Can't Go Home (Bow)

The Titan Tree had defenses in place to protect it from magical attack. Even the most powerful opponents would have a difficult time launching an invasion. But the tree only attacked those who held hostile intent, and such thoughts were the furthest thing from Shivering Jemmy's mind.

"Now that is one big tree."

The little Lord of Chaos stood in awe of the massive plant. Could something this big be natural? She had no idea. She hadn't seen very much of the world in the last few days. For all she knew, trees this size were quite common. But somehow, she didn't think that was the case. This tree had to be special.

Ever since a few days ago, Jemmy had been unable to remember her past. She also knew that she was supposed to have a home, a world of her own called the Realm of Chaos. But try as she might, Jemmy was unable to go home. It was like the Realm of Chaos just wasn't there.

But maybe she could make a tree house. The Lord of Chaos noticed some sort of door on the tree. Not thinking it strange, she casually walked up and knocked. It was, after all, the polite thing to do.

Bow was passed out on the couch with personality analyses and power dynamic sheets all around her. She was trying to figure out the best roles for each person to fill, and with the addition of three new members, it made her job that much easier, and harder.

When she heard the knock on the door, she woke up with a start and fell off the sofa with a thud. "...ow..." She got up and stretched, yawning as she went to answer the door. As she opened though, shock gripped her heart and her eyes went wide. "J-Jemmy!?" She went to hug the little girl in joy, but she saw the sting of amnesia in her eyes once more...

Wait. Didn't we already get over that?

The pink haired leader of the Titans took a step back and looked at her former adopted daughter again and teared up, gasping and covering her mouth. Her knees gave out on her and she fell to the floor, looking up into the little girl's eyes. "...n-no... No no no no no no... N-not again... Y-you couldn't lose your memories again!!" She almost crumpled to the floor, but then stopped herself.

No. If this was happening again, she would suck it up and deal with it like a real mother would. She hoped.

The girl stood up and smiled gently at the little Lord of Chaos, opening up her home to her. "S-sorry about that outburst... My name is Rain Bow... We... Well, we used to be very close... I hope that we can be that way again..." Bow immediately went to the kitchen to fix her a big bowl of ice cream.

A pink haired girl opened the door and started crying, falling to her knees in a big emotional mess. The good news was that this girl seemed to know Jemmy by name. The bad news was Jemmy was the reason she was crying.

Ah, so Jemmy had lost her memories of this woman once before. That must have been inconvenient for Miss Pink.

The girl finally calmed down enough to introduce herself as Rain Bow. "My goodness," Jemmy said, chuckling. "Pull yourself together. It's not like this is anything new, right? I mean, it's probably like catching a cold for me."

Jemmy was tired of walking, so she floated through the door. Her personality seemed a bit more relaxed than it had been in the past, even since the last memory wipe. Bow might notice something else different about Jemmy, too. She had no balloon with her.

Jemmy admired the layout of this tree house. It was almost like the tree had grown in these shapes specifically to make rooms. There definitely was some magic involved here. "I'm sure we'll be good friends again, Rainbow. I mean, you already know everything about me, right? That's like...half the work right there." Jemmy floated after Bow, coming into the kitchen. "Say, the last time I saw you, did I say anything important? Like, that I had lost something? Other than my memories."

Bow listened to the girl and just sighed, making the ice cream and giving it to her. When she called her Rainbow, she blinked and giggled lightly. "It's just Rain. Or Bow... Y-you used to call me something else entirely, but... I think Bow would be more appropriate for now." She gave a half hearted smile and sat down on a kitchen stool.

When she asked about losing something, Bow just shook her head. But then she looked her over and blinked, noticing that something was indeed lost. "You didn't meantion anything about losing something, but you are missing your balloon... I've never seen you without it... I always assumed it was important to you..." Bow wasn't sure if that's what she meant. Maybe the balloon just wasn't special to her anymore now that she didn't know who she was.

Jemmy looked confused. She had just said her name was Rainbow. Now it was either Rain or Bow. Did Jemmy had to guess? Or did she have two names? Jemmy laughed, deciding that she was thinking too hard about it. The girl confirmed that she should just be called Bow. "Okay, Bow."

Jemmy looked at the ice cream, a little confused. What was this stuff? She took a hesitant bite.

Jemmy's eyes shot wide open. The sugar rush she was feeling was incredible. She started flying in a circle, going faster and faster, eating more and more of the ice cream. With a full mouth, she asked out loud "Whad ish dish stoff? Ish ruuully gud!"

Bow said that Jemmy hadn't been worried about losing anything when last they met. That meant that the Realm of Chaos had disappeared sometime after that. She decided to worry about it at another time. But wait, what was this about a balloon?

Jemmy stopped circling. "A balloon? I don't get it. Why would a balloon be important to me? Did someone special give it to me? Did you give it to me?" As a Lord of Chaos, it could be assumed that Jemmy changed a bit from time to time. But Bow said she had never seen the girl without a balloon.

Jemmy snapped her fingers and a blue balloon appeared out of nowhere. It floated to the ceiling and stayed there. Jemmy looked at it, curiously. "So...what does it do?"

Bow giggled lightly when the girl took her first bite of ice cream and her eyes got wider than dish plates. So, she hadn't had ice cream yet. This Jemmy must be extremely new to her life. Even though the thought was still saddening, it was great to see her child having so much fun. Even if it was shallow. For now.

"It's called ice cream. I made it just the way you used to like it, and I guess you really haven't changed all that much, now have you?" She giggled again and smiled sweetly, trying to stay positive for both of their benefits.

When she asked the significance of the balloon, Bow honestly didn't have an answer. To be fair, she hadn't paid that close of attention to the assumably inanimate object. "I'm not sure why the balloon was so important to you... It just seemed like it was... I don't know if it was a gift or not..." She felt bad that she didn't know anything else about the silly red balloon.

However, when Jemmy created another balloon, Bow gasped and went wide eyed. It was as if a light had been shown in her eyes and she was able to extract reason from the completely illogical scenario. "That's it! It wasn't a normal balloon. I don't know how, but it never left your side, whether you were holding it or not. The balloon was red. It was... It was kind of like a pet..." Bow knew she probably wasn't making any sense, but she was trying the best she could. "D-does that ring any bells, Jemmy?"

When Jemmy conjured the balloon, Bow gasped, exclaiming this was "it." Jemmy jumped. You'd think the pink-haired girl had never seen something appear out of nowhere before. The balloon had really been that important to her, then? Maybe if she kept this balloon close to her, she would discover some secret about herself.

"Nope. Not ringing any bells. I don't think this balloon is very special. It's just a balloon that I made just now. Oh yeah, I can make stuff." Jemmy finished her ice cream, waved her fingers over the bowl, and magically conjured another five scoops of the sugary treat. "See? But maybe I'll keep this balloon around. It was red, you said?" Mid-bite of frozen sugar, Jemmy waved her hand at the balloon, and it turned red.

"So tell me, Bow. How did you get this super cool tree house? And why is it so big?"

Bow sighed when she realized that a normal balloon really wasn't going to work. It made her see that this Jemmy really was lost. She didn't remember anything. Then she made more ice cream which made Bow giggle a little bit. Maybe... Maybe it wasn't so bad that she had forgotten everything. Bow thought to the story that Kyte had told her and smiled gently. Without hesitation, the girl swooped up Jemmy and hugged her tight. "I know this is random, but no matter what, you can count on me, okay? I know you don't know me, but we used to be really really close... So, yeah... Just... R-remember that, please..."

The pink haired mess let her go and giggled lightly, scratching the back of her head nervously. Then Jemmy asked about the tree house and Bow smiled gently. "One of my friends built it with his magic... It's a home and a base for the Titans United... I'm the leader. It's this big because we have a lot of people on our team so we need lots of space... If you need to stay here, you're always welcome, okay??" She smiled and then blinked, having an idea. "Would you like a tour??"

Rain picked her up and hugged her tight. Jemmy gasped for air, but the teen girl was too strong. Still, it felt...nice to have someone like you. Jemmy smiled. It wasn't a big, fake smile like she usually wore. It was small but genuine. She hugged Bow back. Bow said that Jemmy could always depend on her.

"I'll try."

Bow released her. Apparently, this house belonged to a group called the Titans United, whatever that was. Bow was the leader of these Titans, and asked if Jemmy wanted a tour of the super cool magic tree house.

"Yeah," Jemmy said, excitedly. She took in every sight like a sponge, marveling over every detail, harkening to every word. Bow had said she could stay here anytime she needed to. Jemmy took that as an invitation to stay forever. "So, where can I sleep?" she asked, part-way through the tour. "I don't need a bed. I can make my own. I just need space, and privacy, and a shower, and...well, some other stuff."

Things seemed to be turning out much better than expected. Jemmy had a friend and a new home. Maybe she didn't need a Realm of Chaos after all.

Far away, in a realm far removed from Earth, a black panther walks up to a basin to wet his thirst. The basin is dry. The panther growls. This was not what he expected. Without the Realm of Chaos, he was unable to drink in Jemmy's memories. The Lord of Chaos had always provided him with such savory memories at her own expense, and the panther's appetite had only grown stronger over time.

"Well, this will not do," Amnesia said. He teleported to Earth.

The alarms in the Titan Tree started going off. Something with powerful magic was approaching, violent intentions on its mind. Whatever this creature was, it was staying at a range, at least for now, while it considered the Tree's defenses.

The pink haired Titan led Jemmy all around the tree house. She showed the girl their lounge room, main ops, training room, kitchen, roof top garden, etc...

Bow blinked a little in surprise that she was so eager to stay here, but couldn't help but giggle. "For now you can stay in my room, I'll sleep on the couch or something..." So with that, they walked into Bow's room.

The room was simple. The wood formed all of the furniture in the room. The colors for decorations were beautiful dark purples and light teals. Bow walked in and smiled gently. "Well, here it is! This is where you'll be staying for no-"

That's when the alarms went off. Bow went wide eyed and bit her lip. No one else was home to her knowledge. The girl looked to Jemmy. She was her first priority. "Get in my closet. Don't come out no matter what. Okay??" When Jemmy got in, the closet would expand slightly for a seat and then vines wrapped around it to make it practically impenetrable.

Bow flew down the steps and to the door. She made a small hole in the wall to look through and couldn't see anything. But the tree sensed it. Spikes formed around the base of the tree and the branches hung low, ready to smack whatever it was that was coming.

Bow said that Jemmy could sleep here, in her own room, no less. How generous! In fact, Bow was even willing to give up her bed to let Jemmy sleep there. Technically, Jemmy didn't think she really needed to sleep, but there were times when it was fun to sleep, so she would accept the offer.

"You don't have to do that. We can just share the bed! I'm small, so I won't need the whole thing."

It felt good to have a place to belong, or at least a place to call home.

The alarm started going off, and Bow told Jemmy to get into the closet, and to stay there.

"Um...okay." Jemmy sat on the bench, swung her feet, and started whistling. Was this some kind of game? Like hide and go seek? But Bow already knew where Jemmy was, so how was that going to work?

Someone else was looking for Jemmy, and he also knew where she was. Amnesia did not dare teleport within the tree, however. The defenses were crude, but effective enough to harm him. And if the Lord of Chaos herself attacked him...well, that would be his end.

He would need to wait for an opportunity, as annoying as that would be. In time, he would eat his fill. But right now, he had to cover his tracks. The denizens of this magical tree might grow suspicious to have so powerful a foe come so near, only to disappear. He would need a scapegoat.

A woman walked past him, slowly. She seemed distracted by the book in her hands. The invisible panther placed the tip of one claw on her forehead. It dug into the skin just deep enough to draw blood. The woman dropped her book. Behind her glasses, her eyes went blank.

"You will forget all you know." Out of thin air, he conjured a ring and placed it on her finger. "As long as you wear this ring, you are not you. You are Title Wave. Now go, and destroy that tree."

It was a suicide mission. But hopefully Title Wave's newly found power would be convincing enough to make the Titans forget about Amnesia. That was all he wanted, after all. To be forgotten.

The woman approached the tree, artificial violence in her heart. The vines lashed out, striking her with so much force that she...splattered? No, she had turned into water, and the vines had merely scattered her. Now Title Wave returned to her human form. Her clothes and glasses reformed out of water along with her flesh. A wicked grin on her face, she continued walking towards the tree.

As golems appeared, Title wave turned into water and rushed towards the tree at an alarming speed, leaving the stone golems literally in her wake.

Jemmy teleported to be next to Bow. "Hey, can I stop hiding now? It's been like a hundred years."