Ace didn't like going to the doctor's office but this time felt different. The doctor's office was not as nice as the one his dad always took him to. The other office was always filled with bright colors, and his favorite part was the height chart because he wanted to prove that he didn't need vegetables to get tall.
He yawned for the 20th time that day and tried to keep his eyes awake. Ace sat in the doctor's office nervously next to his father, as the doctor got his notes together. He smiled at Ace, but Ace simply looked away, afraid of another shot.
Ace hated the brown walls and brown furniture. Everything was brown. The bookcases, the desk, the couch, even Dr.Slater's shirt.
"Ace, don't be rude. Say hello to Dr. Slater '', said Tyreceus.
"Hi", he mumbled.
"It's okay Tyreceus'', Dr.Slater said. "Did you give him the medicine I told you to give him beforehand?"
"What medicine", Ace asked.
"Don't worry about it", Tyreceus replied.
Ace refused to take any kind of medicine, punched doctors every time he was about to get a shot and had learned how to hide medicine under his tongue. Tyreceus simply just mixed his medicine into his milk for breakfast.
"I'll be back once he's fallen asleep", Dr.Slater said. "Come get me when you're ready". Dr.Slater exited the room and went into the empty breakroom to make a call to his brother.
"Hey Max", he said. "It's me."
"Oh, is it time already", Maximillion asked. "You're going to do as I asked, yes?" Dr. Slater nodded. "I've never replaced a memory with a subconscious bad one though. I'm worried it might have some unintended consequences."
"Rico, don't worry about it", Maximillion assured him. "This is for the best, don't you agree?" Dr.Slater did not agree. Rico Slater simply went along with his brother's plans for the monthly payments he would give him. He had a horrible gambling issue, and his brother financed it through the many misdeeds he would make him do.
Rico felt sorry for his brother's family, and his need to control everyone and everything, but not sorry enough to stop his addiction. Dr.Slater was silent over the phone for quite some time, unsure of how to reply, thinking about what he would do next with the new payment in his account.
"I'll take your silence as complicitness, Rico. I'll call you later".
Dr. Slater got himself a soda from the vending machine and tried to convince himself that breaking his Hippocratic Oath for his little brother was worth it. He knew it wasn't but he felt like he had no choice.
A sliver of guilt grew in his chest as he had a daughter around the same age as Ace, Rikka. Rico knew that he couldn't defy Maximillion, or else whatever he would do to him would be way worse than what he was about to do to the child. Dr.Slater quickly finished his drink, threw away the can, and made his way back to his office.
Ace was fast asleep, leaning on his father's arm.
"Nice to see we didn't have to wait very long", Dr. Slater chuckled. He walked over to the desk and picked up the detailed report that Tyreceus gave him, of memories to keep, and those to replace.
"You signed the waivers, yes," Dr. Slater asked.
"I did. I understand the risks."
Dr. Slater brought his chair over to Ace, and sat right next to them, in front of the couch.
"This is a lot. I just want you to know, erasing memories comes in chunks. He might forget important things or skills. It might make him seem a little… slow… because his developing brain might forget a few important things. He'll catch up though, but it will take a while."
"I read the waivers. I understand. Just do it please."
Dr. Slater put all the guilt out of his mind.
Tyreceus held Ace's hand to comfort himself and tried to tell himself that this was his only option.
"I can't make him forget everything about the war, but I'll try to make it seem a lot better than it was," Dr. Slater said. "It's so integral to him that taking all of it out would hurt him more than help."
"I understand", Tyreceus sighed.
"Since this is a lot, this will take longer than usual. Please give me some time".
Dr. Slater covered his forehead with one hand and placed the other on top of Ace's. His eyes glowed a soft pale blue and he grimaced. Rico told himself that what he was about to do didn't matter, as he would never see Ace ever again.
He would see him for the rest of his life, once a year, a recurring reminder of his sins.
For ten minutes, Dr. Slater sat there, as if he were frozen in time. Tyreceus didn't know if it was working but didn't want to get up in case he accidentally ruined the process. He finally relaxed when Dr. Slater moved his hands.
"It's done", he said. Tyreceus looked at the both of them, expecting something more.
"That's it? He's better", Tyreceus asked.
"Well, you will have to wait for him to wake up and see. If his trauma symptoms improve or go away entirely, then you'll know. The changes are very obvious."
Tyreceus smiled and held Ace, and he tried not to cry as he felt relief wash all over him.
"Watch out for side effects", Dr.Slater told him. "Since his memories are changed that might mean aspects of him will change as well".
"I don't care. I love him no matter who he turns out to be."
Levi was in the music room, practicing the piano. Out of all the tasks his father gave him, it was one of the few he liked. It was hard, but every time he learned a new song, he felt proud of himself and wanted to learn more
He wanted to play more songs to make his mother happy. She didn't smile often, but she always did when she watched her son fumble over the keys, trying his hardest to learn a new piece.
Maximillion entered the music room to tell Levi the good news.
Levi was so excited his father was home. He traveled a lot for work and wanted to be closer to him.
"Do you wanna hear the new song I learned?"
"No, I came to give you some news." He sat on the player's bench next to Levi and grinned. "I know what you've been up to every time you visit Ace", said Maximillion. Levi looked away and put his hands in his lap.
"Yeah, I gave him one of my boards, it was a present."
"Don't lie to me. I know what you've done", Maximilian said. "His father saw you two being indecent. He told me himself." He turned Levi to look at him, and he was stricken with terror.
"I had to teach Michael a lesson about this behavior, but I didn't think I would ever have to do the same with you", he chided. Levi started to cry. His entire body shook as he knew that something horrible had happened.
"Is he dead like Michael's friend", Levi asked.
"Of course not." He rubbed Levi's back and tried to quiet his sobs. "Why would he die? You know that was an accident, Leviathan."
Levi knew it wasn't an accident. He heard his mother and father arguing about it one night when they thought he had long gone to bed. About how the car just happened to be broken when they were in it together.
How only the safety features of Michael's side worked. Levi knew that something bad would happen to him next.
"All I did was fix him. He's better now", Maximillian explained.
Levi's sobs turned into sniffles and he stared at the ground.
"Really?"
"Yes, really", Maximillion confirmed. "He won't remember anything ever about what happened. He won't remember you, either." Levi rubbed his eyes and sniffled some more, taking deep breaths and trying to talk between them.
"I. I don't. Know. What happened?" Maximillion leaned in so Levi wouldn't understand clearly what he had done.
"He will never remember you". Levi started to cry again, this time louder. "If he does, he will hate you. Deep inside his mind, I've made him hate you. Now you don't have to worry about temptation ever again."
Levi wouldn't stop wailing and Maximillion became annoyed. "I have done you a favor. I have done both of you a favor. Never again will you have to worry about such inappropriate things." Levi laid his head on the piano and the loud crash of notes rang out, only making his father more irate.
Maximillion got up from the bench, dragging Levi with him. He shook him and screamed at him to stop until he finally ceased. "I am helping you", Maximillion repeated. "People like him are weak. We aren't like other people."
"We're special."
"That's right", his father replied. "That's why God blessed us with all these things. We just have to keep being good, understand?"
"Yes."
Levi couldn't sleep that night. He wanted to visit Ace to know if it was true, but he was afraid his father would just do something worse.
Tyreceus hadn't been this happy, nor well-rested in a long time.
His son finally slept soundly through the night, and he wasn't scared whenever he dropped something on the floor. He wasn't afraid to try new things, and he was somehow even happier and louder than before. He loved meeting new people and was no longer afraid of other adults.
Tyreceus and Ace were eating dinner and watching TV when he realized that it had been some time since Levi had been to visit. He tried to find the best way to ask about it, but he remembered the last time he asked Ace he misunderstood the question, so he tried to be as forward as possible.
"Why hasn't Levi come to visit or called? It's been quite some time, hasn't it", he asked.
Ace swallowed his chicken and looked at his father, confused.
"Who's Levi?"
Tyreceus' throat felt very dry, and his dinner suddenly had lost all of its taste.
"It's no one. Don't worry," he mumbled. Tyreceus tried to focus on the rest of the show but he couldn't. His mind was racing, trying to figure if what he said was his fault.
Tyreceus could not sleep that night.
He did pushups, he did jumping jacks, he jogged in place for five minutes, but he could not tire his body to sleep. The intense guilt inside of him swallowed him whole, like a whale eating krill.
He sat up in the dark room, watching the moon from outside his window, hoping that maybe it would be okay. He stayed up all night and watched the sunrise.
Tyreceus had no other choice but to accept what he had done.
Now he had more lies to cover for the rest of his life, and he worried what else Maximillian had done to his son.