Book 4 | Agent 34 and the Last Gem

Chapter 7 | Who Is Harper?

"Dear God," Thad muttered, taking a step back. "W-who was the name of the king?"

"I—I don't remember...Bra...Bra–"

"Lord Braunick?" Sercon said.

"Don't say his name!" Harper snapped in an urgent tone. Everyone jumped at her sudden sense of urgency. "Why are you here?"

Thad sighed, placing his hands behind his back. "Braunick–Braunick took over. He won. Renya is no longer safe. He even beat the gem wielders,"

Harper's eyes widened, her mouth gaping open. "No," She muttered, combing her hands through her frizzy hair. "No no no no no nononononono," Harper turned around falling to her knees. She began to weep, throwing a punch straight into the wall. "NO! I'm never going to get my memories back now!"

"It's okay, it's okay," Thad tried to sooth her. "You aren't the only one–one of our friends that you locked in that closet had his past stolen from him as well,"

She looked back up to the dwarf with tears glistening around the edges of his eyes. "I can't even remember who my children were,"

Thad's eyes opened a little more. "You have children?"

"I—I think..." She said in a disappointed tone. "I don't even know who my husband was anymore,"

"We are here to help," Marque said. "We have been fighting Braunick for years. We aren't stopping,"

"Why are you here," She said in a hushed tone.

"Braunick took over," Thad repeated. "He has all the gems. He used his power to create a storm that rains pure evil. If the rain hits you, you get turned. We need to stay here for safety until we can recover and continue to fight Braunick,"

"Anything to stop that evil beast," She said, standing up and wiping the tears off. 

"Can you free our friends from your closet?" Thad asked politely to not alarm her. Harper nodded, walking broadly down the hallway. The three friends remained behind, not following her. A few seconds later, she began walking down the hallway with Agent 34 and Ismara trailing behind slowly.

"Which one is the one with no memories?" Harper asked immediately, turning to the pair who just got out of their closet. They both stiffened quickly, Ismara slowly poking a finger at her friend.

Harper's eyes snapped to the elf, surrounding him with questions. "Did he take your memories too? Do you know how to get them back? Who took them specifically? Why does he need them? What the hell is going on?"

Agent 34, flustered with all these questions, just sort of stood there awkwardly. 

"I took his memories,"

Vrängr stepped into the room from the stairwell, Arenia trailing behind. "and I intend to give them back,"

"You're Braunick?" Harper cried, her right eye twitching quickly.

"No," The elf continued, walking forwards until he stood in front of Agent 34. "Former henchman and loyal servant to the evil man until he released me from his grasp. He ordered me to take his memories,"

"Can you give mine back too?" Harper asked, running towards Vrängr. She placed her hands on his shoulders and a big smile stretched across her face.

"I did not know of your memories being stolen," He said. "but Braunick didn't exactly tell me everything either,"

Harper backed away slowly and looked down in sorrow.

"You have my memories?" Agent 34 asked, Vrängr nodded. "Can I have them back?"

Vrängr nodded again, shutting his eyes. Agent 34 felt a presence enter his mind, a strong one, but not doing anything harmful. The being just sort of stood there and hovered in place.

Suddenly, the being left Agent 34's mind quickly as if it was expelled. However, Agent 34 didn't do anything to cause this. He glanced at the elf a few steps away from him and saw his brow thickening. His eyes opened and he dropped to the ground in a rush, screaming loudly.

Everyone rushed to his aid, wondering what was happening. They tried to snap him out of his trance, but nothing was working. Eventually he stopped and was just laying there on the ground. A bit after that, he opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings slowly.

"Vrängr, are you okay?" Arenia asked him slowly.

"Who's Vrängr?" 

Everyone was taken aback by that question.

"Okay, I'm going to ask another question slowly," Arenia said, the elf nodding slowly. "Who am I?"

"I don't know," Vrängr replied, looking around at everyone staring at him.

Right then and there, any hope Agent 34 had of regaining his past was shattered at that very moment.