"Are you okay?" A concerned voice spoke and suddenly, she found herself wide awake.

"I..." She tried looking around. Two very concerned looking guys were looking down at her.

"I'm sorry... But, who are you?" She spoke in a low voice only to witness the two guys look quizzically at each other.
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"Just one day! Weren't you confident that she'd be okay?" A frustrated Analyn spoke, circling the room. The guys couldn't answer anything when Althea asked who they were. So, they did the most logical thing they could do. Bring her back to her house where Analyn was staying for the time being.

To say, she was shocked would be an understatement. When she saw that Althea refused to acknowledge who they were, she looked like she would faint.

"Look... I swear the monster didn't even touch her." Alab tried to console but, was he really in a position to do so?

"And? What did you say when I first met you? That you're a 'legendary silver tree owner and the master of moon staff'. You said whatever happens, you won't let her be harmed and now?" Analyn almost snapped.

"You said something like that happened before too? How did you convince her then? Can't you do it again?" Alab tried again.

"Are you cra..." Analyn took a deep breath to calm herself and then spoke,"She, at least, knew who I was after we talked to her. This time she doesn't even remember her own name..."

"It's that serious?" On this statement, Analyn lost her cool. Anger is a normal emotion that everyone experienced from time to time and Analyn was no different. Though, she was always calm, there were many situations that could trigger feelings of anger, which may range in intensity from mild annoyance to profound rage, in her and anything related to her loved ones was one of them.When this anger came, it became easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment. Her body entered a state known as the 'fight-or-flight' response, which helped in priming her body to take action. Her heart rate increased and she began to breathe much more rapidly.

"What happened..." A rushed voice spoke from behind and Alon came to stand before Analyn, who was looking in a very bad shape. She was angry, extremely angry. It didn't even take him another second to notice that.

"It's okay... Everything will be okay. Focus on taking slow, deep, controlled breaths. You believe me, right?" Analyn looked at Alon with eyes that looked helpless.

"My friend... She's hurting. Can't you see..." Turning towards Alab she spoke in a low voice and Alab went quite. In truth, he wanted to be positive but, situation wasn't helping.

"Will someone explain what's going on?" Alon spoke.
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"Things aren't getting any better. She refused to talk to us." Alon came from behind.

Few days had passed after he came to know of the whole story. Alab had already told Analyn about his conversation with Althea. Surprisingly, Melchor backed him up, without even knowing things. Now, the war, mentioned in novel, was going to start and everyone was astonished, more than shocked, when they came to know that Althea will be joining the war in Alon' unit, nonetheless.

"Her words... They seem so mechanical. It's as if someone is making her speak. She looks like someone's puppet, who is moving, by pulling strings which are attached to it." Analyn was terrified with the idea of what could happen in future.

"And there's another thing..." Alon started but, suddenly stopped. Everyone looked at him quizzically, especially Melchor, whose eyes seemed distant. As if, he knew something, no, everything. It looked as if he had lost all his energy to speak after that incident. He hardly spoke anything and thus, he became the perfect person to be around Althea as he never forced her to remember what she had forgotten.
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"Are you sure about this?" Alon asked Althea that night. They were going to war the very next day.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Althea spoke, almost mechanically.
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"Can't you repress this?" Melchor spoke to himself, looking at the endless sky. He knew that Althea had already proposed Alon and he agreed, due to her mental health. Of course, everyone was ruined when they came to know of this. Especially Analyn. She looked lifeless when Alon didn't tell her himself. She and the others came to know of it by some rumours. Nobody could interfere because of the risks involved.

"Are you surrendering before fighting?" Alab came from behind.

"It isn't something I can control..."

"It's the worst feeling if you truly love them and they love someone else. Right?" What could Melchor do besides nodding in approval. It hurt. Really badly.

"It feels really bad. And if you love her so much then it feels worst. But, you love her so much, you have to respect her choice. You live in hope that some day she may come back to you. But, of course, that won't be happening here. You look like you know for sure that this would be the last time you'd see her."

"Love is such that you never lose hope or you never go hopeless, according to fairytales, obviously. I cannot be someone who interferes with her inner life or personal life and disturb her for her selections and choices." Melchor spoke in a low voice. He knew, because love was a simple phenomenon and it created more freedom for the loved one and not bondages which would tie them for the whole life.

"That you can't... But, are these choices even hers?" Alab asked.

"I don't know. Neither can I know, ever. I can, at least, be a support to her and a friend in need."

"Ahh... Love is an impure friendship and friendship is a pure form of love. Right?"

"Let's see what happens in future. For now, we've to prepare for a war. Let's get going." Melchor turned to leave.

"It'll be okay..." Alab's voice faded as he moved away. He knew Alab was trying to convince himself that everything wasn't his fault. But, will he be able to do it?
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Number of words : 1035
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What do you think is happening with Althea? And will our characters be able to overcome things?