"Ateruina!"
"Crysta-Tectus!"
A green beam of energy collided with a bright red crystal, causing a miniature plume of multicolored smoke.
A young man sat up, soaking wet and breathing hard. His eyes were locked on with a pair of rose gold. His anger quickly dissolved as his head began to pound, his body suddenly reacting to immense amounts of pain. Flopping on to his back, the young man stared up at the bright sky above him.
The sound of rushing water told him that he was near a small river, and there were many trees off to his left. He could feel the sand and grit clinging to his wet body. Tendrils of thin, neon red braids and the pair of red eyes floated above his vision.
"Why'd you attack me?" came a soft, female voice. The young man was disoriented and the young woman's question took a few minutes to register.
"I… don't know. Why'd you attack me?" he asked, closing his eyes. His body ached and he was soaking wet for a reason he wasn't quite sure of just yet.
"I was just trying to wake you up." Her voice was cautious and a bit defensive. But there was an unmistakable whisper of curiosity in it. "You were passed out on the bank here. Tapping you or yelling at you wasn't going to wake you up. So I threw some water on you."
Well at least he had an answer for why he was wet.
"Where am I?" the young man asked, finding himself again staring into the rings of rose gold.
"We're in Ephedia's mainland." The young woman extended a gloved hand to the young man. The young man took it and sat up. Nauseated, he cupped his bare stomach and his mouth. The moment passed and the young man realized he wasn't wearing anything but a pair of torn, black pants and only a singular boot on his right foot. Flushing, the young man covered his bare chest.
"What's your name?" the young woman asked.
"What's yours?"
"I asked you first."
"Well I asked you second."
The young woman huffed, but resigned. Clearly she wasn't going to win this. The young man smirked at this.
"I'm Tiana, the princess of Solaris."
The young man's smirk disappeared at the mention of the word "princess."
"You're… a princess?" The question came out more suspicious than he'd intended, but the word princess made him feel guarded, angry, and to his surprise, sad all at once.
"Yes. I'm form Solaris, like I said. The kingdom located in an oasis in the middle of the desert. Surely, as an Ephedian yourself, you know of Solaris?"
"Of course I know Solaris!" he snapped. At the moment, his memory was failing him on information about Solaris. In fact, his memory was failing him on just about everything except one thing.
"Okay…" The young woman eyed him. The young man could almost see her thinking. Was she choosing her words carefully? Was she going to interrogate him to prove his knowledge about Solaris? Was she going to attack him again? What she did ask, however, was none of those things. "Your turn. What's your name?"
It was the one thing the young man knew he knew with certainty.
"…Mephisto."
"So you don't remember anything?"
Mephisto walked – no limped – next to Tiana as they walked through the forest. Mephisto's body ached, and he'd more than gladly stop and rest until his brusies and aches cleared up. But no, Tiana made him walk (and didn't even offer to help!), so Mephisto walked. They were far from the stream bank now, having been walking for roughly half an hour now.
"No," came his annoyed reply. "I have been wronged somehow, clearly. Tricked. Cursed. Jinxed. Something."
"Are you sure? I don't know that I see any magic acting on you?" Tiana said, making sure to keep her distance. Mephisto realized his magic was flaring up, his magic circle spinning lazily in his open palm. He clenched his fist and stared forward. "Clearly you fell. Trauma can cause memory loss if it's severe enough. And from the looks of it, you've taken quite the beating."
Mephisto looked at her through a half closed eye. He didn't particularly care for her commenting on his physical appearance, and it also didn't help that she was taller than he was. Mephisto was tall, but Tiana was obviously a few inches taller than he was. Even without the heeled boots she was wearing, he could tell.
"Well it would certainly explain why my body feels broken in just about every pla-AAAAAH!"
Mephisto crumpled to the ground; he hadn't totally noticed it before – adrenaline or something? – but suddenly there was a burning, piercing pain lancing up and down his left leg. He looked at his badly injured foot. Parts of it were turning purple.
"Mephisto!" Tiana cried out with concern, she knelt down to him, gingerly placing her hands on his back. Mephisto lashed out with his right hand, sending a green crystal into a tree, inches to Tiana's side. She froze.
"I don't need your help," he seethed.
"Your foot is broken," she said simply, but firmly. "Walking on it any further will just cause permanent damage. You want to lose a foot forever?"
Mephsito growled, clenching the dirt with his fists. He knew she was right, but hearing it made him want to rebel. As if to show her that she was wrong, that he didn't need to listen to the advice from a stranger, a princess.
"Let me help you. With no memory, you have no reason to let me not help you…" Something about Tiana's words struck a chord with Mephisto. Why was he acting so ugly towards her when all she was trying to do was help him? All these feelings he was having, he was sure they were there for a reason… But… whatever had caused him to feel that way he couldn't remember any of it. It was in that moment Mephisto had a minor epiphany. Why not start over with a clean slate?
"Okay…" he said, not wanting to meet her eyes. And even though he wasn't looking at her, he could feel her beaming.
"This won't hurt even a little bit." Tiana helped Mephisto stand up. He leaned against a tree, his broken foot dangling as he put all his weight on his healthy foot. "Crystal Armura." Tiana's magic circle flared to life in her open palm as bright red crystal encapsulated Mephisto's broken foot.
"Thanks," he muttered, still not meeting her eyes. He did have to admit, his foot did already feel slightly less painful, but there was a lingering feeling of shame for having Tiana help him. Tiana conjured up two red crystal crutches for Mephisto to use and handed them over.
"Since I know letting me help you walk would be way too much for you," she teased. Mephisto snatched the crutches but couldn't help but smile.
"Where are we going anyway?" he asked as the two began walking again.
"We're headed to a resistance camp."
"Resistance? For what? For who?"
"Wow, you really don't remember anything," Tiana said, staring off ahead, almost lost in thought. Already, Mephisto hated being reminded of his amnesia. "Well, for starters, many of Ephedia's provinces have been raided and pillaged. Even the mainland's capitol palace was taken over."
"Who had the power to do that?"
"An evil sorcerer named Gramoor." Tiana's voice became steely and cold. Mephisto stopped in his tracks, his chest rising and falling quickly. Tiana took a few steps before she realized Mephisto wasn't following her. She looked back; her face at first confused, but was quickly overcome by concern. "Mephisto, are you okay?" Mephisto didn't answer as he tried to control his breathing. Something about that specific name had triggered something inside of him. Memories still weren't coming to him, but his body was tense, his breathing was shallow. That name scared him.
"I think I know at least that name…" Mephisto said after a few moments. "Or rather, I can't remember anything about him, but… something about that name terrifies me."
"Well luckily for you, he's no longer a problem. He was taken out by Princess Iris."
"Iris, Princess d'Ephedia!*"
Mephisto's eyes widened. A vague, pink blur sat in his mind's eye.
"I think I know that name, too…" he muttered. Tiana gave a soft laugh.
"Well, most everyone in Ephedia knows that name. I'd never met her, since she was sent to Earth at such a young age, but I'd like to meet her one day." Tiana looked off in the distance, a small smile on her face. The one brow Mephisto could control went upward and Tiana turned to face him. Her dark cheeks were tinged with red as she noticed him staring at her. "Anyway, let's get going," she said quickly.
Tiana and Mephisto continued – or hobbled in Mephisto's case – down the trail for a while, mostly in silence. They chitchatted here and there, mostly small talk. Mephisto found out that Tiana was practically ruling her kingdom, at just 17, and even with her father still the acting ruler of Solaris. She was the oldest, she had told him. She needed to act like a ruler as soon as she could, set an example for her younger siblings. There were a few things Mephisto could tell she was holding back, but he didn't blame her. He was an amnesiac stranger, after all. She didn't know who he was before his… accident? Incident? He wasn't quite sure what to call it since, as was the theme of today, he couldn't remember anything before waking up to Tiana splashing water on him.
Hours passed, and even though he couldn't see it, Mephisto could tell the sun was hanging low in the sky, casting an orange tint on everything.
"Are we there yet?" he whined, asking Tiana for what seemed like the millionth time.
"We're almost there," Tiana said. Mephisto could tell by the tone of her voice that she wasn't even trying to be patient with him anymore.
"I wish we could fly there, or something," he sighed pathetically.
"Well we can't."
Mephisto gave a big sigh. "I'm thirsty," his voice still whiny. He had managed to get used to the crutches at this point, and he was able to keep up with Tiana's long, quick gait. But his body was still hurting, and he was tired. Tiana looked back at him, her face betraying a small amount of sympathy.
"I promise we're almost th-"
"Tiana!" A new voice said. Tiana's head jerked forward. The trees had been clearing out for a while, and at this point, they were almost gone. Tiana's face lit up when she saw who had spoken. Mephisto kept his eyes on her as she raced forward.
"H-hey! I'm injured here! Wait for me!" Mephisto mustered up any remaining strength he had and powered up to where Tiana and run to.
"Are we here, finally?" Mephisto asked, still not paying attention to the owner of the new voice.
"We are," she said proudly. "Mephisto this is Jodan." Mephisto turned to face a young man and he felt his breath escape.
*A/N: For this fic I'm going to use some small French phrases, and "d'" or "de" usually just means "from" or "of"
