Chapter Text
When Jade wakes up, he can tell something is not quite right.
He lays in a cot in his human form, morning light peering in through the open curtains of his hospital room. Nearby, the rhythmic beeping of some medical land machine sounds off at a fixed interval, and outside his room he can hear clicking footsteps on tile and the scraping of carts. He lays underneath a thin white sheet in a seafoam green hospital gown, his hair tousled and messy, his feet wrapped in familiar green socks with a mushroom pattern on them.
He looks around the room, at the various machines he’s connected to and the get-well presents stacked on a table against the wall. Some are flowers, some are plush land-animals like bears or cats, some are colorful balloons. Three chairs sit in various places across the room, Floyd’s backpack placed in one next to the bed, overflowing with miscellaneous notebooks and loose papers, and on the nightstand sits his mother’s golden earrings and a pair of her gloves.
Jade’s mind is bleary. He squints, raising his hands to his face and flexing his fingers. He was sick. He remembers his mother’s tears, Floyd’s clutch on his hand, the doctor’s solemn expression. It must’ve been bad, though Jade can’t quite remember what the condition was beyond a vague feeling of illness and exhaustion.
He feels better now, but something is not quite right. Jade’s not sure what.
He’s distracted by a murmur of voices directly outside the door, growing louder as the door opens. The doctor enters alongside his mother and Floyd, and they all light up upon noticing he’s awake.
“Jade!” Floyd launches to his bedside, plucks up his backpack, tosses it across the room haphazardly, and plops into the chair all in the same motion. He swings his legs back and forth, propping up his chin on his hands and grinning like a madman. “You’re awake, finally. Took you long enough. S’boring when you’re not here.”
Jade smiles back, baring his teeth playfully. “My apologies, I’d forgotten you were so clingy.”
“Clingy? As if!”
His mother sits on the other side of the bed, taking one of his hands in her own and squeezing it. She chuckles at them with a fond glint in her eyes. “Now, now, boys.” When Jade turns to look at her, she continues, “I’m glad you’re awake, too. You had us frightened for a while.”
Jade squeezes her hand back, offering her a more earnest smile. The doctor approaches the bedside, as well, flicking through the papers on his clipboard with a pleasant expression. “Your tests all look normal. It seems the potion worked. Very good.”
Jade furrows his brows. “‘Potion’?”
At once, the atmosphere of the room changes. Floyd’s expression falls, straightening in his chair and staring intensely at Jade. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see his mother shoot his brother a pointed look, making Floyd shift in his chair uncomfortably. The doctor clears his throat, before nodding and looking back at Jade. “Yes, you took a potion. It seems to have worked.”
Jade scratches his head, frowning. He vaguely remembers drinking a potion. Floyd was next to him, his mother was at the foot of the bed, and the doctor was directly in front of him. His phone glinted with lamplight on the nightstand.
The potion was a deep violet and smelled like stone caves and saltwater. Jade quite enjoys potionology, yet he’s never heard of such a potion matching these characteristics, and he would never take a potion without knowing exactly what was in it and what it did. “What was it?”
“A simple medicinal potion.” The doctor waves a hand, setting the clipboard on the table. He continues quickly, leaving Jade no room to interject, “How do you feel? Has your strength returned?”
Jade narrows his eyes. His mother smiles kindly and lets his hand go to run her fingers through his hair. Floyd refuses to meet his gaze, staring at his fidgeting hands in his lap with a frown. That feeling returns, the feeling that something’s missing but he can’t tell what it is.
Whatever it is, it’s clear no one’s going to tell him for now. He returns the doctor’s expectant gaze and answers his questions truthfully, though out of the corner of his eye, his attention is fixed on Floyd’s distant expression and firm frown.
Eventually, all three leave to give Jade time to rest, his brother shuffling especially quickly out the door. A nurse arrives to disconnect him from the various monitoring machines and IVs, and then departs as well, leaving Jade alone. He rests for a while before using his newfound freedom to stand and stretch, plodding across the room to examine the various gifts he’s been sent, mostly from his father’s associates or his schoolmates.
He digs through a gift basket from Heartslabyul full of baked goods, some of them with sharp bite marks taken out of them (surely from Floyd, as Jade would never leave a treat half-eaten). A strikingly beautiful bouquet of flowers is from Pomefiore, and a plushie of what Jade would guess to be a dog with a ‘get well soon’ shirt on is from Ignihyde. He almost skips over an expensive-looking violet brooch, assuming it to be from one of his father’s associates, yet the attached card with Kalim’s unmistakeable messy signature catches his attention.
There’s nothing amiss. He huffs, setting the violet brooch back on the table and sauntering back to the bed.
Jade’s always been observant. He notices when someone wears a new perfume, when the glassware at the Mostro Lounge is smudged because someone has not cleaned it correctly, when his brother uses his shampoo without asking but sets the bottle back on the shelf at the slightly wrong angle. He can always tell, more often than anyone else can.
So he notices when his phone is strangely missing from the room, despite him leaving it on the nightstand. He notices how there are three chairs in the room, despite his only visitors being his mother and Floyd. He notices when his brother is supposedly bored without him, yet is quick to leave out of nowhere.
Of course, all of these things could have simple explanations. Maybe his mother didn’t want him to lose his phone and is holding onto it for him, maybe there were already three chairs in the room before Jade came to stay in it, maybe Floyd is just having another one of his mood swings. Yet the empty, gnawing feeling in his chest tells him something is wrong, something is missing, and he’s going to go crazy looking for it in this hospital room.
Physically, he feels much better. Whatever that potion was must’ve worked.
He sits back on the bed, hands folded neatly on his lap. He ponders this for only a moment, as the next there is a knock on the door, and his mother says, “Jade? I’m coming in.”
The door opens and in she walks, holding a pair of his green silk pajamas. She’s still smiling, setting the pajamas on the foot of the bed and sitting back in her chair. “I thought you might like a change of clothes.”
“Thank you.” Jade does not make any move towards the clothes. “Where’s Floyd?”
“Ah, he has something to attend to. He went to deal with it, but I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” she explains, moving to fix his bangs as she speaks.
“I see.” A vague explanation. Knowing Floyd, he could be doing anything. Jade tries a different angle. “Where’s my phone?”
His mother pauses her movement, meeting his gaze. “I’m holding onto it for you. I’ll give it to you when you’re discharged. It shouldn’t be too much longer, maybe a day or so. Don’t worry, all your friends from school know you’re okay.”
He narrows his eyes, a silent request for her to elaborate, for her to explain everything that’s missing and for her to give it back to him, to fill the hole in his conscience. When she doesn’t comply, he huffs and crosses his arms, looking out of the window.
His mother sighs, rubbing his arm. “Jade… I know this has been a stressful experience. I know you want to go back to school and your normal life. We all do. Trust me.” She sits back, running a hand through her hair and chuckling. “Sevens, you were so stubborn. You had me and your father scared out of our wits.”
He looks back at her and waits for her to continue. Her gaze is unfocused now, one hand fidgeting with her earlobe where her piercing is, the other folded in her lap like Jade’s. When she doesn’t continue on her own, Jade prompts her with, “How was I stubborn?”
She sighs at that, shaking her head and rubbing her forehead. Dark bags rest under her eyes, and her usually neat hair is messy and uncombed. She considers her words carefully. “The potion you took has certain… side effects. You didn’t want to take it and refused down to the last minute.”
“When did I take it?”
“You took it early yesterday morning, and you were out for the whole day yesterday. Today is…” She checks her phone. “Sunday. So I suppose you took it Saturday.”
Earlier, he could’ve blamed his forgetfulness on his bleary mind, but he feels fine now. “I don’t remember taking it at all.”
“That’s the side effect. It affects specific aspects of your memory.” She smiles sadly at him, reaching out and taking his hand. “I know I’m being vague, but the doctor said it would be dangerous to overload your mind with details after you’ve just woken up. I promise we’ll explain things to you soon.”
Jade holds her gaze for a moment, willing her to explain any further, then sighs when she doesn’t and squeezes her hand. He holds his tongue on all the questions he wants to ask. “I’m sorry for scaring you, Mother. Thank you for helping me.”
It’s no wonder he hadn’t wanted to take the potion. The idea that his memories are missing, that his mind has been tampered with, is quite disturbing. Jade, ever the reserved person, protective over his own identity, cautious with what he reveals to others about himself, has lost a part of himself that everyone around him seems to know and know well. All he can remember is a deep violet and the scent of stone caves and saltwater.
He sighs, drooping. His mother senses his mood, as she reaches forwards and pulls him into a tight embrace, much like the ones he’d receive upon returning from his escapades into the sea as a child. She’s warm and smells like her fading coconut perfume.
She whispers into his shoulder, “I love you, Jade,” and it’s a moment of vulnerability from her that’s so rare it catches him off guard, and Jade is reminded once again of the fact he almost died, whatever illness he had almost killed him, and the stress that he experienced, along with his family, crashes into him all at once.
He sets his head on her shoulder and whispers back, “I love you, too.”
Floyd does not return until the sun has started to set.
Jade’s alone when he does, reading a book about the cultivation of a mushroom species he’s interested in. He’s changed into his pajamas now. The gifts on the far table are organized, his belongings are stacked into neat piles, and even the contents of his brother’s backpack have been assembled and sat nicely against the wall. As soon as he’s discharged, Jade’s ready to leave and never come back to this hospital room.
Floyd walks in unannounced. The door swings open, hitting the wall as he strides in and drops a plastic container onto Jade’s lap, plopping into the seat next to the bed. One moment he isn’t there, the next he is.
Jade flashes his signature smile, setting his book aside. “Why, hello there. Nice of you to finally join me.”
Floyd does not acknowledge Jade’s statement. He sets the container with his spaghetti onto the bed and finally looks at Jade, wiping at his eyes tiredly. “I saved some food for you from today’s lunch service at the Lounge. Your gross mushroom crap.”
Jade opens the container to find a hefty serving of mushroom risotto, eyes dilating at the smell. He watches Floyd poke at his food, shoulders slumped and brows knitted together as he makes no attempt at further conversation.
“Thank you.” Jade picks up his own fork. “Did you work today?”
Floyd pauses, his leg starting to bounce by the bed. He answers, “Yeah. I had something I had to watch over.”
Jade narrows his eyes, watching as Floyd quickly returns to his spaghetti and shoves a forkful into his mouth. They eat in an uncomfortable silence, Floyd fidgeting with his earring and stealing glances at Jade from under his bangs. He’s wearing his purple shirt and pants from his dorm uniform, which are wrinkled and covered with black stains on the shoulder, like smudged makeup. Whatever he had to do put him through the wringer.
Their rhythm is off. Typically, perilous events that put one or both of them in danger, such as what’s happened to Jade, end peacefully in bickering and making fun of one another. Once, he’d gotten lost in the depths of the sea and returned three days later, and as soon as he was alright, Floyd had begun to crack jokes about it. It’s how they cope.
Theoretically, this ordeal should be behind them. Jade has to figure out what’s gone wrong with his mind, of course, but he’s alive now. He’s not sick anymore, he’ll be discharged soon. Yet Floyd’s acting like the battle has hardly begun.
Without warning, Floyd scoots Jade over and plops himself onto the bed, flopping his head on his brother’s shoulder and pulling his knees up to his chest. Jade grunts in surprise, nearly spilling his dinner, but doesn’t complain. He listens to Floyd’s steady breathing, watching him rub at his eyes again and pick at the fabric of his pants. He’s brimming with nervous energy, yet exhausted all the same.
When he finally speaks, it’s in the form of a mumble under his breath. “This is so annoying. Wish none of this ever happened.”
Jade hums in agreement. “Me too.”
He expects them to return to silence, but instead, Floyd laughs bitterly and shakes his head, letting it fall against the wall behind them. “Man, you don’t even know the half of it.”
“I don’t?” Jade sets his dinner aside. “I believe I was the one who was dying and had to take the potion that alters my memories.”
Floyd’s eyes widen. “Did Mama tell you that? What’d she say?”
“She told me I hadn’t wanted to take the potion because it ‘affects specific parts of my memory’, and wouldn’t elaborate further.” Jade sighs dramatically, but keeps a mischievous eye trained on Floyd.
“Oh yeah.” Floyd leans forwards and rescues his empty container before it falls off the bed, setting it on the nightstand. “You didn’t wanna take it ‘cause, uh… something didn’t want you to, but something changed its mind, so you agreed to take it.”
Jade pauses, raising an eyebrow. “‘Something’?”
“Yeah. Something.” Floyd sits back and leans against Jade again, huffing and grabbing for the TV remote on Jade’s side of the bed. He turns the TV on and begins rapidly skipping through the channels, desperately searching for something to catch his eye. Jade allows the conversation to quiet again. The best way to get his brother to speak is to fill the air with silence.
Like fish to bait, it’s not long before Floyd starts speaking again. He’s slumped down in bed, barely watching the TV even though he went out of his way to turn it on. “The doctors said we shouldn’t tell you what you forgot too soon ‘cause it’ll hurt you. I didn’t like seein’ you all tired and sick, it was boring. Don’t want that to happen again,” he says lowly, fidgeting with his hands as he talks.
Jade takes his fidgeting hand and squeezes it. Floyd offers him a squeeze back. Jade ponders his words. “Did the potion cause me to forget something important?”
At that, Floyd actually laughs. “Sevens, if only you knew.”
“Shall I take that as a yes?”
“Yeah, pretty important.” Floyd hums in thought. “Imagine you completely, totally forgot me. That’s what my favorite food is, the color of my eyes, all our memories together, everything. You don’t even remember you had a twin in the first place. It’s that important.”
Jade raises an eyebrow, smirking. “Are you implying we have a triplet?”
“No- ugh, you forgot someone else we know. How do I explain this…” He rubs his temples. “So, a couple months ago, we were there when… someone at school overblotted.”
Jade tuts, racking his memory for such an event. He smiles when it comes to mind. “Yes, I seem to remember that. Jamil Viper.”
Floyd huffs, “No, stupid, a different overblot. The person you forgot.” Well, people overblot frequently at their school. The idea of Jade being present during two of them was surprising, but not ridiculous given his avidity for thrill.
Floyd continues, “When we were fightin’ him, you inhaled a buncha blot in the air. It corrupted your memories and made you super sick. It’s called Post-Overblot Memory Disorder. You couldn’t use magic, you had no energy, you were pukin’ and runnin’ a fever. You woulda died if it continued any longer.”
The memories of his illness are vague, but present nonetheless. “I see.”
“The only way to cure you was to erase the memory of the overblot from your head. That way, the blot has nothin’ to cling to and drains from your body. The only way to forget the memory of the overblot is to…” Floyd sighs, hanging his head. “...forget the person who overblotted entirely. Like, lose all your memories of him.
“Trust me, we had the whole school lookin’ for another cure, but this condition’s super rare. We couldn’t find anything, not us or Professor Beakfish or anyone else.”
Jade pauses, processing the information presented to him. He speaks slowly, “Someone close to me overblotted, their blot corrupted my memories and made me sick, so I took a potion to forget them and drain the blot. I simply don’t remember them anymore.”
“Pretty much. Think about it, Jade. You’re the Vice Housewarden of Octavinelle. You’ve been the Vice Housewarden of Octavinelle for months.” Floyd looks Jade square in the face. “Who’s your Housewarden?”
Jade blinks. What a ridiculous question, he thinks, but when he tries to actually answer it, his mind draws a blank. He can remember his first-year Housewarden, and he can name any Housewarden of any other dorm: Riddle Rosehearts, Leona Kingscholar, Kalim Al-Asim… Logically, he must have a Housewarden, that and he knows he has a Housewarden, deep within his gut he knows he does.
He pushes his brain for any memory, anything that would solve his conundrum. He reaches for fuzzy pictures fizzing like TV static, blank images corroding and bleeding together, none of them complete enough to make sense of. Memories that should be there, memories that just a week ago Jade knows he had, yet all he comes back with is that hollow feeling, the knowledge something is missing.
A searing headache splits through his skull like a lightning bolt. Jade feels his body double over and his hands clutch at his head, but all he can think about is a deep violet and the scent of stone caves and saltwater; a blank, pulsating mass in all his memories where something should be. His mind claws at itself, turning itself inside out, searching and searching… and coming up blank every time.
He feels his brother shaking him back and forth. It’s not until Floyd yells, “Jade!” that he’s snapped back to reality, head thumping with pain, fingers digging into his scalp like small vices.
“I- I couldn’t…” Jade’s out of breath, panting and sweating like he’s just ran a mile. “I can’t remember.”
“I knew I shouldn’ta said anything.” Floyd wraps his arms around Jade, squeezing him tightly. He mumbles to himself, “This is a nightmare. Mama and Azul are gonna kill me.”
Jade says nothing, letting his head fall against Floyd’s shoulder. His mind quiets as he lets the static go, allowing the pictures to fade back into the dormant crevices of his memory, the pain numbing to a dull throb. All Jade can think of is one name that his brother had uttered:
Azul.