The Star-Crossed Guardians

Chapter Twelve- Remember

When we arrived back to the cavern, I turned to the boy.

"Who was that man? What is your name? It's high time I started getting some answers. I can't blindly follow someone I just met." I pointed my finger angrily at his chest and poked him until his back was against a wall.

He put his hands up in defeat. "If you really want to know..." He slowly put his hands down. I nodded and crossed my arms, ready for the answers to my questions.

"That man's name is Jack Frost. He is the one who killed my father. He stole you away from me and... He tried to marry you. We saved you before he could." That was one question answered. "But, I cannot tell you my name."

"What? Why?"

"Because... I just can't."

"That's not a very good reason." I motioned me leaving and he quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me close. I struggled to get away, but he had an iron grip.

"I am sorry that I cannot tell you my name, but it is for your own good. If I told you, then the spell would break. The one that keeps our little home hidden from the outside. I'm not allowed to tell people that aren't a part of our family-" It was at that point that I finally broke free and jumped away.

"Ah HA! I KNEW there was something fishy about you! You just said that you couldn't tell anyone in your family your name, but you said earlier that we were married! That makes us family, doesn't it? Your game is up!" I reached for my bow, and he rushed me, but before he could grab me, a large, resounding boom echoed throughout the cavern.

"What was that!?" screeched Eris.

We searched around, backs to each other. I couldn't believe he fooled me so easily.

Five figures came out of the darkness. I felt... relieved, for some reason.

"So, you came after all," snarled Eris. "Too bad you came for nothing. I did warn you about what would happen to the girl if you came searching for her." She looked over at her son and nodded. He nodded back and grabbed my wrist. I tried to pull away, but couldn't. I did the stupidest thing I could have done at the moment. I looked into his eyes. All of a sudden, I couldn't even stand. I fell, but he pulled me up by my left wrist. He pulled me closer... and closer... I realized what he was about to do, but I couldn't do anything about it. It was like all feeling in my body had disappeared. He kept getting closer...

"NOOOO!" came a cry and the boy was thrown from me. Big, burly arms hugged me and lifted me.

"Wh-Who are you!?" I kicked and struggled to get free, but he was too strong. What's with all of these stupid strong people!?

"We are friends!" he told me in a thick, Russian accent. "He wanted my friend, so I threw him away! He is NOT wanted!"

"Let me go!" I commanded, still thrashing.

"No! You are MINE!" he bellowed, and he took me down to where the other figures were in battle. I didn't realize that Eris had started fighting the others. The big man took me over to Jack, the boy from earlier, who was shooting at Eris with icicles.

"Let us go! We have friend!"

"Nice job, North, but we can't. We have to finish this once and for all." He threw one last shard at her, then turned to me.

"Hey, been a while Cupid. I'm so sorry about all of this-" He reached for my hand but I kicked at him. I just felt angry at everything. I didn't understand what was happening.

"Make him let me go RIGHT NOW!" I growled. Jack's face fell.

"Do you really not remember us? We're your friends, Cue! What did that guy do to you..." He looked so sad, I started to feel for him.

"Please, I don't know any of you and he tricked me and I don't know what's going on!" I pleaded. "Just let me go!" He nodded to himself.

"Sorry, I can't do that."

"Why not!?"

"Because we need to fix this! I don't know what Lethe did to- Cue!?"

As soon as he said the name, I screamed in pain. It echoed off the walls and became so loud, everything stopped, because they had to hold their ears closed. As a result, North dropped me and I started spasming on the cold, stone floor.

And then it was over.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Everyone was staring at me strangely, like I was an alien or something.

"Fools!" screeched a voice. I looked behind me and saw a woman standing some ten feet above us.

"Eris..." I snarled. Next to her, Lethe appeared, looking downcast and sad. Why would he look like that? Almost like his puppy died or something.

"You may have the girl back, but you still will not win!"

"We'll see about that!" I put an arrow in my bow and released it towards her. She dodged it easily and summoned her own arrows. With a flick of her wrist, she sent them spiraling towards us. I knocked away, one after the other. Quickly, I jumped behind a huge boulder for shelter. After a moment, Jack joined me as well.

"So tell me, what'd I miss?" I asked, peeking around the rock. I jumped back when an arrow zoomed past, inches from my face.

"You don't even wanna know..."

I finally turned towards him, with a smile on my face, but it vanished when I saw that he was serious.

"What happened?" He looked back at me, looking a lot like Lethe.

"He stole your memories. You didn't remember anything about us. When I tried to call you back, nothing worked. It just... It hurt. To see you like that. You didn't even remember me..." He looked as if he was about to cry. I pulled him close and hugged him.

"I'm so sorry... I have no excuse for my actions. He tricked me. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault." He pulled away after a moment. "He must have taken your memories, or something. His name was the trigger. I'm just glad we got here in time." I nodded and smiled gently at him.

"Please pardon my language, but let's give them hell."

"You read my mind."

In sync, we both jumped over the boulder. Mid-air, I shot an arrow and Jack sent a bolt of ice towards Eris. She quickly dodged both, caught by surprise and sent back her own arrows. We landed and dodged to opposite sides, narrowly missing them. We rolled and shot another attack at her. She put up a shield of arrows to protect herself. When my arrow hit, some of her own arrows broke, but his ice didn't even scratch it. We looked at each other, making the connection.

I couldn't help but ask myself: Why me?

I couldn't dwell on it, though. There was work to do. I jumped up and ran to my right and threw myself up onto the ledge. I saw Jack on the other side, being bait and keeping Eris occupied.

I ran towards her, arrow drawn, and jumped above her. Just as I was about to release, a hand grabbed my ankle and pulled me down to the floor. I released the arrow on accident and it stuck into the floor. As I lay facedown, a hand pulls me upwards by my left arm.

"I wish I didn't have to do this, but it would have happened anyways," said a sultry voice. I turned towards it and threw a punch. The boy let go and took a step back on instinct. Then, he shook his head and strode forward, more confident. He grabbed me by the arms before I could retaliate and pulled me to him quickly, placing his mouth on mine into a deep, long kiss.