The light pillar flickered and died, but Giu still poked at the fallen Olive to be on the safe side. She twitched, her face buried in asphalt.
Wonder if I should tie her and the sister up or- No, there’s no time. Gotta go help T.
A quick glance Elly’s way revealed the rabbit still trading blows with Denzel. He caught her in the chin, but she got him in the snout in return. Neither showed any signs of faltering.
Yeah, she’ll be fine.
Giu raced for the apartment lobby, pushing past rabbits and toads as he soared up the stairs. He’d barely made it up the first flight before he had to stop. By the third, he was crawling on his knees.
“Grah. Hate these stupid stairs.”
He collapsed on the 30th floor, panting and sweating as he laid flat on the smooth wood paneling.
Huh?
Giu sat up, finally noticing the state of Elly’s floor.
Several unconscious reptiles littered the hallway. A few were similar to Olive and Lucile, sporting curved bodies with scale patterns. The others were all crocodiles ranging from swamp green to muddy brown.
At the edge of the hall was a giant window. Or what was left of it. Part of the wall had been destroyed along with the glass.
“What the heck happened here?” Giu asked as he got back up.
When he finally reached Elly’s room, he found the front door lying in scattered pieces. An orange figure jumped up off the couch.
“Oh, Gi. You’re back.”
He winced at the pixie’s voice. With so many memories returned, he finally understood why he saw the woman in Tea. Their voices were nearly the same.
Tea was carrying Fledge in their arms, the pixie having dawned their tall form. The green creature growled in greeting, Giu dipping his head in an awkward hello. Tea hovered in front of him.
“Wait.” They looked him over. “Where’s the stuff?”
Tea flew around him, a frown forming as they quickly noticed his lack of supplies. In all the chaos, he’d forgotten they’d originally sent him to get more food supplies. Food supplies which he was sure were still lying in Huck’s office. With Redge.
“Oh. Yeah. Got a little sidetracked, I guess.” Giu looked the pixie over. “I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one.”
Tea looked down at themself. They were relatively intact, only a scratch across their cheek showing any level of damage. But the same could not be said for the apartment.
Along with the broken door, there was also a table that had been smashed apart, cabinets that were badly dented, broken dishes all over the living room. And that wasn’t even getting into the many piles of black soot.
“Oh. This?” Tea smirked. “Just a little spat is all. Rival businesses. Y’know. Usual deal.”
“Uhuh.”
There was a crash from outside. They both went over to the window, finding a crater of asphalt across from the apartment.
Denzel laid in the center, mangled and broken, with a staggering rabbit standing over him. She flicked her ear, moving to retrieve both her axe and the apron, which had torn off in the fighting. The scarlet tattoos gradually retreated towards her chest, Elly’s skin returning to its normal gray.
“You did say she was just a chef, right?” Giu asked.
“I said she was a chef, yes. Never said she was just a chef.”
The rabbit retied her apron, disappearing into the apartment lobby. Part of him was a little curious, but Giu knew he had bigger things to talk to Tea about than Elly’s past. Even after he’d let the memories in, he could still feel more waiting in the back of his mind. It wouldn’t be long before they all returned.
“Hey, T.”
“Hmm?”
“Remember that paw pact you offered? There is something that I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. Preferably without the squishy thing listening in.”
Fledge growled, but Tea gave a simple shrug, setting the creature down. It shook and popped out of existence, returning to whatever void from whence it came. Giu gestured to their room, Tea following without protest.
Of the many ways he could have broken the news, Giu settled on what seemed the most efficient. To be blunt and straightforward. Tea usually liked that. He took a moment to gather his words, the pixie sitting down on the bed with a blank expression.
“Tea,” he began, “I think I know why I have amnesia.”
He watched for their response, but Tea remained unfazed by the news.
“I…I’ve been remembering more and more stuff lately,” he continued. “I remember running through a forest. Arrows shooting at me. Some fox woman. The details are still fuzzy, but I don’t think they’ll be like this forever.”
He again watched for their response, but Tea remained unchanged. They sat on the bed, hands folded in their lap and staring at him, thoughts impossible to read. He hesitated to continue.
“I-I hear memory potions are really common in the underground,” he said. “As is people having their memories returned after a little while. I think that’s what’s happening to me. These images. The woman. It feels like I should know them, but I’m still missing bits and pieces. I don’t even know who this fox is. Or why I keep seeing her.”
Tea still said nothing. He finally snapped.
“Well say something, would you? You’re freaking me out!”
Tea smoothed out their hair, the unnerving expression finally changing to something Giu found equally worrying. A smile. Not their usual sarcastic or proud smirk, but one that seemed, of all things, warm. That set him off even more.
“What are smiling for?”
“Because you’re a dummy, dummy,” Tea said.
He frowned, which only seemed to make the pixie’s smile grow wider. They sat back on the bed.
“I thought that might have been what was going on,” Tea said. “You have been acting spacey lately. More than usual.”
“More than- Wait, you knew? And you didn’t say anything!”
“I didn’t know for sure, Gi. Only a theory. And you know I’m not the best with this kinda stuff. Pasts are messy, and I don’t like digging up old wounds. But I didn’t want you to feel like you were alone in this. That’s why I made the paw pact.”
Tea hopped off the bed, floating over to him. Though the pixie loved to omit details, he could tell they weren’t doing so this time. They put a paw on his chest.
“We’re a team now, Gi,” Tea said. “I’ve got your paw just like you’ve got mine. Don't ever forget that.”
They looked him over, gaze narrowing.
“Now the real question is whether you’re letting those memories of yours in or you’re trying to push them out.”
Giu groaned, looking away.
Hearing the pixie talk so casually about the whole situation, he had little doubts they’d known about everything for a long time. Maybe even as long as they’d been working together. He wouldn’t have put it past the pixie to do a thorough background check behind his back.
He slapped their hand away.
“The memories are coming back fine enough. They almost got me killed.”
“Killed?” The pixie frowned. “Gi, did you try and hold them back?”
He didn’t respond.
“Gi.”
“Maybe.”
“Dummy.”
“Hey, I was perfectly fine being regular old Giu Penhair. I didn’t ask for all this memory crap.”
“That’s not the point, Gi. You can’t just delete the past. And news flash, dummy, you’re the same canine whether you got the old memories or not. Whatever you were before, you’re my stupid partner now. That’s not gonna change anytime soon.”
“Will you stop calling- Wait, partner?”
Tea didn’t respond, still frowning back at him. For a few moments, neither of them said a word, both watching the other. Giu for the pixie to take back what they said. And Tea, he realized, waiting for him to voice some level of concern.
When he didn’t, their face lit up if only slightly.
Giu finally broke the silence with a nervous laugh. One which the pixie echoed just as awkwardly.
“Right,” he said. “Partners.”
“Yeah.” Tea shifted. “We should probably go check in with Elly. I doubt she’ll let this incident ruin her final day of cooking.”
“Yep. Sounds fair.”
They both rushed for the door, neither saying another word on the matter. Giu felt a smile forming, but he tried his best to hide it as he followed Tea to the kitchen.
Next week's release will be a double feature to give this whole Syndicate Arc (name pending) its proper send-off. Will be posting more details on that in an upcoming journal. For everyone new here, don't fret because you can follow the whole Suncrest journey so far on IB by going to the gallery linked below. Cheers!
