"Honey! Are- are you alright?" Yelena shouted and quickly opened his shirt to reveal a deep wound that made her close her mouth in shock.
"I’m fine," the blond man said. "Are the kids alright?"
"Yes, yes, they are alright," Yelena said. "He never got to them."
"Good," the blond man slowly stood up and looked at his own wound. "This... is not good."
"No, I’ll call Damien," she said.
"No!" the man caught Yelena’s arm. "Not Damien. Call... call Ray."
"Ray? Why?" Yelena asked.
"We need to get rid of this body... urgh," he held onto his chest, pressing on it to stop the bleeding.
Stanley watched with a horrified look. Was this how his father died?
Yelena had never been clear about his father’s death. He rembered when she said it was an accident and also rembered when she said he was a weak man with an ill body.
He had never known what to believe and had even wondered at so point if he had been the victim of a Crawler attack.
’My father dies now,’ he thought. ’Either right now, or because of this wound later on.’
Then, he turned toward Yelena that just left the house. ’As for mother... she never returns back to the upper city, even though she is allowed to.’
He was starting to understand why his mother never left for the upper quadrants even though as a woman she was allowed to. After all, only the male Dulls were forced to work in the farms.
’She had suffered so much,’ he thought. ’And she still raised two sons all one her own.’
Stanley stopped viewing his mother as the weak woman she was and instead saw in her bravery that he could only hope to have in him.
He clenched his fist when he realized that this was the only ti he was going to see his mother and father so clearly. After this, his mory was going to be erased.
He didn’t want it now that he had looked at it, but unfortunately, it was all too late. The colors vanished from the world, then the texture, and the shapes, and finally everything as Stanley returned to where he was currently.
He felt the tears in his eyes, the tight grip on his wrist, as well as the sense of loss that ca once Jason’s powers, had done their work.
His na was John Larkins. He was a young boy, born on the streets of Franoss that wanted a better life now that he had newly discovered his powers. The society in Franoss rejected him, which was why he had decided to move to Starhall.
After not finding any success there, John decided to move to United Voras where the massive country would certainly have sothing for him.
That was the identity, the mory that had been placed into his brain after the space was made.
As for what was removed to make that space, Stanley no longer knew.
He felt a sense of loss, nostalgia, and lancholy all at once, but he couldn’t understand why he was feeling that at all.
All he could think of was a single feeling in his heart that he didn’t understand why it was there.
It was the feeling that both of his parents were brave folks and that he should be grateful to them for who he had beco.
Jason moved away. "I did what I could," he said with a sigh. He looked tired as if what he had done had taken a lot out of him.
"I’m used to placing random mories that I just want to be happy. This is the first ti I’m consciously making up mories to help him. I don’t know if it worked or not," he said.
"Let’s ask him," Amy said.
"Do you know who you are supposed to be?" she asked.
"John Larkens," Stanley said. "Yes, I have received so mories. They are rather vague, but I think I can work with it."
"Can I let go of you then?" Amy asked him.
"Hmm? Why not?" Stanley asked.
"Because you might hurt others because of your traumatic mory," she said. "I could tell that you wanted to do sothing in your mories. I wonder what."
"I don’t know," Stanley said. "It’s like I woke up from a dream and can’t rember what I saw in it. I only have the vaguest emotion, but even that is fading away."
"Hmm, sha," Amy said. "Well, at least you are done now and ready to leave. Sheila and Caleb seem to have more to say to you, but my job here is done. Let’s go, Jason."
"Yes, sister Amy," Jason said. "I hope you good luck in the coming mission, brother Stanley."
Stanley nodded and spent so ti learning what he had to do in his mission.
Sheila’s advice was quite crucial. Because she had spent such a long ti as a scout, she had many tips to give Stanley. She spoke at long on what he could do there to appear normal and not out of place.
Caleb on the other hand was making sothing for him.
"I have designed it, but it will take so ti for the Engineering departnt to create it. You’ll have to wait," he told him.
Stanley spent the next night sleeping for as long as he could in preparation for the next day. After waking up, he spent as much ti as he could get ready for this mission and went to get what he could from the engineering departnt.
All he received was a nearly broken case in the shape of a guitar that he could place his sword in, and a rough pair of clothes as if he had been from the slums.
Along with a small box that ca courtesy of Caleb, Stanley prepared to leave.
He didn’t know how long it would take for him to co back, so he said goodbye. Then, around evening ti, he went to Starhall City where he bought a one-way ticket with the limited money he was provided.
He got on the bus and left for the unknown.
[End of Book 2: An Unfamiliar World]
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