Divine Amnesiac

What luck

This is what hero initially thought. However, Hero did not quite understand the power of ignorance and its consequences.

Hero quickly stood up at the sound of hooves approaching. They were coming from the direction opposite the town. It seemed he wouldn't have to walk after all.

Of course, this moment of joy was short lived. As he stood there, in the middle of the road, practically naked, looking like an insane, dirty, hermit with shaky hands, Hero realized that this may not be a particularly strong first impression. As his eyes landed on an approaching carriage, Hero readied himself to at least try to make himself presentable. As much as possible, anyway. He hoped that clearer skin would do him favors.

Hero even almost forgot his arm was still broken in his attempts to dust himself off. Not that those attempts to dust himself off were any kind of successful because his carelessness quickly reminded him of his condition as he struggled to not yell through his teeth. Then, the carriage came to a stop before him.

The carriage itself was rather large seeming to comfortably fit around 6 people on the inside. This, of course, was an estimate, because all Hero saw at the moment was the dirty glare the the man gave him before shouting.

"El! There's some naked vagabond in the road!"

Not inaccurate, but rude.

Then, a voice who he could only assume belonged to this, "El", sounded from within the carriage.

"Is he from the town? Just run him over!"

Even ruder.

Hero cleared his throat. The initial shock hero experienced from their tone was only amplified by the fact that the driver seemed ready to ACTUALLY run him over.

Dont they know who I am?

Which, Hero quickly realized, was a strange sentiment for someone who didn't know who himself was.

Still, hero was quick to raise his arms in protest.

"Wait!… please…?"

Hero added the "please" as some attempt at politeness. He doubted it would have dissuaded them much, however.

The driver quickly readjusted his posture and yelled back to whatever woman was in the carriage.

"Ah! Nevermind! This one's alive."

To say hero was confused would be an understatement. Of course he was real. What else would he be? Then, his confusion only grew as their conversation continued.

"Alive? You sure? There's not supposed to be anyone around here for a few kilometers at least!"

Then, the driver turned his attention back to Hero.

"What's your name?"

Hero thought for a moment. He hoped being asked would jog his memory. Instead, many names flowed through his head. Everything from "law of the north wind, bringer of death, Mortimer Smife" and, "David". among a few others

Eventually, he settled on "My name is David…"

The driver looked almost disappointed as he shouted back again.

"He says his name is David!"

'David'… then heard a string of curses from within the carriage. He had fun trying to piece together what they might mean.

He also took this time to get a good look at the driver.

The driver himself was dressed… fine. He had brown pants, a red shirt, some nice leather boots, and some archery gloves. The things that caught his eye the most though was undoubtedly the red hood and cape accompanying the shirt.

This was purely because Hero, now David, wanted a cape. Who doesn't?

[you're being childish.]

Am I going to have to deal with you all of the time?

[perhaps]

Otherwise, though, the driver was pretty… well, pretty. The driver himself was obviously small even sitting on the carriage. He had a pointed chin and green eyes that looked rather striking in contrast to the red he wore. Hair that hung around his shoulders looked a little messy, and a patchy beard that looked out of place didn't do him any services. Still, David had the feeling that if he cleaned himself up he would look pretty good. Rather feminine, even.

Looking at the driver, David realized he didn't really know what he himself looked like.

It was then that the doors of the carriage opened forcefully enough to make David flinch.

The woman who stepped out of the carriage really was striking. If they had been traveling as long as the drivers appearance suggested, she certainly didn't show it.

Pale skin, white hair, red eyes. albinism.

The word crept into David's mind.

Not particularly useful right now but sure I of course I would remember that.

She was rather beautiful as well.

David guessed she stood around the same height that he did, if not slightly taller. Her features were rather subdued though.

Something that stuck out to David was that she had a rather small nose. It seemed to illicit… some kind of emotional response. He couldn't pin it, but it was as if his heart sunk, or, maybe it jumped? Whatever it was, it lasted only a moment.

For the most part, other than the obvious, her and the driver looked like they could have been siblings.

Her eyes were slightly sunken in, and downcast as she gave David a thorough look.

He didn't mind, though, because it gave him more time to look at her.

She had a rather well built frame. Not overly muscular, but it certainly didn't betray her outfit.

To say she was heavily armored would be a overstatement. She wore silver bracers and greaves, as well as a silver chest plate over a red Gambison and chausses. She also wore leather boots and gloves.

It wasn't combination favoring mobility or pretection, instead giving her an adequate amount of both.

Her chest plate had a carving in a similar circular structure to the one on his wrist, but instead it was a ring of sparks around a larger flame.

Instinctively, David tried to hide his wrist as naturally as possible.

She was carrying rolled up clothes in one hand and some shoes in the other.

The driver decided to protest.

"El those are mine!"

So her name is El?

[valuable information indeed.]

Shut up.

At the same time he thought this, she spoke back to the driver.

"Shut up. You'll get it back later."

The driver looked incredulous.

"What do you mean? It's not like-"

"We're taking him with us."

The woman finished his question as a statement.

"Besides, we have room, and are we going to leave him here?"

She tossed the clothes at David. The shoes were rather dainty, but it was better than nothing. He felt rather guilty putting them on while being so dirty, but he wasted no time. As he got dressed In the tight clothes, the other two continued their conversation.

"-this isn't why we're out here El. Do you want to risk our already little reputation on bringing a dirty homeless man with us?"

"Oh please. I hardly think it'll do us any harm."

"He might do US harm!"

They both turned to look at him while he was struggling to put on the pants, hopping on one foot with one leg already in.

"Riiight… so much harm. Worst case scenario Ralph we just dump in the town when we're finished."

And his name is Ralph…

David finished getting dressed and looked at Ralph. He was hesitant. David couldn't really blame him either. Still, he finally gave in.

"Fine… but your washing the clothes. Better yet, forget it, you're getting me new clothes."

El sighed but agreed.

"Fine. And come fix his arm would you? You know that's hard for me."

Ralph sighed over exaggeratedly, and hopped off the carriage. He was just over a full head below David and the woman.

I wanna kick him.

The thought was so natural to him that he almost did. He had to stop himself. It was good that he was able to, but he was a little shocked by the thought. In the first place.

The man reached out to touch Davids broken arm. As he grabbed it, a faint green glow eminated from the arm. The dull throbbing pain faded and was replaced by general sense of vague aching.

Annoying… but better.

The woman sighed.

"Alright. Let's get going. You're in the carriage with me."

Ralph looked at her exasperatedly and sighed as well as he climbed back into the drivers seat.

Damn… what's with the sighs…

David had to actually stop himself from sighing. He refused to give in.

He climbed into the carriage after the woman.

It was pretty luxurious all things considered. Still, he wasn't impressed. He briefly questioned whether or not he was used fancier interiors, or maybe he just held contrarian hate for the pretentiously well carved wooden landscape in the ceiling.

Soon, the carriage started moving.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, David finally decided to ask a question.

"Where are we going?"

"To the villiage just ahead"

Her response was rather flat discouraging David from much further interaction.

Still, eventually she sighed, again, and asked David a question herself.

"Where are you from?"

"Just… around."

He didn't want to reveal how little he knew. At least yet.

She stared out an open window as she nodded as if understanding something David didn't really mean.

Davids hands shifted, as he still tried to hide the crest in his hand. He noticed the driver did some kind of magic, but David didn't notice any crest on the man's hand.

It didn't take long before they reached the town. The carriage stopped outside of a wooden building that had a sign of a tankard overflowing with liquid. There wasn't anyone on the road into town, In the middle of town, anywhere.

El led him out of the carriage and stood at the door of the tavern.

Ralph reached behind him to grab a bow and quiver that were sitting on the roof of the carriage.

El looked David.

"You have a crest, don't you?"

Ah…

"How do you-"

"You sucked at hiding it. Must've flashed it a dozen times at least. I don't know who you are, but you have a crest that isn't one of the big 3, and you're not insane. Needless to say, you're intriguing, and maybe useful. That being said, try your best not to die, will you?"

"Why would I-"

Then she grabbed his hand and led him into the tavern. David was tired of Not being able to finish his sentences. Still, to his surprise, there were actually quite a few people in the tavern.

He felt… uncomfortable. He didn't knew how to explain it. Just that the further into town they got it was like there was a tugging sensation on his chest trying to lead him anywhere other than where they are now.

They were greeted by a young woman who poured them water without saying a word.

"Drink."

El said it almost like and order. Still, Daniel did so quite happily. He didn't realize how thirsty he was.

She spoke again.

"Good. Now, don't panic. But I surely you noticed, right?"

"Noticed what…?"

David didn't like where they was going.

El leaned in.

"I mean, first, no one's talking. But no one's eating either. Even worse than that… they're all staring at us."

David couldn't bring himself to look around. He kept his eyes locked in the pale woman.

She continued, a faint smirk finally betraying some of the cold indifference she displayed up until this point.

"You see, David, My name is Eleanora, that driver is my cousin Ralph, and we just took you into a fake town. None of these people are real. Well, one of them is. They're around, somewhere. Probably. And we're going to kill them."