Quin's revelation about Grandma Cerce had my anxiety shooting through the roof. The beeping of the machine picked up again. I got so irritated at the constant beeping sound that I tore my finger off the apparatus that they clipped on to monitor my vital signs. Quin gave Gio a look, and Gio turned the machine off. I averted my eyes from them, focusing instead on the two names visible on my wrists. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back in frustration. 

Years ago, I had hoped to regain my memories. It was something that I thought would come back after some time. After years of wishful thinking, that hope faded in time. However, the frustration was always there, just under my skin. And it all came out today. 

"Fuck this shit," I murmured under my breath.

Not remembering the past had always given me such a feeling of unease. Like, I have to do something. An itch I couldn't scratch. Or a word that was at the tip of my tongue that I couldn't pinpoint. My mind dwelled on it for hours and hours, especially at night, when I couldn't sleep. It was frustrating as hell. I thought I would finally be able to recover that missing piece of me, or get answers to questions that I had since waking up all those years ago. Today, it seemed like I was dealt with more questions than answers, only that the answer got burned to ashes together with Granny Cerce's remains. 

I covered my eyes as the unease of not knowing welled up. There was that feeling again. I was terrified to my core. I breathed deeply and huffed, trying to keep my rising panic in check. I knew, in the soul, that I should be doing something, but I did not know what. Or why. Or how. Inwardly, I screamed into that part of myself where the memories should be only to meet a blank wall. I groaned when my head started to hurt.     

 I felt Quin's arms enveloped me in a hug, the bed dipping slightly as she sat on it. "I'm sorry, Onee."

"I need to remember, Quin." Quin caressed my back and my mood lightened somehow. With another huff, I straightened, pushed the rising anxiety down, and bottled up the fear that I was running out of time.

"I'll go with you. Let's talk to Granpa Shao. Maybe he knows something." She gave me a weak smile and hugged me again.

I nodded even though Master Shao and I were not in a very good terms at the moment. About a year ago, he accidentally learned that I was the Reaper, and he never forgave me for using the skills he taught me to rob people. In turn, I never forgave him for ratting me out to Inspector Eugene.

"Onee, stop worrying okay? See this?" Quin took what looks like a lid of a jar from her lab pockets. There were crude markings on it resembling an animal. It had whiskers and what appeared to be a burst of hair around a feline. I'd say that it was a lion, but it could easily be a rat on hair tonic too.

"When we were young you always tell me not to worry and be brave like a lion because--"

"--because nothing worries a lion," I finished for her. Someone told me that before, but I could not remember who and when.

"Yes. You remember?"

I nodded. "Somehow." I took the lid from her hand and examined it. I was right. It was a lid of a jar with a hasty painting of a "lion."

"You painted this? You have a talent for the abstract, if you know what I mean," I chided her.

Quin huffed. "I didn't. You did." My lips twitched a little.

"I'd say, it's not a bad painting at all. How old was I then? Five?"

"You were nine already."

"And what a great piece of art for a nine-year-old, don't you agree?"

"It was rejected by your art teacher. That was why you gave it to me." My lips twitched some more.

"That was very thoughtful of me. That's me, thoughtful and talented."

"And delusional!" Quin enveloped me once again in a tight hug. "Onee-chan! I missed you so much!" There was mirth in her eyes and for the first time in a long while, I was laughing again.

"Ehem," Gio cleared his throat. "If you two ladies are finished joking around, I'd like to return to the matter at hand." Gio handed me a white cylindrical tube. I opened it and sniffed. It seemed like lotion but I couldn't be too sure. I raised inquiring eyes at Gio.

"Apply those creams on your hands at least twice a day."

"Uhhh...are my hands that dry?" I felt my palms. They are not that dry. Maybe.

"It's so that you won't accidentally kill us if you touched us. If you haven't noticed, we're quite a fan of being alive."

"You're a fan of sarcasm too, apparently."

"We're on the same fan club, so don't complain." My eyes rolled so hard, I gave myself a headache. I complied, however, since I didn't want to send more people into a coma.

"Do you use this too?" I directed the question to Quin.

"I used to when I was still controlling my ability."

"You don't use it now?"

"Not as much as before since I can control my abilities now."

That figures, she had her entire life to learn her ability, whereas I was so new to it. I lost thirteen years of training because of the seal. "You said that our Mother had the same ability as you."

"Yes," Quin replied. "Actually, she was the one who developed that cream. Well, she developed it, I perfected it." Quin's back straightened and her chest puffed out. She gave me a proud nerdy smile. If Quin was like our Mother, then I guessed Mother was a nerd too. I'm betting that both of them were either doctors or scientists or some other profession that required a 140+ IQ.

"Good for you, little sister." I patted her head in adoration. She beamed. She might be a genius, but she was my little sister still.

"Ehem." Gio cleared his throat again.

"Yes? Are there other matters at hand?" I quipped.

"Well...Ahmn." Gio shifted from one foot to the other and scratched his neck. "How do I say this..." Gio fiddled with the ring on his finger and looked at Quin. Moments ago, I noticed a matching ring on Quin's fingers. I didn't need a 140+ IQ to figure this one out. Quin sat beside me on the hospital bed and took my hands in hers.

"Onee, don't be shocked, okay. We have something important to tell you."

I bet it was.

She took the ring off her finger.

She placed the ring on the palm of my hand. "Onee, this is yours. Meet Giovanne Lee, your husband." I looked at a sheepish looking Gio and stared at the ring at the center of my palm. On the hospital tag around my upturned wrist, a family name was spelled out which totally escaped my attention minutes before: Lee.

Ranya Anania Nas-Lee.

I can explain. XD