9. Rest

"…ey…mister…?"

Arganan's good eye opened to see a girl leaning over him, staring right at him.

Arganan jumped a bit, but then groaned as he felt the soreness of his body take over. He lay back down in bed, trying to stay still, as the girl jolted back a bit, frowning. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." He croaked, then swallowed a bit, realizing how dry his throat was.

"Arganan, you're up?" He turned his head to see Nancy appear by his side, offering him a soft smile. "Good morning."

He offered her a soft grin. "Morning."

She and the girl helped him sit up, and he did his best to prop up a pillow underneath him. "Sleep well?"

"Better than expected."

"That's good!" Nancy smiled at that. "Rest is important, you know."

The girl hummed happily as she looked towards Arganan, smiling. "I'm glad you slept well!"

It was then that Arganan realized the girl was none other than the same one that previously was a monster. The green hair and eyes were unmistakable. "What's your name?"

The girl beamed at him, free of any malicious intent that the monster once had. "It's Amber!"

"Arganan." He introduced himself.

She blinked, stared. "Ar-ga-nan?" She pronounced slowly.

He shrugged. "Close enough."

"Yay!"

Nancy handed him a tray of breakfast to eat—toast with eggs, a cup of warm tea, and even some cut up fruit. Though it was simple, it was also delicious, and damn it, dare he say it, potentially better than anything he ate at the castle in Lazulis.

He was alive. Sure, stuck in a bed for a few days due to the broken metal leg (or maybe in a wheelchair, if he was now well enough to go outside after the beating he took yesterday), but alive. And sure, maybe he was in the same building as a girl who might've been a monster the previous night, but she didn't seem like she was about to harm anyone.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" Arganan asked Amber. Amber paused, frowned, her nose scrunching up a little, but then she shook her head.

"Nope!"

Arganan heard a sigh, and he looked to his left to see Jones standing there, looking up from the clipboard in his hands. "Amber doesn't remember much from last night, or anything before that. And good morning, Arganan."

Arganan took one good stare at Amber, then looked towards Nancy and Jones. "You mean to tell me that she lost her memory, too?"

Amber tilted her head, eyes widening. "Did you lose your memory?"

He quickly shook his head, looking towards her. "No, no, I didn't. But I know someone else who did."

"Was it the one with the funny face last night?" She asked. "I remember seeing someone with a funny face. She saved me."

Arganan had a feeling she meant Frey, so he just nodded. A soft "ohhhhh" came from her at that, as she got out of bed to stretch. She didn't have any bandages on her, nor bruises, so she was clearly healthy. The green dress she wore, with layers of plum and pink-coloured fabric over it, made her look like this odd flower, in his opinion. A very, very odd-looking flower. The two plum or lavender-coloured hairs sticking out of her green hair didn't help it, either. Maybe it was an after-effect of previously being a monster?

The clinic's door-bell rang as Frey walked in. "Good morning! Is everyone okay?"

"Frey!" Nancy turned to see her, grinning. "Good morning. Arganan and the friend you found last night is awake."

Amber's gaze snapped towards Frey, staring at her. "Are you the one with the funny face?" That was the first thing that left Amber's lips upon seeing her. She smiled, beaming at Frey. "So…you're the one who saved me, then…"

Frey couldn't help but let out a sheepish chuckle. "Erm…I guess?" Arganan sensed that Frey seemed to be thinking, Me? Funny face?

That didn't stop Amber from maintaining that smile of hers. "Wow. Well, thank you very much!"

"You're…very welcome." Frey cleared her throat, before changing the subject. "But why were you out there?

"Hmm…" The younger woman paused, before answering, "I'm not really sure. Really. My name is just about the only thing I can remember."

So it really is another case of amnesia. Arganan thought, observing the two young women talk. This seems to be the sole trend around here in terms of people. This is starting to be a bit concerning. First Frey, now Amber?

"It's probably the shock of the monster attacks that caused her to lose her memories as well." Jones reassuredly spoke up, probably having noticed his and Frey's confused expressions.

"Ohh." She frowned. "I feel like I'm forgetting something really important, though. Hmm…" She paused, but then her smile reappeared. "Oh well."

Frey stared. "Oh well?" She repeated.

Amber shrugged, then smiled back at her. "If I can't remember, there's nothing I can do about it, right? So, no sense dwelling on it!"

"Th-that's true, I guess…"

"Yep~!"

Arganan cleared his throat, both women looking towards him. "So, what are you going to do now?

"Now?" Amber repeated, staring at him, before a hum escaped her. "Well…"

"There's no need to worry!"

Illuminata burst into the clinic, approaching Amber quickly. Arganan jumped at the open door banging against the wall, grimacing. If there was anything he learned about Illuminata, it was this: When she got loud, she got loud. "What's your name?"

Amber was surprisingly unfazed by Illuminata's aggressive door-opening. "It's Amber!"

A soft chuckle escaped Illuminata as she faced her. "A pleasure to meet you, Itsamber. And may I say, that's quite an unusual name you've got!"

"No, Lumie," Nancy giggled, "Her name is Amber."

Illuminata blinked, staring briefly into space for a moment as she processed the error. "Ohh, I see. Amber, huh? Listen, Amber. Why don't you stay with me?"

"What?" Frey stared. "Isn't that kinda sudden?"

Arganan shrugged. "I think it'll help." Illuminata did run the florist shop, after all. And besides, wasn't Amber previously a butterfly monster.

"Okay, I will!" Wings extended from Amber's back, although they were in softer shades of lavender and yellow, rather than the ones that was the beast she once was.

Frey gasped. "Wings!?"

Arganan couldn't help but stare at said wings. Sure, he'd seen what he thought was antennae in her hair, but…wings? Did she retain some of her previous monster traits?

Illuminata couldn't help but grin at Amber even more, upon seeing the wings. "How could I leave an interesting girl like her all alone? You, my dear, can call me Lumie."

"Lumie!" Amber giggled, wings fluttering happily. Arganan felt the wind created by them blow through his hair a little, but he didn't mind the breeze.

"Now, I'll show you the way home. Come, follow me!"

"All righty!"

As Illuminata and Amber turned to leave, Illuminata quickly turned towards Arganan. "I'll come visit a little later today. Just rest!"

Arganan nodded, whispering a quick "thank you" to her before the two went out the door.

"Um…" Frey paused, looking towards where Illuminata and Amber exited, before asking, "Do you think they'll be okay together?"

"If they're both fine with this arrangement," Nancy reassured her, "I don't see why not. Lumie is a fine, upstanding adult, after all."

Fine, yes. Arganan thought. Upstanding? She was certainly eccentric, but she did care an awful lot for others, as far as he'd seen so far from her. No one seemed to have a super-bad reputation around here, as far as he knew. Sure, there were people known for being lazy at times (like Bado) or were big eaters (like Porcoline), but everyone was, well, overall nice.

"It's the first time I've seen such symptoms, though." Jones noted aloud, taking Arganan out of his thoughts. "Amber had no wounds when Nancy and I examined her. It's quite odd…"

"You said it might be the shock of the monster attacks though, right?" Arganan asked him. "And if she was previously a monster herself…maybe that had something to do with it?"

"It's possible." The doctor answered, looking towards him. "I don't know how long she's been in such a state. She doesn't remember, either." Jones frowned. "It could be a worse scenario than Frey's, if that is the case."

"How so? If you're…well," Arganan gestured between himself and Jones with his metal hand, "legally able to tell me, of course. Doctor-patient confidentiality and all that."

Jones paused, then sighed. "We both know at this point that Frey's memory loss was incredibly recent. However, though Amber's memory loss is likely from the shock of an attack like Frey's was, we don't know how long ago that happened. It could be as recent as a few days ago to a week, or it could be longer. And the longer it takes to recover memory, it might have less of a chance of coming back."

Arganan raised a brow. "So you're saying…"

Jones frowned. "Amber might not ever remember who she was. That is very possible."

As far as Arganan knew, that didn't sound good. Frey looked like she had the same idea as she spoke up. "Is there anything we can do about it?"

"All we can do is wait." Jones looked towards the door, and then to Arganan and Frey. "Like you, Frey, this isn't a case we can rush. If her memory comes back, that's great. If it doesn't, well…she'll have a new life here. And I think her living with Illuminata will do her some good, too, as well as bonding with the rest of the townspeople."

"Okay." Arganan paused, moving to get out of bed, but Frey gave him a look.

"And you're supposed to rest!"

"But what about work?" Arganan tried to protest. "I can at least sit at a cash register, right?"

"I'm pretty sure Illuminata will be fine with you resting up a bit first—she literally told you to rest up just now!" Frey managed, sighing. "I'm gonna go take a walk around town, and let Venti know about Amber waking up. You just rest, okay?"

Arganan could only nod. "I will. Promise." There wasn't any point in fighting Frey about it. Besides, having seen her in battle, she could probably push him hard enough to hit the floor easily, and without warning. Or slap him. He winced at remembering how Calista slapped him so hard that he hit the floor (even if he deserved it at the time).

Frey turned on her heel to leave the clinic, but turned again to face him one last time. "And don't go into the woods alone, next time!"

"I won't!" He almost laughed at that, but then he grimaced as his ribs rippled painfully. Okay, maybe laughter wasn't the best medicine for this situation. He lay back in bed, trying to think of all that happened.

The fight in the forest. The butterfly turning into Amber. Arganan himself stuck in bedrest.

It could've been worse, he figured. It could also be better.

Knowing that all he could do was wait it out, he took a deep breath, and closed his eye. He could rest now. He'd look into everything else later, after he felt a bit better.