I'm yelling at you. And why? I only have a fraction of my memories, but it's enough to know that I care about you more than anyone else in the world. We're family and you protect your family. You share hardships. And Tiber? Tiber's your fucking daughter. So take a drink, look at your reflection in your ale, and rejoice."

"Rejoice?"

"Yeah. That you didn't come back here only to find an eighteen year old who didn't remember you. That you have your family back. That Tiber won't succumb to tyrexis—thanks to you."

"Kye…" Sara started sobbing, and he hugged her. His chest wasn't nearly as robust as it once was, but it was just as comforting as the last time she cried—twelve years ago. Twelve years ago—when Tiber died. That's how their reunion—their true reunion—began. 2 Sara wiped stray hairs out of Tiber's eyes. She was the tiniest thing Sara had ever seen.

"She's so small…" she whispered.

"You met 'er when she was nine," Kye whispered.

"Five years is a long time for kids."

"Yeah. It brings facial hair."

"I'll stop shaving."

"Nah. Keep it. I'm sure you prefer my face without Emma's scar"—she wiped her cheeks of tears—"fucking up my face. So let's be fair."

"Yeah, you do look better." She laughed.

"How long do you think it'll take?" he asked.

"For it to work?"

"She'll wake up in the morning."

"Will you be here?" She shook her head.

"Not with the kingdom's eyes on me. I used up all my time for subterfuge… here."

"Is it even necessary? Superfuge?"

"I don't…" She paused.

"Probably? I mean, the kingdom's shipping me off to the southernlands with Edico and Margrave… well I guess Baron Mikaro. I'd like you to move there, but it'll still be under wraps. If Jason remembers you, we'll have problems. At least until we regain our power."

"The southernlands?" he asked.

"Isn't that where Haligara's lair is?"

"It is."

"Please say that you're not going after it." He was talking about Halcyon—Jason's sword.

"Not now. I'm just trying to prevent Jason from obtaining it. If he gets that sword, we're fucked."

"Can he kill haligara? On his own?"

"If he regains enough of his memories. Kye, I have the strongest outer core in existence. Jason can't freeze out my attacks. But you can't overstate his power. By the time I killed him, he could create three mile molten rivers with single attacks. Two hundred meter craters from a punch. Jason was summoned here for a reason: he's the universe's strongest." He grimaced.

"What are the chances he'll regain his memories?"

"One hundred percent. I skewered that fucking pi—" Tiber stirred, whining in her sleep.

"Pig," Sara whispered.

"If he remembers that night… it's war." 3 Sara handed over the silvermoon bloom to Kyritus on her way out.

"Can you pull it off?"

"Meilas is stupid enough to put it on auction," Kye said.

"Dumb fucker would stick his dick in a hornet's nest if he thought there was honey in it. What about you? Can you spin this without getting Tiber wrapped up in it?"

"Reesta has it covered. I own her. If she fails, she'll hang." Kyritus chuckled.

"I can't believe I'm fine with that admission." Sara laughed.

"God… I've missed you." She stopped and looked at his lips. He looked back. The two leaned in for a kiss, but Heian walked into the room.

"Royal guards are investigating the mana wave. If you're leaving… it's a good time for it." Sara gritted her teeth and pulled away, glancing at Tiber.

"Soon," she said and left. She hid the teleportation array in another alleyway, covered it completely, and then said, "Okay, let's go home." The zinconia crystal she threw on the array lit up like an iron ingot, and the seven-layer array shone like the one in the classroom. Her vision blurred, and she returned to the chaos playing out in the castle.