Ch. 20

"How can that possibly be?" Alice asked. "Do you mean to say he's forgotten everything?"

Kavi tried her best to explain, which wasn't easy to do over the noise in the arena. It was like trying to teach Physics in the middle of a hurricane-enlightening perhaps, but not very practical.

"No, not everything," Kavi replied. "He still knows his name and the basic stuff. My talent scouts found him with the Shadowers almost a year ago, but already by then he'd almost forgotten there ever was a war!"

A rousing chorus of jeers went up when Oland's opponent arrived. Alice took a good look and saw a large, bald man, antagonizing the crowd and riling them up. She noticed he had similar scarring on his body. While he was nowhere near as tall as the Corporal, he was much heftier, and did cut a rather imposing figure. Judging from his colors and the way he was dressed, Alice surmised he was a former Shadower, now a Cavelian.

The announcer blasted over the crowd once more: AAAAND HIS OPPONENT, WEARING RED TIGHTS, REACHING A DEVASTATING SIX FOOT, SIX INCHES AND WEIGHING IN AT THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY POUNDS! AFTER THE WAR, HE HONED HIS SKILLS WHILE RESHAPING THE ICY PEAKS OF WINTERSHADOW! HE IS! THE IRONNNN WOLF!

"So he doesn't remember us at all?" Oreldo asked. "Does he remember he used to destroy tanks for a living?"

"Kind of," Kavi shouted back. "He says he has a lot of nightmares about battles and stuff. He doesn't like to talk about it."

"That's fairly normal," Alice said. "Too much stress can force the mind to block unpleasant memories!"

"Right," Kavi said, "but to forget where you came from, the name of your comrades, and what your rank was…that's not normal. And it's getting worse!"

"Worse?" Alice asked. "How so?"

"He noticed he was starting to forget things that happened say, a month ago. Every time we try to jog his memory, something weird happens."

"Weird?"

"Yeah. He…changes, I guess you could say. The last time it happened we had taken him to see a hypnotherapist. It's a fairly new science, you see. Do you know what a hypnotist is?"

"Like a magician?" Alice tried, a bit confused. Kavi snorted a laugh and shook her head.

"Well, I guess that's an easy mistake," she replied. "Lots of magicians use hypnotic suggestions to entertain. But actually, it can be useful when trying to remember details about your childhood, or if you witnessed something and needed to remember what time it was, and so on. That's why we thought a hypnotherapist would be a good thing to try and pry something loose.

"So, what happened?" Oreldo asked. Kavi shuddered and waited as The Iron Wolf passed. He made a similar show of saluting to her, but then pointed and said something insulting, which got the crowd roaring back. He then entered the ring and the two men waited as the steel cage lowered down over the ring.

Kavi continued as they waited. "Usually what would happen every time we got him close to recalling something, he'd suddenly get scared, or would suddenly complain of a headache. That's another thing; he's been getting a lot of really bad migraines lately. They seem to come with hallucinations, and they're getting worse, too. I think there's something really wrong inside his head, like an illness or maybe even a cancerous growth."

Alice gasped. "No! We must get him back to the Imperial Capital!"

"Yeah," Oreldo said, "but what happened during the hypno-whatchamacallit?"

Kavi shrugged and shook her head. "It seemed to be going really well. According to the therapist's notes, he was remembering a battle and said he was staring down a tank. He mentioned a lantern, and then…" she trailed off and sighed. She looked at them, wondering if they were strong enough to hear the truth.

Alice's neck tingled. Oreldo gulped. They looked at each other. Each had the same bad feeling.

"Did he…experience a sudden mood swing?" Oreldo asked. "Like out of the blue he got really serious and…uh, kinda scary?"

Kavi raised her eyebrows. "You've seen it?" Both Alice and Oreldo nodded.

Oreldo looked at Alice. "But how is that possible?" he demanded. "He's always had his lantern with him when that happened! I thought he couldn't…get that way…without it!"

"So this phantom lantern is real?" Kavi asked. "I really thought the 901 troop was just an urban legend, but after General Ulrich told me a few stories, and now with your corroborating info…he must have relived a real memory. And now I know that lantern, wherever it is, is a key to unlocking that memory."

"That still doesn't explain how he…he…changed!" Oreldo insisted.

"Actually, it can," Kavi replied. "Think about it. A really good hypnotist can tell you you're covered with bugs and make you believe it. Tie in an actual memory and you can trick your brain to relive every exact detail. Why, I've even heard stories of people who are so convinced, that they experience sunburns and allergic reactions!"

"What happened to the Corporal?" Alice asked.

Kavi looked grim. "If you know about the lantern, then you must also know that at some point he had a gun too." They nodded and she sighed. "When he found his gun was 'missing,' he destroyed everything. The whole office became his battleground as he looked for it. When he tore through the building, he eventually found the maintenance area. While there, he found a pair of garden shears and went after everyone with it."

"Oh my god," Alice said, recalling the incident with 908. While she never saw him actually use the shears, she did get a glimpse of the aftereffect when they wheeled 908's body away.

"Did he hurt anyone?" she asked Kavi. When Kavi shook her head she sighed in relief.

"They were extremely lucky he was so slow and methodic," Kavi said. Anyone stupid enough to try and stop him were tossed away like rag dolls. A few bruises and sprains from what I gathered, but it could have been much worse."

"How did they stop him then?" Oreldo asked.

"The therapist finally came up behind him and gave the signal," Kavi said. "Oland didn't remember a thing and felt so terrible. As for the therapist, he retired and said he never wanted to do that again. We haven't tried anything since, but the migraines and memory loss have continued. He's going downhill fast."

She looked at Alice and Oreldo. "I can't tell you how happy I was to find out you guys know who he is and care enough about him to come looking."

"Well, we don't know everything," Oreldo admitted, "but we know enough! He's my friend and only subordinate!"

"He's our comrade," Alice declared. "And as his commanding officer, it's my responsibility to get him home and make sure he gets well!"

Kavi grinned. "Then we'll just have to talk to him when this is over," she said. "I just hope he gets well enough in time for the big tour!"

"Tour?" Alice echoed.

"Yeah! It will be great!" Kavi replied. "He's gotten so popular here that he's going to join my company and perform all over the continent! When he's not wrestling he'll play the part of the Gump in my show. He loves it, and to be honest, he's the best Gump I ever had. While he's distracting the audience, my spies will be able to do their thing as well. With him as the focus, I'll be less of a target and thus become even more effective in my work!"

"Now wait just a minute!" Alice yelled. "He's a valuable member of my platoon! He's not going anywhere!"

"That reminds me," Kavi asked mildly, "just why did he go AWOL anyway? I mean, if you cared about him so much, why did he run away?"

Alice hung her head. "He didn't," she admitted. "I banished him in Cavern City."
"Banished him?" Kavi echoed. "For what? War crimes?"

Alice nodded. "But the real reason was to keep him safe. He…he isn't a fighter! He's really gentle and kindhearted! I just…I wanted to protect him!"

Kavi gave a wry smile and Alice blushed.

"Kind and gentle, eh?" Kavi said, then jerked her head to the ring. "Well, he hasn't been exactly picking flowers!"

Alice and Oreldo looked as the match continued. Both men went after each other like rabid dogs. They threw one another all over the ring, much to the delight of the crowd. While Oland was bigger and stronger, the Iron Wolf was faster and more skilled. He could land several devastating blows to Oland's face and body, but Oland just kept coming. Once he got his hands on the Iron Wolf, the damages were incredible.

Arm bars, body slams, pile drivers, sleeper holds, and so on…every old trick in the book was used. Every time it looked as though Oland would be defeated, Jan held up the "lantern" and signaled the audience, who cheered in response. Alice cried out when a blow to Oland's face produced blood, but Kavi quickly explained that with any sport, physical injuries were part of the risk.

"Don't worry," Kavi said in Alice's ear, "part of what you see is an illusion. As with any performance, they're telling a story. In this case, it's with their fists."

"What about the other part?" Alice asked.

Kavi shrugged. "It's called 'sports entertainment' for a reason. Think of it like the circus. Working with lions, the high wire act, and the human cannonball all involve physical stunts with the possibility of danger. This really is no different. If it wasn't for his mental health, I'd keep him right where he is. It may not seem like it, but he's really enjoying this. He's good at it, too!"

"Well…" Oreldo said, "I hate to admit it, but he does seem happy."

Alice didn't want to believe him, but it was true. Oland was happy. She could tell how the cheers brought him to life every time he was laid low. The way he grinned after giving Iron Wolf a big boot to the face made her laugh in spite of herself. She suddenly recalled what Captain Hunks said before they left:

"Then at least we know he's safe and happy, wherever he is."

She didn't want to entertain the possibility of him not coming back to the Pumpkin Scissors, but how could she take this away from him?

She shook her head. She could not. The focus then was to make him well, memory or no.

Maybe it's better if he doesn't remember, she thought. I don't want him to relive the whole war just so that he can remember us, too! It's not worth it! If I become a mere child in his eyes, so be it.

"It's best if he returns to the Imperial Capital," she said to Kavi, "but he doesn't need us to do it. Send him to the Caplan Institute. They'll know what to do!"

"LT?" Oreldo said, scratching his head, "But I thought…aren't we even going to say hello?"

"No need!" she declared. "He's not a soldier anymore. We've seen him and he's all right for the most part. We might just make him worse! He doesn't need our help; he just needs a good doctor! Now that we know his whereabouts, we can focus on eliminating the 906 paratroopers and figuring out who or what the Silver Wheel is! Let's get back to the castle!"

Suddenly the bell rang and the crowd cheered once more. Sure enough, Gespenster Jaeger remained undefeated, and the Iron Wolf was carried out on a stretcher. As he passed by on the runway, Oland paused once again and looked for that familiar orange coat. He caught a glimpse of her walking away, and he was overcome by the strangest sensation: fear. He suddenly wanted to run after her, but couldn't figure out why. He then laughed to himself.

The Valkyrie, he thought, shaking his head and continuing to walk back to his dressing room, that's what it is! It's that dream I keep having. She's tiny, blond and her costume is the same color, that's all. Funny…most people don't call me by my rank…I wonder how she knew? She seemed so young…ah, Madame Minstrel probably said something.

By the time he'd returned to his dressing room, another migraine had started. The more he thought about the Valkyrie, the stranger the pictures in his head became. Why did images of potatoes and snow on tires keep turning up? He considered the Valkyrie to be his harbinger and guardian angel. Every time he saw her in a dream, he knew it was going to be bad but eventually get better. She was his protector and guide, keeping him safe from the bloody hands that tried to grab him. Those hands…

He shuddered. He didn't want to tell the others, but those hands were starting to show up, even when he was sure he was awake…