More Shenanigans

The defensive way he responded elicited a few chuckles from the man. He spoke so honestly however that Silabus couldn’t fault him – not that he would’ve. If anything Dmitry came off as a little blunt not unlike a certain strange girl the librarian knew. ’It’s not surprising they became friends,’ he thought with a small hum as he sipped the warm tea, ’Though I wonder…well, I suppose I shouldn’t pry too much. They’re both adults after all, it’d be better not to meddle too much.’ The fact that Dmitry liked the attention only amused the man further, managing to fight back any laughter or chuckles as the other guy tried to describe his feelings on the matter. ’Admirable when others might feel it too nosy to be so interested.’

”Hm?” Mao turned to Dmitry, head tilting to the side in curiosity. Normally subdued a true smile filled her face, eyes glittering with an unusual sense of liveliness compared to the usual veiled sense of curiosity she normally bore. Where the usually distant girl sat a now, almost “normal” one existed in her place for the time being. ”But I haven’t done anything yet?” she responded. The confused girl really couldn’t fathom what he might be thanking her for, unless it was leading him to the delicious tea and the kind Silabus. ’Maybe his presence soothes Dmitry just as much as it does for me?’ The fact it might be the case only furthered the warmth of her smile.

”Oh!” A thought struck their host, punctuated by the light clapping of his hands, ”I was going to mail it in the next few days, but I discovered a series I thought you might like Mao. It’s a bit old, but quite a fun, adventurous find if you’d like?” Judging by the way her expression changed into an open-mouthed gape, he could tell she wouldn’t wait another moment. Even offering to fetch it for her might be a bit silly, ”It’s in my office in the brown packaging.”

Quick as she could Mao shot up the stairs, barely resisting the temptation to use magic to get up there a little faster. The spectacle and slight cluttering of fallen objects once she reached the top – and presumably the room – Silabus sighed and laughed at the same time, ”Ah…sorry, it might be a bit before she remembers we were all visiting. Well hopefully she’ll remember by the end of the first chapter…” After a slight pause and another sip, the man’s attention turned fully to Dmitry, ”So I take it you’re a mage too? Are you from Sabertooth as well then? She seemed so excited to join that one when I was listing them out she seemed to block out the suggestion of the others entirely. I would’ve honestly thought she’d join Blue Pegasus or Lamia Scale for their rumored libraries.”

The look Mao gave him threw Dmitry off completely, having never seen a smile like that on her before. His face lit up and he began to stumble on his words, once again showing a rare occurrence for the mage. "Well, uh...never mind." He got that much out before vigorously gulping down the tea which he had ignored until now. After all, it would seem stupid to try and explain something he himself doesn't actually understand Why is my face so hot all of a sudden? The answer eluded him. 

At that moment, Dmitry was saved by the librarian. Mao took off like a bullet up the stairs, leaving a veritable trail of destruction. Dmitry sighed, remembering his Sabertooth friend's love for books. "Actually, I'm with Lamia Scale," he said, answering the question. "Me and Mao only met because she was visiting Hargeon at the time. The two of got mixed up in a, uh, scuffle." No need to make him worry anymore than he probably already did. "Though, it's probably better that she didn't join Lamia Scale." Dmitry thought back to when he first brought her to the guildhall and her request soon after. "She'd probably never climb out of the library if she did." He chuckled a bit at the thought of her sleeping in a fort of books, before remembering his objective in meeting this guy.

"Tell me something," he began, taking advantage of this opportunity. "Mao has amnesia, doesn't she? She's shown lapses in her distant memory, ones that should be fairly important. I know I should probably ask her directly, but..." Dmitry closed his eyes. "...I don't wanna see that look on her face again." He reopened the mismatched orbs and looked directly at Silabus, his previously friendly demeanor now full of a fierce will. "Give me the details: how much has she lost and ,if you know, how did she lose it?" He had to make sure if it was the same or not. "I've got...experience with this sort of thing. I need to know if this is similar to what I've seen before." No point in giving too many details, else this would just take longer. He needed to know what was going on with Mao, his issues could wait. Dmitry wasn't sure what he wanted to hear, but the need to hear something gnawed at him.

"So what can you tell me."

Eyebrows raised a bit at the mention of a scuffle, though the man couldn’t say he was entirely surprised either. The work of mages often cast them in harm’s way, something he’d warned Mao about. It’d been the least of her concern once the woman set her mind to joining Sabertooth however so Silabus merely took to hoping for her safety each day. Not unlike Mao, Silabus tilted his head when Dmitry claimed it better for her to be in a separate guild, a bark of laughter escaping when he finished the claim. ’Yes, I suppose it’s better that way: she can see the world rather than hold herself up in one of their grand libraries.’

The man’s mood shifted, the lightness of the air turning heavier as he began questioning the librarian about their female friend. Even the smile usually adorning Silabus’ face faded into a serious one with a hint of concern as he listened to each query. ’So he’s caught on?’ It wasn’t entirely a mystery, but the girl didn’t usually hint at the past much and focused so much on the present that sometimes he’d forgotten her lack of memories until the constant stream of questions reminded Silabus that she probably sought out understanding and experiences from others to find her footing in this world.

A sip of tea to fortify his throat and gather his thoughts, Silabus trained his eyes on the mismatched pair, ”I’m afraid I don’t know how she lost them as I only met her afterwards. I prodded her for anything and everything, but the only memories she held were that of her name – or at least a name – and anything else…is merely muscle memory. Childhood, experiences, even feelings: it’s as if someone wiped her clean of everything. A clean slate if you will. She may have experienced something so mind shattering that her brain flushed everything in self-preservation, she may have been at the wrong end of a nasty spell: there are sadly an infinite amount of possibilities to which the answer can’t be found right now.”

He sighed, eyes cast down at the table as memories surfaced, ”I found her wandering the streets not unlike a stray cat or dog. People fascinated her immensely from what I could tell, as if she needed to understand them. I approached her, worried since she also appeared a little worn and out-of-it that I thought there might be something clinically wrong. Outside food and rest in a proper environment however she came out clean according to the doctors. No physical injuries at any rate. But…” Sadness crept into his voice and face, and the man sighed, ”she was fine…but so empty. I’ve met people who were subdued to say the least, secretive even, but they all held a certain spark she lacked. It’s comforting to see her even more vibrant than when she left.”

The realization helped return his smile, even if only briefly as a thoughtful frown took its place and the gaze returned to Dmitry, ”What concerned me most was…she didn’t seem to care whenever I brought it up. The loss of a lifetime and she brushed it off without a concern, more worried about possibly remembering…I didn’t understand it at all. Most cases I’ve heard about they’re often worried, distraught, or even merely confused by the realization that they’ve lost any chunk of time. People do not accept loss gracefully, not over something that has potential worth to them. Yet she’s happy to throw away an entire lifetime and start anew…”

Again he regarded Dmitry, this time with open fascination as the scholarly side took over, ”If you don’t mind my asking…what ‘face?’ Did something spark a sense of worry or sadness over her lost memories? A trigger could potentially help…though…it’s merely speculation since she’s never shown any signs of regaining true memory, merely “actions feeling familiar” such as using magic. I’d like to know of the other instance as well…if it might help her somehow. Though, I suppose in a way it might be selfish if she’s happier not knowing.” Silabus gave a self-deprecating laugh at the thought, realizing that she might truly be happier keeping the forgotten life a mystery.

Dmitry's expression sank as he heard Silabus give him news that made him feel better and worse at the same time. 

"I see...", he said solemnly. "Damn...I was really hoping I could help her. But it's nothing like what happened to me. Worse really, I only lost specific memories. But she..." Dmitry look towards the stairs she had ran up. "...she lost everything." He took off his hat and set it on the table, exposing his gray hair. "Still, at least this means she didn't make the same mistake that I did." Whatever solace the gray-maned sage took was slowly replaced by a bubbling rage building up inside him; it seemed more than likely that Mao's memory had been wiped using magic.

"That's a load of horse-shit!" Dmitry yelled in response to the librarians claim of Mao being better off, his hand slamming into the table. "There's no way in Hell she's better off not knowing! Everyone she knew or loved or even hated! They're gone! You have no idea what that's like!" His nails dug into the table a little as he regained control of himself.

'Calm yourself, boy,' said the wolf as he stepped in through Dmitry's mind. 'It does you no good to lose sight of yourself.'

'Yeah...I get it already.'

Dmitry sat back and ran a hair through his hair, trying to calm himself. What was wrong with him? It did him no good to lose his cool like that, so he decided to focus on what the man in front of him asked. "The first time she made a strange comment: 'I must not have come from a very affectionate family'. The second time I made a joke about her name and whether or not it was her real name." He cringed a bit thinking back at the look she had. "She seemed...scared. Like she was lost somewhere and couldn't find her way out. She also seemed to wonder what she might have done before...forgetting." Dmitry finished his tea and looked out the window. "Thankfully, it passed pretty quickly. But she's definitely conscious of it. She's probably worried about something from her past coming back to haunt her. I never had to worry about that..." The orphan chuckled at the irony of his situation. Of course nothing would come back. After all, there's no one else left...

The outburst caused Silabus to jump in his seat, the man leaning away from the enraged mage bellowed against the suggested notion. The contrast between the usually calm Mao and this vibrant youth amused him though he didn’t show it in the slightest, too concentrated on the more serious matters of conversation. It was a relief when Dmitry managed to reign himself back in and Silabus breathed a small sigh of relief. He preferred pacifism over fighting, not that he imagined their talk turning to blows, but the scholar very much preferred discussion over heated debates.

’Ah…her name,’ he zeroed in on that one, ’the only thing she knew, possibly the only thing she cared about. Without that, who is she?’ “It’s possible as at any time something could show up, be it good or bad…but she didn’t seem troubled by such notions before. I suppose questioning her name caused Mao to stop and think a bit more about who she might’ve been. However…” Silabus paused, a little wary of another explosion, but he fortified himself with a deep breath, ”It can’t be ruled out that she may have wanted to forget either. It’s not a possibility I enjoy as memories are something I treasure, and she appears to as well, but neither of us knew her before the loss either…”

Thinking back, Silabus never really considered what Mao might’ve been like before her amnesia, far more concerned with the girl in the present than the version he never knew. The possibilities swirled before his mind before he mentally waved his hand through the cloud: what did it matter? She didn’t exist on any wanted posters nor had there been rumors about the girl that he was aware of, and thanks to her interesting appearance it’d be hard to ignore. If nothing else she remained a virtual nobody in their country at the very least.

”Well, it sounds like you’ve both been through some very different experiences, but I hope you’ll continue to help support her regardless of who she may have been,” Silabus cleared away the three mugs, rinsing them lightly in the sink before leaving them for later. He returned to the table, his hand resting on the chair he’d occupied seconds before and smiled sympathetically at Dmitry, ”I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve gone through either, and I know that request must sound selfish to someone who’s been through a rough time as well. Between the two of us though I know you’ll be there for her more than I can, so I can only hope she can aid you in return. She is, if nothing else, a very grateful girl.”

Footsteps thumped on the stairs as said woman hurriedly returned downstairs, a book clutched to her chest and worried eyes passing between both men, ”I heard yelling, but I had to finish the chapter…is everything all right?”

Dmitry had already given up on explaining this to Silabus, realizing he couldn't possibly understand how important even the painful memories are. 

"It doesn't matter who she was before," he stated with a heavy tone. "She's important to me, even if...I don't know why." Dmitry soon heard footsteps and was greeted with the same person he was talking about, worried about the noise. Of course she had to finish the chapter before checking, he thought with a laugh. Dmitry turned and looked at Mao with and expression he almost never had on his face: a full, genuine smile. "Don't worry, it's fine," he reassured her in a warm, calm voice, far different from the course, careless voice he spoke to most people in or the serious tone wit which he was just speaking to Silabus with. "I overstepped my bounds with Silabus here, but it's settled now, sorry 'bout that." Suddenly, the strong-willed and sometimes bull-headed mage knew exactly what he was signing on for, just as he did with the spirit of earth and the memories it carried. He would never abandon this women, no matter who or what she turned out to be. It didn't matter why he felt this way or what exactly these feelings meant. What mattered is that he cared about Mao and when the time came, he would help her get her memories back. And someday, he would finally go back to that place and take back what he lost.

After that, it became evident that the sun would soon be setting, which meant they wouldn't be hitting the road until the morning. Silabus, being a good friend of Mao's, offered the two mages a place to stay. Mao would obviously sleep in the same place she did when she lived here and Dmitry was perfectly content sleeping in the living room. As night settled, Silabus went off to sleep and Dmitry leaned himself up against a wall that left him invisible to the windows, his coat and hat on the ground next him.

’Overstepped his bounds?’ Had they been fighting? Mao frowned a little at Dmitry, though it held no real menace to it, ”So long as you’re not bullying him or I’ll…I’ll…” Gods what did people do again? What would be a good form of punishment? ”Stick you on time out…or something?” Her voice completely lost any edge as she continued to stare at the ceiling that held the second floor, as if it might offer up a more fitting suggestion or speck of insight. ’That’s something a parent does to a child though…isn’t it? But…prison is kind of like a more intense form of time out…but I’m not going to send Dmitry to prison without a proper reason.’

Silabus patted her on the shoulder, barely stifling a few chuckles as he assured the short woman, ”Don’t worry Mao, I don’t think he requires any form of punishment. He merely shows his caring side in a different form is all, and became a little intense about it. Certainly nothing to warrant a…”time out” as you put it.” Yep, he was laughing at her, Mao could tell despite the man’s kind smile. She settled for a slightly pouting face and a small snort of annoyance, which only served to make him laugh more.

At the end of it all though night was slowly setting in, and rather than have either of them waste money on a hotel Silabus offered the pair to stay the night. He laughed inwardly as Dmitry declined the offer of using his bed, instead insisting on the living room. It was hard to say whether the new acquaintance didn’t feel comfortable stealing someone else’s bed for the night, or maybe suffered similar conditions to Mao wherein he simply didn’t like beds so Silabus merely chalked it up to him declining the full spectrum of his hospitality. Dmitry, if nothing else, struck him as a man who didn’t ask for favors and hardly accepted the full package if any at all.

The closet Mao used to spend her nights in remained as she left it, much to the mage’s pleasure as she snuggled into the comfort of blankets, pillows, and a soft mattress hiding beneath the bundles. ’Just like an animal burrowing in for the night,’ he chuckled inwardly, having that same thought for the umpteenth time. In the morning he waved the pair off as they left, telling them to visit any time and wondering what the future might hold for them.