Chapter Text
Riven opened his eyes and the pain instantly washed over him
He was laying on a bed in the infirmary, cuts all over his arms, hands covered in bandages, his head felt heavy, like he hit a wall, the room was spinning in front of his eyes, and there was a huge bandage on the side of his body, blood passing through it
He looked around, everything felt silent, no footsteps or machines working, the door was open but no one was there, the lights were off but he could still see everything given the sun coming through the window by his side, it was probably the middle of the day
He wanted to get up or call someone to understand what the hell was happening, but everything in him hurt
A few minutes later, he finally heard someone's footsteps close, and then Sky walked into the room
Hey mate - Riven whispered the best he could
Sky looked at him with no expression, his eyes cold as an iceberg, Riven frowned, he wasn't talking, and after a few seconds he walked to the little couch against the window and sat there, looking at the floor flor a few minutes, Riven wanted to talk, to ask what was wrong, but the tension his best friend was emitting was enough for him to stay quiet
Why did you do that to us - Sky asked finally, still looking at the floor
...what? - Riven frowned
You know, when the year started and you came to talk to me, I thought finally, finally I have my best friend back - Sky laughed ironically - I thought "it doesn't matter what he did or said before, because he's here and he's apologizing, he finally came back to his senses"
Riven listened to his best friend absolutely clueless
I thought you were on our side, I thought you were a good person, I thought you were my best friend - Sky shaked his head
What are you talking about? - Riven asked as confused as he has even been
You know, lying was one thing, yeah maybe even stealing information from us for the enemy, even that we could pass with time, but fighting us, actually standing in front of us, ready to kill us...- the specialist thought out loud, still in disbelief
Sky what the fuck are you talking about - Riven asked getting desperate, and the blonde finally looked at him strange
I'm talking about the battle Riven, don't pretend like you didn't turned your back on us - Sky barked at him
...What battle - the specialist asked, now definitely freaking out
Sky looked at him for a minute, trying to find an answer, why was he pretending not to know?, his face was too horrified to be a lie, but how could he?, it hasn't even been 24 hours
The blonde stood up and walked around the room for a minute, completely lost in his thoughts, analyzing the specialist in front of him
What is the last thing you remember? - Sky finally asked
...the last thing? - Riven furrowed, and tried to think - I remember being in the greenhouse with Dane, we were trying to wake up Beatrix, and then this woman walked in, she was old, and blonde, using a specialist uniform, then I remember someone talking about Andreas, but like he was alive, I thought that was really weird, but that's...that's it
Sky's eyes widen in disbelief, and Riven could swear his face lost all the colors, the blonde tried to mumble something but nothing was coming out of his mouth, like his head had been emptied
He walked out of the room but stayed by the door, taking his phone from his pocket and calling someone, the talk seem pretty agitated to Riven's eyes, and it lasted a few minutes, which was driving him crazy, why was Sky acting like that? Why was he asking him all of that? What battle was he talking about?
Sky walked inside again and brushed his hand trough his hair desperate
Riven, that was six months ago - Sky said and Riven's face went pale
w- what? - he mumbled, he felt like sky's voice was miles away from him
After that, they took control of the school, they put Silva into prison and disappeared Ms Dowling, they brought soldiers to guard every corner, they started training the fairies in combat, they experimented with burned ones until they made them stronger and almost impossible to beat, they drove Alfea into a war with the rest of the other world, dragging all of us with them - his best friend explained, so natural and quietly that Riven thought he was crazy
Mate, have you been drinking? - the specialist asked to the blonde, there was no way he was sober right now
Riven I'm being serious, I don't know what the fuck happened but you turned on us, you betrayed us and tried to kill us, you were on their side! - Sky almost yelled and Riven was so shocked no words were coming out of him
Bloom walked into the room a few seconds later, looking at both of them worried
Ginger, what is he talking about? - Riven groaned
I...I don't know why you can't remember - she admitted - but he's telling you the truth, its been six months since that
So it was her Sky had called earlier, even though, still, nothing made sense to him
We should ask her to check on his mind, to see if she can find the answers - Bloom suggested to her boyfriend as quiet as she could, but Riven could still hear her
I don't think right now its a good time, you saw her, she's...- Sky trailed, worry clearly on his tone
I know but..we have no other choice - the fire fairy said
Care to explain me what the fuck are you talking about? - Riven asked frustrated, they were talking like he wasn't there
We think Musa could be of help, to understand what happened to you - Sky explains
Who the fuck is Musa? - Riven shakes his head in confusion
Bloom and Sky look at each other for a second, their lips part in shock and she gasped in horror, covering her mouth and turning around from them
Musa is one of Bloom's friends, she's a mind fairy - his best friend says in a weird tone - you have seen her around...I think
The brunette with long hair? Yeah I saw her, like, once - Riven added
I don't think this is a good idea - Sky whispered to his girlfriend completely worried
Fuck Sky, this is worst than we thought, we need help, we need to call professor Harvey and Ms Dowling and tell them about this, believe me I am the last person who would want to put her through this right now, but we need answers as fast as possible - Bloom said angry, her boyfriend nodded and she rushed out of the room
I'm going to find Ms Dowling to tell her you are awake, to see if she can find out what is happening to your memory - the specialist said and walked out of the room without even looking at him
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Fifteen minutes later professor Harvey, Silva and Ms Dowling were standing in front of him, looking as worried and clueless as the students have ever seen them
After professor Harvey checked on him and runned a hundred tests, he found nothing, Riven was in a perfect physical state, beside the obvious bruises
Riven, someone clearly did something to your mind, because we can't find any physical explanation to why you can't remember anything, so I need to ask, do you mind if we use magic? - Ms Dowling asked in a sweet but worried tone
I guess I have no other choice - he answered clearly pissed by the idea
A few seconds later Bloom walked in with the mind fairy, who looked at everyone in the room except for him
Musa, I'm sorry to ask you to do this right now - Ms Dowling said to the mind fairy with an apologetic smile, touching her arm in a loving way
Its ok - she nodded, clearly she wasn't ok
She breathed heavily and walked to him still looking at the floor, Riven was confused but with everything going on right now, he couldn't think about anything but to get answers, she reached for his hands and he felt her shaking under his fingers
Musa closed her eyes and took a deep breath, fighting to concentrate, a few seconds later her eyes opened and flashed purple, everyone in the room stayed silent looking at her, the tension in the air was almost unbearable
It took her a few minutes, she could feel the physical pain and the storm of emotions he always was, now worse than ever, analyzing his mind right now felt impossible, almost at the verge of painful, something that was clear based on he expression of pain in her features
When her eyes went back to brown they locked with his for a second
She turned her head so fast he was bearly able to see the pain in her eyes, but he did
I don't know how it happened, or why we never realized this, why I never felt it, but his mind has clearly been controlled, for a long time I would say, because it feels disoriented and almost...empty, his emotions from before are still there, but there is no new emotions, nothing that shows he has witnessed a war, nothing that shows he was with the enemy, nothing different from six months ago - the mind fairy finally told the rest of the people in the room and everyone breathed, feeling defeated
So that's why he can't remember anything, because he was being controlled - Sky processed out loud - he was being fucking controlled and no one noticed!
The specialist punched the wall beside him and Bloom quickly grabbed his arm trying to calm him
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I have seen mind control before but its really tricky, sometimes it goes away instantly after the person who performed it chooses to break it, or dies - professor Harvey explained - sometimes it takes days, even months to come back
But it is? - Musa asked, talking for the first time - going to come back I mean
I would never guarantee you all it will, because its never that simple, in most cases it does, so I have hope it will, but if this is a different case...- the professor answered, everyone looked at each other for a second before the mind fairy turned around and walked out of the room
Ok, now Riven knew something was definitely up with her, her discomfort trough the whole talk since she came into the room, the way she clearly refused to look at him, and the not-so-subtle looks everyone in the group were giving her
Ms Dowling and Silva walked out of the room a while ago, to go try and find more answers because they had basically nothing
Professor Harvey stayed to discuss it with the group, trying to see if someone could have an idea or offer any sort of explanation for why no one never noticed he was being mind controlled, or what was the extent of it
After the professor went away it was just Sky and the girls in the room, they haven't talked to him yet because they got there just in time for professor Harvey to start talking
I'm sorry to ask but - Riven interrupted the group in front of him - who are you? - he asked the tall brunette guy by Stella
The guy gasped in disbelief, but Stella hit him with her shoulder and he stood straight again, focusing his eyes on Riven
I'm Brandon, I am...well, you don't remember but I'm one of your best friends - the guy answered
Yeah right - Riven laughed out loud, but his eyes caught that no one else was laughing, so he looked at them in disbelief - the only best friend I've had in my whole life is Sky, there's no way you and I are friends
Brandon looked at him and Riven knew he fucked up, because the sad expression the specialist gave him was heartbreaking, Stella caught that expression and her hand turned into fists
I know you don't remember and its not your fault, but even if you can't believe it, we all are your friends, or we were, we are not even sure that what we lived with you this last six months was even real, if you were really our friend because you wanted to be or because Rosalind was mind-controlling you to be, but you have no right to tell us we are not your friends - Stella barked at him in a cold tone, but Riven could clearly see the hurt in her eyes
His eyes switched to Sky who was sitting on the couch with his hands on his face, Bloom by his side hugging him tight
Sky - the specialist called him and he looked up, completely defeated
They are telling the truth Riv - the blonde nodded - as I said, you came to me at the beginning of the year, you apologized for all the shit you did with Beatrix and said you wanted to make things right, you wanted to be my friend again, so we worked on that, we started spending more time together, you started having lunch with us every day, you made things right with Terra, and actually started to be friends with Stella, you became part of the group, or you are, I don't know anymore
Sky was clearly desperate, hurt and tired, this was a huge mess on his head, so Riven decided not to ask anything else, even if he still found hard to believe what he was saying
Amm...can anyone like..fill me in on these months? Explain what happened since Rosalind got here, how we got to a war, and ummhh...more about this...us being friends thing? - Riven asked feeling embarrassed, he hated asking for help, but right now they were the only ones who knew what he has been doing all this time
Everyone shared a look and nodded, grabbing some chairs or joining Bloom and Sky on the couch, they sat and talked to him for hours, not long after the room filled with laughs and jokes, it was the most confusing thing in the world for Riven, he never imagined having a group of friends, it has been just him and Sky his whole life, but now there were all this people in front of him, telling him about all the moments the lived this year, sharing laughs and an amount of happiness Riven thought was stupid, but it felt good, even if he wasn't going to admit it, but for those few hours, he felt for the first time in his life that there were people who actually cared about him, and who would have his back no matter what