Aarmau: Remember Me, Remember Us, Just Remember

Chapter 127

Aph sat in the back of the car on the way home listening to Aaron and Lucinda talk about their visit. She could feel Aaron glance at her from time to time trying to gauge how she's feeling but instead of reassuring him she was alright she closed her eyes and pretended to fall asleep.

She simply had too much on her mind to humor him. Release the villagers or let them continue the lie? Of course the harder she tried to stay awake and think of the problem the more she failed until she eventually did fall asleep.

Even in sleep, the problem followed her. It didn't take her long to realize she was dreaming and tried coming at it from every angle.

When no solution presented itself she screamed out in frustration and swore at both Lady Irene and Lord Aphmau for creating the situation. As the images from her dream faded she sat hard on her butt, balled her fists, and threw herself a good old-fashioned temper tantrum.

When she was finally too exhausted to keep going she pulled her knees up to her chest, crossed her arms over them, and rested her forehead on her arms. Even with her eyes closed, she could sense the light around her brightening and as she looked up she was surprised to see two figures walking toward her.

At first, she thought it might be Alina and Derek again but she quickly changed her mind when they morphed into nearly identical copies of herself. Perhaps they didn't like her cursing them out?

Pushing to her feet she crosses her arms over her chest and glares at them as they approach. When they stop, Lady Irene arches one brow at her and sighs, "This behavior is not like us."

Aph has to work really hard to not start her tantrum all over again, "Maybe because I am not "us". I am me, I'm Aph, not Lady Irene and not Lord Aphmau. Lord Aphmau was not Lady Irene either and if my memories are correct she didn't behave like you either. Besides, if I behaved like you did this world would probably implode again."

Irene is a little shocked by her outburst, "Alright APH, what are you so upset about?"

A stray thought stops Aph for a moment. If she strangled Lady Irene would she be strangling herself? Would it be suicide?

Aph takes a deep breath and glances at Lord Aphmau, "Irene here said you were "at peace" but yet here you are. Are either of you responsible for that mess in the Sacred Forest?"

Lady Irene and Lord Aphmau glance at each other and it's obvious they feel just a little guilt. Irene shakes her head as she sighs, "You have to understand, Hyria was my best friend until I met Shad and was there for me when everything fell apart. She played a big part in helping me design the forest I created which is why I made her the caretaker. I built the reincarnation glitch around the Divine and then included their immediate children in the pattern. No single person is supposed to live forever, that was never my intent. I placed a greater burden on her when I made her the guardian of a piece of my soul, of Lord Aphmau, and made her swear to keep her origins a secret. It was unfair of me and Hyria has done the best she could to keep those promises."

Lord Aphmau nods, "She helped Zoey raise my children like her grandchildren while I was off being Lord. She never complained but it was unfair. Before I left to try and save my Aaron I asked her to watch over my people, to protect them. As my people spread to other villages I can only assume she believed bringing them to the forest was the only way to do that but in my time it was difficult to keep the peace and what would war do to the forest? Separating them sounded like a viable solution. My people had been through so much and I never did come back. I asked too much of her."

Aph rolls her eyes and sighs, "Ok I get it, she made promises she felt honor-bound to keep and she did the best she could without trying to hurt anyone. The problem is that I know what it's like to be forced to live in a lie. The only consolation is that they have no way of knowing it's a lie. What should I do? Leaving them the way they are, I would be just as bad as the Guardian Force."

Lord Aphmau tilts her head a little, "Be me."

Aph frowns, "What?"

Lord Aphmau sighs, "Visit them, pretend to be me. You know me enough to know how to act. See if they're happy. Would revealing the lie cause more harm than good?"

Aph thinks about it for a second and then shakes her head, "I'm a werewolf, you weren't. Even if I hid my ears and tail Logan would know."

Lord Aphmau shrugs, "Take your Aaron with you. Tell them you were able to save him because of his Ultima curse. We all knew the story back then and since they knew I could heal, tell them you removed his curse. But don't stay there too long, tell them you have more work to do and are just there to see how the village is doing. I did that all the time."

Aph sighs, "You really think it will work? Are they really that gullible?

Lord Aphmau smiles, "People believe what they want to believe, what's easier. They never intentionally went looking for trouble and besides, they think I would never lie to them."

Aph sighs heavily as she closes her eyes, "That's the problem, I'm a terrible liar."