The Insane Asylum

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"Jeez. Issues," she muttered

[[deleted user]]

Aris smiled.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

Cinder smiled back

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"It's nice to see you," he whispered.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"I'm so glad you're alive," she whispered back

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"Me too," Aris said, "and I'm glad you're alive too."

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"Mom would be proud," she looked up at him

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"Of you more than me, I guess," Aris said, trying to shrug.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"No, of both of us," she looked at him

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"Maybe," he said with a shrug.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"No, I'm serious," she said

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"I am too. I was Council, remember?" he pointed out, sighing.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"But she'd be proud of the reason you joined," she said

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"I hope so," he whispered, "I hope so."

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"Are we going to die?" She asked

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"I hope not," he responded, "but I don't know." He tried to hug his knees to his chest only to hiss in pain.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"I thought I'd be ready to die if I had to, but I'm not. I don't want to die yet," she buried her face in his good shoulder

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"I don't want you to die either," Aris said, delicately embracing her.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

She looked up at him. "What about you?"

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"I don't want to die either, but look at my terrible skills of self-preservation. What all happened when they were interrogating you?" Aris replied, leaning closer to her.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"They just asked me a bunch of questions. I managed to punch Devon Nyx in the face then I made a run for it but got caught," she shrugged

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Aris smiled when he heard she'd punched Devon Nyx. Despite their being the same age, Devon Nyx had never seemed remotely fond of him.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"What do you know about Nyx?" She asked hin

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"What do you know about Nyx?" She asked him

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"She'd kill you if she heard you call her that or just plain Devon," Aris muttered. "She hates it. I know she's my age, been on the Council since she was younger than you, a Voclain, a murderess, and in some sort of alliance with some of the others."

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"Well I don't care what she wants to be called, but she acts older than you," cinder replied

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"She's been on for the second longest -- 12 years," Aris explained.

[[deleted user]]

((How long has Aris been on the Council?))

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

((Um... 8 years))

"So she knows this city better than anyone," she said

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((Okay. I question how he lasted that long judging by the disdain everyone had for him on the Council.))

"She hates most people and spends her time mostly holed up in her chambers. That's about as much as anyone knows about her," Aris furthered.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

((He acted more like them until they got Cinder))

"Makes sense," she shrugged

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((Including the killing? He was protesting Kora's death too. . . .))

"You're not telling me something about her," Aris guessed.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

Cinder didn't say anything. She looked at the opposite wall

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"What is it?" Aris asked.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"Her mom was on the Resistance," she said

[[deleted user]]

Aris gaped. "What?"

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"Yeah..." Cinder nodded

[[deleted user]]

"Wow," he said. "That's hard to believe."

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"It is. I remember her a bit from when I was younger. Before I joined, I think," she said

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"Oh," Aris said. "I wonder if that's what we were all forgetting."

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"What do you mean?" She asked

[[deleted user]]

"We lost some of our memories of what happened in the last Council Meeting, and I don't quite believe Devon Nyx's explanation," Aris said, shrugging. He flinched.

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"Of course she erased your memories. She erased mine of the layout of the skyscraper" she replied

[[deleted user]]

Aris's eyes widened. "You had better be okay."

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"Of course I'm okay, she just erased a few memories!" Cinder said, but his tone worried her

[[deleted user]]

Aris nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Good."

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"Promise me something, Richard," Cinder said

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Aris looked down at the use of his old name. "Yeah?"

((Also, could Talfryn be neutral but lean more to the side of the Council or is it too late for that? If it is, I understand completely. Also, we need to develop a schedule for working on the Latin so that it gets done. More often you do Latin, faster you learn it.))

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

"Never leave me again," she closed her eyes

[Jules, Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴғᴏʀᴍɪᴛʏ ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʟɪᴇs ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Cɪᴛʏ.]

((It's not too late! And okay, um... I'm free for the rest of the night, just talking to friends about random stuff, so I guess usually I can try to do the Latin between 7 and 10 PST))