Welcome To The School

26

That morning, every dorm woke up to a noticeboard in their dorm room, announcing that extra-curricula activities and clubs were now open. Whilst Ellowyn and Blair went through the usual morning routine of Ellowyn refusing to get up and then getting confused over his "missing" coffee, Eijeh scanned the board, looking for interesting clubs, but his mind was elsewhere. It appeared that almost all of the clubs/extra-curricula activities were run by students, with the exception of the Student Council, which instructed people to "See Mamatrix for details, including current members and how to register as a potential member". Most of the clubs were marked "All Years", like Vesper D'Arque's Art Club (This years focus: Murals/Graffiti) and Strategy & Battle Plans (run by two third-years called Nicole and Nicolas whom Eijeh had never heard of); some were for everyone, teachers included, like fourth-year Maysilee Paige's Gardening Club (waaay too many smiley faces and exclamation marks on the notice for Eijeh's liking) , or "The Chocolate And Coffee Cult" (which had the following scrawled underneath it: "Anyone, including teachers, because let's be honest, they probably need it more than anyone. The agenda? Eat chocolate, drink coffee, summon a few demons, that sort of thing." And finally: "Adira Hema has the details, but honestly, you can just show up." It sounded so horribly bored, but Eijeh loved it. Except for the fact that it was coffee, and it was probably — Eijeh shuddered — dark chocolate. Ewww.); and some were for groups of people, like the uneven scribble announcing a School Band (for anyone interested in music), Riley's neat "Learn Sign Language" poster (Learn any form of sign language or use you own signals/learn unofficial signs), Romeo's Aspec club (anyone on the Asexual/Aromantic/Agender spectrum, or anyone who thought they might be on it, plus Riley because favouritism), a Destruction Club for the first three years only, excluding the club's creator, some random fourth year called Malcolm Haze (sounded good, Eijeh thought he might check it out), and a Book Club created by Marco. Part of Eijeh's brain was choosing clubs that sounded interesting and considering joining them, but most of his mind was pondering the puzzles that kept cropping up. Eijeh dreamed of his missing memories more and more frequently, and last night had been the worst.

He'd dreamt that there was a house on fire, and people he cared about were in it. He was desperately trying to reach them, but something was holding him back. He turned and saw a grinning skull. Eijeh opened his mouth to cry out, but a girl's scream gave him pause. He froze. He knew that scream. He knew the girl. He loved the girl, but he wasn't sure in which way. The skeleton tightened its grip around Eijeh. "You can't save them, little Ignis." It said, somewhat sadly. "They're as good as dead." Eijeh felt like a little kid again, and when he spoke, he found he sounded like one too.
"W-What do I do?" He asked, trembling.
The skeleton gave him a look that was almost impossible to decipher, as it didn't have any facial features, but he thought it might be some form of pity? "You run, little Ignis. You run, and you don't look back. Understood?"
"B-But..." Eijeh stammered.
"No buts. Go. And remember this: If you look back, the flames will consume you too." Eijeh nodded frantically, and the skeleton nodded back, just once, before crumbling to dust. No, not dust. Ashes. He shuddered and ran, his cheeks wet with tears. He ran as fast as he could, away from the burning house. He ran without stopping until he heard a plea, carried on the wind.
"Eijeh! Eijeh, help us!" Ignoring the skeleton's warning, he turned. He turned, and saw his hands set aflame as he did so. He cried out as he crumbled to ashes, just like the skeleton.

That dream had been the worst by far. Eijeh had thrashed around, trapped in the haze of dreams, until something had caught his arm. At first, he'd thought it was a monstrous creature come to torment him further, although his body was nothing but ashes and pain. Then he'd heard a familiar voice, making gentle shushing noises and it was only when he heard "Hey...It's okay. It's okay, got it? Now try and stop struggling like that. You'll wake Blair, and trust me, he really needs some sleep. He's been having nightmares too, and once he wakes up in a panic like that, it's pretty hard to get him to calm down. And now it seems you're having the same issue. Do you want to talk about it, Eijeh?" Eijeh had slowly opened his eyes. It was Ellowyn, his blonde hair messy and his expression full of enough concern to start a stall selling it and keep it going for a few years. Eijeh had slowly sat up, and realised he was shivering. Ellowyn noticed. "Ah. You're cold. Either that, or you're really stressed. Do you want a blanket?" Eijeh shook his head. "A drink of something? I'm gonna grab myself something, so you might as well." Eijeh had hoarsely managed to ask for a cup of tea, and Ellowyn had nodded, before he walked over to his own bed and prised away a loose floorboard. He'd given Eijeh a look that said, 'Cliche, I know, but it's all I got'. Eijeh was puzzled. Where was the chaotic ball of reckless insanity, bouncing off the walls and yelling almost all the time? This calm, gentle being who seemed to be awake the minute someone had a nightmare, ready to calm them down was nothing like what Eijeh was used to. He stared as Ellowyn made their drinks and came and sat by Eijeh, and Eijeh had felt a sense of safety. They'd sat in silence, sipping at their respective beverages, for a long while, before Ellowyn had whispered, "Do you want to talk about it?" Upon seeing his friend shake his head, Ellowyn had nodded and they'd returned to silence for a time, before Ellowyn had spoken again. "Do you want to try and get some sleep? Otherwise you'll be a complete zombie for classes tomorrow, and you won't do great in them." Eijeh had nodded quietly, and then, just before he fell asleep, he'd whispered into the darkness, "Ellowyn?" The response came immediately.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"It's all good. You're a friend, Eijeh. And I'll always be here for you." There was some slight noise as he refilled his cup of coffee, and that was the last thing he heard before he slipped into a deep, thankfully dreamless, sleep.

He was still thinking over the different side to Ellowyn he'd seen the night before, along with his most recent nightmare, as he and Hayden made their way first to Pluto Alodia's dorm so the could all walk together, stopping by Zia's on the way (Hayden was not happy about that) and then to the first class of the day.
"Eijeh?"
"Huh?"
"Did you hear anything I just said?"
"Nope."
"Ughhhhh." Hayden sighed. "I was asking if you wanted to join some of the clubs with me, and which ones you thought sounded coolest."
"Oh. Yeah. That sounds awesome. Yeah. Let's do that."
Hayden beamed. "Yaaaay!"
"What's the 'yaaaaaay'-ing all about, then?" Alodia asked, joining them, Zia in tow.
"We're going to join some clubs together! You want to join us, Pluto?" Xe asked, completely ignoring Zia.
"Eh, maybe. Adamos jas just been telling me about her plans to set up a club for some ancient sport no one's ever heard of—"
"—It's called Lacrosse! And Marco has heard of it! In fact, he says it's a great idea and that it would be of historic interest, to be able to see how the sport is being revived! And—" Zia protested.
"Yeah, yeah, Across, got it." This spawned an argument about whether it was a good idea, the correct pronunciation, and a bunch of other things Eijeh didn't care about. He pushed their voices to the back of his mind and pondered the missing memories again, along with the fact he felt like he'd been remembering something in the dream, and along with what Ellowyn had said about Blair, then could it be possible? He barely wanted to voice it, even in his own head, but he did. If he and Blair, presuming he was right, had fragments of memories — if they were indeed that — poking through, then......

Could someone have their memories intact?