Page 68 of Pet: Torment

I ignore the light knock at the door, my eyes remaining focused on the rings.

“Iris,” Ezra calls to me hesitantly.

This is the first time he’s bothered speaking to me on his own. Ever since that first day at Xion’s, he’s avoided me, only speaking if Xion was around. I hear his footsteps, however, as he enters the room, coming into my line of vision to sit on the floor next to the bed.

His eyes follow mine to the rings in the sky as he leans against the bed.

“He’s gone. He just wanted to speak to us about Iriel,” Ezra says.

I scoff.

“Just letting you know why it was important that your decision no longer matters?” I ask.

Ezra laughs. “Pretty much. He mentioned that Iriel rambled on in his last moments. But he felt that giving Iriel a trial was more than fair in light of what he had done.”

“And his explanation for taking the decision from you?” I ask.

Ezra doesn’t respond immediately. He takes a deep breath, lowering his head.

“He said Iriel dared to step outside of his bounds and dragged me into it in the process. Death was the only option that waited for him at the end of this trial.”

Silence settles between us as we contemplate Remus’s words. They don’t sound like him at all.

Ezra takes a deep breath, dropping his head.

“I’m sorry, Iris. I know it must feel hopeless right now. Remus would be devastated if he knew the things he’s put you through,” he says.

I release a bitter chuckle. “Devastated enough to destroy your home?”

Ezra slowly turns to look at me, but I speak again before he can deny it.

“Sky told me what happened to that planet. I know you’re both scared of what he’ll do in retaliation,” I say.

I’m confused when anger doesn’t appear on Ezra’s features. But he looks away from me, his attention focusing back on the rings.

“You don’t understand what it’s like having someone like him as a brother. It was the first time I’d seen his power on sucha massive scale. Remus has never been the emotional type. For most of our lives, he’s been present but distant. But seeing that…it made me realize we are all here at his pleasure, not the other way around. And if he knew the results of our mother’s manipulations almost led to your death —I know he wouldn’t let it slide,” he says.

Ezra’s fists are clenched as he speaks. This is a entirely different side of him I’ve never seen before. I don’t know why he’s being vulnerable with me right now. It wasn’t but a week ago that he was mocking me for missing my planet. And now, he’s sharing his inner most thoughts about his brother with me.

“I’m not the same naïve woman I was. I understand what’s at stake. I know that the Remus I met in the blight had years between him and the initial invasion. The only reason he didn’t kill me that night in the blight is because he was bored and I was a challenge,” I say.

It’s strange seeing these beings whom I always saw as perfect from the outside be tested within by someone they thought they could trust. All it took was one of their own to take down the Divine Three.

“Just because we’re scared doesn’t mean we’ll stop fighting for you. Remus told us to protect you and we will. Starting with getting his memory back,” he says.

“Do you even think it’s possible?” I ask.

There’s no evidence that she didn’t just destroy everything. Getting Remus’s memory back could be a false hope that we are clinging to. It could be that we are so desperate for it to be a possibility that we are ignoring the facts.

“Of course we can. If he was having visions, that must mean this was done before. That’s enough for me,” he says.

Confusion hits me as Ezra accidentally reveals information I wasn’t aware of.

“Remus was having visions?” I ask.

Ezra nods. “I don’t know the specifics, but Xion said it was stuff from their childhoods he didn’t remember happening,” he says.

I bring my hand to my mouth as tears spring into my eyes. Our conversation about his childhood holds so much more meaning now, making me wonder if my questions triggered these events. But if Remus was having visions of memories, then what Ezra said is true, and there is hope. Maybe his memories can be returned.