From the bottom of my heart, thank you to my p4tr0ns: Morpheaus, and RTB <3 <3 <3
Become a p4tr0n too and read up to FOUR chapters ahead!:
h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / t r a s h w i t h g l a s s e s
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"What is that?!", Ike asked, incredulous.
"They are just… my clothes?", I replied, retreating one step, and pulling the black feather cloak tighter, to hide my body. I had noticed it only after my throat was slit, but it was clear that people's clothes weren't fused to their skin.
"People don't wear clothes like that!" Spruce pointed, covering his mouth and going pale as if about to throw up at any moment.
"It's a special clothe?"
"Don't ask us…!" Spruce barked back, taking deep breaths.
"Wait, didn't weren't your tattoos different when we first met? There were more like connected rings, and now there are new abstract symbols…", Ike noticed, holding his chin, frowning.
The disgust. The suspicion. Great. I messed everything up again…
First with Cloudless and Sunburned. Then with the city and the bear Mountain. And then, I'd lose Ike and Spruce too. Was there no peace in the world? No, if that were the case, everyone would have committed suicide long ago. Then it must be something that affected only me, and therefore… I was the one to blame.
I had multiple objectives, but they didn't fail me. I failed them.
I sighed. And I was about to walk back to my bedroom, in silence, when a gentle hand stopped me, holding my shoulder.
"Talk with us, Coyote."
"Ike…"
"I don't know about this other guy, but you've done a lot for me. And I want to do the same for you."
"Hey, newbie, don't act as if I'm some kind of nobody here, yeah? Coyote and I are strong! And this means we understand one another the best."
"You guys…", I felt a knot tightening in my throat. I had to look away to not show those two the tears that came to my eyes. "Can we talk in my bedroom?"
"…So, you're saying that you have no memories before that point?", Ike asked, looking intrigued. He was seating on a pile of pillows in the corner. "Maybe trauma-induced memory loss?"
"Yeah, yeah", standing by the leather slit that served as an entrance, Spruce rolled his eyes. "I don't think memory loss creates magic holding tattoos on people, Mr. doctor…"
"It could be an unconsciously created auto-seal, like a system created so he wouldn't hurt himself with his own power", Ike frowned.
"Humph."
"…Well, what's your idea, then?"
"My man here reached the peak of power, and so he decided to start the training all over again because he was bored!"
"…Huphm."
"You got a problem, yeah?!"
The pulsating veins in the forehead of those two were the signal that everyone was losing their patience, so I decided to intervene and clarify some things before everything scaled up: "Wait, wait. That's not entirely the case. I do have… memories, I think, of a time before I woke up. Actually, I can even access more of them whenever I want, but…"
"But why don't you do it?", Ike let himself rest and cool down, laying on the pillows with a deep sigh.
"Because he was bored of being all-powerful, duh."
"…Would be too out of character for me to say 'shut up' to you?"
"Do it, coward."
"Shut up, dude."
"Haha", I muffled my laughs with a hand. Those two were fun to see together. "I don't do it because… well, alongside the memories, comes… something more. My old personality, or even another being. Is there even a difference? Either way, I become a little more of something else. And it is scary", I hugged my knees.
"…How are these memories you recollected already?", Spruce asked, seating by my side.
"They are quite similar to one another. It's just… I'm floating. In somewhere dark. And I pass through various places, and see weird stuff also floating in this place."
"How's this place, yeah? Is it scary?", the little person rests a hand on my shoulder.
"No. I don't feel much in this place. Actually, it's even beautiful sometimes. But I know that I wasn't fully awake even during these memories. I feel like… all of that took place long ago. Way too long ago."
Looking quite serious, Spruce asked me: "Coyote, do you want to learn more about your past?"
"I want to free myself from these chains. Without becoming a monster."
"We can try to look for a way to get your powers back, without the memories then" suggested Spruce, nodding.
"Or we can look for a way to unlock his memories without the power."
"What for? That goes explicitly against what he wants!"
"He clearly said the power is slowly corrupting him as he frees it!"
"If he wastes his chance of becoming powerful, he will only suffer, Ike."
"His power will only bring more responsibilities and suffering for him, Spruce."
"Thank you for your concern, but I don't really care about how we do it, I just want to free myself from this thing", I pointed to my chain tattoos, forcing a smile.
"Yet", those two replied at the same time.
They exchanged a side glance before they got up, and each suggested their own methods of helping me.
"Okay, let's do it like this, Coyote! The thing is, from what I understood, you contain knowledge about every weird type of magic inside these chains of yours. So, the plan is very simple: unseal your forgotten power until you obtain power enough to change, delete, or block the memories you want!", Spruce proudly announced, crossing his arms.
"I'll keep this idea in mind, but that's a bit too dangerous…"
"Do it. After all, you already know, Coyote: sooner or later you're going to come across situations that will require you to unseal your powers", the little person nodded.
"Well, my idea is the complete opposite: let's try to force your brain to remember your sealed memories without touching the power seals! You may even remember some way to destroy the sealed power, if you contain so much random magical knowledge in your head as to create clothing out of your own flesh."
"And how can we do so?", I asked, my ears perking up.
"By exposing you to familiar things! Tell me, do you remember anything specific from this dark place? A landmark or something? Maybe we could go look for some maps and look for similar locations", Ike suggested.
"I remember a fort-like structure. It was made out of metal, like silver, but darker. It was also full of some kind of transparent crystal, like the shields I create… And it was massive, and stuck in a place like a floating rocky sphere."
"That's… unique. But maybe we can find clues about it in the here. This place is at the center of the world, after all, and gather's knowledge from all around! In fact, it is a fact intrinsically connected to this place's hierarchy" Ike closed his hands into fists, hyped up.
"Well, a little adventure would also push him to break more seals, so I'm not opposed to this idea either", Spruce smiled, crossing his arms.
"You guys… Thank you so much!"
But the hours had passed quickly for some reason, it was already late and those two had to get back to their bedrooms.
It was when they reached the slit in the leather that they both turned around and spoke at the same time: "Hey…"
Spruce and Ike exchanged suspicious glances with one another and curled up their noses a little.
No matter their discomfort in acting so similarly, however, they repeated that act once more: "Can I be your roommate?"