The Awakening

Clarissa- Memories in Focus

"We have a partial cure for the assassin's memory gun."

"What do you mean, partial?" Keira asked.

"Well, it won't bring back all of your memories, only some of them, and we have no way of knowing which ones." the doctor explained.

Rose, Keira's mother, was holding her hand from her place on the medical cot.

"The choice is yours, darling. You don't have to take the cure if you don't want to."

"I think I want to ask Oliver what he thinks." Keira told them. She had grown to rely on him during the past two days.

"Alright darling. I'll go find him."

Five minutes later she returned. "He's not here."

"What? Are you sure?"

"One of our scouts says they saw him sneaking off. They followed him and it turns out he was just giving food to the poor."

Keira was relieved. "Oh, yes that's what he does. He earns money and uses it to get the people things they need."

"By stealing."

"Well, he didn't have much choice!"

"Okay darling, I believe you. I suppose you have to make the decision on your own."

Keira thought long and hard. On one hand, she could find out if the dream was real, what her father was like, and she could get her life back! But on the other hand, what lurked in her past could come back to haunt her, and she could remember terrible things. But Keira was not a coward. So she made her choice.

"I'll take it."

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Keira woke up on the cot, the clock saying that an hour had passed. She looked to her right and saw Oliver waiting there.

"Hi!" she said excitedly.

"Um, hi," he replied.

"I feel great! I could jump off the walls right now!"

"Oh, it's the medicine. They said you would be a bit... uh... happy... when you woke up."

"Happy?" he nodded. "I do feel pretty happy!" she gasped. "Do we still have those donuts? I hope we didn't leave them at your..."

Oliver laughed, and handed her a donut on a napkin. "I remembered to go get them after I went on my spree today, had them warmed up and everything."

"Where's yours?" she asked.

"Right here," he took his donut from a nearby table and bit into it.

"Tastes like heaven!" Keira said, ecstatic.

"Oh, yeah. You don't have to go to training tomorrow, they want your memories to set in."

She nodded as she polished off the donut.

Then it happened.

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"You have to push yourself! Come on, push! Fight like a soldier!"

I tried to follow my instructors directions, but I was tired. Weak. Disappointing.

My teacher removed her hood. She had raven black hair, green eyes, and wing tattoos across her back and shoulders.

"You must focus! You are lousy, unbalanced, a bad excuse for an apprentice!"

I fought harder. My blade slammed into hers, knocking her back a step.

"Better, but you still lack discipline! You will never earn this stripe if you don't focus! Focus!"

"Focus!"

"Focus!"

"Focus!"