Desch didn't have enough screentime. So here's a fic all about him and what goes on and his funny little head!

The first thing he remembered was the village.

Well, the second thing. The first thing he remembered was his name, even if he didn't fully understand what a "name" was. So there he was outside the village, muttering his name to himself over and over, as if it might help with fog inside his head clear and let him remember what the names for things were. He saw the colors, but didn't know what they were called. He felt the wind, but didn't know where it came from. He stumbled as the sole of his shoe ripped, and when he caught himself he blinked at it, wondering how that happened and what it was. Everything seemed horribly familiar, but he didn't know why. He didn't know anything! Pictures flashed and swirled in his mind, still obscured by some weird fog, and he just couldn't think a single clear thought except for his name.

Desch. Desch, Desch, Desch…?

"Hello?"

He blinked. That was-a greeting! He looked up at the girl who had addressed him, eyes wide with curiosity. She spoke again, concerned. "Are you lost, sir?"

She was pretty. He liked looking at her. Her hair was… yellow! Wait, she had asked him a question. Was he lost?

"I don't know!" Yep, that was true. He didn't know a lot of things.

The girl tilted her head inquisitively. "You don't know? Do you know where you are?" When Desch shook his head, she giggled. "You're in Canaan! Do you have a map?" He shook his head again, wondering what a 'map' was. "Well that's no good. You'll get lost! I have one at my house that you can borrow. What's your name?"

Desch perked up at that. "Desch!" He smiled widely, finally being able to say something he knew.

The girl giggled again. "I'm Salina."

"You're pretty." He said it without thinking. Because, well, he wasn't really.

Salina's eyes shot open and she blushed, hiding behind one hand. She looked away, embarrassed. "Y-You are, too." She sounded hesitant, but also amused.

Desch looked down at himself. "I am?" Salina huffed at him and grabbed his hand, pulling him along to go meet her mother.

#

The longer he spent with Salina, the more he remembered how to do. He remembered the name for the trees, the grass, a ship on the sea, books, his boots-he remembered all of them after a while. One thing he wasn't expecting was to remember magic.

He was sitting with Salina outside the village, just talking, and he got excited about something-whatever it was,he didn't remember-and he started twirling around in the sun and the wind, just enjoying himself, and he yelled about how much he loved something, and spun around in a circle, and before he knew it he was in the air. Salina yelled in alarm, and he fell back onto his feet and tripped and fell onto his rear, blinking in confusion. He'd cast Aero by accident.

And once he realized that was something he knew how to do, he was all over it. He tried every spell he could get his hands on-out away from the village, of course. A great many of them he was unable to learn very well, but two of them seemed inherent to him. He must have known Thundara and Aero before he'd lost his memory. He didn't remember ever using these skills, but he could do them nonetheless. It was maddening.

And all the while, there was that nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he'd forgotten something very, very important.

One day Salina showed him a pair of earrings. They'd been given to her, but they were much to flashy for her to wear, she said. They fit Desch just perfectly, however.

"Look, you're so handsome!" She showed him her hand mirror, beaming from behind it.

Desch looked at himself. They were quite flashy. He loved them. He beamed back at her. "I'll wear them until the day I die."

"Hopefully that will be in a very long time. Now help me with this!" She was fixated on finding him more handsome clothes to wear. He loved the attention. He loved her. He loved everything! He'd forgive her for trying to replace the robes she found him in with other clothes if it meant she'd continue to fawn over him.

He loved the life he had right then. Part of him didn't want to remember the life he'd forgotten, because it gave him such a bad feeling.

#

Salina looked hesitant. This should be funny. She always made things much more serious than they had to be. "Desch, do you know what a boyfriend is?"

He bit the inside of his lips in concentration. After a few seconds, nothing came to him. "Nope!"

Salina looked like she might try to explain, so he continued, placing a thumb and forefinger on his chin. "But if I were to guess, it has something to do with a boy who is also a friend?" He grinned when she hit him on the arm.

"I'm serious! I… want you to be mine," she blushed. "My boyfriend."

"I'm not already?" Desch smiled for once, with genuine care.

Salina blinked, blushing even harder. "W-Well, that means that you can't go to other girls and act like they're yours! You only get me. And… I only get you. That's what it means."

So that's what she wanted. Why hadn't she just said so? "Well, that doesn't sound too bad."

Salina huffed, frustrated. "Not too bad!?"

Desch chuckled, and took her hands in his. "It sounds perfect." It really did. He loved her, why wouldn't he want her all to himself!? He was surprised he hadn't thought to ask first. He supposed he hadn't even known that was a thing. He wouldn't want to infringe upon her freedom, either. Not unless she wanted to.

It looked like she really did. She was caught off guard by his sudden honesty, and her mouth dropped open. "Really?"

Desch nodded. He had no doubt in his mind. Salina threw her arms around him, and he lifted her off the ground, grinning. Then she kissed him.

Well. That was something he'd never experienced before.

#

It was one of those things he didn't get any old feelings from, so he was sure that he'd never experienced it before. But he did get new feelings. Every time he kissed Salina, he felt like it brought them closer somehow. He felt a pull inside his chest, almost like it hurt. This was a whole new level of love that he'd definitely never experienced before. He never wanted to leave, never wanted to let her go.

But, there was still that feeling…

It got louder every day. Soon, Salina noticed. "Desch? What's wrong?"

He frowned out into the field, his eyes not focused on anything. "I feel like…. I've forgotten something really, really important."

Salina went and sat next to him. "Like what? Do you mean… your family?"

Desch squinted in concentration. "I don't know… It's just this nagging feeling that I should be doing something. I don't know what, though. It seems really important."

Salina took his hand. "You'll remember someday. Don't give up!"

Desch looked at her, worried. "But.. what if it is really important?"

Salina frowned, sadly. "Do you… want to remember?"

Desch felt the wrestling match in his head over what he should be doing. These days, it never seemed to cool it. But now he felt like one side might win. He nodded. "I do."

Salina bit her lip, holding his hand tighter. "What if… when you remember everything… you don't want to be here anymore?"

Desch frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"What if you find out where your home is? And you go home? I… don't want you to leave." She looked away before he could see her tears.

Desch blinked. What? "You think I would just leave you?"

Salina sniffed. "I don't know…"

Desch held her hand firmly. "Salina, if I ever remember my home, my life before… I promise I won't just leave. I love you."

Salina sniffed again, still not looking at him. "You don't even know what that means."

"It means I want to spend the rest of my life with you, no matter what I remember."

Salina turned her head slowly, eyes widened in disbelief, tears threatening to fall. Desch looked her straight in the eyes. "I always come back. Don't I?"

Salina bit her lip, then nodded. Desch took her in his arms and held her, rocking back and forth. "I'll always come back, I promise."

#

He'd been waiting for Salina to meet him outside the village so he could show her something cool he'd found. He'd eventually decided to rent his own room at the inn because the townspeople started gossiping about him and Salina, saying that a couple should never live together unless they were married, that he'd "corrupt" her after a while. It was all nonsense, of course. He was pure as the sun! But that didn't keep them from thinking disreputable things about him. He'd rather just make things easier for Salina and live apart.

So they met every morning and did whatever they wanted to. Today Desch was going to show her a hill he'd found with all different kinds of flowers growing. He'd waited for a few minutes, just enjoying the breeze when something caught his gaze. And that nagging feeling exploded in his head.

It was nothing he hadn't looked at before. He'd just looked a different way, and suddenly it looked familiar somehow. Had that possibly… been the way he'd wandered from?

He stepped forward and didn't stop.

#

Salina waited. And waited. How much longer was he going to make her wait? Was he still asleep, she wondered? She huffed, and went off to the inn to check.

He wasn't there. He'd left early in the morning. He did like to watch the sunrise. She frowned. Where had he gone, then? She checked around the village to see if he'd gotten sidetracked planning some elaborate and romantic scheme. She smiled to herself. She'd forgive him then.

After checking the entire village, though, he was nowhere to be found. "Where in the world have you gone?" She huffed. She made herself busy so she wouldn't think about it. If he was off with some other girl, she'd have his hide.

But… she'd checked the whole village. Nobody had seen him. The frowned, getting a little worried. If he wasn't in the village, then where was he?

She finally got her answer after half a day of worrying herself to death. She finally saw his bright hair in the distance, walking back and carrying something. She fumed, and placed her hands on her hips. "Desch!"

He lifted his head, and yelled a muted 'Salina!' before picking up the pace. He jogged through the tall grass and made it up to her, panting lightly. Salina didn't give him a chance to say anything carefree. "Where were you!?"

She had forgotten. He was always carefree. He wasn't even phased by her anger. "Monsters!"

Salina blinked and her jaw dropped. "W-What about them?"

Desch panted again, holding up the small bag of gold he'd collected. "I fought them!"

Salina was outraged. "Fought them!? That's dangerous! Why were you out there in the first place?"

Desch looked ashamed. She went on. "I was worried! If I knew where you were, I'd have been more worried! Why did you just leave?"

Desch looked at the ground. "I'm sorry… I just… got a feeling." He looked up with determination. "I had to check it out!"

Salina was still angry, but… not as much. It was hard to stay angry with him. "Well… What did you find?"

Desch deflated again. "I… followed it. But after a while, I lost it."

Salina didn't understand. "Lost what?"

"The feeling. Familiarity. It was there, but then it was gone. I don't know where it went."

He looked heartbroken. She just couldn't stay angry with him, especially with a reason like that. He hadn't just left her for no reason, then. He would never do that. "I'm sorry… But why did you just go? You couldn't even leave a note for me? I looked everywhere for you!"

Desch blinked. "... That's a good idea."

Salina huffed. "And don't just run off by yourself. It's dangerous!"

Desch smirked again. "Come on, I wasn't in any danger. Those goblins were nothing to me!"

He blocked a hit and laughed. She tried to explain how she was serious, and he promised to never do anything he couldn't handle. And he would always come back, no matter what. Then he told her he still had that hill to show her.

#

He promised that he'd never just leave, never again.

So, he left a note.

Dear Salina,

I know, you're gonna be angry. But it happened again! I looked at the mountain off in the distance, and I just had to go there! I'll be back as soon as I can, okay? I promise I'll come back.

I love you more than anything.

Desch

He hoped that would be enough to keep her from throttling him to death when he came back. It probably wouldn't be, but he'd get to that when it came. In the meantime, he quickly bought a few provisions with his goblin-killing money, and set off before the feeling went away again.

#

It took a good few days to actually reach the mountain. It seemed much closer than that, but the ground just stretched on and on, and the mountain seemed to always be moving away from him. But my the morning of the third day, he noticed that it was much bigger. Only a little longer!

He still didn't get any hints as to where he'd come from. It was still just that nagging, nagging feeling taking over his mind and propelling him forward. He hoped that he would at least be able to see far once he reached the top, and he could go from there. The monsters near the mountain were vicious, and he really had to work hard to not get eaten alive. By the time he reached the mountain he'd lost all of his extra food and his tent, and he'd regretted ever leaving Canaan.

But he was determined! He'd already gotten this far, and if he was going to die out in the wilderness he wanted to at least know where he came from, first! So he set up the mountain, slipping on rocks and sand and hiding from monsters. If ever he was found, he used as strong an Aero spell as he could muster to blow them off the cliff. He felt a little bad for the ones that couldn't fly, but his guilt quickly dissipated when he heard a great roar above him.

So. That's why they call it Dragon's Peak.

#

Desch sat very, very still as the shrieks around him continued. From what he could tell, the giant dragon-bird-thing had grabbed him and dropped him off, then went looking for more food for her babies. Well, he was not interested in being bird food! So all he had to do was stay calm and find a way out without being pecked to death by these… weird baby things.

After a while of sitting there trying not to make any sudden movements, he realized they really were just babies, and they probably didn't know how to eat him. So he stood up and looked around a bit. The mother was nowhere to be found… did that mean he could escape!? He looked around the nest desperately. It looked like he could get down onto a ledge below and climb down without too much trouble, but… he was on the other side of the mountain than Canaan. How was he going to get back around? And how would he go unnoticed by the dragon? This was all starting to sound like a huge mistake.

As Desch considered climbing down and finding his way all the way back around somehow, he heard the dragon's roar again. He scrambled back into the grass and twigs of the nest, hoping they wouldn't find him again, and before he knew it he heard yelling. Yelling? People? He peeked out from under the twigs and saw the dragon coming back to either drop off more prey, or to feed. He curled into a tight little ball, praying to all the gods he could remember.

Either luck was on his side, or the gods answered his pleas. The dragon was simply dropping off more unfortunate souls. He poked his head out after hearing a few rough thumps and cries of pain. They looked like… kids? Younger kids. How had they been captured? And then he realized, they were people, and he'd been starved from human contact for three days. He laughed, almost hysterically. "I can't believe you guys managed to get yourselves caught by that dragon!"

One of the boys brushed himself off, glaring at Desch. "You're one to laugh! It got you too, didn't it?"

Desch rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Hah, you got me. The name's Desch. Nice to meet you all." He smiled. It really was nice. He didn't think it could get any nicer, and that his luck was bound to run out, right about then.

And sure enough, the fricking dragon came back! The only reason he didn't jump out of his skin like the other four was that he'd heard it so many times already. "The dragon's back, let's get out of here!" When he turned to run and climb out of the nest, the two girls were already halfway out. The boys, however, looked like they might try to be heroic and fight. "Don't even think about fighting that thing! Listen to me and just run, run away!" He bounded over the side and hoped he could catch himself on the narrow ledge without tumbling over the cliff. That would be quite a way to die.

They all managed to get to the bottom of the cliff without too many injuries, all whilst hiding under ledges and in cracks in the rock. Either the dragon was too stupid to know how to find them, or it was too preoccupied with finding easy prey for its babies. Either way, Desch was very thankful to be alive when they got to the bottom.

"Phew!" he exclaimed. "I'm glad we got out of that!" He turned to the others, who were still wary of the dragon.

The silver-haired boy who'd admonished him earlier raised an eyebrow. "Why were you just hanging out up there? When the dragon left to go pick up more food, namely us, you could have escaped!"

Desch chuckled sheepishly. "Well, I didn't think my chances alone were that great, so I hid!"

The blond boy raised his eyebrow this time, and the silver-haired one snickered. Desch pouted. "Hey, you try being out here alone for three days, and suddenly getting nabbed by a dragon!"

One of the girls reeled on him then. "You said your name was Desch?"

Oh no. She looked like she might hit him. "Um, yes?"

The girl went on. "Salina has been worried sick about you! What the heck have you been doing out here?"

Desch's stomach plummeted. "Salina? Is she okay?"

"No? She's so heartbroken, she won't get out of bed, you weasel!"

Desch felt actual pain in his chest, like someone had punched him. Why did that hurt? "I-I, didn't mean to-"

"Okay, okay Refia, there's nothing we can do now! What's done is done. And we've gotta figure out a way back around."

The silver-haired boy saved him from the wrath of the girl called Refia. It didn't make the pain in his chest go away, though. He'd hurt Salina… He'd have to make it up to her. But how? He looked up at the mountain. "There's no way we're climbing up this side again."

"No, it looks like we'll have to go around on foot. And it's not a short distance." The blond boy nodded towards the mountain range to the south.

Mountain range…? "Wait… There's no way through that?"

The quiet girl spoke, finally. "Probably not, and the monsters that inhabit those kinds of places are too dangerous. There's no way we'd get through."

The silver-haired one ran his hand through his hair, sighing. "It looks like we'll be exploring a lot, then." He looked back to Desch. "You're trying to get back home to Canaan? You should probably stick with us until you can find a caravan, or something."

Desch frowned. "Yeah… Sorry, I don't mean to put you out."

Refia deadpanned at him. "You probably need all the help you can get. You don't have any supplies, do you?"

"No," Desch whimpered. "How did you manage to hold onto your things when that dragon grabbed you?"

"Very carefully!" The silver-haired boy exclaimed. "My followers have learned to take very good care of their things. They won't get replacements!"

The blond snorted at him. "Only because you insist on handling the money."

"Hey, I keep it safe!" he laughed. He turned back to Desch. "So, your name is Desch. I'm Luneth. Pleased to meet you." He bowed in a rather frivolous manner. Desch liked this kid. "This here is Ingus, my right hand," to which Ingus deadpanned at Luneth, and bowed slightly to Desch. "This is Refia, our expert in more covert operations, and this is Arc. He's been my best friend since we were born," he grinned.

Desch blinked at the brown-haired… boy? "You're a boy?"

Arc blushed, and frowned deeply. "Yes?"

Desch also blushed, from embarrassment. He put a hand over his heart and bowed his head. "My apologies!"

Arc continued to blush indignantly as Luneth grinned, and muttered under his breath, "Six."

Arc reeled on him. "Luneth!"

"Sorry!" he laughed. "I'll quit counting if you really hate it." Arc grumbled, but didn't say anything to make him stop.

Desch surveyed them again. "What are four teenagers doing out in the wilderness, fighting monsters and running from dragons?"

Luneth lit up at that. "We're the Warriors of Light! We're on a quest to stop the darkness from swallowing everything." He nodded for emphasis.

Desch blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah! Go figure," Luneth shrugged. "I fell into a hole, and the Wind crystal told me to go fight the darkness. Seems like a pretty important task to me. So I went right away!"

"Hey, you forgot to mention how we're all chosen, and not just you?" Refia folded her arms, annoyed. Luneth chuckled, sheepishly.

Desch looked at them. They'd made it this far, and they didn't even look scared! "Wow… You guys look like you know what you're doing."

"Yep! I'm a pretty great leader, right?" Luneth beamed at his companions. All three of them shook their heads at him. He wasn't phased.

Desch hesitated. "... Can I go with you?"

Luneth turned back to him, questioningly. "Huh? You mean… on our quest?"

Desch backpedaled a little. "I-I mean, just travel with you, wherever you might go!" He sighed. "You see… I went to Dragon's Peak because… I lost my memory."

Luneth raised his eyebrows slightly. He didn't even look that surprised, as if that was something he had seen before. "You don't know how you lost it?"

Desch shook his head. "My first memory is of meeting Salina in Canaan. Before that… there's nothing. I get feelings when I see something familiar, but nothing concrete. So when I felt something familiar about the mountain, I went right for it, you know?"

Luneth placed his thumb and forefinger under his chin, thinking. "That does seem like the most logical route to go." He smacked his fist into his other palm. "Alright, you can come with us, and then you'll see more of the world! Then, if you see something familiar, maybe you'll remember everything!"

Desch beamed. "Really? You'll let me?"

"The more, the merrier. Now, do you have any skills? Or are we gonna have to protect you the whole time?" Luneth squinted at him.

Desch had never been more proud of himself in his life. "Is this skill enough for you?" He put both his hands out in front of him, and a strong burst of lightning cracked between his palms.

Luneth jumped. "Whoa! That's pretty cool! Hey Arc, you don't know that, yet!"

Arc stood with his mouth agape. Luneth laughed. "You know any other spells you can teach us?"

Desch laughed. "Only Aero. Magic and losing your memory don't go very well together." Then he remembered, he had a few spells tucked into his hip pouch. He hoped they hadn't fallen out-! "Wait a second-here!" He pulled out the spell for… Mini. Oh. "Uh… I have one other. I hope it finds use in your hands rather than mine."

Luneth took it. "Huh. That might be useful. Anyway, we should get going before the dragon decides to look for food way down here. Onward!"

Desch followed the party, trailing along behind. Everything was turning out much better than he thought it would.

A/N: Okay how do they end up on the Tozas peninsula by just jumping off Dragon's Peak? That's dumb. So I moved the mountain range, that's why Desch couldn't just go back to Canaan. Yeah! Probably only one more chapter after this, we'll see.