Iridian

06. AWAKENING

.memory (fragment #5)

Arden? Arden! the voice came from a distance, through a thick fog that clogged out virtually all sound and sensation.

"Damnit! Somebody get me some ice and cloth. Please..."

The sound of scurrying footsteps.

"What happened to your friend, sir? Anything else I can do to help?" A concerned voice.

"Probably the heat. She hasn't been well. She'll come around in a bit, just needs to rest a little, thank you."

I felt the cold of ice penetrating the fog that surrounded my brain. Slowly, sensation crept back into my body. The smooth, wooden bench was hard but warm beneath me. Somewhere nearby, the rapid swishing of a fan circulated the humid air, cooling my exposed skin. There were many voices around, but muted. The rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee, the scent of vanilla cake just out of the oven, teased my nose. My mind felt oddly isolated, apart...like before the alteration. I had gotten used to hearing people from much further away that the limited audio was like having my ears suddenly muffled. As the fog began to clear, the presence of an opaque veil between me and the rest of the world gradually made itself known, keeping me apart.

"Wake up Arden, damnit. Can you hear me?"

I tried to respond but my motor functions were still too sluggish.

"Oh shit." And a string of unintelligible curses. "Come on. Don't do this to me. What the hell happened?" More cussing as I failed to answer. A cool hand rested on my cheek and I could feel him touching the edge of the veil, testing its strength.

"Atreus is going to kill me," he muttered.

"Shut up Dante," I finally managed a whisper, injecting as much bite as I could. "You're making my head hurt."

I'd never spoken to him like that before, always maintaining some measure of deference but today I was already an emotional wreck thinking about having to meet my family in the evening, the pervasive heat, the maddening voices invading my head, resulting in my guard dropping. I bit my tongue the moment the words slipped out.

There was a brief silence then he chuckled. "That's the spirit."

"Ow. What did you do to me?" I squinted, trying to block out the extra bright sun shining through the window. He noticed, reaching up to pull the curtain to shield it out. My relief was immediate.

"Me? I didn't do anything. Well, not really. What did you do?"

I struggled into a sitting position with his help, my sight slowly adjusting to my surroundings as the pounding in my head ebbed. We were in a little cafe at the edge of market, seated in a semi-private alcove created by a wooden screen. I could see that the shop was more than half-full through the carving in the screen and no one was paying us any mind. The chair I'd been reclining on was actually a long bench made of dark hardwood, matched with a rectangular marble table typical to the myriad of coffee shops that dotted the city. Dante was straddling a stool.

"I don't know," I shook my head. "One moment we were at the fountain, and I could understand everything that everyone was saying, and the next thing I knew I wasn't just hearing them speak but—but I could Hear their thoughts too. Their mouths weren't moving but I could Hear them thinking. And what they were feeling. It was weird, and painful. There were just so many of them!"

"And now?"

I frowned, concentrating on the people beyond the screen. The silence in my head was deafening.