Chapter 2 – Memories are alive… they tend to haunt…

The sun had been giving off it's mighty heat which made Dane feel very tired. He had been walking endlessly for days, hoping to reach Morroc in a few hours. He saw two guards looking after a city's gate.

"At last, Morroc," he thought, his eyes were filled with passion.

He was walking around the seemingly deserted town. He was familiarizing himself with the buildings, structures, townsfolk and stores. While he was roaming around the town, he felt like he was going to pass out. He was very thirsty. In fact, he was dehydrated. He didn't stop by any oasis while he was traveling since he was too depressed. While he was browsing through the wares being sold by some merchants of Morroc, he remembered some of the last conversations that he had with his cousin

"Hey, Dane, would you like to go out and check the bazaars near the Prontera's second avenue?"

"No."

"But.. You might want to buy some clothes? Or maybe some fruits? You know, we need to fill in our refrigerator already. It's almost empty!"

"I said no. How many times would I have to tell you that I DO NOT WANT TO GO WITH YOU? Go by yourself, if you want to check those crap!"

"What have I done..? I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry…,"

He didn't realize that he was murmuring to himself for two hours. A person who was wearing a tan colored suit and a maroon cape who was selling fruits nearby approached him. The alchemist was curious what Dane was doing and checked if he was alright.

"Mister, you've been standing there for hours. Are you sick or something?" asked the concerned alchemist.

There was no reply from Dane. He was just standing still, his lips were moving.. slowly.. he was certainly telling things to himself, but they were too soft for anyone near him to hear.

"Oh God, are you dead, sir?" "Uhh.. wait here.. I'm gonna call a doctor to check you out!"

The alchemist searched for specialists all over the town. Soon, people all over Morroc went near the alchemist's stall. They were all looking at Dane.

"Mom, look at him! He looks like a statue, only that his lips are moving! He's scary!" a boy said, after he pulled his mother's skirt to get her attention.

After a few minutes, the doctor that the alchemist called finally came. He examined Dane, and concluded that he was just dehydrated, and was thinking of something really tragic that he looked like he had experienced a severe stroke.

"He'll be alright, Mr. Wilkren," the doctor told the alchemist, just to calm him down.

"Shall we bring him to the nearest inn, doctor?" Mr. Wilkren suggested.

He looked at Dane straight into his eyes, and it seems that he knows Dane. He knew he had seen him somewhere.. somewhere in Prontera, the great city..

"C'mon Mr. Wilkren, help me carry him to the nearest inn or he might run out of fluid in his body!" exclaimed the doctor.

So they brought Dane to an inn. Traveler's Inn, to be exact. It was a small, old inn. It's walls weren't made of cement. Instead, they were made of sand. Piled up sand. Still, the beds in this inn were comfortable enough for an exhausted person to rest on. And of course, the best thing about this inn is that all services were free of charge.

"Welcome to Traveler's Inn," greeted the Kafra.

"Umm.., miss, we need a room.. I mean.. a cubicle.. f-for this man. And oh, please give us a glass of water, preferably cold." Mr. Wilkren asked nicely.

Mr. Wilkren and the doctor started to chat with each other, while they were looking after Dane.

"You know doctor, it seems that I have met this acolyte before. His eyes look familiar." Wilkren told the doctor.

The doctor looked at Wilkren, eye to eye. After a few seconds, he looked at Dane. After seven hours, Dane's finally awake.

"I'll go out now," the doctor said, as he broke the silence in the 'room'.

"Hey there, how are you? Are you feeling fine? You were unconscious for hours! Here, drink this. It'll make you feel better." Wilkren told Dane, as he handed out the cold glass of water.

"Thanks.. Hey.. hey, I.. I've seen you before.. you were the one who was dropping by our house in Pronte—" Dane was unable to complete his sentence.

"I was the one dropping by your house in Prontera. It was a daily routine for me. I never gave up on trying to sell newspapers to you, right?" Wilkren finished Dane's statement.

"Y-yes.. and.. you never had the chance to sell those to us. M-my cousin had always wanted to read the periodical 'Prontera Everyday' that you were peddling..," Dane answered, while trembling. He was remembering something about his cousin.. again.

"Hey, where's Jun, by the way? That's your cousin's name, right?" asked Mr. Wilkren, who had no idea what happened to Jun.

"He.. he is dead.. I killed him.. I killed him by my words.." Dane replied.

"W-what? What happened? Why..? He was such a good person! He shouldn't have died yet.. he's just too young to die.."

Dane stared at the pillars of sand nearby. He could clearly remember the cruelty that he showed to Jun…

"Hey, Jun, since you have nothing to do, get the things I bought from the Pronteran dressmaker," he ordered Jun, who was busy preparing for the archer exam the next day.

"Sorry, Dane, I need to sander these trunks so that I can submit them tomorrow to the Archer guildsman in Payon," Jun replied with an apologizing tone, but full of hope.

"How dare you, why do you always disregard my orders? You really are so dumb! You are so apathetic! So—"

"Dane, you okay?" Wilkren asked. He looked worried because it seems that Dane was thinking about something again.

"It wasn't him, Wilkren.. it wasn't him who was apathetic.. it was I.." Dane cried, tears were heavily falling down from his eyes.

"What do you mean? What exactly happened?"

"All those words that I told him.. I think.. I think those triggered him to commit suicide.." Dane answered while he was slowly wiping his tears.

"Hey, you might faint again. Now go back to sleep and rest." Wilkren said. He was trying to soothe Dane's feelings.

"Yeah, I feel tired now. Wilkren, you come with me tomorrow? I'm planning to see Mother Matilda,"

Wilkren was shocked. He knew that Dane could not meet Mother Matilda the next day due to the fact that she was missing. The last time that she was seen in Morroc was before two rogues attacked the city, three years ago. He couldn't say a word, he knew that Dane would just be disappointed.

"Let's just see what we can do tomorrow. For now, just rest," Wilkren anxiously said.