Hunter blinks as he opens his eyes. The roof was blue and he was lying on a bed, 'where am I?' He thought before raising both his hands to look at them, "They are still here, good. Wait, how many fingers? One, two, three, four, fi -- No! Not this again!"
The sprite was about to sit up when someone appeared in his peripheral. Hunter turned to see a woman with aqua-blue hair and eyes wearing a lab coat. "Hey!" Hunter said waving at her. "Can you hear me?" He asked after noticing the glass door between them.
The woman turned to the dark-haired boy, her eyebrow rocketing into her hairline as she checked the time on the watch around her wrist. "Oh, you shouldn't be ... Let me just ..." The woman clicks on a panel next to the door and the teal green-eyed boy starts to feel drowsy.
"Wait!" He exclaimed reaching for the door. "I don't think --" was all the sprite was able to get out of his system before crashing on the ground.
...
Hunter blinked as he opened his eyes. The roof was blue and the sprite was lying on a bed. He was just about to sit up when someone appeared in his peripheral; a woman with aqua-blue hair and eyes wearing a lab coat. The sprite closed his eyes and remained still, pretending to still be asleep as the aqua blue-haired woman punched something in the panel next to the compartment and the glass door slid open.
She walked towards the bed and bent a little to look at Hunter's face. "Hm ... Shouldn't you be awake by now?"
The sprite opened one of his eyes. "So you could gas me again?"
"No more gassing, I promise."
"That's what they all say, next thing you know I'm waking up in their basement with bindings."
She laughs. "They will be no throwing in basements and certainly no bindings, Hunter."
"Oh, you know my name, that makes you trustworthy." Hunter sat up while the woman pulled up a chair next to him.
"I'm Dr. Skylar Salvador," she said.
"This would have been when I say my name had you not beaten me to it," he said.
Skylar laughs. "Apologies."
"Worthless. You only get to introduce yourself to someone once," said Hunter.
"That's not true. What if they have a really bad memory?"
"Right. You only get to introduce yourself to someone once unless they have a really bad memory. Do you have a bad memory?"
"No. I could pretend to, though." Hunter frowns.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
"Like I could climb a mountain."
"That means the curacion pod worked to a tee. Don't worry, the feeling should wear off in a couple of hours."
"Wear off? I feel invincible!"
"Yeah, you'll hate me when it wears off."
"You said something about a curacion pod. What's that?"
"It's a pod I used to heal your injuries."
"Injuries? What the hell happened to me?!"
"Drat! I forgot that was a possibility."
"What was a possibility?"
"Amnesia is a side effect of being in the curacion pod," she revealed. "What is the last thing you remember?" Skylar asked.
"Well ... I remember the fight with Circe ... Zoe's funeral ... Alex reminding me I agreed to a trip to join the Sprite Guardians and we would be leaving in a week ... That's all I got."
"Okay. Don't freak out ... You're missing like six weeks of memories."
"SIX WEEKS?!"
"I just said don't freak out."
"I mean ... Six weeks? Really?! That's a lot of weeks! I can't even count six on one hand!" Hunter exclaimed. "Did we meet in those six weeks? Is that how I got here?" He asked.
"No on both counts. This is the first time we've met ... Actually, this is the second time we're meeting but you were unconscious the last time so it doesn't really count."
"When was that?" Hunter asked.
"After you helped Camille with the tower thing and got injured, I was the one that treated you."
"Wow ... I never got to say thank you."
"It's what I do."
"So can you tell me what happened during those six weeks and why I ended up in a hospital?"
"Again: no on both counts. Those memories should come back with time and this isn't a hospital."
"Oh, I guess it wasn't that bad then," said the sprite rising to his feet.
"... You've been here for a month," she revealed. "And everyone else believes you're dead."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Don't freak out?"
"..." Hunter bit his tongue and sighed. "I wasn't going to. "How bad was my injury?"
"Thankfully, there aren't any long-lasting injuries but I had to stop your healing factor for my pod to work."
"You had to what?!"
"It should come back in a few --"
Hunter puts his index finger up in the air and the doctor goes quiet.
'Waleed? Please still be there.'
[Took you long enough]
"Phew," the sprite breathes out loud.
"Hubby!" A voice came from outside followed by the speaker jumping to hug Hunter.
"Diana!" Hunter smiled, hugging the snow-white-haired woman back before setting her on her feet. Diana sticks her tongue out at Skylar who shakes her head disappointedly.
"I see you've met my Mom," said Diana.
Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Wait ... Skylar is your --"
"No, she's just joking," Skylar replied before Hunter could even ask the question.
"Huh?! Did you hear that? My mother has forsaken me entirely ... My own mother!" Diana exclaimed dramatically.
"You'll get over it," a fourth voice said tapping the elemental's shoulder.
Hunter looked at the speaker. "Camille," he smiled.
"Hunter. It's great to see you looking so healthy," said Camille.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure half the times we've spoken have involved me being injured or in a hospital."
"Let's hope that changes soon," said Camille. "I have to say, you're chirpier than I expected."
"He is suffering from post-curacion amnesia," Skylar chipped. "He doesn't remember much after Circe."
"Ah," Camille nods.
"Don't worry about the memories," said Diana, grabbing the sprite's hand and moving close to him. "They don't involve me so they aren't too important," she added.
"She's so clingy, I love it," said Hunter pointing at the snow-white-haired woman with his thumb. "Also, I think I'm high," he added.
"Another effect of the pod. It should start wearing off anytime soon," said Skylar.
"Hah! I sure hope not!" said Hunter. "I feel great!" He exclaimed.
"How long is soon?" Camille asked.
"Very. You can tell him whatever in the meantime, he'll remember. Nothing about the memories he's missing though, it's better for him to remember those on his own," Skylar explained.
"Alright. You two, follow me," said Camille looking at both Diana and Hunter before turning on her heels.
"She's so bossy ... No wonder she's the boss!" Hunter exclaimed.
Diana frowned at Skylar. "What did you do?"
"Sorry," she mouthed as they exited the room.
"So? Where are we headed to?" Hunter asked.
"Here," Camille said pressing her hand on a panel that scans her fingerprints before sliding open.
"Welcome Director Camille Lovelace," a voice said as the door slid open.
"Whoa!" Hunter exclaimed as he walked into the room. "Where's 'here' again?" He asked.
"This is the situation room," said Camille.
"Let me guess, it's where you discuss the current situation," the sprite said bursting into laughter before staring at the two women in front of him. "Oh! Wow! It is?"
"Yes," and this is who we're currently dealing with," Camille said clicking a button on the glass table in the center of the room and a 3D image of Olivia, the director of the Bureau appeared.
"Whoa ... Isn't that the head bitch in charge?" said Hunter as he sat on one of the chairs on the side of the table.
"Yes," Camille sighs. "Olivia is the head bitch in charge. She's one of the members of the Drumalak family, from the Ra subbranch, one of the last surviving members of the near extinct house --"
"Wait!" Hunter interrupted. "The Ra subbranch is near extinct?" He asked.
"Yes. Can you not interrupt me anymore?"
"Of course," said the sprite reclining into his seat.
"Thank you," said Camille before turning to continue her speech. "Growing up, Olivia was mentored by this guy." The black-haired woman slid on the hologram of the director of the Bureau and the image of a man in his late 50s appeared. He had ivory hair, platinum eyes, and pale skin. "This is Karl Archaeon - patriarch of the Archaeons and the one responsible for all of the house's recent atrocities.
"Meet his enforcers, known as the twins or the Archaeon twins." As Camille finishes her sentence, the hologram image changes to that of the twins.
"While we are unaware of Karl's true motives for sponsoring several insurgent groups, we do know he rewards all his friends and loyal supporters with whatever it is they desire.
"Thanks to his relationship with Olivia," Camille continued. "... Karl is yet to be arrested or charged with any crime despite his fingerprints being all over the scene. Also, the Bureau helps him cover it up and they did a good job of that until the January bust at the Harbour by the Alpha Sector thanks to your help.
"Currently, the world thinks you're dead and we plan to take advantage of that," Camille said looking at Hunter. "The plan is long and involves two simultaneous stages one of which is - as we speak - being implemented."
"And the second?"
"First, you're going to remove the twins out of the way ... By any means necessary."
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