Forbidden Memories [Solo]

[Previously: Fragments of myself]


The boy wished for more time with the blonde girl, but he knew that his attention should be focus somewhere else. With the mindset of saving Jewels, he decided to camp at the foot of the Pheonix Mountains, until the puzzle was whole again. It would be cold and probably take a while, but it had to be done. The pieces within the bag clanked around as the boy made his way through the forest, looking for a suitable place to call home for a bit. He could see traces of snow here and there in the distance. The amount of trees rose as he walked on, looking. The boy settled upon a place that was near a stream of fresh water. There was a giant rock, that covered one side of the future camp and a relatively large stump, that could serve as a pseudo table. The only thing missing was some sort of resting place. The boy set down his bag next to the rock and went to gather wood, that he could turn into a makeshift bed. When he was satisfied with the amount of wood he gathered, he walked back and prepared the bed. It was more just for insulation than comfort, really. Once he was done with that task, it was a good idea to gather some firewood. Most likely enough to last him for a few days, so that he wouldn't have to interrupt his focus when piecing the puzzle together. He didn't know how long it would take him to do that.

Once the camp was taken care of, the boy carefully laid out the pieces of the puzzle upon the stump. The sun was already setting, making trees cast long shadows on the ground below them. The boy would grab some of the firewood he gathered earlier and lit a fire for light and warmth. It was starting to get fairly cold for his taste. As much as he would have preferred a quiet room with an actual table and chair, he wanted to make sure that he was alone. Even if it felt like it was more dangerous for his own mental health to be alone with his thoughts. When the fire got going and he ate a bit of the rations he bought the day before, it was high time that he got to work.

The next few days there was no progress at all. He focused every fibre of his being on the puzzle pieces, but even that seemed to not be enough. He thought he had the solution a few times, but there were always a few pieces that ultimately didn't fit, which made him completely reset his process. At some point he got too frustrated and his other self took over. He let his other self to try solving it, but not even he could do it. He only cursed excessively at the complexness of the pieces, before letting the boy take over his body again. After those few days his food rations started to dwindle, which meant it was high time he went to gather some berries or whatever food he could find. That meant one great of a day was gone, not spent on the mystery of the puzzle. He managed to gather some berries and herbs, while also managing to create a makeshift hunting trap, that would hopefully supply him with some meat in a couple of days, if it sprung. With food out of the way, the boy decided to scavenge for more firewood, since he was already in a gathering swing. He worked fast and brought back enough firewood to last him for a while.

The camp was blessedly quiet that whole time, except for birds chirping and wind blowing. The boy didn't even see any animals straying close. Perhaps it was the fire that he had going during the evenings and nights. He didn't sleep much, only when it was apparent that he was too close to fainting from exhaustion. At some point his condition got so bad, that in his fit of anger over the puzzle pieces his other self took control once again and didn't let go for a while, telling him to take of himself, since he didn't have to kill himself trying to solve the puzzle. The boy hated that his other self always had a point, when he raised a concern or an issue. At least he had some time to rest his mind a bit, while his other self tried to wrap his head around the artifact.

It took him a few more days, until he felt like he made actual progress and a few more days, until he was almost finished. He was cold, tired both physically and mentally, somewhat hungry. He wasn't even sure how much time exactly had passed. As he was trying to work out the last remaining pieces, he almost thought that there was a piece missing, which made him panic. Thankfully that wasn't the case and he managed to put it back together. He slid the last piece in place, testing the edges of the puzzle to see if it held together. It did and the boy sighed a heavy sigh of relief. It was strange, though. He felt like... he had done this before. Did the artifact break before? He felt goosebumps go down his spine, as the artifact suddenly gave off a faint green-ish glow. /"What am I unleashing...?"/



Everything was foggy, wavy, hazy. He saw a dead forest at the foot of a mountain. Up ahead he saw himself. A quite younger version of himself. He was putting down a travelling bag and starting to ascend up the mountain. Why was he doing that? Why was he scaling up a mountain, all by himself? It didn't make sense. He was missing something. The fog enveloped his vision. When it cleared, he saw himself again. This time he looked older. He was in the dead forest, moving in set patterns, as if he was training something. He saw a silhouette over yonder, but he couldn't make out its size, let alone a shape. The fog was too thick to see clearly. His mind was more focused on himself, who was continuously repeating the moves. They started to blend together into a dance. He tried to look closer, when he saw his arms suddenly covered in green stuff. It seemed like it was liquid, as the goo dripped from his arms, onto the dead branches scattered around his feet, singing them. Were his arms covered in... poison? His gaze shifted back to the hazy silhouette. Its edges were becoming slightly sharper. He could make out a head, general shape of the body and what looked like wings. When he looked back at himself, he was still training away, under the silhouette's presence. Was that his true power...? Before he could think on it more, his vision got clouded again. But this time it stayed that way, until the silhouette from before appeared and he heard a distorted voice calling out. "You will remember, when you are ready to repent for your mistakes and face the truth."



When the boy came to, he was still looking at the puzzle. However, it wasn't glowing anymore. He was shaking from what he had just experienced, but now he could remember tiny pieces of his past. He felt a change in his body, becoming aware of the poison that was coursing through his veins and his previous magic ebbing away. He remembered the shape of the silhouette. Now that he could think about it, it had the shape of a dragon. It was a bit of stretch, but he felt like that was the right answer. With the poison set in motion, a name seeped into his mind - Eitur. He was unsure as to whom the name belonged to. Was it the dragon's name? Name of a family member? Name of whoever or whatever erased his memories? He didn't know. He had no way of knowing. What he knew, however, was that he now had a renewed purpose. Master this old-new power he had re-awakened to and find out what truly happened in his past.