Nothing Like An Enemy

"What was that about a deal you two made?" Kestrel asked the moment Lethe had been within hearing range. "I thought you never met him."
"I didn't. Not to my knowledge at least. He kept going on and on about needing to know what to say and 'getting there' first before he could tell. And how in the name of all the unnamed things of the universe am I supposed to even know what to say? You ask me, I think he's gone crazy." Lethe replied indignantly."Oh, he also mentioned about the gravitational aether tests being real soon. Damn. All we ever wanted, eh? More work."
"Love-freaking-ly. More tests. Well, at least its Halflight now. We've got at least five more hours to ourselves. Small consolation." Cocytus grumbled.

They spent time studying furiously like people possessed by some workaholic, work-related OCD suffering ghosts which had no concept of relaxation. Even Cocytus worked fast, as fast as Kestrel ever was. By the time Falselight approached, they had stacks of notes copied out painstackingly by hand all about them. Groaning and massaging their arms, they made their way down to the canteen.
"Hate doesn't even begin to convey how much I feel towards studies." Kestrel said. "I-"
"And here I was thinking you nerds loved studying so much. Then again, the human may think the worm enjoys eating shit and dirt all day long." A spiteful voice filled with contempt came from another table.
"Great. Gerdion Eryfi. The single largest detriment to intelligence in the entire multiverse." Lacier snorted with contempt.
Gerdion Eryfi was your typical school bully, with the exception that he was generally smarter than such bullies. He was, however, just as large a braggard as all others. His stature was slightly shorter than Cocytus, which made their confrontations all the more amusing.
"Sorry, Lacy-boy, but you're confusing me with your pathetic self." Looking over at Lethe, Styx and Phlegyas, he laughed. "I just don't see what you three are doing with these losers. Surely you're not so blind as to see how ridiculous they are."
"Just because you were gelded at birth, doesn't mean you get to act macho in front of people. And frankly, I'm tired of all your posing. Do the world a favor and just piss off." Cocytus said, bored at his show of arrogance.
"Gelded! You filthy..." It took all of Gerdion's willpower to keep his anger in check. "I'll get you all some day. And you three," he glared at Lethe, Styx and Phlegyas, "You three will regret the day you decided to stick with them."
Lethe yawned. "Big words, small man. Oh wait, did I say man? I meant whiny, bitchy, upstart girl who can't even deal out threats with an appropriate amount of dramatism in them. If only you knew what I could do to you."
Gerdion stormed off in a fury.

"You weren't actually thinking about touching him, were you?" Styx said.
"Eww, it sounds wrong when you put it that way. But actually, yes, I found out something really creepy. That girl I touched. She came up to me at Breaklight and practically begged me to stop haunting her dreams. But it wasn't intentional, stop looking at me like that." Lethe ignored their looks and continued wolfing down her food.
"That sounds nasty. I sure hope it really wasn't intentional." Phlegyas said.
"Yeah, t'is a terrible thing to do." Styx added.
Lethe finished swallowing. "I told you, it wasn't intentional. I don't enjoy tormenting and mucking about in people's dreams anyway." It dawned on her then. "Oh damn, this can't have anything to do with me and Mr. Ary's supposed deal, can it?"
"I for one, doubt that he would give anyone the power to bugger dreams. But who knows?" Cocytus said.
"Confusing. But I'm really tempted to see what Gerdion is afraid of, you know? He's such a jerk and all..."
"Careful words, Kestrel. I don't want to get in trouble for roughing up some filthy rich guy's kid." Lacier warned. After all, the House of Eryfi was a prominent figure in their world.
"Meh, I could hardly care less." Styx said. "We'd best get back to our dorms before Falselight reaches its zenith. I don't want to get buggered by the damn ghosts of whatever past."

Missing the Point

"... Einstein was smart enough to recognise that the non-aether theories were more elegant and simpler, but he made the mistake of rejecting it on the grounds that 'what is unobservable does not exist'. Le Sage, on the other hand, he was smart, he was on the right track. Those ultramundane particles were-"
"Sir? What's this got to do with the Dream? I mean, why do we have to know about these scientists from other realities and what's it got to do with the Dream?" Lacier asked, hoping that his interruption would not give him something to regret.
Mr. Ary looked at him and said, his mouth moving all around his face. "As I was about to explain, Mister Eves, these ultramundane particles spread across realities and dimensions to cause disturbances on the aether-affected subconscious of the mind, giving rise to anomalies within the Dream. Do not interrupt me further, or your time will be consumed by needless amounts of work."

Hardly anyone dared to say anything during Mr. Ary's class. Anyone who had ever seen him would know why. Mr. Ary was horrifying, his features were liquid and regularly sunk back into his face and reappeared. His features also had a disturbing tendency to shift across his face, at any point of time, his eyes could be on his cheeks, on the chin, on his hand, on the back of his head (Mr. Ary was bald) and just about anywhere. The same went for his other features such as his nose, eyebrows, mouth and all. He had no need to turn while talking, he just had to move an eye back around. All in all, it contributed to his fearsome reputation of ineffability. No one knew how he got to this state, no one wanted to know, not even the morbidly curious.

"Eigengrau. Who can tell me what Eigengrau is?" He asked. "You, over there."
"It's the color that we see in pitch darkness, sir." Cocytus answered. "The brain places a greater importance on contrast rather than colour so eigengrau appears a shade lighter than a black object."
"Good. Now we'll...." The day went on. And finally, the lesson ended.

Lethe picked up her courage and slowly made her way to the unnerving teacher while her classmates filed out.
"Yes? You have lessons to attend." Mr. Ary said sharply.
"No sir, its Halflight. Uh, sir? I've been having this nightmare recently." She said, looking at his shifting eyes.
He sighed. "What is it? This had better not been a frivolous waste of my time."
She told him about her dream, haltingly, hoping that he could shed some light. By the end of the tale, she had his full attention and all his features were, for the first time, in proper place and not moving. He rubbed his brow.
"Lethe. You know I cannot tell you, until you know what to say."
"What?" Lethe said, startled by his reply. "What do you mean?"
"You're not there yet, are you? When you know what to say, come back and find me and I'll explain it all to you."
"I don't get it sir, I don't understand. Why can't you tell me?"
"Of course, you don't remember. All you need to know for now is that I can't tell you because of the deal we made. Come back when you know what to say."
Lethe stared at him. "Deal? I've never ever seen you before in my whole life prior to today! Sir, I-"
"I will say nothing more until you know what to say. Do not forget to do your work, gravitational aether theories will be tested soon." With that, Mr. Ary strode off out of the classroom.
Lethe? A voice echoed in her mind. It was Styx. We're waiting for you. What did he say?
Only some weird cryptic thing about a deal we made. She thought back. It's ridiculous. I'm on my way, tell you all about it later.

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.