The Past Year

[8 Months Ago; Trizen, Tekuno. 8 October 1032 (5:17 PM)]

A lone bench was nestled beneath the sprawling boughs of a maple tree, its wooden slats worn smooth by time and weather. Upon it, a young-looking man sat slightly hunched, the dull ember of his cigar glowing as he took a slow, measured drag.

Huff~…

The smoke curled from his lips in swirling spirals, twisting and dispersing into the crisp evening air.

His fingers ran through his tousled hair—black at the roots, fading into molten orange at the tips, catching the dying light like embers in the dark. His suit jacket hung open, the fabric creased and carelessly sprawled across the bench. He had quite a clear and outlined face, with the faintest rasp of stubble shadowing his jaw.

He was sitting alone, enjoying a much-needed break—until an unexpected company “showed up”.

“…She hadn’t been there a moment ago,” the man grumbled. A woman with eccentric purple hair, looking to be around her 20’s, was sitting with a completely placid look on her face, with her eyes shut closed right next to him, pushing him to use the opposite end of the bench. There was no movement from her, it was as if she had always belonged.

Her presence was as sudden as it was unsettling, flickering onto the bench in the middle of a park with no signs of her having been there earlier. Long strands of violet hair cascaded past her elbows, framing a face like that of a doll. Her breathing was peaceful.

The nature of her white and black attire was foreign to him—unfamiliar in both style and substance. It definitely felt out of place against the lush, green scenery of the park.

Hah…

He took another slow drag from his cigar, “What am I supposed to do about this?”, he muttered, exhaling smoke into the cooling night air. His tired eyes flicked to the girl again.

‘Should I just walk away? Occurrences similar to this are usually handled by Trizen’s Homeland Security…’ He thought to himself. It would probably be more convenient if he didn’t interact with her.

Without mulling over it much more, he pulled his cigar out of his mouth and padded the filler onto his palm, subsequently snuffing it out. He shook his hands a bit, and some ashy particulates dusted off of it. He placed the cigar neatly back into a silver capsule, whereby it could be saved for later usage.

…

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‘I can’t see a thing... Where am I? What's going on..?’

My eyelids refused to budge, weighed down like metal shutters. A sluggish twitch was all I could manage at first, but I kept pushing against the heaviness, forcing them to part. An orangish pink sliver of light pierced through the darkness, flooding my vision in a hazy blur.

As my lashes fluttered, the first thing that came into focus was my own hands—resting motionless on my lap. My face was one of pure confusion as I looked up, taking in my surroundings before noticing the young man next to me.

“...Uh, hello?”

“—Nope. Just pretend I wasn’t here,” he said, not sparing me a glance. His enunciation was gruff but also hastily said,

“Good day to you.”

“Uhm! Please, wait!”

Before he could take his leave, I grasped the sleeve of his suit, right at where his elbows were.

“Shit…”

Thankfully, he stopped, finally looking back after a long pause. His sharp orange eyes met mine, which made me release my grip on him reactively.

“How can I help you?” He said blankly. It seemed to me that he was a bit… antsy? To what, though, I didn’t know.

“Sorry for my rudeness, but… Where are we right now?”

“We’re in Hervek Park. Trizen, Tekuno,” he stated,

“Do you… Know how you got here?” His voice dragged as he asked.

I tried to recall something, anything, but my mind drew a blank, “I—w-what… No… I-I don’t have a clue…”

The man continued to stare at me, maintaining an unchanging look.

“Do you remember your name?”

“Of course I know that; it’s Makina… Tokei Makina.”

“From Kagakuni, huh?”, he voiced his deduction. He turned away slightly, looking around, before turning back and speaking low,

“Well, let me tell you straight. You appeared here, in this park, without any fluctuations of Sethnine… How did you do it?”

Dumbfounded by all these terms I had never heard of before, I tried to make light of what he just said.

“What is this ‘Sethnine’ that you’re mentioning? I don’t think it’s familiar to me, a-and I don’t think I did anything of that sort…”

“—What? That doesn’t make any sense.”

This time, there was a very apparent reaction from him. His eyebrows turned upwards, his mouth opening partially before he returned to his previous stoic look.

…

“So… To sum this up, you are unaware of how you got here, you can’t recall anything about yourself, and you don’t know what Sethnine is?”

“I suppose so…” I wasn’t sure how I came off to him, but my lack of awareness about any of the aforementioned subjects definitely didn’t make me sound well-adjusted.

“Then, what are you waiting for?”

“Huh?”

“We won’t be able to find anyone who would have knowledge about your previous whereabouts here,” he said,

“Would you prefer if I got you to the police station or a health center nearby? It’s the easiest way we could check if you lived close by when you lost your memories.”

“S-sorry, this is all very sudden for me… Could you give me a moment?”

“... Take your time.”

I placed my hand onto my chest, taking deep breaths to ease my rapidly throttling heart.

‘Wooh… Information overload, man!’

I didn’t even know where to begin; firstly, how come I’m in a park? I don’t remember going out.

‘… Actually, that’s probably understating it.’ The more I thought about it, I realized that I couldn’t even remember any major events in my life: when I was born, who my parents were, or where I came from.

“You said something about Kagakuni, right? Oh, and—I apologize, but I was too caught up in the moment, and I forgot to ask you what your name was…”

“It’s Nanik, and yes, you are correct,” he stretched his arm out toward the open range of the park. There were people all around us. They were jogging, setting up picnics, and overall enjoying their own time.

“As I’ve mentioned, we’re in Hervek Park. You can consider this an essential for Trizen’s environment. Trizen is the country you are in at the moment, and it’s part of the continent of Tekuno.” Nanik nodded at me,

“And Kagakuni—where I presume your origins are, given by your name’s nomenclature—is a continent located quite a ways away from where we are right now.”

“There’s not much hope for me, huh…”

“Well, not quite. Perhaps you’ve lived here for quite some time, but that’s just a conjecture… Now then, we’ve got to get going. Have you decided yet?”

“Yes… The medical center first—I’d like to avoid dealing with cops, if possible for now.”

Nanik smirked, “Touché.”

…

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“Why are you just standing there?” I asked Nanik.

“Waiting for the cab.”

“But… You know you could just wave your hand like the others to get the drivers’ attention, right?”

The place where Nanik and I had first spoken wasn't very far from the outskirts of the park. However, what seemed to actually take the longest was getting a ride outside, at least for those that didn't already park their vehicles down the long-winding roads of the street. Because it was so crowded, we hardly had the chance to get to a taxi before it left with another person or group.

“This is proper etiquette, you see; I’m waiting for my turn.”

“...”

Well, it wouldn’t have been as bad if it weren’t for this. We’ve been waiting for who knows how long; literally no one else is waiting like we are, so he’s basically letting everyone skip us—

Beep, Beep! A taxi pulled up right in front of us, honking.

“It’s here.”

“How—”

“Stop gawking and get in. You are going to weird people out.” Nanik had already seated himself in the back of the yellow cab.

“A-ah, alright…” I shuffled in through the open door, still dumbfounded by the timing.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The cab’s interior was a small compartment, filled with dark leather and the background hum of the engine. There was a particularly pleasant smell that came through my nostrils as I entered the vehicle.

“Where to?” The cab driver, a middle-aged man in sunglasses, asked.

“The nearest healthcare facility, please,” Nanik said.

“Medthicare’s fine, ‘ye?”

Nanik affirmed, “Yes.”

“I’ll try t’ make it quick, ‘den.”

…

I quickly found myself lost in the sights outside. Although not everything I saw was foreign, there were cafés, city performers, and landmarks that filled me with wonder.

“Such a big city…”

The driver chimed, “Yep~. Ya don’t come ‘ere often, ma’am?”

“Yes… It’s been a while,” I lied.

“There’s a real nice spot here—Percy’s. ‘Ye gotta try it, best coffee and activities.”

“What kind?” Nanik asked.

“Usually stuff with VR.”

‘VR? Sounds interesting, but…’ I made a retching expression,

“I don’t like coffee, it’s too bitt—”

Pa!

Nanik flicked the side of my head with his finger, “Don’t disrespect coffee.”

“Ow~... What did you do that f—I-is that smoke coming off of your fingers?!”

There were wisps expelling from the hand he’d just used to inflict a tremendous sting to my cranium.

“It’s steam.”

“What!?”

‘So I wasn’t seeing things… How did he do that?’

I looked warily at the driver, worried that he’d show discomfort at our exchange, but he just laughed us off like nothing happened. “Haha! Alright, we’re here.”

We pulled into a relatively large and packed parking lot. Peering outside of the car window, I could see a large white structure, which contrasted with the previous tarmac streets we drove across. It was constructed quite angularly, like one massive cube. On the building were large lettering, spelling out “Medthicare”. There was a symbol next to the signage: a half-green, half-blue plus symbol with laurels surrounding it.

The cab driver drove us to the front of the center, parking next to the doors. “That’a be 12 AE.”₍₁₎

“Here.” Nanik handed him a single jade-hued coin. The corners of the coin were carved so that it formed an octagonal shape.

“Erm, sir… Ya gave me far too much; that’s an Aero.”

“Keep it,” Nanik got out of the car.

“Ah! Thank ya, thank ya!”

I followed suit, exiting from the car. The driver waved us goodbye with a wide grin on his face and drove off.

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We entered the lobby of “Medthicare”, and immediately, I was hit with a pungent smell. I wrinkled my nose, “Ugh… What is this?”

“Disinfectant,” Nanik answered,

“It’s supposed to keep the place sterilized.”

I nodded, rubbing my nose while not completely understanding the words he said. I took a further gander around the lobby and found that, not only was there the typical reception area, but there were little displays to the side nearby the waiting areas. Nanik gestured for us to approach the main reception, though.

A blonde-haired receptionist greeted us while sitting behind a glass panel. Her voice came through behind the glass, which had installments of meshes that allowed sound to be transmitted, “Hello, do you have an appointment today?”

“No, but I would like to have a check done on this lady here next to me.” Nanik looked at me.

“Okay—and what’s your full name and date of birth, ma’am?”

I replied, “My name is Tokei Makina, and actually… How do I put this… The main reason why I’m here today is that I’ve lost my memories.”

The receptionist paused her speedy clacks of typing on the computer, and took a glance up at me. “Oh dear… Alright, ma’am. We’ll have someone sort you out in just a moment. In the meantime, please wait in one of the seats back over there. And you, sir—please stay back for a moment…”

I moved toward the waiting area, leaving Nanik behind to be hounded by the staff, and found myself a comfortable chair near one of the corners. After a couple of minutes, Nanik was finally released and came to sit down next to me—never mind, two seats from me…

“What did they want from you?” I questioned with a slight frown.

“...Just some general information, since you came in as an amnesiac, after all.”

‘Makes sense,’ I remarked. Then, a different but worrying thought played out in my mind,

‘What if I have to talk with them alone..?’

I anxiously asked Nanik, “W-will you be leaving now?”

He drew in a breath and shook his head, “No, I’ll accompany you. Even though they are professionals, it would be ill-advised of me to let you go off on your own.”

He muttered something else inaudible to me underneath his breath.

“I’ll miss the transaction, anyways…”

“Hm? Did you say something?”

“No—I just thought about how it’d be nice to have a smoke right about now…”

I looked at the sign behind us: “NO SMOKING | IN THIS BUILDING”. I tilted my head in confusion, and Nanik seemed to also notice what I was looking at.

His mouth twitched, “... That’s why I said it would be nice to have one.”

…

Soon, a staff member, who was wearing a dark-blue scrub, came up to us holding a clipboard between his arms and looking down at it. He seemed to be scanning the paper on it. Then, he turned to me, and put down the clipboard.

“Miss Tokei, yes?”

“That would be me,” I responded.

“Perfect~! There’s a specialist here today, so they’ll be able to check your condition. If you two would follow me—”

He waved us through the double doors and guided us through a series of corridors that seemed to be lined with directional signage and sterile light that were quite bright for my eyes. We then passed by other similarly glass-enclosed stations that had medical equipment being rotated about. Near the latter half of the corridor, we arrived at a doorway that led to a department area—the Neurology unit’s consultation room.

The staff member knocked on the door lightly, and scanned his ID on the iris-looking ball on the electronic keypad of the door. He proceeded to turn the handle, revealing the specialist’s room. Inside, the room housed a combination of recessed ceiling fixtures and a large window that gave a view of the center’s courtyard. Not that I could comprehend them, but there were also some anatomical charts adorning certain parts of walls along with some picturesque landscape photos for decorum.

“Miss Tokei and Mister Nanik?” The calm voice of a woman echoed in front of us. We nodded.

“I’m Dr. Verna, and I’ll be assessing Miss Tokei today. Feel free to sit at any of these seats in front of me.”

I and Nanik both chose seats at random. After the same reintroduction of ourselves, I went through a bunch of memory assessment questions, all of which could be dumbed down to things such as “do you remember anything prior to waking up” and “do you know which year we are in”—all questions I obviously didn’t know the answer to or could only partially guess.

After a quick run through of my cognition and physical condition, the neurologist excused herself, leaving both me and Nanik alone.

“Whew, that was a lot.” That much interaction left my palms quite sweaty.

“When she gets back, she’ll probably tell us the results of the preliminary tests. It looked like you were doing fine functionally, so I doubt it’d be anything physical-related.”

Right on cue, Dr. Verna returned through the door, standing next to me with a smile, “Well, Miss Tokei, it appears that you are quite healthy; apart from your memories, everything is normal.”

“Thank you—”

“That being said, the fact that we didn’t find anything may be an indicator that you have something more unconventional affecting you.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked for clarification.

“We’d like to examine your vessels in more detail—your Sethnic ones, to be precise. It may help us clarify any underlying causes to your condition,” she looked at me with a more serious expression,

“The procedure I’m suggesting is the Sethnic Vessel Ultrasound Test, or SVUT for short. However, we do not have the said equipment here, so we’ll have to transfer you to a specialty center with equipment to perform that test—”

“The same useless test that puts unsuspecting victims hundreds of thousands in debt? And why not some other test before that? Magic assessments are usually done last.” Nanik cut into the middle of Dr. Verna’s rundown, his voice sounding a bit hostile.

Dr. Verna straightened her back, sitting less languidly, “Mister Nanik, I understand that you’re concerned as her close friend, but I am simply providing her insight on what available means we have.”

Nanik knit his eyebrows, glaring at Dr. Verna, “You didn’t answer my question. Why are you avoiding it?”

“...”

‘I’m not following any of this… What’re Sethnic vessels? And since when were we close friends???’₍₂₎

The silence in the room was palpable, and I looked between the two of them. “Uhm… So…”

“I’ve heard enough,” Nanik said as he got up suddenly from his chair.

“Hold on, Sir! please remain calm!”

Nanik didn’t respond to her, instead looking at me briefly, indicating with a nod towards the door before making his way for them. He tried to turn the handles, but they seemed to be locked, likely by the automatic system installed in the electronic keypad.

“Tsk.”

CRACK—clank!

Nanik grabbed the keypad, and a loud break travelled across the room. Mangled bits of electronics, wires, and crumpled metallic pieces were scuttled onto the floor.

“I’ll transfer the reimbursement later.” Nanik swung the door open and left for the reception area.

“Holy hell…” I audibly gulped. Dr. Verna was equally surprised, covering her mouth with widened eyes. I didn’t want to be left behind with the doctor in this awkward situation, so I also excused myself,

“I-I’m sorry, he isn’t usually like this… Thank you.” I hurriedly bowed and ran out of the door, chasing after Nanik.

…

I eventually caught up to him, but not without being completely out of breath. “Hey-! What was- that for?”

“I thought you caught on to the fact that I was telling you to leave.”

“I did, but you didn’t have to storm off and make a scene? Ugh! What now? We’re definitely going to get blacklisted from here…”

“Oh? You’re smart. That’s exactly my intent.”

“What? You mean you planned this?!”

“They were trying to exploit your obliviousness and my ‘relation’ to you to try and weasel an unnecessary and very much monetarily taxing procedure,” Nanik clarified,

“That’s a no-go… I’ll explain this all to you later, so you sit back and chill out. I’ll look after you for a short while instead.”

‘Chill out? I feel that would be better said to you…’ was what I wanted to tell him, but I was a bit too intimidated by his previous display to say anything.

We remained in silence, with me barely being able to keep up with his pace, until we made it out of the front doors. The sun had set, and the sky was darkening into a vacant dusk.

There was already a black sedan waiting at the front. ‘He really wasn’t lying… How’d it get here so fast, though?’

“We’ll have to part ways for now. I’ve got an appointment on my schedule,” Nanik told me.

“What about me?”

“I’ve booked a place for you to stay the night over and called over the hotel’s transportation,” Nanik quick-fired a response, as though he knew what I was going to say,

“Here—this should be enough for a night and some more. This as well, it’s my business card for the referral at the hotel. You can also contact me tomorrow with this.”

He dropped me a handful (literally) of the same coins he gave the cab driver earlier, and then slipped a black card into my pocket. The coins fell with a Ca-clink~ onto my hands.

“Contact you tomorrow..?” I repeated,

“Do you have something planned?”

“You will know by then. Just keep my card with you until then.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you…” I looked at Nanik with a curious but also anxious expression. This person, who barely knows me, went out of his way to deal with all of this, but to what ends? I couldn’t help but feel like he had an agenda.

“Why are you helping me..?”

“Heh, are you saying I’m wasting my time with you?” He chuckled.

“When you phrase it like that, it makes it sound dumb that I’m asking…”

“Because it is. People who ask too many questions will be left behind at the station,” he said as he opened the door of the passenger seat of the car and entered.

“What kind of saying is that?”

I’d never get my answer, though, as the sedan sped off out of the driveway.

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Footnotes:

1. AE (Aeronite Eco) is comparable in power to the US Dollar and is the universal currency for Aruya. It is accepted as tinder by the wider majority of nations. Here are the denominations:

* 1 Aero = 100 AE

* 1 Mira = 10 AE

* 1 Arin = 1 AE

1. Author Note: Since Nanik was called to stay behind at the reception.