Memory Glitch (Book 2 in the "Glitched" Series)

[TWO - The Hybrids Are Confused and The Gods Are Angry]

It felt as if he'd cried an eternity since being taken from the Glitched Lands. He felt... Different. He looked different, too. His once bright, full-of-joy eyes were now dull, but that wasn't the only change.
No.
By crossing over the barrier, he'd been stripped of his abilities. He could no longer summon the flames that have him happiness, nor could he provide his own light. Somehow, Preston had become... Human.
He hated it. It was always so cold, so dark. The room he was in was nice, the other humans didn't physically hurt him in any way, but he was lonely. Nobody ever talked to him; It was as if they'd all forgotten that he was there. Not that it would have mattered, though, if he was free or not.
How could he go back home, or find any of his old friends, only to see that they wouldn't recognize him?

'Hey.'
Well... He wasn't always alone. One of the humans would come by and visit him, telling him about what was happening on the outside. Preston never spoke back, for he was scared that if he did they would kill him.
'We haven't talked in a while,' The blond spoke as he shut the door behind him, pulling a chair over and sitting on it so that his arms rested on the back, as if he were riding a horse, 'Well, I haven't talked in a while. Heh. Anyway, how're you feeling today?'
He gained no answer, but the male didn't let that faze him. 'You're friends with Vik, right? You knew him, along with all the other hybrids,' Yet again, no response, but there was a spark of interest, 'Oh, you finally made some acknowledgment towards my existence! Anyway, yeah. I'm not sure if I told you, but he's pretty much been in a coma for the past... Four? Five years? And now he's finally awake.'

'What?!' Preston yelped in shock, eyes widening as a celebratory grin made it onto the blond's face. He took no notice, instead attempting to push himself off of the bed - Keyword attempting, as all he did was fall back down again 'Easy there, hot-head. I don't think you've moved - or eaten - much since you got here, so you might want to take it slow for now.'
'Is-Is he ok-okay?'
'Now that is a debatable question. From what I've heard he's fine-' The Texan let out a sigh of relief- 'But he's lost some of his memory.' Now that made his blood run cold. He froze, hands shaking at the thought of one of his friends not remembering who he was.
The human noticed this, standing from his previous position and carefully making his way over to the younger brunet. He cautiously moved to his side, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder 'Hey, I'm sure he remembers you. He remembers us, and Mitch and Kenny.'

'Th-They're here?' Preston whispered, eyes brimming with tears yet he made no attempt to brush them away - It was all too much. Being turned into a human, losing his family, his home his life his-
'Breathe.' The blond commanded, grabbing the boy's shoulders and staring him right in the eyes, 'Just breathe'. There was something about his voice that compelled Preston to listen, so he did, eyes wide and blinking furiously.
'You've got to cool down, mate. It's not good for your health, both physical and mental. I know you're afraid, alright? I was too, but seriously hot-head, just chill out.'
'...Preston.'
'Huh?'
'My name. It's-It's Preston'.
'Well, nice to finally meet ya Preston! The name's Lewis, Harold Lewis, but just call me Harry.'

~~~

This is a terrible idea, Father.
Watch your mouth, girl. It's bound to work this time, just you watch! The god scolded, running his finger along the page to try and find the ancient rune. His Daughter sighed, but went back to doing the same thing. Besides, your Brother will soon be here to help.
You invited him here, why?!
'Honestly Sister, if I didn't know better I'd say that you despised me!' The less powerful voice of Herobrine's second spawn echoed through the castle library, and he walked around an aisle with a large book in his hands.
I wonder why I would have any reason for that.
'If anything, I should be the one hating you. Remember that time when, y'know, you almost drowned me?!'
Both of you, just be quiet. Octavia, get back to finding that rune, and stop fighting with your Brother. Herobrine ordered, standing from the grand desk in the library and pacing forwards Now, Son, I have a very special... "Task" for you.
'And what would that be, Father?'
Spy on the Village of Byte, and report to me by the end of the week.

~~~

'Choco, you'll need to come out of there eventually!' Jerome shouted up into the tree's branches, gaining no response apart from the rustling of fresh leaves. The bacca hybrid groaned again, resting his head against the trunk and staring at the rough bark just infront of his eyes, 'Please, Choco. You've been up there for ages, nobody's seen you in about a week!'
'I do come down, just... Jerome, I really don't want to go down there. People are gonna laugh at me!'
'Why the fudge would anybody laugh at you?'
'Because I'm the last golden bird hybrid, and I can't even fly. I'm literally as flightless as a baby bird - No, even a baby bird can fly better than I can!' The two stayed silent for a few moments, before the furred hybrid let out a quiet growl of frustration. 'You know what, Choco? You don't have to come down, because I'm coming up.'

'What - No, no no, don't you fuDGING DARE-' Too late. Did you know, that the average bacca can scale a tree in less than ten seconds? Well, now you do. Poking his head through the leaves and small twigs, Jerome reached up and pulled himself up before looking around. Nothing too out of place, really, but there was a suspiciously Choco-shaped mound under his black cloak that caught the older teenager's eye 'My gods, Choco... What's wrong?'
'The fact that everybody laughs at me, that's what.' The bird spoke sullenly, keeping the cloak wrapped tightly around his slight frame as Jerome sighed. There was movement from his right before the fabric was being pulled away, exposing Choco to the Sun filtering through the leaves 'Listen, buddy, you were never like this before. What happened to our cheery chocobo, eh?'
He looked away, as if ashamed of his actions, while the bacca sat down cross-legged next to him 'In all seriousness Choco, what's happened. You're not the same as you used to be, not since Pete showed up again.

'It's not - I just - It feels like he drove them away,' Choco whispered, pulling his legs up to his chest and hugging them tightly, 'I know it's not right, but I can't help but feel this way.'
'He was kinda hostile towards them, to be fair.' Jerome pointed out, resting a hand/paw on his friend's back as he stared directly ahead 'But he's our friend, Jerome... Yet at the same time, it's as if he wanted this to happen! And if that's not bad enough, I keep thinking that's it's all my fault and-'
'Hey, I get it. You blame both him and yourself, because you think that there's somebody to blame, but there really isn't... Well, maybe there was.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SINCE WHEN WAS JEROME A THERAPIST MAH GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH

The Texan's back, and Choco's acting... Strange. It appears his feelings towards Brandon have begun to change, and for a good reason.

.

.

.

;))))))))

See you all in the next chapter, and have a great Morning - Afternoon - Evening - Dawn - Dusk - Midnight - Paranormal Timezone!