Interlude | 'Cold Nights'

'This is a pre-recorded message from: Anonymous'

"This will be my second message,

I have been getting used to being in this ring, after months of struggling, I made it to city called Furlheim, even though its significantly better than the warrior nation I escaped from, this place is terribly lawless, between the crime and creature attacks, I don't know how much longer I will survive here, I had to sell off some of my equipment as artifacts,

Currently, I am being accommodated by a guild of adventurers,

This message is left somewhere I know no one will notice but if by chance you are listening to this, and do not understand what is happening, write down as much of what I said that you can remember, because no one else can hear this until you die.

One more thing for those who are meant to hear this….

There was someone before me,

I am not the first to come here."

'Message End.'

...

"Alright, have you gotten a good look yet?" Giichi stands impatiently over my shoulder,

(He really didn't hear any of that?)

"Are you sure you don't know who put this here, Giichi sir?" I ask

"Positive," the old man yawns, "that isn't a requiem, and I store the magic items and other artifacts in boxes in the regular section"

"You must have some idea of who the person that put it there, is?"

"No one comes to mind right now, but I'll think about it,"

"Kage?" Pinoki nudges, giving me a look,

I nod back to him,

"Well, this 'meeting' with you has been enlightening for the most part, Giichi sir," Pinoki thanks,

"We have a lot to process now, so we will be calling it a night,"

"What was that about Kage?" Lyra whispers, the five of us making our way out of the room,

"What was what?"

"Don't play dumb,

You were staring at that blue flame thingy for a while,"

"I'm not entirely sure I can explain this right now Lyra,

I need some time to think..."

(Every moment that passes,

Every day that goes by, I feel more lost and more confused as to what my existence is,

Before I even get the chance to be fully accustomed to my current situation,

I get thrust into another)

…...

"Well, that was something," Apollo yawns, as we pass the entrance to the mess hall, now approaching the staircase to the upper floor….

"You're cheating Josh!"

"Just admit it Yannick I'm better than you at his game"

"You-"

Cheerful voices can be heard from fellow members of the guild presumably playing games in the recreational room.

"Anyone else is exhausted from all that information," Apollo continues, the only one of us still trying keep up a conversation,

"Yes," Lyra replies dryly

Karina who walks along quietly, has been eyeing me intently since I listened to the message in 'the flame',

"Who took one of my sound-diamonds!!"

Saito's angry voice booms through the institute,

Pinoki lets a slight smirk slip out,

"Looks like Saito finally noticed..."

…

"Would you shut up, it is night, some people would like to get their beauty sleep!"

An angry but feminine voice barks back,

"What beauty? I wasn't aware beastmen had that concept?" Saito retorts,

"Don't make me get out of my bed!"

"I already locked my door, Amber; you couldn't get in"

"That won't save you..."

The two voices argue back and forth along the upper floor corridors,

…..

"Well, good night I guess," Lyra says awkwardly heading for her room,

Apollo had already left for his, the moment we stepped foot upstairs,

"Kage," Pinoki pinches me, "you better fill me in on what you heard, tomorrow,"

"Mmhmm" I sound

"Good, just making sure," the little man already walking off…...

.....

"..."

"...

….What?" I now stand by the door of my room, Karina still staring at me silently

"We passed your room already, is there something you want?"

"Open the door already Kage," she pushes me aside entering,

"We need to talk,

But first I want you to take that off"

"What?" I close the door behind me,

Karina approaches me with a look of determination,

"Take it off,"

She places her hand on my face feeling around my left cheek-

"-Aww!"

A sharp stinging pain pulsates from my left ear,

"Glad this worked," Karina holding an earring with a transparent gem,

"Did you put that on me?

My ears weren't even pierced before,"

"That not important Kage,

But if you must know, I sealed some of my soundwave magic in this, and planted on you,"

"Why?" I rub ear gingerly sinking down onto my bed,

"You could say you were my test subject, with this gem I can hear you no matter how far you are, vice versa,"

"Should I be thankful or alarmed?"

"If I say thankful, how will you thank me, Kage?"

"….

Well now that you've got your earring back can you go now?" I ignore her tease,

"What if I said that I heard what you heard Kage?"

"Do you mean form the fl-"

"-The blue 'flame' yes,

Who are you really, Kage?" she presses

"...

....…I don't know,"

"I hate that I believe you" Karina groans,

"I am still trying to figure that out myself,

I told you this before Karina,"

"I know but that doesn't stop me from being suspicious of you,

Are you even human?"

"What kind of question that?"

"Then why did that voice say he wasn't the first to 'come here'?

What does even mean?

That makes it sound like he….it, is a beastman,"

(She really heard all of it)

"I don't know," I repeat,

"What do you know, Kage?"

"I don't know!

I don't know anything!

What do you want me to tell you Karina!?"

"Why are you getting loud?

Calm down Kage,"

(Why is this getting me upset?)

"I hate it,

I hate not knowing, Karina,

You keep asking me things, expecting me to answer,

But it just makes realize how little I know,

How lost I truly am,

You think I understood anything from that message?

I am just as confused as you are

I'm tired of needing something explained to me over and over again!

My earliest memory is…."

(What was it again?

Being in a forest I think,

No, before that,

A house?

Damnit!)

Thwack!

I slam my hand into the wooden bed post

(Stop taking away my memories!)

"Kage,

Its okay," Karina crawls up next to me,

"Whenever you're ready to remember, you will,"

"That's the thing Karina, I did not forget,

I can still recognize sights, smells, sounds that maybe are familiar to me,

But it is like my mind doesn't want to register it,

Doesn't want to tell me why it is familiar,

It's like being an artist, having an idea to paint,

But when you look at the canvas, nothing comes out,

It remains blank."

…..

"I wish I knew something reassuring to say to right now, " Karina wraps her arms around my neck,

"But, I'm no better off than you Kage,

I don't know if the others feel like this,

But every morning I'll wake up, and just stare at sky, half expecting it to be a black void,

I'm still waiting on the moment I wake up back in Soterra, in the underground city,

I cannot tell you if you will find what you're searching for, because I'm lost myself,"

She rolls over in front with her back turned to me as to not show her face,

"Then-" I start

"-No, let me finish Kage,

I don't really even care about who or what you actually are Kage,

I'm only suspicious of you because, why else not?

It keeps me distracted, doesn't it?

What else would I have to do then, if not?

I'm sorry if questioning you all the time gets annoying,

But I need something to interest me, I need something to desire,

Otherwise, would I be considered human either?"

"…."

(What do I even say,

Is happiness what all regular humans want?)

"Then go-ahead Karina.

Be as suspicious of me as you like,

Until….

I don't know, but….

I will help all of you find your purpose,

Find your happiness,

Apollo, Lyra, Zinnia, Pinoki, you,

I'll find a place where…"

(I don't even know what I'm saying, I can't finish that sentence,)

"...."

Karina doesn't say anything instead pushing her back against me,

I wrap my arms around her chest embracing her warmth...

....

Badump!

I hear the sound of a door getting kicked open, accompanied by Saito's whining,

"Hahahaha!"

The sound of laughter comes from the floor beneath,

~~~~~

A shiveringly cold breeze blows through the window, grazing my cheek

Karina lays sideways in front of me, radiating warmth to counter the cold,

It really makes me realize…

Only because of the cold can one truly appreciate warmth.