The amnesiac protagonist is always such a cliche...

Prince Johnathon stood alongside his sister as they both stared at Thomas, waiting for him to wake up.

It had three days since the duel between the two princes took place. After Johnathon won by performing the finishing blow, Thomas seemed to have suffered a serious injury to his head.

He has yet to wake up since then, having been comatose all this time.

There Thomas laid peacefully in the bed of his room, his head wrapped to cover his head wound.

"What did the doctors say about him?" Johnathon asked.

Princess Barbara seemed to look up at him in a daze, before mumbling, "They don't know how long he'll be asleep. They said the blow to the head was so traumatic, it might do permanent damage. He could wake up the next second, or he might never wake up ever again..."

"I see..."

When the duel was over, both princes were immediately taken to the castle's doctors to be taken cared of, with the rest of the royale family quickly following after.

Johnathon didn't suffer too much damage during the fight, thankfully. Whichever gods favored him during this duel, it seemed they granted him the luck and ability to be able to dodge most of his younger brother's attack. He was quite surprised to find that he mostly made it out with only just scratches and nothing more.

Thomas, of course, was not fortunate enough to fare as well as he did. Suffering blow after blow from Johnathon's strongest attacks, and taking head-on the brunt of his shield bash, it was clear that he would be walking away with major damages to his body. Broken bones, burnt marks on his skin, and especially blunt trauma to his head...

When the doctors finished checking up on Johnathon and cleared him from anything serious or fatal, he was able to leave within the hour.

But Thomas... Thomas had yet to awaken.

He could still remember seeing his family's faces before he left the medical room, as they all stood by next to Thomas's body.

They had all gathered together as they anxiously waited for the doctor's medical results. His father, King Johnathon IV, was tightly holding hands with his wife and queen, Queen Glynda. They both looked to be in turmoil together at the sight of one of their sons suffering such serious conditions. The queen herself could barely keep her composure, her body trembling as she did her best to keep her emotions in check. The king was silent, but his expression held deep regret for what transpired. Based on how well Johnathon knew his father, it was likely that the king directed all the blame towards himself for accepting Thomas's birthday wish, instead of rightfully blaming Thomas for being the one who brought all this trouble on himself in the first place.

And lastly, Princess Barbara. Instead of standing with the royale family, she instead opted to sit alone off in the corners. When Johnathon looked at her, he could only see the hands covering her face as she cried out of fear for Thomas's wellbeing. Out of all three of them, Barbara seemed to be taking in Thomas's condition the hardest.

Even now, three days later, as their parents did their best to go back to doing their duties and leading the kingdom, Barbara was the one that took the most frequent trips back to the medical room in order to watch over Thomas. Johnathon glanced down to see Barbara hold on tightly to their brother's hand.

Personally, Johnathon could never quite understand why she was so worried about Thomas. If anything, he expected her to at least be relieved that she wouldn't have to be the victim of Thomas's verbal for however long Thomas would remain asleep. Johnathon could never get a grasp on what kind of relationship the two had together...

Well, at least for Johnathon, he was glad to at least put his younger brother in his place. For too long, Thomas has been a royal pain in the ass of everyone he's known and cared about. A pompous ass, till the very end. Johnathon was not afraid to admit that he held no love for Thomas, and he wouldn't shed a tear if the doctor's analysis was correct about him never waking up ever again.

But Johnathon knew that Thomas was nothing if not resilient. Not even blunt trauma in the head could keep this bastard down. Once the doctors take care of his injuries and his body begins to heal up, he would be sure to wake up in no time. Johnathon could only hope that once he does, Thomas would have learned his lesson from this duel and quit being the spoiled brat vying for power that he is.

Not that he was holding his breath on that last part.

With an awkward sigh, Johnathon looked up at the clock before asking his sister, "You've been watching over him for long enough, I believe. I've already finished my tasks today, so I can sit here and monitor him for you. You should take the opportunity to finish your summer studies, or take a break if you need it."

Barbara was quick to dismiss him with a shake of her head, "No, I'm okay. I want to be here when he wakes up." Looking up at him with a sad smile, she pointed out, "Besides, I don't think he will be very happy if the first thing he sees once he opens his eyes is you standing over him."

"I doubt he'd be happy either way. But I can see your point; lesser of two evils..." Johnathon sighed, "In that case, I will leave you be. But don't waste too much energy keeping yourself up waiting for him. Even princesses need their sleep."

"I'll take care of myself." Barbara nodded back, her smile never once reaching her eyes.

Seeing that he had nothing else left to say, Johnathon left her to her own devices.

After he was gone, Barbara let go of her fake smile and scooched closer to Thomas, laying her hands on top of his arm.

Barbara studied her brother's sleeping face closely, etching the image into memory.

He looked so peaceful when he was like this, despite his injuries.

Barbara knew and understood Thomas better than anyone else in the family. Even at times when he would hurt her or use her in order to fulfill his own satisfactions, Barbara couldn't find it in herself to be heartless enough to leave him alone.

She could always see inside him that there was like... this empty void in his heart. A black hole, to be filled with something substantial, but could never be satisfied. She knew it was what drives him, what keeps him up at night, what made him choose to do the things that he does. An unending hunger that could never be quenched, yet still always demanded for more.

Yet, watching him sleep on his bed, she could see none of that. Like he didn't have to worry about gaining power anymore, or building a ruthless reputation, or scheming to manipulate others for his advantage. As long as he was asleep, he could ignore everything else and finally be at peace.

Barbara brought his hand up so that she could hold it and cup her cheek. Snuggling against it, she whispered sadly, "Take as long as you need to rest, brother. I will be here when you wake up. Until then, may the gods grant you peace in your dreams."

---

Everything was dark. Like an empty void, reaching on forever.

I didn't really know where I was. I didn't really know where exactly I was going either.

Despite myself, I kept mindlessly trudging forward as if I had someplace to be.

Not a single thought filled my mind as I kept moving forward. I couldn't find myself the energy to really think at all. It just seemed easier to keep walking forward without knowing why or how or who or where.

I didn't know how long I've been stuck walking around in this empty void. Might have been minutes, might have been days. Time felt like it was way too abstract for me to get a firm grasp on. All I did know was that I've probably been walking for a while now.

I would have felt pretty bored if I was even capable of it at the time. Doing nothing but walk forever in an empty black void for the rest of my life? Not exactly my idea of fun.

It wasn't all that bad though. Occasionally, I think I would see a flicker of light or something in my field of view as I walked.

Like a still image being captured and shown to my eyes for a brief moment before fading away.

I saw people, I think. People that I think I might have been able to recognize at one point in my life. People I might have cared about.

Who were they, I wondered? Parents? Family? Friends? Loved ones? Each image shown to me felt more and more alien as I kept trudging forward.

Hm...

Ah well. If I couldn't remember them, they probably weren't that important to me to begin with.

Hm.

...

Man, I'm in the mood for some more fries.

Do you wish to seek your perfect ending?

With a hazy expression, I looked up to where that random voice was.

"Perfect... ending...?" I repeatedly absentmindedly.

That sounds familiar...

Right, wasn't I doing something... important?

Or at least, importance that was relative to whatever I was in the middle of. Probably wasn't even that important, more like an obsession if I was honest.

Do you wish to see through with your actions? Will you go far enough to obtain the outcome that you seek?

I mean... Eh. I'd go pretty far for it, yeah. I usually didn't like to half-ass things since it left a bad taste in my mouth when things don't get done properly.

To the voice, I shrugged.

You lack conviction, yet you do not hesitate to charge ahead anyway. If you ever reach the perfect ending that you so desire, will you be satisfied?

...

Eh.

To the voice, I answered with another halfhearted shrug again.

I see...

Your motivation is not about satisfaction, but a desire to fulfill your obsession of completion.

You might never be satisfied, no matter how many deeds you accomplish. Your list of things to complete will soon grow to be neverending. You will die before you can accomplish even a tiny portion of it. Does that not bother you?

Hm...

If I had to really think about it...

For the first time, I could feel the haze clearing up in my mind as I seriously pondered the question...

"No. I guess it doesn't." After coming to my conclusion, I shrugged one last time. "If you really think about it, it just means that I'll always have something to do once I'm finished with something else. That doesn't seem too bad to me."

...

Huh, the voice is silent all of a sudden. Did I piss it off or what?

Oh, no wait, it's back.

You hold no beliefs. You hold no directions. Your compass is broken, yet you always push yourself to head north regardless.

When you reach your destination, you move on to another without sparing a second thought.

Your motivations are both simple, yet non-existent. You do the things you do, simply because you do. A never-ending series of journeys. No rhyme or reason needed. Like a burst of lightning that never strikes twice in one place.

You've gained my interest, Otherworlder. My name is Rayden, and I'll grant you my elemental spirit.

...

Okay then...?

Who dat tho?

Instead of getting an answer, the black void ahead of me suddenly had a violent purple spark that slowly grew to outshine the world.

Eventually, I was blinded.

---

Nighttime.

Barbara slowly opened her eyes from her slumber.

Pushing herself up, she felt the hand of her brother drop from her cheek as she rose with a yawn. She must have fallen asleep at some point while watching over Thomas the entire day.

Rubbing her eyes clear, she took a glance at Thomas to see if he had awakened yet. To her disappointment, he was still in the midst of his coma...

Sigh...

The longer he stays asleep, the more worried she grows. If Thomas shows no signs of recovery anytime soon, then she truly feared that he might be a vegetable for his entire life.

What twisted sense of irony would that be if that ended up being the case.

She had wished for Johnathon to show mercy in their fight if he ever ended up gaining the upper hand. Yet in this mercy that was granted, there was a chance that Thomas would end up with a fate that might be considered worse than .

If there ever came a time where she must decide to choose between ending his suffering, or selfishly keeping him alive just for own sake, she might...

Well... It was too soon to think like that.

Thomas will hopefully wake up soon. She had to believe that.

Until then, she'll stay by his side for as long as she needed to.

...

With that being said, she has already stayed by his side for a while now.

She needed to use the little princess's room to powder her nose and whatnot.

Standing up from her seat, Barbara took one last look at her brother and decided to give his hand a quick peck before she left.

"I'll be back in a bit, okay Brother?"

After that, she exited the medical room, leaving Thomas to his lonesome self.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

I jolted awake with a flash.

"Fuck me, man. I need better chairs." I groaned out loud for some reason, feeling incredibly tired and sore.

Aaauugh, man... God, my brain feels like a slushie right now. Everything was slow, groggy, and hazy, like I could barely form a thought without needing to overexert myself.

With a moan, I brought my hands up to rub my entire face- Only to flinch in pain as I touched my forehead.

"Ow!"

I was a bit surprised by the shock of the pain but went back to touching it only much more gently this time. I felt a bandage wrapped around my entire cranium, and even just a simple touch was enough to get the bruises underneath all worked up in agony.

Fuck, what the hell happened to me? Why did it feel like my face collided into a concrete wall?

Augh, not only that but my entire body felt sore too. I felt like I just ran a marathon across the world and never once stopped to catch a break.

Jeez, it was almost as if I got into a fight or something...

Hm, let's see... What happened to me last night?

Er... Hm...

The only thing I could remember before waking up... was...

...

...

...that I don't remember anything other than waking up. The hell?

"That's slightly worrying..." I mumbled groggily to myself, trying my best to recover my memories.

Okay, calm down... Let's think this out properly.

So I don't know what I did to get myself all battered up like this. That's fine. I can learn that later, I'm sure. Just gonna assume that the bandage wrappings on my head came from someone else kind enough to take care of me while I was injured. They might know what happened to me better than I ever could.

Then let's focus instead on what I DO know at the moment.

So, what do I still remember?

Well, this should be easy. What about my name?

My name is...

...

Er...

Alright, the fact that I can't even get a name to pop into mind when thinking about it was definitely horrifying. Gonna put a pin on that and move on to the next question.

How old am I?

...

Skip that one for now. Next question.

What are the names and faces of my mother and father?

...

Er...

What's my address?

...

Nope.

...favorite color?

...

...

...

Yeah, no, I think I got amnesia.

"I am royally fucked this time, aren't I?" I muttered anxiously.

Amnesia, huh? This must have been a first for me.

Which I wouldn't know for sure, due to... aforementioned amnesia...

Don't panic though, I'm sure everything will be fine. Most likely this was just a small temporary amnesia that will eventually go away once I take a relaxing walk and engage with my surroundings.

Yeah, a walk sounds nice right about now. I wanna go take a walk. I'm gonna go walk.

I swung my legs off the bed and took my first step-

AWAJAJWAJSAAW-

Walks are a bad idea. I change my mind, I don't wanna walk anymore.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow- Jesus fuck, the hell happened to my legs?" I whined pathetically, gently doing my best to nurse my sore and sensitive legs.

The analogy about me doing a marathon across the world comes to mind again.

Seriously, what in god's name did I do to get myself in such a huge mess? I must have been in one hell of an incident to have it cause me to be in a weak condition like this. Also the memory loss too, I shouldn't forget that.

Where am I even?

Looking around, the whole place looked sort of... marble-y? The walls and floor were really smooth and white, kinda reminded me of something like a mansion or a castle or something.

Well, I didn't recognize this place... Probably because of you-know-why, but still...

"Hello?" I called out, trying to reach someone's attention, "Anybody here?"

Hm, no response.

The moonlight shining through the window suggested that I must have woke up during the night. Whoever was taking care of me was probably already asleep.

"Alright, that's fine. Everything's fine." I repeated to myself, mostly just to try to chill myself out, "Silver lining, at the very least I didn't die from whatever put me in this position in the first- WOW, I just noticed that my voice sounds weird."

My sudden shift in thought was mostly thanks to the fact that I only just now started paying attention to the way my voice sounded.

For some reason, it just seemed so... different and unfamiliar...

Did I really sound like this? Is this my real voice?

"Hello?" I started off softly, before slowly shifting tone to test it out, "Hellooo. Hello. Heyo. How's it going, bro? Hellooooo, hello hello hello."

God, I swear I didn't have this voice before I woke up tonight. It sounded so much deeper and manlier than what I'm used to. Which I've also realized is pretty freaking weird for me to point out, considering I don't even have the memories to even know that.

Whatever, I had too many questions and there's absolutely no way it was going to be answered all tonight without anyone here to help me.

Maybe I should just bite the bullet and myself out of bed to try to find someone.

Oh, wait... Hm... Thinking about it again, since it's night time, it might be rude to try to call out for someone since I might wake them up...

I may be many things, but an inconsiderate douche who wakes people up at night for no reason, I am most definitely not.

I hope, at least.

Whatever- In that case, I'll just try to check out the area and figure out where I am. Who knows, the entire place might be familiar for me and I could probably end up getting all my memories back.

Okay legs, break times over. Out you go!

Steeling myself once again to leave my bed, I carefully placed my feet on the ground even as I winced from the pain. After a bit of experimenting, I managed to get myself over the sore numbness sensation as I slowly pushed myself upright.

Steady... Steady now... Lost of balance would mean my face eating shit on the marble floor. Considering that my whole body is practically pins and needles at the moment, I'd rather not put myself in any more pain than I have to.

Steady... One, two. One, two.

At a comfortable pace, I slowly began walking forwards. Even when my knees almost buckled a couple of times, I managed to keep my balance and continued pushing on until I was able to leave the room.

Okay. Good. Baby's first steps.

Now, let's explore this place, shall we?

---

Barbara splashed cold water in her face as an attempt to keep herself awake.

Rubbing her eyes clear, she sighed before taking a deep look at herself in the mirror.

She frowned at the obvious bags hanging under her eyes. Most likely from all the stress and anxiety over Thomas... That definitely won't do... If Thomas were to awaken to see her like this now, no doubt he would grimace in disgust at her unsightly appearance.

She should ask her personal maid to help assist her with her makeup soon. But Amber was most likely asleep already at this hour though, so she should save that for later...

Drying herself clean and making sure that her face didn't look too ragged, she took a deep breath before making her way back to the medical room.

On her way there, she was surprised to find herself crossing paths with a brunette maid that just so happened to be looking for her.

"Ah, my lady!" Amber, a maid raised to be Barbara's personal servant from a young age and her closest friend. The maid's eyes widened as she found her master before she hurried after her, "It's the middle of the night! Why aren't you in your bed yet? I've been looking everywhere for you."

Barbara smiled softly back, "You know why already, Amber. I can't leave him by himself..."

"Ah... Right..." Amber faltered a bit, before smiling, "I guess I didn't need to ask. So, Prince Thomas has not woken up yet?"

Barbara depressingly shook her head no.

Amber sighed, "If he hasn't woken up yet after all this time, then it's likely he won't wake up anytime soon. You really shouldn't keep yourself up to needlessly worry about him, my lady. Don't forget to think of your own health first..."

"Thank you for worrying about me, but I promise I'll be fine." Barbara giggled appreciatively, "I make sure not to lose any rest when I'm with him."

"Still, you should at least come back to your quarters so that you could sleep properly." Amber continued to insist, "I imagine sleeping hunch forward on a chair instead of a proper bed won't do wonders for your body or mind."

Amber reached her hand out for Barbara to grab, only for her lady to sigh tiredly.

"As I said, I'll be fine... I want to stick with Prince Thomas for the time being." Barbara politely refused, already in motion to leave.

Amber respectfully stood in her path, before giving a stern glare, "I really must insist, my lady. Don't forget that you have your daily academic studies that you still need to finish. Not only that, but you still have your other duties as princess as well. It won't do for someone of your stature appearing tired and tardy come tomorrow morning."

"B-But Prince Thomas is still-" Barbara anxiously tried to argue back, only to be interrupted by her maid's reassurance.

"Prince Thomas will still be exactly where you left him, my lady." Amber reminded, "Your father, the king, has hired the greatest doctors and healers in the country to keep watch over him. Spending all your time obsessively watching over him yourself will do him no favors, and neither will it do any for you."

Barbara could only begin to fidget uncomfortably as she tried to desperately come up with the words in order to argue back with her friend’s logical reasonings, “B-B… But I just…”

Amber couldn’t help but sigh tiredly as she looked over her master with pity.

She’d never understand Princess Barbara’s unmalleable faith and devotion towards her crooked brother. Her master’s psychological dependency over him was unhealthy at best and a disturbing sickness at worst.

She was almost tempted to pull up a hypothetical scenario and bluntly ask if Prince Thomas would ever by the kind to do the same thing her master has done for him if the situation was reversed and she was the one in a coma instead. But she bit her tongue back, knowing that opening that can of worms would do nothing except offend her master. Instead, she decided on a compromise in order to convince her stubborn master.

“Look, how about we both visit Prince Thomas one last time for tonight in order to ease your worries. Then we can put you to sleep so that, once you wake up tomorrow, you’ll be healthy and energetic enough to visit him again for as long as you want.”

Barbara glanced away with conflicted feelings, a large part of her still wanting to remain stubborn so that she could continue watching over her brother. But another part of her knew that her friend was right, that doing only what she wanted would not help anyone. Instead, it would only further make her more unpresentable for the day when Thomas would awaken again.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Barbara relented, “Okay... Allow me to check on Prince Thomas one last time. Then I’ll go back to my room to sleep.”

“Very good, my lady.” Amber gave a relieved smile before stepping out of the way with a graceful bow, and gesturing, “After you.”

Amber was glad that she didn’t have to pull out any drastic measures in order to convince her master to take a break.

The past three days have been hard for Princess Barbara, as she dedicated all of her free time doing nothing but staying with the comatose Prince Thomas. The poor girl must be devastated, putting herself in such a mentally stressful situation.

In Amber’s opinion, she’d rather the Princess forget about him and use this opportunity as an excuse to finally relax. Heck, she’d rather the two of them rejoice at the fact that her menace of a brother wouldn’t around to them anymore, however temporary it might be.

Disgusting, perverted, greedy, arrogant little piece of work- If only Prince Johnathon didn’t hold back in their duel. Even though she was not there to witness the fight, she could only imagine how one-sided it must have been considering Prince Johnathon managed to walk away with barely a scratch. But if only he had fought even a bit more mercilessly, he might have been able to kill Prince Thomas and spare everyone the constant pain of having him around.

Sigh… Wouldn’t that be the luckiest day of Amber’s life if that were the case? Never again would the maids in this castle have to worry about needing to accommodate his sexual appetite on a daily basis ever again. Especially her- Amber was convinced that Prince Thomas seemed to have it out with her simply because she was Princess Barbara’s personal servant, which was why he seemed to enjoy using her the most.

Even though she was supposed to be Princess Barbara’s personal servant, as a maid of the royal family, she was unable to deny any requests given to her by them. Especially Thomas, who she would regularly have to appease in the hopes that he would take out all of his malice and frustrations on her instead of her master…

She’d rather not go and even see his face today if she could help it, but since she needed to accommodate Princess Barbara in order to get her to finally get some proper rest in her quarters, she’d just have to grin and bear with it like she always did.

At least, that was the plan…

But when they both finally arrived at the medical room to check on Prince Thomas, he wasn’t there.

Princess Barbara frantically entered and searched around the room, “Prince Thomas? Brother?!” But she got no response. It doesn’t seem that Thomas was anywhere near the medical room anymore.

“So, his lordship has finally decided to awaken from his slumber after three days... Just when everything was starting to get more quiet and peaceful…” Amber muttered bitterly to herself.

“Prince Thomas?! Where are you?!” Princess Barbara continued to call out, before running to her maid, “Amber, notify the doctors that Prince Thomas is awake! I’m going to go look for him before he gets himself hurt!”

Before the princess could leave, Amber quickly pulled her back with a worried, “But my lady, aren’t you tired?! You need to be well-rested for tomorrow's schedule! Let me handle searching for him, I’ll let the doctors know and have them look after Prince Thomas while you take care of sleeping!”

“There’s no time for that now! You know what Prince Thomas is like- If he’s awake now, then that means he must be furious about finding out that he lost the duel and is about to storm all the way to Johnathon’s room to pick another fight! Even if Johnathon holds back this time, he might make Thomas’s current injuries even worse!”

Without waiting for another word, Princess Barbara roughly pushed her friend out of the way and began rushing down the corridors, calling out her brother’s name all the while.

Amber couldn’t help but sigh tiredly but went out to fulfill her master’s orders to notify the doctors and even grab the attention of the guards to be on the lookout for him. Despite herself, Princess Barbara had a point. It would be a pain to have to clean after the mess that he would inevitably make if he were to roam around without supervision.

---

I might be lost.

Christ, this whole place was waaaaay bigger than I imagined it would be.

Was I in a castle? Did I wake up inside a fucking castle?

Why would I be in a castle? Where the fuck would you find a castle to stick me in?

Sigh, this was getting way too weird. Nothing about this place was familiar to me at all.

While walking down the hallways in this giant place, I curiously studied my surroundings to try to figure out where I was. After a few minutes of traveling, I came across this big fancy doorway and decided on a whim to open it and see where it leads.

Turns out, it opened to the outside. A fresh wave of the outdoor air hit me as I observed the area.

Gardens. Rows of meticulously grown flowers of various colors planted right in the middle of a preciously gated field. Somehow, I managed to get myself outside to the back yard or something.

With nowhere else to go, I shrugged and continued on. Taking a walk in the middle of the field, I decided to crouch down and admire the colorful scenery in front of me.

“Huh… they seem well taken care of… Looks recently watered too…” I noted as I gently brushed my fingers on their petals. “Good to know that I didn’t wake up in an abandoned haunted castle, I guess. Pretty sure ghosts and monsters don’t take good care of flowers like this.”

Could you imagine it? Waking up in a haunted castle in the middle of the night, to take A Dark Descent inside while suffering from Amnesia?

“Heheheh…” I didn’t know why, but that train of thought had me laughing to myself. Almost as if I’ve done this song and dance before and was recalling a humorous memory.

…

Oh god, don’t tell me I’ve done something like this before? Do I make it a habit to wake up with amnesia inside of random castles in the middle of the night or something?

Christ, if I see some deformed monstrosity chasing after me, I am gonna throw SO MANY CHAIRS.

Getting off-topic.

Clearing my head from the random tangents, I stood back up and kept moving forward. Maybe if I circle around the area for a bit and see what the outside looks like. I might be able to recognize some buildings or landmarks or something if I get a clear view of it.

Tonight was a full moon, so the whole area was greatly illuminated by the moonlight. Gotta admit, this whole place looked really beautiful and mysterious. The stone pathway I was following was also greatly decorated with colors. I was walking barefoot, but my feet were just numb enough to not get bothered by the cold touch of the floor.

Despite not knowing where I was or the circumstances that led me here, it was kinda relaxing just to breathe in the fresh air and admire the scenery.

Also, wow. Speaking of scenery-

Am I on a fucking mountain? Holy shit, once I got further away from the castle, the stone path I was walking on converged with a huge stone balcony that was overlooking a huge town from far far away.

I kept trudging myself along until I reached the edge of the balcony and leaned forward to see how high up I was.

Wow, that is- T-T-That is a fucking steep curve down there. Holy shit, this mountain is huge.

“God, where the hell am I?” I muttered in awe.

The more I learned about my surroundings, the more questions I had about myself and where I was. If I was ever here before, then I must seriously be suffering from a very serious case of amnesia, because I couldn't recognize ANYTHING here.

Couldn't complain about the view though... A castle atop a mountain, overlooking a large town underneath while the full moon’s light illuminated the entire land?

If I could paint this image on a canvas, I’d probably be able to sell it for top dollar.

Hm…

Well, I wasn't in any rush. Let’s take a breather here and just admire the view for the time being.

…

Man, I wish I found some food with me though. This would be a killer picnic location.

---

As the night went on, the people within the castle slowly grew more restless as more and more of the residents took part in trying to locate their missing prince.

Many maids and butlers were woken up by their coworkers and notified of Prince Thomas suddenly going missing. Search parties began to form one by one as each was tasked with searching for their lord within the castle ground.

Eventually, even the king and queen woke up from the commotion. After learning of their son’s disappearance, they didn’t hesitate to rush to the medical room to see for themselves. But now they had to patiently wait until he could be found, alongside one of the doctors who was supposed to be taking care of him.

“He couldn’t have gotten far.” The doctor explained to the king as he washed his hands, “The injuries that he sustained from his duel still haven’t properly healed up yet. No doubt he was struggling just to move his feet off the ground. Once he’s found, he needs to be sent back here right away so that I can properly examine him further and make sure he’s all right.”

“But if he’s able to walk around, shouldn’t that mean that he was fine? There shouldn’t be any cause for concern, is there?” The queen asked worriedly.

“The damn fool shouldn’t even be forcing himself to move around in his condition- his body is weak and still in the process of healing! The more he pushes his body beyond its threshold, the more likely he might further injure himself and obtain permanent damage!”

After hearing that, it was no surprise that they gave the order to wake everyone up in order to join the search for Prince Thomas.

When Princess Barbara arrived at Prince Johnathon quarters, she was surprised to find that Thomas had never arrived to begin with.

“No, I never saw Thomas come here.” Johnathon answered groggily as he rubbed his eye, “I was still sleeping when you called me. I wasn’t even aware that he had already woken up.”

“So he didn’t come here immediately?” Princess Barbara asked in obvious confusion, “But I thought for sure the first thing he’d do was to come here and try to get for losing the duel…”

“Well, it wouldn’t be the most outlandish assumption…” Johnathon hummed, before offering, “Why don’t you keep searching for him then. I’ll stick around in the event that he does come here to seek me out.”

Worriedly looking up at him, Barbara pleaded, “If he does show up to try to fight you, can you promise me you won’t do anything to harm him?”

“The idiot is still injured, isn’t he? He wouldn’t be able to put up a fight even if he desperately tried in that condition.” He reminded, before reassuring her, “Don’t worry, I’ll do whatever I can to avoid another fight with him.”

Hearing that, Barbara gave a sigh of relief, “Thank you, Brother…”

And all of these events had led up to this moment now, where Barbara was frantically running down the corridors in order to search for her missing brother. She could hear the other servants shouting alongside her as they all called out his name, hoping that he would reveal himself once he heard it.

The castle was brimming with life as people rummaged around in their search parties. It only took just a single person going missing to cause a normal night to become this exhausting event.

Barbara kept trying to think to herself where her brother could possibly be. It wasn’t like him to suddenly disappear like that. If he was still inside the castle, he would have been found by now with all these people out to search for him…

Unless he was either actively avoiding everyone, or was just in a location far enough where he couldn’t hear anyone call out for him from within the castle…

She doubted that Thomas was in any condition to try to hide and run from the servants. There were too many of them, after all. Trying to dodge all of them and hide his presence while also suffering from his wounds would be highly improbable.

But in that case, where would he have gone then if he was trying to avoid everyone? Why would he want to avoid everyone to begin with?

Thomas wasn’t the type to feel any embarrassment if he were to fail at something. Frustrated, bitter, and spiteful? Most likely. But not embarrassed. He would have no reason to want to avoid any of the servants.

Perhaps he was avoiding confrontation with his parents? His family? Is that why he was hiding away after waking up? Because he was ashamed and didn’t want any of them to see him at his weakest moment?

That also seemed unlike him though…

...

Barbara wondered if Thomas had headed outside after he had woken up. Had he left the castle ground and was trying to leave? It would be a foolish action to take, considering his conditions…

Still, if he couldn’t be found inside the castle, then it would only make sense that he was hiding outside.

With that mindset, Barbara quickly made her way outside to try to find her brother there. Perhaps he was still around, somewhere, wandering around the gardens or the fountain place.

It seemed she wasn’t the first who had the idea to check outside though, as she saw guards and more servants roaming around and calling out Prince Thomas’s name. If he still hasn’t been found yet…

Perhaps she should search around even further.

---

Hm.

It was starting to get a bit noisy inside the castle.

At least I now knew for a fact that the castle wasn’t empty and abandoned. Would’ve been a foreboding sign if it was. I definitely was not in the mood to solve puzzles, refill oils into lanterns, and avoid pink spider-jizz for the rest of my stay here, that’s for sure.

“Prince Thomas! Are you here, my lord?!” I could hear one of the guys inside crying out, “Please come back inside! Your majesties are worried about you!”

Prince Thomas? Huh… Wonder who that is?

Also, a prince? Seriously? What, was I living in a monarchy country? Seriously, the hell was I even doing here?

The name Thomas sounds kinda familiar though…

I was half-tempted to maybe go out there and speak to one of them in order to ask questions about where I was. Seeing how they all seemed to be in an uproar trying to find this missing prince though, I figured that I’d just be bothering them… Or worse, I’ll probably get roped into trying to help them find whoever it was they’re looking for. Considering I had amnesia and had no way of knowing or recognizing who this Prince Thomas was, and the fact that my body was still sore seven ways to Monday, I’d just be wasting time and energy.

I’ll try to ask them later when they’re not busy anymore.

Until then, I’m still enjoying the scenery here.

I took a deep breath of fresh air and let all my worries melt away.

...

Man, I really want to hack a loogie over the edge to see how far it’ll drop. We’re so high up, it’d probably fall a decent mile or two before it lands on something down there.

Probably not good for the environment though. Also, it’s gross. Best to stay respectful to the mountains.

Sigh...

I heard a pair of footsteps clattering on the stone floor behind me, before a young girly voice popped up, “Thomas! Can you hear me? Please stop hiding from us if you are-”

The voice suddenly paused as whoever was behind me stopped in their tracks.

Curious, I turned around to see who this sudden person behind me was.

A young girl with curly blond hair, dressed in some kind of really expensive and fancy clothes. Her eyes were completely wide as saucers as she was staring directly at me like I was some kind of alien from another planet.

Raising an eyebrow, I gave her a casual wave, “Hi.”

Taking a closer look at this girl, I found her to be… kinda cute, to be honest. Like, holy cow, she was really attractive and pretty. Like a supermodel or a pop-star idol. The fancy clothes she was wearing made her stand out even more, making her seem almost like royalty.

Wait… I think she might actually be royalty.

She seemed caught off guard from the fact that I was here, but she recomposed herself after a while and calmly walked up right next to me.

Leaning over the balcony like I was, she asked gently, “What were you doing out here?”

“Oh, just… admiring the view from up here.” I shrugged. “Never seen a sight like this before, so I figured I might as well carve the image into memory.”

She blinked for a bit, obviously taken aback by my answer. It was like she wasn’t expecting such a simple response.

After a brief pause, she then told me, “I was worried sick when I came back to see you suddenly disappeared from the medical room. Why’d you leave? Aren’t you hurting from your injuries?”

“Were you the one taking care of me then?” I asked in surprise, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you like that. I didn’t know where I was and there was no one around when I called. So I figured I’d just… walk around a bit. Stretch my legs. Find someone to talk to.”

This girl continued to stare at me in a funny way, almost as if she was studying a fish out of water.

“I… I’ve never seen you so calm and composed before…” She told me, tilting her head as she observed my face, “I thought you’d be more upset…”

“Upset?” I repeated confusedly, “Upset about what? I kinda just woke up a while ago, I’m still trying to get my bearings here.”

She nodded in understanding, “I see…”

She sees? What did she see that I didn’t?

Turning to the sky to look at the moon, she continued, “You’ve been in a coma for about three days now. The doctors said that there was a chance you might not ever wake up again. I was so worried about you that I stuck by your side all this time.”

Huh… That’s surprisingly nice and considerate. I didn’t even know her name, and here she was, showing me the kind of motherly kindness that a total stranger would usually never expect to receive.

“Well. Thanks then.” I awkwardly scratched my neck, “I appreciate the fact that you’ve been looking after me while I was out.”

She glanced at me again with another surprised face, clearly taken off guard at my response. It was like she never expected me to thank her.

Sheesh, from the way she reacted, you’d think she was living her entire life without ever knowing what it was like to be thanked or something.

“Wow… You must still be in shock then…” She commented, before turning back to the view, “I suppose you’re still coming to terms with the fact that Johnathon won against you in your duel. That's why you're acting so unusually unlike yourself.” With a sigh, she consoled me, “I truly am sorry that you couldn’t win. I know how badly you wanted to be the next king… But I’m just thankful that you’re still alive.”

…

Uh… Okay, she was starting to talk nonsense right now.

“I’m sorry, slow down a bit…” I said as I turned to face her, “Who won against me in a duel? Also, why was I in a dual? What? Who wanted to be the next king? I am absolutely lost in this conversation.”

Now it was her turn to be confused, as she turned to me with a worried expression, “Uh... Thomas, are you okay? You’ve been acting very strangely since we began talking…”

I blinked.

What did she call me?

“Who the hell is Thomas?” I asked bluntly.

The girl in front of me furrowed her eyebrows in complete confusion before the situation slowly started to dawn on her as she realized what was going on. Her eyes steadily widened as she looked into my eyes, as she was able to tell that I was completely clueless.

As if making absolutely sure to see if there was a chance that she could be wrong, she asked me in a direly serious tone, “Do you know your name?”

I almost hesitated to answer after seeing the fearful look in her eyes. A part of me wanted to try to comfort her somehow by pretending to play along so that she didn’t have to worry about me.

But honestly, that was probably the worst thing I could ever think of. After all…

“I have no idea,” I answered honestly with a shrug. “I can’t remember a single thing about me since I woke up.”

She brought her hands to cover her mouth as she looked at me in absolute horror. The only words she could utter next was a quiet and terrified, “Oh no…”