Revelations

Journal of Jack Outremer:

Everything I know is wrong.
I’m pretty sure my friend Dahlya is a spy for the Order. Which means I completely misread Grimm. Originally, I thought he was building his own network of people to some unknown end of his own. But….Grimm and a few others were involved in something that upset Larken, and she ended up not remembering several people. Including me. All this after she wanted to “quit her job.” And she was upset about something happening to her because of it. So, Grimm wasn’t working alone, and Dahlya certainly didn’t act like she was cooperating with him. And I’m no longer the only person who suffered from memory loss. It’s a shaky, uneven line, but the dots connect.

Now it’s all starting to make a kind of sense. Who else would have the ability to erase memories so selectively but a group of mages and academics? I’ve heard rumors of an information-gathering branch of the Order as well. Now, I’m not really spy material, but….what if I helped them out at some point and needed to forget certain things for my own safety? I did help with the raid on the school last year, and it was run by the Order. Grimm was a part of that, as well. Or maybe I was a spy and decided to retire? (Highly unlikely.) I probably saw something I wasn’t supposed to or found out more than I should have or something. Either way, I can’t speak of this openly to anyone. I don’t even dare tell Dahlya who I suspect she works for. I did tell her I thought we were part of the same organization, but I never mentioned names. That way, she has plausible deniability. I remember people thinking I was part of something at some point, but it’s kind of hazy, some kind of gang or something. I mean, maybe I was, and that’s why the Order erased my memories. Either way, I feel like I regained some tiny part of what I lost here. I’ve spent so many nights wondering if what I thought I remembered was even real, or if my memories were told to me by someone else.

Either way, it means Grimm fooled everyone, and he was working for someone else the whole time. I think. Maybe. It’s all very fuzzy. What I do know is that we have to get to the Portal to do something to keep the Void from consuming Reality. Meanwhile, I’m going to keep my head down, keep listening, and do what I can to help my friend out. You never know when some little piece of information will make a difference.

Dahlya did say something that made a lot of this feel…kinda cool. That I saw something in her when we first met. I can’t remember it, but it’s nice to know she does. Maybe some day, when I’m old and about to meet Hedeon, she’ll tell me what happened then. Until then, I have things to make, and new knowledge to pursue. And a building to set up.

At least Larken is back to her bright and bubbly self. If she can remember me, she’ll be a welcome part of the Hourglass.

As always, new folk about, and I hope they stick around. With what happened this weekend, we certainly need all the help we can get.