Tides of Turmoil (NEWTINA)

Chapter 2 - The Memories

Startled, we all looked at each other before focusing our attention back to the opened case.

'Newt,' Tina said, alarmed and raising her wand, 'what was that?'

'I don't know... stay here, I'm going to check.'

I stood up from my seat and processed to go down one of the steps. However, something tugged my ankle and yanked me forcibly into the suitcase.

'Newt!' Queenie and Tina said in unison, and I heard their footsteps as they descended into the case. Before I could tell what pulled me, it suddenly let go of me as I lied down on the ground, in the middle of the place. I rubbed the back of my head, trying to ease the light pain because of the bumps. I looked around, everything looking very ordinary.

'Newt!' I turned around to see Tina and Queenie running towards me, both worried and confused, 'you alright?'

'Yes, just a bit sore from the fall...'

'What in the name of Deliverance Dane was that?'

Before I could answer, Queenie let out a shriek. And what I saw answered my questions. On top of her head, there was a creature which looked like a small monkey, its fur having a mix of dark blue and white with silver dots on the tail. It had multicoloured eyes, and antlers looking like staghorn coral.

'A Fuzzbite,' I answered.

'A what?' they said in unison. Tina looked at it, her face more curious than judgmental. I had to look away to hide my smile.

'I don't remember seeing it last time I was here,' she said.

'A Fuzzbite knows how to hide, so well it doesn't need to be invisible. It's there, even if you are unaware of it, collecting information about their surroundings. In this case, memories. It doesn't have to do any contact with you, and it stores it forever; they pass their collected memories to the next generation.'

'Why would they do that?' Tina asked.

'Humans are not the only species who require reminders occasionally. There are others who rely on the Fuzzbites for important cases, or just for the pleasure of it. That is when they live in a free environment. No human soul has gotten their hands on one of them for centuries, and the Fuzzbites make sure of it.'

'Why?' asked Queenie, looking at the creature with sympathy.

'Their legacy was the most precious and rarest creatures to humans, and they could've been extinct if last ones didn't go into hiding. In the early ages, humans and other sorts of dark creatures used them to obtain information from the past – anything. And when the Fuzzbites, and any other living creature, are used abusively and obsessively in a loop, they cannot generate more memories. And when they are of no use, well, you know the rest.'

As I said this, the Fuzzbite jumped from Queenie's head to Tina's shoulder, and it began to play with her hair. Tina looked fascinated, and her smile was wide and tender.

'It's amazing,' she said, Queenie nodding as she came closer and extended her hand towards the creature and it fearlessly grabbed hers. Suddenly, the Fuzzbite gave a little shudder and it jumped to the ground. We all looked at it, and what happened next shocked us all.

From its antlers there raised a big bubble, the insides of it turning white and twisting on itself. It levitated on top of the Fuzzbite, and some shapes started forming. All three of us breathed in hastily and held to our breath as we witness what appeared in that bubble.

I heard a sob from behind me, and I turned to see a teary Queenie. Her eyes were overflowing with tears, and her cheeks were red, yet a ghost of a smile was present in her face.

'It's us... Jacob... a-and...all of us' she choaked, Tina wrapping an arm around her.

It was all of us, from a different point of view. It was from the time all four of us inside my case before the battle in New York. I was next to Jacob, and Tina and Queen tagged along. We talked and walked together; sometimes I would be showing them some of my creatures (or explain to them what to do if the creatures came onto them). It then shifted to an image from the ground, yet it swiftly switched to an upper angle. It was the night when we all sat together for dinner. I smiled awkwardly as I saw myself, so stiff and uncertain, on my chair. Most of it was Jacob chatting away with Queenie, both laughing, but also when Tina and I would sometimes join in. 

And then it shifted to a memory that made my chest throb with ache. It was the end of the battle, and when we said goodbye to Jacob. Being there was already painful, yet I never thought that watching it through another's eyes would hurt as well.

'That's enough,' I quietly said, shutting my eyes to hold back the tears. The Fuzzbite must've heard me because the bubble turned back to white and it evaporated into shimmering mist. As the creature jumped out sight, I turned to the girls. They both had tear marks on their cheeks, yet their faces were calm. Not upset, or sad, or even shifting their eyes: merely calm. They – we had this healing air around us. 

Tina was the first to wipe her tears quickly with her fingers as if she was scared that we would see them. Queenie did the same, though slower, and let out a sigh that then put turned into a smile. She looked at Tina and me, and we both responded. We couldn't allow our grief taint those memories we shared together, and there will always be there, no matter what magic came our way.

All would be fine.