• Lorien smiled to herself as she saw the mop of light brown hair moving through the crowd. She quickly ran towards it like there was nothing standing between her and him.

    When she reached him, he looked very unstable. He looked as though he couldn’t walk straight and everyone that he passed moved away slightly, like he was something scary. Lorien tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around with a smile.

    “Lucas, it’s been such a long time! It’s so good to see you again!” Lorien said cheerfully and wrapped her arms around him. She smiled as he wrapped his arms around her in return but she noticed that he was just slightly unbalanced and rickety. He was slightly… fragile.

    Lorien let go of him and looked him in the eyes. She noticed that his eyes were disturbed in a way, somewhat, away from his mind.

    Suddenly, he pulled her closer and pushed their lips together aggressively. Lorien could hear the gasps from all the people around her but she didn’t pull away. She was too lost in a memory that was playing inside her head.

    It was a dark night in her memory and there were standing in the Crystal Garden together, sharing a moment with each other. It felt so familiar but at the same time, she couldn’t imagine why there was such a memory.

    Dmitri watched them from behind one of the stands. He saw into Lorien’s mind and saw the memory of which she was seeing. He blocked off anything that came into her mind. He used his magic to forget Lucas.

    For some reason, Lorien liked the memory that she saw. She felt like everything that she was missing came back to her with that one memory. But the face of the man that she was kissing in her mind changed. His light brown hair suddenly turned a deep brown and his green eyes turned grey. He was Samuel.

    Lorien immediately pulled her lips away and turned to run off. Lucas swiftly grabbed her wrist and she kept on fighting.

    Lucas’ best friend, Benjamin, kept trying to pull him off but Lucas held his hands tightly to his hair as if he was going to pull every single strand out. He started screaming in agony and Benjamin looked at Lorien. She was staring at Lucas intently and when Lucas had finally sunk to the floor, she ran off as quickly as he could. Before Lucas got off the floor, he saw the shadow of a hooded figure following Lorien back to the castle.

    Benjamin literally dragged Lucas away from the marketplace furiously. When they were safely near Lucas’ house, Benjamin dropped Lucas and pulled him up off the ground. Lucas was laughing uncontrollably.

    “Benji, that was so much fun! We should do that again!” Lucas laughed hysterically. Benjamin stared at him strangely. When Lucas saw how concerned Benjamin was, he started laughing and pointing at him.

    Benjamin started burning with fury and frustration. He couldn’t contain himself anymore that his balled up into tight fists and he punched Lucas hard in the face.

    Lucas’ head suddenly shot up and he stared at Benjamin with a blank expression. Benjamin’s face was red with anger.

    “What the hell is wrong with you Lucas? What happened to you? A few months ago, you were the finest Captain of the finest army in the world. You cared for this kingdom, and me. You were my best friend. Now you’re nothing but a drunk and all you care about are women and alcohol. When you went missing for a week, I was worried. Mrs. Coldwell was worried about you. Then when you came back, you changed. You became a blank page. Then all of a sudden, you see the princess, who is married let me remind you, and you just decide to kiss her in the middle of the market place. What’s wrong with you Lucas? What happened to my best friend?” Benjamin was about to turn away but Mrs. Coldwell came out of the house.

    She looked at the two young men standing outside the house and she knew exactly what was going on.

    “Benjamin,” Mrs. Coldwell started but Benjamin nodded to her and started walking away. He turned around to give Lucas one last look, but it was a sad look, a sorry one.

    Lucas looked at Mrs. Coldwell and she took his hand, smiling at him sympathetically. Benjamin was asking the right question, what did happen to him?

    Lucas looked at the open doorway to his home and there was a blonde girl standing there wrapped only in his blanket. Mrs. Coldwell turned to look at the girl.

    “She just woke up,” Mrs. Coldwell said, turning to look back at Lucas. He had tears welling up in his eyes. Lucas let go of Mrs. Coldwell’s hand and ran into his house, pushing past the girl standing in the doorway. He needed his help, even if he was the wrong person to talk to. After all, he was the one who put him in his place.