Sequence 03 – 'Bleeding Effect'

Previously: Our favourite young blacksmith faced the pirates who came to the Silent Island for a treasure, and they didn't mind plundering around in the Magors' village. Kese fought them successfully: some of the pirates lay dead thanks to his blade, but some of them ran away. Meanwhile some strange and strong vision almost drove him insane.

English isn't my native language, so if you find any mistake, please send me a message about it. My betas got busy and haven't read this yet. If you would like to help me, let me know it. ;) And if you have a question or an opinion, feel free to leave a comment. Every little feedback is appreciated^^.

The chapters contain coarse language, violence and adult themes.

Assassin's Creed and Naruto belong to their respectful owners. I'm also not taking other authors' work. I'm writing this fanfiction because I ran out of chocolate I ate at the beginning of Sequence 02. o-o Thank you for reading^^

And don't forget:

- Text after a dash or between two dashes means somebody's talking. - text written in italic has emphasis. 'Text written like this' means the character is thinking. But when he/she quotes someone else is like the next line.

- "I don't use bold font; don't look for it, please."

It was a beautiful morning on the Silent Island: the sea was quietly rumbling, the birds were chirping, the warm sunshine illuminated the Magors' village. It was the first day of October with an unusually nice weather. Only the unceasing, cold wind reminded everyone of the approaching winter.

Kese growled when he opened his eyes. He felt like a mole moved into his head, digging around and causing him a stubborn headache. Because of this he couldn't sleep more – but he was still so tired! He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. Why was there a chair next to his bed? He was pondering over it, when suddenly his head jerked up. – Oh, shit, I've overslept! – he jumped up, grabbed some clothes, but got dizzy, so he decided to slow down a little. It didn't matter now; his father will scold him for being late anyway. He was very strict when it came to accuracy.

The blonde could barely walk – he ascribed it to his sleepiness-, but managed to stumble into the kitchen and wash his face to wake up a little more. He was very thirsty, he drank four glasses of water, but ate nothing. He couldn't find his mother anywhere, so - with a hungry stomach and pounding headache – he slowly went to the workshop; and he found it strangely quiet. He prepared himself for a bad day and an angry Tas, and he stepped into their room of creation.

But he didn't find there anyone. Nothing but the usual order and chaos ruled the forge. No heated steal. No angry blacksmith. The blonde sighed in relief. 'Where's he if not here?' Kese thought, then an idea came to his mind. Being this tired he wouldn't be able to forge properly so... - My dear bed, here I come! - he just stepped into the house when in all of a sudden someone stepped in his way. His smile fell: an angry Tas stood in front of him. – Okay, okay... – he turned to go back to the workshop, but his father grabbed his shoulder and shouted at him. Actually it wasn't shouting, just an imperious question, but it made Kese hunch. – I'm sorry, I overslept... – he turned back to his father, who had a strange look on his face. He asked something again. Kese blinked a few: he had just realized he didn't understand what Tas had said. Had he learnt some strange language the blonde didn't know? And worse: he decided to test it on him? Kese sighed and rubbed his aching head. – Father, it's not funny.

Tas frowned in a worried way. He touched Kese's pale forehead then cheeks. His hands were so cold; it made goosebumps on his son's neck. He ordered something and pointed into the blonde's room. Kese blinked again, but nodded. If his father wanted him to sleep, he didn't want to question his will. He slowly stumbled into his room, changed back his clothes and felt something weird. His eyes went wide when he glanced down at his body. He was covered with gauze pads, cuts and bruises, and on his belly there were thick bandages covering his scar. The dark red stain on top of it told him it wasn't a simple, healed scar anymore. Why hadn't he noticed these on him before? Was he that sleepy? Did he even have wounds? If yes, why hadn't he felt them already? Why didn't they hurt? But if not...

Alright, he didn't like it. Who was making fun of him? First his father was speaking strangely, then those things on his body... He had a bad feeling, like a boding, that didn't leave him alone. He shifted the gauze on his abdomen a little and peeked under it. He had to sit down. There was a fresh wound right on the spot his scar had used to be.

His headache increased. He was very, very confused. What the hell had happened? What had he done? Had he fell off a horse, or injured himself while forging or whetting? What had he done at all the day before? He concentrated, but didn't get a clear memory. Maybe he was practicing swordplay with his brothers; maybe training with his sensei. Or he was after that beautiful deer again. Maybe he walked around in the war-soaked, but still delightful streets of...

What.

The.

Hell.

What brothers? What sensei? Where did he know them from? And the deer, or those streets? When had he been there? He hadn't left the island for a while, right? Then how did he have memories of places he had never been to, people he had never met, events he had never attended, and even ages he had never lived in? Were they playfully evil effings of his mind? Or were they all real? What the hell, was he immortal, or what? Then, there would be an order in his memories. He would be able to clearly recall these in their respectful sequence. But all he knew was his head being in a complete chaos, fragments and flashes everywhere. What had caused this? And was it the reason behind his headache? And his scar, rather, wound? Why had it opened? And the other injuries?

This was the moment Lehel entered his room. He spoke to him on that strange language, too. Had everyone forgotten how to speak Magor?!

- What the hell happened, doc? – he asked, but received a frown again. Then the doctor immediately started to examine him. – Nah, tell me, please... – Lehel didn't respond, and this made Kese impatient. - What the hell, doc?! Can't you hear me, or what? What the fuck is up with you two today?! – he snapped. Lehel sighed and looked into his eyes.

- Kese...

- Yeah?

He sighed again and started to speak in a serious voice. Another damned unknown language again! The blonde wasn't used to this: not understanding a single word from the man's speech.

- Damn it, doc, speak normally! – he snapped again. – Why don't you...

His scowl dropped; his eyes and mouth widened. He finally understood. - No...

It wasn't them using a different language. It was him who forgot how to speak Magor. This realization shocked him. How could he have forgotten how to speak it? He had been using it constantly for two years now!

He wiped his forehead, and buried his face into his palm. 'How will I speak to my family then?' he thought while the doctor continued examining him.

- What happened? – he whispered to himself.

- Oh, finally! – the doctor yelled, and at last on a language they both knew. - Do you understand me now?

Kese blinked at him. – Yes... How?

- Elemental. You suddenly switched onto it. Strange, when I first spoke it, you didn't understand...

- Doc... – Kese looked into Lehel's grey eyes seriously.

- Yes?

- What happened?

- Why do you ask? You... you don't remember? – he frowned at this. The blonde raised an eyebrow and shook his head. – Oh dear... – the doctor sighed. – You must have had some kind of psychological trauma; therefore you forgot or repressed what happened... Well, where to begin... So, the pirates came to visit us, but we...

- The pirates? – he interrupted him. - You mean those, who... – Botond's fate appeared in his mind. - You know.

Lehel got scared. - Kese, seriously, how much don't you remember?

The blonde opened his mouth, but then slowly closed it. He rubbed his eyes; his head pounded like hell. – I'm sorry, doc. I don't know.

- You heal well, Kese.

- Déjà vu.

- ... Don't speak another language now, please.

- Uhm, alright. – the blonde murmured. Lehel was taking off the gauze pads from his torso; some of Kese's wounds had stitches, some didn't because they were smaller or shallower. He had been out for more than one full day: it had been the shortest time ever he was unconscious after his wound had seriously bled.

He was curious about why the doctor didn't want to tell him what had happened. Lehel told him he needed to collect his thought at first, but in Kese's opinion he didn't have the courage to do it. 'The pirates came to visit us', he repeated the only thing he knew about the past events from the doc. Remembering what those pirates had done before and seeing his own state made him suspicious. – Doc, is everyone alright in the village?

Lehel truly got surprised by his question and his stern voice. – Yes... Why do you ask?

- Please, don't lie.

- I'm not lying.

Kese became stricter. - Where's my mother?

The doctor's creased eyebrows suddenly rose. – I don't know. Maybe... – he was interrupted by said person's voice coming from behind the door. – Well, she's here. – he saw the blonde sighing in relief. – Hey, everything alright?

Kese just nodded and let the doc go on with his work on him. He was afraid the pirates had done something with the villagers or his family, he – being a little hot-headed – had got angry and charged at them, and the pirates had beaten the crap out of him. He wouldn't mind this explanation; at least only he had got injured. But then he would only have bruises, not cuts. He knew some other things had happened, something more unpleasant, else the doc would have already told him.

While he was chewing over this and patiently waiting for Lehel to finish, his sight became vivid and changing. Dozens of different places and people appeared in front of him in a very short time; every one of them so familiar. Suddenly Lehel shook his shoulders and his musings vanished. – Yeah?

- Dammit, Kese, I've been trying to wake you up from your daydreaming for at least two minutes! – he sighed nervously. – I'm finished.

The blonde took his shirt but didn't put it on. He was staring into distance. – My visions have changed.

He immediately got Lehel's attention. – How?

- I can't describe it... – he frowned. – They feel more real, like they aren't visions any more, but, uhm... – he tried to find the perfect word for it.– ...flashbacks.

- Like flashbacks of real memories? – the doc crossed his arms. Kese gave him a few little nods. - You've never said you were on drugs. I suggest you-

- Hey, I'm not! And I've never been! – he snapped, and rubbed his temples.

- Okay, calm down... Then, you are saying your visions became your memories?

- No. – he shook his head. – I'm saying that... They were memories all along; they just weren't this strong before.

- Hm... Before what? – Kese couldn't answer this question, just shrugged. – At least, you'll know your past better. Maybe you'll get all of your old memories back in time.

- There's a problem.

- Which is?

- They are not my memories.

Lehel just looked at him, not understanding what he meant. – What do you mean by they are not your memories? Of course, they are!

Kese sighed and shook his head. – I've been to places that don't exist and met people who have died a long time ago. I used things that aren't even invented! And the creepiest: I saw my face in mirrors a few times. And what I saw wasn't mine.

- The mirror?

- The face! I didn't see my face. I saw other men's and even women's faces, and – before you ask - they weren't masks, make-ups, illusions or hallucinations!

They looked at each other for a while, and Kese could see the doubt and scepticism in the doctor's eyes. Lehel started to walk about in his room, trying to comprehend the things he had just said. The blonde put on his shirt, then massaged his temples: why his headache didn't want to cease, he didn't know. Suddenly he heard some strange voice. He perked his ears, because at first he thought it was a part of a new flashback. It wasn't.

- What's this?

- I think your little sister is hungry.

- Jolánta is more mature than just whimper around when she's hungry. Well, she would whimper, but not in this way.

- This is Csepke, not Jolánta. – Kese looked up to him with a strange expression. - Wait... Don't tell me you've forgotten your own sister.

The blonde glanced towards the door. – How old is she?

- Her first birthday will be in nine days. 10th of October.

'This date sounds so familiar.' – Is it October already?

- ... You're starting to frighten me, young man.

Kese buried his face in his palms, still rubbing his head. Csepke. Csepke...

A light bulb flashed in his mind. – Oh, I was in Siplak with father when she was born, right?

Lehel sighed. – Ah, finally!

After he made sure his patient would rest peacefully without running around the island, Lehel left the blacksmith's house. He should have known Kese better by this time, because the blonde couldn't just rest peacefully in his bed; he sat up the moment after the doctor got out of sight. He needed to go to the bathroom so badly and he was still very thirsty. He got on his feet and stretched himself carefully, when he heard a quiet knock on his door. Rozi entered his room, carrying fresh and clean shirts, just ironed. She smiled at him and nodded; and Kese immediately knew she was told about his language problems by the doctor. She put the shirts into the blonde's wardrobe and then noticed his son's questioning look.

Kese opened his mouth, like he wanted to say something to her, but remembered he still didn't know how to speak Magor; he got dejected and his glance fell to the floor. His mother stepped to him and lifted his chin so they could look into each others' eyes. Rozi smiled, then hugged him fondly.

The blonde got surprised, but he was glad he received this small act of kindness and love. He returned the hug - his was even tighter -, and felt how tiny Rozi was. He even felt the hair dye's smell on her – but she had used it two weeks ago! Almost her whole hair turned silver after she had given birth to Csepke. She accepted it, although she was in the middle of her thirties (the average lifespan on the island was between fifty and sixty). It was Kese, who bought her hair dye from Zoli. He just couldn't bear seeing her silver hair – it was frightening for him that she was aging. He didn't want her to age. He didn't want his mother to get old, he loved her so much.

She noticed his shaking hug and breath; so she rubbed his back and calmed him down. She freed herself, smiled again, and returned to the kitchen: she still had things to do.

It felt so good for Kese. In spite they weren't able to speak on a mutual language now, they could still understand each other in a wordless way. And this made the blonde feel he wasn't left alone.