That night’s dinner was already well underway by the time Loid appeared in the long dining hall. He walked to the end of the middle table where Marin usually sat. Upon finally seeing the castle’s second-in-command, many of the staff sitting there were relieved to see him.

  Loid quickly filled them all in on why he and Marin were not present at the time. He tried not to reveal too much information about Eisen’s sleep potion, and left out the fact that Marin almost didn’t wake up. He then assured them that Marin was fine, and the King would see them all soon. Loid quickly assembled himself a plate of food that was starting to get cold from being late to dinner.

  Meanwhile in the basement, Eisen gave Marin a cognitive and memory test to ensure that his brain hadn’t been damaged from the sleep and the shocking awakening he had from the doctor’s electric machine.

  “I’m fine, doctor. I’m telling you,” Marin stated, growing tired of Eisen’s questions.

  “You took two powerful zaps to the brain. Forgive me for worrying that I might have loosened a screw in your head,” Eisen tried.

  “I assure you, I’m thinking more clearly than ever before.” Marin stood up from the patient table, a sign that he was done with anymore of Eisen’s doctoring stunts.

  “I need to get my memory back. Entirely. There are many unsolved issues that I must make right, and that requires my full restoration. If my immortality potion was initially a success, that means that my former friend who took it as well is still roaming the earth. I must find him. I must get answers, and enact my revenge, if the situation calls for it.

  Not only that, I was much stronger and more versed in my element than I currently am. Restoring my mind means my capabilities as well. I will likely need them,” Marin explained.

  “So, what? You want me to put you under again? Maybe you’ll have better dreams next time?!” Eisen asked with frustration, and a hint of sarcasm.

  “No. That method has proven itself to be entirely too dangerous. I might not wake up again. And as you have stated, those shocks run a high risk of jeopardizing my mind.

  ...No. I must find a better method,” Marin finally concluded.

  “Well, you’re going to have to find someone else to chase these far-fetched ideas. Now that we know the immortality potion worked, I’m going to work on recreating it for myself, and another version of it that will cure you of your zombie state. I just hope Monzane soon brings us back those Hallicent Blossom samples…”

  Marin nodded. “You’ve been a huge help to me, Doctor. You’ve already done more for me than I could ask for. I wouldn’t burden you with my own endeavors. You have my blessing to continue your work, in exchange for turning the research over to me, and of course, continuing to doctor the castle’s citizens.”

  “Yeah, yeah. We’ve already struck those terms of agreement earlier…” Eisen began to walk away from Marin, and back over to his desk.

  They exchanged a few more words, particularly about Monzane being overly generous in fetching the flowers. Eisen was still wrapping his head around how the Grand Wizard was able to shift his molecular makeup to that of pure water.

  Monzane had displayed that skill with his hand. Being a scientist and a master of an element himself, Eisen had some theories he shared with the King on how it might be possible.

  Seeing as dinner was almost over, Marin decided to no-show entirely and not even bother appearing. Later in the evening when he was seen walking the halls, a few castle denizens asked him if he was okay. As the day came to a close, Loid and Marin were back in his quarters, holding conversation while sitting in front of a familiar fireplace.

  “...I’m just glad we didn’t lose you,” Loid stated while fiddling with a pipe he was about to smoke from.

  “I feel the same. Had I known how risky the method truly was, I wouldn’t have attempted it. While it’s great that I recovered vital information about my past, there are more important matters, and I should not gamble on forfeiting my life.”

  Marin looked over to Loid as he lit some smokeleaf.

  “When did you start smoking?” Marin asked.

  “Always had. I just don’t have much time for it these days, what with running the Kingdom. I figured now’s a great time in the grand scheme of things. You mentioned you smoked too, didn’t you?” Loid asked.

  “Indeed. Well, used to. I attempted once to enjoy the pipe in my current form, and it was a less than stellar experience,” Marin replied, remembering his time on the Stonefield Inn roof.

  “I’m sorry for ya. If I was in your situation, I too would be doing everything in my power to fix myself. Both mind and body.” Loid chuckled while puffing on the pipe.

  “Speaking of that, I want to broaden our search for a method of recovering my memory,” Marin stated.

  “Yeah? And what would that entail?” Loid asked.

  “That’s the thing, I don’t know. I might start with Marge, who either would have some knowledge, or could reach out to others who might know something… anything.”

  “That’s a good place to start! She’s bound to have information about it. I can also talk with Bob Galrus about a hidden method,” Loid offered.

  “Galrus? Our general goods store owner? How would that be useful?” Marin asked.

  “Bob has developed a trusted network of merchants over the years. Some of them, in the underground. He wasn’t always in Heroca Town, you know. If the guy wants something, he can usually get it with enough coin.”

  This intrigued Marin. He never thought that someone as ordinary as a shop owner would have any ability to help him with this unique issue.

  “Including a cure to memory loss?” Marin said.

  “Maybe. In the form of a potion, in the reading of a book, I don’t know. At the very least he might be able to point us to someone who could further assist us,” Loid tried to explain.

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  Marin thought for a moment. He doubted something like that easily existed, or Eisen would have known about it. He wasn’t above asking the guy for help though, especially if he was as well connected as Loid claimed.

  “Very well. Relay it to him. Tell him money is not an issue, and I’m willing to pay any price for anything he can get for me.”

  Loid nodded. “I’ll also explore some other avenues as well. This has become a top priority for you, I can see. I’ll make it mine as well.” He took another puff from his pipe.

  “Thank you, Loid. You’re a good friend to me.”

  Moving on from that topic, the two covered much that needed to be discussed. Not just personal thoughts and events, but many that concerned the Kingdom. Soon, the business of Harold Stalmeyer was discussed.

  “They will be drilling back there tomorrow as well. They need one more day to gather a proper amount of samples, I guess,” Loid said. “Don’t worry though, I have guards posted in the back, watching them at all times. And if they’re not done by tomorrow, too bad. They must leave.”

  “I hope it will be the last we see of them. I’m still eagerly awaiting that letter from RAM,” Marin stated.

  “You do realize that once we’re accepted, our tax rates are going to jump up quite a bit,” Loid told him.

  “Yes, Harrel said that would be the case to some degree, but I’m not too worried about it. We can explore ways to generate more money so we don’t keep bleeding the vault of its contents.”

  “We better, because we had gotten the amount of gold we were withdrawing down to a minimum, and this would ramp it right back up,” Loid warned. He shifted in the chair as he stared into the fire.

  “Do you even have any idea how much gold is in there?” Loid added.

  “Nope.”

  “Did you possibly dream about that vault or how the money got into it?”

  Marin tilted his head. “...Vaguely. I dreamed of the vault some, but not how I earned all the gold for it.”

  “Now that’s a mystery I’d like solved. You get your memory back, you tell me how that went.

  ...What if it turns out it was all from a big heist. You had successfully robbed one of the biggest banks in Grandom,” Loid said, laughing at his hypothetical.

  “I’d sure hope not! And I don’t believe I would have ever tried something like that. It’s not in my nature,” Marin explained.

  “Of course, I’m sure its all legitimately gained,” Loid responded, still grinning.

  “I’m just glad I happened to remember I even had a vault, and more impressively, I had recalled the code,” Marin said, feeling thankful as he realized that pile of gold was the main enabler of him restoring the Kingdom.

  “The guy in your dream, I’m surprised he didn’t betray you just for the gold. He must not have known about the vault,” Loid pointed out.

  “Or, perhaps he didn’t need it. But he claimed he wanted to rule Nocturne instead of me. I don’t think I believe that was the entire reason, though. I’m guessing it didn’t work out well for him, seeing as when I woke back up, everything was abandoned,” Marin rationalized.

  Loid nodded. “The tales of the newly established Nocturne Kingdom falling to civil wars now seems more legitimate than ever.”

  “Something like that probably happened, especially if I was loved as a King.”

  Loid snuffed out his pipe as he concluded their talks.

  “I hear Gus got his element,” Loid stated as a final topic of their discussion.

  Marin nodded. “Yes. He is a good boy. Strong willed. I’ve grown quite fond of him.”

  “Have you done a lesson with him yet?”

  “No, but I plan to soon in the following days. I didn’t jump on it immediately, I wanted him to have time to himself to practice generating ice.

  ...As passionate as he is, I have no doubt he’s done quite a bit, and maybe has even experimented with some skills. I’ll be stepping in to help him soon,” Marin explained.

  Loid stood up as the flames in the fireplace had been replaced with dying embers. The hope in his eyes faded as he spoke the next words.

  “I’m still keeping an eye on Rocko,” Loid said with a lowered tone.

  “Any news?”

  “Nope. He hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary. Though I get an odd feeling sometimes while watching him that he knows I’m spying on him. I think he’s much smarter than he lets on.”

  Marin was sure that was just Loid being paranoid.

  “A fully dispersed shadow elemental hiding in the shadows is nearly impossible to notice,” Marin tried telling him.

  “That’s what concerns me,” Loid responded with dread.

  Marin gently shook his head. Loid wouldn’t be persuaded otherwise. Ever since he found out Rocko had been deceptively literate, he swore to himself he wouldn’t underestimate Rocko again. While Loid had already made his mind up that he was up to no good, Marin still had doubts whether the letters were malicious in nature.

  “Let’s just wait for that next letter. I’m bound to get a summon from our postmaster at anytime. Then the truth about him will finally be revealed. Have patience,” Marin calmly stated.

  Loid slowly nodded at the wisdom of Marin’s words. Loid had history with Phil and Rocko, he had been a father figure to them, something that went way back before Marin had ever arrived. These recent developments had been much harder on him than the King. While that was true, he had to stay level headed like Marin.

  Loid pocketed his pipe, and grabbed his few belongings, ready to leave the room.

  “Its about time I head back down. Sherry’s been waiting for me. Have a good night, Sullivan,” he somberly said.

  “You as well, my friend. Thank you for spending time with me. I will see you tomorrow. Try not to think about Rocko too much,” Marin advised.

  Loid nodded, then left Marin’s personal library. He shut the door behind him. King Marin now sat alone in the room, studying the dying embers, still thinking about everything.

  Everything – there was a lot of Kingdom affairs to worry about and deal with, but more than anything else he just wanted to get his memory back.

  Marin stood up, and walked over to his shelves of books. About a fourth of them were books that had been there since he was living in the 600’s. Oddly enough though, none of them had anything to do with his past life. It was as if someone had scrubbed all the evidence from the castle. What remained were books about topics that could hint at what he was interested in or what he might’ve been doing.

  His fingers ran across the spines of the books, some new, some quite old. He tried to recall himself doing the same thing centuries ago.

  Marin pondered the other person in the dream that betrayed him, and what role he played besides being his best friend. The biggest question to Marin was trying to find the reason for betrayal. To take over his Kingdom, as he claimed?

  Loid was currently second in command to Marin, and he let him manage Nocturne in a hands-off fashion. His closest friend from centuries ago was likely in the same situation. Did he want even more power than he currently had? Perhaps he officially wanted the title of King, rather than being the manager.

  What a shallow reason to kill off a beloved friend if that was truly it.

  No, there was definitely more than that. Marin was sure of it. He just wouldn’t know more until he got his memory recovered.

  Marin finally approached his old pipe organ and had a seat. He opened a folder close by, that had papers of written music sheets. He was still in the process of writing his own pieces.

  He thought for a moment before he began playing. Tomorrow he would talk with Marge about memory restoration, and also give Gus his first official lesson. He also had to keep his eye on the drilling behind the castle.

  Marin produced an ink pen and made marks on a music sheet. He then played a few notes on the organ, the noise roaring loudly, yet perfectly contained in his personal quarters.