In an unknown dimension, a shallow river flowed steadily, its waters gently lapping against Yu's ankles. The feeling was rather comfortable. He could stand in it forever to enjoy the calming feeling if not for the ominous darkness that surrounded him.
He could not see anything except for a soft, faint glow in a distance up front. It was crimson.
A faint breeze gently brushed against his skin. He was swaddled by a sense of comfort.
"Come."
A hollow voice beckoned, barely a whisper in the wind.
Yu stepped forward, dazed, towards the voice. He felt an irresistibly strange attraction towards the faint glow. It pulsed with a steady, hypnotic rhythm. Step after step, Yu walked forward slowly.
The river reached his thighs as he continued wading forwards. Its currents got stronger as they threatened to pull him from underneath. Nevertheless, he waded forward steadily.
The pulsing glow increased in intensity as if in greedy anticipation for its prey. It trembled excitedly with a life of its own.
Soon, he heard the crashing sounds of a waterfall ahead. Still, he could not see beyond the pulsing glow. He stumbled a few times, but the water current failed to pull him from underneath.
He heard faint jovial laughter in the distance. Strange, how could there be happiness in such a place?
Then, Yu stopped as a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. It was a little boy. He was drenched from top to bottom. His hair was plastered to his face. His clothes were dyed red. Was it the reflection from the crimson glow, or was it blood?
The boy stood waist deep in the water and faced Yu. His eyes were dark and unfathomable as if they were whirlpools. Yu's eyes were drawn to the chest of the boy.
It was a gaping hole in the middle of the boy's chest. Chains went through the hole and chained the boy to the riverbed. Liquid dripped from the ends of his hair and down from his chin. Yu stared at the boy, dazed.
It was him. He was staring at himself, his past self.
The boy grinned, with sweet dimples forming on his cheeks. However, the expression was far from sweet.
With empty eyes and red liquid over his body, the boy grinned as he cocked his head to the side. The joints on his neck cracked in that motion.
A partially disembodied voice with multiple half-screaming and screeching voices overlapped each other asked,
"Why aren't you dead yet?"
*****
Elise sat on a makeshift stool with her chin on her hands. Her elbows dug into her thighs, so she shifted into a new position. However, her gaze did not leave the sleeping youth in front of her.
When they first brought him back, there were not sure if he would survive. After a full day and night of intensive care from Elise and Edward, Yu finally showed signs of recovery. Elise slept for almost a whole day after his condition was better. Since then, she had been tending to him.
'Yu… what a peculiar name,' she thought as she observed his face.
That night, the injured youth woke up from the pain amidst treatment. When Edward calmed him down and asked for his name, the youth mumbled a name in his semi-conscious state. He then fell unconscious and did not wake up since.
The name was Yu.
At first, Elise wondered if it was a half spoken word. Maybe they misheard him, as he was not really awake. However, her father said that it was customary for foreigners to have single syllable names.
"Yu…" she said as she rolled the name along her tongue. She said the name a few more times. It was quite pleasant to the ear and easy to pronounce too.
Elise smiled absentmindedly. She thought that perhaps she should try naming her future children with single syllable names too.
'Wait, what was I thinking about again? Future children? How did I go there??' she blushed as she caught herself in her thoughts.
"Sister Elise, do all foreigners have red hair?" a little girl crept beside Elise and peered at the sleeping Yu with curiosity. She tugged onto Elise's skirt.
"Huh? Uh… n-no, I guess?" Elise was startled from her daydream. She hoped that the little girl did not notice the slight blush on her cheeks.
"Really?" little Isla asked with beady eyes.
Elise cleared her throat.
"Yes, that should be the case. Just look at ourselves. Not everyone has dark brown hair like Isla, right?" Elise said perfunctorily and nodded her head. She then caressed Isla's soft, fine with a small smile.
Isla nodded as she pondered upon Elise's words.
Everyone in the village called their elders with either uncle, aunt, brother, or sister even if they were not blood relatives. It made them feel closer to each other, like a big family. It was also because their village was small that they were able to do that.
Elise sighed. Thinking back, although life was harsh with daily chores, she still felt happy and safe with her simple life. Everyone was so nice to each other. They helped one another when in need.
She did not know what to think of what happened during that stormy night. The villagers acted so differently. They even felt-- cold. There was also her uncle Gale. She never imagined that Gale would think of killing someone that did not bear grudges with them.
She tried to understand from the perspective of Gale and the villagers and knew that they were afraid, but she could not understand their actions. They were nice people, how could they change so drastically?
'That's so complicated. If someone's hurt, we should help them, right? Yep, that's much more straightforward, much easier,' Elise thought and made up her mind.
"Sister Elise?" Isla blinked and nudged Elise when she saw her dazed.
Elise smiled and hugged Isla. The little girl snuggled in her older sister's embrace.
Just a few nights ago, the girl beside her was at death's door. In such a short period of time, she had almost fully recovered. The effect of the Night Blossoms was miraculous.
"Shouldn't you be resting more? You just got well," Elise asked.
"Mmm… Isla is well now!" the little girl shook her head stood with her hands on her waist. She puffed up her chest to prove her statement.
Elise giggled.
"Okay, if you're well, go play with Georgine and Lucas. I need to check on his wounds," she pointed at the sleeping Yu.
"Oh? Weren't you already checking on him?" Isla blinked her beady eyes innocently.
"Uhhhh well… you see… I was just checking his condition. Now I have to remove his bandages to check his wounds! A-anyway, go play with the other children now!" Elise shooed little Isla away.
Isla was puzzled. Why was her sister Elise so flustered? The six-year-old girl could not understand. Regardless, she listened to Elise and ran towards her peers.
"Georgine! Lucas! Wait for me, let me join you!" Isla's childish giggles echoed in the cave.
The other adults who were minding their chores looked towards the giggling children. Their carefree and innocent expressions warmed the atmosphere. Suddenly, the morning sunlight even felt warmer and brighter.
Elise, who watched Isla's receding back, turned her gaze back to Yu. His long bangs partially covered his face. She subconsciously reached out to sweep them aside.
'Such long eyelashes… Even his eyelashes are dark red,' Elise thought as she observed Yu's face closely.
Her face was only inches away from his. Elise, who had never seen a foreigner, was very curious about them. She continued to observe the features of his face: his straight and small nose, his rounded cheekbones, and his firm jawline. His lips were neither thin nor thick. They looked a little cracked from the lack of moisture.
All in all, his face was not as angular as some men in the village. It was not as soft as a girl's either. However, Elise thought it was quite delicate for a boy.
Sighing, Elise wondered if foreigners normally look like the youth in front of her. She felt that he did not look too different from other youths in her village. Elise was lost in her thoughts with her face inching closer to Yu's. Her breath could even shake his hair.
Suddenly, Yu's eyes fluttered open.
Elise, startled by the sudden motion, bounced back and fell off her makeshift stool with a shout. Her buttocks landed on the floor with a bump.
She cautiously peered at the awakening Yu.
Yu felt that his whole body was weighted down and stiff as he opened his eyes. The blurry image in his eyes gradually cleared as he blinked them several times with difficulty. His eyelids felt dry and grainy.
What greeted his sight was a girl with round hazel eyes that gazed at him with curiosity. Her slightly wavy and golden brunette locks cascaded down her shoulders. The fine wisps of her hair shone like gold as the sunlight filtered in through the sinkhole and radiated behind her.
Yu's eyes widened as he saw her, mesmerized.
It was as if an angel had descended from the heavens.
"Uhm… h-hello. Uhhh… y-you're awake?" Elise stammered with her mouse-like voice that barely squeaked. She gripped her skirt tightly.
She could not withhold her curiosity and therefore observed Yu for a long time before this. However, when faced before the very subject of her curiosity, her curiosity suddenly fizzled out and was replaced by shyness.
She felt her face warm up and her heart pounded in her chest.
Footsteps sounded from behind her.
"Oh, you're awake!" Edward's kind and gruff voice snapped Elise out of her condition. She took a few deep breaths and tried to pretend that nothing had happened.
Seeing Yu struggling to speak with his dry mouth, Elise quickly fetched a cup of water and passed it to her father. Edward gently helped Yu up and fed him with some water.
Yu felt refreshed after drinking the water. The cool sensation from the water radiated through his chest as it trickled down into his stomach, rejuvenating him. He saw Edward looking at him with kind and concerned eyes. For some reason, he immediately felt at ease with such a person.
His gaze roamed around his surroundings as he absorbed every detail that his brain could process. He was confused as he did not know where he was nor the person in front of him.
"Take it easy, Yu," Edward said as he held Yu's shoulder.
"Yu?" Yu's voice croaked. It had not recovered properly.
"Yes, that's your name… right?" Edward asked.
'My name…' Yu gazed downwards and was lost in thought.
He tried to think if it was really his name judging by the expression of the man in front of him. His eyebrows furrowed as he could not seem to remember if Yu was really his name.
'My name,' he thought over and over again but nothing surfaced. It was blank. His mind was clear but strangely enough, it felt like a layer of haze blocked him from accessing want he wanted.
"Who are you?" Yu asked, this time his voice was less of a croak. He looked at the man in front of him with his dark gray eyes.
Edward inadvertently gazed into the eyes of Yu. They were the deepest shade of gray and it seemed like they had endless whirlpools in its depth. He felt somewhat sucked into them. One could feel an unfathomable and endless chasm by looking at them.
Edward blinked a few times.
"I'm Edward Grimlich. This is my daughter, Elise," Edward gestured towards Elise.
She smiled back sheepishly and subconsciously hid half of her body behind her father. By now, the other villagers noticed that Yu had awakened and gathered around. However, they still maintained their distance. The group of children ran towards Yu.
"The foreigner woke up!"
"Big brother Yu woke up!"
"Yay!!"
The children chorused and cheered.
Martha, who saw the commotion, ushered the children away like how a mother hen does her chicks. The children were slightly unwilling as they wanted to know more about the foreigner.
"Hahaha. I hope that you're not bothered by that," Edward's baritone laughter sounded. He then hesitated slightly before asking another question.
"Do you know what happened to you?"
Yu was silent for several moments before he shook his head.
"We found you in the forest several nights ago. You were injured badly. However, it seems that you're doing fine now," Edward said gently.
He did not think that it was strange that Yu did not remember what happened to himself. It was normal for memories to be slightly fuzzy after such a trauma.
"Where are you from? It's not common for the people of Farling to be in this area of the world," Edward asked casually.
"… Farling?"
Yu was still collecting his thoughts from the absence of memories. The word Farling puzzled him even further.
"Yeah. I apologize in advance if I'm wrong, but I assumed that you're born here and did not travel here from Farling. It's because you look like a mix between someone from the kingdom and Farling. Another reason is that the kingdom and Farling aren't in the best of relationship these few years," Edward listed off his conclusions that he made.
"That's why we don't expect to see citizens of Farling in these areas these days."
Yu blinked slowly as he tried to digest the large chunk of information.
'Farling… the kingdom… mixed…' he felt that a headache was building up. These few words jumped at him, but he could not really make sense of them.
'Is he really talking about me?' he thought. The furrow between his eyebrows went deeper.
Noticing Yu's troubled expression, Edward asked, "Is there something wrong?"
Yu's breath quickened slightly. He felt frustrated because he could not seem to remember anything. He thought over and over again, but nothing came up. His whole head was blank. He felt like he existed somewhere before, but right now he was just… here?
Yu looked at Edward. He glanced over at Elise. He saw the villagers and the children in the background. His jaw worked as he clenched his teeth and gulped down his saliva.
He looked at Edward again with confusion and frustration on his face.
"I… I don't remember anything. Nothing at all," he with his abnormally level voice.