Walking down the spiral staircase made [Name] almost screech with joy, it was prodigious. He never thought that he would actually get to see it in person. Something so old, yet so intricate. When reaching the bottom of the staircase, there was a spacious room and the nymph from the other day bounded at Carter and wrapped the other in a tight embrace.
[Name] smiled longingly at the pair. Heart twisting in pain, he misses Desmond.
This did not go unnoticed by Stacy, she reached out; she has become quite proficient with reading [Name]. Stacy hates the look of yearning on the other's face whenever he starts spacing out. Stacy wanted to understand what caused the other so much pain, she knew that it wasn't because he lost his memories, because how can one miss what they don't even know? So, he must remember something, to look at the couple like that it must be something he remembered. He is missing something or someone. One can assume that much.
"[Name]," Stacy called out, gently as if not to scare the other, "Are you alright?"
[Name] didn't hear her, so she called out again, walking over to [Name] Stacy grabbed the hem of his sleeve, tugging at him. Stacy watched with concern as [Name] blinked back into the present. The way he looks at her, she knew there was something wrong. The way the other's face looked so haunted, looking so much older than he ought to be.
"Sorry. What did you say?"
"Don't apologize. I just asked if you were alright."
She watched as the other turned to face her, "Yes," he answered slowly, almost as if he was testing his words, "I am fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Are you well?"
"That's good. What are the two talking about?"
Stacy remembered that there were another two people in the room. Her head whipped towards them. The two were whispering about something, whilst looking over at them, that she knew nothing off; Stacy smiled slowly before grabbing [Name]'s hand, giving the other enough time to brush her off if he was uncomfortable. Stacy was surprised when [Name] held her hand and squeezed gently.
Smiling broadly, she walked over to the two.
"Hey, Hadrian! How are you?"
The nymph, Hadrian, smiled at her, "I am well Stacy, you?"
Carter spoke to [Name] who was watching the two interact with soft eyes.
"He told me of the time when you went hunting. Said that you are very proficient with the bow and good at preparing and skinning animals."
Carter chuckled slightly at [Name]'s look of surprise, "I am not that good."
"Well, that's not what Hadrian said, and he doesn't lie."
"..."
Carter walked over to the fireplace and poked at it, the reason why the fire was on in the hidden room is that it was underground, and being underground made it damp and wet so the fire is constantly lit.
Looking around the room, [Name] gaped. Walking around and letting the others converse. It was almost exactly like Asmo's room mixed with Lucifer's. Filled to the brim with books and on the desk, tucked away in the corner, was thick wads of parchment with beautiful writing on them. Upon closer inspection, [Name] saw that it was in Odian.
He started seeing flashes of faces, people that he has never seen before and things that he has never done before. A ringing noise filled his head and an intense throbbing started. [Name] could hear nothing and black dots were entering his vision.
He cringed at the memories flooding his brain; the pain making him double over and fall to the ground. Cradling his head, groaning and whimpering like a wounded animal. The others rushed over to check on him.
The world before him went black.
Stacy ran up the staircase, pulled the lever, and sprints out before she came flitting down the staircase, but not before making sure the entrance was sealed. Rinsing the cloth in the lukewarm water, she dabbed [Name]'s forehead gently. Actions so gentle, and Hadrian had moved [Name]'s head onto his lap to make sure that the other was more comfortable.
"Is he alright?" asked Carter.
Stacy bit her lip in worry, "I do not know."
Carter furrowed his brows, "What do you mean?"
"He is the wounded person we received the other day. Plagued with insomnia and amnesia," her voice trailed off into a whisper.
"He is in great pain," interjected Hadrian, "Some of his old wounds have opened up whilst hunting. I could smell the blood coming off him that day, I thought he would have treated it already," Hadrian sniffed, "It seemed as if he did an amateur job in wrapping his own wounds."
Stacy gasped, "Carter. Move him to the couch."
With difficulty, the three moved [Name] to the couch, laying him down Carter unbuttoned [Name]'s linen shirt, wincing at seeing the crudely wrapped bandages that were damp with blood in certain areas.
"Do you have any bandages on you Stacy?"
She rummaged through her bag and groaned, "No, I don't-"
"Don't worry, we do."
Hadrian walked over to the fireplace and pushed a brick back and a small section of the wall opened; opening the hidden compartment, Hadrian grabbed some ointment and two fresh rolls of bandages. Walking back over, he motioned for Stacy to bring the basin over and then took the dagger from Stacy's bag and cut off the old bandages.
When they took off the bandages, they all stifled their reactions. The wound had festered slightly and was a slight yellow around the wounds. Hadrian used the cloth and rubbed ointment into the wounds as it worked best when applied straight to the wound. It was the moon-grass leaves that healed wounds the quickest.
Letting the ointment work itself, Hadrian instructed Carter and Stacy to prop [Name] up so that they could wrap the bandages around the torso.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
"Do you think he is going to be alright?"
"Stacy, do not worry, we could keep him here with us for a few days."
Stacy protested, slightly indignant, "My family runs a clinic. We can look after him just fine!"
Hadrian sighed, "Fine, but you need to call for one of your sisters to come over. You will not be able to carry him home on your -"
"There will be no need for that," [Name] groaned, getting up slowly, "Thank you for redoing my bandages."
Stacy rushed over and started checking over [Name].
"What happened? Are you alright? Is your head still in pain?"
"Sorry, I just had a really bad headache."
Stacy looked unconvinced, but before she could say anything else, Carter spoke up.
"Training will commence two morrows from now. Will it be alright?"
[Name] looked over, "Yes. Where should I meet you?"
"Here will be fine."
[Name] nodded whilst putting on his coat, and gave his kills to Carter, saying he could keep them and sell them for him. After some persuasion, they finally agreed.
Stacy was fuming silently, she didn't know why she was so angry, but she was. Maybe it was the fact that she was so worried and for absolutely no reason, apart from the fact that [Name] had passed out and she uncovered that he had festering wounds.
"You told no one of your injuries. Instead, you kept silent," Stacy said accusingly.
"It was not that big of a deal. There wasn't a lot you could do -"
"Why are you so adamant about dying?!"
[Name]'s eyebrows rose at the outburst, he turned around to face the girl, her emerald eyes glittery with tears. Opening his arms, Stacy hurled herself into his arms.
Comforting her and letting himself hold her close. It reminded [Name] of holding Desmond in their short time in the previous world. What really weighed down on [Name] was the owners original memory. Because he was found himself in the middle of the King Of Faes hunting grounds, it turns out that there was a reason why he, or the original owner, was there. It was because of the violations of the Fae Law and was exiled with nothing to his name. The original's name was Lennox Iden. He was a Count until some of the other nobles had plotted against him and dragged his name through the mud, and only due to the close connections with the King was he able to escape with his life.
[Name] hugged Stacy tighter, ignoring the gnawing of those memories in his head.
Feeling [Name] hug her tighter, she started weeping, incoherent things spilling from her mouth of how she didn't want him to enlist and face the Shan Ze Bandits. To which [Name] responded, as he repeated what he had said to her earlier during the day.
"I would give anything to keep you all safe," pulling away from Stacy to look her in the eyes, "I won't be able to do this alone, so I will need you and your sisters help as well."
Nodding frantically Stacy agreed. [Name] who had a bright smile on his face, she returned his with a small smile of her own.
"That's good. Now, it's late. Let's get back," he offered her his hand.
She held it gratefully, and they sauntered home. There was no rush and they enjoyed the stars that were up in the heavens, so bright and serene. [Name] ignored his crying heart; leaving Stacy to wonder why his eyes were so teary.
It did not take them too long for them to get back to the clinic. When they entered and were putting their things away at the drawer in the entrance hall, they were greeted with a fuming Mala.
"Where were you two?!"
Stacy felt her anger rise, she never had good control, especially when people got confrontational with her.
Mala jabbed a finger in [Name]'s direction, "Where did you take her?! What did you do to her?!"
[Name] furrowed his brows, "I have not done anything to her."
Mala started shouting and [Name] zoned out, until Stacy had enough and tried to intervene. Their voices raised and both shouting at each other in the entrance hall.
"I am trying to protect you! He is a demon!"
[Name] froze; 'She knows?.'
'Lucian! How does she know?!'
'She was tipped off by one of the spies. They told her you were brainwashing her sister.'
'Oh shit.'
"Oi! Shit-head, I am talking to you! Why are you trying to control her?!"
Feeling anger rise, [Name] clenched his fists and stayed silent.
Mala was incensed, "We should have never taken you in! You should have just died -"
A loud smack echoed and the sisters all held back a gasp as Mala stumbled back a few steps. [Name] looked at his hands, he didn't know if he moved or not until he noticed Stacy was standing in front of him.
"Stacy!" came Lucy's voice, sharp and cold.
The other sisters just watched in shock.
As Mala was about to respond with a blow too, [Name] grabbed her hand. Making her wince at the sheer strength of [Name]'s grip.
"If you would let me explain. Instead of throwing accusations and having nothing to back them up. So, go and wait for me in the living room," he looked at all of them, "All of you."