Chapter 2:
A/N: I was playing Okage Shadow King, trying to beat the game (I just finished The Deep Grave Pit, BTW). I had been stuck in the Endless Abyss for too long, and I FINALLY beat that area. In less than two days, here I am, about to kill Epros in a bit though not yet, because I'm taking a huge break. I'm afraid I'll be owned.. Stan's Epros joke in this chapter is kind of…dumb. XD It's his sense of humor, I guess. Or mine.
On a side note, my little sister thinks Epros looks like a girl and his floating is creepy. I agree with the floating bit. It REALLY creeped me out at first.
Anyway. Beating more of it gave me ideas for this story! Enjoy! I think my favorite town is Triste and Madril. Triste town makes me feel SO SAD every time I enter it, though. It feels like Ari's home to me…So, what's going on with Ari? Hopefully you can find out a bit of it in here. And since I'm obsessed with Triste (just a little, though), you'll see more of it in later chapters.
Chapter 2:
Ari's "Accident"
As always, the Evil King Stan was fuming. "Accident? What sort of accident? Tell me, James, or I'll rip you a new –"
"She didn't really say. She just said that…you know, he couldn't even remember who his parents were." James attempted to cover up his blunder of not getting more information from the woman, Ari's mother, by telling his king all that he did know. Needless to say, he was very embarrassed. "S-So, my lord, I'm sure that if he doesn't even know who the people who gave him life were, then he won't remember you."
"What are you talking about, James? Of course he'll remember me. I'm King Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV. He'll remember. Go fetch him tomorrow using whatever means necessary. I wish to see him." Stan waved James off and attempted to continue his workload of kingly papers at his desk in his room. Still, the little what if nibbled at the edges of his mind, refusing to let him work peacefully. What if he really didn't remember him? What if…
The door closed ominously as James left the room. Even cast in completely black shadows, Stan could still read and write things on the big, political pile of papers that were delivered to him daily, giving him no rest. This was the part of being King that Stan did not find fetching. But this was also why he needed to pet to help him relax with.
That was all he was thinking of everyday. How much use Ari would be to him.
But was that all he could think about? Was he just going to use Ari for his own benefit, and then toss him aside for someone else to pick up when he was bored?
Wait. That was exactly why he wanted Ari to be his pet.
No need to worry.
Right?
As he wrote his little kingly things on his kingly papers, Stan continued to think. How long was it since he last saw Ari? One year? Ten? Time was easily confused when you lived for hundreds of years at a time. Days melted into years too quickly for one to notice. Soon, all concern of the political papers was lost as the King racked his brain for a logical answer to his question. It couldn't have been too long, could it?
Refusing to admit defeat and call James into his room again, Stan stood and paced the room, thinking.
"It must have been at least a couple of years…then…because right after we finished the journey and split ways, I conquered that one place…" he muttered. Soon, his string of words became incoherent, and the meaning of them was lost. But suddenly, he burst out, "I haven't seen Ari for…one year? Two? Oh, wow. I thought I hadn't seen him for at least three months. Sucks for him, I suppose."
"Actually, my Lord…!" Once again, James invaded Stan's personal space as he appeared a couple of inches from his king's face. "You haven't seen him for three years."
"Three years!" The King exclaimed, raising his hands in the air and forgetting about James's clear lack of the meaning of the word, 'space.' "Where did the time go? In fact, I owe my throne to him – in a way – and I don't visit him for three years? That must be a lot of time for a human. Come on, James. We're going right now."
"But, my Lord…The boy could be unstable, and you must finish your work."
"Screw the work!" Stan shouted behind him as he swept out of his dark and gloomy room and into the light.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV burst open the door to Ari's bedroom, ignoring protests from the said boy's parents and even James as they followed them all the way there. He surveyed the living space, finally realizing that it had changed quite a bit from when he last saw it.
Ari appeared to be sleeping, and around his bed were a few machines that had wires, which connected to different parts of his body. The whole room was trashed. It looked like a tornado hit it. His drawer had fallen and split open, pieces of wood on the floor, along with some dangerous bits of glass and a few of his clothes, which were torn and scattered, as well. Even the rug looked like someone had destroyed it with their bare hands. A thin layer of dust started to cover the mess. All of the damage ended up on the right side of the room. The boy's bed was on the left, and completely unaffected.
Ari himself was sleeping so soundly that Stan was beginning to think that he was dead. But a little heart monitor on the immediate right of the boy proved otherwise. His heartbeat was steady, though a little slow.
"What happened here? It looks like Epros hurled all over the floor." The King commented, chuckling slightly at his own joke. But when no one made a sound except for the whirring and beeping of the machines, he stopped. Thinking of the name Epros made him ponder about their travels a little more deeply. But what happened to Ari? "Man. Woman." He said, ordering Ari's parents to explain. "Tell me what happened to him…and his room…is this even a room?"
"Ari just went bonkers one day after he lost his memory and destroyed his room. If we try and clean it he smashes stuff again," his father explained.
"Says he likes it that way," his mother continued.
"Sounds horrible!" James exclaimed. "See, Master? The boy is unfit to be your slave any further. What if he tries to destroy the castle, or your antique furniture?"
"Unless we cure him of his aggression," Stan said. "It should be easy. Now, what happened to him?"
"One day he just…left," Ari's dad started. "He came wandering back here a month later, confused and not knowing who we were. So we took him back in. We assumed something happened to him."
"An accident," Ari's mom finished.
"Hmm…" Stan mused aloud. "There are many possibilities as to what happened to him. Perhaps we should take him in. If we care for him and try remedies to cure him, then maybe he will get his memory back…"
"But, Master –" James cut in.
"But nothing, James. Let's take him in. And no arguing from you two," The King pointed to Ari's parents. "He will be under good hands. Besides, I'm the King. You can't argue with me."
The boy's parents didn't know what to say. They left the room shortly, unsure of Stan's 'good intentions.'
The King crammed himself next to the boy's bed somehow, the machines taking up all the available room. He looked down at Ari, noticing how he had changed. After three years, the boy was about nineteen, but he still had a small build, even though he looked a tad older. He still had his bright red hair, and his skin was very pale, unlike Stan's. Although the Shadow King couldn't see the boy's eyes, he guessed they were still the same, wondrous shade of green that they were before.
It almost looked like Ari couldn't survive with all of those machines attached to him, so Stan ordered James to teleport everything back to his castle.
The King thought about how the journey had ended as he entered his home again. After he had gotten his human form again, he said a quick good-bye to everyone and left almost immediately. He knew that Rosalyn was still training to beat him (or so it said in the death threats that he had received from her), and Linda was a famous Teen Idol. Kisling also got famous off of his research of "classification" and ghosts, and Big Bull appeared here and there, calling him "brother" and leaving before Stan could get a chance to chop off his tail. Epros was probably with Linda, but the mysterious man could be anywhere at this point. Stan pondered a little more. So, did they all just leave Ari alone, then? Ari was the sort of person that people could just forget.
Maybe he left his house to look for them, and he got attacked by monsters.
Stan curled his fingers into a fist. He should have been there for him.
Blinking, the King shook his head. Where did that sudden protectiveness come from? Oh well. Still, how had it been so easy to forget that Ari had even existed?
Stan remembered a little bit of when they visited Triste. After he stepped up on the power-amplifier at the back of the sewers, his memory lapsed and he was suddenly back in Ari's shadow in the strange town called Triste. Back then, he had forgotten who Ari was. He was just the King. Maybe it happened again?
But why didn't Ari have his memories?
Stan glared at the mirror in his room at himself, promising to restore Ari's memories and find out more about Triste.
