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There was something in the ceiling. Some ooze that had taken her memory, apparently. They had already checked this place, earlier today, but they should have checked the ceiling too. Thank Sv'reem Caden had used detect magic. He was smart like that. At least, that's what she's heard. But it wasn't important now. They had to save the town. It isn't the towns fault they had this… pest.
How long had it lived here? How long did people wake up as confused as she was, with no one to help them. Walking around aimlessly behind friends. She wasn't going to let anyone else deal with it.
But first they had to deal with this Elder Oblex. That's what Bart had called it.
"Now's a good time to string that bow, kid"
She didn't remember ever unstringing it, it must have been something they had talked about before. He was better at sensing danger than she was. Maybe that's why he remembered and she didn't. She quickly nocked a bolt, waiting for someone else to strike first.
Tiamat had struck first, leaving an opening for her before slinking behind her, hiding.
Her mother had always told her to strike where it was already weak if you could. It could at least slow down whatever was attacking them or what they were trying to catch. Before attacking, she looked at the Not Orc in front of her. She swore to herself that this thing would go away, whether it chose to or if they made it.
"It can't be blinded, charmed, deafened, anything like that. Be careful"
She steadied herself for her first strike, taking a few deep breaths. She was still shaking. She had probably fought something before this, but if she did she didn't remember. She was worried she would forget again.
She fired her bolt.
And missed. She was still shaking too much. She wrapped her tail around her arm, trying to stabilize it more. If she could just hit it. She hated to miss. Missing back home meant less money, less food. It didn't make her parents proud. And it wasted resources, which was the worst thing. She raised her bow one more time. Letting the bolt fly.
And letting it hit the ooze. Thank Sv'reem. She had thankfully hit it in the same spot as Tiamat, damaging it more. She armed another bolt, keeping it for later.
The Elder Oblex could do things too, though. and from the corner of her eye she could see Caden, and… Something forming behind him. Something that looked like her. Was her, in some way. The same smile, same hair, same outfit. Alcyone watched as "she" hit Caden, watching her fellow member get pummeled by something that looked like she did. And worse, she could see Caden look around, confused. Had he forgotten? Was this her fault?
She shouldn't have come on this mission. She must be holding them all back, She had hurt her friends. Bart couldn't even look at the clone. Look at her. She must have done something horrendous. If she could just reach Caden, she could at least heal him a little bit. Make up for whatever this other thing was doing to him.
Could it make everyone else forget too? How could they avenge Sv'reem if they all forgot? Could she forget further back? What would happen if "she" killed Caden, or anyone. What if "she" killed Bart? He had been so nice to her, even through her struggles.
She saw Bart shoot his arrow into the air, presumably towards the biggest section of the Oblex. He wouldn't look at her. Her or her clone. She could hear the ooze shout in pain. "She" shouted in pain.
Alcyone couldn't bear to watch it. It wasn't fair to any of them. They were alike in some ways. Was this what they would look like to the people that killed Sv'reem? A monster that roared in pain, just another enemy to slay? Just one more. If someone else had fought the monster, they would kill her without a second thought. She needed to kill… herself? It wasn't really her. It was probably fine.
She needed to grow up. No one else would kill it, "her".
The ooze had started melting, sending another wave of unease through her. It gave off an uncanny valley effect, and made her want to throw up. Watching a version of herself start melting in front of her was like a bad acid trip. A distorted version of herself, from either her or her friends memory. What would she be like to them if they never met? Probably another nobody from town they were saving. Was she worth saving? Really worth it?
She just stared at her bow for a couple seconds. She was supposed to be a fisher. And that was all she should have been. Another face in the crowd. Important to her family and friends, and that's it. But now she had to be strong for her party members. For her family at home. They didn't raise someone that ran when things got hard.
By the time Alcyone zoned back into the battle again, Tiamat had raised his mace to hit the ooze again. It screamed again at the hit.
She raised her bow again, taking another shot. At her double. Maybe the Oblex did deserve what it had coming to it.
She had hit her double. The Oblex. It wasn't her. She was the only one that can be herself, right?
She fired another bolt.
Killing this monster where it stood, everyone regained her memory. She looked at her friends, her party, with tears welling up in her eyes. She hadn't even realized how much she missed those memories until she had gotten them back.
She ran over to hug Bart, surely he would get it.
"Bart, did you see that? It was… It looked like me a-and I…"
She looked up at Bart. Bart still didn't meet her eyes. And that hurt her the most, because Bart had always been helpful in times like this. He helped her the first time she had killed something. Maybe she was putting too much pressure on him to take care of her.
"I'm sorry Bart. I-It wasn't me that did that and I would never I just."
She just wanted her mom and dad again, or someone like that. Someone to tell her it was ok, that maybe this was just a bad dream. She just needed a break, something to keep her mind off what just happened.