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“Mmh…What’s going on? Where am I? Who’s room is this?” The man groaned as he sat up in bed.
Glancing around the room he saw various trinkets and objects placing seemingly randomly around the room. Glancing to the side he saw a notebook on the beside table near him. Feeling the vaguest hint of familiarity he reached out to open the book. As he did he felt a shock throughout his body as a memory comes flooding into his head.
It was him, sitting at this desk, seemingly writing something in it.
Growing even more curious, the man opens the book and saw a note written in it.
Good morning precious. I know you’re probably feeling a little out of sorts right now but that’s perfectly normal. Just keep reading and I’ll tell you everything. The man, puzzled, continued. First off, your name is Troue. And this message is just you from the past. Don’t worry if you don’t remember.
Troue, with more questions than before, shook his head before continuing.
You’re suffering from the effects of the phantom bloom fungus. It causes you to forget everything overnight. But don’t worry about it. You’re just fine! Troue scrunched up his face as he considered the possibility if what he was reading was true or not.
Even better, you can get back some of the memories you’ve lost. Sort of at least. You have what’s called the Gift of Visions and it allows you to see the residual thoughts and memories of anything that you touch. Try it right now to see for yourself.
Curious, Troue touched the quill next to the notebook. As he did he saw a memory of him writing this note to himself. “Well, I guess they, or I, was right. I really did see a memory.” Troue muttered to himself as he continued reading.
Just remember, you’ll forget all of these tomorrow so go easy on the memories. Also, make sure to wear your gloves. That way you don’t accidentally see other peoples memories. You may forget them all tomorrow, but it’s still not nice to see other peoples private affairs. But, besides that, enjoy the day! It’ll be over before you know it so make sure to get up, talk a walk, and enjoy the day as best you can.
Troue closed the notebook with a sigh. His mind briefly raced as a million thoughts all happened at once before he took a deep breath and calmed himself. No use in getting worked up about all of this. According to himself, this was all normal.
Looking around the room, his room, again, Troue found the objects he had initially dismissed when he first woke up. Walking up to one of them, a metal ring with a bright red color and gold symbols circling the band, he touched it. As he did a memory flooded into him.
He was with someone, another boy, about his age by the look of it, and they were in what appeared to be a market.
“Gran, look at this ring. Isn’t it beautiful? It’s so old too. It has a wonderful set of memories.” Troue said.
Gran, the other boy, smiled. “That sounds wonderful.”
The boy turned to the merchant. “How much?” He asked.
“1000 rupies.” The merchant replied.
Troue gasped.
“Gran, that’s too much. You don’t have to buy it.” Troue said as he began to put the ring back.
Gran stopped Troue’s hand with his own and smiled.
“It’s no problem at all. I insist.”
After a brief conversation Gran handed the merchant 900 rupies and they both walked away. Stopping slightly away from the crowd, Gran picked the ring from out of Troue’s fingers and motioned for him to extend his hand. Troue did, and Gran followed by sliding the ring onto his right hand.
“It looks and fits perfectly. It was worth every rupie.”
Troue blushed slightly, not sure what to say.
Troue’s blush only deepened as Gran leaned down and gave a quick kiss to Troue’s hand, right over the ring itself. Gran then quickly grabbed Troue’s hand and pulled him back into the market.
Stepping out of the memory, Troue both smiled and blushed slightly.
Who was this Gran and why was he so kind? And what was that kiss for? What kind of a relationship did they have?
Troue sighed as the questions kept echoing in his mind. Maybe the walk would do him good.
Just as Troue was about to leave the room he glanced back at the ring before grabbing it and slipping it on.
It really did fit perfectly, just like the memory said.
—————
Walking along the halls of ship, Troue marveled at all the memories he found. The ship was so full of life. There were so many people who lived on this ship. It was amazing. And the fact that they all cared about one another and worked together was marvelous too.
They especially cared for this Gran, who appeared in most of the memories and seemed to be, by Troue’s best guess, some kind of leader for the ship.
None of the memories seemed to be similar to what Troue saw in his room, which made him even more curious about who this Gran really was and how they were connected. Lost in thought, Troue eventually found himself at the front of the ship. It was pointed at the end and the front was full of windows looking out to the sky. There was only one man in the room, steering the ship.
“Good morning Troue. Gran’s not here right now. I’m not sure where he is exactly.” The man called out upon seeing Troue enter.
Studying him for a minute Troue realized he recognized the man.
“You must be Rackam.” He said.
“Everyday it surprises me how quickly you remember things.” Rackam said with a chuckle.
“Well, it’s not hard to remember you. Your memories are all over the ship.” Troue said, smiling at him.
Rackam rubbed the back of his neck. “I hope it’s only the good ones you see.”
Troue grimaced a little. “Don’t worry, there are more good than bad by a good measure.”
Troue saw Rackam’s hands fall back down to the steering wheel, the grip relaxed.
“I’m glad to hear that. This old girl certainly deserves it.”
Troue just nodded as he walked towards one of the windows. After a moment he paused.
“Earlier you said something about Gran. What did you mean by that?” Troue asked.
Rackam glanced over at him. “I was just saying that Gran wasn’t here. I know you two meet on the bridge pretty often but he hadn’t come by yet today so I didn’t want you to worry.”
Troue, still unsure, only nodded.
“Ok. Thank you. I’ll find him later then.”
As he was about to leave Troue noticed something out of the corner of his eye. At the front of the ship, on one of the supporting pillars, there looked to be a small engraving. It was so small that if you weren’t looking for it you would easily miss it. As Troue walked up to it he saw that it read T X G. Almost on instinct Troue brought his hand to the letters and instantly another memory came to him.
Gran tugged Troue along the halls of the ship. Troue wasn’t sure why they were heading to the bridge in the middle of the night, but Gran said he had something important to show him, so he followed.
When they finally stopped they had reached the bridge. It was dark. There were no lights except for the moon through the windows. Gran smiled as he saw Troue look around in wonder. Gran didn’t say anything as he continued to pull Troue along with him to the very front of the bridge. Looking out the window, Troue gasped.
The sky was so clear and calm at night. It instantly lifted his spirit. As he glanced over to Gran he saw the moonlight outlined him perfectly. He was one of the most gorgeous things Troue had ever seen. He knew he would forget it in the morning, but he wished he could keep this memory.
Gran, face slightly frowning, grabbed Troue’s hand and squeezed it.
“What’s wrong?” Gran asked.
Troue sighed. “This is beautiful. You’re beautiful. But I won’t remember this tomorrow.”
Gran frowned, took his other hand and put it to his chin, and then snapped a few seconds later. “What if we made a way for you to remember this?”
Gran said as he pulled out a small knife. Troue grew worried, even more so as Gran turned towards one of the supports closest to them.
“What are you doing?” Troue whispered.
“Making a memory.” Gran replied as he took the knife and started to make a mark on the beam.
“Are you allowed to do that?” Troue whispered, his voice becoming more strained as the seconds passed.
Gran grinned.
“Of course I can. I’m the captain, remember.”
—————
Pulling out of the memory, Troue waved to Rackam as he left the deck, continuing his walk. As he walked the halls he passed by many people, all going one way or another. So many different kinds of people passed by Troue was amazed. It was just like in the memories he saw. Some of the people he saw he even recognized.
Eventually Troue found himself up on the deck of the ship. The weather was calm, the breeze lazily drifting across the deck.
Troue wandered around the deck for a while, looking at the clouds above and below, admiring the deck and its wide open spaces. Eventually he ended resting his arms on one of the railings overlooking the sky and relaxed. As he began to almost fall asleep he felt another memory tugging at him from this spot in particular.
Curious, he let it in.
Gran laughed. “You’re so funny Troue.”
Troue chuckled. “You’re the first to say that to me.” Troue paused, face falling. “At least today…”
Troue turned away from the railing they were both leaning on and sat down, back to it.
“Are you ok with this Gran? This half relationship? I’ll always forget you in the morning. And by the time I remember you, half the day is gone already.” Troue sighed. “I just feel that you should be with someone you can have an actual life with. Not like this stop and start relationship we have.”
Troue buried his head between his knees as he went quiet.
The deck was quiet too, as if time was a standing still. It was still for so long that Troue thought Gran might have left. But, right as he thought that, Troue felt a hand on his head. He wasn’t sure what it was doing right away but he quickly realized it was patting him. Troue was confused, so he lifted his head.
In front of him was Gran, his hand on Troue’s head. Gran didn’t say anything so Troue spoke first.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because you said something sad. So, as your boyfriend, it’s my job to comfort you.”
“But why?” Troue questioned.
Gran chuckled. “Because I would be a pretty bad boyfriend if I didn’t.”
Troue frowned.
“Fine fine. I’m doing this because I like you. Regardless of whatever you think, I like you a lot, and I want to stay with you, no matter the troubles we face. We can overcome this little problem for sure.”
Gran stood up and extended his hand towards Troue.
“Now come on. We have a bunch more memories to make today. And even if you can’t remember them, I’ll remember them for the both of us.”
Troue smiled and grabbed Gran’s hand as he let himself be pulled up.
“And for starters let’s make this one.” Gran said was he pulled Troue close to him and gave him a kiss.
Troue was surprised for a second but almost instantly melted into it. It was incredibly warm and soft and Troue wasn’t sure he had felt anything more perfect, now or in any memory he had ever forgotten. After what felt like both an eternity and just a single moment, Gran pulled away.
“Even if you forget this first time, I’ll be happy to remind you again and again.”
—————
Shaking off the memory, Troue knew he needed to find Gran.
He needed to find him and talk to him. He needed clarity on everything he had seen today. To make sure it was all real and not just old memories from long ago. As he wasn’t sure where to start, Troue decided to head back to his room. Maybe he would find a memory that could help lead him to where Gran would be. If not, he would find someone to help him.
He would find Gran.
Sooner than he expected, Troue arrived back at his room.
His door was slightly ajar as he approached, which was odd, considering he remembered closing it completely when he left. Cautious, Troue slowly walked to the door and slowly opened it. As he did, he looked inside and saw someone standing near one of the shelves with all the trinkets.
“Oh, Troue.” Gran said, holding up a small figurine. “I just remembered how nice this figurine was. It was really worth-“
The room went silent as Troue crashed into Gran, wrapping his arms around him and nearly taking them both down.
“Troue, what’s the matter? I’m here like always. Were the memories bad ones today?” Gran asked, voice full of concern.
Troue sighed, his voice muffled by being face down in Gran’s shoulder.
“I just had to make sure you, this, everything, was real. That it wasn’t just a long forgotten memory surfacing up.”
Gran smiled softly, raising his hand to stroke Troue’s head. “I’m always real. I’m always here. If you’re ever worried, just find me and I’ll tell you again and again so you’ll never ever forgot.”
“Everyday?”
Gran gently leaned Troue’s head so they were directly looking at each other.
“Everyday.”
Gran said before leaning down and meeting their lips. Troue melted into the kiss. It was soft and sweet and perfect.
Just like he remembered.