[Mkguild] The Illusive Chain (10/?) - my comments

[cokane8116 at aol.com]

Link3: Ignorance
 
Aman opened his eyes to the familiar sight of a grey stone ceiling, dimly lit bya faint, flickering glow.  Panic grippedhim for a moment, causing him to bolt upright in the bed.  As quickly as it had taken him, however, thepanic faded.  He remained cautious, buthe could not divine the cause of his initial terror.
 
Nowthat he was sitting up in the bed, he could see that he was in a small, simplyfurnished room.  He was sitting on a bedagainst the wall furthest from the chamber’s only door.  The cushion he was resting on was kept offthe floor on a stout wooden frame, not particularly tall but high enough forthe bed’s occupant to reach anything atop the adjacent table.
 
Onthe table itself was a single guttering candle that provided the room’s onlyillumination.  There was a small packsitting behind the candlestick, likely belonging to the girl in the chair atthe foot of his bed.  She seemed to havebeen asleep until recently, and she looked at him only a moment before he firstnoticed her.
 
“Lois?”
 
Hisear twitched at her voice.  It took him amoment before he realized that she was talking to him.
 
“Lois…”  The sound of his voice seemed odd, like histongue and teeth would not cooperate the way he was used to.  In fact, as he felt about the inside of hismouth, he realized that everything felt wrong. First, there was far more space in his mouth than should have beenpossible, second, and more alarming to him, his teeth were all sharp andpredatory.
 


>>>>He's really confused. 







Thepanic returned in a moment as he raised his hands before his face, finding thatthey were now covered by white fur on the backs and strange black pads on his palmsand fingers.  Those fingers were shorterthan he remembered, certainly capable of grasping and manipulating objects butstill significantly reduced in their flexibility.  His left palm featured a tangle of ugly scarswhose source he could not recall.
 




>>>The curse has changed him and he doesn't remember it having happened.







Inblind terror, the man threw himself of the bed, unable to the extent of theunexpected changes due to the robe that hung to the floor as he stood.  He looked about the room, hoping in vain tofind a mirror.
 
“What’swrong?” the girl asked.  She stood quicklyand walked beside him, trying to make eye contact even as he glanced arounderratically.
 
“Whathappened to me?” he asked.  His voicestill seemed odd, but at least the foreign feelings did not keep him from beingable to speak intelligibly.
 
“Alutin shaman cast a spell on you to increase the effects of the Curse.  It took us two days to discover how to changeyou back.  Are you all right?”
 
Theermine turned to face her finally, gasping for breath in his desperation.  Seeing her face, however, he came upshort.  There was a moment of confusion,and then a flash of recognition lit the man’s face.
 
“Lucy,”he said simply.  “Lucy, you’re amage!  Tell me, why am I some sort ofanimal?”
 
Thisplea brought the girl up short.  Shelooked at him incredulously for a moment, but a realization slowly dawned inher eyes.
 
“Youdon’t remember?”
 
Theermine shook his head, his eyes pleading with her to explain his unexpectedchange of form.  He continued to watchher, even as she stepped back and walked a small semicircle back around theroom, silently trying to explain the happening to herself.
 
“Whatis the last thing you recall?” she asked slowly.  It was beginning to dawn on her that the manthey had rescued was an assassin.  If hehad forgotten enough to be terrified to find himself turned into an ermine,could that mean that he had likewise forgotten his decision to give up hisformer employment?
 
Theermine tried to recall, looking about as if the walls could present the answerhe sought.  His eyes darted about for afew moments, until he finally shook his head in frustration.
 
“Idon’t know,” he admitted, returning his gaze to the mage standing beforehim.  “I remember, people, places…  I remember events, but I cannot remember if Iwas ever there or if I simply heard of them from someone else.  I remember you; I remember I met you after Icame to Metamor to live…”  He stopped,his eyes again darting for the ceiling. “Metamor,” he mumbled.
 
“Whyis Metamor Keep important?” Lucy prompted.
 
“Icame to Metamor because…  Because it washome?  No, I had only visited it oncebefore.  How could it be my home?”  He grunted, clasping a fist to either side ofhis head.  “Why can’t I remember?”  His voice carried a very genuine degree ofdesperation.
 
Lucyrubbed her chin as she considered the same question.  “It must have been the spell somehow.”  She winced. “Did we take too long?”






>>>>I dont think its the spell. More is going on here.



 
“Therehas to be something you can do to help me,” Lois demanded.  As Lucy’s expression turned sour, he groanedagain and paced around her.  He drove afist into the nearby tabletop, making the candlestick jump and wobble briefly,which earned a cautious glance from Lucy. As it settled, she returned to her considerations.
 
“Doyou recall who you are?” she asked after some time.
 
Loishesitated for a moment, but he nodded slowly. “I do not recall everything, but I think I know enough.  I am Vincent Lois.  I am a patrolman for Metamor Keep.  I have not been here long – but everythingbefore coming here is a blur.”  He winced.  “No, not a blur, I can’t seem to pick out anydetails at all.”
 
Lucywas cautious about taking him at his word without question, but he seemedsincere enough.  He seemed lost, his eyesglancing about at nothing as he tried to find hint of the memories thatcontinued to elude him.  His breathingwas erratic, and he occasionally hissed something incomprehensible under hisbreath.  The clear stress in his face andhis voice made it hard to even consider duplicity on his part.
 
Theyouthful mage made her way over to the bedside table, taking the pack andbrowsing briefly through it until she found a small book with soft leatherbinding.  The first few dozen pages wereoccupied by a rather eclectic combination of nature sketches, annotated magicaldiagrams, and indecipherable lists that seemed to combine necessities that sheintended to buy at market and snide notes to self.  The mage flipped past those pages silentlyuntil she reached a blank sheet.
 
“Doyou think you can still write?” she asked.
 
Shegave Lois a small charcoal pencil, and watched as he looked at the blankpage.  It took him a few moments, but heslowly began to sketch a few letters, and before long the letters had formed anintelligible, if uninteresting, sentence.
 
“Ihave not forgotten my letters,” he confirmed, looking at his work.




>>>That's good!





 
Lucysmiled.  “Good.  Based on what I have observed, you seem tohave quite a few memories,” she noted. “I would suppose that the best thing for you would be to write down whatyou can remember, and try to remember details about each particular thing.  Memories exist as a chain, with each oneconnected to the last.  If you can findthose connections, you should be able to reconstruct much of what you haveforgotten.”
 
Loislooked skeptical, but he nodded.  “What willyou be doing?” he asked.
 
“Ineed to tell the others that you have regained consciousness.  When we first broke the spell, you actedstrangely.  They will be happy to hearthat you recovered somewhat.”  Shestarted towards the door, but hesitated. “Do you remember anything about what you said then?” she asked.
 
Theermine shut his eyes and grimaced.  “Idon’t recall anything beyond my first few days within the walls.”  He glanced at one of his hands.  “Until I noticed that something felt odd, Idid not even recall being Cursed.  Iremembered you, though, and we did not meet until after the Keep’s cursechanged my form.  Are you sure thatmemories are like a chain?  How would Iremember the one and not the other?”
 
Lucygave a smirk.  “I said it was a chain; Idid not say that the chain was linked in a logical order.  A memory from your earliest years may connectto something very recent.  The links arecaused by emotions and senses, not necessarily in succession of time.”
 
Loisnodded quietly.  “I still cannot recallany details of regaining consciousness earlier,” he admitted.  “I am sorry.”
 
“Don’tworry about it,” Lucy replied.  “Once youhave recovered your memories, I am certain that this mystery will be revealedas well.”
 
Sheopened the door and stepped out slowly, even as Lois sat on the edge of the bedand began to look at the paper before him. He tried to think of someplace to start, even as the door closed andleft him in the dark chamber alone. After a few moments of thought, he put the pencil to the sheet of paperand wrote a question.
 
“Whois Vincent Lois?”
 
*       *       *
 
Lucywas not, of course, so convinced of Lois’ harmlessness that she left himwithout summoning someone else to guard the room.  Thankfully, the combination of her bond toJulian and her magical talent made that simple. The moondog had soon arrived, his face curious as he approached.
 
“Hashe moved?” he asked before she could greet him.
 
Shenodded.  “He awoke not five minutesago.  He has shown no violence towardsme, but his confusion is certainly still present.  He claims to have lost his memory, and Icannot dispute that claim from what he has said.  It seems that only fractured remnants of hismemories remain, and he has shown some confusion about what is reality and whatis fiction.
 
“Iwish to tell the others of this development. Would you be able to guard him in the interim?”
 
Themoondog glanced at the door before looking back at her.  “Is it safe?”
 
“Hedoes not seem to recall enough of his past to be a threat, and even if hesecretly does remember some things, he is nonetheless unarmed.  Based on the abilities that you have shown onthe battlefield since our acquaintance, I have no doubt that you will havelittle trouble with him.”
 
Henodded, stepping up to place his back against the door as she steppedaway.  After a few steps, however, sheturned back.
 
“Julian?”
 
Hisears perked and he looked at her inquisitively.
 
“Donot be too quick to trust.”




>>>Good idea





 
Henodded resolutely.  “Do not worry.  I will make certain that he does not escape.”
 
Lucyconsidered reminding him that Lois was their fellow patrolman, not a prisoner,but she quickly realized that the truth was otherwise.  The events of the past few days cast seriousdoubt on everything they had learned about the man.  He could very well have returned to being theassassin that Andwyn had feared he was when he arrived.
 
Dismissingboth the thought and the reprimand she had been considering, Lucy struck outinto the halls to find her companions. The search was mercifully short; without the present need to find asolution to an unknown spell cast on a friend, the members of both patrols hadreturned to their sleeping quarters in the common bedding area.  While she briefly considered informing onlyAlex of the development, she realized without much additional considerationthat Balrog had been far more involved in their success that the lynx hadbeen.  The lutin and his commandingofficer deserved to be informed as much as anyone.
 
Whilethe sleeping area was very nearly empty with the departure of so many patrolsin the wake of the plague, Lucy still led them all back to the room where theyhad cast the spell to rescue Lois.  Thefire was long since extinguished, but she did not intend to spend much timewithin.  The youthful mage magically litthe sconces that were present to illuminate the room before turning to face herfellows.
 
“Loishas regained consciousness,” she announced simply.
 
“Youbrought us all the way here just to tell us that?” Alex asked.  His tone was easy to identify; he did notactually think that she had taken such unnecessary measures for such a simpleannouncement.  He was simply driving her morerapidly towards the real news.
 
Theeffect was immediate.  “Lois claims thathe has lost his memory.”  She forestalledquestions with a raised hand.  “I spoketo him about it, and he clearly can remember some things, but even those areconfused.”  She briefly recounted herconversation with the Cursed ermine, noting at the end that she had taken theprecaution of leaving Julian with Lois. The others in the room remained in contemplative silence for a fewmoments, until Balrog finally spoke.
 
“Iunderstand your concern.  While I callmyself his friend, Lois himself has frequently admitted that his past washardly admirable.  Still, isn’t it hispast that was forgotten?  Wouldn’t thatmake him less dangerous?”
 
Lucyshook her head.  “Perhaps, but we cannotassume either that he truly has lost his memory, or that he has lost only thedangerous portions thereof,” she explained. “He clearly remembers some things, but others are muddled.  I have asked him to try to sort it out asmuch as he can, but we need to find a way to help him.”
 
“Imay be alone in this sentiment, but why are we even talking about helpinghim?”  The man speaking was Nathan, whohad taken up the position nearest the door. His tail bobbed back and forth in agitation as he looked for reactionson the faces of the others.  “I thinkthat everyone here is aware of his past sins; what is wrong with him simplyforgetting them?  It may take some timeto adjust, and there is always the threat of his memory returning, but it mayvery well make him worthier of confidence than he has ever been before.”
 
Lucyscowled at him.  “I cannot justify that,”she declared angrily.  “Memories defineus.  If we leave him as he is, we are asgood as accomplices to the person who destroyed the man he was.”
 
“Andthat is a bad thing?”
 
“Yes!”  Lucy, despite her stature, always projectedvery well, and she took full advantage of this ability as she strodeconfidently towards the wolf.  “It is notfor us to dispense justice at all, let alone by killing a man by our inaction.”
 
“Itis not that severe!” Nathan insisted.
 
“Ifyou forgot who you were and we made no effort to recover that memory, would yousay the same?  If the Keep had the samemorals that you do, the mages could simply collect fetish stones and use themon anyone they disliked for any reason. I would not wish that on the worst murderer.  Punishment is worth nothing if it revokes allmemory of the crime.”
 
Nathanglowered at her coldly, but he resigned his argument with a wordless huff and awave of his paw.  Balrog looked none toopleased with his commander’s suggestion, but he was not about to challengehim.  Alex’s gaze, as severe as always,darted between the two debating Keepers once more, but any thoughts that hemight have held privately remained private as he returned the discussion to itsoriginal focus.
 
“Isthere any way you propose that we might be able to help him remember?” heasked.
 
Lucyshrugged.  “The difficulty with a manlosing his memory is always the lack of a consistent method that might lead toits recovery.”  She paused a moment; itseemed that she was still regaining her composure from her heated spat withNathan.  “One possible saving grace isthe fact that he does remember some small things.  Memories are connected, and only rarely arethose connections completely dissolved, even in the most severecircumstances.  If he can discover thoseconnections, he might very well be able to reconstruct all of his most vitalmemories through little more than concentrated consideration.”
 
“Whatis our task, then?” Alex asked.
 
Lucylooked at Balrog.  “Few of us have knownhim for very long, but you say that you have known him for years?”
 
Thelutin nodded.  “Should I help him recallmemories from when he knew me?” he asked.
 
 
“Yes,but be careful,” the diminutive mage responded. “If you simply tell him of things that happened, the memory will have noconnections.  It would be like setting aboard on the waters of a river, hoping to build a bridge around it.  It will be quickly washed away and leave youexactly where you started.”
 
Balrogfrowned.  “So I must try to help himdiscover the connections?”
 
Lucynodded.  “It may be time-consuming andfrustrating, but I see no other way.  Ifthere were some way to restore memories with magic I would gladly make theattempt, but I have heard of no such thing. We must take the long, hard road to success here.”
 
“Whatif he remembers his years as an assassin?” Nathan asked coldly.
 


>>>>Now THAT is an excellent question.





Lucy’sglare was enough to show her displeasure in his question, but even she realizedthat it was something that they needed to discuss before it became a problem.
 
“Weare all warriors of one stripe or another, and he is unarmed.  If he becomes violent and suspicious weshould protect ourselves, but we should try to take care that we do not harmhim regardless.”  She thought for a fewmoments before adding one more thing. “To that end, it is probably a good idea to have a mage on hand at alltimes, to make subduing him easier.”
 


>>>No real assassin is ever unarmed.





“Sinceit seems that my task is the most vital to begin with, I will take thatresponsibility first,” Balrog replied.
 
Lucyheld up a hand.  “I have no problem withyou being the first to speak with him, but I believe that it will be best if weall have a few moments to speak with him. He has known most of us for at least a brief period, and I hope thatseeing us together will help him to make some immediate progress.”
 
Therewas no argument from the others in the room, even though Nathan clearly wantedto say something.  Lucy stared him downfor a few brief moments to make certain that he never did.  Once she was certain that he would not dareher anger again, she turned back to the others.
 
“Doesanyone have any other questions?” she asked. The only response was a few shrugs and shakes of the head.  “Very well; we should probably go see himthen.  The sooner we start, the sooner wecan make some progress.”
 
Whenno one presented any argument, Lucy led the way as they went through the hallstowards the room where Lois now rested. Nathan hung back, his thoughts weighing on him heavily.  He had never been an acquaintance of Lois,but the thought of helping an assassin when they could as easily do away withthe danger irked him.  Still, he couldnot fight the arguments that had been brought against him, even if he wascertain that they were wrong.  Shakinghis head, he quietly told Balrog that he had somewhere else to be, and steppedout of the procession to attend to other things.
 


>>>The mystery deepens!





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