Before Bryce knew it, he was waking up in the afternoon the next day. The bright afternoon sun shining through the horizontal slits of the blinds on the window. He couldn't even remember when he fell asleep. He simply decided that today was simply a new day and that he might as well not let sleeping for so long upset him. He began to stretch and loosen up for said new day,

The gesture of stretching out his arms and wide open-mouthed yawning felt familiar to him. No memory flashbacks of any kind happened, so he simply believed he had done this so many times before that it was just involuntarily reflexive. He hoped to see what new memories he hoped to unlock. One day had passed since he had awakened, and he still wished to elicit more memories about the person he once was before his accident.

The first thing he noticed after wiping away the tears from his eyes was that the file he was reading yesterday was gone, as well as the stand it was left on placed back where it was before. The data scroll on the wall was also turned off and closed back up. “Guess Mr. or Mrs. Asola came in after I fell asleep.”

He looked around the room curiously, as if to see if there was anything new about it. What he was really doing was looking to see if anyone had come to see him and fell asleep themselves in a chair perhaps. Sadly, there was no one to be seen. Bryce scoffed at this. “Well of course Bryce. You can't expect someone to just magically show up the next day.” The next thought to cross his mind saddened him a little. “Guess mom still hasn't woken up yet either. Or maybe she has and she just can't leave her room yet?” He scoffed again and scratched at his bandages. “Don't get your hopes up man. You'll just feel worse.” He inhaled softly and exhaled slowly to calm his mind as he then sat there in his bed.

He raised up his hand and examined his palm. He looked at though he wear trying to make up a blurry image from a long distance. “I only remember so much about myself in just the one day. I really hope I can remember more today.” He clenched his hand into a fist. “Yesterday I was myself until the accident...today I'm someone else. Someone who doesn't know who I fully am.” He opened his hand back up. “I hope today I can become myself again.”

Something then caught his attention in the corner of his eye. Looking over at the counter next to the bed, he noticed it was the button used to call for some assistance should any be required from the patients. It had probably fallen off the bed when Bryce tried to frantically free himself from it yesterday, but everyone was too focused on him at the time to notice. “Might as well let them know I'm awake.” He reached over and pressed the bright red button and waited patiently.

About a minute passed until he heard a knock at the door. “Come on in.” He said politely.

Aliana was the one to greet him. “Good morning Bryce. Or, more precisely, good afternoon.”

“Yeah,” Bryce said with an embarrassed tone. “I didn't expect to fall asleep and not wake up till the next day. I hope I didn't cause you guys any trouble.”

Aliana giggled playfully. “Of course not. After all that had happened yesterday, we figured you'd sleep for that long anyway. So we closed up the room to let you sleep for as long as you wanted.” She pulled the chair she had previously sat in yesterday back over to his bedside. “Adrian went home not long after we closed up your room, but I stayed to look after you and your mom.”

Her last word rang the loudest in Bryce's head. He then wanted to ask her what had instantly popped into his mind. “Speaking of...how is she?”

Aliana's expression turned mildly serious. She knew right away that as soon as she entered the room Bryce would be asking her that question. She gathered her thoughts and switched her expression to a comforting grin and tone. “I knew you'd ask that.” She placed her hand on top of his. “She still hasn't woken up, I'll tell you that now.” She could see some slight disappointment on Bryce's face. “I know it's probably not what you want to hear right after waking up to a new day, but...”

“It's okay,” he said forcing a grin of his own. “After all, you and Mr. Asola both said that comas can be tricky. I didn't expect mom to be awake after just one day.” He scratched at his bandages again, only this time a little irritably. “How about these bandages? Can I take them off at least?”

“Later today after Adrian gets back you can.” She smiled at him and stood up from the chair. “He'll just do a few more checkups and see if there's any scarring. Once he's done he'll remove them.” She looked over at the clock on the wall to check the time and do some mathematics. “He'll be back around two o'clock in the next hour and a half or so.”

Bryce wanted to keep asking her about his mom's condition. He felt like he was repeating himself but his concern just kept getting the better of him. “Well that's some good news at least. How about mom? Do you guys know when she'll wake up?”

Aliana inhaled and exhaled through her nose. She wanted to answer him but didn't know how to. So she simply let the basics be her response. “Remember what we and you yourself said sweetheart; comas can be tricky. There's no telling how long she'll be comatose, but we'll make sure she's not in any pain and made comfortable until she does wake up. Okay?”

Bryce could hear the politeness in her words but could tell that she was uncomfortable with each one that came out of her mouth. He knew she was just trying to cheer him up and not discourage him in any way. He didn't want to discourage her either, so he merely accepted her words and played dumb to what he deduced. “Okay. I'll take your word for it.”

“Oh,” Aliana said suddenly. “I almost forgot, you actually have a visitor here today.” She meant to tell him this after she told him when her husband would be coming back, but the fox's polite yet concerned persistence with wanting to know how his mother was doing had distracted her.

Bryce's ears shot up and his eyes widened moderately with shock from what she had told him. It was quite sudden and he thought that he had misheard her at first. “I...I have a visitor?” He felt confused yet excited at the same time. The very thing he wished had been there in the room with him was happening. It was simply just waiting for him elsewhere. “Who is it?” Eagerness could be heard within all three words.

“They're outside the hospital.” Aliana held up her hand to signify asking him to hold off on any more questions. “But don't get too excited Bryce. I know what you must be thinking.” She could see his excitement begin to fade from his face as she also noticed his ears droop slightly. “I know you don't want to hear this either, but they're not family or friends.”

Bryce's excitement had now fully left him as he sat there silently. His eagerness now turned to curiosity. Wanting to know who it really was if not someone close to him and his mother. Aliana could tell this by his expression and figured it'd be best to tell him something positive. “You still can't remember your accident right?” Bryce felt a little surprised by the sudden change in subject, but he gave her his answer by shaking his head. “Well, do you know how you and your mother got here?” He thought briefly to himself and again shook his head. “You two were found by a safety trooper who rushed you both here in a groundcar. Had he not acted so quickly you and your mother might not still be alive in the first place. I'd say you owe your lives to him.”

Curiosity had now fully turned to surprise. The fox didn't know what to think at first. He knew he'd get to see him but thoughts of questions to be asked began flooding his head like a dam that had burst. The flooded thoughts settled faster then when they had emerged. All he could decide on to ask was just one question. “Can I go see him?”

Aliana knew that he'd definitely ask that too. She didn't want to say no to him, since he would want to try and remember more about himself in any way he could. “You can. But you'll have to go in a wheelchair again. Is that okay?”

Bryce nodded. “Absolutely. I don't mind at all.”

“Great,” Aliana said blithely as she began to make her way back to the door out of the room. “I'll go tell him that he'll be expecting you and get you the wheelchair. Don't try to get out of bed until I get back okay?”

Again Bryce nodded. Aliana then left to inform the trooper and later retrieve the wheelchair in the hallway. Being left alone for a few minutes, Bryce's gaze turned to stare at the window blinds. Curiously looking at the bright light still shining through the slits, he pondered his thoughts. He wanted to get his questions ready so he could ask the right ones in the right way. The ones he wanted to focus on getting right where that of what happened to him and Naylene.

He didn't have much time to fully prepare all of them however as Aliana had returned in less than a couple of minutes from when she left. However, he would have plenty of time to get his questions ready to be asked on the way to the front entrance of the hospital.

Aliana wheeled him carefully down the hall to the front entrance as they passed room by room and other doctors discussing medical info either to themselves or other medical staff. As far as Bryce knew, this was the first time he had ever seen the inside of a hospital. So many rooms full of other Dreamkeepers dealing with one medical problem after another. The only thing he couldn't tell was what it was they were stricken with, be it physical or mental.

He felt terribly bad for each of them. He reminded himself that whatever it was that caused his injury and his mother's, they both could have ended up much worse. He wished he could help them, but he didn't know how. “Huh,” he said quietly to himself. “Never knew I cared about others well-being until I looked at it first hand.” He gripped the IV that was being wheeled down the hall with him. “Damn this memory loss. I wish I could remember everything right now so I didn't still feel like a stranger to myself. I hope this safety trooper has some answers.” Aliana could hear him quietly mumbling to himself but didn't want to indulge in what it was.

Once they reached the front entrance, the doors slid open and the breeze of the outside air came rushing in softly. It was the first time Bryce had inhaled the outside air since he woke up, and the sensation felt very calm and relaxing. Because of his amnesia, this made it feel like he had just entered the outside world for the first time in his life. It was little moments like this that helped him get used to the memory loss and not focus entirely on hating it.

Stopping briefly to turn the wheelchair, Aliana proceeded to wheel him to the left of the building. There, standing and leaning up against the wall was a blue deer with three-point antlers and black hair. His basic armor was not on his person, likely due to the possibility that he was either on a break from his duties or was off-duty entirely. But the rest of his uniform was still being worn. He also looked to be enjoying a cigar, which was half the length of a pencil but twice as big. If not for the brown outer wrapper, most would assume it was a cigarette. It didn't take a memory flash for Bryce to feel uncomfortable with such a habit, but he didn't let it cause any negative judgment towards someone. Especially the trooper who was responsible for saving the young fox and his mother.

Just as the trooper was about to take another whiff of his cigar, Aliana's white fur being reflected from the sunlight caught his attention in the corner of his eye. “Oh.” He said with a little surprise in his tone as he took one last inhale of his cigar and tossed it into a waste bin next to him. Clearly indicating that this was an area for smokers. “Hey there kid. Glad to see you're awake.” He casually made his way over to Bryce and Aliana to meet them halfway. He spoke with a polite tone and even gave a friendly smile. “How you feeling today? Better I hope.”

Bryce was at first at a loss for words, but managed to give him an answer. “I'm fine sir.” He extended his right hand outward while continuing to hold the IV with his left. “It's a pleasure to meet you.”

The trooper reached out and shook Bryce's hand. “Likewise. Mrs. Asola and I are actually acquainted. Her son and my son are good friends.” Bryce didn't know that the Asola's were parents. He decided to leave any conversation about the topic for later. The trooper released his grip and continued to talk. “I knew that leaving you to her and Adrian was a good idea.” His polite expression turned to one of a serious nature as he then cleared his throat. “I was told that the accident was so severe that you lost your memory.”

Bryce didn't need to think hard to know that the trooper was already informed by Aliana on his condition. Without a doubt he wanted to know his and his mother's own condition after one of them had woken up. “Yeah,” Bryce said with mild sadness. “It's been really hard to remember everything for the last two days now. I can remember about half of the things I know I'm supposed to know, like me name and age, but just barely.”

The trooper nodded to acknowledge Bryce's words. “Hmm. It doesn't surprise me. I never suffered a serious blow to the head myself, but I can imagine the impact such a thing can have on someone.” He didn't want to ask the next question for fear of it upsetting Bryce, but he was anxious to know it just as much. “How's your mother? I know for a fact that she got hit in the head pretty bad too.”

Bryce went silent. He lowered his and groaned quietly to himself. Aliana, distraught from his gesture, decided to answer for him. “I'm afraid that she's comatose.” The trooper's eyes widened as he let out a quiet gasp. “Her head injury was in fact more severe than her son's was. She's doing well regardless, but there's currently no telling when she'll come out of it.”

The trooper rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly. He felt stupid for asking the question and that he should have just refrained from asking it in the first place. “Damn. Sorry if I upset you.”

“No no,” said Aliana with guilt in her tone. “It's my fault, I should've told you about her condition as well instead of just Bryce's.”

“Miss Asola...” Bryce himself felt his own guilt. Not for causing her to answer for him, but for feeling like he and his mother were a burden on her and her husband. “It's okay. We all make mistakes right?”

The trooper chuckled. “I couldn't agree more. I mean, I should've jumped to push you to out of the way instead of jumping in the other direction to save my own skin.”

Bryce's ears shot up. What the trooper was talking about was the incident that caused Bryce and Naylene to be hospitalized, and the very same one that he had yet to remember. He jumped at the opportunity to evoke more memories. “Sir...that's something I meant to ask you; do you know what happened to me and my mom?”

The trooper became a little dumbfounded. He looked at Aliana for a brief moment and could tell by her concerned expression that the fox can't remember the accident. He wasn't surprised as he stated earlier that he could imagine what such an event can do to a person. He regained his composure and slid his left hand into his pocket. “Are you sure you want to know? I'd hate for it to cause any trauma for you.”

Bryce gently shook his head. “No. I want to know sir. It might help me remember more about myself. Please.”

The trooper exhaled softly. “Alright. Just don't get too upset okay?”

“I promise.” Bryce steeled himself and his expression became rather stern. Aliana could only stand there quietly and patiently. She wasn't as educated in the field of retrograde amnesia as her husband was, but she still couldn't help but worry for how it would affect Bryce once he's told about something he has forgotten.

“Right.” The trooper knelt down to be more at eye level with him. “Okay, first off; do you know what a knossus is?”

The word rang in Bryce's mind. The throbbing pain had returned this time, but only mildly. The pain would not lower his zeal in any way. “Yeah. I know about them...but hearing that word out loud...” He scratched at his bandages. “I know I've also seen them and been around them. You troopers use them for your groundcars all the time.”

The trooper could tell by his expression and tone that he was struggling with the memory but was keeping his will strong. He looked up at Aliana as Bryce looked down towards the ground to ponder. Aliana gave the trooper a gentle nod indicating that it was okay to tell him what had happened to him and his mother. “A knossus was what was responsible for your injuries, your memory loss and your mother's coma.” The stunned fox's will wavered a little as his eyes widened. He looked back up at the trooper. “There were some festivities going on yesterday here in Norvondire. One of which was a knossus ride. The owner was given permission to allow his knossus to perform in the center of a closed off intersection. Me and a couple of fellow troopers directed traffic around the event.”

Bryce felt the throb in his head pulsate stronger. The memory of his accident was pushing itself to be free. He gripped his head and rubbed at his bandages, trying his best not to succumb to the pain. “What happened?”

“For some reason,” the trooper continued, “Even though the owner had proven that his knossus was tame and not hostile in any way, it suddenly went crazy.” He could see Bryce's expression change to one of confusion. “Everyone was shocked and scarred and other manner of negative emotions.” The trooper exhaled and rubbed at the back of his head. “I don't feel comfortable telling you this part, but I can tell you want to know desperately what happened.” Bryce braced himself for the revelation he was waiting for. “You and your mother...were walking across the one road of the intersection. When the knossus went berserk, it charged down that road. I jumped out of the way, but from what I can guess...your mother tried to grab you and jump in the opposite direction that I did.”

Bryce could feel his heartbeat speed up as the throbbing pain began to increase. He fought back the pain and continued to hear the rest the trooper was saying. “It all happened so fast that-” He inhaled and then exhaled. “She couldn't get you both out of the way in time. So the knossus...the knossus had run over top of the two of you and struck you both hard in the head.”

Bryce could feel the pain suddenly subside as he began to picture the face of the knossus that had charged toward him and Naylene the previous day. The memory had finally broken free. “I...I remember now.”

“You do?” The trooper asked. “You're not upset are you? I feel terrible just telling you this. I mean when I came up to your unconscious bodies, all I could see were those puddles of blood forming around your heads I just-”

Bryce held up his hand and politely asked the trooper to stop. “Sir, it's okay. I'm glad you told me. I've been wanting to know for a whole day and didn't want to go another minute not knowing what caused this to me and my mom.”

The trooper sighed with relief. “Good. Good. I was worried the whole time about how you'd take this.”

Aliana chuckled. “I knew that nothing was going to stop this young man from finding out the truth. It didn't matter whether or not it was good or bad, he was going to find out one way or another. Seems like I was worried for nothing after all.”

Bryce laughed a little. “What Mrs. Asola said. I really appreciate you telling me sir.”

“Please,” the trooper said with a grin. “Call me Vincent Decker, or Vince for short.”

“I think I'll call you Mr. Decker if that's okay.” They both shared a little chuckle.

Just then, a sudden memory flash hit Bryce as a very mild throb followed it. The event happened so fast that his chuckle ended in an instant. Almost as if something had muted him with the click of a button.

“Kid?” Vincent asked concernedly. “You alright?”

“Bryce?” Aliana asked with the same level of concern. “What's wrong?”

Bryce grabbed the side of his head as the pain from the sudden memory subsided. Once the summation of his thoughts was finished, he spoke to them. “There was someone there.”

Vincent and Aliana were confused by his words. Aliana was the first of the two to ask. “What do mean there was someone there?”

Bryce looked back to meet her confused gaze with a look of stern surprise on his own face. “By the knossus.” He looked back at Vincent. “There was a person standing by the knossus. Right before it went berserk.”

Vincent's eyes lit up. What the young fox was sharing with him would no doubt be the answer to some of the theories behind the incident the he and the other troopers at the CCA were trying to figure out. “Kid...are you saying someone caused that on purpose?”

Bryce scratched at his bandages. “I have no doubt Mr. Decker. Right before it all happened, I saw them place their hand on the knossus.” He was hesitant with wanting to say his next words. “And then...I know I saw a halo appear above their head.” Despite remembering that another Dreamkeeper was responsible for his family's misfortune, Bryce still knew the sort of trouble someone would get in to for power usage. But at this point he didn't care, and simply wanted to share the same level of knowledge with the man who helped him.

Vincent stood up, his eyes still lit up by what he had just heard. “Son of a bitch.”

“Mr. Decker.” Aliana spoke with slight disgust in her voice.

“Uhp, sorry. Pardon my language.” The deer embarrassingly rubbed the back of his head again. “Got a little excited there.” He chuckled embarrassingly as well. Clearly he was the type of guy who watched what he said around younger Dreamkeepers. “Can you describe what they look like? Anything that might help us find out who they are?”

The memory was still not fully there, with some things appearing a bit fuzzy. But he was able to fully picture the individual. “They had dark blue pants, and a sleeveless aqua blue hoodie. I didn't see their face, but they had a tail, and their fur was black.”

Hearing his words, Vincent felt a little more confident in the investigation that he was apart of. With this, he and the others he was working with would be able to narrow down the list of suspects. “The Captain will definitely want to hear about this. Some of us had our suspicions, but thanks to you kid we now know it was a power user.”

“You're welcome,” Bryce said with a grin. “It wasn't just some freak accident out of nowhere. Now I remember that someone did this to me and my mom. Probably not intentionally, but you never know right?”

“Exactly,” Vincent said with a grin of his own. “And before you say it, yes we're going to find this anonymous perp and make them answer for what they did. I'm going to go back to HQ now okay? I need to report this.”

“Sure thing,” said Aliana, “We'll be here.”

“Well,” said Bryce sarcastically, “It's not like I'll be going anywhere anytime soon anyway.”

Vincent scoffed playfully. “You take care kid.” Vincent gave him a salute as he began to make his way to the street where a groundcar was waiting to be taken back to the CCA. With the quick snap to the manekale the groundcar was on its way. Bryce and Aliana waved Vincent off and the the trooper returned the gesture.

Bryce exhaled with revelation. “Glad that this really did help me remember what happened.”

“Yeah,” said Aliana apathetically. She wasn't being rude or uncaring with Bryce's remembrance to his accident, but towards what had caused it. She never once thought that another Dreamkeeper would've been what did this to him and Naylene. All she cared about now was not why they did this horrible act, but that they'd be brought to justice for it.

“Mrs. Asola?” Bryce asked with a little concern in his voice. “Are you okay?” Even though it was just the one word she spoke, he could hear the uncaring tone within it. He felt that something from his conversation with Vincent may have upset her.

“Hmm?” She came back to her senses. “Oh uh, yeah. I'm fine. Just processing all that was said is all.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “Well, now that that's done and over with, what do you say we head back to your room and get you back in bed? I bet you're hungry.”

Bryce was so caught up in wanting to meet the trooper that he had completely overlooked the one thing he should have taken care of before hand. “I can't even remember the last time I ate. I could use some food after all that.” He felt a slight tingle in his head. “Huh?” He scratched at his bandages again.

“Everything alright?” Aliana tilted her head to his bandaged side.

“Uh...yeah.” Bryce stopped scratching at his bandages. “Just felt a little something there. Thought it was another memory trying to push its way out but I guess not.”

“Okay then.” Aliana gently turned the wheelchair around back towards the front doors of the hospital. “Lets go get you something to eat and see if there's anything to watch on the data scroll while you do so.”

Bryce chuckled and grinned as they made their way back to the front doors. “I'd like that.”