The train was as quiet as the rest of the Villa. Giu looked around to all of two other passengers, neither of which bore the paladin armor. After the big city march, it seemed most of the soldiers were standing guard within Tullula.
“You think they’re expecting trouble or something?” Giu asked.
“If they are, we really don’t want a part of it,” Tea said, watching the clouds pass by. “If push comes to shove, be ready to cut and run, Gi.”
“It’s that bad?”
“Maybe. I’m not waiting around to find out.”
Tea pulled out another cookie bowl, Giu reaching for it when he heard someone screaming from behind. They both looked over to see a large man wearing a bandana tied to his mouth. He looked vaguely familiar, though Giu couldn’t remember where he’d seen him.
“Nobody move!” he said, waving a flaming axe through the air. “This train is once again under control of the Lowtown Gang.”
The two other passengers threw up their hands, one crying while the other begged for his life. Neither looked particularly dangerous, though Giu still waited to see if they were paladins in disguise.
“Don’t hurt us! We’ll give you anything, just please let us go!”
“Shut up!” the axe wielder shouted. “And you two! Put your hands where I can see ‘em!”
He and Tea exchanged glances, the latter sighing.
“I got it.”
A bottle smashed over the would-be robber’s face, his screams rising as Tea boredly lit him ablaze. The other passengers continued to scream, though this time more in shock than anything. Giu shrugged, grabbing a cookie and chowing down. They were just passing Sunset Grove, their forest destination drawing near.
“Welp, we’re almost there.”
He looked down at the now silent bandit.
“That’s not gonna get us arrested, is it?”
Tea shrugged. “Self-defense, Gi. Am I right, you two?”
The other passengers seized up, immediately nodding in agreement. The train was quiet after that until it was finally time to land.
***
The forest was just as warm and inviting as Giu remembered.
He marched along his old hunting grounds, taking in the sweet smells of pinecones and bark. He remembered it all so well. Every spot he’d feasted. The places he’d slept. Where he did his business. It all brought a wide smile to his face. How simple things had been back then.
“Can’t believe you really spent weeks cooped up here,” Tea said, scrutinizing his drinking stream. “You never thought it was weird no other canines were around?”
“In my defense, I was trying to hide from the giant monster. Stupid flying train.”
Tea snickered. “You really are a dummy, dummy.”
“Oh, shut up.”
They kept trekking ahead. As embarrassing it was, the hike was a nice break from the Immy trouble.
For Giu, the forest might as well have been his hometown. It was where he remembered everything with perfect clarity. The daily fishing struggles. His brushes with crows. The pixie he’d somehow stumbled upon and ended up saving. All the memories were his. They all felt so right to him.
But the others…
“Oh!” He ran over, touching the spot in the grass. “This is it! This where I woke up in.”
He rubbed the ground, finding the patch where Immy had sent him. It still had his scent, along with those of several rodents and avians. Must have moved in while I was gone. He shook his head. Can’t leave for a second, huh? Tea flew over, examining the spot as well.
“Huh.” Tea plucked a blade of grass, eyes narrowing. “Yep. That pretty much confirms it.”
“Confirms what?”
They tossed it aside. “The spell Imona used. I figured something strong enough to launch you from Syd to Villa would leave residue. It’s a little faint, but there’s definitely magic residue all over this spot. I'm guessing it was probably a gate spell or something.”
Tea pulled out Immy’s file, Giu’s enthusiasm waning slightly. Right. My past. Tea nodded at the pages.
“Immy was a pretty strong Nature user,” they said. “Must have been desperate, though to use a gate. They tend to splice people through trees if they use ‘em wrong.”
“Well, Immy was good enough to teach me. Although…” He remembered the fox’s face seconds before she disappeared. “When she used it, her face turned all…black.”
“Black?”
“Like stuff was coming over her face. Kinda freaky, actually.”
Tea rubbed their chin. “Huh. That doesn’t actually sound like a magic drawback, Gi. Sure it wasn’t an illusion.”
He frowned. “Yes,”
Tea nodded, the pixie looking over Immy’s file once more. Their eyes lit up.
“Hey, Gi,” they said. “By any chance did your memory issue start before or after you woke up here?”
“I- Uh.” His head ached. “I can’t remember.”
“Can you try, anyway?”
He thought back, recalling Immy carrying him through the forest. The people chasing them. But beyond that… His head throbbed just trying to see through the haze of scattered memories. He could recall Immy training him. Bits and pieces of their life. But recalling anything else was like wading through lava. He finally broke away, finding Tea at his side again. He didn’t know when, but he’d started sweating at some point.
“It’s no good,” he said. “I can’t remember anything.”
Tea's gaze softened.
“Gi,” they said. “I’m gonna say something that might scare you, but I need you to give me an honest answer. Are you sure Imona wasn’t the one who poisoned you?”
He recoiled, instantly snapping back a “No way.”
Tea put a hand on him. “Gi.” He flicked it away.
“She didn’t. Wouldn’t.” He shook his head. “Immy wasn’t like that. I trust her.”
Tea didn’t respond, which only made him more frustrated.
“Tea, what are you getting at?”
The pixie averted their gaze.
“T.”
They sighed.
“I’m not trying to accuse her, Gi,” they said. “I’m just saying something’s off about all this. Someone like her could probably get a memory potion pretty easy.”
“That doesn’t mean she did it.”
“I know.” Tea met his gaze. “I believe you, Gi. I believe Immy saved your life. Just like I believe you trusted her. But someone still poisoned you, dummy. Someone you may have trusted. How do we know that wasn't her? She might have risked it all for you after the fact. We don’t know. Not without hard evidence, Gi. That’s how this works.”
He didn’t respond. Though the memories were scrambled, he knew his friend well. Immy would have died before she let anyone hurt him. As he would have done for her. She was the closest thing to family he could remember. The closest to kin. Maybe they weren’t related by blood, but they might as well have been. Hearing Tea throw accusations her way just felt like getting spat on.
“Immy is innocent,” he said, nearly growling every word. “She didn’t poison me.”
Tea sighed. “Yeah. Okay, Gi.”
They didn’t push the topic further, a silence falling between them.
Note: New Chapters dropping every Sunday. Feel free to leave comments, critiques, praises, favorites, ect. if you’d like. Watches and shouts are also welcome. ^^
