Anamnesis: You Can (Not) Forget

-Chapter 1-

After settling down they both shared a moment among the grassy plains of Eldoren near a small village where Arslan’s guild HQ lays.

“The moon is constantly pulling mana up into space, and the sun is constantly producing new mana that sweeps into the mana sea.” Arslan explains with fervor.

“No yeah – I get that, but like where does it come from?” Eiden pauses for a moment. Before Arslan could answer.

“From the underdark – of course” Arslan rebuttals.

“I mean how do people channel it? Is it something you see, is it just constantly there, I don’t see anything right now.” Eiden snorts uncomfortably.

Arslan pauses and walks thinking looking at Eiden in the eyes.

“You can’t see the mana sea?” Arslan bickers.

Eiden rolls his eyes. Sprawled on his bumb, his arms behind supporting his weight and his legs spread open.

“I can’t, okay -“ Eiden blurts out not liking Arslan the blonde boy was enjoying knowing more than him. Feeling smarter. Well Arslan was the guild leader. Eiden was just another random mob character right now. Even though Eiden was the main character of this story.

“Come stand – let’s try something,” Arslan extends his hand, Eiden sighs but takes it and stands up.

Arslan manhandles Eiden for a moment, putting his arms around his waist and making him walk like a penguin. Eiden feels a little uncomfortable by the sudden touching put accepts it because Arslan touch is soft and caring.

“One – Two – Three, okay right there!” Arslan says and full stops Eiden. Then Arslan get’s real close behind Eiden. Arslan’s torso touching Eiden back.

“Close your eyes okay?” Arslan says and Eiden complies, then puts his hands around them like playing peekaboo.

There was a beat as Arslan found the words.

“Um- tell me your happiest memory,” Arslan whispers into Eiden ears.

“That’s very personal -“ Eiden mutters.

“Just – please, indulge me.” Arslan pushes his torso deeper into Eiden shoulder blades. The situation is kinda hot. There was shade of a tree nearby covering their skin. A gentle wind blew across the grassy plains. Their scent mixing with one another.

“I’m with Eddy -“ Eiden starts.

“Who’s Eddy?” Arslan asks.

“He is – was – my boyfriend,” Eiden says quietly. Not knowing how Arslan would react.

“The memory – it’s like foggy,” Eiden continues.

“Oh! That’s sweet. Were you two inamorato’s or just romantics?” Arslan questions.

Eiden is a little confused.

“I’m not sure what inamorato is -“ Eiden posture relaxing, his shoulders letting out. His back relaxing into Arslan’s body. The blonde guy being massive, it was like his chest enveloped Eiden whole. He could no longer keep it. Arslan had this relaxing aura to him. It made Eiden feel safe. It was like he was letting go and melting into him.

“It’s like a ceremony to make two romantics have a connection deeper than romance.” Arslan says, his hands still covering Eiden’s eyes.

“Like – a wedding?” Eiden says with a flat tone.

“No – wedding’s can’t happen between two men, I mean it can happen, but it’s extremely rare. Even two men who do not wish to enjoy the benefits of sharing mana usually end up doing inamorato because of the added benefits.”

“Weddings are just a formality – for men and women – it’s different than doing the nuptials ceremony for inamorato, it’s a ritual that uses their power an links them spiritually through the mana sea. Inamorato rings actually trace a line between the mana sea to each other, no matter if their worlds apart. A wedding could never have a soul bond.” Arslan explained.

That seemed a little weird to Eiden – but he rolled with it.

Eiden was at a lost for words.

“So this Eddy – what’s so happy about your memory with him?” Arslan continues pushing.

Eiden sighs. “Oh, right – we usually spent a lot of time just reading and being around each other – we were both into sports so that’s something we shared and we talked constantly about deep topics – just the two of us. Sometimes looking at the starts.”

“Did you love him?” Arslan just casually drops the question.

“I – I think I did,” Eiden blurts nervously. He had never had a conversation with so little toxic masculinity with a man that has biceps bigger than his head.

Was Arslan just extremely open minded or was there something beneath it?

“I want you to hold onto that memory – really taste it and savor it – think about the love you shared and how the most important things are those happy moments you’re laughing and where yourself.” Arslan whispered in Eiden ears.

Then just like that made Eiden open his eyes by pulling the veil with his hands and backing away.

Eiden swelled with emotions – the good – the bad – the ugly and most importantly those quiet moments Eiden would be able to lay his head on Eddy’s shoulder and just lay there. Their favorite hangout spot – a rooftop – far away from society and yet overlooking them all.

Finally Eiden opened his eyes, the sea of mana revealed itself to him. He couldn’t help but to look at it amazed, streaks of mana, the ebb and flow of it all. It was breathtaking. The mana itself pooled like water and moved across the land. The grassy fields served as a sort of sea bed for the mana itself. Yet wildlife could roam and flower’s could spring.

The mana itself moved with the wind, creating waves and crashing down on themselves – then pushing in creating tides that would crash against Eiden’s feet and then out back again into the massive grassy plains that covered as far as the eye could see.

“This is the mana sea?” Eiden asked the question rising naturally.

“Yep – this is it, most everyone I know can see it by a young age and some even feel themselves being pulled into it – I guess you’re different though.” Arslan looked at Eiden curiously.

Eiden dismissed it and continued with his backstory.

“Pshhhh – You know the night elves, there super secretive about their rituals and lore,” Eiden nervously spoke.

“But they didn’t teach you about magic?” Arslan replied, now crossing his arms and placing his weight on one leg.

“Actually – they didn’t – I grew up in a monastery – I never attended their classes – not an elves myself,” Eiden points to his ears. Normal human size ears.

“But you didn’t pick up a spell or two, maybe peeked at their teachings, you were so close to them,” Arslan questioned.

“I didn’t – breaking their trust would mean getting pushed out to the streets again -“

“Well I guess that makes sense – you’re still gonna have to explain that to the chief of guilds.” Arslan rumbled.

“The chief? I thought you where the guild master?!” Eiden questioned.

“I am – of the Lions of the Red Sea. I mean the guild women at the top. And well – you’re basically homeless right now aren’t you – leaving the night elves behind and all?” Arslan said.

“Yeah – I guess so – I mean I was gonna stay at the inn.”

“Nah – don’t waist your money on that!” Arslan suddenly threw himself against Eiden and placed his arm around him.

“Join the Red Lions instead! We’ll go on epic quests – and hey maybe one day – when I get my own airship – I’ll take you cruising through the first sphere!”

“The First Sphere?” Eiden asked. Arslan stopped in his tracks and took his arm off Eiden and held him by the shoulders with both hands.

“You don’t even know what The First Sphere is?” Arslan said a little worried.

“Like have you never looked up at the sky and the force field surrounding us?” Arslan shockingly asked.

“Is that what it is?” Eiden looked up. There was a sort of magic circle in the sky, barely visible since it almost blended in with the blue sky. In the distance fog that made it feel cinematic. They stood there looking up at the sky only to notice the force field moving a little bit. The earth rotating.

“Only the most ancient artifact to have come out of The First Sphere!” Arslan gushed.

“An artifact? The force field?” Eiden was confused.

“Yeah the crystals around Eldoren power up the force field and keep us from suffocating out into the white void.” Arslan explained. The First Sphere resembled a lot like images of what space would look like. Except everything in the void was white.

“Is it space? -“Eiden started.

“No – it’s The First Sphere.” Arslan interrupted.

“Looks white, where is that light coming from?” Eiden asked. Beyond – far beyond the reaches of the horizon a light different than the sun shined brightly.

“From the infinite layers of course!” Arslan explained.

“Of course because that makes sense!”

“Yeah – light is constantly produced from infinite layers and projected into The First Sphere, that’s where the void get’s it’s white light.” Arslan explained like it was nothing.

Eiden nodded like he got what Arslan was saying – he was getting like 30% maybe?

“What about a day night cycle, you guy’s have lanterns and electricity,” Eiden said.

“Well have you ever seen a double sunset?” Arslan explained.

“I have not – “ Eiden continued.

“When it get’s dark The First Sphere top and bottom sun merge into the horizon and disappear into the 4 dimensional foldable space outside the first sphere.” Arslan said like it was nothing.

“The what now?” Eiden confused.

“The void in The First Sphere has a double – like a helix that wraps around itself in 4th dimensional space. A ying to a yang. A monochromatic appearance. A Day and Night as they interchange with one another.”

It seemed this world also shared some mythology of Eiden’s world – but only to explain what would be a natural phenomenon for them. A cosmological constant. And it seemed The First Sphere served as more than just a vast unexplored place.

“It’s almost like it’s a massive dungeon you can’t breath air in.” Eiden explained .

Arslan looked dumfounded for a moment.

“That’s exactly what it is – there are thousands if not millions of unexplored levels of the sphere, we might know how to get there – but after a while airships have to be docked and we have to explore on foot. Area’s with no map data must be explored this way.” Arslan explained with confidence.

“Have you been on any expeditions?” Eiden asked.

“Only a few, but it was a joint effort between all four major guilds of Eldoren, we explored the upper floors and made airship travel legal for everyone. Now we share trade with other regions in a similar state to ours. We also alleviate people in dangerous conditions, re-charging their crystals and such.” Arslan continued.

“What are the mayor guilds of Eldoren?” Eiden questioned.

“Well – there’s the Raven’s of the Azure Sky – Rexford is their GM. He’s actually a good friend of mine. Then there’s the Foxes of the Whispering Woods also the Salamanders from the Mountains of Song, and yours truly – The Lions of the Red Sea. With me as their GM!” Arslan boasted proudly.

“Are the Foxes and Salamanders Guild Masters your friends also?”

“I don’t really have good relationships with them – friends wise – but I have a good working relationship with them!”

“I see -” Eiden nodded and decided not to pry further – he didn’t mention their names so it must be a stingy topic.

He still had so many questions what exactly did the mana sea bring to them, was it a natural phenomenon caused by The First Sphere, and he wondered if Arslan could become anything else to Eiden. Only time would tell as this adventure was just about to beginning!

[To Be Continued]

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