Chapter 3 – Settling In

A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for support. This was a tough chapter to write, but I'm glad I got it done.

Heads up, angst and feels ahead!

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"Let's see now…"

Sam grumbled as he watched the doctor tinker around with a machine from his spot on the hospital chair.

She had insisted on taking him to the hospital for some check-ups to make sure his body was adjusting well to the weather, food, and everything else that he might not have experienced back in his time. Honestly, he didn't see the point in them. Besides the occasional bad dream or fleeting memory, he felt perfectly fine but decided this would just be something he would have to put up with for now.

"I know you don't like it here, Sam, but no harm in making sure, right?" she said chipperly as the machine hummed to life. She scanned him with a device in her hand before checking the monitor again for results. "Everything appears normal so far…"

I could've told you that. He thought with an eye roll.

"But still, your body temperature is abnormally low. I thought some time outside the cryonic pod would yield some results, but nothing has changed yet." She looked at him with a serious expression. "Are you sure you feel alright?"

"I'm fine!" he huffed, throwing his arms up. "Nothing's wrong, I'm telling you!"

Biting her lip, the doctor switched off the machine. Relieved, Sam hopped off the bed and followed her out of the room, wishing to be out of this place as soon as possible. Maybe it had something to do with his old life but being in a hospital put a bad taste in his mouth for some reason.

"Oh, Dr. Campbell!"

Sam whirled around to see a blue-haired woman coming their way. It stunned him when he noticed half of her face seemed to be made of metal.

"Sam, this is Dr. Gross. She's an educator and a friend of mine," Minerva explained.

He blinked. "Dr. Gross?"

The woman laughed. "I know, I get that a lot, but it's nice to finally meet the new face on our islands. You caused quite the commotion around here since you showed up."

"Uh...sorry?"

"If it's alright, I've just been dying to ask you some questions about your hideout. My Seekers are still searching that place," she said.

Minerva thankfully stepped in. "Sam hasn't recovered his memories yet, so he can't answer any questions about the bunker."

"That's a real shame."

Sam couldn't help ducking his head as she kept staring at him. She was smiling in a friendly way, but there was a glint in her eyes that made him uncomfortable; something cold, hard, and analytical. She was looking at him as if he was a frog in a school lab.

The two women talked on, but he hardly listened to any of it, resisting the urge to sprint in the other direction.

"Sorry, I wish we could talk more, but I have to take Sam home," Minerva finally said and Sam withheld a sigh of sheer relief.

"Don't let me keep you here then," Dr. Gross said good-naturedly. Sam was quick to dart after Minerva. He dared a glance behind him and noticed the teacher was still staring at them with that vague smile of hers, and he felt a chill run through him.

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"Doctor, I was thinking of finding a job."

Minerva glanced from the road for a second to him. Her pleasant expression must have wavered because his excited face drooped a little.

"Is…is that bad? Am I too old to get one?"

"No, no! It's, uh, nice to see you warming up to our city, but now might not be the proper time yet. You need to adjust to life here first." She felt that was putting it lightly. While she was aware that he meant well, she could think of so much that could go wrong from this request. The old man was not used to the way things worked on their island and the people weren't used to him either.

He seemed to understand this from her reaction and smiled. "I know I'm unfamiliar with a lot of stuff on the island and obviously have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm sure I can learn if you guys will give me a chance."

He looked so nervous yet hopeful and she realized she didn't have the heart to outright deny him his request. "I'll…have to think about it for a while," she said. Martin probably knew a few places with easy part-time jobs that might work for him, and she would have to ask him about it later, but the idea of sending Sam out into the city on his own didn't settle well with her. Normally, Finn or her husband would be with him, and that helped her feel at ease about it.

"Thanks, that's more than okay," he said politely, clearly having been expecting a rejection from her and appeared somewhat pleased. Her eyes then drifted to the golden crown strapped to his waist and she came to the realization that she had never seen him without it since she had given it to him that day.

"Sam, there's something I wish to ask you about."

"Oh, w-what's that?"

"That crown of yours. Have you remembered anything about it?"

Caught off-guard, he tensed up and looked away. "Not really."

"Then would it be alright if I take it to Dr. Gross?"

"What?" he turned to her with wide eyes, his hand absently gripping the crown. "Why?"

She couldn't help the guilty chuckle that escaped her. "Well, my husband made this strange observation about it once. He said something about it not being an ordinary relic. Silly, isn't it?"

She had expected him to be amused by this, but the look on his face was one of frozen shock. She recognized that look anywhere, having seen it numerous times over the years with her son and husband whenever she caught them doing something they knew they shouldn't. The only difference was that the old man's expression was one of concealed dread.

"Sam?"

"A-ah, yeah, yeah." He scoffed. "Where did he get such an idea!"

Frowning, she eyed him closely. "Anyway, I didn't think much of it at the time, but I don't see a reason not to check. Dr. Gross has a lot of equipment in her lab that can tell us more about your crown. I can give it to her during our next meeting."

He wore a conflicted look for a moment and then his posture turned defensive. "I would rather keep it."

"I know you haven't gotten to know her the same way you did with us, but Dr. Gross and I have been acquaintances since I began my career. She's in charge of the Seeker program which protects our island. I can assure you she can help."

"She kept looking at me all weird."

The doctor blinked, having not known that, and sighed. "I'm sorry about that, Sam. I don't think the people of the island can't be faulted for this, however. Regardless of our technological progress, this is still a small island and everyone practically knows each other. We never see a new face around here. The only visitors we get are from the nearby islands, which exist mainly for the purpose of research and luxury. I'm sure people will get used to you once you've been around long enough."

She soon stopped by their house. "Can I have the crown back? It's just for a little while, I promise." She held out her hand and he looked cornered before blurting out.

"No!"

Minerva's brows furrowed. "Now Sam…"

"Please, I know you're trying to help, but…out of everything in that bunker, this crown is the only thing I felt some connection to. I can't bring myself to let go of it, not until I make sense of who I was."

She stared at him, unsure. Checking her watch, she realized she didn't have the time to argue on this matter and gave in. "Very well. I should be heading back to the hospital. Take care of Finn while I'm gone!" With that, she drove away, taking one more glance at him through the rearview mirror before he was out of sight.

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Watching the car leave, Sam reached for the crown. He fought hard to keep this crown with him despite still having no idea what it was for or why it mattered to him so much. He knew he studied this relic at some point, but that was all his memory had to give. As far he was concerned, it had caused him nothing but grief and disturbed his sleep, yet he couldn't bring himself to let the doctor take it away, regardless of how sound her plan was in hindsight.

"No ordinary relic…"

A gentle breeze played with his white hair as his thumb traced one of the red gems.

Something flickered at the front of his vision, and he looked ahead to see a shadow floating over the road, obscured, and distorted as if its body wasn't made of anything solid. He couldn't bring himself to look away, gripped by an uncanny sensation in his head.

"There you are!"

His horrified trance was shattered when a shout came from behind him, followed by something slamming onto his leg. Almost tumbling down into the road, he fixed himself and looked down to see Finn gripping onto his leg.

"I've been looking for you!" the boy said.

A hand on his chest, Sam wheezed. "Finn, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

The boy shrugged and grabbed his hand. "Come inside. I have something to show you!"

He led him to the door and Sam looked to the road to see, as he predicted, the shadow gone.

The child left him in the living room and asked him to sit on his couch while he fetched something. "I've been wanting to play with me all week and we finally can now that my game is fixed."

"Oh, alright. What are we playing?" he asked. Spending time with the child might cheer him up a little.

"Here!" Finn passed him a weird silver headset, resembling a pair of goggles.

"Uh, what am I supposed to do with this?" he asked awkwardly.

The boy stared. "You mean never had one of these before?"

Sam frowned. While his memory hadn't been the most reliable, nothing about the headset felt familiar at all. "Not really."

"You just put them on like this-" he demonstrated by putting the goggles over his eyes and then pressing a button on the side before slumping against the couch in a relaxed manner.

Sam thought that was simple enough and did just that, though he still had no idea what this was all about. A blue filter then fell over the living room, and the world went white for a second. The next time he opened his eyes he gasped as he found himself in a forest.

"Good. You're here!"

Turning to the voice, Sam was surprised when he found the boy dressed in armor and carrying a glowing orange sword. Sam also realized his clothes had changed, too. He was wearing dark attire with a flowing purple cloak. In his hand was a steely staff with a blue orb adorning it.

"Oh, you're a spellcaster. Not bad."

"Finn, what's going on? Where are we?" he panicked, his head spinning from the bright colors and burning sunlight. "What happened to the house?"

"Right, you never played this before. This is Scourge Lands, the game I was telling you about. Practically everyone in the city has one of these," he motioned to the side of his head where the set should be. "It's all about hunting mutants and protecting the world from their gross, slimy fingers. I usually play with my dad, and he always picks the guy with the hammer." He laughed. "We even dragged mom into playing with us one time and it was a mess! We ran out of a cave screaming when this huge slug with human arms started chasing us."

Sam's mind couldn't comprehend what the boy was talking about. They were inside the game? He gazed at the lush trees, the light peering through the branches, and the large mushrooms. "What's a mutant?" was the first question that stood out in his mind. He had been hearing that word a lot lately, mainly directed at him whenever he was outside the house.

The boy scratched his head. "Oh, um. I don't really get it myself, but they're like these creepy monsters that showed up after the world went bonkers. They're the reason we're staying on this island all the time."

"I see."

"I'm not scared though! If one shows up, I'll punch it in the face!" Finn said, thrusting his fist into the air.

"Do they show up on the island a lot?"

That gave the boy a pause. "Uh, I actually never seen one before. Our teacher just showed us some pictures of them."

Sam raised a brow at that, but before he could question the reliability of that something suddenly moved in the bushes.

"There's one!" Finn raised his sword while Sam took a step back. A small mushroom man pushed its way through the bushes, not even reaching their knees. Growling, it lamely nibbled at Finn's foot.

Sam blinked, beyond lost. "Uh…"

The boy groaned. "Mom messed with the game again!" he kicked away the mushroom creature, watching it explode into a pile of green goo. "One sec." He began fiddling with his headset and pressing some buttons. "There!"

"Can we actually get hurt here?" he asked, suddenly realizing how dangerous this sounded.

"Nah, whenever you get hurt, you kinda lose 'points'. If you run out of them, you will lose the game and wake up in our living room. Easy stuff," Finn said.

Sam slowly nodded, relieved and slightly intrigued. Everything here felt so real and vivid. If Finn hadn't explained it to him, he wouldn't have known it was just an illusion.

"Why don't you try doing some spells?"

"Huh? I…I don't how."

"Just hold your hand up and think about doing one. Give it a try."

Unsure, Sam did just that and imagined something happening. To his shock, tiny flames flared from his fingertips. He flexed his fingers in disbelief while Finn cheered.

"Great. Now let's get going!"

Not long while they traversed the forest that they were ambushed by a horde of what Sam could describe as gaunt, goblin-like creatures with that acidic green liquid leaking out of their bodies.

"Finally!" Finn dove in with his sword and began slashing through them.

Despite the previous reassurance, the old man couldn't help fearing for the child's safety. "B-be careful, Finn!"

"Don't worry, I got this-" the boy stopped after the mutant surrounded him from every direction. "Uh, a little help?"

Snapping out of it, Sam tried what he did earlier and blasted a monster with a fire spell. Stunned at his achievement for a moment, he cried out when the horde deemed him as the bigger threat and turned their yellow eyes on him. It was a flurry of sword slashes and blasts of magic for a while until the last mutant was brought down. Sam had been smacked a ridiculous number of times while Finn hardly got hit at all. It was embarrassing, to say the least.

"Sorry for goofing up so much."

Finn waved his hand with an easy smile. "It's fine. You'll get the hang of this in no time."

They eventually made it to a bridge and, as they crossed it, Sam was in shock by the breath-taking view below. There was a whole valley and a town below.

"My dad and I cleared up that place last week. That's where I got this awesome sword!" Finn said proudly.

"You mean you can actually go there?" Sam said, bewildered.

"Yeah, you can go anywhere, basically," Finn said and went on telling him of venturing through toxic swamps, mountains full of living trees, and discovering a town swarming with oversized insects. By the end of it, Sam was in awe.

"It must be incredible. Getting to go on adventures like that."

Finn frowned. "It's fun and all, but I would rather go on a real adventure. See actual places." He then inspected the map. "We haven't explored this part of the forest yet, but there should be a treasure just up ahead. It's probably guarded."

The two of them ended up running into more mutants, but this time Sam was ready. He launched fireballs, bolts of lightning, and gusts of frost at them. The more spell he used, the giddier he felt.

A warm feeling was coursing through his veins. This whole magic thing just felt…right to him somehow.

"Calm down, Sam. The mutants are gone," Finn called out and Sam blinked in surprise, having not realized that in his rush of excitement. The boy laughed. "You're really getting into this."

Blushing, Sam rubbed his neck. "Maybe a little." He yelped when a treasure chest burst out of the ground in front of them. Looking thrilled, Finn opened it and got a red cape, putting it on right away. It had golden draconic wings on it. "Just wait until dad sees this. He's gonna be so jealous!"

Sam smiled. "I'm glad to be of help."

"That should be all for today. We can come back and play another time."

That had the smile fall off the old man's face. "That's unfortunate. I actually wanted to see more of this."

Finn blinked and rubbed his chin. "Well, sure! There's this dungeon I've been wanting to check out. The game's instructions say it's full of scary skeletons." He clawed the air dramatically, causing the old man to laugh.

"Then let's go there!" Sam said, honestly just glad to prolong their stay. The feeling of magic on his fingertips, and how he could easily get rid of a problem with a flick of his wrist was just amazing. Back in the real world, everything was so confusing, weird, and complicated, but here it all felt so simple, fun, and he didn't feel as if everyone was judging him the whole time.

The two of them made their way through some dark woods with looming trees until they found the dungeon Finn was talking about. Beaming with excitement, Finn led him down into the darkness. Thankfully, the orb on his staff glowed blue the further they descended, giving some much-needed light. Despite having no control over it, he was glad about that, as it made him feel more useful here. Just in case, he held up a fireball to spread the circle of light further.

As they walked down the stone staircase, Sam felt unease building up at the back of his mind. The darkness, the narrow pathway, and the fact that they were descending into some underground ruins left him feeling dizzy. This is like the bunker-

Stop it! He almost said out loud, pushing the thought down. He was here to enjoy himself and for once he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that. Where did that even come from? Hadn't he told everyone he had no memories of that place?

"Careful. There will surely be some traps around," Finn told him, keeping his voice low. Of course, it was at that moment that Sam stepped on something, and a soft click came from within the walls. The floor disappeared and they plummeted into the darkness, screaming their lungs out. Slamming down into something hard, Sam was surprised at the lack of pain he felt. The fall should have shattered all their bones, yet they were both alright. "Probably should have told you about that sooner," the boy said awkwardly.

They were in an ancient chamber, lit only by the faint blue glue of the torches. Low moans of monsters began coming from beyond the walls. Several stone doors suddenly lifted, and an army of skeletons trudged into the room.

Yes! Sam grinned despite the legion of horrors coming for them. His fingers sparked with magic, and he summoned a pillar of ice that tore its way through their numbers. He felt his strength grow with every mutant he struck down. Finn was running around chopping his way through the skeleton warriors with his sword, shouting about something, but Sam heard none of it through his frenzied thoughts.

Once he blasted the skull of the last skeleton, a door glowed and opened. They made their way out of the chamber and proceeded through the dungeon with him beaming with glee. It had gotten to the point where he wished mutants would show up just so he could destroy them with his magic. The boy was oblivious to this though.

Finally, they made it to what seemed to be the final room. It was massive, with torches hanging at every corner. A giant skeleton was sitting on a throne, wearing a spikey, glinting crown with an eye-shaped gem at the front.

Finn whooped. "This is it!"

Sam grinned sharply, his hands crackling with power.

And that's when something changed.

The flames in the torches flared green. The skeleton king woke up, the eyes in its empty sockets a toxic green color. Sam's body went slack under its gaze. The monster stood, reaching for an old axe and shambling toward them with a permanent skeletal grin.

Maniacal laughter bounced around the old man's head followed by the unearthly wail of a thousand dying voices.

"Sam, come on!"

His eyes remained locked with the approaching monster.

"Sam, what's wrong?" Finn's concerned voice came, yet he saw nothing but the green fires and that leering, wasted face cackling at him.

A scream tore its way out of his throat. His hand instinctively reached for the pressure around his head and ripped the headset off, causing the horrific place to melt away. He fell off the couch as the real world reeled into his view, yet the withered face of the monster was on the walls, the floor, and everywhere he looked. His chest was burning, and he struggled to breathe. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will it all away.

He hardly noticed Finn taking off his headset and rushing to his side. "S-Sam, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Sam couldn't say much, his arms hugging his legs so hard it hurt.

"I'm gonna call mom!"

"NO!" Sam cried out, reaching out desperately to the boy. Finn met his frightened gaze with his own. "Please…please don't!" he already caused this family so much trouble. What if they decided he wasn't worth it and took him back to that hospital room?

"But-"

"They might send me away!"

"W-What do I do then?"

"Just…just give me a minute. I promise I'll be okay," he insisted. The boy looked torn up with tears in his eyes, and it made Sam feel worse. He buried his face into his knees while trying to calm himself, feeling his own tears streaming down.

He then felt the arms of the child gently wrapped around him in a hug. Sam blinked through his tears as the boy's head rested against his shoulder. They sat like that for a while until he was breathing evenly again and swallowed. "Thanks."

"It's fine."

"I'm sure you're tired of being around me. I keep messing everything for you guys."

Finn shook his head and didn't let go. "You're my friend now, even if you're like hecka old. Everything's been more fun since you showed up and I always wanted someone to play with other than mom and dad."

That made Sam frown. "What about your friends?"

Finn's shoulders drooped a little and he shrugged. "The other kids think I'm weird because I keep talking about wanting to go on adventures and stuff. I thought you were going to say the same thing when I told you about it in my room that one time, but you didn't."

His heart broke a little at that. "That's because there's nothing wrong with that. I don't think you're weird at all, Finn. You're a wonderful kid!"

The boy laughed and then frowned as he looked back to the abandoned headsets. "I guess no more Scourge Lands for now."

Sam bit his lip, thinking of something else they could do. "This might sound dull, but we can make...paper planes? I think I still remember how to make those," he suggested awkwardly.

Finn tilted his head. "What's a plane?"

Oh jeez.

After fetching a stack of paper from the boy's bedroom, Sam showed him how to fold each one into the shape of an airplane. He then tested it by tossing it and watching it glide clumsily across the room. He thought this wasn't all that impressive considering the boy had floating planet models in his bedroom but was surprised when Finn appeared to like it and was quick to try making his own. It looked floppy and didn't go far. Sam snorted while the boy demanded another attempt to prove himself. By the afternoon, the two of them were outside and were flying their planes across the yard. The neighbors nearby watched them, bewildered, yet for once Sam didn't care.

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When Finn's parents were both back that evening, Martin called for their attention. "How about we order some grub for tonight?"

"Alright, but whose turn is it to pick?" Minerva asked playfully.

"Me!" Finn said, raising his hand as high as he could.

Martin shook his head smugly. "Nope, you ordered last time, champ. It's my turn tonight."

Minerva sighed. "Marty, your choice of food is always so…greasy."

"Greasy and delicious," Martin said proudly as he typed away on his phone.

In the meantime, she turned to Finn. "So, what did you two do today?"

"Uh…" Finn's eyes darted to Sam who panicked and then he forced a grin. "We played a lot of Scourge Lands!"

Martin laughed when Minerva gave a shudder. "Come on, honey! It wasn't that bad!"

"Being covered in virtual slime isn't exactly my idea of fun," she rubbed her neck. "I had to shower twice just to get the feeling of it off me."

"So, how did it go, little guy?" Martin asked them.

"It was awesome! You should have seen Sam. He's really good at it and helped me get a brand-new cape!"

That got the old man a dry look from Finn's dad. "I see. So, you're saying I have some competition now."

"Sorry!" Sam muttered, ducking his head. The other man chuckled.

"Jeez, gramps, I was only messing with ya. You sure like apologizing a lot, don't you?"

"Sor-" he blushed and snapped his mouth shut before he did it again. He supposed Finn's dad did have a point. "I just don't wanna bother you guys."

"Don't worry, you're not!" Finn said and reached for the couch pillow. "Catch!" he tossed it over to Sam who caught it clumsily with a smile.

"While we wait for dinner, how about you two give me a hand with moving some of the boxes in our attic. It's gotten too cluttered in there," the doctor said.

With a shrug, he followed the boy and his mother upstairs. Lowering the ladder, Finn went up first and Sam climbed hesitantly. He then gazed around, noting with some confusion that the place was emptier than he expected, with many of the belongings stored inside boxes. It seemed to have been cleaned recently, as he saw no traces of dust anywhere.

"I don't get it. It looks good to me," he said and then noticed a few items left on the ground and went over to inspect them. It was a bedroll coupled with a few books and a lamp placed near the attic window. He glanced back to the mother and child, noting their knowing smiles. It finally dawned on him what this was all about, and his chest tightened.

"So, what do you think?" Dr. Minerva asked. "We knew we can't have you sleeping on that couch all the time, so we cleaned up the place for you."

"N-no, I can't accept this. This is too much!" he stammered, despite knowing the futility of his protests.

"Come on, Sam. You've got your own room now!" Finn said, beaming as he ran around the attic. "It's even bigger than mine, which is kinda not fair, but still cool! I even added my own touch to it!" He pointed to the ceiling where two faintly glowing planets drifted around.

Minerva hummed. "I still question the safety of having those around, but I will admit; they do make the place look nicer."

Sam's eyes misted over and he swallowed the lump in his throat. "Thank you, all of you."

"Are you guys coming down or what? The grub's gonna get cold!" Martin's voice came from downstairs.

"Coming!" Minerva said, laughing as she climbed down while Finn urged her to hurry up before his dad ate everything. Sam watched them go and sat next to his bedroll. As he gazed around the attic, he thought that maybe ending up here was not a mistake after all. For now, this for him was home.

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A/N: Thanks for reading!