Explanation

~°°~

"A ghost—!" Eris panted out, on the edge of screaming.

"It's not a ghost," Boreas said despite looking wide-eyed, sounding like he's assuring himself. "If you both listened to our classes, ghosts are presumed to look like floating, glowing coverings. The darker they are the more dangerous —"

"Who gives a flying fuck about listening to lessons? Does this look like the appropriate time for the full definition of ghosts?!" Lethe interrupted, frazzled hair billowing over her face, "What the heck was that?! He just disappeared."

"Maybe he's a student," reasoned Boreas. "It's possibly just his Peculiar—"

"No offence, Boreas, but if someone had numbers tattooed in their whole body, I would probably fucking notice them and he has a face even though—"

Eris stared unfocused on the broken tiles, on the dizzying, odd-sized mirrors, on their arguing faceless friends, noticing everything and nothing at once. They felt the cold fingertips of the room and the coolness of the wall that they laid against, contrasted by the embers of their still rushing adrenaline. "A skeleton. There's a dead person and his ghost—"

"He is not a ghost—!"

"Not to mention, he's not even wearing our uniform—"

Eris slumped down against the wall as the noises blurred like some sort of an afterthought and their joints and bones weakened like a crushed jelly. Tightly, they hugged their knees as they coarsely breathed out, "A dead person. In a cell. In a sort of secret mirror tunnel."

The other two were still babbling as if in their own world and barely, Eris' stupefied brain caught the words 'memories', 'professors' and 'Kai'. Another rush of heat inflamed their body, this time it wasn't adrenaline. It was redder, hotter—anger. Their ravings didn't help the pounding in Eris' ears and head.

"Guys!" they hotly cried out.

The other two stopped on their tracks and snapped their heads in her direction.

Staring down at their shaking hands, Eris continued, "Can you guys first explain to me all of.."—a dead body, a secret tunnel of mirrors, a boy made of numbers with hair made of flame, eyes of emeralds, and long ears that reminded them—"All of it," they croaked out. "Explain to me everything. Now."

And so they did, and just like everything that happened today, it was unbelievable—one that Eris would usually hear in a made-up tale.

"Our memories," Eris let out a high-pitched, strangled laugh of disbelief. "—are getting erased?" It seemed unreal, impossible even.

"And there were demons? Not to mention, invisible ones that could see through potions.." Boreas ran a hand over his head, looking as if an inch away from clawing his hair out. "Demons and the Professors that essentially controls everything."

Eris' jaw tightened. "But we're supposed to be trained to kill the demons outside and end the darkness."

"They are taking away our memories! They're hiding something. Everything they told us could potentially be false. Maybe the darkness isn't even real. This place isn't safe anymore, we should have a code whenever we are talking or something, you know, like spy agents—"

A loud thud from afar interrupted Boreas. Footsteps and voices heard faintly from somewhere, slowly and slowly nearing them. Of course. How could they have forgotten. The professors knew this place as well. Boreas mouthed: "Quick, hide!"

The trio jumped into a random, triangular mirror, falling and falling back to the Dining Hall. Boreas groaned in pain as he felt the impact of the floor. The people trailing them from earlier was nowhere, leaving them all alone on the soft light of the snoring chandeliers above.

"You know, we didn't have to run. We're practically anonymous inside," Lethe snarked in.

Boreas pinked at the realization. "Oh. Yes, that's true but.. but I think it worked out in our favor, nonetheless," he sputtered out. "No one is here now. We should get back to our dorms before someone notices that we are gone."

"Wait, but we have to go back." She took out the crumpled note from Kai and flipped it backwards, showing a drawing of a diamond. "I think I know what it means. I think it's supposed to be the shape of the mirror we were supposed to go into. We need to go there, first."

Much to Eris' relief, their faces were back now; no longer the noseless, lipless being with vacant black eyes and long, lanky form of pale gray skin. Beside them, Boreas frowned, "That was an octagon earlier.."

"Yeah," Lethe agreed. "I think it changes. You wouldn't know where the room would be located unless you had the note."

"I'll.. I'll check if the people from earlier are gone. Help me up." Eris jumped on Lethe's shoulder and slowly plunged their head inside. Their eyes caught the sight of someone's back towering in front of them, seemingly in a conversation with someone despite being alone with only a black cat on their shoulder.

"..and I said, well, it's not my fault I don't wanna spend half of my life teaching snotty teenagers, caretaking demons—that would usually steal King's food, mind you—" They tilted their head to the side and promptly disappeared as they went into one of the mirrors. Eris noted; it was a circular, crimson mirror. It was embedded on a golden frame with eight arching arrows, perhaps imitating the symbol of the sun. A red sun.

Eris clambered back to the Mirror Room, and drooped a hand back down to the other side. The trio hastily began to search for a diamond-shaped mirror in every nook and every inch. The corridors were vast, oddly awry and crooked in design. The mirrors it carried were placed erratic and uneven; some were cracked, some were blurry and rusty, perhaps older than time itself. Others were framed in gold while some were on a simple wood. All held unspoken enigmas and passageways that only they, and their oddly shaped glasses on the dented rims, would know.

Eris' eyes burned, aching for sleep. Fatigue had caught up and with everything that had happened, Eris wished for nothing but a bed, and its promise of peace and sleep. They shook awake when a voice from behind whispered to their ear, "Come."

Eris turned around. "You guys heard that?"

But Boreas' voice boomed as he gasped out, "There!" He pointed upwards. It was up in the wall, farther than the mirror they scaled earlier. "Diamond mirror. How are we gonna get in though?"

"I'll carry you two upwards in my back. One of you should stand on the other's shoulder and get flung upwards," Eris said and knelt down, offering their back, even when every bit of their muscles recoiled.

Lethe patted their back. "Okay then, Boreas.."

"Why am I the one who gets flung?" the boy grumbled acridly, pale face sour.

"Because, one, you're not exactly the most physically fit. Second, I'm wearing a skirt. Third, you're a fucking midget. No offense."

Boreas' ears reddened like freshly picked tomatoes. "I'm not that small."

"Boreas. Just get on."

"I hate this." Usually, he'd fought more, but today was too much. Time was ticking and everything they had seen was slowly rooting and even opening their eyes was now taking a toll. Reluctantly, he clambered up her shoulder.

Eris shakily carried them and calculatedly stood up, wincing whenever they stumbled. "Can you reach it, Bo?"

"No, wait I'll—" He carefully placed his feet against Lethe's shoulder — Lethe grabbed his shoes to stabilize him—and slowly, slowly stood up. "Just a tad bit more."

Lethe began to also stand on Eris' shoulder, carrying Boreas up. Eris grimly closed their eyes as they tried to hold on even as their back and shoulder felt like bricks — bones as if tearing away from their body.

Then, the weight lessened. Eris blearily looked upwards and Boreas was gone. His hands were stretched out from the diamond-shaped mirror, offering Lethe a lift. The brunette gleefully took it and was sucked in the glass. Seconds later, another pair of hands appeared out of the mirror.

Eris let out a sigh of relief, their bones cracking as they rolled their shoulders backwards. Their sleep-deprived brain ushered in a memory of Rycella doing a wall run. Backing away for momentum until her back hit the other side of the wall, Eris breathed in. Then started to run. One step, two steps, and then their boots were against the wall. The roughness of the wall gave them footing. Until it just didn't and her legs gave out.

Four hands caught their arching hand and with heavy grunts and grumbles, they carried them up and up until Eris reached the glass. They wobbled in, face-planting.

"Why'd you try to pull off such a stunt? We could have just reached you out," Boreas scolded, as he dusted off his pants and stood up. The room, thankfully, did not have skeletons or disappearing boys. It was completely empty.

"Um, what are we supposed to do?" Lethe took a cautious step forward, wildly looking around. The tile she stepped on croaked and a dim yellow hologram lit on the walls and their faces. Its quality was sadly subpar. Eris squinted, trying to make out the figure in the hologram but failed to do so.

"Hello, I am—" It crackled and whizzed into nothing like a broken television before reappearing again. "Dome — the world we are born to — for our safety —o not go out unless it's Wednesday — the curse — contract with the su—" Then, it disappeared. And it was dark once again.

"Well. Atleast, that shit was still much more understandable than Glyph Lessons," Lethe muttered.

The yellow light flashed softly once again, this time revealing the face of a boy with bright sandy hair, the ID 34.282 etched on his neck. And barely Eris heard a timid voice beside them. almost a whisper; "Kai."

It flickered again, this time showing an oddly familiar face of a girl with silver eyes and ring-filled fingers, sitting with a lanky boy as they seemingly discussed something. The yellow light shifted again, this time showing Eris Heindell at the age of eight, waving and laughing with people they didn't recognize. It changed once more, this time a group of people, writing, planning and laughing. It dissolved, transforming into an image of caged prisoners.

Then, the boy with golden hair reappeared again. He looked older, tired, desperate and owned the eyes of the dead. "—etrayed. Trust no one, in this walled city. If you have seen this, escape. Run away from this cursed fucking Dome. I don't know how or who but please—"

It was cut short. The shadows retook its crown.

The yellow light never reappeared again.

But the walls weren't empty now.

Countless names were carved on it—their names included and many more others(Rycella Gullerva, Krowan Huine and Helen Sevhe). A room of foregone seasons and withered flowers that were blown by the wind; of silence and forgotten wishes, a caricature of what it once was.

"How many times have we been in here, laughed in here with strangers?" Boreas choked out, voice coarse and dry as his lips. "And, how many times did we forget?"

Lethe replied, shaken, "I don't know."

"Fuck." Eris' vision was blurred by tears. "I can't believe—all this time. And I can't remember." They sat down, glanced at where 'Eris Heindell was here :)' was crudely carved in neat, cursive handwriting. "I still can't remember."

Somewhere in the room, their name was carved again and again on the endless walls like a desperate claw of remembrance.

Boreas licked his lips, his throat bobbing as he gulped. "I can't either. I vomited forth some of the gold liquid out and remembered a few things, but well..." He looked around the room, shaking his head, his usual neat hair messed. "Are we.. some kind of experiment? Are we prisoners? Some sort of lab rats? And—and—"

He stopped and chuckled humorlessly as he sat next to Eris. Lethe followed suit. And for a minute or maybe it was an hour, a year or an evermore, they breathed and sat against the walls of forgotten memories. Not a word nor a sound. Because even with all the words in the world there was nothing that would suffice. Nothing that could properly tell what they wanted to say. And maybe, unspoken things were left better unspoken. Perhaps, this silent conversation was more understanding, more peaceful.

"I keep having these dreams. There's a meadow and fence with moss. Then a hand would reach out to the Wall and then..."

Eris looked at him. "You have those dreams too?"

"Oh. So, it really is a memory," he bit out bitterly, coaxing out a laugh. "I thought it was just me wanting to escape from the fighting demons stuff and going outside. Just with you guys."

Lethe stayed oddly silent.

"Hey," Boreas suddenly said. "Can I hug you guys?"

Lethe let out a laugh but nodded as Eris beamed and crashed into Boreas. The trio shared a hug, arms embracing each other's back. It was uncomfortable, odd, and awkward in a way it was strangely comfortable.

"Um. Am I doing the hugging thing right?" asked Lethe, a flush spreading on her blank face. "I've only read it in books."

Eris echoed, "Same."

Lethe chuckled. "No offense, Eris. You don't read. You just look at the pictures like some sort of lunatic. Especially when it's the depiction of skies or something."

Eris huffed. "I read."

"How long are hugs supposed to be? Also, Lethe, hugging me and strangling me are two different things." Boreas' eyebrows wrinkled as did his nose. "And—you guys both smell."

"Maybe it's your own stink, Bo." Lethe rolled her eyes. "I mean, it was you who said 'vomited forth' in 3089, so.."

"Way to ruin the intimate moment, Lethe. Also, it's not my fault I have a vast vocabulary."

"You're the one who said that Lethe and I smell."

Boreas' eyebrows suddenly shot up and he sprang away from them. "That reminds me. You guys haven't done your laundry," he accused. "No wonder... Do not touch me, you cretins."

Eris pouted. "Not my fault. I'm technically blind," they grumbled. "So, yeah."

"I got called by the Second Sector's Head Professor, dumbasses." The brunette shrugged. "That's not my fucking fault."

As easily as breathing, the frail glass that was peace shattered. "Speaking of which... What happened when you got called earlier? And.." He tilted his head to the side. "How did you get the bruises? Also, if you say: 'Oh, it's not important,' I will smack you."

Eris glanced downwards as a bubble of guilt swirled on their stomach, threatening to burst. Fidgeting and swallowing the bitter aftertaste rather regretfully, they felt Boreas throw them a confused look.

Lethe wrung her hands tightly as she chewed her bottom lip. "They tried to erase my memories." Then her lips quirked slightly into the tiniest hint of a smirk. "I was—I expected it, though and well..."

She took off one of her boots. Two packets of chocolate fell out. Lethe showed the inside of her boots, and barely Eris distinguished the symbol of a Recorder Glyph drawn through burn and flame.

"Oh," said Boreas. "When you said there was something in your shoes.."

Lethe nodded, now fully smirking. "Yep. That's when I drew it. That's also why I asked for a Recorder Glyph. Once they found it, they'd feel safe and won't search through my whole body."

"Smart," Boreas grumbled, begrudgingly with a hint of pride.

Lethe wiggled her eyebrows as she dramatically ran a hand over her head, caressing her forehead as if some beloved egg. "Yep, that's me. Super big brain. More compliments please."

"These are chocolates. You put the chocolates in your shoes?" Eris sniffed the forgotten chocolates laying on the floor and gagged. "Please clean your boots."

"That's definitely unhygienic," Boreas agreed.

"The fucking chocolates took my spotlight," Lethe mumbled as she slid her shoe back to her foot. In a much louder voice, she continued; "Don't eat the chocolates, by the way. We might—will need them. They can turn to any potion you want."

Eris looked at them in awe and held them up. "Super-powered chocolates?!"

"Eris," Boreas sighed as he massaged the temple of his nose, "we are not blind. I saw you sneak one in your pockets."

Atleast, they had the manners to sheepishly grin and take the stolen chocolate out of their pockets.

"Chocolates aside," Boreas rolled his eyes at Eris as he turned to Lethe. "How about the bruises, I saw.."

"Oh. It's nothing, really." Lethe shrugged as white lies spouted out of her lips. "Just tripped and shit."

The boy narrowed his eyes, and with the whole 'blank face' thing, it was much more terrifying. "Right," he said in a voice that told that it was anything but. "Maybe, we should listen to the recordings in your boots. It would give us some information."

The brunette's eyes lit up in a sudden panic. "You don't have to. I already listened to it. It didn't really have anything."

Even someone as dense as Eris figured something was off. They faced Boreas and solemnly said, "Operation Frogs?"

Boreas nodded. "Operation Frogs."

Eris leapt and pinned the brunette down as Boreas stole the shoe.

"Are you kidding me?" groaned out Lethe as she struggled. "This is assault, I tell you."

"And what you are doing, Lethe," mocked Boreas as he stood up and crossed his arms. "Is lying and obscuring important information. " He held the boot and activated the glyph, nose furrowed as the smell entered his nostrils. Light spewed out of the mouth of the shoe; eyes piqued on the grim white and black images.

~°°~