Nepenthe

"Of courssse not. That brat isss weak, body and mind. He would never dare to harm one of usss. She, on the other hand, may have." What Apophis was referring to was of course their sister, Fucanglong.

"Most likely. This has turned into quite a mess. We were ordered to find Fucanglong within the day, yet we failed, and we let Yinglong get mortally wounded. The punishment... Will be severe." Ddraig stood still when many would have shuddered under fear. Despite it being short, her ethereal red hair floundered in the hot night wind.

"Thisss isss not fun. I will kill that brat next time I sssee him. I will eat hisss ssskin while he isss bound to ssshow him the meaning of pain." Apophis scowled venomously. She flickered her tongue exactly like a snake would.

Ddraig simply listened to Apophis' gripes. It was best to just listen when her sister got this way. However, Ddraig was preoccupied with what the boy had said before, about being forced to take the drug, Nepenthe. Did that really happen?

Sure she couldn't remember anything from her time, if any, before living in the facility. She was given very little information about herself, her sisters, and the objective of the facility. She also knew that she was a not a normal girl, all of her sisters knew that they were not normal and thought nothing of it, it was as natural to them as swimming is to a fish.

To be specific, Ddraig and her sisters had powers that belonged to no normal human. They could also form strange appendages on their body which depending on their level of concentration. They all also knew some form of martial arts, which wasn't limited to that one, but the strange thing was that their knowledge of combat was always there. As if they had if before they arrive at the facility, which only further substantiated the boy's claims about the Nepenthe drug.

'I will need to investigate further on this.' Decided Ddraig to herself.

-

"Cahlan..."

I awoke to find myself again on that golden-green dragon.

This time, I was sitting on the dragon's head as it walked around an island volcano. All I could see was deep blue water in the distance on one side and a charred black landscape in the other than ended in a mountain volcano.

"You again, dragon fellow." I replied with my utmost melancholic voice.

The dragon snorted and continued its trek up the volcano.

"Cahlan... I am... Sorry. Please open... Your eyes." It seemed that this voice I was hearing did not belong to the dragon, though the next one did.

"That is the voice... Of the one... Known as Jia Fucanglong." The voice that seemed like Jia's, but wasn't, talked to me again just like in my last dream.

"And you are? Oh right, the dragon Fucanglong." I rolled my eyes.

"You are... Not wrong."

"Come one, this is just a dream anyways, dragons don't really exist. Do they?" While I knew the answer to the question, I couldn't help but ask.

"They do. I am... Here before you."

"Yea, but this is a dream. So you're not real."

"Do you mind... If I ask you... A question?"

"Shoot."

"Have you ever... Seen a dragon? Or... Anything supernatural... Or mystical?"

An obvious answer to an obvious question was all I could give, "Nope."

"Then does that mean... They do not... Exist at all?"

Logically speaking, the dream dragon had a point. Just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. For all I knew, just because I haven't seen demons or angels or even God himself doesn't mean they don't exist... Plus one point for religion.

"I guess not." I fell prey to logic easily, which didn't help my case to fast talking spokespeople.

"A word of... Warning. You will need... To believe in such... Things soon. Very soon."

How... Ominous.

-

"Cahlan... Cahlan... Cahlan." I could hear Jia faintly whispering my name as she slept on my bed next to me. Well, this is familiar.

I tried to get up, but my body burned with bruises all over my body. Apparently the previous events were real, much to my derision.

I noticed I was wearing clean clothes, which meant Jia dressed and undressed me. Also, I was sleeping in my bed, so Jia must have somehow transported me to my apartment, despite the injuries from her fight with that bipolar sister of hers.

I stood up and stroked Jia's hair as she murmured in her sleep. Feeling hungry, I moved over to main room of my apartment for some food.

Turning on the television, I sat down on the couch and munched on a pear, an especially crunchy one at that. The local news was on, reporting in for the morning with its daily dose of weather and local stories. It was going to be hot once again, in the high eighties. At least it was somewhat bearable at the moment, probably because of the AC that I turned on. Wiping the sweat off my brow, I made myself comfortable despite the small pains around my body.

It took me several seconds until I finally noticed what was on the news. A story was going on of a strange fight that took place yesterday evening between two Asian girls. There was supposedly a guy at the scene who was assaulted by one of the girls. One girl wielded a bladed weapon while the other fought barehanded with some sort of martial arts. One girl was heavily injured, by a stab wound with her own weapon through her torso and was found to be unconscious but still alive by the on scene paramedics. The police have issued a search for the man and girl who fled the scene, and all information is to be forwarded to a special number you place after nine one one.

Rapture. How motherfucking great this was. I can't even begin to describe how sarcastically happy I am at the moment.

There was a high quality picture of me, along with a sketch of the girl, Jia, on the screen. It wouldn't be long until someone who recognized me would call the police and turn me in. Hell, probably even the people who'll recognize me among the apartments will call in.

I wanted to do something, anything... But I had no idea WHAT to do. I had never been in a situation like this nor have I ever been accused of doing anything more serious than getting in a fight with my cousin at an early family reunion. I was practically in a catatonic state, just waiting for someone to push me over.

I heard a knock on the door, and a faint feeling of déjà vu took over.

"Please open the door Mr. Heiricks (my last name). We know who you are and that you are keeping the Fucanglong girl here. We will open by force if needed."

Before waiting for me to open the door, I saw my apartment door get busted open and several men rushed in loaded with automatic weapons. I immediately brought my hands up and found myself face to face with that agent fellow, Agent Daniels.

"Yea, you're memory is a bit hazy, huh? Don't do to well drunk in the heat? Find the girl and bring them both back to the facility." Daniels ordered to the surrounding men.

As I was handcuffed, all I could think was 'How the hell does he remember me saying that?' Come on, Callan, you're being arrested and that's all you think about?

-----

-Nepenthe- Part three.

"Director, we found the location of Fucanglong and are preparing to apprehend her and the one involved with her." Reported a man in a worn suit.

The person he was speaking to, the director, was a slightly chubby person who you wouldn't call terribly large or at all skinny. He wore casual clothes, completely opposite of his subordinate, which did not reflect towards his attitude towards work. He had authority and he used a small bit of it to allow casual Fridays to be all week for him.

"Good... Very good. We can proceed to contact them soon. Have Lueson begin the preparations. Set up a suitable guard in order to keep Fucanglong in line, we'll use this man she came into contact with as a hostage to make her more... Receptive towards our demands. Damn it, I hope he didn't release too many memories sealed within her by the Nepenthe." The director spoke with a clear voice that didn't suit his attire or body, as if he was honed for giving orders.

The subordinate agent was about to leave, but turned his head around and said, "By the way sir, Y Ddraig Goch requested to speak with you."

The director raised an eyebrow, "Eh? What does the test subject want?"

"She has... Questions. Regarding some of our activities."

"Damn, don't tell me some of her memories have reawakened as well? Deny the test subject and quarantine her, along with Apophis and Yinglong. They might be affected as well."

"Yes sir." The subordinate saluted and left the room.

Another person was in the room, though he had stayed silent throughout the exchange, "Something on your mind, Luther?"

"Don't call me by my first name, and yes. We're so close to our goal, and we had to be too cautious, which resulted in Fucanglong escaping the facility. The whole project could have been revealed and destroyed by our carefulness." Luther sounded apprehensive.

"Well, if you asked me ten years ago if dragons existed, I'd have called you into the psych ward. Ask me now, and I'll say 'Yea I believe in them, I'm bloody experimenting on them.' A decade of research into these beings has been put in, and this is the result. We have to be cautious, and the fact that Fucanglong escaped means we weren't cautious enough."

"You're right. Thanks to your research, we found a way to subjugate dragons, who knew it was possible? Too bad we couldn't do the same to all the male dragons, but we can't be too greedy. Besides, the female ones are quite beautiful in their human forms." Luther chuckled out loud while sipping some coffee.

The researcher sipped his cup of coffee as well before replying, "Well, we've waited a whole decade. I'd say it is as good as a time as any to make history."

Luther nodded. "And then we found about the more theological existences."

"Ask me five years ago if angels and demons existed, and I'd say 'Are you drunk'? I believe in dragons, and now you ask me to believe in such unscientific entities?' Lo and behold, definite proof of their existence. They've kept themselves well hidden, in their churches and cults."

"You would think the government would have a sector dedicated to this stuff. Which they do, and here we are. We can't let groups more powerful than our human nations go around thinking they are the boss, even if they belong to some almighty."

"Yes, the research here is very important. The unscientific existence of magic doesn't belong to many humans, and thus we have to find ways to combat magical existences like demons, angels, dragons, and humanoids. If we play our cards correctly, we can find ourselves sitting upon a vast fount of power ripe for the taking for Theta Sector."

"And our results are the subjugated female dragons, whose magical and physical power are now ours. It was only a lucky break that we found a drug powerful enough to subjugate a female dragon. The only way to do so is take away their memories and indoctrinate them for Theta Sector. I was worried that we might need more of the Nepenthe to enslave Fucanglong, though luckily she found herself some guy to get all huggy with so that we may threaten her with his death. She'll do anything for us, even contact them, the angels."

"Fucanglong, the only dragon left who is allowed to contact the heavens, via volcanoes. Who knew magic can be so varied?"

Luther nodded with his eyes clothes, "Let's see... We've got our Archangels, our Rulers of Sin, our pagan gods, various humanoid species like elves and centaurs, and even Heaven and Hell where dead souls go. Incredibly unscientific no matter which direction you flutter towards. We can't let such beings hold that vast power themselves. The balance must shift in our favor. And the first way towards that goal is to speak with them. Fucanglong will allow us to talk to the angels in Heaven. We will take some of their power, with their consent or not, and use it to fight against these demons of their Circles of Sin."

"This'll be very interesting." Answered the researcher.

-

Y Ddraig Goch sat down on an annoyingly comfy chair, a chair that invited you in and forced you to sit down and say, 'Well, I have to do that, but I'm so comfortable that I just don't feel like it.' She had listened to the entire conversation by Director Luther and Head Researcher Georg. And she did not like what she heard.

Apophis, her sister, stood next to her, she had also heard the conversation.

By the time they got back, they were told that they were going to be examined. Stalling for time, Ddraig somehow found a way to eavesdrop in on the two head's conversation, and around halfway through, Apophis found her way into the eavesdropping by a complete coincidence.

Neither of them were all too pleased at what they heard. "That boy, he was right. Our memories have been erased, or more accurately, sealed by Nepenthe." Ddraig said to her sister.

Her sister, who always had been slightly more out there with her more threatening side, was understandably and visibly pissed. "Yesss. I will eat them. All of them if thisss isss true. Sssissster, if thisss isss true, how do we go about regaining our memoriesss? Ssshall we find the brat?"

"We risk elimination from the sector if we get too out of line. I wondered who we were. I first thought that we were created for the sole purpose of the facility, how wrong I am. And to find out we had our memories sealed away by Nepenthe." Ddraig seriously considered the situation with every nerve of her brain. "Pretend as if we heard nothing or cared about anything like before during the examination, our hopes lie in making them think we are still indoctrinated. It seems our sister, Fucanglong, had some of her memories awakened by the boy according to him, hopefully he may do the same to us."

"We cannot rely on our other sssissstersss. They will not believe usss ssso easssily. If sssuch a drug like Nepenthe isss around, then there mussst be a cure for it."

A lady dressed in a white and grey coat entered the room, forcing the two sisters to shut up. "We will begin both of your examinations now, please enter the rooms, Y Ddraig Goch and Apophis."

-

"Oh gooood. I feel like shit." I told myself quietly as I sat up in the lighted room. The room I was in was completely illuminated by panels of white light. There was a simple table and set of three chairs near the side of the room, a cot on the other side, and a sink and toilet in the back of the room. On the far side, there was a single door, which I tried to open but found it locked.

I felt a broiling pain in my body, which resulted from my bruises from before and a set of new ones, which I received when I tried to defend Jia.

I didn't remember much from mine and Jia's capture, though I did know I did all I could, a stupidly desperate attempt, to help Jia escape. Hah, who am I kidding? I let her fight my battles so I obviously can't help her now.

I didn't see it before, but I heard a voice that came from an intercom, "Ah, you're awake. Good morning good sir, friend of our little Fucanglong. Now, I suppose you are wondering why you're here-"

I interrupted the voice without a second thought, "BULLSHIT! Who the fuck are you and why did you arrest Jia and I?"

"Jia? Oh, she gave herself a name, how cute. We do not belong to any police force, so we did not 'arrest' you. We simply took you in because you were involved with Fucanglong."

"Then are you the ones who took away her memories with Nepenthe?" I asked vehemently.

"Nepenthe... How did you- Well, it seems you know quite a bit about our activities, it was smart of us to take you in as well. I assume you did what you could to help Fucanglong regain her memories?"

I was perplexed by the question, "And why wouldn't I?"

"Kid, by doing that, you realize you will be unleashing a terrifying power, one that has killed many since the birth of it." Answered the voice ominously.

Is he taking this seriously? "What are you talking about? Jia is Jia, sure she knows how to fight, but there's nothing terrifying about her! She'd never kill anyone!"

"Kid, do you believe in what you can't see?" Asked the intercom.

That damn conundrum again: Just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it isn't there.

I answered honestly, "Since I don't see magic and shit like that, I don't believe in it."

The voice from the intercom sighed and spoke again, "Ignorant. You should have an open mind, especially when it comes to the place you are in now: Theta Sector."

'Theta Sector? Seems like the name of a government agency from some trashy fifties sci-fi flick.' I thought to myself.

"Your little 'Jia'..." The voice said Jia's name with a sarcastic tone. "Is actually a member of a very intelligent species other than humans. They have preyed upon humans and other humanoids or species since their existence without thought of their prey's feelings."

What the hell is this crazed ex-Nazi scientist talking about?

"Dragons. They certainly do exist. Like you, I laughed at a man's face when he said that dragons existed and if I wanted to research them. Yet he was entirely serious like I am now, he even took me to this place where they were experimenting on a dragon's corpse. I wouldn't have believed it until I saw the corpse itself. Believe me if you do or don't want to, but as long as you are in Theta Sector, you have no choice in what you want to believe in." The voice sounded like a dictator with its last couple sentences.

I still couldn't comprehend the existence of dragons. I first thought the voice from the intercom was on some sort of acid or salvia. I thought I was on some sort of acid or salvia myself, though it sadly wasn't true, at least that stuff is fun compared to being locked up in a white room.

An hour passed until the door opened and several men and a single woman walked in. The men wore black suits and carried pistols at their waist. The woman wore a grey lab coat that contrasted the two gender's attire.

The woman spoke first, "My name is Dr. Regis and I have been ordered to examine you. Please come with me, you obviously realize your predicament so come quietly."

The woman was right, I did realize my predicament of being surrounded by secret agent style men with guns. Unless I had kung fu skills like Jia or that Yinglong, I'm SOL. I followed Dr. Regis quietly while investigating my surroundings with eyes of a hunter.

What I saw was not entirely unlike what I expected of a secret government facility: men and women in suits and lab coats walking in seemingly random directions and monotonous hallways devoid of any decoration. We walked past a window where I saw something unusual: a room filled with pretty girls, I speculated that they were also so called sisters of Jia, Ddraig, Apophis, and Yinglong. Christ, just how many births did the mother have to go through? Sounds painful even to think about it.

The girls were all wearing random assortments of casual clothing you would find on the streets. Some were conversing, some were eating, and some were even sparring with more of those strange martial arts all of them had. I tried to see if the faces of the girls I saw from before were in there, especially Jia.

I saw no Ddraig, no Apophis, and no Yinglong... I soon gave up hope, but then out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of that beautiful raven hair that belonged only to a girl I very much liked, Jia.

As if they could sense my intentions, two of the suits next to me grabbed onto my arms and held me tightly enough that I could only walk forward.

"There will be no need for you to converse with Fucanglong anymore, Mr. Heiricks. There is a greater need for her here than with you." Dr. Regis said coldly.