Sorrows of the Heart
Chapter 3
Boy stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looking himself over. The tattered shirt he had borrowed from Jerome was a bit big, seeing as it hit around his knees, but it would do. It hid his mechanical arm well, as the blue jeans he wore hid his mechanical leg. He wished he could remember why he had fake limbs, but that was second to remembering who he was. He could deal with not knowing how he'd lost his arm and leg, but he couldn't live without knowing who he was. The only clue to his past was a pocket watch that he'd found in his bundle of clothes. It had a strange insignia on the front, a lion circled by strange lines and symbols, and inside the cover was inscribed the word "Remember" and a date. He didn't know what it meant, but he was sure it was important.
Boy stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looking himself over. The tattered shirt he had borrowed from Jerome was a bit big, seeing as it hit around his knees, but it would do. It hid his mechanical arm well, as the blue jeans he wore hid his mechanical leg. He wished he could remember why he had fake limbs, but that was second to remembering who he was. He could deal with not knowing how he'd lost his arm and leg, but he couldn't live without knowing who he was. The only clue to his past was a pocket watch that he'd found in his bundle of clothes. It had a strange insignia on the front, a lion circled by strange lines and symbols, and inside the cover was inscribed the word "Remember" and a date. He didn't know what it meant, but he was sure it was important.
"Boy, are you coming?" called Jerome through the door.
"Yeah, just a minute." answered Boy, as he finished buttoning the shirt. Taking a final look in the mirror, he slid on some old sneakers Jerome had found for him, and opened the door.
"They're a bit big," chuckled Jerome, "but they'll have to do."
Boy just glared at his new friend, not sure what to say. Something about the man's manner was making him mad, but he wasn't sure why. Finally he just changed the subject.
"Let's go do those errands." he said, stomping out the door.
Boy trotted along behind, following Jerome down a long and winding path to the busy marketplace where midday bustle reigned supreme.
"What was that?" asked Boy, pointing to a disturbance in the crowd.
"Nothing." said Jerome, pulling Boy to a nearby cart.
"Hello Jerome, what can I do for you today?" asked the nice cart lady, hanging some herbs from the top of her cart.
"I'm here for some more of that kingsroot you gave me the other day. It worked pretty well."
"Ah yes. For the… say, is this the boy you took in?"
"Yep, this is Boy."
"Boy?"
"Until I can remember my name." said Boy quietly, looking at the various herbs hanging from the cart.
"Ah… Well, at least you're up and around. It'll all come back to you sooner or later."
"Yeah, I guess…"
"Don't be so down. Here, chew on some mint leaves. I picked 'em fresh this morning. They cure everything."
"Thanks." said Boy, accepting the strange green plant the woman held out to him. He picked off a leave and chewed on it for a moment. It had a pretty good taste, and as they paid the cart lady and wandered away, the mint proved to be a very good distraction from Boy's worries. In a few hours time he was chatting with some other boys that looked to be around his age, though he couldn't be sure. Before he knew it, he had joined in a game of ball with the other kids called Swedish. The object of the game was to be the last one standing, with everyone else having been hit with one of the two "Swedish Balls". Surprising even himself, Boy found he was very quick, and good at dodging the small, squishy Swedish Balls. He won a few rounds before Jerome called him away, and they started the short trek home.
"Did you have fun today?" asked Jerome.
"Yeah." said Boy, shifting the weight of the basket he was carrying so it was easier to handle. "I had a blast!"
"Maybe if you're feeling okay tomorrow, you can stop by the market again and see what they're doing."
"That'd be fun." said boy as they approached the humble little house Jerome lived in on the hill at the edge of town. Something about that hill, and the little house on top triggered something in his mind, and looking down at the vegetables he carried, a memory came flashing to him.
Sprawled across the floor lay a woman in purple, her long brown hair sprayed to the side in its loose tie. Beside her lay an overturned basket and several vegetables.
"Mom?" cried a voice and Boy was surprised to find it was his.
He started running towards her limp form, and heard a gasp from behind him.
He knelt beside her prone form and called for her, finding that someone beside him was doing the same.
"Boy? Boy?" asked Jerome, a worried look on his face.
Shaking his head, Boy looked at Jerome, the world coming into focus again.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." said Boy, struggling to grasp for the fleeting memory. It had been important, very important. But the harder he tried to remember it, the more it left his reach, refusing to be known. Shaking his head again, Boy stepped into the house and set the basket on the table.
"I'm gonna go lay down for a few minutes okay?"
"Okay. I'll call you for dinner."
"Thanks." called Boy, pushing the door open to his little room and flopping onto his bed. Jerome had removed all of his work stuff from the room, leaving it empty and lifeless. Boy stared at the lone landscape on the wall and felt as though something was missing. No, someone was missing. The name Al, had some sort of meaning to it. Jerome had mentioned it, but he hadn't said how he knew of the name. Come to think of it, Jerome hadn't told him anything about how Jerome had found him.
Boy's head started to ache with all the constant thinking, so he shifted himself until he was comfortable, and fell asleep.
"Boy! Dinner!" called Jerome, walking Boy from his dreamless sleep. Boy sat up and stretched, feeling his left arm pop into a comfortable position. Standing, Boy looked around the lonely room once more. Deciding to do something about it later on, he wandered out into the kitchen, lured by the smell of dinner.
"There you are! I've been calling you for a while now. Sit down and fix yourself a plate."
"Thanks." said Boy, sitting down and helping himself to a heaping plateful of food. He was just starting into the beautifully fluffy mashed potatoes when it came back to him.
"Jerome, where did you find me?" he asked around a mouthful of food.
"Find you? That question was out of the blue. What makes you ask?"
"I dunno. Just wondering." said Boy, swallowing his potatoes and taking another scoop.
"Well… I found you out on the street. The man that did this to you was dragging you through town. You were hurt, and the man was all dressed in a suit of armor like he'd just come back from war. He had a red glint to his eyes, so I took you from him and sent him away."
Boy was staring raptly at Jerome, his mind working. Someone had inflicted his injuries? They hadn't been an accident? Yet there was something that didn't fit at all with Jerome's explanation.
"How did you send the guy away?" asked Boy. "Wasn't he all geared up for battle or something?"
"Yes, but he too was injured, giving me somewhat of an advantage. Besides, I had several people standing behind me, and he had none."
Boy nodded and slowly went back to his dinner. The rest of dinner was eaten under idle conversation such as "What was her name again?" and "I really like these carrots. Did you grow them yourself?" Needless to say, the rest of dinner was pretty boring.
Boy went to bed, still unsettled about how he had been found. But sleep overtook him before he could really dwell on it.
Several weeks passed, while Al continued to scour the countryside looking for his brother. Meanwhile, Boy started a fairly normal life in the little town with Jerome. He became one of the best players on most all of the local sports teams as well as doing okay in school. The class he was best at, besides gym, was chemistry. For some reason he had an unexplainable knowledge of all things science. He didn't know how he knew so much, and Jerome had no clue either, so Boy went on working and continued to expand his knowledge. He was happy with his life, up until strange things started happening…
On his way home from practice one fine summer evening, Boy walked home, only to find a strange old woman at the house.
The green dress she wore was covered in a pale shall, hiding most of her figure. There was no doubt she was old, her hair was a dull gray, pulled back into a bun. She smiled as she saw Boy, the smile making her look like a harmless old grandmother. Though Boy had never seen her before, she seemed to know Jerome pretty well.
"Hello." she said as Boy closed the door behind him. "I'm Jerome's sister. It's nice to meet you."
"Hi." said Boy, not sure what to make of her.
"Did you have fun at practice?" asked Jerome with a warm smile from his seat at the table.
"Yeah."
Jerome nodded approvingly, but he was not smiling as usual.
"You are staying home tomorrow."
"Why?" asked Boy, his eyes widening in alarm.
"Your teacher came by today, and we had a nice little chat. Since when have you been taking Alchemy?"
"My chemistry professor talked me into it. I just started this week." Boy said quickly. Jerome had asked him not to take the class, but he hadn't been able to turn down his favorite teacher.
"Boy, you are going to drop that class."
"Why?" asked Boy; he'd really grown fond of that class.
"It is against the laws of nature. I will have no boy of mine going around doing God's work."
"But Jerome, I'm good at it. It's something besides sports that I'm good at!"
"You are good at Chemistry from what Jerome says." Deidre interrupted.
"But it's not the same!" cried Boy, slamming his fists down on the table for all he was worth. A small dent appeared where his left arm had hit. Flooded with emotions, Boy turned and ran for all he was worth.
Calls of "Boy! Boy! Come back here!" rang over the fields as he ran to nowhere in particular, just away.
Boy ran until he could run no further, and collapsed under a huge old willow tree on the other end of town. There he did something he hadn't done in quite a while; he wept. Even after he had woken up without any memories, Boy had stayed dry-eyed, but there was just too much going on now. Jerome was turning on him, strange women were visiting his home, and through it all Boy still wasn't getting his memories back. It was like there was a barrier between his memories and his new life. No matter how hard he tried to get at his old memories, the barrier would not break. Tears of frustration flowed freely as Boy sat there, his breathing starting to come back under control. It was then that he heard a voice.
"Edward?"
AN: Sorry about the chapter lengths. This story has been going through some last minute editing so there are a few holes that make the story shorter, and choppier. When I get around to revising it (like I have everything else), I'll fill those in. Anyway, thanks for reading the newest chapter, and for all the pretty reviews! I would reply to them, but rumors being what they are, I'll wait until I'm sure reviewer replies aren't outlawed. Hope you liked the chapter!
Edit
Thanks for reading the revised version. I hope I didn't confuse you too much. Future edits to come. Thanks for Reading!
T.K.