Desperation (Part 3 - Red Lake)

[Cameron – East Area]

After remaining unconscious for two days, Thomas Maxwell, the Chief of IFF was finally awake. He was standing outside the hospital and talking with a nurse in his regular clothes. And in the meantime, he saw Oliver was coming toward him along with his newly made friends but, there was something wrong. He was fully calm and he didn't faze to find Oliver right in front of him after their encounter with the creature at the goods station at Central City. Even when Oliver stood right before him, he didn't respond. So, Oliver asked, "How are you feeling Mr. Maxwell?"

Thomas confusingly looked at Oliver and replied with a forced smile, "Sorry kid, you might know me but I don't recognize you."

All the children's eyes were widened. They looked toward the nurse for an explanation, which the nurse clearly understood. She sighed and then said, "I also found about it when he woke up. The Doctor said that due to heavy damage to his head, he has lost his memories."

"WHAT!" All the kids shouted at once.

"STOP SHOUTING," The nurse scolded and continued after calming down, "He had a severe head injury when he came here. Mr. Maxwell is lucky that he only suffered a memory loss. This could have been worse."

"Sorry Nurse," The children apologized.

The nurse took a deep breath and said with a smile, "You don't need to apologize. You all have done a great job by bringing this man here when he was in need of dire help. You all are heroes."

All the children blushed except Oliver. Meanwhile, Thomas said, "Yes, thank you very much for saving my life. I can't possibly imagine how I can ever repay you?"

Hearing that, Alvin boasted while fixing his glasses, "Oh please, it was our duty as a human being."

Then Oliver asked, "Mr. Maxwell, don't you even remember me?"

"I am unable to remember anything. I only know that my name is Thomas Maxwell and I am an Ishvalan just because the nurse told me," Thomas replied.

Meanwhile, someone called from inside for the nurse. So, the nurse said, "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go."

"Sure nurse, and thank you for everything," Thomas bowed a bit to show his gratitude.

The nurse smiled and went inside the hospital. And after she was gone, Thomas looked at Oliver and asked, "Oliver, can you please tell me how you know me? It might help me remember something."

Oliver thought for a moment. He remembered all the teaching that he learned at the orphanage. So, he decided not to speak the bad thing that Thomas was involved in which no one present there was aware of, instead, he thought of speaking only the good things. He replied, "Well, you were trying to protect me from a monster when you got hurt, then your friends helped me and you to get on a train which led us to this town."

Thomas laughed out loudly. "A monster!" He exclaimed.

Even, all the other four kids slapped there hand on their forehead out of disbelief. "Stupid," They said in a low voice.

"I think Oliver has also lost his memory about the incident," Alvin joked.

Oliver looked at the children and narrowed his eyes. "I am speaking the truth. Why none of you are believing me?" He said desperately.

"Because monsters are not real," Harvey answered boldly.

Oliver instantly got angry and ran away from there. Watching that, Isa ran behind Oliver by shouting, "Oliver stop."

"You shouldn't treat your friends like that, you know," Thomas advised.

"Because I am his friend, I am teaching him to identify what is real, and what is not," Harvey responded.

Thomas sighed and placed his hands on Harvey's shoulder. "Let's go, and try to convince him…in a more polite way," Thomas grinned.

Harvey looked at Thomas' big grin and said, "Alright."

Harvey, Reggie, Alvin, and Thomas then went to meet Oliver. Meanwhile, Oliver and Isa had reached the lake, where they saw Krid was sitting under the Olive tree as usual. "Hey Mr. Novak," Isa shouted from a distance.

Krid was still looking toward the lake while he replied with a question, "How are you, Isa?"

"Great," Isa answered energetically.

"What about you Oliver? Did you find anything more about your mother?" Krid asked.

Oliver came and sat beside Krid and looked ahead at the lake like Krid. "I asked the nurse, but she told me that it would take time to find the records and search her. She told me to come next week," Oliver replied.

"That's a great start," Krid said.

Meanwhile, Isa sat beside Oliver, and for a brief moment, no one spoke. Then suddenly, Oliver questioned, "Mr. Novak, are monsters real?"

"Hmm, well if you consider people like me monster, then yes they do exist," Krid answered.

Oliver desperately looked at Krid and said, "I am not asking about chimeras. I meant to say real monsters."

"Let me tell you a story, a real story," Krid proposed and then shouted, "AND YOU CAN ALSO SIT WITH US."

Krid had felt the presence of Harvey, Reggie, Alvin, and Thomas at a distance, so he called them to sit with others. Everyone went near Krid and sat there. Because Krid had felt a new presence, which was of Thomas, he asked, "Who is the other person?"

"This is Mr. Thomas Maxwell. Remember the person we told you about whom we saved?" Harvey reminded.

"Yes," Krid replied.

"Well, this is him, and he has lost his memory," Harvey informed.

"That's very unfortunate. Well, now that we can't do anything about that, why don't you enjoy the story I am about to tell," Krid said.

Thomas smiled and responded, "I guess I have to adhere to your advice Mr.…?"

"It's only Krid for you," Krid answered.

In the meantime, Thomas had noticed the clouded eyes of Krid, but he didn't ask him anything and joined the other children to listen to the story which Krid was going to tell. "Okay. So, let me ask you some questions before telling you the story. Do any of you know why Cameron has so less population?" Krid asked.

Nobody replied for some time. So, Krid said, "I take it as no then. Now, do any of you know about the war which was fought in Cameron?"

"I have heard that a civil war broke out in this town more than 200 years ago, but that's all I know," Alvin replied.

Krid responded, "You are correct," and continued, "But it was not just a normal war, it is considered as the bloodiest war in the history of Amestris. No other war comes anywhere close to it… Long ago, Cameron was one of the major cities of the then Amestris which was still busy expanding its territory by capturing the neighboring countries. This place was inhabited by some new Amestrian settlers and the locals of Cameron after Cameron became a part of Amestris. Everything was going well, until one day an Amestrian man fell in love with a local Cameron woman. They both were young and wanted to marry each other, and everyone in Cameron was happy for them even though the new settlers and locals had differences. Everyone in the city contributed to the wedding, but when the wedding day came, the man disappeared. The locals started blaming the new settlers saying that all the Amestrians are cheats just like the man who promised the woman to marry her. In return, the Amestrians blamed the locals by saying that they were the ones who disappeared the man, they even said that the locals killed the man because they were never in support of the marriage. The feud got out of control when accidentally a local killed one of the Amestrians who happened to be a noble. Because of this, the Amestrian government sent military troops to Cameron and punished a few innocent people because no one knew the real culprit. This thing enraged the local people, and they killed some soldiers, due to which the government punished some more locals. This cycle of revenge, took the shape of a war, a very ugly war in all human history. The lake which you see in front of us was red because of the amount of blood flowed into it during the war. The place where we are sitting right now was piled up with dead bodies, and all this started just because of some misunderstandings and lack of information."

"So this is where the red lake war happened?" Alvin asked with widened eyes.

"Yes. And did you understand who the monsters here were?" Krid questioned.

"The Amestrian soldiers?" Harvey answered instantly.

"No," Krid confirmed.

"But, they were the ones who killed the innocents," Harvey said.

"The real monsters here were anger, hate, revenge, and all the negative things that are inside us. The war could have never happened if they had worked together to find out the real reason why the man disappeared, instead of blaming each other. The mistake was from both the sides, and neither of the sides admitted the mistake was theirs, which led to the disastrous war. And because of the ugly war, people started leaving this place. Very few people ever liked to come here," Krid replied and continued after a brief pause, "Now, Oliver stop getting angry with your friends and hug them to sort it out."

"But, nobody believed me even though I told them the truth," Oliver crossed his arms.

"Reggie, Isa, Alvin, Harvey…you should believe him when he is telling you the truth, you know?" Krid tried to persuade.

Harvey was about to oppose, but before he could do so, Krid interrupted by saying, "Oliver is like a small brother to all of you, so you should love him. And Oliver in return can show you alchemy."

"WHAT!" The children exclaimed simultaneously with widened eyes.

Even the shy person of the group, Reggie shouted that time, "YOU KNOW ALCHEMY?"

"Yes, I do," Oliver replied with a low voice while blushing.

"Awesome," Alvin said.

And Isa said excitedly, "Show us."

Oliver got happy when everyone showed interest in watching alchemy. "Let's go over there," Oliver pointed toward a plain field and continued, "I need to make a transmutation circle to show you alchemy. And I can also show you alkahestry if you want."

"What is that?" Harvey enquired.

"That's a different kind of alchemy used by people of Xing," Oliver replied.

"Do you mean the country in the far east? Beyond the Great Desert?" Alvin asked curiously.

"Yes," Oliver answered.

"You are so awesome man," Alvin praised.

Oliver started blushing when everyone started praising him. He and all the kids moved to the plain field with less grass, so that Oliver could show them alchemy. And while Oliver was busy showing alchemy to other kids, Thomas was sitting beside Krid, looking toward the lake. "Even though war was fought here, this place still feels very peaceful," Thomas said.

"Indeed," Krid responded.

"So, do you live here with someone?" Thomas asked.

"These kids are all I know as close to a friend or family," Krid replied and continued, "What about you? What are you going to do now?"

Thomas took a deep breath and exhaled. "I can't remember anything, and I am surrounded by kids who are my only hope as of now. And if losing memory is not enough, I am an Ishvalan too," He answered.

"Yes, Ishvalans are being seen differently after the war," Krid said and continued while standing up, "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to start my dinner preparation"

Thomas remained seated while he asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Krid replied.

"The story you told us…in that story, what actually happened to the man who disappeared?" Thomas questioned.

"Nothing," Krid answered and turned around. Then after a brief pause, he said, "Because he was a monster all along." And Krid left after saying that, leaving Thomas in a cliffhanger.