Chapter Three- Link Forged
Goodwin led Jack out of the office and toward the guest rooms. He felt sympathy for Jack's situation. He had no memory of anything save his name and sign language and, no doubt, any merpeople abilities that came naturally to them. That is fortunate; if we couldn't talk to sea life who knows where Jack might have ended up.
"Jack, while you're here, might I suggest befriending others your age and maybe even play with the kids." He looked back to see genuine interest in Jack's eyes. I think I hit upon one of Jack's interests. Good. I should assign someone to accompany Jack; someone who knows sign language and can translate for him. He blinked as he came out of his thoughts and saw his heir, Yusei, approaching. Yusei had been the son of a dear friend and when the boy had been born, Goodwin was named his godfather. Several months after Yusei's birth, both of his parents perished and he became the boy's guardian and been raising him to be governor after him. It was a plan that both Yusei and the sea king approved of and Yusei took to his studies with enthusiasm. And he knows sign language as a part of his studies. I'll ask him later if he would like to help and befriend Jack.
Jack had been admiring the smooth hall walls when he saw a handsome teenage merman coming up from the opposite way. He had eyes as blue as the sea and spiky black and yellow hair. His tail color matched his eyes and he had a curious yellow mark on his left cheek. I wonder who he is. I find him rather attractive.
The teen inclined his head to Goodwin in acknowledgment. "Rex," he said.
"Yusei," Goodwin replied. He waved a hand to Jack. "This is Jack. He will be staying for a time."
Yusei went to Jack with a smile and held out a hand while thinking, Wow, he's handsome.
Jack smiled back as he took Yusei's hand. The moment their hands touched, a sudden bolt of pain lanced through both of their heads. They released hands to grip their temples with a grunt of pain, though Jack's was silent.
"Yusei! Jack!" Goodwin said in alarm.
"Uh, I'm all right," Yusei managed to say. "I just suddenly had a migraine which is strange as I never had one before."
"Me neither," came a voice in his head.
Yusei shook his head slightly and groaned, "Oh, great. Now I'm hearing a voice in my head."
"A voice in your head?" Goodwin repeated and then smiled at them. "Yusei. Jack. You two are connected. When two merpeople are destined to be together and meet for the first time, a telepathic link is forged. Destined matches are extremely rare and cannot be denied."
"Telepathic link?" Yusei repeated. "You mean, I'm hearing Jack's voice in my head and that means he's my match?"
"Yes and this is good as Jack somehow lost his voice and doesn't remember how it happened. He can't seem to remember a lot of things, actually, but he does know sign language."
Yusei faced Jack with shock. "You can't remember anything?"
Jack shook his head. "I can't. I don't remember where I live or how I got here or how fish can talk."
Yusei found this last comment odd and concluded that Jack's amnesia was worse than he or Goodwin thought.
"Yusei, as Jack is your future husband, I will leave him in your hands. Show him to your room and speak with him."
"All right." He took Jack's hand and led him out of the hall and into another hall before arriving in Yusei's room.
"There's not much I can say about myself," Jack said as they sat on the bed. "So, you talk. I heard you address the governor by his first name. Why?"
"He's my godfather. My dad was a dear friend and named Rex my godfather when I was born. Several months later, both of my parents died and Rex took me in. He taught me everything a child should know before teaching me the ways of a governor."
"Can he do that?"
"Yes. The king and I both approve of the idea. I know running the village is a big job but Rex knows I can do it." Yusei lapsed into silence as he couldn't really think of anything to say. Normally with an engaged couple, they would share their interests and backgrounds, but it wasn't possible in this instance as Jack's memories were gone. He felt for him; to not know your history was an awful thing. He casually glanced at Jack who seemed interested in the room. Yusei's eyes roved over Jack's body until he saw a strange-looking belt looped around the waist. It was lopsided owing to the square brown box hanging next to Jack's right hip. He stared at it before deciding to ask via telepathy. "What's this?" he asked, touching the box.
"Hmm?" He looked over and down. "I don't know." He jostled the box and multiple clinks were heard. Jack flipped the top open and Yusei said, "Cards. Duel Monsters cards." He slid one out. It looked just like the ones everyone in the sea played. It was placed in a waterproof holder with circuitry so that it could interface with their underwater Duel Disks. He turned it around to look at the monster.
"Red Dragon Archfiend," he read. "That's a powerful card."
Jack leaned over to read the card. "Yes, it is. Yusei…maybe I'm a duelist."
"I say you are. I mean, you realize that the players are called duelists. Speaking of which…I'm a duelist too."
"Yeah? I take it you're good."
Yusei decided to switch to telepathy again. "I am, but so are others in the village and there are probably even better duelists throughout the sea."
"I'd like to meet them."
"You will. Tomorrow. For now, it is dinnertime and we'll also need to move a bed of your own into the room."
"Yes, tomorrow. I'll need you to translate my signed responses."
"Right. You know," Yusei said as he led the way to the dining hall. "Your telepathic voice is real nice."
"It is?" Jack smiled before saying, "Yours sounds like your actual voice."
"That's interesting," Yusei said. "So, your actual voice would sound like your telepathic one."
"Maybe. I can't even remember what my voice sounded like."
Goodwin listened as Yusei related that Jack was a duelist and they planned to meet with Yusei's closest friends tomorrow. Finally Goodwin said, "That's an excellent idea. I had suggested to Jack about making new friends before we met up with you. I am also pleased that you found a part of Jack's past. I look forward to hearing about tomorrow's outing."
Jack's hands flew as he signed, "Governor? Yusei said that I will need my own bed in his room."
Goodwin nodded. "That's correct. I will have that attended to."
Jack signed, "Thank you." He returned to his dinner and reflected on the day. He was aware that he only knew part of it and yet what he knew was a lot. He had started out as the guest of the village governor and was now the destined match of the governor's godson with whom he had a telepathic link. They found that he was a duelist and he would meet others tomorrow.