"Hey, I need to talk to you about something," Teerom said to Paley as they watched the other boys chase each other under the canopy.
"What's up?" Paley was lying back against the tent.
"When you were trapped, and Adimia was trying to save you. Did you call for help in your head?"
"Yeah...?"
"I think you're like me. My blood is called Dark Conjurer. We're descendants of a curse from long ago. A demonic curse. People say that it was originally a curse cast on an empress by a witch to steal the biggest empire at the time. Pretty much, the curse originated from one of the Vamali, so it has a strong connection to hell. I carry remnants of that curse. More so the base of it, not the actual curse. It acts like a pathway that lets me reach out to demons and call them to this world through me." Teerom explained.
"Sorry, I'm not following. What's a Vamali?" Paley asked.
"Oh, right, I forgot you forgot everything. A Vamali is one of the six hundred strongest demons in hell." Teerom leaned in to whisper, "I think the slug demon that attacked Adimia's village is a Vamali."
"There's six hundred?" Paley was surprised by the sheer number of such monstrous creatures, "How are we not dead?"
"That's thanks to heroes like Aneros! Throughout history, they've sealed gates of hell that broke through to our world. He was a Quimnia like you, you know. Now that I think about it, I think that book we stole said something about it being a Quimnia's destiny. Maybe you'll have to close one too and become a great hero like Aneros!" Teerom's childish fanboying over Aneros never ceased to surprise Paley.
"That'd be something, wouldn't it. But I'm not looking to be a valiant hero. I kinda just wanna help from behind the scenes. You know, make breakthroughs in magic and bring luxury to everyone." Paley's idea of a future seemed to bore Teerom.
"But what about epic battles against demons, and saving a bunch of people, and then they thank you for it like 'Thank you! We'll never forget this kindness!'?"
"Yeah, I don't know. It's not for me. I don't like being the center of attention." Paley said.
"Oh, well, I know your time to shine will come eventually." He insisted.
It was nearly evening now. The other boys could've played in the trees for ages, but they grew too tired to continue and came down.
"Paley! We wanna come down!" Reben shouted down.
"Hold on!" Paley made his way to the middle and erected a tall cylinder of water as wide as a small cottage.
"Do we jump?" Amasha asked.
"I guess so," Adimia leaped off the branch he stood on and turned to face the sky as he fell, "You better catch me, Paley!"
"Don't worry," Paley repositioned the water to catch Adimia in it. He fell into it, losing his momentum at the halfway point, "I've got you."
"You scared?" Reben asked Amasha teasingly.
"No... I'm not scared." Amasha lied. It was only now that he realized how far up he was.
"Come on, I trust Paley to catch us," Reben jumped off and faced the sky like Adimia. He screamed like you would on a rollercoaster and landed in the water.
"Oh, screw it!" Amasha tried to jump off but slipped and fell straight down towards the branches below. He screamed too. Except his scream was one of fear.
Paley switched to air magic, making the water disappear and Reben fall on his ass. He took flight and bolted towards Amasha.
"PALEY!!" Amasha screamed as he neared a branch below. Luckily, just before he splattered onto it, Paley swiped him up. He slightly rammed into Amasha's side. But at least he was alive.
"That was a close call." Paley panted from panic and flew back down to the tent. Amasha had passed out just before Paley caught him.
"This trip's been nothing but danger." Teerom shivered, thanking the gods that it wasn't him who fell. He would've probably died from shock if he fell from that height.
"Come on, danger's fun. Besides, we got Paley to save us." Adimia said nonchalantly. Paley noticed the setting sun and made his way to the campfire
"We should start making dinner," He lit it with fire magic.
"Can I eat a leg?" Amasha suddenly woke up and asked excitedly.
They placed the rabbit's feet on the grill, whose top part was similar to chicken drumsticks. They cooked slowly, resulting in a tender and juicy end product.
"Mmm," Reben and Amasha lost themselves in the bursts of flavor, "I love this!"
"Oh, to love..." Adimia said jokingly as he helped himself to a leg too, "We should eat more monsters. These things are delicious," He said with a full mouth.
Paley noticed that Teerom was half-brooding as he stared out into the forest. He nudged him on the shoulder and asked: "Whatcha thinking about?"
"Oh, nothing," Teerom replied along with a sigh.
"He's probably thinking about Jurie," Reben teased.
"What!? No! Why would I be thinking about her?" Teerom panicked.
"Hmm, my liar detector is going off." Adimia pointed to his head and vibrated it up and down.
"I'm not lying," Teerom bit into his rabbit meat, frustrated.
"Why so defensive?" Paley added.
"Teerom likes Jurie!" Amasha teased. They spent about five more minutes teasing Teerom and pestering him to open up about his feelings.
"Fine!" He said, "I-I do like her." He looked away awkwardly like a schoolgirl with a crush, "Maybe even l-love her."
"OOOH! He said it!" Everyone went wild over his confession. Paley even chuckled a bit, but no one noticed it.
"Stop making it a big deal!" Teerom turned red.
"Hey, don't worry. Your secret is safe with us, we promise," Reben reassured.
"You should really open up to her, though. I think she might like you back." Paley suggested.
"Do you really think that?" Teerom asked.
"Of course he does. I mean, the way she loses herself in your gaze and how she always tries to be close to you. It's so obvious!" Adimia *was* joking, but the things he said were true. Jurie always made eye contact with Teerom for a bit too long and stood, walked, and sat next to him the most.
"But what if it doesn't work out? What if we're better off as friends?" Teerom asked nervously.
"Would *you* prefer her as a friend or more?" Amasha asked.
"Obviously, I'd prefer m-more, but-"
"Then she'll want to be more too!" Amasha cut Teerom off with his flawed logic.
"Trust us, Teerom. When I joined the orphanage, there were only two beds, and Jurie sprung up to the opportunity to give me her bed. I don't think that was out of selflessness. I think she just wanted to sleep next to you." Adimia explained.
"That was three years ago. We were both not very self-aware."
"If Adimia says that she likes you, then she likes you. His gut feeling is always right." Reben backed Adimia.
"I think you should just go tell her." Paley began as he cooked his next piece of meat, "There's no harm in it after all. If you succeed and she likes you back, that's a happy ending. If she doesn't like you back, then just be friends and don't make things awkward. Be the usual Teerom, and it'll take under a month for things to go back to normal. In fact, you two might be closer as friends that way too. It's a win-win really." His explanation turned the other boys' excitement into awe.
"Wow. Were you some sort of relationship guru before you lost your memory?" Teerom asked.
"Hopefully, that sounds cool." Paley joked.
"Oh, well. It was nice getting that off my chest. Thanks, guys." Teerom stood up and yawned, "I'm super exhausted so I'm gonna head to bed."
"Me too," Amasha joined him into the tent. Adimia and Reben also followed in, but Adimia stopped when Paley wasn't following them.
"Are you gonna sleep later?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm just gonna relax out here for a bit," Paley replied.
"Alright, goodnight," Adimia said and disappeared into the tent. Paley sighed and moved down onto the grass, sitting against the log.
'I'm a Dark Conjurer, huh? It does seem familiar.' Paley thought to himself as he took in the forest's ambience. The sweet scent of Amoreviola - purple flowers - dominated the air. He noticed that there were no fireflies that night. In the direction of the lake, a subtle and strange white light appeared from between the trees.
He stared into it. It soothed him with a feeling of nostalgia and familiarity. After a few seconds, it faded away along with his consciousness. He fell asleep.
'Who am I?' Paley asked himself as he fell gently into the void of his mind. 'Where do I come from?' His questions were left unanswered by silence. But that silence was gradually broken by the gentle voice of a woman.
"Be... Qui..." She faded into his vision, and her words became clearer, "Be strong..." He missed a word, "Be kind..." He missed out on another word.
"Who are you?" He tried to call out to her, but she began fading away.
"Be strong... Be kind, Quim-" She was dragged into the darkness before she could finish her sentence. The darkness surrounding Paley switched to an icy field all of a sudden. In the distance, a dark figure seemed to hold its hand out.
"Be kind, ---!" That last word always seemed to cut out. He didn't necessarily want to hear it, but he was curious nonetheless.
"Who are you!?" Paley called out again, now panicked.
"Run away!!" The man's appearance became clear. He was dark-skinned with bright blue eyes. Paley tried to walk forward, but he was bound by something. He turned around to see a boy that would come up to his chin. The boy was bony and had a chain attached to his bony ankle. He had black hair. And pitch black horns.
Paley turned back to the man and felt his stomach drop. Five knights in black armor pinned him down and began cutting his limbs off. Their black swords cut through him like butter, but it was not a clean cut. Blood sprayed all over the white, frosted ground.
"What the..." Paley dropped to his knees. His heart ached at the man's pain and tears. He realized it was probably someone from his past. "I was no noble. I was no relationship advisor. I was..." He began and turned to the young boy, now running into the horizon.
"Was that me?" Tears flowed down his face. The ground cracked and shattered, thrusting him into the darkness again.
A mirror appeared in front of him. He saw himself in it, except he was slightly grinning with cold, dead, evil eyes.
"Hi, Paley," His reflection spoke. It said his name mockingly, "Do you know why you can't remember anything?"
"Are you me? How are you talking to me? Am I talking to myself? What's going on!?" Paley held the mirror, extremely flustered.
"You know who I am. I am the part of your mind that you destroyed before you woke up on that river. But you can't destroy your past. It'll follow you until you die, so I give you a choice. Become who you are again or continue living this life of ignorance." His reflection said in a cold and superior tone.
Paley thought about it for a moment in dreadful silence.
"I... I don't think I want to remember." Paley said weakly. He realized that his past was probably full of despair and agony.
"Tell me the truth," His reflection commanded.
"I don't want to remember."
"Tell me why! The truth!" His reflection screamed.
"I don't want to remember!" Paley shouted and fell to his knees again.
"Is that so, Paley? Is that so, Quimor!?" His real name bought a great headache that he tried to suppress. His memories were so desperate they seemed to beg him, but he managed to suppress them.
"I'm scared! I'm scared to remember. That's why I don't want to remember." Paley cried. A shiver ran down his spine and he looked up to see his normal reflection in the mirror.
"Have it your way," His mouth moved on its own, "But one day. You will have to remember. When this life is taken from you too. You. Will. Remember." The mirror shattered and he snapped awake.
He gasped for air. His heart pounded violently. He clutched his chest as he stood up and tried to calm down.
"What the hell just happened?" He held his head now, unable to recall the events in his dream, "Did I have a nightmare?"
He sighed and looked into the tent where there was no space for him. Adimia had sprawled himself all over everyone, and Teerom was shivering strangely. Paley heated the tent, making Teerom stop shivering before he walked back to the campfire.
A small piece of paper lay beside where he had fallen asleep. He picked it up and found that it was the list of herbs that Bacha wanted.
"I'm not sleepy at all, so I might as well get these." He mumbled to himself and read the list. There were five that she wanted; Somum, the herbs that she called Sleep Herbs, Retaxa, the paralyzing mushrooms, Sanami, a weaker healing herb, Muaffum, a magic enhancer herb, and Purpuris, which has the effect of heightening all positive emotion.
Bacha provided descriptions of the herbs on the other side of the list. Paley began with the Somum, a large green plant with dark blue roots. The roots are supposed to reach up to half the plant, and the brighter the blue, the higher the tier of the herb.
Paley walked around in the forest, basking in the calm silence of the night as he looked for the herb. He eventually found it, hidden by two bushes. On the list, Bacha noted that he just had to collect the leaves, so he pulled them off carefully until he had 15 of them.
"Oh, right," He opened the list again to see what defines the tier in Somum plants. Then, he checked the roots. They were a dark blue, but brighter than the tier I color that Bacha described.
"Alright, next one." He explored the forest until sunrise and collected three of the five herbs on the list. He put them all inside makeshift tissue bags to not mix them up. When he stood up and turned after picking the last Muaffum, he found that it wasn't sunrise at all.
Instead, a bright white light was blinding him. It gave him the same familiar feeling that the one he saw before he fell asleep did. It faded away, and he heard an echoing gasp and heavy breathing. It sounded like a girl. Her voice was somehow softer and gentler than Rauba and Jurie combined.
He walked cautiously towards the noise, slightly concealing himself behind trees until he arrived at the lake. In the middle, the figure of a young girl, about his age, was surrounded by the whitest glow he'd ever seen.
The glow began to fade, revealing her face. Paley's first thought was that she was pretty even though he had no interest in that aspect of people. The girl's wavy white hair flowed halfway down her back. It parted on the side and layered around her face, emphasizing her good looks. She had deep purple eyes that drew you in like a moth to a lamp.
One other thing, she was naked.
But Paley ignored that.
"Hey," He called out to her. She suddenly turned to him, gasped in panic, and submerged herself under the water. Paley didn't notice that she didn't generate any ripples when she dove.
He dipped his head into the water and saw her waiting for him to leave. When she saw him again, she yelped and fazed into the ground. Paley got out of the water and stared at where she was, puzzled.
"Well, that's that." He dismissed it as just another strange happening in the forest and went back to picking herbs. He accidentally kicked a peach and found five more stashed away beside a tree.
"So she was real." He deduced that the stash was the girl's, "I bet she won't mind if I take one," He took one of the peaches and stared at it for a while. It was coldly warm and bought a strange smile onto his face. He pocketed it and continued to get the herbs Bacha wanted.