ONE POINT FIVE (1.5 in the Amnesia Archives)

Chapter 1

Sarphi's POV

We spent a few hours in the abandoned building, waiting anxiously for Senka to return. Onyx wouldn't stop whimpering and whining, whilst Aknon muttered to himself like a crazy person. I would've been in a similar state if I didn't have Prin, who replied to my every utterance, trying to keep me logical and focused.

"I don't think she's coming back," I said finally. I looked around the place, at the broken people here as well as the broken furniture. I wasn't sure if I blamed Senka for disappearing. I was worried about her, but I was sure that she could take care of herself. I didn't trust that Acer could look after themself though.

Aknon had told us that Acer had been taken, but he wasn't able to tell us who or what had taken him. I blamed Dwi for all of this, because if they weren't our father then Aknon wouldn't have run off, and then Acer wouldn't have split up and gone missing. It wouldn't surprise me if Senka had gone back to Dwi, to ask for assistance or help, or for shelter from the rest of us as we couldn't find our sibling. I doubted that last one, but I'd had enough time to think.

"What do you mean?" Prin asked with a frown, pulling away from me and turning to face me. Aknon had stopped mumbling under his breath and turned his head to look at us.

"I think she's gone." I swallowed a lump in my throat. I felt like a friend had died, deep in my heart I knew that we were on our own, but I didn't know what was telling me this. "If Acer was taken, and she catches up to them, it'll take a lot to get them back."

Aknon's skin turned a light blue instead of the dark blue it usually was. He shivered and looked down at his fingers, which tapped against his stomach anxiously. "They were taken," he repeated. This was one of the few things we'd been able to understand him say since he got here. "They're in danger." His voice was the quietest I'd ever heard it, and it shook as he spoke, which was very unlike Aknon.

I nodded my head and looked down. "What if she gets taken too? We don't even know where they are, or who they're with." The more words which left my mouth, the more daunting the situation seemed. We didn't know where they were, or what their intentions are.

"It feels like looking for Dwi all over again," Aknon muttered. I didn't point out that they were our father, and that's what we'd always called them. I didn't blame him for having some animosity towards Dwi, a powerful being who kept tabs on us, whilst we never even knew who they were. They could've left some kind of letter, or let Senka tell us, or put it in Aknon's book.

"Wait," I said suddenly, jumping up and looking at them with a grin. "Aknon, where's your book?" I rubbed my hands together, like I was creating some kind of evil scheme.

Aknon looked at me strangely. "In my bag, why?" He slowly sat up, wincing as he did so.

"Because that could tell us where they are." I clapped my hands excitedly, very proud of my idea.

"Maybe," Prin commented quietly as she also stood. "So, where's your bag?" She turned to Aknon expectedly, a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

Aknon groaned as he got to his feet, stumbling forwards slightly. I had my arms out just in case he needed to be steadied. "I dropped it." He steadied himself and took a deep breath. "When I was being beaten up. Or rather, before I was beaten up. My bag fell off my shoulder as I was running."

"Where'd you even go?" Prin asked, leaning forwards a little and crossing her arms. "We looked everywhere for you. Did you come to the city? Did you disguise yourself?"

Aknon shook his head a little, his eyes scrunching shut. "No, I went in the opposite direction, back down the path."

I let out a sigh of relief, at least he was just wanting to burn off some steam. "That complicates things." I glanced around the room. "So, it's on the path somewhere? Back where we were?"

Aknon nodded.

"Let's hope that nobody's taken it then." Prin headed towards the door before checking the handle and sighing. "She could've at least given us some kind of way out."

"I could probably do it." I didn't know where my confidence was coming from, I knew that it was in the wrong place. I wasn't confident enough to go through a wall, especially not with Aknon being in this state. "I could unlock the door." I shifted from foot to foot, trying to pretend that's what I meant in the first place.

It didn't take me long to unlock it, despite the fact that there had been something inside of the keyhole, which I poked outwards with a piece of wire. A hairclip would've been better to use, but I didn't have any of those pins with me. It was rare I found it easier to have my fringe out of the way.

Aknon cleared his throat, bringing me back to reality. UI nodded and opened the door inwards, popping my head out and looking from side to side. "Clear," I whispered before letting Onyx out of the door first and following him through the streets. The alarm bells had stopped ringing about twenty minutes ago, or at least it felt like twenty minutes. We probably should've waited a little longer, but this was a dire situation.

Our steps were deliberate, and we always made sure that there was nobody around the next corner. The city was like a giant square, with only one entrance. That entrance was sure to be heavily guarded by now. I wasn't sure if there was a way of getting out through the back, but we were going to try.

Unfortunately for us, it was rather close to where the castle was. It was a large building, but there didn't seem to be that many guards around the sides and back of it. They were probably anticipating an oncoming threat, so we could get around the back and into the palace gardens somewhat smoothly.

"Wow," Prin breathed out as she looked up at the ivy-covered wall. "That's got to be at least thirty or forty feet."

I paled looking at it, but I knew that this was necessary for our survival. I nodded and turned to Onyx. "Will you be able to get out of here?" I asked with a small frown.

Onyx pawed the ground and nodded, probably resisting the urge to bark. He backed away from the wall and then raced forward. I had expected him to run head-first into the wall, get injured, and we'd have to carry a limp dog over the wall. Instead, he vanished straight through it just like Senka had done with us through the building.

"Why can't we do that?" Aknon asked with a small groan. "It would've been so much easier. We could've been out of here by now, and we're twice as far away."

"Let's keep our voices down," I said quietly and patted his shoulder with a small smile on my face. It was ironic for me to say something like that, as I was usually the one being loud and obnoxious.

Onyx came back through the wall, panting softly. He circled around us a few times before nudging me forward, his snout pushing at the back of my knees.

"How exactly are we going to get up there?" Prin asked in a whisper, and that was a very good question. "There's not really any footholds."

I noted that as well. The wall looked pristine, despite the ivy lining it. There were no gaps in the walls at all, nowhere for us to grip with hand or foot.

"I doubt the plant will hold us," Aknon pointed out. He walked over to the ivy and touched it, pulling on it slightly. "It would be a pretty big design flaw."

I nodded my head, watching the wall for a few more moments before sighing. "You two together would be about ten foot," I began thinking aloud. "I don't think that I could jump ten feet."

Aknon looked at me like I was stupid. "Of course not, and we'd still be stuck on this side, and you'd fall thirty feet." He probably would have continued telling me how stupid that idea was, if it wasn't for the rustling noises behind us.