Dream

The small boy ran as fast as he could, to get away from his three tormentors. They were running right behind him, throwing anything they could at him, including small rocks.

"Come on, Marron!" one of the older boys called out.

One of the rocks hit his arm. He bit his bottom lip so he wouldn't cry out.

They continued to chase him until the little boy turned around and ducked behind a tree. The three older boys followed him, but discovered he was gone.

"Where'd he go?" one of them wondered.

"He just disappeared," another one commented.

"And we didn't even make him cry," the last one said. "Oh, well. We can try again tomorrow. Let's go." And they ran off.

A bush nearby rustled a bit, and the small boy's raven hair appeared. After watching his attackers run away, he jumped out of the bush and ran in the other direction.

He ran as far as he could, until he tripped and hit the ground. He wanted to lie there, tears forming at the corner of his eyes and threatening to spill. He was tired of it, the constant bullying from them, being picked on. So he didn't normally cry. Was that any reason to try and make him?

The small boy was suddenly aware of a hand in front of him. He looked up, and saw the owner.

"Brother?" the little boy said.

"Don't cry, Marron," his older brother answered. Young Marron grasped his older brother's hand, allowing him to help him up. "I've been looking for you."

"You have?"

"Yeah." He gently wiped Marron's eyes with his thumb. "I've been worried about ya, little brother."

"Really?"

"Of course. When I saw ya run off, I knew I had to follow you, even if I wasn't supposed to leave the house."

"Oh," Marron said in realization, "that's right. Mother said that you had to stay in the house until she said you could play, because you broke the window, didn't she?"

"Yeah," the older boy said, rubbing the back of his head. Then he placed his hand on his little brother's head. "But when you wandered away, I decided to follow and take ya back home."

"But won't Mom get mad?"

"Yeah. But I'll just tell her that I decided to leave, so she won't know what happened to you, okay?"

"If we tell Mom the truth, though, you won't get in that much trouble."

"But if you tell her what happened, then she'll worry about you too much again. You know what happens when she does that, right?" Marron nodded. "So let's just say that YOU were bringing ME back."

"Are you sure? You'll be in more trouble than you are already."

His brother just ruffled his black hair. "That's okay. Besides, it's not like I don't get in trouble with her anyway, huh?" He took Marron's small hand in his own. "Come on, let's go back home."

The small boy nodded happily.

End dream

The sun pierced through the window, enlightening the dreary room. The figure's eyes fluttered open, and he noted that he felt no pain at all. Pushing the blanket off his body, he sat up slowly and got out of the bed. He was wearing a green tank top and a pair of jeans. He frowned as he tried to think of why the outfit seemed so familiar, yet somehow not right.

The glittering of light caught his eye. Across from him was a dresser, with a mirror hanging behind it. He looked at his reflection. Long, black hair, golden eyes, pale skin……There seemed to be something missing.

A name. There was no name to go with the reflection he saw in the mirror.

The name 'Marron' repeated several times in his mind. Was that his name?

The door suddenly creaked open, averting his attention as a young girl walked in. She wore a white sleeveless shirt and a blue skirt. Her shoulder-length, midnight hair was pulled back with a bright, blue ribbon.

As she entered the room, she glanced up to see the being standing at the mirror. "Oh," she said, surprised filled her emerald eyes. "You're up." He nodded slowly.

A smile appeared on her lips. "How do you feel?"

"Much better, thank you."

"I should think you should. You've been sleeping for four days."

"Really?" he asked. She nodded. "What. . . exactly happened to me?"

"Well, from what my older brother, Akio, told me, he was checking one of the traps that were set up in the forest. You were in one of them, and. . . I think he said that you had hit your head against a rock. It must have been pretty hard, too, to make a wound like the one you had."

'Could that be why I don't remember anything?' he wondered.

She walked up to him, extending her hand. "My name is Ami," she said, smiling sweetly. "What's yours?"

He took her hand in his. "Marron," he said, giving the name off the top of his head.

"It's nice to meet you Marron."

"The pleasure is mine." Marron rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of something. "Um. . .Ami? Was this. . . the outfit. . . . . uh. . ."

"Oh, no. That's my brother's outfit." She walked over to the closet, opening it. "When Akio brought you here, he changed your outfit so that I could fix it. It was pretty torn and dirty, so I cleaned and sewed it up." She pulled it. A white tunic, a purple sash, and white pants.

She handed the outfit to him. Sitting down, he found himself searching through the pockets of the tunic for. . . something.

"What are you looking for?" she asked, sitting on the bed next to him.

"I'm. . . actually not sure. Did you find anything when you were mending my outfit?"

Ami scratched her head, then snapped her fingers and opened the drawer next to the bed. She pulled out many strips of white paper, each etched with Chinese-style writing.

"Is this what you're looking for?" she asked, handing the packet of strips to him. He took them from her, looking at them with much curiosity.

"They fell out of the pocket just as I was about to wash them. Luckily they did, otherwise they would be really useless."

"Useless? What do you mean?"

"These things are magic charms. I'm not sure what type of magic they are, but I know they're magic."

'Magic?' he thought.

"Since you have those," she said, "I'm guessing it means that you have the ability to use them. Do you think I can see?"

"Um. . . . I'm not sure that's possible at the moment."

"Really?" She seemed disappointed.

"I'm sorry. It's not that I don't want to. It's just that I'm not sure how to."

"What do you mean?"

Marron placed a delicate hand to his forehead. "I don't remember much about myself. When I awoke a few days ago, I discovered that I didn't remember anything. I'm not even sure if Marron is my name. I just got that name from a dream I had."

"I'm sorry," Ami said. "That must have happened when you hit your head when you fell in the trap by mistake."

"I would not be surprised if that were the case. Unfortunately, I wouldn't know how to remember who I am."

"Well, you're welcomed to stay here until you do. I don't know how much help I can be, since we just met, but the least I can do is offer you a place to stay."

He gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you."

She replied with a smile of her own. Then, standing up, she said, "I had come in here to get some money to buy groceries. I guess I forgot."

"I'm sorry for distracting you."

"It's no problem. Anyway, it was nice talking to someone. The people in town are nice, but it kinda gets lonely at home when my brother isn't around."

"Where is your brother?"

"Akio is up on the hill, working in the mansion of the sorcerer, Count Katashi."

Marron's heart seemed to leap. "Sorcerer?"

"Yeah. Akio works for Count Katashi up at his mansion. In turn, the Count helps us get by. I just wish I could see my brother more often."

"What of your parents?"

". . . . . They were both killed when I was really young. . . . ."

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head, the sad glisten quickly faded. "It's okay. That was the past. Anyway, I have to get the groceries. Help yourself to anything here, and I'll be back soon." She quickly ran out of the door, and he heard the front door open and close.

He slipped off the clothes he had on, and replaced them with the white tunic. The green tank top and jeans still held some sort of recognition in his mind, but he just couldn't remember. The wall blocking his memories was still too thick to penetrate through.

He picked up the ofuda and slid them into one of his pockets. But then he pulled one out again. These also held some kind of key to his missing past. Until he had more, though, he couldn't unlock anything.

Magic. He had the ability to use magic? Ami had also said that he was found in the forest. Why? Was he traveling? Did that have anything to do with who he was?

The doorknob of the front door rattled. Marron's attention on the floor averted as the doorknob continued to jiggle. Leaning the broom against the couch, he made his way to the door and opened it, confronted by two large cloth bags.

He took one of them from Ami. "Thanks," she said. "What have you been up to since I was gone?"

Saying nothing, he simply picked up the broom, showing it to her.

"You've been cleaning?"

"Well, I found some books in your den earlier, and I read one of those."

"So, then why did you decide to clean?"

"I couldn't help but notice the dust."

"You didn't have to, Marron."

He smiled at her. "I know," he replied, "but it's the least I can do to repay you for allowing me to stay here."

She smiled back. Marron followed her into the kitchen, and helped unpack the groceries.

"Oh," she said suddenly, "Marron?"

"Yes?"

"There was a package by the door. I wasn't able to get it because I was having a hard time getting the groceries. Could you please get it for me? I have to cook dinner."

He nodded, and left her. Opening the door, he bent down to get the package, but couldn't help noticing who it was from.

'Count Katashi?' he thought. 'The sorcerer Ami was talking about? Why would he. . . ?' He shook his head, deeming that it was no business of his, picking up the package.

"MARRON!" The young man couldn't help but look up as he had heard his name being called by a faintly familiar voice. As he looked, he saw four people running towards him, two men and two women. Oddly enough, they seemed very familiar.

They stopped when they reached him, all of them catching their breaths. Marron could see them clearly now. The first young man had wild black hair and eyes, a sword dangling from his hip. Both of the girls behind him had bright red hair. One had blue eyes, while the other's eyes were hiding behind big, reflective glasses. The last man was tall and burly, strands of blond partially covering his blue eyes.

The man with wild hair stood up suddenly. "What the hell is wrong with you, Marron!" he yelled.

Marron's voice was caught in his throat. They knew him?

"We've been looking for you for days!" the redhead with the glasses said.

"We were all really worried!" the other girl said.

"Worried won't describe it!" the first man said. "What do you think you were doing! We spend days looking for you, and get lost trying to get to this village, and we find you here, all safe and sound! We were beginning to think you were dead!"

Marron's golden eyes met with this stranger's onyx ones. What could he say to someone he didn't know? And yet. . . . he felt a strange connection to the man in front of him.

Only the man in the back noticed that their missing hunter seemed to look confused. It wasn't a look you saw very often on the young Glace.

Only then did Marron realize that he had seen these people before, in a dream he had sometime ago. But he was still at a loss of who they were, and what roles they played in his life.

"Marron!" the first man said. "What have you been doing these past four days! I was really worried about you!"

"I. . . . . . . I. . . . . . ."

"Marron?" Ami called from inside. She came out of the house, standing next to the young man. "What's going on out here? I heard yelling."

The first man, knowing that his brother was alright so far as he could see, took the young lady's hand in his. "Hello," he said, his voice suddenly turning sophisticated. "I don't suppose you're free tonight, are you? If you are, then maybe we can make some kind of plan together."

The two red-haired girls, seeing as how the object of their affection was back to his normal--distorted--self, hit him hard in the back of the head.

"Stop that, Darling!" one of them yelled.

"What?" he asked. He looked up at Ami. "So what do you say?"

Before she could answer, the one wearing the glasses attempted to hit the man with a large mallet. He dodged it in time, and began to run as the two girls chased him, leaving Marron and Ami with the tall, burly man.

Ami placed a hand on the confused Marron. "Do you know them?" she asked.

He pushed back his long, black hair. "I. . . . . do not think so," he replied.

The blond man looked at him. "What?" he asked, focusing his blue eyes on the smaller man.

Golden eyes met his. "Should I?" he asked.

"What do you mean 'should I?' Of course you should, Marron."

He didn't like the look of uncertainty clouding the smaller man's gold eyes. 'What's wrong with him?' he couldn't help but wonder.

The two girls made their way over, dragging the other man behind them. Marron felt embarrassment for the man, though the reason for it was unknown.

"What's wrong, Gateau?" the one with glasses asked.

"Gateau. . . ." Marron whispered softly. The name seemed familiar.

The one with glasses finally was able to get a good look at her missing friend. There was something different about him. "Marron?" she said. "Anything the matter?"

He looked at her, seeing his own reflection in her glasses. He then looked away.

The first man, getting up, finally noticed that maybe not everything was alright with his brother. "Marron? Are you okay?"

He wasn't sure. Turning to leave, he felt a hand grab his sleeve, halting him.

It was the young man, his onyx eyes seeming to lock with Marron's golden ones. "Marron, you know you can tell me if anything's wrong, right?"

Bewilderment seemed to fill him. "It's me," the strange man continued, "Carrot."

"Carrot?" Marron echoed. That name. . . . it seemed so familiar, but the real recognition behind the name was trapped behind the wall, and he had no way of reaching it. Yanking his sleeve away, he disappeared inside the house.

Carrot stood there, feeling just as confused as his brother.

"What's wrong with him?" the smaller redhead asked.

"I don't know, Tira," Carrot said.

Ami looked at the four strangers. 'Could they help Marron?' she wondered. 'They seem to know him. . . .'

The other redhead stood beside the older Glace. "Darling?" she said softly.

He waved her off. "I'm not in that kind of mood, Chocolate. I need to find out why Marron is acting the way he is."

"He's not acting," Ami said suddenly. Their eyes focused on her.

"What do you mean?" Gateau asked.

"My brother, Aki, found Marron in a trap that we have set up in the forest. He was hurt pretty bad, but the biggest wound he had was on the side of his head. My brother thinks that Marron must have hit his head pretty hard."

"What are you saying?" Carrot asked.

"Marron didn't know any of you, because he doesn't know who he is."

TBC