The Return

Chapter 5

"Mary, before we give you your memories, do you happen to remember where Simone is." Mary looked at Jordan and began to feel confused. "Who the hell is Simone," she questioned. The words had just seemed to pop out of her mouth. She had never really said anything like that, and to her surprise, the two men before her laughed. "There's the old Mary we know and love," said Zuke as he tried to catch his breath from laughing so hard. "I don't see what's so funny," the girl scolded. Jordan finally explained for her. "You never were one to be shy and, believe it or not, you could be quite rude for a princess. Very rough and tumble too." This statement caused him to earn a punch in the arm from the princess herself. "Can we please just move on. If we actually get to giving me my memories I might know who Simone is. Is she hidden like me?"

"Yes, she is. Now, let's get to work." That was when Jordan went out into the hall and came back with a silver briefcase. It appeared to be heavily locked. The man gently placed the case on Ms. Marcus' desk, placed his thumb on a scanner that rested on the side of the case, and popped open the lid. Inside rested three long glass tubes. Inside the tubes were orbs of golden light the seemed to quickly flash blurry pictures. Mary slowly walked over and scooped up one of the tubes with the care of a new mother. The girl brought her face close to the glass to see the pictures that flashed in the orb. That was when she realized it was like a quickly moving slideshow that consisted of bits of videos and pictures. One of the clips was of a young girl in a dress that went to her ankles. She was very pretty as she raced behind another girl that looked very similar to her. Suddenly, a man came from behind the two and scooped them up into his arms. The girls kissed his face and ran their fingers through his hair as they all giggled. A woman came up to them and grabbed the girl that had appeared first. That was when it moved on to other images and clips. "Are these my memories," whispered an awestruck Mary as she looked up at the two men.

"Yes they are. Would you like your boyfriend to do the honors," said Jordan with a smug smile. She didn't have to question him to know what he meant. That was when she saw Zuke's face turn a deep red. He then walked up to Jordan and punched him in the arm. "Shut up Jordan." Jordan suddenly let out a small yelp as his arm was punched again.

"Ok, you both seriously need to stop doing that or we will have a problem," he said as he rubbed his sore arm. Zuke then took the tube from her and cautiously opened it. A peaceful presence seemed to fill the room. Just as he leaned towards her with the tube, she stopped him. "Before we do this, I have another question. If I don't look like this in real life, will I change as soon as I get my memories back?"

"Yes, you will change to what you truly look like as soon as your memories settle."

"But why did you have to take my memories in the first place," she questioned. For the first time, Zuke seemed to be at a loss for words. Jordan quickly stepped in to answer her question.

"We had to take your memories. It wasn't something any of us wanted, but it was for the safety of a lot of people. Your uncle knew that we took your memories, so he was just going to have you and Ann killed if he found you. If you would have had your memories when he found you, he would have kidnapped you and searched through your head to find valuable information. That was why we had to take your memories. Alright Zuke, we have to hurry so we can go get Ann."

Just as Zuke was about to give her memories to her, another question came to her lips. "Wait, how did you know to come and get me." Both of the men gave an aggravated sigh.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but we are pressed for time right now. Alright, your parents sent you both to different planets in the care of trustworthy people so that you would be safe. Before your parents were captured, they told us to start preparing plans in a safe place so that we could overthrow your uncle. They told us to keep updated on you and as soon as someone got close to you, we had to retrieve you both. There, now no more questions." As soon as Jordan finished, Zuke placed the tube over her head and poured the orb over her. She was covered in a thick, golden mist. Mary's body started to tingle as memories slowly came back to her. The girl began to remember every detail of her old life. Her family, friends, the palace, her magic, and everything in between. Despite being overflowed with millions of memories, one came to mind. It was the day she had left her home planet, Otakar.

Otakar was a planet that was smaller than the Earth's moon and had very few people. Because is was so small, it was ruled by one government which was the royal family of Otakar. The planet was divided into 3 districts that were controlled by governors. The governors ,of course, answered to the royal family. The three districts were the outer district, the middle district, and the inner district. The capital city of Viktor was located in the inner district. This was where the royal family lived. Amis Otakar settled the planet long ago with his family to escape the spread of evil. Because he was the oldest, he ruled over the planet and named it after his family. He made the planet one of safety and refuge. Many came to settle and helped the old man grow as a ruler. He managed to work out agreements with other nearby planets until he had many alliances. The planets put an army together and destroyed Shade, which was a planet of thieves and tyrants that had a very strong military. Everyone decreed Amis a hero and he was known as one of the greatest rulers in history.

Mary's head filled with the memories of the day she had left. She had been taken with her friends and family to a small loading dock. She quickly said her goodbyes to her parents, sister, and friends. Her mother had said that Simone, her best friend since childhood, would go with her to Earth.
Simone was the king and queen's godchild, but had lived with them because her parents had been killed by a disease known as Ulm. Simone's mother had been best friends with Queen Kirsten when they were children because Simone's mother had been the daughter of a governor. This meant that she frequently visited the palace in Viktor.
Griffin, Ann's protector, would go with Ann to Varlet, but Griffin would be allowed to keep his memories. Unlike Zuke and Jordan, Griffin wasn't involved in the royal guard. This was a special squad that was made just to protect the members of the royal family. Jordan and Zuke had stayed behind so they could work on plans against Ann and Mary's uncle. Ann was on her ship with Griffin and Simone was outside her ship talking with Jordan. Mary, Ann, and Zuke had known for a long time that Jordan had had feelings for Simone, but was too scared to admit it. If only he knew that Simone was waiting for him to make the first move. The two stopped talking and stared at each other for a moment. "This is it. This is where Jordan is going to make his move," Mary said to herself, but he didn't. Instead, he hugged her and told her to be safe. Simone's face flushed with anger because he hadn't said more, and rushed onto the ship. Zuke then suddenly pulled Mary aside and gave her a quick kiss. "I promise that when its time for you to come back, I'll be the first person that you see. You can count on it. Be safe." Mary had to force herself not to cry and quickly hugged him. Then, she went on the ship that was headed for her new life. "I thought that I knew what pain was, but apparently, I didn't even know the meaning of the word," Mary whispered bitterly to herself.