History has been revised 2020/02/01. Originally published in 2016.
Thank you randomadorablepikachu for proofing, and to everyone else, thank you for sticking with this story so far. I appreciate your support.
History
As soon as all Marth's soldiers were ready, they had left the previous battlefield and trekked to Port Warren. It was still peaceful there, and the group took this rare opportunity to rest and take in the sights—something that many of them had been longing for quite a while. Some of those in Marth's ranks banded together to partake in food and spirits at the local alehouse, others went out to the fields to practice with one another, and some decided to go off on their own to explore the port town on their own terms.
Roy took the opportunity to explore the port on his own. He had been walking around the town, but not to sightsee—his mind was preoccupied with the conversation that took place a few days prior with Malledus and Marth.
The history of Akaneia was something he was not very well acquainted with. Whether this was something he had just never known before or if it was because of the amnesia, he was not sure. However, it was something that he could research on his own now that they had a moment to breathe. Perhaps it would be a good way to learn more about the manaketes, or maybe even jog his memory, he couldn't help but think as he walked down the road.
". . . It's worth a shot," he mused quietly.
It took not but a few minutes for him to happen upon a small library that, even though the building was modestly sized, was filled to the brim with books from old to new. Roy could not help but be impressed as he looked around.
It took him a while to find what he was looking for—a detailed history book that recounted the events of the entire known history of Akaneia. Once he found it, however, he made a beeline to one of the small studies near the back of the old building. He pulled out one of the two chairs at a table by the window and sat down, quickly flipping the book open to the very beginning.
Time went by and Roy didn't seem to care—he did not look up from the book for hours as he read and learned. The information about dragons was fascinating to him, as was the history, but what he was reading began to trouble him.
Marth, who had left their place of stay to traverse the town as well, also came into the library. He saw Roy and was surprised—to think that a mercenary would care enough to visit a library and spend time with a book. A small smile graced his expression as he quietly approached Roy, who was still very much absorbed in the material he was reading.
"Roy," he spoke gently.
No response. Marth couldn't help but chuckle, a little amused. He gently placed his fingertips on the table by Roy's book. "Roy," he repeated.
This time, Roy quickly looked up. "Oh, Marth," he said as he slowly closed his book in reflex. "You… what are you doing here?"
Marth carefully stopped Roy from closing the book and shook his head. "There's no need to hide your book, I was just stopping by to see what they had to read, and I saw you here… I must say, I'm a little surprised…" he said quietly, still smiling gently.
"Surprised…? Oh," Roy glanced back down to the book and was quiet a moment. ". . . I suppose it could be surprising… but I've always enjoyed reading."
"Have you?" Marth asked before he slowly moved to sit across from Roy in the other chair. ". . . Do you mind if I join you?"
Roy shook his head. "I don't mind," he said.
Marth carefully sat down in the chair across from Roy at the small table. "Thank you. What are you reading?"
"Ah, I…" Roy hesitated and he averted his gaze from Marth's back down to the book. ". . . I was reading about the history of Akaneia," he said, deciding to omit his particular interest in dragons.
If Marth hadn't been curious before, he was now. "The history of Akaneia? Why is that?"
"Ah, well, I don't remember anything of my past, so I… I figured reading this, it might help me. Maybe I would remember some of these things and I could start to…" Roy trailed off and he bit his bottom lip slightly.
There was a moment of silence as Marth watched Roy. ". . . I see, then maybe I could help you," he finally said.
Roy's gaze returned to Marth's once again. "Help me?" he asked.
"Yes, maybe I could answer some of your questions… or tell you things that history book may not have in it," Marth explained. "How does that sound?"
Marth's generous offer had taken Roy by surprise and he couldn't help but stare at the prince for a moment. ". . . Are… are you sure?"
A small chuckle came from Marth. "Yes, I'm sure," he reassured. "I'll be more than happy to help you, Roy."
The selflessness of the offer caused Roy to blush a faint, dusted pink. His lips pursed and he glanced down to the book once more, unable to look Marth in the face. "Alright. Thank you, Marth."
Marth simply nodded and without a word, got up from his chair. He picked up the chair and brought it over to Roy's side so he could sit beside him. Roy scooted his own chair closer to the wall to make room for Marth on his side. Once Marth had seated himself again, he looked to Roy. Roy kept his gaze firmly cast downward to the book, which made Marth smile a little once again.
"Alright… let's get started then," he said quietly.
Though Roy had already spent a few hours in the library prior to Marth's arrival, the two of them ended up staying there for a few hours more as they read the book together. Although the information in the book was almost all things that Marth had known for quite some time now, he didn't mind looking it all over again to help Roy. The mercenary had several questions for him as they went through the timeline of events and Marth was happy to answer all that he could.
As they read, they got to a section detailing the manakete clans and their differences from one another, as well as their magic and lore. Roy's interest had piqued, and he began to ask Marth more questions.
"Yes, that is how the dragonstones work," Marth said in response to one of Roy's inquiries.
"So… there are different kinds of dragonstones for different kinds of dragons," Roy said quietly. "And… they make dragons more powerful, even if they aren't using the stone actively?"
Marth nodded a little. "That is correct… even if they don't transform into a dragon, when holding a dragonstone, manaketes have more stamina and speed than a normal human. Perhaps it is because of the magic within the stone that reacts with their bodies; however, I am not sure."
Roy went quiet and slowly nodded. He turned his gaze from Marth back down to the book once more and he stared at it. Marth glanced to him. It was clear that Roy wasn't reading now, as his eyes weren't flitting back and forth. Something seemed to be on his mind.
". . . Roy, is something troubling you?" Marth asked politely.
Roy merely shook his head. "No… nothing important," he said. "I'm just… I'm not remembering anything."
This caused Marth to frown a little. "Roy… I'm sorry," he said. "Maybe this just isn't the right way to go about it."
Roy nodded a little in agreement before he carefully closed the book. "I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Marth," he said, sounding genuinely disappointed in himself.
Marth shook his head. "There is nothing to apologize for. If anything, I'm glad we got to do this… it showed me more of the side of you that you only show when off the battlefield. It doesn't happen very often, so I'm grateful."
Roy stared at Marth a moment, searching his eyes as if to see if he was telling the truth. ". . . Perhaps…" he mumbled before glancing down to the book once more. "Looking at it that way, it feels like less of a waste, now."
Marth smiled. "Think positively, Roy. Even if it doesn't happen now, I'm certain you will remember your past eventually."
With that, Marth gracefully stood from his chair. "Now… let's put the book away and go back to the others, shall we? I'm sure you're famished—I know I am."
Roy smiled a little and let out a small breath through his nose. "Yeah, I am."
He rose from his chair as well and Marth pushed his back to its proper side. Roy pushed in his own chair and went to one of the bookshelves off to the right of the table, carefully sliding the old history book back into its proper place. Marth walked over to him and they left the library together. The sun had started to dip behind the mountains in the distance and the sky was tinted various shades of orange and pink.
"We were in there for a while," Marth said. Roy nodded and Marth smiled at him. "Well, at least the day was both relaxing and productive."
They began their walk back to the inn on the other side of town. Though the daylight had almost run out, people were still busily walking about the streets of Warren. The two passed by a number of small merchant stands as they went through the port town.
One merchant stall had been very busy—a group of five or six people had huddled around the front of it, and it was a little difficult to pass it by. Marth squeezed through the small crowd to get to the other side, but as Roy started to go through, a tall man in a dark cloak bumped back into him, causing Roy to stumble slightly.
"A-ah, sorry," Roy apologized as he looked over to the man. He couldn't see the man's face very clearly due to the shadow cast on it from his hood, but he could tell that the man was not one to fuss with. Roy shifted and hurried to Marth's side once again before continuing their walk, and he glanced over his shoulder slightly.
The man in the black cloak was no longer there. Roy furrowed his brow and heard the beginnings of an unpleasant ringing in his ears. He quickly looked forward and shook his head a little to rid himself of the sound. Marth was feeling a little uncomfortable as well and he quickened his pace—because of this, it didn't take long before they had returned to the inn.
Unfortunately for the two of them, dinner had yet to finish cooking.
With a small sigh, Roy turned to Marth. "I'm going to head up to my room for a while… thank you again for helping me today," he said.
Marth nodded with a smile. "Any time, Roy."
Roy turned and made his way up the stairs. His shoulders sagged slightly as he reached the top of the stairs and headed down the hall. Even though he was grateful for the time he spent with Marth today and all the questions he had answered, he could not help but feel like he let both Marth and himself down.
He gripped the doorknob to his room with a gloved hand, and, like he had done times before, found himself lost in the woodgrain before him. He wasn't thinking of much in particular—just floods of words and sounds buzzed through his mind as he tried to find some sliver of consistency in his life.
Consistency in a world of turmoil—a world of turmoil that he still could not bring himself to remember, no less.
Roy closed his eyes and his expression dropped to one more solemn. After a few more moments of standing, he opened the door and quietly entered his room. He was sharing with Merric and Navarre this time, but thankfully neither of them was there. He made his way over to his own bed and slowly sat on it.
There was an odd, almost lonely feeling in Roy's chest as he stared at the empty beds of his comrades, and once again his mind drifted off into a negative place.
Who was he? Why was he here? What had he been doing before this? And now, with his ever-growing doubts, he couldn't help but ask: what was he?
In times like these, he found solace in the one thing he knew had a tie to his past outside of the clothes on his back and the weapon at his side— and however small it may be, it was still something. He carefully flipped open his pouch and fingered around for the misshapen stone that he had been carrying with him ever since Marth's company had found him in the fields.
Roy slowly pulled it out and held it in front of him. He stared down at that prismatic yet dull stone with tired eyes, silently sending it his questions and pleas like he had done countless times before. This had turned into an almost nightly ritual for him—he would find a place to be alone if he could, and he would hold this stone, hoping that maybe he could find an answer somewhere in its greyed-out, swirled pattern.
Sometimes he would get lucky and get a headache coupled with muddled voices and sounds that he couldn't understand. Most times, however, he was answered with nothing but silence.
This seemed to be one of the latter times.
A small sigh escaped his lips and he quietly put the stone away. It wasn't going to happen for him today—he had resigned himself to it.
"I just need to sleep," Roy mumbled to himself as he laid back on his bed.
He stared up at the ceiling for a long time, his mind blank. Never had he felt so empty before, not even when he first awoke all the way back in Galder. The mix of knowing he had forgotten everything plus being totally unable to do anything about it, even after trying all day, had done nothing but sink his mood down to a new low.
Not quite an hour passed, and Marth went upstairs to find Roy.
He knocked gently on the wood of the door. "Roy?" he called quietly.
Upon hearing no response, he opened the door only a crack so he could peer inside. On the farthest bed lay Roy, curled on his side with his back facing the prince. Marth, a little worried, decided to quietly enter the room and walk over to Roy's bedside. He peered over Roy to see his face.
He was sleeping.
Marth slowly let out the breath that he had unknowingly been holding.
"Sleeping," he mumbled to himself before allowing himself a small smile. "I shouldn't be surprised…"
Marth moved to unfold the blanket that was setting on the corner of the bed before gently draping it over Roy's sleeping form.
"At least use your blanket…" he whispered before going silent. "… You've had a long day… rest up. I'll make sure to have a meal left over for you."
Marth straightened his posture before turning and walking back toward the door, where he paused. He looked back over his shoulder one last time before he left the room and closed the door quietly behind him.
This day would be the last peaceful one they would have in a long while. It would not be much longer until Grust's soldiers fell upon the Akaenian League, and battle would commence once more.