Aarmau: Remember Me, Remember Us, Just Remember

Chapter 1

After the fire at the club, their friends Dante, Gene and Laurence decided to take a break and go on their own little vacations.

Dante and Gene went back home to help their mother with her flower shop.

Laurence went back home to help his family with their farm and care for his little brother.

It took the full year to get the Café back to the way it was and Dante and Gene are scheduled to come back just before the grand reopening.

Communication between them all had been spotty so they didn't know the true events at Starlight. They had seen what the rest of the world saw from new broadcasts but that was all.

The instant they walked into the Café they knew something was wrong and they noticed Aphmau was missing. As soon as the doors closed and the extra help left the interrogation began. Careful to leave out the parts about Aaron being the Ultima and Aphmau and Garroth being turned into werewolves, all but Aaron took turns relaying the events from Starlight and in the end the three were nearly speechless.

They have all known each other since high school. Out of all of them Gene was the last one you'd expect to show the strongest reaction since he bullied Aphmau when they were kids and had only just apologized for his behavior.

He turns to Aaron and glares, "I don't care what you suffered! You're supposed to love her! You're supposed to protect her! How could anyone ever forget her?! How could you leave her there? She told me you were her soulmate!"

Dante tries to calm him but he refuses. Aaron flinches away but stays quiet as Gene begins to pace back and forth, trying to think of a way to bring her home when a tapping comes from the front door.

As one they turn to the door to see who's there and almost everyone is surprised to see Rowan standing outside.

Melissa rushes to the door to open it and they all stare at him as he walks into the Café. Dread fills the room as they watch him remove his sunglasses to reveal sad, exhausted eyes. He's supposed to be back at Starlight watching over Aphmau, making sure the Guardian Forces don't do something stupid. The fact that he's here has them all worried.

Melissa quickly gets him a glass of water and they patiently watch as he drains his glass. Only after he sets it on the counter does she speak, "Rowan, why aren't you at Starlight? Is Aph ok?"

Rowan rubs his eyes and sighs, "She's still alive."

They all sigh but Katelyn steps forward and growls, "Why don't I feel reassured by that?!"

Rowan clears his throat. He knows Katelyn is only worried about Aphmau but he also knows Katelyn is very strong and could do serious damage. "It's complicated. With the help of her werewolf abilities her physical injuries healed months ago but her mental health isn't doing so well. It doesn't help the Guardian Forces have been poking, prodding and testing her almost every day. They've never dealt with a celestial being before and they want to see what her abilities are but Aphmau isn't sharing and they can't seem to get past her mental defenses. The most they've gotten are a few memories of what she personally saw or absorbed when she took on Irene's essence. They've done the same thing to Travis. But she's shut down or she's hiding. She's put up a wall and as each day passed another piece of her slipped behind it. Having Travis with her helped at first but he only delayed it, he's not enough. It's like she's given up. They had to give up on getting her to eat real food since she was either refusing or couldn't keep it down. She's lost a lot of weight and she's bound to her bed since she refused physical therapy. Almost every bone was either fractured or broken so without that exercise she can barely move because of the muscle weakness. If something doesn't change, they don't think she'll last much longer; she's dying."

Gene glances at the people around him confused, "Wait! What?! Aph isn't a werewolf! And what does Irene have to do with this? Why are we standing here? We need to go to her or they need to send her home!"

Kim gently touches Gene's shoulder but it's clear by her clinical tone Emmalyn is speaking. "The um...the Ultima werewolf, WHICH IS NO LONGER ALIVE, accidentally turned Garroth and Aphmau into werewolves. And Aphmau is technically Irene, a piece of her soul or a reincarnation. From what I've studied I believe we are all reincarnations of one of the Divine Warriors or someone close to Lady Irene. Aphmau is Irene, Enki is Travis, Shad is Aaron, and Esmund could be any of the Ro'Meave's but my guess is Garroth. I haven't been able to trace Menphia or Kul'Zak's lineage so it could be anyone. My guess is that Katelyn is Menphia or hmmm maybe even Lucinda. If I had to guess for Kul'Zak, I'd say Laurence. Almost all of us are reincarnations of someone from her time. I only know because I knew each of you personally from the original Phoenix Drop. Most of us were friends. Well not Gene, Zane or Sasha. Sorry, you all were just evil back then but look how far you've come!"

The room was dead silent as they listened to Emmalyn explain what she knew. Rowan clears his throat to regain their attention. "At this point it doesn't matter who's who. I came here for a reason. Aphmau is coming home."