Memories

"What...?" The man showed a foolish face.

"My Lady... your head is hurting? Are you feeling ill anywhere else?" The woman crouched beside the bed, her hands enveloping her own in a tender manner.

"Thank you for your concern miss, it's not too bad if I don't overthink anything" her chest filled with a bittersweet rhythm. This woman had been so kind ever since she woke up. Did she have some sort of familial relationship with her?

"...Miss...? My Lady, you've always called me by name..." The woman replicated the doctor's expression. Her eyes wide and filled with anxiety.

The woman turned her head to look at the doctor.

"Memory loss...? It is possible but..." he began mumbling to himself, appearing lost in thought for a moment.

Memory loss? She was indeed having trouble recalling things but...

Flashes of scenes passed like light.

She was in a white coat, sitting at a desk with a multitude of herbs scattered about. She wore a mask and gloves, while peering through a small microscope.

Then a beautiful field of flowers, where a fat stripped cat rolled cutely and meowed.

The scenes ended, and she could only blink in astonishment.

It was as if she was in two places at once, but each felt entirely separate.

What was happening?

"It could be... but surely not!" The doctor, the most energetic she had seen him since meeting him, rushed for his bag. He clumsily rummaged through, cursing quite profanely.

He pulled out a strange stone now.

First a glass ball... and now a stone... would he read her tarot cards next? She wondered what sort of quack doctor this was, and who hired him?

She felt pity, who ever hired this man was clearly being scammed. This was no doctor.

"Please place your hand on this-" her wrist was gripped forcefully, and the stone was shoved into her hand.

The maid shot up in panic, in an attempt to pry the madman off her.

She felt slightly fearful now, meeting the dark eyes of the doctor now... they were burning with some sort of curiosity which made her feel less like a patient and more like an experiment.

"Sir, mind your manners or I will call the guards! Do you know what you are-"

The rock began shaking, and without her even putting any pressure onto it... it broke.

Crumbled to dust, all on it's own.

All eyes in the room were on the crumbled stone, a grey rock if put plainly.

"So that is why...! Such grand news, we must inform the Duke and Duchess!" The doctor became ecstatic, his thin lips stretched and revealed slightly yellowed teeth.

She didn't like such a strange doctor, so all she was able to do was look pleasingly at the woman still looking dumbstruck.

"The Lady... manifested...? How is that possible.. the temple said she was without..." The woman was lost to her mumbles, causing panic to build in her chest. What did a rock turning to dust in your hand mean?

"This is a rare phenomenon, occurring so infrequently that it's gone mostly undocumented. Her magic is likely a mutation that was undetectable by the temple until it fully matured"

She was lost.

Did they say magic?

"I-I'll go inform the Duchy! This is a cause for celebration!" The doctor, as easily as he entered... left. Running out the double doors, he forgot his medical bag.

This doctor... should truly be fired for malpractice. There were surely laws in place for such neglect. He put a glowing ball in her hand, shined a light in her eye, then made her hold a rock that couldn't last longer than a second in her grasp.

Her eyes fell on her hands curiously.

Was she truly that strong?

"My Lady, please" the maid stepped forward with a warm cloth, cleaning her fingers from left over dust.

"Please, allow me to change you"

She was in no position to deny help, especially how weak her body felt.

The woman helped her stand, taking off the nightgown with a gentle touch.

"What is your name? I'd like to thank you for your help" The woman flinched, looking conflicted for a moment before meeting her own eyes with watery ones.

"Ah, I apologize. I didn't mean to make you cry-" she wasn't sure how to comfort such a pretty woman.

"It's alright my Lady... my name is Angelina" Angelina smiled sadly, causing a deep ache to settle in her chest.

"Angelina... what a lovely name. May I call you Angie?" She felt close with Angelina; but she couldn't place why. It was like her body automatically trusted her.

Angelina laughed softly, patting her head with affection. Her hand was warm.

"Please do, My Lady"

She smiled at Angie.

"Please! Let me through! I have grand news!" The guards blocked Roderick path, annoying him greatly and dampening his excitement.

"The Duke said he needed to focus, and that no one enter unless there is an emergency" The two guards were stone faced and unwavering. Roderick sneered at the lowly dogs standing in his way.

"It certainly is an emergency, regarding Lady Vermillion" The guards only showed an expression at the name of the Ducal house lady.

Roderick felt his patience thin, as he pushed his plumb build past the grumbling guards who followed along behind him.

A butler stood diligently outside two intricately carved marble doors.

Upon seeing the doctor and escort, his face paled in worry.

This doctor had been hired specifically to look after the young lady, and since he was coming with such a stern face, he assumed the worst.

He quickly opened the doors, giving the man behind the wide desk a notice of the doctor's arrival.

"Let him in"

Roderick finally entered the magnificent office of Duke Venice De Vermillion. The successful Duke was the jewel in many eyes, and even being a vassal beneath him was told to be like heaven.

With golden hair and dark ruby pink irises, Duke Vermillion was a charming looking gentleman of only twenty-eight.

He was also a dual magic wielder, and went to war in his family name at only eighteen.

Roderick respect such a noble, despite his distaste for the majority.

The Duke stood, his eyes narrowed and calculating. If he hadn't been gripping the sword at his waist tightly, Roderick might believe the man calm.

Was this father ready to kill him?

Roderick brushed off the strange feeling, and began to speak.

"Your Grace, I have wonderful news!"

He seemed to relax visibly now, his shoulders dipping.

The Duke did not speak, as he took large strides right out the door. Roderick panicked, and ran after, struggling to keep pace with the Duke. The man was easily one of the tallest gentleman he'd ever met, and his legs took him to the third floor faster than Roderick could run.

Several maids could be seen going in and out of the Lady's bedroom now.

Angie helped her change into a light weight lace dress, it was pink. She even brushed her hair and tied half of it back into a matching ribbon.

"Are you hungry my Lady?" Angie knelt with such a compassionate gaze, she nearly felt her cheeks flush.

She couldn't lie, "A little..."

"Of course, I'll have some soup suitable for your condition made" Angie diligently left to summon several maids. All of which came in complete curiosity to see the young lady awake.

It was a blessing for the mansion, that the little lady had finally awoken healthy and safe.

While the room soon became busy, the curtains pulled back from enormous windows to let in fresh sunlight and air, and a multitude of servants congratulating on her for her recovery.

She could only sit there... confused.

Had she missed something? Wasn't she a child? No... that didn't feel right either. She couldn't place why, the thought of anything about her situation besides the tangible, caused her head to ache horribly.

Angie had personally delivered the soup, on a beautifully decorated tray which also held fruits cut into flower and bunny shapes. A glass of juice was present with the tea and water, and she felt her hungry spike at the delicious aromas.

She wasn't awkward in the least, picking up the right utensils despite having little familiarity with their names. She felt oddly refined as she ate, but she was still quick to polish off all the food before her.

"Angie, thank you" Angie beamed, blushing at the polite way she spoke.

"My lady, it is my honor and duty to serve you" she could only leave it at that, looking out the windows and seeing a vast garden filled with flowers of all varieties. It would have appeared chaotic if not for the meticulous placement of each breed and species.

"Such a lovely garden..." she couldn't help praising, her heart filling with a gentle warmth.

Angie chuckled, "Yes, my Lady doesn't remember helping her Grace create it...?" Her voice was strained.

She looked away from the view to Angie, unable to reason why she'd not remember planting such a vibrant garden.

She couldn't remember her name...

She flinched at the sharp pain in her head.

She shouldn't think too much.

A knock came, before the door opened to reveal another woman dressed like Angie yet different from the other servants. Was Angie higher ranked?

It made sense, a heirchary amongst maids. Any workplace had it, managers and the like. She let the thought rest there, becoming incredibly tired.

She sat at a small tea table, only two chairs were present.

The table itself was made of glass and some sort of gold painted metal. Or was it real gold...?

Angie watched as the young lady looked around at everything curiously, vaguely becoming paranoid. If her lady had truly forgotten everything, how sad would her parents be? All those memories gone.

It was thankful her personality was much the same, but the lady now lacked the air of nobility once ingrained in her through strict training since birth.

She worried if it might affect her development later, but tried to stay positive.

"His Grace is here to see the young Lady" Martha was the head maid, her presence already alerted Angie of the Duke's appearance... but she worried.

"Yes, please" Angie bowed, moving off to the side.

She turned her focus away from the table, glancing up to see a very tall and imposing man walk in.

His atmosphere was much different from everyone else who had came. Even the prideful quack doctor did not hold himself like this strangely beautiful man.

She caught his eyes, shocked momentarily by how vibrant pink they were. She felt strange, seeing such an eye color. It didn't seem natural, yet those eyes reminded her of someone...

She stood from her seat, not wanting to sit in front of this man.

He wore a sword on his hip, but a very meticulously tailored suit was his outfit of choice. It was an odd combination to her, but she wasn't in a position to judge other's appearances. Her own hair was pink, and whether it was natural was doubtful.

The man didn't speak, just stared down at her with a stern face.

Was she meant to speak first?

Glancing around the room to see everyone's heads bowed respectfully, beside a much older man standing a few paces behind him.

"Hello..." she could only smile, since it seemed the right approach.

"Roderick... explain what is wrong with my daughter" The man completely ignored her, turning to speak to the quack doctor. She wanted to tell the poor man that this doctor was a fake, but felt it inappropriate at this current time.

Hopefully she could tell him later.

She looked around the room again, curious if the person he referred to as his daughter... was her?

Yet, she couldn't recall if she had any parents? No faces or names came to her, everything was blank.

"Yes, your Grace, the young Lady is experiencing amnesia due to the magic in her blood becoming chaotic at the sudden awakening" The quack spoke much more respectfully to this man than he did to her. She felt a bit bitter at this realization. Was the handsome gentleman possibly his employer?

It appears the gentleman's sight was poor.

The gentleman gave the doctor a very nasty look.

"My daughter was tested to be without any magic, are you telling me the temple lied?"

The room became slightly tense.

Even she felt the hairs on her arms stand up.

"I-it is because the young lady has a mutated magic your Grace, that the temple was unable to identify any dormant magic" the doctor looked nervous under the scrutiny.

"Mutated...?" The tense air dissipated, as all eyes suddenly turned towards her.

She wanted to tell them, "please do not look to me for information! I am also unaware!", but she figured speaking or not would be meaningless.

The gentleman walked towards her with swift strides, and crouching down to look at her more closely.

His handsome face was extremely symmetrical, and he smelled slightly like tobacco.

She swallowed thickly, trying not to back away from his sharp gaze.

She tried again to greet him.

"Hello sir..." her hands wrung nervously in front of her. Her body language likely spoke of her discomfort.

He reached a single hand out to place on her head, confusing her entirely.

Was he patting her head?

He hand grew extremely warm, but he quickly withdrew the touch.

She found it also quite strange, how natural the touch felt. She didn't even move away.

Was this really her father? He seemed quite young to have any children.

It was the warmth in her chest which caused the sudden and outrageous amount of pain to erupt.

She didn't hear her own scream, or the panic which ensured after her body collapsed.

All she could recognize was the pain fading as everything came rushing back.

The woman in a lab coat was her, a botanist and chemist. A tall woman with a past filled with foster homes and social workers. An eager to please woman who needed to validation of others, and died during a poisoning after test chemicals entering in through her inadequate gloves. She died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Only a few co-workers she knew vaguely there to keep her company as she passed away. Diane was forgotten.

A home filled with luxury and warmth. Two beautiful parents that equally doted on her. An egotistical child with a Princess complex. Rosalia was still alive.

Who was she really?