EX//MACHINA: EXORDIUM

Chapter XXII - Dawn

Dizziness, headache and weariness. Those three would perfectly fit Amy's description of how she felt at the moment she woke up. While her vision was recovering, the first thing she noticed was how dark her surroundings were, so it wasn't just her eyes failing. Then came her memory, and she remembered how she got careless, but hadn't lost her life, luckily. Remembering that, Amy almost jumped up to try and reach Peter, noticing he was in the same place as her.

She would hug him if she could, relieved by seeing him healthy, but as she came to notice, that was impossible: her hands were tied. Logically speaking, that was the best option. Amy was the invader in this situation, so the fact she was even alive to begin with was great. Still, the girl wasn't thinking logically, so it felt wrong. Did Peter really see her as a threat?

Of course, Amy answers herself, I almost sliced his throat, then almost gutted him.

Amy remembered exactly how it felt to hold his life at her hands, and how much that scared her. Even then, she almost sunk in hopelessness, believing he had lost himself completely to Vega. The only reason he was still alive was her fear, as she didn't have the courage to do it. Fortunately that was the right choice, as the girl found out there was still hope.

— You ok? — the boy asked with a neutral tone, looking at her as if deciding whether he would try to be gentle or not. — Can you hear me?

— Y-yeah, I can.

— Great, have some water.

He approached her carefully and lifted a water bottle, then raising it to her lips and helping her drink it. Because Amy was consuming the smallest amount of her supplies as possible, she gave in and drank the entire bottle, and that barely quenched her thirst. The girl thought about asking for more, but decided against expecting too much. After that, Peter distanced himself from Amy again, and they stood silent for an entire minute before the boy decided to speak up.

— Aren't you going to say anything at all?

— What? — Amy was caught by surprise at that question, and then she felt shame. She was ashamed about how cold she was being, how distant she had been ever since he came back. Amy couldn't say too much, but also couldn't say too little, as both of these options would lead to risking it all. Thinking about what to say, she eventually blurted out the first option that didn't seem terrible. — T-thanks, for not letting that woman kill me and for the water.

Amy had a few certainties in her life, most of those were about Peter, and that included reading his expression with almost-perfect accuracy. She could tell that he was in the "not angry, just disappointed" part, and that was the worst. Anger would be easier to deal with, but he never got angry, not with anyone and especially not with her. Instead, he would get sad or disappointed, and now he seemed to face her with both of those feelings at the same time. Amy knew she had messed up the words again, and so she turned her face away, feeling the burden of his gaze to be too much.

— I guess it was true, then. — his voice carried the weight of all the wrongs Amy had done during that year. If she were alone, she would certainly cry in frustration. She had to think about something fast. — Ever since you left, some memories started to come back, you know? During my dreams, mostly, but they were hazy and confusing. The first clear one was with you, after I won the match that qualified my team to the nationals. We agreed to get some pizza, something to celebrate with.

Amy remembered it clearly. It had been such a good day, such a lovely night, of course she treasured it. She would smile and talk to him about it, but his voice sounded so sad she almost doubted what memory he was mentioning. Surely they remembered the same thing, right? Besides, that was surprisingly good news, he was remembering things again!