Sherry shook her head as she moved. Her head was fuzzy, she felt rattled. It felt like a dream, but she knew it wasn’t. Right? No, it wasn’t. She remembered what happened before. The Tear was real. So had the sacrifice, the fight. And the journey. Her head almost felt like it was going to explode with it all, all the information suddenly there again, and all the new bits, too. How had she forgotten it? No, not forgotten. Given up. For a cause.
She sighed, noting how heavy Armagnac felt, how solid the ground was beneath her boots. They’d won, though. Lived and won. And…. Merlin. Excalibur. THAT was what was going on at the caves. It had to be. It made sense. They’d both been there, in the world that wasn’t, it had been Excalibur who had fought with their strength. Sherry shivered. She hoped things were alright after all of that.
Maybe that’s where she should head? Perhaps she would be needed—
The whisper stopped her thoughts and her feet.
“Me?” she asked the nothing, eyes glancing around. She was alone, was she not? She could see hunters running a short distance away, but no one close enough to speak to her without yelling at the top of their lungs. “My shadow?” The voice was still there, yet she was still alone.
Sherry looked down.
Her shadow was there, though she had to turn slightly to see it. It was solid, sturdy, fully there, yet somehow… bright? She could think of no other word for it. She was still looking at it when it shifted, changed, becoming more solid, brighter and…not quite hers anymore. She knew the figure, the sword. Sherry gasped as it spoke.
"Your have forgotten something. Memories. I borrowed those from you and now you have my word I will return them. You are bound perhaps for greatness. Take these memories and become more than you ever were, greater than you can possible imagine. As long as there are still heroes in this world, as long as someone calls for me, for the need to Protect this world, I will be there."
“What?” The word was out of her mouth before she could stop it. She knew, somehow, the words were true. She had forgotten something. She knew that. Loaned memories away for the good of everyone. Was this…was this her getting them back? “What do you—“ She realized she was alone again. She had been before, too, but this was different. She was alone and she did not recall anything new.
Perhaps it was all a dream. All of it. This too. Maybe there was nothing for her to remember because nothing had truly been lost? Maybe—
“Hm?” Sherry was still staring at her shadow.
Sherry didn’t question her weapon. The query was in her feelings and she knew the lindwyrm would notice. She did turn her head. What she saw it, she froze. That was new.
“What is it?”
I see that. Sherry raised one hand to touch the thing. It was clearly a lock, and it glowed a faint blue, a nice compliment to Armagnac’s runes and orange bits. It rested at the base, where the blade met the staff. Small chains were attached to it. It…actually matched the weapon to a decent point. But what is it?
“Well that,” Sherry hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath, “is silly. Why not just return them to me? Why lock them up? How do I get them back?”
Sherry was still staring at the lock, her fingers running over the chains and the faint markings on the lock itself. “But—“
“Ok.” Sherry eyed the lock for a moment longer. Not a dream. Any of it. The Tear, the sacrifice, losing all of her memories….the journey to gain them again. Her hand went to her chest, resting above her heart. Red. It had glowed red, and it had hurt when it was cut out. It had changed color as she remembered, until it no longer showed through the gray because they had moved past that. They all had, as they moved forward and found themselves. Sherry smiled. They’d won, all of them together. Her head was still fuzzy as the memories ran through her mind. She remembered her heart the most.
His heart was blue. Her sigh was nostalgic. And you didn’t object to… She let the thought finish itself.
Armagnac sounded rather deadpan.
“Right,” she agreed, even though she didn’t move. Instead, she pulled out her phone, which was strangely silent. She didn’t know about the delays on communication, and she would have been sad if she had.
[A.V.]
Text to Jake: Hey! You make it back safe?
She fired off the text then set off again.
