Chapter 32

**Merianna**


Slowly taking in a deep breath, I unconsciously rolled into something that felt like hard pillows. Frowning, I took in a whiff of the fabric and noticed that it most definitely did not smell like my bedding at all, it smelled more like leather than linens. This strangeness made me open my eyes and finally look at what was actually surrounding me.

The familiar material of the couches in Noch’s office greeted my eyes. “What the hell?”

“Welcome back! Nice to see you’re up and alert Demon Spawn.” Noch announced happily from my side.

Reluctantly I turned around and was greeted by Noch’s face barely being an inch away from my own. A tick of irritation immediately ran down my spine. Glowering at his smug smile, I reflexively jerked my hand up and managed to catch his nose in between my finger joints, clamping it satisfyingly in a fist.

“Yep, definitely back to normal now.” I heard Thyrion say over Noch’s nonsensical mutters of pain.

I let go of Noch’s nose and propped myself up to look at Thyrion, and noticed that a relieved looking Hezerial was also standing next to him. “What are you guys talking about?” I asked with a frown. Nothing at that moment was making a lick of sense and it was starting to irritate me.

“What on earth are you guys talking about?”

Noch was now sitting on the floor, rubbing his red nose as he replied. “What was the last thing you remember before waking up here Demon Spawn?”

I raised an eyebrow at the silly question. “The last thing I remember was falling asleep in my nice comfy bed. So why the hell am I currently on a couch in your office?”

“Well now, you will be surprised to learn this, but it’s not something that’s particularly new or worrisome. Especially now that it’s been successfully dealt with.” Noch answered again.

It was really starting to grate on my nerves that Noch was answering in roundabout ways. He knew full well that this was one of the most effective ways to get on my nerves, and by the gods, he should be glad that I didn’t have a weapon in my hands right then. I did have my fists though…

“Hold up!” Noch yelled when he saw me clenching my fists.

“Are you going to give me the answer that I want?” I deadpanned.

“One of your memories were on the forefront of your consciousness which made you lose touch with the reality of here and now, which then led you to leave your room and disappear to some forest through a gate you constructed by yourself, so Hezerial ran after you and promptly brought you back here where I was then obligated to create a memory vault for you so something like this wouldn’t happen again.” He rambled off in almost one breath.

I didn’t say anything for a second, but then looked up to Thyrion to confirm the authenticity of Noch’s ramble.

“Well, the circumstances might have been a little more detailed than that, but everything he said is basically correct.” Thyrion said almost reluctantly.

I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose as I tried to absorb what they were saying. Maybe if Noch had phrased it differently it would have been easier for me to wrap my head around it all.

“So you’re saying that you created a ‘memory vault’ in my mind?” I asked Noch as I squinted at him.

“Yes.” He sulked.

“And now whatever happened, will not happen again?”

“Yes.”

I heaved a sigh and then turned to sit properly on the couch. “So does that mean that my memories are sealed away again?”

“No. What I did was just make them more ‘user friendly’, if I could put it in modern mortal terms.” He explained.

Now this was starting to sound interesting. “So I can freely access all my memories now without anything happening like what you guys just described?”

“Indeed! Why don’t you give it a try? Close your eyes and try going to your consciousness where all your memories usually bubble up from.” Noch said with a satisfied smile.

The way he described how we usually look back on older memories was actually quite accurate. Sometimes it would feel like old memories usually emerged or bubbled up from somewhere deep in our consciousnesses. “Alright. Let's have a look at what you’ve been up to.”

Relaxing against the backrest, I closed my eyes and started focusing inward on my consciousness. At first there was nothing but blackness and shifting light until I focused on the deeper memories that were always found in the darker parts of the subconscious.

Once I managed to grasp a hold of the pathway to my older memories, the darkness lifted and I was suddenly surrounded by a vast white room that had rows upon rows of bookshelves that stretched far into a foggy abyss. When I walked closer and looked into the bookshelves I was surprised to find mirrors with moving images within them looking right back at me.

As I looked at one that was close by, I noticed that the memories in it were as recent as a few days ago when I was still at home with my family. The moving images showed all four of us happily sitting around the dining room table, sharing a nice christmas dinner.

As I moved past a few mirrors, close to the end of the first bookshelf I saw a mirror who’s images looked more familiar. Bending down for a closer look I noticed that it was a memory of when I was here at the Order the first time with Nelia. As it played I realized that it was a memory of my and Thyrion’s wedding night. I admired my silver wedding dress all over again as the light from the Blood Moon’s hue made the material shimmer. Thyrion was also as handsome as ever on that day, in fact I doubt he ever really changed. He practically looked exactly the same now as he did back then.

I shook my head and stood up from the mirror as I felt myself getting drawn into the memory. In fact, getting drawn into that memory almost felt the same as scrying in general.

“Does this mean that, now all I have to do to bring up memories from a past lifetime, is to ‘scry’ into these mirrors that are in this vault you made?” I asked physically.

“Indeed, since you tend to have a greater affinity to daylighting and scrying than other things, I decided to create the vault with that in mind. The nice thing as well is, if you want to reach the older memories that are in the deeper reaches, you don’t have to waste conscious time walking or running to them. All you have to do is think about the timeline you want to see, and you will be transported there in the blink of an eye!” Noch’s voice reverberated through the space, sounding absurdly proud of himself.

I had to admit this time that he had every right to sound that proud of himself. I would never have thought of constructing my memories in an orderly way like this by myself. Heck I didn’t even know that my memories were practically making me sleepwalk.

Feeling reluctantly impressed, I pulled back out of the depths of my subconscious and opened my eyes to the three men standing in front of me. Obviously Thyrion and Hezerial were looking at me worriedly while Noch looked as proud as a cat that had stolen a dog’s bone.

I snorted a laugh and held my first out for Noch. “I have to admit, that is some seriously impressive work you did this time.”

Noch smugly grinned and bumped his fist with mine. “My work is always impressive.”

“He might be impressive when it comes to magic, but common sensibilities and courtesies forever escape him.” A deep lazy voice drifted down from somewhere above my head.

Startling at the voice that didn’t belong to any of the guys in front of me, I shot my gaze upward to the top of the bookshelf that stood behind me. At first I frowned at the fluffy cat’s face that stared back down at us, until recognition finally clicked.

“Strider?!” I asked happily.