selective amnesia
What was there before the Abbey?
People asked, looking like they wanted to solve all his problems, and then were so relieved they didn't have to. Behind fear there was a pinpoint of thankfulness, when he chewed them out, because what were they trying to do? What were they thinking? They thought they could fix something that had been broken? Find something that had been lost?
A pinpoint of 'thank God', when Tala snapped that he could take care of himself, so butt out. He was fine. More importantly he wasn't a book to rewrite as they saw fit. He wasn't some accessory to boost their self-esteem, prettily complementing them. He wasn't dinner table conversation. He would not suffer self-congratulation.
Tala didn't want to be rewritten. Tala wanted to believe what comforted him, the idea that for better or worse he didn't have a past. Of course he knew the streets, and cold, and of course before that there were soft female arms and loving male words. Of course it had all fallen to shit. But he wasn't looking for pity. Not even self-pity.
So what was there before the Abbey, when they asked and he remembered? Nothing. Forcefully, nothing.