Itsy Bitsy Spider

17. Memorable Experiment

"Is she coming to? I think she's finally waking up!"

She would never forget Shalnark's eager voice as she lay on the ground, feeling bleary and exhausted.

Her head throbbed with every single pulse, and his high-pitched, energetic shouting wasn't helping. Groaning, she'd opened her eyes, only to close them immediately. She didn't want to move, or turn to the light. She felt like doing nothing but curling up, maybe kicking the shouting person before drifting off to sleep again. Only six, she did not feel like waking up at all.

Unfortunately, he grabbed her wrists and forcefully pulled her up into a sitting position.

She'd glared as hard as she could in his direction with a squint. She ran a hand down her face and rubbed at her eyes.

"You're finally awake!" the blond exclaimed, earning himself another sleepy glare. "You've been out cold for a while."

She blinked. "Who are you?"

His eyebrows shot up, and his hand brushed his own cheek briefly before reaching out toward hers. "You don't remember who I am?"

She ducked and scurried back. "No." Freezing, she finally peered at her surroundings. A hard, wooden floor, with hard, wooden walls to match. Something on the ceiling spun, but she didn't know what that was. Some reed-like things decorated the opposite wall, but she didn't know what they were either. And the people, the person in front of her... she didn't know him. She tried to think back, but hit a blank wall. A single instruction of how to brush her teeth came to mind, but she brushed that aside. She may have been clueless, but she doubted cleaning her teeth would be of help in any way at the moment.

"Oh," he breathed, suddenly quiet.

"So she's lost her memory." Another man entered the room, raven black hair swishing to the side as he took a step forward. His bangs had a small bounce near the front, giving off a warm feeling. Wearing a simple yet dignified shirt and slacks, he came to a hesitant stop in front of her. He smiled, but his eyes seemed to droop. "I suppose you don't know who I am either?" His earrings glinted from late sunlight streaming through the window as he dipped down, questioning.

"No," she said, and jolted at a man staring spitefully at her behind a winged skull marking, who had suddenly appeared next to him.

"Feitan, I believe your presence is scaring her," the man with earrings said, gently pushing him away. "Go wait with the others, and let them know she's awake. Training should come after the girl is comfortable with her surroundings."

"Tch." He left as soon as he had come, which meant she saw nothing. One moment he was there, and in the blink of an eye, he'd vanished.

She must have gaped, because the next thing he said was: "She seems to have forgotten everything, even our abilities."

"Who are you?" she repeated, rubbing again at her bleary, itching eyes.

He smiled. Brushing his dark bangs out of his eyes first, he then took her small hands in his own, giving them a firm squeeze. It would have been a comforting move if he hadn't been a stranger in her mind. Realizing it was making her uncomfortable, he let go and took a step back. "I am Chrollo."

The blond who had been shouting before sat down carefully next to her, but at a distance so the girl wouldn't be alarmed. "I'm Shalnark," he said, extending his hand. This just earned him a puzzled look. "Oh, she forgot that too. Heh. I guess we missed that point." Not giving her much time to ask about what he'd just said, Shalnark gingerly took her hand and placed in in his own. He gently pumped his arm up and down. "You're supposed to shake it. It's a way of saying hi, or hello, or greetings."