Journal of a Rose

Interim 4

[Four days after the last entry a new one appears, this time with incomprehensible side notes out the wazoo! Judging by the manic placements of said side notes, it was an intense study day.]

...

Okay, so we got back from the trip in one piece, which was far better than I expected. Caelum had some business to attend to on arrival at the castle, so I've been trying to piece things together on my own since yesterday. I feel like we're getting close, but there's so much going on with this one issue that I can't quite keep up with it like I should. So, I'll see if I can get my train of thought at least reasonably straight here.

...

To start off, we took a trip to Alpha - Caelum, Ib, and I - and went to some landmarks that would've conceivably helped jog my memory, including the little patch of space where home used to be, of course. No results, unsuprisingly, however I feel like we were getting closer than ever before. I had patches of memory trying to break through a few times, which I'll take as good progress!!

...

When we took a pit stop to investigate Traverse Town, I broke off from the other two to go finally talk to Russell under the pretense of... making a snack stop. If Cal found out, I'm sure he'd be super pissed with me, but I promise I had good intensions when I broke the rules!!

...

Obviously, it was great to see the family again! Theo and Ashe happened to be in by the time I dropped by, and they were all reasonably peeved to the point where Theo and Russell actually cried. Theo I expected, but Russ??? ... It was hella awkward. Russell gave me some interesting tidbits though!! According to him, I was incredibly manic after I crashed my ship, spent a lot of time writing in my journal, and took off after a Heartless when I first disappeared. What that could all mean, I have no clue, but it's a step in the right direction! ... I hope.

...

He also mentioned salvaging my stuff from the wreck and leaving it in the new cockpit for safekeeping, which I appreciate greatly. Apparently, he waited to repair the Firestorm until he knew I was alive, which was... is sentimental a good way to put it? I'm not sure how to process that. Either way, things are about as straight and narrow as they get from here, but I can't have access to the Firestorm for a while. Even if I flew off in that beautiful ship right then, I'd get in trouble for taking off on my own without Cal and Ib. It's for the best, I guess.

...

After that, we went to a few libraries between Alpha and Beta to see if we could find anything helpful, and sure enough there were a few things! Books on missing worlds, updated travel logs, all sorts of things! I'm using it all along with some notecards and string to piece things together. The frustrating part is that every time I had a breakthrough, it feels like a wrong turn. Every. Single. Time. So, I gave up and decided to take a break for a while, clear my head.

...

Of course, by taking a break, I mean I spent almost my entire afternoon in the kitchen. I did a little jazzercise with Caelum and Pablo before then, but other than that it was a LOT of kitchen time. Ate a lot of sushi for lunch on a bet, took a power nap, met a new member to the Army, planned a future trip with Ib, talked with Eryn about tea, almost got into a fight with Igni- Oh, yeah. Igni.

...

Turns out Igni has been screwing with my memories this entire time, how wonderful! The fact that Iris and Irene didn't warn me was what really ticked me off, aside from her self-righteous "it was for your safety" bullshit. Caelum dislikes her to, and I don't blame him. Unfortunately, because of this we needed a workaround to get my memories back, since Igni isn't helpful in the slightest and refuses to budge. Maybe that's why I had so much trouble with my theories...? I keep finding the right hints and she makes me forget? The question now is: How close did I manage to get?

...

We're gonna ask Wayrren to see if he can poke around my brain and convince Igni to give us a hint. Guess I gotta get my affairs in order just in case things go horribly wrong, all things considered. I'm already walking a thin line dealing with heart parasites in the first place, so I'm not expecting to have a job by the end of this. Ah, well, maybe I can work at Russ's shop if things get hairy. Might finally attract more clientele with the free Army publicity! ... Eh, that's probably a bit of a stretch.

...

Anyway, I'm stalling for time. I'll update things once they happen. If I survive my bosses' wrath, that is.