Chapter 1: Chapter 1: It’s Not Over Yet!

Absolute silence. An undisturbed void. That was all there was. In this state of a pitch-black space, neither time nor memory seemed to exist.

Until, for an abrupt moment, a soft, inaudible noise shattered the silence. It was sudden, and then, it was gone. As if it never happened, the quiet stillness resumed.

Then, the sound returned. This time, it was louder than before. There was another pause, and then, it repeated once more.

"...Hello?" A voice called out calmly. "You there?"

The young lady slowly opened her eyes in response to the sudden disturbance. She stared blankly at a hooded figure standing before her.

"You...you're up!" cried the figure. "You're awake!" His hands, which were holding hers, were trembling. "It worked! I...I..."

The stranger fell silent. The lady before him continued to mindlessly gaze at him. Releasing his hands, he slowly swayed one of them before her eyes. There was no reaction. "Still not here yet, huh?" He muttered to himself. He pondered for a moment, then hesitantly, he reached his hand towards her again. His thumb and middle finger pressed together, and then...

Snap!

The young lady widened her eyes in shock. For a brief moment, her blurred vision was flooded with flashes of crimson red, and an ear-piercing ring filled her mind. Her head began to ache, and when it was over, she hunched over and cried in pain.

"Ack! Was that too much?!" The hooded figure panicked. "S-Sorry!" He tried to reach out to her until the young lady finally spoke.

"What...what's going on?!" She cried out. "What's happening?! Where am I?! And..." The young lady, whose eyes were now full of questions, properly examined the stranger before her. "Who are you?" Now with a clearer vision, she observed that the hooded figure was fully cloaked from head to toe with his face barely visible. His dark red bangs and the large dark green hood slightly covered his red eyes, but they did nothing to cover the dark circles underneath them.

"Me?" He asked weakly, "I'm..." The young man lowered his head, frowning. He took a deep breath and looked back at the young lady. His voice now became more serious. "Listen, I know you have too many questions," He spoke sternly. "But I need you to calm down. You will get your answers soon. Before that though, can you answer some basic questions?"

The lady slowly released her hands that clasped onto her head. "What kinds of questions?" she asked.

"What's two times four?" He suddenly asked.

"...What?"

"Just answer."

"...Eight?" She replied.

"What color is grass?" He continued.

The woman gave him a questioning glance, but his expression remained the same. "Green," She answered again. The figure nodded. He then continued with the strange questions.

"Name three animals."

"Uh, dogs, cats, and birds."

"Okay," He thought for a moment, "True or false: dogs can eat chocolate."

"False."

"What are you sitting on?"

She looked down. She shifted her body around to see the whole object. "A wooden crate," she responded.

"Where do you think we're in?"

The young lady scanned her surroundings. She began to acknowledge the bitter cold of a late evening sky. Her oversized, monotonous gray shirt and pants didn't provide any warmth. "A dark alleyway," she responded.

The figure then pulled out his hand from within the cloak, holding a piece of paper. "What does this say?"

She read once, twice, then three times. She squinted her eyes trying to interpret such crude scribbles. "Miracles do exist," she deciphered. "What's with this handwriting?" she further added. "This is awful!"

He seemed taken aback, face flushed. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to retaliate from such a comment, but closed his mouth again. "Ahem! Anyways..." he stuffed the paper back into his cloak and reached his hand toward her forehead.

"Anyways, uh, good! You answered all correctly." His palm continued to rest on her forehead, and she continued to stare in confusion. "Now then, I have one last question for you." With the young man now a little closer, the lady observed a pair of bright red eyes, with tints of pink.

"What's your name?" He asked.

She blinked once. "What?"

"Who are you? What's your name?" He asked again, slowly letting go of his hand from her forehead.

"My name? I'm..." She paused.

"I'm..." She fell silent again. She stared as blankly as her mind, her eyes widened in bewilderment.

"I don't know?"

The young lady hunched over again, her hands grabbed onto her hair as she desperately attempted to remember. The man before her stood silent and unfazed. "Huh? Wait, what?" Her voice trembling, "Why can't I remember? Who am I again?" 

The cloaked figure let out a soft sigh.

"Yep, I figured."

She looked up in shock. "What do you mean?"

He was silent for a moment, and then he spoke. "I had anticipated this. I'm sorry Cherry. All of your personal memories have disappeared."

She widened her eyes. Before she could voice her questions, he continued as if he knew she would. "Now, before you ask, no, I didn't do it. And don't worry, your memory loss is temporary. Yes, I do know who technically did make you forget, but don't worry, he's on our side. He did it for your sake. And, I'm..." He rested his hand on his chest. "And we're on your side too, Cherry. I know you're completely lost and confused about everything, and my only proof to verify myself will jeopardize our plan. Even so, Cherry, I promise you, we're here to help. So, will you join us?"

Cherry looked down at her hands. After suddenly waking up in a dark alleyway, and having absolutely nothing but dull clothes on her back, what else is there to lose? Besides, where could she possibly go, when she had forgotten everything? She lifted her head to face the young but worn man before her. The fact that this stranger knew her name must mean he knew at least something about her, surely? He expressed no hostility, but rather, he seemed desperate and...sad? With no other choice, she decided to respond.

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"Sure."

"Are you...certain about this?" He asked carefully.

"Well, it's not like I got any other choice now do I?" She said.

"That's fair I suppose."

"But first, I want to ask something," Cherry added.

"Hm?" The hooded figure tilted his head. "What is it?"

"Who's this 'we' you're talking about?" The young lady looked around the dark, narrow alleyway. "I don't see anything else here, and I still don't know your name too."

He was quiet for a brief moment. "For now, just call me Charlie, and as for the others..." The tired young man, who had been frowning this whole time, gave a small smile. "They're here too. I just wanted to talk to you alone, but if you insist, look behind you."

"Behind?" Cherry turned around, only to face a brick wall. "Where? It's just a wall here." Before she knew it, a sound of ruffled fabric and footsteps came from behind her. She turned back around, only to see another unfamiliar face.

"Howdy!" sang an orange-haired man, smiling. Cherry jumped from her seat in surprise and leaned back against the wall, only to find the wall far colder than the air. She shuddered and repositioned herself. She gawked at the new man, unsure whether to be astonished by his long, spiky haircut, or his bizarre blue eyes, where even his scleras were also unnaturally blue. His pupils reminded her of a radar. Before she questioned it, she noticed another figure as well.

There was not one new face, but two. All three of them shared the same dark green cloak, all covered from head to toe, and all shared the same, exhausted expressions. The third new stranger, who was a rather incredibly tall, bearded man, spoke next.

"Hey, don't scare her." The man said in a gruff voice. "She just woke up."

"Haha, right, right, I know" The gleeful man sounded less joyful with each word spoken. "I'm just...really glad." He fell silent, but his smile didn't change. He took a step back and bowed before Cherry.

"It's been a while, Cherry." He spoke gently.

"You know me too?" Cherry asked curiously.

"Haha, I suppose I do, but not as much as this guy over here." He pointed towards Charlie.

"Hey," He glared at the still-smiling man. "Zip it."

The giant, bearded man stepped forth. His long, black hair, which covered the right side of his face, swayed gently. "Miss Cherry," He crouched down at eye level with Cherry, who stared in awe at his height. Cherry observed the man's face. There were clear wrinkles, his beard unshaven for months, and his dark circles were more visible than Charlie's. Despite that, his golden slit eyes gazed softly. "How are you feeling? Does your head still hurt?"

"Oh, w-well..." she stuttered, snapping back to herself, "A little bit."

"I see," he straightened his back, "Then we'll introduce ourselves another time. At this moment, your brain is in a vulnerable state. If you process too much information too quickly, it may lead to a 'brain overload.' When that happens, nothing good comes out of it"

"A...brain overload?" she worriedly asked.

"Yeah," The orange-haired individual groaned. "A brain overload ain't a fun experience at all. But don't worry! Just try not to think too much, at least for now! Anyways..." He peered at the giant. "Can't we at least give her our names? Charlie did it, why can't we?"

"...I suppose it's fine." The giant turned to face Cherry. "I am Solomon."

"Hey Cherry, I'm Monty!" He bowed again, this time rather more dramatically. Monty held onto his bow slightly longer, and then slowly lifted his head. His smile has faded, and his eyes narrowed. "...I forgot that we're uh, running out of time. Introductions are over for now. You agreed to join us, yes? Then let's get started right away."

"Huh? Okay, but what's the rush?" asked Cherry.

Before he could reply, a distant snap was heard above them. Eyes widened, Monty quickly turned and looked up. Cherry and the others gazed upwards as well.

There was a silhouette of a raven perched on the edge of a building, staring silently down at the four individuals. In the dark, starless evening, its eyes glow an unnatural, scarlet red.

As if realizing that it was caught spying on them, the raven began to flap its wings.

With not a single moment spared, Monty, with a swift motion, pulled out a crossbow within his cloak, aimed at the raven, and promptly fired.

"Wha-?!" Cherry shouted in horror. "What are you doing?!"

Thump!

The arrow had struck the bird, and it crashed down before the four. Unexpectedly, it burst out shards of metal, bolts, and screws. The body twitched with glowing red static, and then, it ceased forevermore.

"Relax," Charlie approached the mechanical bird and lifted it, shaking out more bolts. "It's not a real bird."

She examined the raven, stunned. "It's fake? Why did you shoot it down?"

"That's no ordinary robot bird, Cherry." Monty stepped forth. He took the bird, and in a rather rough manner, ripped off its beak, revealing a circular lens inside. "It's merely a fancy spy drone. Some nasty bastard out there wants to invade our privacy."

"Someone's spying on us? Who? How did you know?" Cherry, still new and lost, continued to have more questions than she would like to have.

"That," Monty tossed the bird away, "was what we were planning to talk about. You see, for a while now, uh, we're uh..." He turned away, shame painted on his face. "We've been, uh, rather popular for the very wrong reasons, and we seem to have the wrong fans after us also for the wrong reasons, and uh-"

"Oh, shut up," Charlie interrupted. "Just say we've all got a massive bounty on our heads, and everyone's after us!"

"...What?" Cherry's head began to ache. "You're all criminals...?"

"No way!" cried Monty, "That's absolute bull****! We've been framed!"

"Hey, language!" Solomon added, coughing in between syllables.

"What...what exactly happened? What exactly did I forget?" Overwhelmed, Cherry's headache worsened.

"That story," Solomon responded, "will be for another day when you're more physically capable of learning more information, Miss Cherry." His golden eyes met Cherry's gaze, analyzing her condition. "Let us discuss the plan as briefly and simply as we can. We, too, want you to remember again as soon as possible. After all..." He looked up at the starless, pitch-black sky. At a distance, faint sounds of a raven's croak can be heard. "...Time is no longer on our side." 

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