ONE (Book 1 in the Amnesia Archives)

Chapter 23

"You're telling us that a big bad shadow messenger person came to warn you that you would be kidnapped and that you should prepare yourself for said inescapable kidnapping," Sarphi summarised with a frown. "This messenger went through the trouble of leading us to this house and this village, only to trap you in a basement covered in acid with decaying skeletons, instead of just writing a note?"

"Yes," I replied simply with a nod of my head. We were still in the very desolate village. I figured that not every house here would be covered in traps, and Onyx had seemed to calm down slightly since we had reemerged from the trap. "That is what I'm saying. I can't really say it in any other way."

We were sitting around a small fire which meant that all our knees were basically touching, and we had to force Onyx and Senka back from the fire, as it appeared they didn't know much of fire safety. There wasn't much of a roof on this building, but it was the best one which we could find here.

"Why would anyone do that?" Aknon asked. "Who would go to the trouble of warning you about a kidnapping?"

"Hey!" I exclaimed with a frown on my face as I reached over and nudged his shoulder. "I highly appreciate knowing that I'm going to be kidnapped someday and that I shouldn't worry about it."

"They never said you didn't have to worry," Senka pointed out. "Only that you can't escape it." I hated the fact that she had a point. It was frustrating thinking that I had something to worry about besides staying alive or keeping my siblings and friends alive. Being kidnapped in the future by someone or something I didn't know just felt like an unnecessary weight on my shoulders.

"That doesn't matter," I said with a sigh and brushed the concern off. "We should see if we can find somewhere here to sleep, and then continue on our way."

The others were silent for a few moments. I knew it was because they didn't understand why I was being so casual about this new information. But to me, nothing had changed. I didn't know what to look out for, and apparently it was inevitable.

"Okay," Aknon finally surrendered with a shrug. "I'll take first watch."

"You're not going to be much good by yourself," Sarphi pointed out whilst also gesturing to Aknon's leg. We'd done what we could to help it begin the healing process, but it wasn't a lot. We had checked it over, and it didn't look broken, but we still wrapped it tightly in some spare fabric we had to ensure that it remained in a good position.

"Onyx can look with him." I had no issues volunteering the dog to stay on watch with Aknon, as I knew they secretly liked each other. I also figured that Onyx is the one most likely to sleep throughout the day, the shadow dog would be able to protect Aknon and the noises would easily wake us up.

Aknon didn't look at all pleased by the information, nor did Onyx. But I had already moved to the corner of the room and got my blanket out of my bag. My blanket was torn and bitten by bugs and time. With patches of all kidneys of fabric placed here and there to make sure it did not get too cold. The other's blankets were the same, apart from Prin's, as hers was brought from her prison. Prin's blanket made me envious, as it looked fit for a princess.

"I don't have any complaints," Sarphi muttered with a stretch as she came to join me, snuggling up to me with a smile on her face. I couldn't imagine how scared she must've been earlier today, when we were being chased, or when we'd split up. I knew that she was a brave girl and that she could look after herself, but she's always been the littlest, the one who needed protecting. She had always been with one of us, taught by us and protected by us. I didn't want to imagine her being alone.

She wasn't alone though, she had Prin looking after her, Prin and Onyx.

Prin had moved to the other side of the building, so she was resting behind Sarphi and I. We were somewhat hidden, as we'd curled up under a very short wall. If anyone approached and looked down, they would see us clear as day. Aknon would be able to see them before that though.

And so, I fell asleep with my sister curled around me, her small arm holding me around my middle and the sound of fire and wind in my ears.

"Wake up," Sarphi hissed in my ear as she shook my shoulder harshly. All the loving thoughts I'd previously had had vanished, along with my dreams of pretty mermaids. "I swear this is all I do." She blew on my face, a very unpleasant sensation which she knew I hated.

I sighed and opened my eyes, sitting up. "My turn?" I asked, glancing around and noticing that Prin was still asleep, and Aknon had moved to sit beside her, a blanket over his body and head tilted back, it seemed like Sarphi put the blanket on him.

"Yes, but I have to show you something first." She took me by the arm and tried to pull me up by force, which she didn't succeed at. She tried digging her heels into the ground, but she just kept slipping.

"Okay, okay, let me stand," I whispered with a chuckle as I got to my feet. I wrapped my blanket around my shoulders like a cape, as the wind had turned cool as the sun went down. I didn't care what I looked like at the moment; I hated the cold.

I frowned as we moved away from the others, something I didn't think was a good idea, but Sarphi looked panicked. I wondered if she'd seen a threat and wanted to deal with them before they found us, but then surely she would've said something straight away if that was the case. I had brought my bag with me, just in case anything was needed. I always liked to keep everything on hand, as I generally found we needed something whenever we didn't have it.

"What's this about?" I asked as I glanced behind us, nothing that the building we were in had grown small, I couldn't see any sign that we were ever there, not even the leftover light from the fire. "We shouldn't be doing this."

Sarphi shook her head and pointed to a rock, pulling me behind it and tugging me down so that the two of us were sitting facing the rock. "Prin and I found this when you two were trapped," she whispered to me and pointed to the rock.

"A wonderful piece of nature, yes." I nodded and began to stand up again, but she pulled me down with an unimpressed expression.

"Look at it." She took hold of my chin and forced my head to look at the rock, which I thought was a rather rude action. I didn't complain though, besides an irritated sigh and a roll of my eyes.

I looked closer at the rock, not being able to notice anything different about it. "I don't get it." I leaned back after at least three minutes of staring at what appeared to be a normal rock, which had probably been part of one of the houses once upon a time.

"I can't believe you don't see it." Sarphi shook her head and pointed to a crack in the rock.

"So?" I asked, leaning forward again, feeling annoyance growing. She was acting as though it was clear as day, which made me feel really stupid. "It's a crack in the wall, what's so special about it?"

Sarphi looked at me as though she couldn't believe how stupid I was being, which made my mood worsen drastically. She then stared right into my eyes and lifted her tail, swiping it across the crack in the rock.

I stared at her, still trying to figure out what she was showing me.

Her shoulders slumped and she let out a small grumble. "Our tails are perfectly shaped for this thing."

I couldn't help but stare at her and laugh. I thought that was an absolutely ridiculous thing to point out or assume. It was just a crack in the rock, a crack which just so happened to fit the end of our tail in. "That's stupid."

Sarphi shook her head. "Just give it a go," she prompted, nudging my shoulder. "Prin pointed it out to me because she saw it looked strange."

I didn't understand what was different about the crack in the rock. I then decided to simply humour her and put my tail along the crack in the wall. My tail was sensitive, and I was able to feel every part of the rock. I would usually be able to feel every bump in the material, but there wasn't any, it was clean. It was an absolutely perfect and clean break. It perfectly fit the shape of my tail.

"So? It was probably made by a sword or something." I shrugged, but something about it did make me feel a little uneasy.

Sarphi crossed her arms. "Acer, you were threatened by a figure who was sent by someone telling you that you're going to get kidnapped. Our tails go straight through the crack, like it was caused by a tail. Acer, there's something after us. There's someone like us out there."