//------------------------------// // One Foot in Yesterday, Another in Today // Story: The Sun and the Clover // by BG9 //------------------------------// With all the strength he could muster, Anon got to his feet, taking his wand with him. He had to save Bonbon. He walked as fast he could to the lake and start to rush inside. It was intolerably cold. It was as if he had just taken a dip in the waters off the coast of Antartica. Nonetheless he persisted, swimming out to where he last saw Bonbon. Once he arrived at what looked to be the spot he dived in. He couldn't see a thing. It was as murky inside as it was above. He'd never find Bonbon at this rate. He felt the same bony hands pulling him that were pulling bonbon. He hand to find her quick. He swam and swam but it was no use. The water was just too thick and too murky to find her. He was quickly running short of breath. He began a rush to the surface but the arms pulled down hard, keeping him in place. He did what he could to struggle but the hands simply wouldn't relent. His strength was rapidly fading and his entire life was flashing before his eyes. Was this the end? Was this where he'd meet his fate? He aimed his wand to the surface and, in a last ditch effort, poured as much mana as he possibly could before finally blacking out. When Anon returned to consciousness he was in a bed. He blinked open his eyes. A hospital bed by the look and feel of it. He tried to sit up, only to meet a sharp, piercing pain in his abdomen that made his vision double. He looked around to see Sunset coming down the hall. "He's awake!" she said He could hardly make it out through the ringing in his ears. "Sunset?" he groaned "Yes! Here. Your head must be spinning." Sunny aimed her wand and began to preform her sun magic. It was so wonderful. Like a gentle ray of sunshine on a perfect summer's day, only throughout his entire body. Slowly the pain faded, as well as the ringing in his ears. "What happened?" "You nearly got yourself killed that's what happened. Jumping in to the Ethereal Lake? What on earth made you think doing that was a good idea!? You're lucking you weren't cursed!" "Bonbon." he uttered "Is she ok?" Sunset looked down "She isn't dead if that's where you're wondering. However... ok is not the word I'd use to describe her state at the moment..." "What's wrong with her?" "She's... she's be marked." "Marked?" "Yes. She has the Black Mark. It's an ancient and very powerful seal. That mark makes it so that mana cannot escape or enter her body. She will suffer from acute magic sickness before long and eventually pass..." Anon cursed under his breath. "What is it you two were doing there?" "Bonbon wanted to take me fishing. When I cast my line of mana into the pool, something big, and I mean really big, hooked on it. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't pull it back. Bonbon swam to the middle of the lake and tried to fire some shots at whatever the hell was under there but it just didn't give up. So she cut the line and the mana shot back into me." Anon said, shuttering at the memory "I have never in my life been in so much pain. It was indescribable." Sunset had a look of confusion mixed with anger "She WHAT!?" "I'm guessing that wasn't a good move." "Given the circumstances I don't blame her but... shit. This is worse than I thought. We're going to need to get you somewhere quick." "What happened? What did that do?" "A whole host of things. You'll see soon enough. But don't you worry. You'll be fine. Basically what'll happen is..." Sunset's words became quieter and quieter until he could no longer make them out. The world around him began to swirl and melt, as if reality itself was failing. He was falling into memory again. It wasn't like normally was, however. It was just flashes. A red sky. A black lake. Three old witches. A hollowed out tree. Feelings as well. Happiness. Anger. Excitement. Even love. The memories smothered him. They swirled and and pushed and shoved at his own memories. Was he dating Sunset or a strange man who's face he couldn't recognize? Was that him graduating a magic academy or somewhere else? Was his name Clover or Anon? Or something in between the two? He couldn't tell. Then, out of the strange mixture of memories something striking emerged: nothingness. A void. It was empty in all directions, just an endless expanse of darkness. Yet, somehow, it felt as if just beneath the surface of that void there something great, something ultimate. He reached and stretched, trying his hardest to touch that 'thing' that he knew was there. He woke up with a start in a cold, dark room. It looked like as castle dungeon. His head was spinning and his muscles ached. It was like waking up from the worlds worst hangover. Anon strained his eyes in the dim light to see a wooden door a few feet from his bed. The room was small and circular, with a desk sitting naught but a hairs distance from the edge of the bed. There were no windows and just a single candle to light up the entire room. As he lifted himself to a sitting position he noticed one hand chained to the bed. Apart from being chained down, something was off about his hand. It felt wrong. As if it didn't belong to him. He compared both hands in the dim light. Something was certainly off. His right hand, the bound to the bed, was softer and thinner, almost feminine, while his left was unmistakably his. Before he had more time to ponder what was happening someone opened the door. It was a woman in a blue robe and hat. In the darkness he could hardly make her out until she got closer. He called out to her. "Who are you?" Chills ran up and down his spine. The words coming from his lips were not his own. Rather, the voice was that of someone entirely different. It was a strange mishmash of both his own and a very squeaky, high pitched voice. "Fear not. It's me, Rarity." The woman was close enough for him to see her face. However, that was not Rarity standing before him. It was a woman he'd never seen before. A woman with long white hair and an old, wrinkly face. But Rarity's voice was unmistakable. He put his head in his hands. What was going on? Looking down at his person, he could see something very surprising. A pair of breasts. Was he turning into a woman? Before he had even a moment to complete the thought, his form seemed to change all over again, as did the scenery around him. He was in a meadow now and standing before him was a large bearded dragon. It spoke plain English. "Anon. You must listen carefully-" The dragon changed shape into a tall, bearded wizard wearing a blue robe covered in stars. He couldn't explain why but for some reason he felt an overwhelming sense of pride and respect for him, as if he were his idol since birth. Yet he couldn't even name him. "-self. You need to distinguish between your memories and hers. To do this-" The form, again, changed. This time to something horrifying. It was what appeared to be a shadow with read eyes. It opened its mouth to reveal sharp jaws. It spoke in a hissing, sinister voice, like that of a snake if it could use human speech. "It's absolutely critical you find the center. Otherwise we'll lose you and-" It changed one final time, this time to a graveyard. He recognized this memory. It was his. One he'd sooner forget. He was just eight years old when this memory took place. It was the funeral of both parents caught in a freak airplane accident. Something was off about the memory however. The color was all wrong, completely black and white. Not only that, everything was dead still. He stood there at his parents graves after the funeral, his uncle trying to pull him away before night arrived. He stared closer. Something was missing. The stuffed bear! When he was young he never went anywhere without it. His left arm was folded in such a way that proved it should be there. He looked around. It didn't take him long either. Just up the way, near the church was the bear and it was oozing with color. He quickly ran to get it, placing it back in the arm of his younger self. The scene exploded with color and began to move as normal. "Come," his uncle said in a thick dutch accent "If you stay out too long you'll catch cold." "I don't want too." he said "If you come, I'll have grandmama bake her famous chocolate chip cookies." It made Anon's stomach rumble. He remembered that. Whenever he was low and in the dumps, she'd bake those cookies. Instantly cheer him up. The scene faded into black and as the light returned, a new scene had taken its place. It was almost like watching a stage play. There he was, in his freshman year of high school. It was his first moment of heroism, all for the girl of his dreams. One of the town bullies was doing a shake down, going to each and every kid and asking them for a tax in exchange for not getting a bloody nose. He stood between him and the girl and took the beating like a champ. The girl, ultimately, didn't fall for him but it was a mark in time for him turning from boy to man. Like the last scene however, it was black and white and frozen. No doubt he had to do the same again. He looked around carefully for what was missing. The diary. That girl had that thing on her person everywhere and always. It was a beautiful leather diary with her name sewn into it. He looked around for it eventually finding it nestled in a tree. As he touched it, he felt a chill in his spine, the kind you get when you see something that makes you afraid. No matter where he looked, though, there seemed to be no threat in sight. He climbed the tree and retrieved the diary putting it back about where he remembered it. This time the scene just melted away instantly. The lights filled the room again. This memory was not nearly as rosy as the last. It was his uncle kicking him out of the house in his third year of high school. The door was open and his uncle stood at the foot of it screaming at Anon who was begging mercy. He had done something unforgivable. Something even his uncle's near infinite compassion could not overlook. It hurt him just to look at the memory. He searched for what was missing, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. It didn't even take him more than 30 seconds to see. It was his most treasured possession: a silver locket in the shape of a heart containing the image of his deceased parents. He placed it back around his past self's neck and the memory played again. "And I don't want to see your face here again until you've proven you're no longer a monster!" he screamed "Show me something worth a damn!" The words cut him like a knife. He had no choice but to watch on. "Uncle I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please-" "Get out of my sight!" The door slammed and the lights dimmed. The next scene was familiar, yet unsettling. It was the reoccurring nightmare. He opened the gates to reveal the room full of snakes. This time, however, the room was now shrouded in darkness. What was worse, he couldn't see a single snake. Yet the rattling was everywhere. A woman stood on a chair, a blindfold over her face. He could make out a single word. "Lieandel!" He awoke with a start, covered in sweat. He was in a hospital bed, however it was a private room. He looked at each hand. Both of them were his. "Am I me?" he tested His voice was the same he'd grown up with. Deep with a few cracks. He'd never been so happy at the sound of his own voice. The large wooden door to his hospital bed opened up. It was Sunset. She seemed quite sad. "Oh, Anon." she sighed "Just how many more days are you going to be like this?" "Sunset!" She looked shocked "Anon! Is that you? Like you, you?" "It's me, me!" She ran over and hugged him tight "Oh Anon. I was worried sick." "What the hell happened?" "Your a clover's memories were fusing together. Pretty bad it seemed. You would be in your hospital bed swearing up and down that you were Clover the Clever and that if you didn't go now Nightmare Moon would swallow the earth. Other times you'd just scream. For hours." "How long have I been like this?" "Nearly two weeks. We were starting to wonder if you'd even come back to us. Thankfully Rarity's magic seemed to do the trick." "What exactly did she do?" "At great peril to herself, she began to access the crest memories along with you. It was a huge gamble. If she succeeded, she could talk directly to you and guide you to your memories, preventing the fusion. If she failed though, she'd have been in the same boat as you." "Is she alright?" "She's fine. Pretty fatigued from the exertion, but fine nonetheless." Sunset took a seat on the chair by the bed "So what was it like?" "Horrible. I was a terrible mish mash of both memories that wasn't 100% faithful to either. It couldn't tell what was what or who was who. The environment around me changed on a whim and my form went from female to male multiple times." Her eyes lit up curiously "How did that feel?" "What do you mean?" "Well I mean, it isn't every day someone gets to live life in both bodies. What was clovers body like?" "A bit flabby I guess. Soft. It really wasn't clover's body though. More like a rough cross between the two of us." "Did you-" she bit her tongue "Never mind." "Don't tell me you were actually about to ask if I knew what her junk felt like?" "Never mind that ok!" she yelled, her face beet red "Did you see any more of clovers memories? Anything important?" "Nothing really of note. Except one thing. I have this reoccurring nightmare. It's no doubt a memory from clover rising to the surface. I walk past these two stone gates into a dark room filled with snakes. A woman says three words but I can't hear a thing. Until now. The time the room was filled with light and I could make out one word: 'Lieandel.'" Sunset put her hand to her chin "I can't say that's a word I've ever heard before. If I had to put money on it, I'd say it was in Mother Tongue." "Ancient tongue?" "It's a catch-all term for the various languages the witches of the ancient age used. Before we had really studied these things, it was believed magic gave humans the power of speech, hence the name Mother Tongue." "Anyone who could translate it?" "It's possible. I'm not the one to ask though. Rarity may know. She's quite the historian. If she doesn't know, I'm sure she could find someone who does." "Speaking of. Did you get that note?" "Yes. I'm surprised Rarity wants to initiate you. I'd assume taking in a mortal would be tantamount to heresy." "So you know what we're going to be doing then?" "Briefly. But we'll worry about that later. You'll need some time to recover. Not to mention," Sunny reached into a bag beside the table and dropped three large books as well as a large stack of papers on the counter "You've got homework to do. Lucky Rarity pardoned you. Otherwise you'd have been suspended at this rate." Anon rolled his eyes "Oh yes, nothing more I'd like to do right now than two weeks worth of missed homework." "It's important Anon. If you're going to be a mage this is the stuff you need..." She trailed off "Anon." "Yes?" "What do you want to do? Say we solve this mystery and everything turns out alright. What do you want to do then? Will you turn your back on magic? Or make a name for yourself?" The words rang in his mind again. 'come back when you prove that you're not a monster'. "I don't know, Sunset." "No one would blame you if you went back to your family after this." He looked down, staring at the crest on his hand. The green clover. The thing that changed his life forever. "No. I have nothing to return to." "What do you mean?" "Let's not talk about this any further." She gave a sympathetic, yet sad look. "I'll respect that. One day though I want you to open up to me. But in the mean time, let's get cracking on those books." "Before that, there's something else that's been troubling me." "What's that?" "Nightmare Moon. Any word on that?" "That's not information I'm privy too I'm afraid. The headmaster will doubtless know." Anon shuttered at the thought. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that the headmaster of the school was a disgusting spider monster. "Once you're back and recovered we can request an audience with him first thing." "Audience? You make him sound like a king." "In some ways he is. He is head of the largest mage academy in the world after. And he's been around for heaven knows how long." she said "but no more of that stalling." She opened the alchemy text book "Chapter too, the importance of a clean work station."