Job: To Those We Forgot (Solo)

Malm was moving down the streets of Oak Town as fast as he could. He didn't even take the time to appreciate how much of a nice, sunny day it was. Right now, Malm was a man focused on getting to his destination as soon as he can. This wasn't just an ordinary job to the Nature Mage. This one was from an acquaintance of his who sounded like he was in an urgent need of help, and Malm was never one to turn down a friend in need.

It wasn't long before he reached the door to his clients house. Not missing a beat, Malm then quickly knocked on the door. Inside he could hear someone stirring as they said, "Just a second. I'll be right with you. Hey! No! I need you to stay in your seat." The door then soon opened to reveal a young man only a few years older then Malm. "Oh thank goodness it's you Malm. I was starting to think you'll never show up."

"Yeah. Long time, no see Cecil." Malm returned the greeting with a small grin, "I'm sorry I'm late. I left as soon as I got your message, but it seems the trains are running behind today."

Cecil shook his head, "It's no problem at all. What matters is that your here now? Now please, come on in." The man said as he took a step away from the door.

Malm nodded as he entered the house. The room he entered was a small hallway that led to other rooms. Two to Malm's left, one on the right, and one all the way down on the opposite wall from where he now stood. Along the walls there where obvious signs of repairs being done on it. If Malm had to guess, the damage to the house was caused by the war a few years back. At least it seemed to have survived mostly intact.

After taking a quick look at the hallway, Malm turned back around to face Cecil. "So what happened exactly? Your message said that something happened to Greg, but you never went into much detail besides that." Malm asked.

"Sorry, it's was the best I could do on such short notice." Cecil said as his expression turn glum as he paused for a moment as if to figure how to best explain to Malm what had occurred, "Do you remember what types of magic Greg and I have been studying for these past few years?"

"It's called Mind magic if I remember correctly. Isn't it how you sent me that weird message in the first place?" Malm said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Cecil nodded. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I understand how... Unusual it can be to suddenly receive a message like that in your head. It's why I don't like doing stuff like that all that much, especially from such a long distance. Yet it was urgent, and I couldn't think of any other way of contacting you." Cecil said apologetically.

"It's no problem. Now as you were saying."

"Oh yes, of course. Well Greg tends to study often late into the night. I guess it's one of the only ways for him to get any sleep nowadays. Yet when I came to check on him this morning, well... I think it's something you best see for yourself."

Cecil then went to open one of the doors to the left. There Malm saw what appeared to be a study of some kind. Piles of books and papers were place haphazardly against the wall. The only light that enter the room was filtered from a lone windows closed curtains. Though, on closer analysis, several candles and lamps were placed throughout the room to light it when it dark.

As Malm looked into the room, he quickly took notice of a solitary figure that sat by a desk in the corner. "Greg?" Malm asked as he cautiously entered the room. At first their was no response, but after a few seconds, the figure turned it's head towards Malm with a blank, emotionless expression on his face.

"Hello little Leprechaun. Are you here to grant me a wish?" The man asked as he stared at Malm.

"No. I'm here to help you." Malm replied in a calm voice before turning towards Cecil, "What happened to him?"

"He was like this since this morning. I believe while he was studying last night, he must of somehow accidentally casted an amnesia spell on himself in his tired state of mind." Cecil explained as he looked over at his zombie-like friend.

Amnesia spell huh? That doesn't exactly explain why he called me a little leprechaun. Malm thought as looked back over at Greg, "So is there anything we can do to help?" Malm asked.

"That's actually why I called you here. I did some research and found a herbal medicine that should be able to cure him."

"And you need me to go get it for you."

Cecil shook his head, "No. I know your the plant guy and all that, but right now I need you to stay here and keep him company while I go grab the medicine. I've already talked to a nearby shaman what medicine I needed in advance, and it's probably best I pick it up myself. Also, this way you can be here to use your healing magic in case something goes wrong." He went on to explain.

"Okay. I think I understand you. Though I'm not sure how effective my healing magic will be for this."

"Don't worry about it. You'll be fine. Just keep an eye on him and I'll be back as soon as I can." Cecil said before leaving, closing the door shut behind him.

"Why do I have the feeling I've been duped to being a babysitter?" Malm asked no one in particular before letting out a small sigh, "Oh well... It's not like I would say no otherwise."

"Are you... Talking to me Leprechaun?" Greg asked

"Oh... Uhh... No. Don't worry about it." Malm said as he turned back around to face Greg, "So you really don't remember me at all Greg?"


The man just shook his head saying, " No. I think I would remember meeting a Leprechaun before."

"I'm not a..." Malm said before an idea popped up in his head, "You know what, that doesn't matter. How about I tell you a story to pass the time?"

"What type of story?"

"Uhh... I'm not really sure." Malm admitted, disappointed in himself for not thinking of one.

Greg seemed to pause to think for a second. "That man who was in here earlier asked me something about a war. It seemed important to him. Could you, perhaps, tell me about that?" The amnesiac asked.

Malm's face dropped at the request. "That's... Not something I really like to think about." Malm told the man as he took a seat, "Though seeing how it might help your memory, I guess I could tell you about it."

Malm was in debate with himself. Was he honestly going to go through this? Well, as he said, seeing how it could help Greg remember something, he didn't have much choice. Besides, he didn't have any better ideas. He just had to be careful and hope that any memories that he dredges up don't turn out to be to much for the man to handle.

"Well then. Where should I begin?" Malm asked.

"The beginning is usually a good place to start."

"Yeah. I guess it is. Well... To be honest with you, I don't really know what started the war. I just recently joined a guild myself at the time, and also had lost the use of my left arm. So I wasn't as in tune with the goings on as I should of been. For if I was, perhaps I would of saw the signs before hand instead of learning about the war like I did."

---

3 Years Earlier

Malm gave a small yawn as he picked at the food in front of him. He gazed around the guildhall to see all the current guild members chatting among each other. What they were saying, Malm didn't really care to listen. It was the first time in a while since he last been in the guild, and he was just glad that none of them payed him any mind. The last thing he wanted to do right now was explain his absense from the guild. Then, on the corner of his eye, he saw the guild master getting everyone's attention. For a good second Malm thought he was about to be questioned on why he disappeared from the guild so soon after joining it, but no. Instead he was told of something much worse.

---

"It was like everything in my world just fell apart. The room itself just went silent for a good second before the more war hungry members began to spur the others on. They said that it was time for the dark guilds to pay for their crimes. I wasn't so sure. I had good couple of friends who were dark guildies, and while they might not of been good, they certainly weren't bad. Plus I believed that a war was taking things to far. It would only cause more damage then any actual good.

"Yet, in the end, I did not get a say on the matter. The guilds had their minds set, and we were all thrusted into the darkest times Fiore has seen in a long time."

"Fiore? Where's that? And what exactly where these guilds?" Greg asked, seeking clarity.

"Oh yeah... I should of probably guess you wouldn't know what those were." Malm said as he rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of the best way to explain, "Well Fiore is the kingdom were in now, and within it, there were once many guilds were wizards would gather. There were the legal or 'light', guilds where wizards would gather to help each other grow in power and do odd jobs around the kingdom. You weren't really seen as an official wizard until you joined one. Then there were the dark guilds who, from what I understand, were not much unlike the other guilds, except for the fact that they accepted criminal jobs and worked towards more nefarious goals. Joining one of these guilds marked you as a criminal."

"Wait a second. Didn't you just say you had friends who were a part of dark guilds?"

"Yes I did." Malm sayed with a depressed sigh, "My grandfather not to just judge someone because they were apart of a dark guild. Not everyone who joins a dark guild did it voluntarily. There were those who were forced into it one way or another."

"What do you mean by that?"

Malm just shook his head. "Don't worry about it for now. You'll understand it soon enough. Instead I would just like to continue with my story." Malm spent a few seconds pondering if he should reveal something about Greg, but decided that it was probably best not to for the time being. Cecil should be back here with the medicine soon, and everything will be clear to him then.

"Now where was I..."

"The war began suddenly. As far as I'm aware, only a lucky few were able to evacuate before the fighting started. Most of them being families of wizards who knew what was about to happen and were able to warn them ahead of time. They knew this wasn't going to be just another war between two rival guilds. No. This war was going to be something much bigger. Something that will end up consuming many lives."

After saying that, Malm could of sworn he heard Greg mumble something that sounded like "Espella... Tetra..."

"Greg? Did you just say something?" Malm asked curiously as he looked at the odd blank expression that appeared on Greg's face again.

This seemed to have gotten Greg out of a trance as he looked back up at Malm and shook his head saying, "No. I don't think I did."

Weird. I could of sworn I heard something. Was I just hearing things? Malm wondered in silence before deciding to continue with the story.

"Well then. I found myself spending most of the first part of the war in the front lines. Being someone who knows healing magic, I tried my best to heal the wounds of the wizards, soldiers, and civilians that I could. Yet, despite my efforts, there was little that I could really do in the grand scheme of things."

"How in the world did you even survive that?"

"Mostly dumb luck, I suppose. There were several times I should have died during that war. Yet I managed to be one of the lucky few who survived to see the end." Malm explained as he wasn't exactly sure how he survived himself.

"It sounds like a nightmare."

"It was." Malm said as he looked back up at Greg. Wait. Could he have purposely wiped his memory because of it? Malm wondered now that he put some thought to it. Yet there was also something else that Greg said that he was curious about to. Maybe his amnesia wasn't as complete as any of them thought it was.

"So what happened after that." Greg asked, not sure if he actually wanted to know. Just then though, the door to the room opened to reveal that Cecil had returned with a potion in hand. "Hey. It's your friend Mr. Leprechaun."

Malm turned around and was honestly a little surprised to see Cecil there. He expected the man to be gone much longer then he actually was. [color=green]"Your back quicker then I thought you would."[color]

"Yeah. I thought it would take me longer too. Yet the shaman already had the potion ready by time I got there. So all I had to do was pay him and head straight back."

"Well that's good to hear." Malm said with a small smile.

"So did he give you any problems."

"Not at all. I was just telling him stories to see if they would help him remember something." Malm paused as he noticed an inconsistency with what he just said. "Well. Actually only able to tell him a part of what happened during the war before you came back."

Cecil frowned a little as he heard Malm mention the war, but understood the reasoning. "Well did you have any luck with it?"

"To be honest. I"m not really sure." Malm informed Cecil before turning towards Greg, who had remained silent til then.

"I'm sorry. I don't remember anything." Greg said with a shrug.

"Well regardless. This potion should change that." Cecil said as he handed Greg the potion. Greg looked at the potion as if in some internal debate, but he eventually decided to down the drink.

The room became deadly silent after that as the two young men just looked at their friend. There didn't seem to be any change yet, but there was only one way to really find out. "Did it worked?" Malm asked, breaking the silence in hopes that the potion proved effective.

Greg's eyes just darken as he looked back at the two in the room. "Why did you do this?" He asked in a sorrowful tone.

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you give me my memories back?" Greg's asked as his voice raised, making his anger apparent.

"What are you talking about? We're your friends. Why wouldn't we help you?" Cecil replied, neither him nor Malm knowing exactly why Greg was so angry about what they just did.

"Help me? HELP ME!? You didn't help me. All you did was brought me the pain I've been trying so hard to get rid of."

"Wait. You don't mean..."

"Yes I do mean. What did you think happened? I somehow erased my memory by magic?"

"Quite frankly. Yes, I did. Why would you erase your own memories?"

"It's because of your wife and daughter, isn't it?" Malm jumped in.

Greg paused as he became grief-stricken by the mention of his family. "Yes."

"Why would you do that? I thought you said you took your family somewhere safe out of the country before the war started." Cecil asked confused why Greg would erase his memory because of his family.

"They were. But we are not in Earthland anymore, are we? They are on some other world, probably thinking I died. I tried my best to find a way to use Mind magic to somehow communicate with them. To not only tell them that I'm alive, but make sure they are alive as well. Yet it's impossible. I never should of told them to go. At least then if they died, I could have come to some sort of closer with them then." Greg stopped as he needed a second to wipe the tears that were starting to pour on his face, "I contemplated committing suicide, but I was to much of a coward to go through with it. So I choose the next best thing. Erase all my memories of them completely. Now please. Let me go through with this again so I can be at peace."

Malm eyes grew dark as he stepped towards Greg. Then, out of nowhere, the young mage back handed the crying man across the face. "Listen to me you idiot. What kind of father are you? Giving up just like that just because you believe you'll never see your wife or daughter ever again. How do you think that would make them feel to find out that you just gave up on them? Decided that it was best to forget them like they meant nothing to you?"

Greg just silently listened to Malm as he spoke. This was completely unlike the normally docile nature mage he knew. "What else am I suppose to do then?" Greg finally asked once he was able to build up the courage to do so.

"Don't give up hope. I promise that I will find a way for you to see your family again." Malm told the man as he backed off.

"How? It's impossible."

"Maybe so. Yet that's not going to stop me from trying." Malm said with a reassuring grin. He then turned towards Cecil asking, "Cecil. Can you do me a favor and keep an eye on him? Don't hesitate to call me if he tries to do something like that."

"Got it." Cecil replied with a nod.

Malm then walked over to the door as he found his services were no longer needed here. As he reached the door leading out of the room, he paused to say one last. "By the way. I'm sorry about hitting you there." And with that, he left.

He kindof had an idea on how he could solve this, but he knew that it was a one in a million shot that it would actually happen. Plus there was no telling the consequences if that were to happen. No. He'll just have to find another way to go about it. Surely one must exist.

[END]

/me slow claps
/me sniffles
/me wipes his tear with a piece of toiletpaper

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