Juma Al’ Amir.
Juma The Prince.
My brain was working, fast. Too fast. So fast that I almost didn’t want to believe what my instincts were telling me. Erzili had said that the Dreamer’s true goal was to challenge Alamir. She said that she didn’t understand what it meant.
Challenge Alamir.
Challenge Al Amir.
Challenge The Prince.
The Dreamer wanted to challenge the world’s creator.
“Juma… you’re…”
Something split in my skull. Pain, overwhelming, searing pain pierced through my head and had me collapsing to the ground.
“Neo! Neo! Neo what’s wrong?!”
I couldn’t explain it. The pain seared through my brain. My head. My mind. It burned. It burned. Amidst it all, words, from the Godscript flashed in my vision.
You have learned too much.
He is not yet ready.
Al Amir still sleeps.
Al Amir must awaken naturally.
Punishment awaits those who try to awaken him before time.
Punishment?
One who has Reincarnated into Alamir’s world,
Your punishment is simple.
Forget.
Forget Everything.
Only when the time comes
Shall you remember,
Who you truly are.
No – wait –
Epilogue
“So, you say he just collapsed and then started screaming?”
“Well, we had a drink of Angel Magma Whiskey beforehand and he was fine without any effect.”
I awoke with a start, to strange voices. Unfamiliar voices. My eyes caught wind of a woman, wearing white priest robes. She was unremarkable, with brown hair but dull eyes. There was a boy beside her. He was tall. He had strange purple eyes, and the darkest brand of pitch-black hair I’d ever seen.
“Ah thank the Sycophant! Neo! Are you alright?
“Um…” I cleared my throat. “Who’s… Neo?”
The boy staggered. I felt I’d said something wrong. The woman as well stared at me. “Neo.” She said. “Neo Saintarelli.” She added. “That’s your name.”
“Oh,” I said. It was? I didn’t feel any connection to it. It felt strange, for some reason. Like it didn’t belong. “My name… is Neo?”
The woman in the priest’s robes frowned deeply. “Do you remember where we are Neo?”
I stared at the room. It was white. Clean. Pristine even. There were beds, and so many machines and beeping. My nose could pick up the smell of clean things. Antiseptic, I think that was the word.
“We’re… at a hospital?”
“We’re in the Infirmary.” She corrected. “Sector One-Zero-One’s infirmary. Do you remember?”
“Sector One-Zero-One…?”
“The AAA.” She tried again. “Does that ring any bells?”
I pursed my lips. “Alcoholics Anonymous?”
“That’s only two A’s.”
“Oh,” I said. “Is it, a type of battery? Or, those Triple-A um… games?”
The duo stared at me. “Triple-A games?”
“You know… those…. Games… big games, made by big companies… like… um… ah…” I scratched my head. “I’m sorry, I can’t… remember any…”
The purple-eyed boy turned to the nice woman. “Cleric, do you know what’s wrong with him?”
“He seems to have an unusual variant of retrograde amnesia.”
“Retrograde amnesia? How’s that possible?”
“It can be caused by severe head trauma.” The woman, Cleric – what an odd name – sighed. “I watched Saintarelli’s PvP against the Alphaphilia girl. He knocked her unconscious with two very strong headbutts. I did find it strange that she managed to be knocked unconscious whereas he shrugged off the hits none the worse for wear.”
“So… Neo lost his memories… because of the damage in his fight against Sophia?”
“It’s the most prevailing theory.” The nice-smelling woman said. “There’s no other thing I can think of that would have caused this”
“Um,” I spoke up. “Sorry, but… who are you two?”
The boy with purple eyes gritted his teeth, before smiling at me. He looked so tired. I wondered why.
“I’m Juma. Your… brother.”
I blinked, my eyes went wide. Brother?
“I have a brother? That’s… amazing!”
Why did my brother look so sad?
“Oh, sorry, I can’t remember… you.”
Juma shook his head. “It’s fine. We’ll just have to make sure you remember.”
“Oh. Okay.” I yawned. “I’m feeling… kinda tired. And sleepy. I wanna get some rest, brother.”
“Get some rest Neo.”
I was confused when waking up, since I didn’t remember anyone, or remember anything, but I didn’t mind, I wasn’t bothered. I had a brother! It was exciting! I don’t know why, but I feel like I’ve always wanted a brother. Always wanted a family.
When I woke up, I felt like I never had a family. I didn’t know why I felt that way. Just thinking about family made me feel sad. Sad and angry. I didn’t know why. But, I was wrong. I had a brother!
I’m glad I was wrong.
I yawned. “We’re going to… have lots of fun… together… brother.”
We were going to have the best time in the world.
