What Now?
1 - Who?
The young man woke with a start. Several horses thundered past near by. He sat up and looked around not knowing how he got here. Surely he wouldn't sleep on the bare ground in a clearing? He remembered a bed, charcoal and blue, but he couldn't remember where it was.
Maybe he'd hit his head.
Maybe he didn't have a home.
That was a sad thought. Well if he traveled around then he should have stuff - a pack? - somewhere. The dark haired man got up brushing the leaves and dirt off his backside. His clothes at least looked well made; black pants with heavy gray laces up the sides and fly, black boots and a dark blue shirt. Better then you'd expect to find a simple traveler wearing.
The man searched the clearing, looking behind, around and in the trees but couldn't find a pack. Didn't find anything. Maybe he'd dropped his pack closer to the road? He turned toward where he heard the horses go past and soon found a much used path. He searched both sides of the path but still couldn't find anything.
He kicked a tree in frustration.
There was a clank fallowed by whistling drawing closer. He turned to face the noise and soon a man came into view. He had on worn dark clothes and was carrying armor, or metal of some kind that clinked occasionally as he walked. But the man looked friendly, smiling widely as he came near.
"Hi! You look a little lost. I'm Joxer, by the way, Joxer the Mighty." The man offered his hand.
"Nice to meet you. I'm-" The blue eyed man stopped and blinked in confusion. "I'm..."
Joxer just smiled and tilted his head waiting for him to answer. "I'm..." He shakes his head "I don't know, I can't remember."
"Oh," Joxer's brow crinkled. "Did you get hurt?" Seeing no obvious wounds or bandages, "Maybe it's a spell. The Gods do that some times. There was this time with Aphrodite and a little bell," Joxer shuddered. "And the whole Hercules understanding pigs thing. Poor guy still can't eat pork."
"Erm. If you can't remember who you are - do you remember where you live?" The blue eyed man shook his head no. "Hmm. Well you could come with me. I'm heading to Corinth, I know a healer there that might be able to help. Besides it's the closest town, maybe someone there knows you. At the very least you should be able to find work until you do get your memories back, right?"
Joxer's gaze turned to the ground around them. "Got a pack? No? On ward then!" Joxer made a grand flourish at the road in the direction he'd been heading. They started off down the trail Joxer rambling on about the best inns to stay at and where to get the best ale.
"Hey! You need a name. Can't go around calling you 'hey you', it could be a while until your memory comes back. So! What would you like to be called? I've always like the name Virgil - but you don't really look like a Virgil. How about Tiro?" The man looked skeptical. "Ok hmm, Aster?" This caused the man's nose to crinkle in dislike.
They walked on for a few moments as Joxer pondered a suitable name. His companion was content to let him. He certainly hadn't had any luck thinking of one. "Oh! What about Scythas?" Joxer bounced on his heels.
The blue eyed man tested the name, sounding it out. "Scythas. Scy-thas. Got a ring to it. Thanks Joxer."
2 - And the Healer Says...
"He's broken.""What!"
"Broken. B-r-o-k-e-n. Busted. Jammed-up. His do-hicky doesn't spin all the way arou-"
"Broken. We get it. But what does that mean?" Scythas interrupted the healer.
Issa rolled her eyes, "It means you're cracked. There is something wrong. You are not as you are supposed to be. Other then that I can't tell you much." She shrugged, "Physically you're fine. The only thing I've ever seen turn anyone this ass-backwards was a god. I don't know who you pissed off but it wasn't a mortal."
Joxer looked bewildered and Scythas opened his mouth - probably to say something scathing, by the look on his face. Issa held up her hand stopping the tirade before it could start.
"Ok. There is this stuff that runs through every thing - plant's have it, people have it, animals have it, the fucking water has it, the gods have a mega dose of it. Different colors and textures for different things. With me?" Here Issa paused, making sure her audience hadn't drifted. "Healthy humans usually have this white glow around them. When they're sick it gets dingy and gray. If it's an injury then it's red and jagged, if it's foggy and yellow tinged then it's a mental problem."
"But you are purple and dense like rain clouds. If I push in past the surface I start to get numb; past that sparks start shooting up my spine and I have to pull back." Issa looked at the two men regretfully. "I don't know how to fix you - more then likely couldn't if I did. So...Broken. And probably going to stay broken. Unless you can find the god that did this and persuade them to fix you."
"Well fuck."
3 - Drinks at the Sleeping Lion
Scythas and Joxer stepped out of the healer's home and looked at one another before stating off down the road into town. Joxer sighed heavily, kicking aside a stray rock."I need a drink." Scythas declared.
Joxer nodded, "Hey! It's early enough to beat the lunch crowed at the Sleeping Lion - and the rooms don't usually fill up until dinner time." Joxer bounced a little, "Stew and honey mead sounds really good."
Joxer and Scythas got a table at the back of the inn with bowels of thick stew and a tankards of cool mead. They talked idly about the up coming festival - Joxer's brother Jayce was coming to perform - both shying away from any mention of the earlier trip to the healers, Scythas' memory and the Gods in general.
By the time they'd finished their meal, and three tankards of mead, the inn was filled. The bar maid refilled their cups and bustled away with the dirty bowels. Scythas and Joxer watched her sway away sighing appreciatively. A brawny man made a pass at her but was deftly side-stepped, unfortunately he was none too steady on his feet and momentum had him tumbling into a near by table.
The table upended sending drinks and dinners flying. The splashed patrons stood up angrily going for the tipsy man. One of their chairs caught a passing girl in the back of the knees knocking her down - only to be caught by a gangly boy. The girl's father caught sight of the boy with his arms about his daughter and roared in rage. The father tried to make his way across the room elbowing people out of his way. One of those people was a Corinthian soldier who took offence to the elbow in the gut and grabbed the father by his shirt hauling him back to 'have words' with him.
Joxer and Scythas just watched, tucked away in their corner, giggling drunkenly at the chaos around them.
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