Private Finished Will I Ever Remember?

Nia's head tipped slightly to the side, a look of confusion flashing across her features.

"...Sounds?" She questioned the angel. She looked at the book in her hand. She supposed that must be true since music was one of the few words that actually had some kind of meaning beyond basic grammar.

Her mind began to whirl as she realized she had been looking in the most obvious and completely wrong place this whole time. Her eyes flashed up to Aedan. He didn't pay them much mind at this point. His eyes were closed and he almost seemed entranced in his own music. She set the book back in it's place and moved closer to her friend, beckoning Talion to follow her.

She stopped just in front of the small stage that Aedan stood on. She glanced around the library and felt a weight as she was struck by how much time she had spent scouring the shelves for meaning when the most meaningful thing had been right in front of her the whole time.

"Aedan?..." She whispered tentatively, just barely loud enough to be heard over the music. His playing quieted but didn't stop as his eyes opened and came to rest on her.

She gulped and looked to Talion for confirmation that she was doing the right thing. "Now what?"

There was one song that had brought something out of Nia once before, but it was necessarily a good thing. She felt her hands begin to shake as the memory of that day returned to her.

It was the first day she had hung out with Aedan. They went to a music store and he played his violin for her. The first couple songs were just lovely and Nia had loved every minute of it. But then he played a song that she knew. It was actually the only thing she knew.

When they had found her on the streets, she had no memories that extended beyond what she had experienced in a week or two hiding in allies in New York City. Except a song. She started humming it at random times and whenever she was questioned about it, she had no reason for why she knew it. They brought in a classical music expert and he couldn't name the tune. They spent hours searching the Internet for sheet music or a recording but the song she sang didn't exist.

Though no one had answers for her, the song became a comfort as Nia moved into her new life at Starlight Academy. She would hum it to herself whenever she felt sad or scared and peace would wash over her. It didn't make sense but then again, nothing in her life really did.

Then Aedan played it. He played and he said it was his mother's song. An original composition. He said it was impossible that she would know that song. Suddenly the song that had been her comfort became another distress.

But now she had Aedan. Whenever she felt sad or scared, she knew he was there to comfort her. He replaced the song. She often wondered why this was but if she ever thought to hard about it...well, she found herself a few hours later in the day with no memory of what had just happened.

"Aaden..." Nia said softly, her hands trembling and her voice shaking, "Play your mother's song."

The song he was playing quickly changed, though it wasn't abrupt and the transition was somehow flawless, as if he had been waiting to hear those words.

As the melody filled the room, Nia felt a bit of peace. Her trembling hands stopped and her shoulders relaxed. A soft smile slipped on her face as she listened to her best friend play the song that had comforted her before she had found him.

The room even seemed to change. The lights got a bit brighter and the vastness of the space didn't seem so overwhelming. It was like the books were even calmed by the sound of the song.

But then something strange started happening. Nia didn't notice it but Talion may very well have. The open books on the floor began to change. Slowly but surely more words began to appear on the pages. Words like trapped, needle, brain, surgery, doctor, poking, prodding, unsafe, scared, run, and N.I.A.

As this change began to happen with the books, another sound began to wind itself into the music. It was soft at first but slowly grew in volume until it was almost louder than the music. It was a beeping; the sound of a heart-rate monitor. It's tempo matched the music at first, calm and steady, but as it grew in volume and more and more words appeared on the page, it became more erratic.

For the first time, Aedan's expression changed and he stopped playing his violin. He moved down from his stage and dropped to one knee in front of Nia.

"Nia! You have to remember now! Not everything but something. Just find something here to take back with you!" As he said this the walls of the space began to shake and books began to fall off shelves.

Nia's calm was long gone and her hands were trembling again. She tore her eyes away from Aedan as they filled with tears and turned her head to Talion.

"What do I do? How do I take something back?"

As Talion touched her forehead, Nia felt calm begin to wash over her again. She could still hear the beeping and the sound of books crashing to the ground but those things were no longer her focus. She pictured something, someone, close to her. Something that comforted her. Something that gave her strength.

At first, she felt herself clinging to the vision of Aedan. After all, he was her security. But then she remembered what Talion said about not holding something too tightly or you might break it. As she mentally loosened her grip on Aedan, but continued to hold firmly to the idea of someone close to her she would always have, a different face began to appear. It was hard to make out at first but slowly it came into focus.

It was herself. But different somehow. The look in her eyes was so different. Less scared. More sure. Very sure. The face smiled and nodded to her, "It's time." And Nia began to walk towards the light.

@Saber ((Sorry for such a delay...wow four months. New personal record lol))

Nia awoke. It was quick but it didn't feel abrupt. She felt as though she had taken a short nap. She raised her head and blinked a few times, taking in her surroundings and grounding herself. Part of her had expected to wake up remembering something drastic. Who she was. Where she came from. But no new memories came. She sat for a moment in silence and then directed her eyes to Talion and smiled softly.

"I feel fine," Nia replied, her voice even. "I don't think I feel different. Just...calm." She shrugged.

Though Nia didn't feel terribly aware of the change, Talion could almost definitely sense it. The anxiety, fear and panic that had swirled through her mind earlier were no longer roaring. It was still there, lingering, but it was as if the intensity had dropped from 98% to just 10%. She could still feel the anxiety but it wasn't what it was before.

However, this change caused a fairly massive shift in how Nia was acting, though she was mostly unaware of it. Where before she may have looked at the clock and panicked about being late to meet Aedan for dinner, she simply noticed the time and furrowed her brow slightly.

"I do hate to leave so abruptly but it seems I am late for dinner." She stood to leave but as she did, she found herself having the strangest realization. It was almost like a memory, not of anything from her past, but of something she could do right now.

She stared into space, "I can predict the probability that Aedan will be angry that I am late for dinner. Based on the weather the past week, the last time I was late for dinner, his knowledge of my condition and his personality," Her eyes moved swiftly around as if following a fly buzzing through the air just in front of her, "There is a 13% chance that I will experience a negative reaction from him."

Nia was pretty use to experiencing mood swings so it didn't seem that terribly odd to her to feel anxious one moment and then okay the next. It was odd that she suddenly remembered she had an ability that she had been completely unaware of. But somehow this fact didn't bother her. It just seemed...yeah, okay. She just felt okay about things.

"Thank you, I do so appreciate your help. I will be sure to contact you with an update in the next couple days." She paused for a moment, suddenly realizing she had forgotten her notebook to make a note so she took the piece of paper, jotted down Talion's name and what had happened on the back. But somehow, she felt pretty sure she wouldn't forget this.

She smiled, "Yes, I feel quite well. I shall see you soon." And with that, she turned and left. The anxious little girl had all but disappeared and now a much more calm and sure young lady was leaving.