What Memory Remains

Sade stood on the balcony of his room, admiring the sandy dunes laid out before him. In all of his travels, the desert terrain always had a certain charm to it. The fact that he didn’t get many opportunities to see it made it all the more intriguing. In the day, it was a blistering hot mess for him. But nighttime was always so serene and soothing. The last time he’d seen it, he was staying overnight to investigate a group of thugs that would intercept merchant caravans as they passed goods to and from desert towns.

Yet, despite the calming presence of the desert this night, other matters weighed in the back of his mind. Every minute or two, he would go back inside and check on Zenapharr. Each time, he imagined finding him aimlessly walking around and muttering the mysterious phrases to himself. After some time, Sade had stopped trying to decipher the meaning. If there was anything he’d learned in his years of working for Minerva, it was that the biggest problems had a strange way of revealing their solution. Whether or not it would aid them in stopping Krane, he did not know. One thing he did know…it was definitely related to Zenapharr’s heritage as a Seraphim.

His mind wandered to other things…like his own background. No matter how hard he tried to remember certain things from his childhood, it seemed to drift away. Many things were quite vivid: the smell of his mother’s perfume, the sight of his father sulking around the house with a bottle in his hand, and his younger brother’s laughter. More odd than all of it, he could not remember his brother’s name. These things he didn’t think about much, but the events from earlier that day triggered something within him that was now driving him insane.

After arriving at the village of Ohim, they rested and visited a man Aegis recommended for directions. This seemed like a simple task, but Aegis annoyingly left out the fact that this man they were to speak with was being held in a psychiatric ward.

“Our informant is insane? Can I please kill Aegis when this is all over?” Zenapharr had pleaded. Sade considered it, but instead told Zenapharr to be good.

Speaking with some of the townsfolk, who responded in cock-eyed suspicion of two strapping travelers, led them to the Ohim Insitution for the Mentally Ill. It wasn’t a large, hospital-esque building as most would suspect. At first glance, the appearance seemed nothing more than a large store.

Once inside, they asked to speak with their informant, by the name of Dran Colis.

“Colis, you say? Well, no one’s been here to see him in quite some time. Quite the character, tells great stories though!”

“At least they’re professional,” Zenapharr muttered in Sade’s ear.

“Yes, so we’ve heard. May we speak with him?” Sade spoke up quickly, thinking Zenapharr may hack and slash his way in otherwise.

“What for?”

“Business purposes. In fact, it’s a matter of security of our continent.” Sade produced his Minerva badge, and the receptionist quickly stood up straight and nodded curtly.

“Yeah, yeah sure Agent Wingard. Orderly!”

A large man in all-white attire approached.

“Take these men to see Dran Colis. It’s very important.”

The orderly led them through some short hallways, and unlocked a door to a large set of stairs. It was here they realized why the asylum was not so large on the outside. All the levels to the patients were underground. As they entered the stairwell, the walls resembled more of a hospital in an institutional white from top to bottom. Zenapharr noted Sade’s eyes darting to and fro, and began to act even more fidgety the further in they got.

“Nervous much?”

“I don’t like hospitals….or any place that looks like one. It’s a long story.”

“I understand.”

Zenapharr lightly touched his hand to Sade’s back, and the mere surprise of the gesture made Sade feel a bit better. They continued further to the third basement floor, passing by an open door with the letters “EST” printed in bold letters. A man’s cries were heard before they reached it, and the orderly held up a finger for them.

“How many times have we told you to shut this door!” The orderly yelled, met by some mild resistance from the other men in the room. As Sade and Zenapharr approached, they both witnessed a patient being administered a jolt of electricity in a chair. It quickly registered with Zenapharr that it was simply a taboo form of therapy and shrugged it off, but not before he noticed Sade stopped walking and seemed to be frozen in place.

His eyes were wide and the pupils small, as if his mind was somewhere else.

“Sade. Sade?!” Zenapharr touched his friend’s shoulde, and after a moment he seemed to snap out of it. Bewildered, the former agent of Minerva looked one last time at the table the patient was laying on. His eyes focused on the straps holding the patient in the chair, and the sight made him clutch his head.

“You alright, bro’ere?”

The word seemed to writhe through Sade’s skull, and he fought to maintain his balance.

“Easy there,” Zenapharr steadied him. By this time, the orderly was done fussing at the workers in the EST Room, and he slammed the door shut behind him.

“I’m sorry about that. They’ve been bad about closing that lately. It just looks bad for visitors….is he alright?’

“I’m fine,” Sade managed to form the words. “Just feeling…light-headed is all. Not sure….”

“It’s okay. Some people are bothered more than others with the EST Room. We’re not far from Mr. Colis. I’ll fetch you some chairs when you get there. By the way, you know much about Mr. Colis’…..issues?”

“Not in detail,” Zenapharr replied casually.

“I’ll tell you a bit before you talk to him.”

Sade got his bearings as they went further down and stopped at cell 21D. The orderly slid back the panel on the metal door that revealed a barred opening.

“Dran, you have some visitors!” The orderly called, and half-stepped away. “Here you are. Now remember, Mr. Colis is easily agitated by aggressive behavior, it tends to make him aggressive. Sounds hypocritical, right? Anyway, just speak kindly to him and you shouldn’t have any problems.”

“What happened to him?” Zenapharr prodded.

“Well, long story short Mr. Colis just randomly showed up in the village one day. No one knows exactly where he came from or how he managed to stay alive but, it was apparent he went through some major trauma. He hasn’t said much about WHO did it to him, but according to him he was tortured. He just calls him the Bad Man.”

“The Bad Man? Sounds like something a child would say.”

“That’s another thing. According to the psychiatrist on staff, he resorts to a child-like state to help deal with the trauma he went through. Sometimes he can’t communicate his thoughts well , like a child that doesn’t fully comprehend what’s happening around them. Other times he does understand and just talks about it like a child. Other than, that’s really about it, though. If you’re ready, I’ll go ahead and get your chairs.”

“I think it won’t be necessary. We’ll just stand.”

“Okay, suit yourself. He can take a while to get talking is all. The guard at the end of the hall will see you out when you’re done.”

At that, the two approached the door to get a better look at Mr. Colis. Seeing the inside made Zenapharr think back to his cell at the NOSRAD facility, which seemed so long ago at this point. A lanky man sat on his bed, his hair disheveled and awkwardly looking up at them with his head down. His shoulders were slumped, both arms stuffed between his knees, reminding them of a shy boy.

“Who, who is it?”

“Hey, Dran. I’m Agent Wingard , but you can call me Sade. And this is my friend Zenapharr.”

“I don’t know you.”

“Well, we haven’t met each other before…”

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

“But I know Aegis Wilhelm, and he knows you. We’re practically friends then right?”

“Yeah…I guess so.”

“I heard you know something about a factory near here.”

“Maybe…it’s not far from here.”

“Can you tell us exactly how to get there? Maybe even the best way to get in?”

“Uh huh…”

Dran kicked his feet at the ground, but they weren’t sure if he was distracting himself or just plain nervous.

“You’ve been there before?”

“Yeah…I have. But I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Dran turned his head away completely, and Zenapharr’s face reflected his frustration. Sade mouthed the words “hold on” , and turned back to speak to Dran.

“Dran, we heard about the Bad Man. Is he at the factory place?”

Hesitantly, Dran turned back and shook his head “yes” with a sad expression.

“Thank you, Dran. You must be pretty brave to talk about him.”

“Sometimes.”

“Dran, what if I told you I wanted to find the Bad Man there and make him go away?”

“….you can do that?”

“Yeah, we’re pretty sure we can. In fact, we know he did bad things to you. People who do bad things should go to jail, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well that’s what we’re here to do. If you can be a big boy and tell us more about the Bad Man’s place, we can help you. Would you like that?”

Dran smiled wide and stood up. Zenapharr immediately felt pity for Dran in such a state. Despite Dran’s smile, he sensed the pain the man had gone through.

“I think I could help.” Dran responded slowly, and stepped closer to the bars.

“That’s very good, Dran. What can you tell us?”

“There’s two ways. I came in the front way, lots of people and cameras. But I got out the back way, which is the best way. Not many things there.”

“Wait….you escaped from there?” Dran nodded in response, to which Sade and Zenapharr exchanged a puzzled glance.

“How did you get there?”

“They took me there….said they could make my magic go away. Nobody liked my magic, so I thought it would be a good thing. See?”

Dran held up his hand to show his Mark of the Magi, which Sade did not take note of until now.

“Oh, you could do magic. That’s neat. Can you still?”

“Not anymore. It’s there somewhere but….” Dran’s eyes seemed distance, as if remembering something. “What they did to me made me…made it so hard to do it. But I didn’t know….”

“Know what?”

Dran looked past the two, not seeing but seeing through them.

“Know WHAT, Dran?” Zenapharr spoke sternly. It even caught Sade off guard since it was the first he’d spoken to Dran.

“They….they hurt Dran. I was so good and stopped magic but….they still hurt Dran. Said they were going to take it ALL away.”

It was obvious that Dran was becoming upset, starting to rock back and forth and eventually 0came to sit on his bed again.

“What does that mean, Dran?” Zenapharr urged, and Sade shot him a dark look. There was more silence, and they waited until Dran stopped rocking.

“I saw the others…they put the helmet on their head. And it took their magic away….it took their talking away….their breathing away took their moving away….took it all. And I told them Dran couldn’t do any more magic….that they didn’t need to do the helmet to me cuz I was so good. But even when I stopped magic they kept putting me in the chair…the bad chair.” Dran’s speech was getting faster, his volume going up and down.

“Like the electric chair here?”

“No, different. They made me do magic and when I did they hurt Dran. They told me and then hurt me. Sometimes stick my head in water, sometimes put hot metal on skin. I said I’ll be good but they won’t let me be good. You believe me?”

“Of course we do, Dran. You’re being so brave.”

“I am…but they didn’t listen to Dran, did they?” The patient pointed out, indicating the staff there. “I tell them, I tell everyone the Bad Man hurt Magis….but they don’t care! No one care about Magi…even when I show them they hurt Dran. See?”

Dran pulled up his shirt, showing a plethorea of scars on his side, chest, and back. Even though it seemed much time had passed, it was apparent that the wounds had not healed well. It looked painful even in the state it was in now.

“They see it, and still say Dran lie…they say Dran crazy….”

The patient began weeping in his hands, and Zenapharr felt a stinging in his eyes. This poor soul…and Krane was behind it.

“I knew his hatred for Magi was bad but….torturing people to the point of insanity?” Sade whispered to Zenapharr.

“How do we get in the backway, Dran?”

“You go to the cave.”

“Cave? A cave takes you there too?”

“Dran had to pretend….pretend to be still to get there. The hot place…that’s where they take everyone that is always still. Dran had to stop moving to trick them, get there and get out before anyone saw….”

The reality of Dran’s words settled on the two, and they understood what was happening.

“They had a system of disposing the bodies. That must be where they took them…some back way that no one knew about unless you worked there. I think we may have enough now, Sade.”

“You’ve done so good, Dran, helped us a lot. Can we ask you just one more thing? Was….was Krane the Bad Man?”

Dran stopped rocking, and slowly turned to look at them and began whispering to himself. It was very low in volume at first, and gradually got louder. By the time he started yelling it, they realized Dran was saying “Krane bad man!” over and over.

“It’s okay, Dran. It’s over now.” Sade tried to reassure him, but it wasn’t doing any good. Dran’s shouting got angrier and more disturbed, and he started banging on the walls and hurting himself. The two ran for the security guard, who let them out and rushed over to attend to the disturbed patient. They headed further back up to the lobby, freshly reminded of the horrors Krane had unleashed on innocent people. Never speaking, it was apparent to Sade how upset Zenapharr was by the intense heat permeating from him.

By the time they left the building, it was past midday and the duo was very tired from both their trek to the village and the ordeal with Dran Colis. Even if they were not physically tired, the emotional toll weighed heavily on both of them. They bought some last minute provisions and holed up the inn, where Sade currently still gazed at the clouds.

The strange nostalgia still felt strong within Sade, and somehow he knew the reaction to the electric chair was related to his fear of hospitals. Initially, he’d always thought his unease at hospitals was from his mother’s death but today he knew there was more to it. And the torture that Dran was subjected to in the chair…it all seemed somehow…familiar. There was no other word to describe the sensation. Yet he had no recollection of ever being tortured. Perhaps he was going crazy himself.

Just then, a shuffle caused him to spin around. Across the room, Sade witnessed Zenapharr slowly step into the room. The way the elf moved was eerie, his head limp and chin touching his chest as he slid his feet forward one at a time. He could see Zenapharr’s lips moving, and Sade raced over to his notepad. Standing near Zenapharr, he was able to understand a list of phrases being mumbled softly. Luckily, it was easy due to Zenapharr walking about the room in circles. If he was honest with himself, he felt very stupid doing so.

“Sade, this better mean something.” He bitterly chastised himself. The whole time, he kept expecting Zenapharr to attack him or make some aggressive move. But that moment never came. After the phrases began to repeat , he gently moved Zenapharr back to bed, where the elf stayed the remainder of the night. While he wasn’t moving, Sade decided it best to keep an eye on him while he was still mumbling the cryptic phrases.

The entire rest of the night, Sade looked at the phrases over and over again. Looking for some pattern, some kind of connection that brought them together. It began driving him mad, and he senselessly began writing and re-writing the phrases in different ways. His notebook soon resembled the diary of a madman, and Sade almost gave up hope when his eyes suddenly fell upon one of his rewrites. It was a longshot, but somehow it made sense.

With the list of phrases in a certain order, the first letter of each seemed to spell out a separate message. Sade wasn’t sure he was seeing it right at first, but after checking again he was more than sure of it.

“The color red.

Hatred of all else.

Eve of enlightenment.

Seraphim is all.

End of the beginning.

Call to arms.

One and many.

Never turn back.

Deliver from impurity.

Cleanse with fire.

Oversee the reckoning.

Mayhem ensures peace.

Insight in dream.

Nightfall .

Grant me this.”

“The Second Coming…” Sade whispered. “Second coming of what?” He stared down at his notebook until his mind drifted, and soon he felt the weightlessness of sleep overcome him…

The smell of bleach assaulted Sade’s nostrils, and he awoke to see a man kneeling in front of him. The man seemed to be scrubbing a red substance on the floor. More than confused, Sade tried to move but was unable as two metal hooks locked him into a chair. Even his head was limited to how he could move. The horrible wave of claustrophobia drenched him, and he began writhing to escape the confines of his chair.

A deep chuckle emanated from a door near him, and in walked Robert Krane. It was not quite what he remembered from pictures as he looked younger. His eyes focused on the unusually large syringe he held, which dripped a clear liquid onto the floor.

“What are you…”

“Shhhh, you’re going to be fine Sade. As long as you tell me what we need to hear.”

“Stop calling me that name!”

“Oh, now you’ve done it!. I’m going to have to give you a dose. Now stay still.”

Everything went out of focus and color washed away as he felt a pain shoot through is arm. Welps and cuts seared with pain on his skin, as if coming alive. Everything started to spin, and Sade didn’t know where he was again. He was sitting with a woman in a carriage, along with another small boy with blue hair. The boy looked like a young Zenapharr, but he did not recognize the woman. She began to speak , but the only sound that came out was static.

A terrible pain shot through his head, and again he was somewhere else. This time he was in a house. Tears were falling down his face, and his father came over. He recoiled in fear, waiting for the sharp strike of his father’s hand, but it never came. Puzzled, Sade’s father picked him up, wiped his tears, and gently kissed his forehead. Although in his mind he did not recall this memory, it still felt so….

“Real…” Sade whispered as he came to, finally waking from his strange hodgepodge of dreams. Immeidately, he felt a soreness in his neck and shoulders, as he had been slumped over in the corner. Becoming more conscous, his eyes took in the bedroom that he’d slept in. It was then he realized something was wrong. Zenapharr was not in the room.

“Zenapharr?” He called through the room, but was not answered. Becoming more concerned, he checked every corner of his suite, but with no sign of his former friend. Sade double-timed it outside, and his internal alarm reached an all-time high when he saw that his friend’s horse was gone. Upon checking with the innkeeper, he found that Zenapharr had left earlier that morning.

The words that scared Sade the most was the way the innkeeper described Zenapharr’s demeanor.

“Your friend was acting very odd. It was strange…he seemed aware but…it was like he was in some kind of trance. “

“Did he say anything?”

“Just that he had to leave. Oh, he told me to give you this.”

The keeper took a small white envelope from his desk and handed it to Sade. The letter reinforced what Sade already suspected, but also jarred him to action.

Sade,

I regret to inform you that I must depart alone. This will be the end of our journey and most likely the hardest. I’ve left some integral items in case I must be dealt with, one of which involves Luke Everton’s diary. If you survive and I do not, please carry out the instructions detailed at the last entry. I know this seems odd to carry out a wish for someone who tried to kill us. It’s odd but, after reading it I feel somehow connected to him. He has more in common with me and Alice than I originally thought. It’s too bad we couldn’t reason with him before his death.

Anyway, I want you to know that you are my dearest friend, and I probably haven’t said it enough. This change I’ve gone through as of late has helped me see that, and it pains me to think there’s still something within me that might force my hand to harm you or even kill you. With that being said, I trust you will take care of Alice should she recover from her encounter with the Shade. My only regret is that I didn’t take her away from all of this sooner. But, even if we succeed now, I will take all blame of crimes committed and convince them that I forced you to travel with me. I’ve hurt enough people, the last I need to do is hurt the ones I love.

My only wish if I do not make it, is that you give Alice a normal life. You spoil that girl by loving her with all of your heart every day. Remind her how beautiful she is, make her laugh, anything that will make her feel treasured. It may be too late, but I don’t want her heart to become callused. She deserves another chance at happiness. With that being said, I want to make it clear that we are not trying to just stop Krane. We are not arresting him and bringing him to justice. We are vigilantes now, and we will bring him swift and unprejudiced vigilante justice. Do not hesitate to kill him or those who support him. What we do after this is up to you, but I beg of you to bring no mercy. The fate of this very world we live in could depend on our hesitation.

With that, I hope to see you well in the future, mi bro’ere. Whether in this life or the next, I wish you well.

Your Dearest Friend,

Zenapharr

“How long ago did he leave?”

“I’d say three hours or so.”

“I’m going to need your fastest horse.”

“Is there something—“

“Can you do that for me, yes or no?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“Thank you.”

Within a couple of minutes, Sade was mounted and riding out to the location of the manufacturing facility. As he bounced in his saddle, he thought of how touching the words of his friend was.

The more concerning thing was the words written in some unknown language scattered about the letter. It seemed Zenapharr was struggling for control even to write a letter to his friend.

Whatever was inside him was trying to take complete control, and he was losing…