Fog

Suddenly, the memory shattered, and I found myself back in the present day, facing Emmett and Louise.

“What just happened?” Louise asked. “Why’d you stop the memory?”

“It wasn’t me this time, I swear!” Emmett exclaimed.

“I….That’s where it all starts to get hazy.” I said.

“What do you mean?” She looked confused.

“That day, when we found the cabin underground, that was four days before we underwent the ritual, and five days before I transmigrated. But that’s the last memory I have, the rest are clouded by a fog.”

“That’s weird, is that an after effect of the ritual?” Emmett asked.

“No, I was supposed to have my entire memory restored, but for some reason, it’s as if those three days were forcibly locked away by an outside interference.”

“Damn. Well, at least we still have Louise to explain those three days, right? After all, we still don’t know why the ritual went down, or the specifics of it, or what bringing you to Obrillis has anything to do with saving the world.” Emmett looked at Louise expectantly, but she immediately avoided eye contact.

“I….the truth is, those three days are foggy for me as well…”She admitted.

“You’re kidding!” Emmett jumped out of his seat. “Seriously? You think it’s that Selphine woman? We still don’t know what she wants!”

“I…I remember parts of it….” Louise continued. “I remember the plan itself, the fact that this ritual was meant to summon a being that would save this world, or something like that. The being was supposed to possess Arthur’s body, but his memories would fade and his consciousness would be locked inside his own body. The second ritual was what was supposed to allow Arthur to regain possession of his body and eliminate the being, but clearly that failed.”

“Hold on a second, if you knew my memories would fade away, how did you know I was going to follow you on that day?” I asked.

“I…I don’t know.” Louise rubbed her head, as if trying to remember something important.

“Damn it! What do you mean you don’t know? Try to remember! Think, Louise, think!” Emmett shouted.

“What do you mean, think?” She replied angrily.“It’s not like I’m doing this on purpose!”

“Sorry, I was just trying to encourage you…”Emmett mumbled while sitting back down.

“So, at the end of the day, we still don’t know what happened, huh…” I spoke.

It’s no use.

Ah, that’s right! You still know what happened, right?

Of course.

Care to fill me in?

Hell no.

Damn, it was worth a try at least.

Of course, the original wasn’t going to work with me that easily. But it seemed that what was blocking me and Louise didn’t affect him. Was that because he didn’t technically possess a physical form anymore? Either way, it’s not like I was going to get anything out of him.

“So, uh, what now?” Emmett asked.

“Now it’s your turn to fill us in, how’d you get sucked into this?” I asked.

“Uh, well, I was raised that way, since both my parents are really proficient at magic.” He explained.

“….And?” I urged him to continue.

“And what? There’s nothing else to say, so it’s and nothing.”

“What! Are you dumb? We spent the last, I don’t even know how long that took, diving into my memories, and your answer is a single sentence?” I yelled at him.

“Cut me some slack, man, it’s not my fault I got nothing interesting to say.”

“No it is your fault. Just go and start a fight with some random civilian or something and make it cool.”

“I’d get arrested immediately!”

“Yes, exactly, that’s the point.”

“Wait, how did your parents know?” Louise interrupted. “I thought magic was supposed to be some secret, underground thing.”

“Uh, I don’t know, I never asked.” Emmett shrugged. “Not like they would have told me, anyways.”

“Why don’t we just go ask them, then?” I suggested. “Perhaps that could lead us to a clue.”

“I agree, what a great idea! Except for the fact that they’re both dead! So unless you’re secretely a necromancer or something, I doubt you’ll get an answer out of either of them.”

“Shit, sorry, I forgot!” It had completely slipped my min that Emmett’s parents both died, so I had sounded pretty insensitive at that moment. “Wait hold on a second, I am a necromancer!”

“Wait, no, you never actually tried the spell!” Louise stepped in. “Besides, you saw what it did to my brother, it turned him insane!”

“Yeah, but he was still able to communicate, even if it was barely.”

“No, that’s a bad idea.” She insisted. “What do you think, Emmett?”

The two of us turned to Emmett to see him reflecting.

“Wait a second, when exactly did the masked order get attacked, leaving everyone dead?”

“Uh, I don’t have a specific date, but I guess it was around five years ago, why?” I asked.

“…My parents died five years ago.”

“Wait, you think your parents were part of the masked order?” Louise asked.

“No, worse. I think they were among these masked men we saw. They were the assailants.”

Our eyes widened.

“What do you mean? What makes you think that?” I asked.

“I don’t know, it’s just a hunch. I guess we could try reviving them using that spell of yours.”

“Are you totally sure about this, Emmett?” Louise intervened. “I mean, he’s never used that spell before so there’s a big chance that something goes wrong.”

“I don’t care, that’s a risk that we’re going to have to take.” Emmett said with a determined voice. “Let’s go.”

“Wait, right now?” I asked Emmett as he stood up and made his way out.

“I agree with Emmett.” Louise stood up as well. “We don’t have time to dawdle around, so let’s just go.”

I nodded and followed the two of them out of the meeting place as we decided to make our way to where Emmett’s parents were buried.