It was a restless night for Nyx- she tossed and turned over her firm but comfortable mattress relentlessly, trying to find a position in which she'd be able to relax enough to sleep, vaguely wondering if she could use any of the emergency sleeping gas to knock herself out. It was thunderstorming outside, rain coming down in buckets as the lightning flashed through the window, brightening the entire room in an instant, the thunder rolling louder and louder as the storm continued to grow, the howling wind only adding to the vivacious, definitely not sleep-friendly chorus.
There was a sound from the door, and Nyx looked over just as a bolt of lightning streaked from the sky, revealing Aria leaning against the door frame, gesturing for Nyx to come to her. Numbly, Nyx forced herself up and to the waiting Aria, wondering what she wanted as Nyx was led into Aria's room. It was bright, the bed made and the room nice and tidy. It ws obvious from both the condition of the sheets and Aria's alert expression that she hadn't been sleeping.
"Did the storm keep you up, Nyx?" asked Aria, sitting down on her bed, Nyx settling beside her.
Nyx nodded, feeling herself drift off a little. "Yeah, kind of," she admitted, exhaustion mangling every word. "Why did you have me come with you?"
"I have something to tell you, Nyx. Something Jun and Rin don't know, something Nero, Brise, and Chaos would never tell you. Something you might not believe. I know you from before you arrived at this Organization, I know what has been blocked out of your conscious mind. And I can help bring it back."
This was a bit too much for Nyx's sleepy ears. "Bring what back?" she yawned, struggling to stay upright.
"Your memories. Who you really are." Aria paused before continuing. "Your real name is Amy, but to me and a select group of others, you are known as Aeyra. Does that ring a bell?"
"I heard one of those girls earlier today say it... She looked like she recognized me, like she was calling for me. I asked Brise, but she, Nero, and Krev don't know anything about it."
"They do. But it's their job to hide it from you. Now be quiet for the next few minutes. I'm going to tell you things you can't repeat no matter what. Got it?" Nyx nodded. "You are Aeyra. You're a mathematician who's won awards in competitions. You like science, books, and a manga called Detective Conan. It's a mystery where a teenage detective called Shinichi Kudo sticks his nose where he shouldn't, gets fed a poison, but instead of dying, he shrinks. He goes to live with his childhood friend Ran Mouri under the alias of Conan Edogawa. The story is about him trying to take down the syndicate who shrunk him, and he falls in love with a scientist from that Organization," lied Aria, hoping Nyx would catch her error.
"He does not!" blurted out Nyx, surprised at herself as she finished the sentence. "He likes Ran, not Ai." She sat shocked for a few moments, the wall separating her memories from her mind breaking, flooding her as everything was remembered.
She saw her friends and family, she saw Chelsea, KKLT, Pyre, and other DCW members for the first time, she ran from the grasp of death as bullets flew all around her, she was taken back in time again and she felt a bullet enter her head and watched the world turn an inky blank, she remembered her captors holding her fiercely, dragging her into a cell where she agreed (a lie) to join the syndicate, she saw Chaos take out an object like a flashlight, and then she blinked, trying to comprehend it all.
"It worked," whispered Aria, a satisfied smile on her face. "I can tell by the way you're staring blankly at the ground, Aeyra."
"Oh god," muttered Aeyra, hand on her forehead, combining the past with the present. Her old friends, her new family, and the confusion between them both. "What do I do?"
"Continue the charade as you would have without your memories," said Aria. "That's the only advice I have- breaking you out is too risky. It's hard enough getting the Organization to believe I was always on their side without an escape two doors down from where I sleep."
"Work for the Organization?" repeated Aeyra, realizing who Aria really was. "Mark?"
"The one and only," he answered, giving her a wink. "And about the disguise... It's a safety precaution. We didn't want your group recognizing me."
"Recognizing you?"
"I used to be the leader," he explained. "Until after I killed Laela. I was then assigned to a different place."
"Laela...?" Aeyra's eyes widened as anger was immediately etched on her face. "Mark, how could you? Do you know how much Chaos misses her? According to Nero, he cries every night, he has dreams, and he begs for her to come back. What did Laela do that made it necessary to kill her? What did Chaos do to deserve her death?" Aeyra had tears in her eyes as she recalled Chaos's sorrow, his obvious desire for vengeance that bubbled right beneath his skin, her hands grabbing Mark's shirt as her glare bored into his eyes.. "What did they do?"
"I regret it now," he said simply. "At the time I was told to do it, so I did. Apparently, Laela was knowingly passing our information to the outside and was solely responsible for two raids on bases that nearly led to the discovery of the Organization. According to the rules here, that's a death penalty. But since it was that severe, the additional punishment was to have her know all her friends would be in pain, not told the reasoning behind her death. To have Chaos breaking apart because of it was just another blow to Laela according to the Organization."
"Still, Chaos didn't deserve it. I don't know how I can go back now and be Nyx. I'm not Nyx. I'm Aeyra." She stood up, exhaustion forgotten. "Do I tell Chelsea and Misaki anything?"
"Just bring them here tomorrow night when Brise is asleep. I can't risk anymore tonight. Nero has this habit of patrolling the hallways playing his game and sipping his coffee after two." The clock read 1:45AM. "You better get back before he catches you."
"Okay." Aeyra pulled the door open, but held it still as she looked back. "And thank you for bringing back my memories. I forgot to say it earlier, but really, I'm really, really grateful."
"Don't mention it."
******
I used the Detective Conan idea. How was it? Was it good?
