(Don't play the music now !)

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 8 : I ᴡᴏɴ'ᴛ ɢɪᴠᴇ ᴜᴘ

3rd person POV

The red-haired girl opens her eyes with difficulty, her eyelids opening and closing to adjust to the blinding light that was not there on the death floor. Her long eyelashes cover her eyes with a tired look as she has just woken up. She can't feel her body, as if she didn't have one, as if she were somewhere else.

The whole place is white, there seems to be no limits to this blinding glow. There's no one around. The place is empty of presence and silence reigns.

Without being able to do anything, (Y/n)'s body moves on its own, straightening up to see fields, plains that have been built in the place that seemed to be her mind.

Her memories are played out there, like a film. She sees her birth mother dancing with her on a sunny plain, surrounded by flowers of a thousand colours. Her mother's face is hidden by her hair, as if her mind cannot remember her face. Her hair of the same colour (h/c) as (Y/n)'s hair dances in the wind.

It was as if a story was being written over the pages, and the reader visualized the passages one by one, page by page. That was exactly how (Y/n) felt at the moment.

She was the reader of her own life.

She saw her memories, her whole life that she had almost forgotten to scroll past her, but she was just looking at them as a reader. She discovered the memories little by little as if they were just a story.

After a moment, the smell of blood and the sound of gunfire brings her back to reality.

This story was hers. The story of her life. We all own the story of our life, and for her, it was written again with permanent ink so that she would never forget it.

Now she knew everything. She could no longer look at her life as a mere reader, she had to enter fully into her story, play her part and carry her burden.

A soft voice echoes in the girl's ears as she looks at her hands. They have become tiny and as she looks around, she notices that she has entered into the memory. Her memory.

Her knees are bathed in a pool of blood and a red-tinted hand tenderly caresses the little girl's cheek.

"(Y/n)... Please... Promise me that... You don't ever give up..."

(Y/n) look at the face of her real mother, the one who gave birth to her, in that world outside of the tower, which looks radiant, with blue sky and oceans. She can finally see clearly her sweet face tensed by pain. Her peach-coloured lips are curled into a thin smile and her incredibly golden eyes shine in the half-light.

"I hope you'll live a good life (Y/n)... I will always pray for your dreams to come true..."

The little child who is only 5 years old, tries to articulate words as she feels her tears flowing.

"I don't want... you to go away..."

The child's body falls to the ground crying, screaming as her mother begins to leave. She took her in her arms to try to calm her down, and as her mother's eyes gradually closed, a blinding glow, a reassuring warmth enveloped the girl's small body.

When she reopened her eyes, she saw her mother's lifeless body directly beside her.

"No...! Somebody... Somebody welp me !"

Out of the darkness came a kind of rabbit known by the name of Headon in the tower.

"Welp me... My mother...!
- It's too late for her, she's dead. And you brought her here with you when the tower only called you... Well, that's not a problem now, she won't be able to climb the tower.
- But you're a rabbit...! There's no such thing as a talking rabbit !! You can welp wer then because you're magic...!"

Headon laughs at the adorable words of the child who can't articulate very well the letter "H" and replace it by a "W".

"Everything you're looking for is at the top of the tower.
Who knows, you'll find someone there to help you... To save your mother."

The little girl's eyes shined a bit and he got a smirk on his face.

"For that, you'll have to pass a test. Are you sure you want to do it ?

She nodded her head as a sort of prison with a huge white armoured eel inside appeared. She looked at the monster as if nothing had happened, not even terrified of dying. She enters the cage after the Headon's explication about the test and the little girl stretches her arms open in front of the eel.

"Do as you like... If you're wungry, I could at least welp you if you eat me... But I want to save my mom too. Do what you want... "

The eel swims towards the girl without understanding why she's acting like this and the monster puts his head against the girl's small body, in her arms.

"So you're letting me go ? Thank you. I wope you'll find something to eat soon..."

It was as if the huge creature thanked her for her understanding and it went to sit on her side, taking a nap.

Headon applauds the girl and enters the cage with a laugh.

"I've never seen that before. You're not an irregular for nothing... But you'll never manage to climb the tower with this "Kill me or let me pass" mentality. So... It's best that you forget everything. A day will come when you'll remember. So I'll see you later. Have a nice trip in the tower, little girl."

The hand of the humanoid rabbit makes contact with the girl's forehead and she falls unconscious on the floor of the cage. With a snap of the finger, the ball that was in the back of the room burst, allowing the fainting girl to move to the next floor.

(Y/n) finally understands now. That's how she really entered into the tower, and why she couldn't remember her real parents. Before, she just remembered that she's an irregular, but nothing more. She wasn't very sure about it for a moment but after a while, she accepted it. Now, she have the proof of it.

~~~~~

(Y/n)'s POV

I look around me to see greyish walls and an architecture reminiscent of a train. I guess I'm on the Hell Express, so the battle on the floor of death is over.

I was going to try to get up before I was stopped.

"Oh, you're awake, guide ! Go back to bed, I'll notify Khun about your awakening !
- Beta, you're here ? Aren't you in one of his lighthouses normally ?
- He let me out to keep an eye on you because he had things to do."

I smile at him and he asks me if I'm alright, which I answer with a yes, before he walks towards the door.

"Maybe you should dye your hair again."

He points to his hair to tell me to look at mine and I put my hand on it to see that it's half red and half (h/c).

"I will, thank you Beta.
- Anyway, you have a nice hair color. See you later, guide !"

Beta leaves and I get up to look myself in the mirror, admiring the natural color of my hair. It's been a long time since I've seen it... I dye my hair every month to keep it red, but it's true that the end of the month was approaching before the fighting and I don't know how long I slept.

"(Y/n), you're awake !
- Miss (Y/n) !
- Khun ! Bam ! You seem all right !"

Bam gives me a radiant smile to show his perfect health and Khun seems relaxed to see me awake.

"But my hair... How long has it been since I fall asleep ?"

Khun and Bam look at each other and they ask me to sit down on my bed. Once I sat down, Bam did the same to my right and Khun to my left.

"You've slept for a whole month... You could call it a "coma"... — Bam looked down after explaining to me
- On the death floor, there was a problem. All the residents memories have been erased and yours too. But Bam made a deal with Po Bidau Gustang who we met on the floor. If he brings the bracelet that belongs to Jahad's data in the hidden floor, Bam can have his thorn and give you back your memories too.
- But I remember everything yet..."

Khun nods to me and pulls up the sleeve of his shirt to show me a sort of tattoo on his right arm.

"He gave you back your memories because I offered to lose mine if Bam didn't bring back the bracelet. If Bam doesn't bring back the bracelet when he comes out of the hidden floor, the mark will disappear and I'll lose my memories, in the other case, if he brings it back, it will disappear without causing me any trouble.
- But Khun...!!
- Miss (Y/n), I tried to stop him before but he wouldn't listen... Then it's already too late. But I'll do everything I can to get the bracelet back, don't worry."

Bam gives me a reassuring smile and I keep looking at the mark on Khun's arm, feeling guilty. I could've forgotten everything, but thanks to him, I was able to keep all my memories and remember the ones Headon made me forget. I understand why I remembered it all at once now.

"Bam, can you leave us alone ? — I shyly ask to the dark-haired boy
- Of course ! Rest a little afterwards anyway !"

Bam walks out of the room that looks like my bedroom now. I look at Khun, biting the inside of my cheek so I don't cry.

"Thank you for doing all this for me..."

He gives me a sweet smile and lays his hand on my head to caress my long hair.

"Would you like me to help you dye your hair ? I'm used to actually dying my hair blonde for the Workshop Battle after you left.
- You did ?"

I'm laughing and he's a little blushing because I'm making fun of him, imagining him as a blond. I run my hand through his hair to tousle it and I notice that it is not well cut.

"Didn't you cut your hair back after what the bee did ?
- No, I was afraid of what someone could do to my hair, and there's no hairdresser on this train... I'll going to wait until we left the train.
- Let me cut it for you !"

Khun's coughing a bit, afraid that I can totally miss his cut. I make my best puppy eyes so he'll accept and he sighs with a cute blush.

"Okay, but you just need to cut them to the same length, I don't want them shorter.
- Great !"

I laugh and he sighs again with a face that totally means "I sold my soul for this girl."

I get up and grab a chair and tap it for him to sit on it and I look for a pair of scissors in my lighthouse, which also contains my hair color for my dyes that I took out for afterwards.

I grabbed the comb and the scissors. Khun looks at his reflection in the mirror in front of the chair before closes his eyes. There's a silence, so quiet that only the sound of the scissors blow can be heard. I concentrate so as not to ruin his beautiful blue hair. It's soft and silky. How can a boy have such beautiful hair ? Even mine is not beautiful like his ! It's unfair !

I smile and put the comb and the scissors on the little table on the side before tapping his shoulders, laughing.

"Come on, open your eyes, It's done !
- I'm afraid to open them."

I pout and put my hands over his eyes.

"Open your eyes, and I'll take my hands off !
- Okay... If it's a disaster, I'll take my revenge on your hair."

I chuckle in fear for my hair. I can feel his lashes moving against the palms of my hands. I smile and take my hands off of his eyes to let him see his hair. I tried to do it the same way he had two years ago, and I didn't miss that much.

"It's cleaner than I thought... Well, thank you (Y/n). I shouldn't have been afraid, I knew I can trust you."

I give him a big, proud smile. He gets up to grab the dye and I sit on the chair with my eyes closed to wait.

I can feel him starting to brush my hair and I hear him whisper.

"So this is your real hair color... It suits you.
- Thank you... You know Khun, I had some trouble for remembering my former parents before. But thanks to what you did... I remember everything.
- Really ?
- Yup. During my coma, I saw all my forgotten memories in front of my eyes, maybe that's why I slept for a month..."

I can feel the product running down my hair as he starts to dye it from the roots.

"It was Headon who gave me my first test. And he's also the one who made me lose my memory.
- This rabbit is really having fun causing trouble..."

Khun grinds his teeth and I reassure him as I explain it to him.

"My mother and father used to be in love when I was born. My mother loved to dance with me, and my father loved to fish in the sea.
- You know how to fish ?
- I guess so. I saw myself fishing with him at the water's edge."

He lets out a little laughter and whispers in a soft, hoarse voice that makes me shiver.

"I used to do that when I was a kid, too. We can do it together next time.
- That would be great !"

We both laugh and I open my eyes slightly to look at the floor.

"Over time, my father became violent. And then one day... he grabbed his gun and shot my mom in the stomach, and then he killed himself. I was five years old.
- You must have watched your parents die, so... I feel sorry for you. I wish I could have been there for you.
- Don't worry about me. When the tower called me, when I opened the tower doors, I took my mother there."

Khun listens carefully to what I say, as if he's drinking every word I say.

"But it was already too late, she was dead when we entered the tower. And Headon told me I could get the help I wanted in the top of the tower, so that I could resurrect her. I really believed that... But now I'd rather climb the tower to create my future with all of you, the team, Bam, and you, Khun. There's no point in clinging to the dead..."

Khun takes it out the product of my hair, it's now back to a bright red color.

"Thank you for telling me about yourself, (Y/n).
- I promised you, you remember ? And thank you for the dye !"

~~~~~

I woke up yesterday and after spending time with Khun, I found out Rachel was with us. So today, I'm going to go and talk with her. I can't help it, after all.

I knock on her door politely, even though I have a terrible urge to knock it down and hope it falls on Rachel's head and kills her.

The blonde-haired girl finally opens the door and grinds her teeth at me.

"What do you want from me ?
- Just talking. I'm not like Endorsi, apparently she was a bit violent."

She reluctantly lets me in. I can tell this by the look on her face.

"What do you want to talk to me about ? We're not friends as far as I know.
- Why'd you go after Bam and Khun ? There's plenty of other guys in that tower you could've had fun messing with. I'll tell you plainly. I hate you, and if I feel like it, I'd love to wipe that ugly smile off on your face. Bam might get mad at me, so that would be a problem."

She sits on her bed like I didn't say anything. She totally ignores me, I want to take her by the head and throw her against the wall so bad.

"Why them ? Because Bam is Arlen's son. And Khun's helping him. Then all I do is fight back because of what he's doing to me, don't you think ?
- So all you want to do is steal people's places ? Bitch...
- You'd understand if you weren't in love with this Bam's jerk best friend."

My blood boils in my veins and I clench my fists before I walk to the door and say nothing before I turn the doorknob.

"Stay away from them. You better not mess with my friends, or you'll be a dead snake."

A shinsu bang I made makes a deep gash in her cheek and digs a huge hole in the wall behind her that leads to an empty room.

I come out after it and look at my arm which has a shallow cut.

"I'm sure I felt something next to that bitch..."

~~~~~

It's been three days since I woke up. I've been having a good time with Bam playing various games. Beta and I used to practice but we always ended up laughing together about what Khun was doing when he forgot Beta was in his lighthouse.

We were all prepared to go to the hidden floor at last, all except Hwaryun, Yuri, Evan and me. We're not allowed to go to the hidden floor, so we'd wait for the rest of the group. In spite of that, I had accompanied the others to the last part of the train where the door to the hidden floor to which Bam has the key should be hidden.

"Hey guide, you know that the other day, Khun totally forgot that I was in his lighthouse and he took me to the bathroom during his shower. You want more details ?
- No thanks !! What do you take me for ?!"

Beta giggle and my face turn in a shade of red when I imagine it. Khun who walked further ahead in the group with Bam sneezing.

"You've caught a cold, Mr Khun ?
- I feel like somebody is talking about me..."

~~~~~

The glow disappeared. We met Rachel's team when we enter the last part of the train.

Everyone disappeared, so I guess they went into the hidden floor. That leaves me, Hwaryun, Yuri, Evan and Karaka, a very strong FUG member who has already caused several problems to the team.

We're on our guard, because now we're going to have a fight with Karaka to stay alive until the team returns.

Please make sure that everything goes well for them or I'll be sorry for the rest of my life.

~~~~~

I'm at the end of my rope. I used all the shinsu I could to help Yuri. She's not helped in 1vs1 against Karaka because she's alone, but she has at least 3 guides with her. On the bright side, thanks to that, she didn't suffer any damage. When Karaka's attacks were impossible to dodge, Evan absorbed them with the help of the Frog Fisher I'd heard about.

I felt exhausted. I was going to make an another bang to try to entertain Karaka when a blinding light like the one when everyone disappeared. When the light faded, Bam and Wangnan were the only ones who came back. Yuri's eyes immediately lit up when he saw Bam.

"Bam ! He came back ! But why is it just the two of you..."

Wangnan's got a weird weapon on his hands. What's is this ? I was confused watching Bam looking bad and Wangnan for seeing what Karaka's doing at the last minute.

"Yuri ! Karaka attacks ! Protect Bam !! Wangnan !! Dodge it !"

The blond guy looks at my side and turns his gaze to Karaka, his armor which has split into several lianas grabs Wangnan and brings him back to him. He took him as a hostage...!

"Yuri, leave Jue Viole Grace here if you don't want me to hurt this boy.
- Would you do that if you were me ?! You're going to get in trouble for attacking a regular !
- Ooh, so you still don't know. There are no rules in this room."

This can't be happening ! If what Karaka says is true, Wangnan is in danger ! He won't have any qualms about killing him if there's no repercussion !

"It can't be ! — Shouts Yuri, always in front of Bam to protect him
- Will you believe it if I kill him, right now ?"

Wangnan's weapon shines. What the hell is that ?

"Go ahead, do it, and don't forget your head will fly too if you do it !"

(Play the music here !)

A

strong light comes out of Wangnan's weapon and when it goes out, both are gone. He managed to get rid of Karaka ! But I hope the Pokemon trainer will be all right !

"Yuri ! Bam's okay ?! — I ask to the high ranker
- He's breathing ! I'm so reassured..."

Something's calling out to me. Not that the others aren't here, they must be somewhere else on the train but...
What shocks me first is :  Where's the bracelet ? The bracelet from the data Jahad he was supposed to have. It's nowhere to be found. No matter how many times I look around, look on the ground or in his pockets, there's nothing. I can feel my stomach closing in on me.

Yuri gets up and I follow her. She goes out of the room, and as I entered the corridor, I could see directly Endorsi, Rak, Ehwa and the two other girls who helping us.

"These young people... They've come back too !"

Yuri seems enthusiastic but my body has already stopped moving at the sight of the blue hair on the ground. My lips are trembling. I feel my whole body shaking.

"(Y/n) ? What's wrong ?
- He's not breathing !"

Yuri turns around in panic at Rak's words and I walk slowly, shaking. The sight of his blue hair on the ground froze my blood. I speed up the pace until I reach the group.

All I can see is Khun lying on the ground.

My first reflex was to let myself fall on my knees on the ground, my second was to tear his coat and shirt underneath at the level of his right arm to see his mark.

It's gone.

"No... Don't forget me... Wake up... Survive... Please..."

I feel my tears falling and I hold the boy's frozen body against me.

"Don't give up... I'll do everything to heal you... I won't give up... I love you. I love you. I love you... Aguero... Let me love you..."

~~~~~

A bit cliffhanger- Sorry-

Don't hate me.

Wow- 3884 words-

Thanks for reading 💕💕💕