FallenPetals - A CherryBerry Fanfiction

[ Chapter 2 ]

Sorry it's been so long guys! With school n' stuff life's been pretty busy. But hey, here I am now!
I hope you guys are enjoying the story, I have spent a long few months planning out the plot for it, and the AU itself.
If you'd like to see illustrations in this book, let me know. I'm not sure if it would be worth the time if people would just scroll over them...
Anywho! Please enjoy, thank you for your pacience.
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Echo had just finished his breakfast and was lying on the floor, working on a puzzle he had spread across the chilly tiles. He loved gazing into their clear surfaces, and seeing his goofy reflection. It felt childish, but it made him happy.

He really did love it here, but the thought of there being something else out there..the thought that he had a life before this one..always made him curious of the outside world. Sure he had been outside before, and got to every once in awhile. But he meant more than just outside.

While being behind the marble walls of the facility, he wasn't allowed to meet with anyone who themselves wasn't another patient, or of course a doctor. He had always wished to be able to talk with strangers, and interact with them as any creature would on a daily basis. Just like who he saw from inside his room. Just like this morning... The small child, and the tall skeleton.

Something in the back of Echo's mind just..connected when he saw them. He wasn't quite sure why. They were strangers in his mind, but at the same time they weren't. Hoping to answer his questions he asked Dr. Sci..but he said they were just clients. Were they sick too perhaps?

Echo's thought process was cut short as Dr.Sci reentered the room, another doctor at his side. He was shorter than Sci, and wore a royal blue sweater underneath his lab coat. The sweater seemed to be a map of the constellations, of a sort. Echo curiously perked up at the new face, sitting up on his backside.

"Echo, this is Dr. Outer. He just got a part time job here. Outer, this is Echo. One of our many..Fallen pacients." The new Doctor nodded in understanding before crouching down to take a look at Echo's work. "Dr.Sci told me you liked puzzles." He smiled, his glittering eyelights tracing over the pages of word searches, and mazes.

"I do! I love them a lot. They help take my mind off everything." Echo giggled, as he looked back down to his paper, and began working again. He knew this new doctor was all smiles..most of the caretakers were that way. They all just seemed to have too comforting auras..sure it sounded strange, but..they just felt artificial to him.

Outer stood back up as Echo began working on his puzzle again. He turned to Sci, seeing him scan over a clipboard carefully with his eyelights. He chuckled softly, seeing the other concentrate so hard. A navy blue hue came to his face. Sci was the guy he looked up to, the guy he admired in the working space.

An awkward silence fell as Outer watched Sci in admiration. Upon noticing, Sci looked up at Outer. They exchanged an awkward conversation with just their eyes, as Outer shoved his hands into his pockets, and Sci looked back to his clipboard. "Anyway, Echo. Come with me, we better take you back to your room."

Echo looked up, seeing Sci's flustered expression. He then looked to Outer, seeing his as well. He smirked, a little snicker escaping him as he collected his papers, standing up.

They all began heading back to Echo's room, an eerie silence still hanging in the air. "How long have you two known eachother?" Echo asked practically out of nowhere. "Oh? I have known Dr.Outer since Highschool. Why?" Sci raised a confused brow at the pacient.

"Oh nothing! I was just curious! Afterall, you two seem awfully close to have just met." He gave a sly look to Sci, making him blush a little more. "Yeah, yeah. We were good friends, had a few classes together..that's all." Sci waved a hand in the air dismissively.

Outer chuckled softly, nodding in agreement with Sci. "We had taken a bunch of science electives together. But since we graduated, we hadn't communicated till I came in a month or so ago for a personal interview to get this job."

Echo nodded, stopping once they reached the door of his holding place. Looking into it from the outside made him realize just how empty it was every time. It made him kinda sad to see how small it was too. But hey, at least he had a place to live, and learn right? Besides, if he kept learning at this pace, he'd be better in no time! Maybe just a year or so, and he'd begin to live a normal life again just like everyone else.

And wouldn't that be a dream come true?
He'd just have to be pacient...his memory would return in time, and then he would go back to being..Blueberry. The mother of one, and a wife to...the man in the scrapped picture.

Thinking of the picture made his head spin. Once Sci opened the door, he stepped in. "Have a great day Echo!" Outer waved, and the small skeleton waved back. Soon the door closed, and the two doctors left. Leaving Echo to himself again.

What was he going to do? Echo looked around before approaching his bed again. "Ah right! The picture.." He mumbled as he lied down on the cool floor, and peeked under his bed. Pulling out an old shoebox, he brushed it's dusty surface off.

The box was labeled 'Blueberry'. He carefully lifted the lid off the box with one arm, covering his mouth with the either as he coughed. It was a dusty old thing. Normally he hated to go through it, as his forgetfulness hurt him. But today, he figured that maybe he could do it!

The box was filled with everything they found either on him, or at his residence that resembled who his past self was. Originally his caretakers had originally thought that all they needed was that box, and it would trigger his memory...but it hadn't turned out to be that easy.

Echo had never actually gotten all the way through it. Sure he had only received it a month or so ago, but every time he had tired to look through, it just hurt him too much. He could never get passed the pictures of his past self. The first, was a simple picture. He stood in a dark blue hoodie, with a neon blue scarf around his neck. Blueberry smiled widely, holding a puppy in his arms.

Looking over it now, his fabric covered hand tugged thoughtlessly at the belt around his neck. He felt the need to scratch, but knew no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn't be able to. He grumbled as he let his shaking hands return to the box. Carefully he lifted the picture, and set it aside.

He took a deep breath, his eyes landing on the second picture. The edges were folded, and burnt...it had obviously been through a lot. Blueberry was hugging a figure who was taller than himself. They wore a dark blue hoodie, and their hands were obviously that of a skeleton. The figure stood proudly, the hood of his jacket pulled on. He had two different eyelights, and a crazed look to him. Echo had been told that the figure was Blueberry's husband.

The stranger part of the picture was the small child that Blueberry held in his arms. Both parents seemed so proud! Their smiles looked as if they had found their happiness, and that nothing could ruin it. That was when Echo felt the cyan magic run down his face, only to land on the surface of the muddied picture.

His hands were shaking so bad he couldn't even see the picture anymore. The seemingly endless pounding had returned to his skull.

He just...

Couldn't remember....