Phlegyas Wintersbane

"That, my friend, is one heck of a nightmare. Maybe you should ask Mr Ary?" Mr Ary was the Dream Teacher of their class. "I bet he could tell you whats going on." Lacier said.
"Yeah, if anyone knows what's going on, he'd be the one." Cocytus added.
"I don't know... We'll see first... He's creepy as hell... What with his features all over...." Lethe attempted to brighten up, "Well, anyway, enough about my stuff. The second last new student's coming today, right?"
"And I have a suspicion that it will be my old friend, from my previous school. Did I ever mention him?" Styx said.
"Nope, don't believe you have. Why, why would this friend of yours come here?" Kestrel asked.
"Well, for one thing, his name is another River of Hades. It's-"
"Phlegethon? Or Acheron?" Lethe interrupted.
"Mmm, nope, it's Phlegyas. Slight variation, but still." Styx said, annoyed that she was interrupted.
"Wait a moment, sorry Lethe, I need to ask this. Styx. Is this Phlegyas already 17?" Cocytus said quickly.
"Yes. And before you ask, yes, he has an ... ability. Sort of. I never really paid much attention to it. I don't know. I don't even know if its an ability." Styx said, pondering it seriously. And she told of an experience, not too long ago.

Phlegyas and her were walking home when someone tried to mug them. The man summoned up fire and threatened them, but Phlegyas just went ahead and attempted to punch him, magic not being his forte. The fire had no effect on him and the assailant took out a gun and shot him. Phlegyas had fallen, dead she believed. And the assailant had turned and fled. The bullet had gone straight through his eye and there was a ragged, bloody hole on the back of his head where the bullet had exited. She had cried and called his name. She shakingly started to dial on her phone for an ambulance, but was startled when all of a sudden she could hear his thoughts again, ergo, he was still alive. She had turned and looked at him, and his eyes were perfectly fine. He had blinked slowly, and then felt the back of his head. There was only a slight impression to ever show that he was hurt at all.

"Wait, super-fast healing?" Lethe asked, having cheered up considerably and had temporarily forgotten about her own problems.
Styx hesitated. "Not.. exactly. You see, I am definite that he was dead. His thoughts just disappeared. I've been in hospitals and when people die, it's just like a buzzing sound that just suddenly stops. It was exactly like that."
"So. Resurrection?" Cocytus asked.
At that moment, the new student walked in and, hey what-do-you-know, it was him. Phlegyas Wintersbane. Of course, only Styx knew that, the others didn't know what he looked like. She waved to him, and he came over and sat in the vacant seat beside her.

"Little Styxie! I didn't know you were coming here too!" Phlegyas had a deep, pleasant baritone.
"And neither did I, giant." For Phlegyas was tall, exceedingly so, such that it was immediately obvious to anyone who looked that he was the tallest in the class. Indeed, many people instantly assumed him to be a half-giant. "But I suspected." Styx said, glad for a familiar face around her.
"So, how've you been recently?" He asked, and they started conversing in the manner of friends meeting after long years apart, though it was merely several months, for their previous schools had much worse time discrepancies, a day ranging anywhere from fifteen hours to weeks.
After a while, Cocytus couldn't stand it. "Oh no sir, no need to introduce us at all. You've stopped talking! Oh dear me, don't stop for us, we don't matter, go on, keep talking." He drawled.
Kestrel jabbed him in the sides. "And I thought you had such manners, Master Greywing." She murmured.
Phlegyas looked at them. "Hello. You must be Styxie's friends. I'm Phlegyas Wintersbane. And you are?"
Styx answered. "That's Cocytus Greywing and she's his girlfriend, Dmitri Kestrel."
Lethe and Lacier chorused at the same time, "But call her Kestrel, she hates Dmitri." And they burst out laughing.
Kestrel just looked at them, bemused. "Yes, well, those two got that right. That bookish idiot there is Lacier Eves and she's Lethe Glimmergaunt."
Phlegyas said, "Pleased to meet you all. But, are we missing someone? I just keep getting a feeling...."
"I know what you mean. Someone should be here, but isn't. Odd." Styx said.
"Surely, you are perceptive enough to realise that four out of five of the Rivers of Hades are present, no?" Cocytus said, pensively. "Acheron.... He will come tomorrow. Or at least, I think its a he. Acheron doesn't exactly sound feminine."
"Well, at any rate, hello Phlegyas, welcome to this place." Lethe said, recovering from her bout of mirth. "I take it that you'll be sitting beside Styx then. No offence, but you are really very tall, so umm, could you swap with Styx? So you'll be in front of Lacier..." She trailed off.
"Hey! I object to that! In case you haven't realised, you're taller than me!" Lacier said, indignant.
"I'll just duck down when you tell me to, okay? No need to quarrel, friends." Phlegyas rumbled amiably, a friendly smile on his face.

Dealing with Memories

The day wore on. There was little conversation in the group, save for Lacier's attempts at comforting Lethe. Which didn't really help. Occasional sobs drifted from Lethe as she tried to sort it all out. Sorting out 17 years of memories in one day. And her eyes remained the bloody red all over, not showing the whites, just pure red. She looked as if she was bleeding tears, what with her teardrops as red as her eyes and seemed to stain just as well. Her desk was a distraught, cluttered mess, a state that was only compounded with crimson-soaked tissue all over. And just a day ago, they would never have thought that anything like this was possible.

Break came just after FullLight. As they sat down together at a long bench with their food, she finally spoke, albeit waveringly. "I... I've sorted out most of her teen years. But I don't dare touch her preadolescent years. Fr.. From what I've gleaned, she was..... abused. She grew up to be hard, because she had to be. I don't want to touch those memories."
"Then don't! You shouldn't torture yourself like this!" Kestrel exclaimed.
"But.. But I have to. If I don't, it'll haunt my dreams. And it'll be worse then." She said it, feeling as if life was a torture.
The silence was awkward. "You know, if it wasn't for the fact that you'd absorb my memories, I'd hug you and pat you on the back. But I'm not good at comforting. All I can say is, I'm sorry." Styx said.
"Curses and gifts." Cocytus muttered.
"What?"
"Curses and gifts. Styx, yours is a gift. And Lethe, yours is a curse. I can only wonder what I will get."
Break ended. Going back to lessons was easier then, knowing that her friends were behind her, giving her emotional support. But she knew, she had to sort out the memories. She didn't ask for this. She never wanted anything like this. But somehow, she knew that she would become more and more skilled in this, to the point where she could organise the memories in an instant. How she knew, she did not know. But it did not matter, for she knew with a strange certainty that bordered on presience. The day was long here, as all days were. 50 hours in a day, the magics had caused this school to have, the better to maximise the studying time. Yet, for all the time discrepancies, when they exited the school, their timing would revert back to what they knew as 'proper'.
As Halflight approached, the students went back to their dormitories to rest and finish undone work. Lethe refreshed herself, dreading the night, fearing that she may have missed something out. No doubt, dreams were no longer the retreat they were, where she could escape harsh realities. Now, it was a exaggeration of reality's horrors, to be feared of. She was not wrong.
She went to her bed, taking what comfort could be found in her beddings. Slowly, she drifted off, despite trying to keep herself awake.

It was dark. A glow reminiscent of Falselight surrounded her. There was a figure. It strode towards her and it was actually a he. He wore a white shirt and long pants which seemed more like the effect of negatives on black, rather than pure and proper white. A pair of sunglasses kept his eyes hidden. He reached her.
"Hello." He said, in an echoing voice which seemed like multiple voices all speaking at the same time. It was sibilant and sinister. "You are Lethe. One of us. A Memory." He stepped closer. He said it as a statement. "Interesting. Your eyes are green and purple this time. Mine are, well, were brown and blue."
Lethe finally managed to open her mouth. "Who are you?" She whispered.
"Me? You should ask yourself that. I am Lethe. I am you."
"Your... your eyes..." She needed to see, look into his eyes to know.
He laughed softly. "Funny. That's what I asked you." He took off the sunglasses.

Lethe screamed and woke, heart pounding, sweat covering her face. It seemed that the scream was uttered only in the dream, nobody was awake but her. She heard a whisper on the wind, "Just how I reacted..." and she shivered. She didn't sleep for the rest of the night, dwelling on her dream, and what she saw. For, as the figure took off the shades, his eyes were not eyes, but small, nightmarish mouths rimmed with razor sharp pointed teeth, ready to bite out her eyes.

Styx Oathmaker

Styx was dimunitive. Small and thin, she didn't seem like anyone who mattered. She seemed like those sort of people around the class that everyone knew but hardly ever registered the presence of. She knew that for a fact. She knew that solidly ever since eight months ago, in the early times of the year and guessed it prior. And she ignored the stares that came with being new and headed straight for where she knew she would belong. Right behind Kestrel and in front of Lethe. Thus she greeted them.
"Hello, Kestrel. My name is Styx Oathmaker."
"Wait, how did you know my name?" Kestrel turned, curiosity evident.
"Ways and means. And I also know that your boyfriend here is called Cocytus Greywing and the two people behind me are Lethe Glimmergaunt and Lacier Eves." She said, a smile on her face.
Cocytus had turned around and was listening intently. "Styx, huh. I don't suppose that you know what everybody here is thinking." He uttered, sarcastically and staring at her with intense eyes.
"Actually, as a matter of fact, I do. And I came here to sit because I know that you four would accept a fellow freak." she replied, still maintaining that maddeningly mysterious smile on her face. Oh, she would tell them, but the fun was in making people squirm, wasn't it?

Lacier called up from behind, having heard her words. "Although we do have magic and stuff and I've read about those technology that's still struggling to read minds, you can't be telepathic."
"Why not?"
"Well, I don't.. It's just..Ugh, since you're telepathic, tell me in the exact words what I want to say then!"
"You wanted to say 'She's just acting cool, she can't read my mind' and now you're being very annoyed and very surprised that I got it right down to the last words. Ok, I'll stop that. Hard to be friends if you're gonna be a bitch to them, aye?" Styx said it matter-of-factly, and tried to put a sincere tone into her words.
And if you didn't believe me, this is proof, she thought out to them.

"So you are telepathic. That's... cool? I suppose. Born with it?" Cocytus said uncertainly, still caught flat-footed by this turn of events. He certainly didn't expect her to really be telepathic.
"Nope. Got it on my 17th birthday. That would be about eight months ago, I think." Styx said, not without a tone of smugness in her gift. "Just woke up hearing people's thoughts all of a sudden. But, before you ask, it's not active all the time. I can just sort of shut it down as and when I want it so it's not like those books where the telepath needs some crazy amount of self-control. Utter rubbish."
"Cool, but can you not read our minds without our permission? It's.... intrusive. And can you create a passive mind link between all of us? Like those fiction where the link sends general emotions and locations and whether the others are in danger and such stuff." Kestrel spoke as if Styx was already in their group. Which was probably true.
"Perhaps. At any rate, I promise not to read your minds without prior permission." Styx said, although she sounded slightly unwilling. She had had too much freedom in people's minds and was not used to blocking herself off intentionally.
Lacier spoke up suddenly, to the quiet girl by his side. "Lethe? You've been really quiet today. Is anything wrong?" All of a sudden, the group's attention shifted to her.

Lethe was dressed oddly. She usually wore her knee-length pants and typically opted for shirts with sleeves that ended a space before the elbow and with the shirt leaving her belly exposed. However, she was wearing long jeans that obscured every part of her lower body, even her ankles regardless of how she moved her legs. Her shirt's sleeves were longer, ending about a finger's length in front of the elbow. Her shirt was longer and reached down to her jeans, a notable difference. Not just that, but she eschewed her jacket which was similar to a vest and wore a hoodie with sleeves that covered practically everything but her hands. But you couldn't see her hands. She wore gloves over them, basically obscuring as much of her skin as possible. Her mismatched eyes were deep in thought, and she shook herself out of her reverie.

Ignoring Lacier's question, Lethe asked Styx urgently. "On your 17th birthday? It occurred exactly on that day, yes?"
"Uh, yeah, why? Is there something wrong?" Styx said, unaccustomed to not knowing people's thoughts and troubles.
"I..." She took a deep breath, "Today's my 17th birthday." Nobody interrupted, sensing more to come. "I.. Every morning you all know the alarm and all, right? When I went to the common bathroom, I brushed past someone accidently as I walked past. I... You're not going to believe this." Lethe exhaled.
"We will, who says we won't?" Lacier said, deeply concerned.
"My skin touched hers, and at that moment I knew her. I mean, I knew her memory. I'm not putting this properly. I.. All her memory of everything she ever knew or did or said or heard was all given to me. In that moment. I know all of her secrets. I know that she locked up a rabbit once in a cupboard and only opened it after three days when the whining from the inside stopped." Lethe continued, in a monotonous, yet urgent voice which caused them to worry for her. She sounded ever more desperate. "She took it out when it was dead and threw it into the bin. At the age of ten, she lied and got her friend to be arrested for breaking something which she broke. She pickpocketed an old woman's money, money that was all of her life's savings and just spent it on a game. She burnt alive a dog, just for being so dirty. She sold drugs to children who don't know better. She drags people she knows into smoking and narcotics. She did such terrible things. She still does them. And she knows what she's done. I know her inside out. Every single thought, action and whatever she saw and knew. Everything. Her whole life was laid bare to me in that moment." Lethe shivered, face as pale as a sheet. Cold sweat started to flow. "In one moment, I knew her from egg to now. Every damn bit of her, every bad thing she did. I can't take this, I just can't. It's too much to absorb in one moment. Seventeen years of life shown in one moment. Maybe I'll get used to it, but right now I can't take it." By then Lethe was sobbing, emotionally wrecked and ruined. For once, her discordant eyes were the same colour, not just the iris, or the whites, but the whole orb, a same bright, bloody red.

Cocytus Greywing

"Saddening, is it not? Carrying such a name with you wherever you go. Cocytus. It's that river of lamentation, am I right?"
"Yes, of course. However," Cocytus lifted a long finger lazily, "You realise that it does tend to apply to me. I'm sure you've noticed."
"That you're such a melancholic git most of the time? Oh yes, I think I noticed that bit, Master Greywing." The girl sarcastically said. "Indeed, you seem to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, Master Greywing. Attempting to imitate Atlas, no doubt?"
"My dear Lady Kestrel, when sarcasm is overly used, it is considered a crime against language. Certainly, I think you warrant numerous arrests. I can hardly imagine the day we speak with no sarcasm or wit or insult on our tongue. That would be a sad day, Lady Dmitri Kestrel." He said, knowing that she did not like others to use her first name. The two of them would have continued verbal sparring and calling each other "Master Greywing" and "Lady Kestrel", but they both knew that hardly anyone these days used the ancient honorific for teenagers like them. It was a habit that they couldn't tell from whence it sprung from, but it held them and so they greeted and insulted each other with such names.

"I hope that you are not so blind as to notice our new classmate, Master Greywing. Lethe Glimmergaunt, I believe she is called. Lethe. Another River of Hades. Maybe there will be five of you, each named for each river." Kestrel said, pointing at the new arrival to their class.
Cocytus snorted. "Whoever would name their child Styx, or Phlegethon or Acheron? Hmm, she sits with our esteemed companion Lacier Eves. He seems to have made a fine introduction, angering her so quickly. I believe she looks rather beautiful. Especially with those different coloured eyes."
"Ah now Master Greywing, would you be dumping me for someone else so quickly? So shallow, just for a set of different coloured eyes. While I do admit that she is pretty, are you seriously showing yourself to be so fickle?" Kestrel prodded her boyfriend, knowing that it was just a jest.
"I'm not so indecisive, dear Lady Kestrel. I merely state the facts. You cannot expect me to look at something beautiful and call it disgusting, can you? I am intrigued by the eyes though. There must be some interesting bloodlines behind that. Shall we go forth and introduce ourselves?" He looked at her askance in his eyes.
She nodded and they stood, heading for Lethe's table. The two of them made an unusual pair. Cocytus was not tall, merely of average height, while Kestrel stood about a third of a head over him. Cocytus was languid and slow while Kestrel was efficient and every movement seemed very definitive, as if there was a great plan which required her to move as such. Cocytus had an expression of sorrow, even when he smiled. He always seemed on the verge of grieving, though it was in a strong way, as if he had great willpower. Kestrel was cheery and enthusiastic, a strong contrast to Cocytus's mournful attitude. Though Cocytus seemed very much like an introvert, anyone who was a friend of his would testify to his cutting remarks and participation in conversations. In that way, he and Kestrel were similar. Both enjoyed the subtleties of wordplay and regularly threw insults at each other.
As they approached the table, they took a couple of chairs and just sat themselves beside Lethe and Lacier. Kestrel started first, "Hi there, my name is Dmitri Kestrel, but try not to call me by my first name, I prefer Kestrel. This here's my boyfriend, Cocytus Greywing." Cocytus just said a single "Hi.".
Lethe introduced herself and they started talking.
"Cocytus? That's one of the Rivers of Hades. Like my name. Lethe. I think there were five? Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Styx and Phlegethon. It's cool, never expected to find someone else with such a name."
"Neither did I. Well, as you most likely know by now, I live up to my namesake, so don't worry if I look like someone in the family just died. I always look that way. Even now, I'm sure its obvious."
Lacier interjected, "So, you see, Lethe, nobody's gonna ostracise you or anything like that. So, just relax."
Apropos of nothing, Cocytus just said, "I like the eyes." And Kestrel muttured something that sounded like 'shallow' and nudged Cocytus in the ribs.
Lethe just kept silent for a while. Awkward silence ensued. Then, Lethe said, "Thank you. Very few have complimented me on them. People tend to call me a freak."
Kestrel said, "Well, quite a few people call Cocytus a geek and geek is derived from the old German word 'geck', meaning freak. So, you're not alone. I mean, 'regular'" Kestrel made connotation symbols with her fingers. "people call the three of us weird the whole time anyway. I warn you now, being friends with us will label you weird too. The four weirdos."
Lethe laughed, a sound reminiscent of chimes in the wind. "Weird? I got used to that a long time ago. Sure, if I'm destined to be a freak, I might as well be with others of my own kind."
"By the way, what did dear Master Eves say just now to anger you?" Cocytus asked.
"He reminded me of my past, why I'm an orphan."
"Ouch, touchy subject, mental note to self: steer clear of subject of family." Cocytus winced.

Lethe Glimmergaunt

She was pretty. Not overwhelmingly so, but enough to snare his attention. Her face was a delicate balance between round and oval and her cheek bones stood out just high enough to be noticed but not enough to be a model's. And her eyes, those orbs of different colours, one eye purple and the other eye green. Her whole body was thin, almost crossing the line to the status of underweight, but just falling short.
"Lethe? That's a cool name. You known for being forgetful?" The boy asked, curious as to the origins of this long, black-haired girl.
"Thanks. I see that you know its meaning then. Anyway, I'm forgetting my manners. What's your name?"
"Lacier. Lacier Eves." He pronounced it 'lah-see-uhr'. "So, are you? Forgetful, I mean."
"Ah, no, I'm afraid not. I'm an orphan, you see. I believe my mother named me thus to forget me, ignore me and put me out of her life." She turned away, her eyes shimmering in the artificial light of a classroom. She turned back, apology written on her face and in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I just get so angry with her sometimes. Anyway. You were saying?"
"Your eyes. They look so ...." Lacier stopped, searching for a word.
Lethe interrupted, "Odd? Scary? Creepy? Different? Freakish?"
"No, no. It's just very amazing."
"Well, you're the first person I've met who hasn't called me a freak so far for having heterochromia."
"Excuse me?"
"It's the term for having two eyes of different colour. And before you ask, no, there is no difference in my sight."
"I wasn't planning to. Will you stop being so antagonistic? I'm trying to be friends here." He said in an exasperated voice. "There ain't no nothing wrong with having one eye purple and one eye green in my opinion. So just chill, alright?"
Lethe exhaled deeply. "Sorry, you're right. I keep forgetting my temper."
"Ah ha, so you are forgetful." Seeing her glare, he backed down. "Ok, ok, I'll stop. Anyway, I realised that I don't know your last name Lethe."
"It's Glimmergaunt. Lethe Glimmergaunt. Hey, don't look at me that way."
"Wow, your names are so unique. I wish I had a male ancestor with the name Glimmergaunt. I know you're probably gonna call me strange, but in a way, I think that surname suits you."
And so it did. Lethe was thin, overly so but not such that she was underweight. That was appropriate enough, but she also had a certain bearing that made her seem as if she was glowing softly. Thus, Glimmergaunt.
Lethe looked at herself. "I never think of it like that. I think of myself as anorexic, not gaunt."
"But you're not really anorexic, right?"
"Of course not. But you have to realise, I've gone through my whole life being looked down on, taunted, bullied and all that. I'm sure my appearance and name is enough to make me the class freak. Being new while everyone else is familiar with each other can be such a pain."
"Hey, come on, I'm talking to you, aren't I?"
"Well, we are going to sit by each other for the rest of the term." She pointed out, trying to make a point.
"Oh, fine. At least we're friends." He smiled warmly at her and she returned the smile, albeit shakingly as if she had never had friends before. Which he had to admit, sounded like the case.