Memento Mori

Music blared through the theatre. Colored lights, set up just for the occasion, flashed brightly.

Many guests were cheering loudly. An incredibly small minority looked bored, lazily clapping their hands. The few teachers required to be there were clapping politely, laughs and smiles on their lips.

Everyone had enjoyed the show, but now it was coming to a close.

The drummer gave a resounding beat, the other three musicians putting all they had into the last burst of melody.

“WE’RE—!”

The six teens on stage, who had sung their whole hearts for this entire performance, struck a final pose, fists confidently in the air. And then, as one, their voices rang out.

“SIX!”

Cheers erupted and for a moment, the six could only stand there, panting for breath and still running on the adrenaline their performance had given them as they beamed at the audience.

They all danced together for a few moments, laughing happily. The blue teen taking someone’s phone to film the group before handing it back.

The six almost reluctantly exited the stage, chatting happily and loudly as they went.

“That was amazing!”

“I can’t believe they let us perform another time!”

“This is the fourth show! I guess the school likes it just that much!”

“I still think we should take it to actual theatre after graduation!”

“Hell yeah we should! I thought that was the plan in the first place?!”

The group headed into a spare classroom, where racks of outfits and their regular clothes awaited them. They talked and laughed as they changed, still coming down from the high of their performance.

The staff had given them a small couch and some chairs to sit in for before and after the performance and the group took full advantage of them once they were all back in casual wear.

The teens wearing blue and pink took the couch, curled up together with the blue teen writing something in a journal and the pink teen watching her do so.

The one in gold sat in a chair, the one in green pressed against her from behind, arms curled loosely around the gold teen’s neck and chin resting on her head.

The red and silver teens were holding hands, sitting next to each other in chairs, the silver teens head coming over to rest on the red teen’s shoulder.

The atmosphere was peaceful, small talk filling the room as the group laughed together.

“I’m telling you, that was our best show yet!”

“Nothing can beat the first.”

“Uhhh, anxiety?”

“... she’s right.”

“See?!”

“Well, I think all of our shows so far have been the best!”

“That isn’t wrong either…”

“I think it’s nice just being able to tell our stories like this.”

The playful conversation was interrupted by a phone beeping. Everyone paused, all heads turning to the blue teen.

Said blue clad teen fished for her phone in the duffel bag on the floor. For a moment, you could hear a small ‘meow,’ but no one looked disturbed.

She found it and checked the notification. She brought her head up and gave everyone a confident stare.

“Queens, I think it’s time for another major performance.”

~~||~~||~~

It was the dark of night. The moon up in the sky, shining a dim light. Everything was calm. It was silent, most of London asleep in their beds.

Suddenly, a helicopter flew overhead. Sirens could be heard as police cars flew down the street.

Where were they going? Towards a casino. A bright golden casino with blinding lights and flashy signs. The building towered over every other one on the street, in the city, in display of dominance. It was garish and burned the eyes, yet the police never faltered, continuing their path.

Inside, hundreds, possibly thousands, of people crowded the floor. Tables and slot machines were set around the room. The interior was just as bright as the exterior, reflections and chandeliers bouncing light through the area.

A whisper had broken among the crowd. Everyone began murmuring, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Some people began to make a break for it, turning to exits and pulling family and spouse towards them.

Security guards had appeared in the room. They all began to prowl through the crowds, seemingly searching for something.

No one seemed to notice the figure leaping from rafter to rafter and light to light, the only shadowed area in the room.

But then, someone looked up and cried out. “Up there!”

The figure had crossed the threshold with ease and was now perched on one of the swinging lights, staring down at the crowd. The figure was feminine and had a suitcase held under one arm. She wore what seems to be a black and blue jumpsuit, it extended fully down her legs to meet heeled boots, the sleeves being short and puffy. Her hair was brown and curly, pulled to rest on one side of her head. A bō-staff hung on her back and a revolver was by her side.

The most dominating feature was her mask. It was hard to make out from below, but it was a deep blue. It was shaped like an owl, the top curved and the sides tracing up like horns. A nose piece resembled a beak and black outlines formed the look of feathers.

She surveyed the room with a raised eyebrow, as if challenging someone to come after her. The suitcase was still very noticeable under her arm, the reflecting lights making it more of a target along with the flashing sequins on the thief’s outfit.

Pandemonium broke out. The guards let out roars of defiance and called into their walkie-talkies as they pushed through the compact crowd. Said crowd had begun to panic at the sight of the thief.

The thief herself simply hummed in what seemed to be amusement or concentration as she turned back to her path. Once everyone looked away, she dropped the suitcase, leaving it behind on the light. She then continued to leap, making her way skillfully along the lights, heading for the other side of the long room.

As she moved, a voice buzzed in her ears.

“Well, I’d say you definitely grabbed their attention, Survivor!” The voice tittered.

“Thank you, Ghost.” The now-named Survivor spoke, keeping a steady pace. “You should all be able to make your escape now.”

“Already did!” Ghost replied with a chuckle. “Royal’s with me too!”

Royal’s cool and calm voice joined in. “That’s right.” And then, Survivor could practically hear the other thief’s eyebrow raise. “And I thought this was a distraction, not showing off?”

Survivor shrugged. “You never said how flashy I had to make it. And I would say this is tame compared to other stunts I’ve seen all of us do.”

A new voice barked out a laugh. “She’s got a point there!”

“Hound, dear, we have guards approaching, please be quiet for a moment.”

“Verdammt. Sorry, Heart.”

“Hound, Heart, your exit is right up ahead! Mona, you should be able to make it through that opening to your left. Courtier, Royal, and Ghost are all out!”

“Thank you for the assistance, Siren!” Courtier’s almost annoying voice pierced Survivor’s ears. She did her best to ignore it.

“We’re all out! Survivor, get out of there!” A high pitched voice, that Survivor recognized as Mona, replied.

“I’m almost to the stairs!” Survivor notified, making another jump to a light. She could see the flight of stairs that could lead her to the exit of the Casino. An exit was through that path, Survivor simply had to trek it. And if she jumped off the next light, she could easily land on the platform.

“Survivor, how about we get coffee after all of this is done?” Siren suddenly asked gently. The others were all silent.

“Coffee sounds wonderful, mi amor. It’s a date, and I promise you I will make it.” Survivor murmured back, eyes softening as she landed on the top of the stairs leading to the exit.

“Ha, gay!” Hound and Ghost both spoke at the same time. But before anyone could make a response, Siren called out.

“Survivor, shadow dead ahead!”

The sudden cry had Survivor straightening immediately. She reached unconsciously for her staff as she noticed the enemy pointed out to her. Sure enough, a newcomer had emerged from the door.

It only looked human at a glance. For after half a second of looking at it, the shadow seemed to shift. It became bulkier and seemed to slump over slightly. It still wore a suit, but you could see no skin, only black where exposed skin once was. A mask with glowing yellow eyes stared back at Survivor.

Well, if the shadows wanted to block her escape, they would have to try their best. Survivor had a date to get to, after all.

Survivor sprinted towards the enemy, much to their clear surprise. She leapt up and landed on it’s shoulders. She reached down and grabbed the mask in her hand and gave it a sharp tug, ripping it away. She leapt away afterwards and watched as the shadow melted into a pile of darkness before re-emerging as something far more monstrous than before.

It’s lower half was a teal metal and stretched out, similar to a snake but far more blocky. Two hands formed from its lower half, holding it up. It’s top half was black and white with the head of a bull.

“Survivor, that shadow’s strong!” Siren’s voice suddenly turned into an urgent yelp. “Heads up!”

The shadow let out a thunderous roar and Survivor was quickly flipping backwards as it launched an attack that spread fire wide across the floor. Survivor stood at the edge of the flames, watching the shadow closely.

Then, she reached up and grabbed her mask. She ripped it away and blue flames followed, a gust of wind blowing away the shadow’s fire. The blue flames shifted and morphed in a matter of seconds, drawing upwards to form a figure behind Survivor.

“Athena!” Survivor bellowed out.

The flames faded to drift around Survivor’s feet. The figure behind her was in full view now.

She was giant and wore billowing robes. A giant spear was in her right hand. In her left was a giant shield, far larger than Survivor herself, imprinted with the face of a woman with snake hair. A golden helmet was hiding her face, eyes glowing a bright light behind it. Two owls flew and drifted around her, watching the enemy with naturally wide eyes.

Athena was intimidating. Her unseen, but glowing eyes casting an eerie glow. Her spear slammed against the floor several times before she pointed it at the shadow in challenge. The owls’ movements grew faster. The picture on her shield seemed to come to life, woman screeching and snakes hissing.

The monster in front of them roared at the new challenger. It reared back and prepared to launch an attack.

But Survivor and Athena were faster.

Survivor pulled the bō-staff off her back and leapt forward, slamming it into the side of the shadow’s head. The shadow roared and reached up to grab at Survivor. She kicked off it’s wide chest, flying away from the hands.

“Freidyne!” Survivor called while in the air.

Athena heard her summoner’s call and raised her spear. She thrust it towards the shadow and a dome of blue energy surrounded the shadow before it burst into a brilliant explosion.

The shadow groaned with pain and was hunched over, but still standing. Survivor landed on the ground and in a flash, held out a revolver. A simple bang sent the shadow to the ground, bursting into shadows once again, this time vanishing.

Athena and Survivor turned to each other and gave a bow, thanking each other for the assistance. Then Athena vanished into blue flames that reformed into Survivor’s mask.

“Enemy down! Nice job, babe!” Siren trilled happily. Survivor flushed happily at the praise, one of her hands going to flap back and forth.

“That’s our leader!” Ghost cried out with glee.

“Hey, Ghost! Bet I could beat a high leveled shadow like that faster than you could!” Hound teased, instigating a fight.

“Like hell! I could beat it in seconds, you’d need Heart to come heal your ass!”

“Like you wouldn’t need healing!”

Then, Royal spoke up, pretending like the duo couldn’t hear her. “Dios bueno… This is what we put up with, Heart.”

Heart couldn’t hold back her laughter, ruining the mock seriousness as she replied. “Trust me, Royal, I know how chaotic our girlfriends are.”

“Chaotic? I’ve seen Ghost and Hound at their worst!” Mona griped. As the two supposedly chaotic thieves began voicing their complaints, Mona turned his attention back to Survivor. “Nice job, Survivor! Not everyone can beat a high-leveled shadow like that.”

But Mona’s voice was drowned out by the ensuing banter that came from the other five members of their group. Mona’s attention was diverted back to that and Survivor could hear Courtier let out a sigh and laugh as he listened in.

Survivor had paused in her escape, savoring her teammates' banter. Siren had noticeably lowered the volume a bit for Survivor, something that warmed the leader’s heart. In fact, the banter itself was calming, Survivor tilted her head back and took a deep breath, and for a moment, she sounded out the bright flashing casino around her and focused on their voices.

It could very well be the last time she would hear her thieves’ voices.

“Survivor, watch out!”

The thief snapped to attention and spun on her heel.

An enemy Survivor hadn’t noticed sprinted towards her with a baton that flowed with electricity. Survivor let out a frustrated grunt as she quickly flipped backwards, away from the weapon. The shadow let out a distorted cry of frustration as Survivor kicked off the ground again, leaping backwards to a different level up above.

Survivor landed in a kneeling position on the balcony, frowning down at the enemy.

“There’s another escape route behind you!”

Survivor turned around in confusion. Sure enough, there was a door with stairs. Survivor chuckled happily and quickly rushed through it.

The casino’s hallways were far darker and grittier than its golden and flashy outside. Metal and dark, it seemed to stretch on forever, but Survivor easily noticed stairs at the end of the hall.

As she took a step forward, a guard came rushing down a hallway. Survivor quickly ducked behind a crate in a flash of shadows. She peered around the crate as the guard vanished around a different corner.

Survivor maneuvered down the hall, avoiding more guards as she eventually reached the stairs. She promptly dashed up them to the next hallway, this one thankfully shorter.

There was a glass wall to the right along with a door and a hallway branching off. Guards burst through that door and Survivor quickly ducked behind the wall.

Survivor let them pass before inching forward to peer through the glass. It was the security room. And it was clear that all of the occupants were panicking, people scrambling with papers and typing hurriedly at keyboards. A giant monitor of the locations in the Casino showed no signs of any of the thieves.

“Find her!” Their superior roared. Survivor hummed at the shout and quickly dashed off, heading up the stairs as Siren directed.

She heard feet behind her and knew she had been spotted. She wasn’t worried though. It was the final stretch, and she trusted Siren to get her out.

Survivor exited the door and half slammed into the railing, managing to stop herself before she tipped over. Across the railing was a giant window. There was no other escape route.

“The window is the only way?”

“I’m sorry, Survivor! But the bottom floor is closed off due to the chaos!” Siren answered nervously.

“Can you make it?” It was Heart who asked.

“Well, I think we can agree I’ve survived worse, yes?” Survivor asked with a tilt of her head, just as the guards burst through the opening behind her.

They let out cries of surprise and triumph upon seeing their target so close. The blue masked thief simply blinked, watching them closely.

The guards raised their guns. They felt confidence surge through them. They had the high ground here. There was nowhere else for the thief to go.

But then, Survivor took off. She kept balanced perfectly on the railing as she ran along it. The guards yelled out in surprise and began firing off bullets. They ricocheted off railings and walls, flying past Survivor, but none of them hit.

Then, at the end of the platform, Survivor leapt.

The window shattered into shards around her and Survivor smiled as the moonlight beamed upon her face.

“Well, she had a point. She’s survived worse than a jump from a window.” Mona was probably shaking his head.

“And she calls us the show offs!” Ghost cackled.

“Well, it’s true she’s more down to earth than some of us, but she definitely can still pull extreme stunts when she wants to.” Royal herself was chuckling as she spoke.

“Pulling stunts without me!” Hound tsked jokingly in the background. “Greedy Bücherwurm. Share the spotlight!”

“Dear, you’re usually the one stealing the spotlight. You or Ghost. Let Survivor have this.” Heart teased right back, earning a laugh from Hound.

Survivor landed on one knee with a flourish, glass chips falling around her. She took a deep relieved breath, the adrenaline still burning strong in her veins.

But before Survivor could do anything other than fully stand, what felt like thousands of bright lights flashed on.

The lights pierced Survivor’s eyes, causing her head to start pounding at the sudden burst.

Rows upon rows of police officers stood in front of Survivor, heavy duty gear in hand. It was almost like the whole police force had arrived.

A horrified gasp came from Siren, she was just as caught off guard. The others had gone silent. Even the officers in front of Survivor seemed a little taken aback. But suddenly, everything burst into noise. The officers all let out cries and commands as they moved to rush Survivor.

“Get out of there, now!” Siren cried. The other thieves quickly joined in. The noise made Survivor’s aching head pound worse and for a moment, she thought her mind and body would give out on her, the constant noise and lights pressing viciously against her skull. But Survivor’s body moved instinctively, following Siren’s terrified command.

Survivor raced down the sidewalk, heading for a nearby fire escape. As the officers caught up with her, she jumped up and grabbed onto the bars, beginning to pull herself up.

The officers pooled below her, furious cries following her escape.

But in everything her mind was trying to process, Survivor didn’t hear another warning.

“ABOVE YOU!”

The butt of a gun slammed into Cathy’s head. Her grip loosened, the new pain and flashing stars that caught her vision bringing an even worse pain than before.

Cathy couldn't recover, the old mental pain of all her senses and the new physical pain of the hit taking every ounce of fight from her body. She hit the ground with a sickening thud.

As her head slammed against the solid concrete, Survivor heard screaming.

“Bücherwurm! Verschwinde von dort!”

“Merde! Merde! ils vont la capturer!”

“Mija! Huir!”

“I don’t— I can’t—!”

“What?! There’s no way they got her!”

“They caught her…?”

“CATH—!”

As quickly as they came, the voices vanished. The line of communication had been cut. Survivor felt too dizzy to fully notice.

The lights still burned her vision as she groaned, trying to struggle against the dozens of hands pinning her to the floor. She could feel every rock and hand pressing against her body and she could hear her rapid heartbeat in her ears. She wiggled and tried to push back but they only pushed back harder. Concrete dug into her skin and Survivor reluctantly surrendered, going limp.

There was no escape.

The head officer leaned over to look her in the eyes, past her mask. He scoffed, eyebrow quirking up in what almost seemed to be disgust. “A child is the leader of the infamous Phantom Thieves?” Then he knelt down and picked up her head by the hair to look her in the eyes, eliciting a sharp breath from the trapped teenager. “You have your teammate to thank for all of this. They sold you out, y’know.”

With that, her head was dropped unceremoniously back to floor as the officer turned and stalked away.

Leaving the other officers to cuff Survivor.

~~||~~||~~

Survivor had no idea how much time passed after that, everything going in a blur.

The next thing she felt was pain. Pain that forced her to open her eyes again.

Gone was her thief attire. A grey school uniform replaced it. She had a grey uniform jacket and black skirt. A blue hoodie was under the jacket, giving it a personal touch.

But her clothes weren’t the important part of her situation.

She was in an interrogation room. A metal table in front of her and she was handcuffed to a metal chair. Two interrogators were in the room. One stood menacingly by the door while the other towered over her. Bruises and cuts covered her head to toe and Survivor could feel a headache pounding in her skull, still there from the flashing lights, yelling, and earlier pain.

“No more sleeping.” The guard snarled. “Don’t think we’ll go easy on you cause you’re a teenaged girl. Give it the hell up, bitch!”

Then his foot lashed out, catching her in the chest.

Survivor cried out as both her body and the chair went flying backwards. Survivor was left on the ground, gasping and curling up in pain, her movement restricted.

“I don’t—!”

Before she could finish her protest, the officer had reached her again. His foot pressed down on her shoulder, causing her to grit her teeth in pain.

“You don’t want another shot, do you?” He asked, foot pulling away.

Before she could fully recover, the officer gave her a sharp kick in the ribs and stomach that left Survivor wheezing for breath. She glanced up at the officer and noticed the flashing red of the camera in the corner.

The officer noticed her glance and glared at her. “The camera won’t help you. Thinking it could be used for video evidence?”

Survivor coughed before managing to speak. “Not at all, sir.” She rasped out.

The officer hummed. “Good. You aren’t a dumbass then. You’re pretty quiet too. Well that’s fine… we have all the time in the world!” Another kick to her stomach that hurt even worse than before, leaving her coughing harshly and spitting.

The officer tsked as he grabbed a clipboard from his partner. He glanced over the contents, reading aloud.

“Obstruction of justice, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons. Manslaughter too, yeah? That's a bunch of crimes led by a punk bitch like you. And you looked to be enjoying every second of it. Fun times for a teenager, yeah?”

Survivor glanced to the ground. Enjoying? She couldn’t remember anything… had she really enjoyed doing all of those crimes?

The officer simply tilted his head. His partner walked up to the injured thief and undid the handcuffs.

Survivor let out a breath of relief once the feeling of metal was gone, rolling her wrists to subside the lingering pain. But both officers quickly picked her up by the arms and hauled her backwards. She hit the floor harshly, now in a sitting up position.

The officer leaned down next to her and held out the clipboard.

“Sign here.” He said simply. “It’s a confession.”

Survivor stared at the clipboard for a moment before slowly reaching up to take the board. Survivor wanted to defy and resist. She wanted to knock the clipboard out of his hands and find some path of escaping. But everything hurt at this point, who knew what kind of drugs they gave her, and there was no way she could get past the officers.

So she had to submit.

As the officer moved to hand her the pen, he gripped her shoulder harshly. “Don’t expect to get out of here in one piece.” He growled.

Survivor glared back in defiance as she took the pen. Then, she carefully and painfully scrawled out her real name.

Catherine Parr.

The officer looked intrigued at the name. “A thief with the same name as a queen, huh? Hope this is real, brat.” Having the information he needed, Cathy’s interrogator turned around and went to the door. “Enjoy juvie.”

Both officers vanished through the metal door. The danger gone, Cathy let herself relax against the floor. The cold felt nice and numbing against her bruises. Everything happened so fast, yet time suddenly seemed to crawl.

Everything was still blurry, so Cathy closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. Her nails went up to grasp at her scalp.

What happened?

And why couldn’t she remember?

~~||~~||~~

A detective made his way down the long, bland hallway. He had fiery red hair and looked young, probably in his twenties or thirties. He stood tall and proud, wearing a business suit and holding a suitcase in hand.

The detective was heading for an interrogation room hidden away for serious criminals.

He was on a mission. A mission to figure out the Phantom Thieves.

He was met with officers in front of the interrogation room door. They straightened upon seeing him.

“Felix Griffin.” The officer drawled. “Sorry to tell you but this isn’t your case anymore.”

The detective, now known as Felix, glared back. “What the bloody hell are you talking about?” He asked gruffly.

But before the officer could reply, a second detective walked up. “Griffin, the director is on call for you.” The detective looked annoyed. “Answer and stop being such a damn inconvenience.”

Felix scowled at him but his phone buzzed. He answered and pressed the phone to his ear. “I thought I told you to stay out of the way?” An older, male voice spoke.

“Maybe you did, sir.” Felix huffed. “But this is my case. And I deserve an interrogation.”

Felix could hear the director’s eyes roll. “I called because I had a feeling this would happen.”

“It’s my case. I get to confirm what I need to, and I’m not entirely convinced just yet.” Felix retorted. He glanced at the officers around him with a glare.

The director paused. “Tch. You’re a steady man, Griffin. Don’t screw this up, although… I’m not expecting much to begin with.”

Felix glanced up from the phone at that, looking to the officers. “I got permission, you can let me through now.”

“Proof?” The officer asked, eyebrow raised. Felix handed over the phone in response.

The officer’s eyes narrowed as he listened. “What, but sir—? Fine, yes, I understand.” Then he tilted his head and the two guards seemed to get the message, heading into the interrogation room. “Good day to you as well, sir.” The officer glanced up at Felix after ending the call. “We can’t let you in for long. We don’t know her methods yet, making her a danger.”

Felix growled a bit at that but agreed. “Fine, just let me in.”

The officer nodded as his two guards came walking out of the interrogation room. The officer tilted his head to Felix one last time before walking off with one of the guards, leaving only one standing outside the door.

Felix paused in front of the door before pushing it open.

The officers had pulled Cathy back up to sit in the metal chair at the table. She wasn’t cuffed and sat half slumped over the table, head held in her hands and nails grasping weakly at her scalp. She was muttering something under her breath and rocking back and forth.

“Catalina… Anne… Jane… Anna… Mona… Kat…” It was a repeated chant.

“So it really is you…” Felix spoke up, interrupting the whispers.

Cathy’s fogged gaze flickered up to Felix. She didn’t reply. Felix hummed and glanced around the room.

His eyes narrowed as he noticed the syringe on the floor. “What were those bloody assholes thinking?!” He hissed as he placed his suitcase on the table. Felix snapped his fingers to get Cathy’s attention. “Oi, I need some answers kid. Can you hear me, Parr?”

Cathy blinked and frowned at him. “Yeah, detective.”

“Good.” He took a seat and tried to look Cathy in the eyes, but her gaze kept to his forehead. Griffin didn’t bother after that, he knew how sensitive Cathy was to eye contact even in the little time he knew her. “Jesus. So all this time, you were the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Right under my nose too.”

Cathy didn’t reply and for a moment, Felix honestly thought she was going to either pass out or throw up. But she simply stared at the table.

“Come on, kid.” Felix spoke, snapping his fingers again, making Cathy wince and glance at him again with a huff. “I need you to tell me everything. I can’t stop what these guys are gonna do.” Felix and Cathy both glanced at the syringe and the many bruises covering Cathy’s body. “That’s why I need you to give me the truth, Parr. We don’t have much time to do it either… probably an hour, hour and a half tops. So I really need you to talk with me, okay?” The gruff detective gave Cathy a determined glare.

“Alright. I’ll tell you what I can.” Cathy slowly muttered, still struggling to find her memories.

After getting the agreement, Felix began firing questions. “What were you trying to accomplish? Why cause such a major incident?” He leaned back, crossing his arms. “I already doubted the claims of it being just some prank right from the very start. But I couldn’t find much evidence… your methods? Those are unknown. And not just to me either.”

Cathy stared at Felix for a moment before tilting her head. “I’m not surprised you couldn’t. It wasn’t meant to be known.”

Felix frowned at her before coldly responding. “This ain’t about evidence, kid. I’m here to get answers for myself.”

Cathy looked intrigued by this. “So you’re interrogating me out of curiosity?”

“Easy way to put it.” Felix barked out a laugh before leaning forward again. “You’re coherent enough to tell me the tale. So… when exactly did you find that ‘other world?’ And what about your ‘changes of heart?’ How are those accomplished? Tell me everything, Parr. From the very beginning.”

Cathy’s brain pounded. The beating and drugs not having faded. The onslaught of questions Felix threw at her wasn’t helping either. She just wanted all of this, every feeling to stop. Her nails dug deeper into her scalp as she struggled to both dull the pain and remember.

Then… there was a sudden clarity. It was as if time around Cathy had stopped. Her pain dulled and she took a deep breath as she glanced around her.

The sound of a serene piano replaced the throbbing headache. Cathy glanced up to see a sparkling blue butterfly, flitting past her.

An unknown voice accompanied it. “You are held captive… prisoner of fate to a future that has been sealed in advance. This is truly an unjust game… your chances of winning are almost none.” Cathy tensed at the dark meaning the soothing voice spoke of.

But the voice continued, softening. “But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open…” the voice seemed to become sadder as it continued. “I beg you. Please… overcome this game and save the world…”

“How…” Cathy rasped out, eyes trailing the butterfly, which still floated in the air, flapping it’s sapphire and velvet blue wings. “How do I…?”

“The key to your victory lies within the memories of your bonds. The truth you and your friends grasped.”

“But I can’t remember…” Cathy felt frustration well within her. “I can’t remember anything!”

“You will…” The voice calmed her almost immediately. But Cathy hardly thought about how strange it was. Something in this voice comforted her. “It all began that day… when the game was started almost half a year ago.” The voice’s emotions mixed to a pleading sadness. “Please… for the sake of your world's future, as well as your own future… you must remember.”

The voice faded away and the butterfly flapped its wings one last time. It was as if a spell was broken, allowing Cathy to see clearly again.

And just like that, Catherine Parr found herself remembering.