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ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ xᴠɪɪ

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The Night Before the Wedding

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"You really up for this, guys?" I ask, tapping my foot anxiously on the floor's tiles.

It was the night before the wedding, and the group had grown significantly since Miette and I came up with the initial plan. Gary brought over more and more people that I knew before losing my memory as the days went by, which lessened the load on our backs.

The group replied with energy.

"Yeah!"

"Of course!"

"Do you even need to ask?"

"Duh!"

"We've already done this much, so of course!"

I smile, gazing upon the group settled in front of me.

"Alright so let's review the plan again," Gary says, stepping towards the table.

"Gary, we've reviewed this plan more than a dozen times already this past week, we don't need to do it again," Miette says, annoyed.

"Can't hurt to do it one more time, right?"

A giggle comes from behind the two.

"You're gonna say the same thing tomorrow too, aren't you Gary?" She says, walking towards the two.

"I mean we have to play it safe, Dawn,"

Another voice speaks up from behind, walking to the side of the table.

"No I agree with Gary, we should run through this more in-depth," Bianca says, adjusting her glasses.

"Right? Finally, someone agrees with me,"

"Ugh, this is sooooo boring! Why don't we just do this now?" Barry says, rocking back and forth in a chair.

"Barry, the wedding is tomorrow. If it was today, we would've already done it," Dawn says, sighing.

"Eh, let's just wrap things up then. I wanna kick this Calem guy's beeeehind,"

I chuckle and shake my head.

"I hate to say it, but Barry is right. We don't need to spend all day reviewing the plan over and over,"

"Whatever you say, Ashy-boy. But if one of us forgets the plan, it's not my fault,"

"Yeah, yeah, haha."

Everyone gets up from their seats and heads off to their dorms. Meanwhile, I cleaned up the table and threw away the empty cups of coffee.

The hairs the back of my neck suddenly stand on end.

Looking around, I shake it off and leave the library, shutting the door behind me.

Once again I feel a pair of eyes watching me from the dark as I start to walk.

I quicken my pace as I cautiously move through the night.

This doesn't feel right...

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The Day of the Wedding

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Everyone woke up early and met up once again at the library to do a final run through of the plan. As usual, Gary was being in-depth which took longer than we expected.

Luckily we made it to the wedding in time. All that was left was to get into our positions and carry out the plan.

It's risky, but it will work.

At least, according to Gary, it will.

"Ash, you ready?"

"I'm ready. Are the others ready?"

"Affirmative, they're all in position,"

I shake my head with a silent chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"You've seen too many action movies, Gary,"

"What's so bad about that? I mean I-"

"Gary, shut it. Ash, the wedding is starting soon so make sure you're ready to move," Miette says sharply over the radio.

"Affirmative,"

"Now who's talking like a military-" Gary's radio is suddenly cut off by Miette.

I laugh to myself once again.

These guys...

I take a deep breath and step back into the Palace garden.

Here we go...

I straighten my tuxedo and walk towards the gazebo, decorated heavily with roses.

I spot a boy with black hair at the gazebo and assume that he's the groom.

Calem, was it?

As everyone gets settled down, the wedding begins.

The violinist and pianist start to play as the gate opens up, revealing the Princess in a stunning dress.

My heart starts to pound and I smile.

Even without my memories, my heart still feels the same.

I hope this amnesia goes away soon.

As Serena approaches the gazebo, she spots me with a worried expression.

I nod with acknowledgment and a smile.

Serena comes to a stop and faces Calem.

My fists tighten as I view the evil smile on his face.

Even when I don't remember anything about him, I already despise him.

Not yet Ash, not yet.

The priest smiles and steps forward.

"Dear friends and family, we are gathered today to witness and celebrate the union of Serena Yvonne and Calem Xavier in marriage."

"Guys, get ready," Gary says over the radio.

"In the years they have-"

Suddenly screams are heard from behind, interrupting the wedding.

Wait what?

Small metal objects are suddenly thrown onto the path and explode in a flurry of smoke.

Amidst the panic was Serena's gut-wrenching scream.

I finally realize that the plan has gone very wrong.

Getting up, I try to orient myself in the smoke and head towards the gazebo.

Spotting Serena through the smoke, I heave a sigh of relief and open my mouth to yell out her name.

Suddenly, someone grabs her by the throat.

"Stop where you are!" I hear Calem yell, and I freeze, only to realize that he wasn't referring to me, but to a figure in front of him and Serena.

A silhouette walks through the cloud of smoke as it clears up, revealing a tall, slim boy with messy, black hair sporting an Elite Kalos Special Operations uniform with fingerless gloves.

As he steps closer to Calem, I spot a pale blue scarf wrapped around his neck.

His gloved hands tighten into fists.

"Let her go, or you'll regret your decision," He says with a firm and steady voice, his blue eyes piercing through Calem.

"Who- Who are you?"

The boy remains silent.

"GIVE. ME. YOUR. NAME. NOW."

The Kalos Special Operations soldier says silent before speaking up.

"I'm Alain, the guy who's about to mess you up,"

A devilish smile grows on Calem's face.

"You want to know what I think about that, buddy?"

Calem suddenly jerks Serena back and she yelps.

"LET HER GO!"

Before anyone could even react, Calem releases his hold on her and is thrown to the ground.

Standing above him was Alain, his boot firmly planted on Calem's chest.

It takes a moment for me to realize that I'm frozen in shock at the events unfolding in front of me.

"You- You know Alain, you seem like a good guy..."

Alain remains silent with his foot still firmly planted on Calem's chest.

"But you- you know what?"

Calem's facial expression suddenly turns to a devilish grin, sending chills down my spine.

"I have a knife."

Alain suddenly yells and clutches his foot, releasing Calem from the boot-hold.

The two are thrown into a tussle as Calem tackles Alain to the ground.

I finally make my decision to move and jump into action.

Running over to the two, I quickly deliver a hard kick to Calem's gut and knock him off of the boy.

"Ugh- Why you!" Calem turns around and throws a punch at me.

Dodging the punch, I shove him into the pillar of the gazebo.

"Ack- You! YOU!"

Before I could react to Calem's second punch, he is tackled once again by Alain.

As I run over to assist, Calem manages to grab a brick and hits Alain square on the head with it, knocking him out.

"NO!"

I quickly deliver another kick towards Calem, but he catches it with his hand and knocks me over.

Trying to get back up, I feel him clutch my hair.

As he painfully holds me up by my raven hair, I try to hit him but only end up clawing at his jaw.

"I swear... I'm gonna kill you," He says with a grimace and slams me against the trunk of a cherry tree beside the gazebo.

Shock travels through my body as my skull impacts the tree and I release a painful cough.

My vision blurs and my grip on Calem's neck loosens.

Suddenly, a strange wave of nostalgia flows through my senses.

"ASH!"

That voice... Is it her?

The girl I made a promise with so long ago...

I've forgotten all about it, haven't I..?

I'm sorry...

Sliding down the trunk of the tree, I feel intense pain flow through my skull and down my spine.

Suddenly, Calem releases his hold on my hair and is thrown back by Serena.

"Get away from him!" She yells, throwing a punch at his jaw.

It connects and knocks him down.

"You're gonna regret that, princess," He says and grabs Serena, shoving her onto the ground.

"Ash, get out of here!" She screams as Calem walks towards her, wiping the blood from his mouth.

I remain still under the tree as Serena continues to struggle.

An expression of anger grows on my face.

Don't touch her...

I get up on my feet and head towards him, my hands tightened into fists and my raven hair shadowing my eyes.

"Don't touch her."

He turns around with a sarcastic, unamused expression on his face.

"What'd you just say, boy?"

"I said, get away from her. Do you need hearing aids?"

Once again he grins devilishly.

Only this time, a chill doesn't go down my spine.

"Looks like someone has finally grown,"

He turns around and faces me.

"But guess what, Ash? You're alone. Again,"

My eyes suddenly widen and my lip trembles.

I'm... alone... again?

Gary's military antics suddenly flash through my memory, and my lips curve into a smile as I regain my composure.

A voice speaks out from behind me.

"He's really not, you know," The familiar voice says, stepping out from the shadows with his arms crossed.

Calem grimaces.

"Gary? What're you doing here?"

"Oh you know, trying to stop the crazy person here," He says with a smile.

Another voice comes from the shadows.

"Don't forget about us, too!"

The group unfolds from the shadows and stand firmly beside me.

Suddenly Miette catches his attention.

"Miette! What're you-"

"Just be quiet for once, Calem. I'm sick and tired of it,"

He narrows his eyes.

"Looks like Ash has gotten himself quite the group of playmates," Calem says with a laugh.

"Why you-" Barry lunges towards Calem but I stop him.

"Don't,"

Barry turns his head towards me.

"Why not? He's peeving me!"

"Let me handle him. You guys help Serena,"

The group looks at me worriedly but agrees.

As they run off towards the princess, I turn back towards him.

Calem shows his signature smile.

"So Ash-"

"Shut it," I say, once again tightening my fists.

Calem starts to make another sarcastic joke about me being childish but I ignore it.

I'm settling this, right here and right now.

With anger flowing through my veins, I walk towards him.

Stopping right up close to him, our faces remain an inch apart as my stare pierces into the back of his skull.

For a split-second, I sense fear and doubt in his eyes.

I smile.

"I may be childish, but you really have to be a new kind of stupid to mess with a boy who never gives up 'till the very end,"

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ᴇɴᴅ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ xᴠɪɪ

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Author's Note

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OmG hE AcTuaLLy uPdAtEd XD

But yeah I'm back! Well, somewhat :p

This school year isn't actually as bad as I thought! :D

Of course, updates won't be as fast as they used to be, but at least I can put more time to writing again!

:DDD

(Btw if the writing in this chapter seems off or the spelling/grammar is off I'm sorry, I didn't get to proofread this chapter much XD)

Bye Bye!

- Squash

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