"Algar! Are you really that eager to send our guest off?" Linda scolded the large man beside her. Surprisingly, the hulking figure wearing metal plates started going red with embarrassment.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. I was just very excited." Algar placed his hands on his head and bowed in apology. The man looked at Linda and gauged how angry she was.
Linda sent Algar a petrifying gaze as she grumbled and muttered, "You preach on how disrespectful I was and yet your so eager to send off a child."
Feeling sorry for Algar, Sol defended him and said, "Ma-Ma'am, I'm no longer a child. I'm 17 years old."
"That's what I said. You're SEVENTEEN! You're not even on studying age." The once gentlewoman rebutted.
Algar conceded and sheepishly said, "I-I I'll excuse myself now." He headed straight to the door, but his wife blocked the escape. He faced Linda and asked, "Do you want me to wash him orrrrrr..." The man turned to Sol with no fear or anger in his eyes. It was with pity. Wiping the sweat on his brow, Algar cleared his throat and exclaimed, "Linda, you should probably help our guest wash up." He turned to the boy once more and said, "Sol, you should probably patch that up." He was pointing at the gaping hole on Sol's clothes.
What happened next was a series of both embarrassing and unfortunate events. Barely having any strength left on his body, Sol kept falling over and over. Unfortunately for him, the washroom was downstairs. Linda, fearing that Sol will fall down to his death, carried him with one arm. Like a roll of cloth, she flung him over her shoulder and proceeded downstairs. Sol got a quick tour of their house and got plopped down near the washroom. She volunteered to help clean the young man, but he declined her offer. She insisted on and after a few discussions, she left defeated. Linda muttered something about "kids these days" and stormed off.
Finally, Sol was left alone. He entered the washroom and was completely surprised. The washroom was almost completely bare. It only consisted of a small mirror, a large wooden bucket, and a large blue gem. The gem was loosely affixed to the stone wall. It had a strange glint to it almost like rippling water. 'I was supposed to wash myself here, but there's no water. Unless..'
As Sol took the gem out of its hollow pocket, The gem started glowing and without a warning slammed mt face with high-pressure water. Completely losing his footing, the water gem flew out of his grasp as he stumbled to the ground. After a few minutes, the stream lost some power. Sol directed the stream upwards and with the power of gravity made a makeshift shower fountain thing. After the "shower," the doused figure walked towards the wall-hung mirror.
For the first time since Sol got here, he finally saw his "face." It was the same sharp nose and semi pronounced jawline. His eyes, however, were now a deep amber color. Even the man's hair color changed from black to ash gray. As he started finger combing his hair, a knock sounded through the door.
"I left your clothes on the door." Algar's voice resounded on the other side of the door. This time it wasn't the same upbeat tone.
'He probably got scolded.' Sol chuckled a little and said, "Thanks."
After Solomon got dressed up, the smell of fried bacon invaded his nose. Following the scent, He arrived at the dining table. Linda looked at him surprised and asked him to come eat with them. Having not eaten anything for a whole day, Sol almost devoured everything. The breakfast conversation shifted from topic to topic.
"So, where did you come from?" asked Linda.
Caught off guard, the young man replied, "I'm from uhh. I don't know."
Linda gasped her face full of shock and pity. Even Algar looked pained.
"It's not a big deal. What matters is that I'm still alive." Solomon responded trying to break the dark atmosphere.
"How did you get here then?" Algar interjected. Linda elbowed her husband and scolded him.
"It's fine Ma'am." Sol sighed and continued, "I don't really know. My most immediate memory was waking up on the shore."
"I apologize for asking, but I need to ask you one more thing."
Sol didn't want to lie to these good-hearted people, but he didn't have a choice. "Ask away." Solomon was confident. Lying was one of the things he was good at. Correction. It was the only thing he was good at.
Even if Algar had to be a little cruel, He still had to do his job, and this young man in front of him could be a threat to security. "How much do you remember?"
"Nothing much, just my name." Solomon lied once more.
Algar looked at the boy straight in the eyes. Although the boy seemed to be telling the truth, he still had to test him. His fists slammed against each other and a weighing scale appeared in front of Sol. "Now tell me, kid, How much of that was true." His voice, grim and taunting.
Seeing the scale magically appear, Sol swallowed his saliva and said, "All of it."
Everybody held their breaths as the golden balance scale tipped to one side. Then, it tipped to the other. After a moment of going back and forth, the scale stopped. It did not lean towards any side. Algar's eyes shifted between the magical lie detector and Solomon. "I-uh I'm sorry for your loss." His voice resounding with shame and sadness.
"It's nothing really. I mean it's really nothing I can't remember anything." Sol felt bad lying to the couple, but he can't just tell them the truth.
With the atmosphere getting heavier and heavier, Algar rose from his seat and said, "Wanna go for a walk kid?"