I was struggling to think of what words I should say in response to this man in front me. How could he possibly know me? I had a lingering feeling by looking in his eyes that I should remember who he was but trying to dig through my memory retrieved no results.
"How do you know me?", I asked.
The man looked a bit confused, as if I were missing something. He glared into my eyes, as if he were inspecting something.
"Hm, interesting. You're unmistakably him, yet you lack the eyes of a cat and I can also detect that you have very low levels of Undershroud influence within you. No wonder you do not know who I am. I suppose it is my own fault you are this way", the man responded.
"Huh? What are talking about? I have no clue as to what you mean", I asked.
"Apologies for not introducing myself properly. My name is Jose, and you've definitely met me before in the past, you just don't remember it. That is my fault. There was a point in time where I wanted nothing more than to kill you, but I was blind back then", Jose explained.
"What? You tried to… kill me? How should I trust you?", I interrupted.
"Listen to what I have to say please. Yes, I really did want you to die, but I was a much different person back then. See, you and I are fairly similar. We both come from a world other than this one, and we were brought here for a specific reason", the man continued.
"What would that be?", I asked.
"A group calling themselves the 'Agents of the Undershroud' have been seeking a vessel for the Undershroud to fully manifest. The Undershroud feeds on absolute chaos, so a person with high magic potential from another world would do the trick. The culture shock experienced by an otherworldly person can cause a surge in chaos, especially when high magic potential gets involved. Unfortunately, the agents can only repeatedly do rituals to summon new people, and not all of them will have the magic potential they are looking for", Jose elaborated.
"Well, clearly I don't think I have any magic potential. I've just been living with my girlfriend, who's now come down with a terrible illness. I heard you have powers that I definitely do not have. Are you in fact the Undershroud's vessel?", I asked.
"You're wrong, Notarin. You certainly possess a higher amount of magic potential than me, and you are supposed to be the Undershroud's vessel. Yet, you do not seem to remember anything about the time you truly were", Jose responded.
"What does that make you then?", I asked.
"See, there are commonly only two known types of shrouds in each world. I've already explained the Undershroud a bit, and the other one is known as the Overshroud. On the other hand, I happen to be the vessel for a fairly unique shroud known as the Judgeshroud. Unlike the Undershroud, it is not malicious and chaotic in nature, and its only true goal is to maintain a balance between both shrouds in this world", Jose explained.
"So, how did you happen to become the vessel for this shroud?", I asked.
"Well, here's the awkward part. When I was ripped from my own world, I didn't have any powers here. My life back in my world was almost perfect, and I became bitter and depressed when I had that life torn away from me. The agents were the only people I knew to turn to for help, since they happened to find me pretty quickly. I was too cowardly to kill myself, so I decided to go along with them as it was better than nothing. I gradually became filled with hatred for whatever was responsible for making my life turn to shit. I had no common sense, and the agents were feeding me and sheltering me, so I didn't even consider taking them on. The next best thing was whoever became the Undershroud's chosen. I was jealous of them and their power, and it happened to be you, Notarin", Jose explained.
"I can sort of see where this is going", I said.
"Yes. Well, I managed to capture you and your friend by surprise with some fellow agents, and I almost managed to kill you, until a certain man intervened. That's besides the point though. You and your friends left me to suffer on the ground, bleeding out. I honestly don't blame you for that. At that point however, I heard a voice call to me. It was that of the Judgeshroud. At that point in time, I was the one who wanted to destroy the Undershroud itself the most. My desire synchronized me with the Judgeshroud's desire to stop the Undershroud and bring balance back to the world," Jose continued.
"So, how did I end up losing my memory? You said that you were probably responsible for that", I asked.
"The power the Judgeshroud grants me allows me to combat the effects of the Undershroud. I probably synchronized with it before even realizing it, and when I hurt you, I weakened the Undershroud's influence on you. I acted as a poison for the Undershroud. The Undershroud's influence on you was strong enough to give a fight, but my poison worked eventually. That's why you've lost your memory. The Undershroud's influence was so strong, that once it was gone, you wouldn't remember a thing", Jose elaborated.
"What about you? Why aren't you in a rush to kill me now? What powers do the Judgeshroud grant you?", I asked.
"I was a fool back then. I was consumed with rage, that is until the Judgeshroud gave me a bigger picture of things. You were an unfortunate victim of the Undershroud, and it was wrong of me to target you instead of the Undershroud itself. The Judgeshroud gave me powers that could warp reality, and I could even make contact with other worlds. I begged the Judgeshroud to allow me to see my beloved Kyle again, and the Judgeshroud granted me my wish", Jose explained.
"Who's Kyle? Is that your lover? Don't worry, I'm not homophobic, so I won't make any judgements if that's the case", I inquired.
"Kyle is the name of my wonderful pet turtle. He has been my best friend ever since I got him. Kyle was always there for me, and I hated to live without him. Anyways, I have been spending my time using my powers to generate more positivity in this world. The Undershroud has grown weaker as a result, especially with you absent as the vessel. However, the Overshroud in this world has always been significantly weaker, and the balance between the two is not actually considered to be 50/50", Jose said.
"What do you mean by that?", I asked.
"It means that while the Undershroud is getting weaker and that the balance will be restored soon, I will start to losing my powers as a vessel of the Judgeshroud. The Judgeshroud will simply not be necessary anymore once the established balance has been restored. However, the cult surrounding the Undershroud will still exist, and that means that there's a good chance that the balance could be ruined again. Once balance is restored, I could lose my powers and memories like you have. I have to see that the cult gets destroyed before that happens", Jose explained.
All this information was a little much for my brain to process. Did I really forget my time as a vessel of the Undershroud while I was here? That feels like it should be impossible. Jose did seem to provide a convincing case though, and he was still my best lead on fixing Asaho's situation.
"How could you stop this cult? How many members are there? I don't think I can help despite my apparent 'magic potential'", I asked.
"That's the problem. I would need someone like you to stop them, Notarin. You might not know it yet, but we might be able to use some of that magic potential of yours. If the Judgeshroud will let me share a bit of its power with you, we might be able to take the Agents of the Undershroud on!", Jose suggested.
I paused for a brief moment and thought about what he said. I could see that he was anxiously twiddling his fingers in anticipation for a response. I couldn't keep him waiting much longer.
"I will agree to help you, but on one condition…", I said.
"What would that be?", Jose asked.
"You know I'm here for a reason, and that is to help my girlfriend Asaho. She's come down with a deadly illness and I couldn't bear living without her. She means everything to me. I will only help you if you agree to heal her with your powers", I demanded.
"Asaho… Yes! Certainly! I'm so sorry about what happened to her back when she was being held captive by the agents. I would've done something to help her if I wasn't so depressed and consumed with rage back then. I didn't even try to stop the other agents that tortured her and raped her on a daily basis", Jose responded.
"What the fuck? I don't know anything about this! I can't believe something so horrible had happened to her! I want to fucking hit you right now for not doing anything, but I know you are a changed man now, so it would be pointless", I said in shock.
"I guess she doesn't remember anything about that either. Although that is odd. I wouldn't know exactly why she would lose her memories as well. Anyways, it's definitely for the best that she doesn't remember any of that. It would be truly traumatizing", Jose said.
If something that horrible happened to her, she would surely remember it, right? Why hasn't she told me anything about it? I found this a little hard to believe, but everything was a little hard to believe right now. I might as well believe anything now, since I didn't even think it was possible for me to go to another world.
"Take me to Asaho and I'll see what I can do. I won't keep you waiting on this. I know time is of the essence for her. Let's get going now", Jose instructed.
"Isn't it dangerous for you to come out of hiding?", I asked.
"Yes, but I can't be wasting any more time in hiding now. With you around, I might have the best shot of taking down the agents that I'll get. Plus, the agents don't frequent Oxenfurt that much, so I won't be in much danger for now", Jose explained.
I nodded in response and Jose got out of his chair. I noticed that he picked up his turtle to take with him as well.
"Why are you bringing Kyle?", I asked.
"Kyle comes with me wherever I go. No exceptions. I must have him around and protect him at all costs. Sort of similar in a way to your Asaho, although you left her behind", Jose answered.
"It's almost like she's not as portable as a turtle or something", I said in response.
Jose laughed at my remark and then we finally made our way up the stairs from the hideout. When we got outside, it appeared the sun was already setting. I guess a lot of time passed while we were talking. There was no time to lose. We had to get to Asaho as soon as possible.