Back at the cabin, Albert was angry “Why did you let Felix do that to a poor defenseless homeless man?!” Safie and Agatha looked embarrassed as Albert scolded them, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. “Please open the door! He’s hurt badly!” the creature’s voice exclaimed. “What?! Well, you heard him! Open!” Albert commanded and Agatha opened the door to see the creature holding a groggy Felix bridal style with the blade of axe stuck in his right thigh. “OH NO!!” she cried. “What is it? What happened?” Albert asked. “Felix got his own axe stuck in his thigh, Albert!” Safie explained. “It was an accident. He fell down a ditch and onto the blade. I had no choice, but to break off the handle so I can bring him here safely.” the creature explained while still holding Felix. She frowned while taking “Well, let’s pull the rest of the axe out.” “NO!!” the creature stopped her “The blade has cut right through his femoral artery and right now, it’s only thing keeping him from bleeding to death! It needs to be surgically and carefully removed he'll die!” "But the towns aren’t safe with the plague around! How are we supposed to get a doctor here or Felix to a hospital?!” Safie continued to panic. “I could do the surgery.” the creature offered, and they all looked at him. “You’re a doctor?” Safie asked. “I... I don’t know. I don’t remember." The creature replied. “But you do know how to do the surgery, don’t you?” Albert asked. “... I do.” he replied with a nod “If I had the equipment to. And I need an operating table, bandages, water and-” “Agatha, go to the storeroom and bring my old bag here. Now. Safie, prepare the other things our friend here needs.” “Wait, papa, we don’t know this man. How can we really trust him?” Agatha argued. “Your brother chased him with an axe for just showing his face here yet he brought him back here alive and well with care, Agatha. For that, he’s got MY trust. Get my bag. Now!” Albert commanded sternly and she obeyed. “Excuse me, Safie, is it? I need you to clear this table because I need it to serve as an operating table. I also need some cloths for bandages and put the stove to heat up. Please.” the creature instructed and she did as she was told. “Why do you need the stove to be heated?” she asked as she took out some clothes from the chest. “To heat up something to serve as an iron. To prevent as much bleeding as possible... I’m going to have to do some cauterizing as well as stitching. Trust me, it’s for his own good.” the creature explained. “I got it, papa.” Agatha returned with a doctor’s bag which had some dust on it. “Good, good. Is everything in there in good enough condition to work with?” Albert asked the creature. He laid Felix down on the table and opened the bag to check the contents “Yes! I need proper thread though.” “I’ve got thread in my sewing kit.” Safie offered. “That will do. Thank you.” the creature said as he rolled up his sleeves revealing all the scars on his arms disturbing the women “... I’m sorry for all this, but I promise to save him and then, I’ll leave. May I please operate in privacy? This is not going to be pretty...” “Please, save him.” Safie pleaded before leaving with Albert and Agatha. Once alone, the creature took a butcher’s knife and put it on the fire to heat up. He then washed his hands professionally, sterilized the needle and scalpel, and started tearing up some clothes to make some makeshift bandages. He used the scissors to cut off and remove Felix’s pant leg carefully. As he worked, Ghost stuck her head through one of the open windows. The creature looked at her “I don’t know why I’m doing this... but I do know what I’m doing and there’s no turning back now....” he said as he picked up the scalpel and Ghost crouched down peeking only slightly inside. A few hours later, the creature and his owl companion sat outside together waiting for Felix to awaken after undergoing surgery for hours. Albert walked outside towards them feeling the way with his cane. “Is he awake?” he asked as he got up. “He is. And other than feeling like an ass, he’s fine. He wants to see you now.” Albert informed him. “N-No. Seeing me is what got him hurt. I don’t want to cause-” the creature hesitated. “My son got hurt because he panicked. The only thing you can be held responsible for is saving him. Now come in. Ghost may come too.” Albert insisted. “How did you know she was with me?” the creature scratched his head. “I heard you talking to someone, and you mentioned having a pet owl named Ghost, so I’m assuming she’s with you.” Albert led the way as Ghost cocked her head before perching onto her companion’s back. The creature pulled his hood over his head for good measure not wanting to scare anyone again as he entered the cabin and followed Albert to Felix’s room where he sat up in bed with his leg bandaged in a splint with Agatha and Safie next to him. All three of them had ashamed expressions on their faces. There was a moment of awkward silence before Albert cleared his throat. “Let’s start off on the right foot this time, shall we? I’m Albert DeLacey. You’ve met my son Felix and this is his sweetheart Safie and my daughter Agatha.” the old man introduced them all. “This is Ghost. I’m afraid I don’t know my name.” the creature replied as Ghost perched on the chair and hooted. Albert turned slightly “Ah, yes. You mentioned not remembering anything beyond waking up in your state and then living in the woods since.” “But you remembered how to perform the necessary surgery on me to save my leg... after I acted like an ass.” Felix commented sheepishly “I can’t apologize or thank you enough for everything. By saving me, you saved my family as I need to be healthy and able-bodied to do farm work.” “We are all very sorry and grateful to you, sir.” Safie bowed humbly. “You’ve clearly been through enough. We had no right to jump to conclusions over your appearance.” Agatha added as she bowed too. “It’s alright. Everyone reacts the way you do when they see my face.” the creature replied not looking directly at them. Felix rubbed the back of his head and frowned “It’s not alright. You’re clearly a good man who went through something bad. You deserve better. You deserve... to have dinner with us.” Ghost perked up at that offer and turned to the creature hooting, but the invite made him uneasy “N-No. I can’t. I-” “I insist. I must repay you after you helped us. If not for any other reason, to make reparations for treating you so cruelly. For all we know, you have a family that is wondering what became of you.” Felix went on firmly and his words made Albert smile. Ghost hooted with her eyes wide and pleading as the creature sighed “Well... Ghost and I are hungry...” “You should wash up too. I imagine that being that... untidy is not comfortable.” Agatha added as politely as she could. “It is kind of itchy.” the creature admitted “Maybe it is about time I washed it.” “Follow me, friend.” Albert led the way once more. “Uh... can you just tell me which piece of meat your owl took? I’d like to leave that piece for her.” Safie asked which made Ghost huff a little “And it’s about time you replaced your cloak...” After the creature washed up, he was provided with Felix’s baggiest pair of pants which fell halfway down his calves and no shirt would fit him, so he put on Felix’s robe and wore it like a tunic. The creature had no choice but to cut and shave off all his hair and beard, which meant having to look at himself in the mirror much to his displeasure. He hated looking at himself, and as more of his face and scalp were revealed, so were more scars and his many shaded complexion. At least the hair and dirt covered his features, but now everything was revealed. It made him feel vulnerable and exposed. Moreover, he could not recognize his own face. Who was he? What was he? His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the bathroom door. “Are you almost done? Dinner’s almost ready.” Safie’s voice informed him. “Y-Yes. I just need to do some sweeping.” he replied as he quickly put on the straw hat and proceeded to sweep up all the hair on the floor. Afterwards, he hesitantly made his way to the dining area. “Uh, I’m coming in. Please don’t be alarmed.” he warned before entering the room. Safie and Agatha looked at him as did Ghost who let out a long hoot. “I know. I’m still ugly.” he sighed. “Actually... you’re not. Unusual, perhaps, but not ugly.” Agatha tried to reassure him as she pulled out a chair for him. He sat down next to Albert who took a moment to “see” his face. “Agatha’s right. While I can only judge what I feel, even with the strange scars... you’re not ugly at all!” Albert added. “Really? But... what about my eyes? And my skin is all multicoloured...” he insisted. “I had a friend who was born with each eye being a different colour.” Safie pointed out as she served him a bowl of what looked like stew. “And I had a patient whose skin was multicoloured.” Albert added. “How could you tell?” he asked. “I wasn’t blind my whole life. I used to be a doctor, but a head injury caused me to go blind which ended my medical career. Though I still have my medical knowledge. As do you.” he stroked his beard “You clearly have amnesia and while I can’t say how, I’m thinking it has something to do with whatever you underwent. It is not uncommon for trauma to make us forget things.” “But then... if I forgot everything, how come I remembered how to help Felix?” he asked as he looked at the stew curiously. “Amnesia is very strange like that. It can make you forget your name, your past and people, but not necessarily information like how to do things like talk, act or in your case, perform your skills. It could also be that the sight of Felix’s injury made you remember something.” Albert went on. “When things become safer, you can go to town and get help. You’re a doctor or at least used to be one, so there should be documents about you and you can start getting your life back. In the meantime, you can stay with us where it’s safe.” Safie encouraged. “I’m thinking you may have been a war doctor. I mean, you’re all muscle! Maybe this would also explain the scars. It’s only right for us to serve a man who may have served us.” Agatha pointed out. “Or perhaps a noble or even a Baron for all we know. Now, eat, friend.” Albert patted his back. The creature tasted it and his eyes lit up “This is good!” he continued eating like a happy child. As he did, he noticed the painting on the wall of a Greek God carrying a torch “... Prometheus...” They all looked at him. “That’s Prometheus. The Greek God who brought fire to man.” he pointed to the painting. “Amazing! At this rate, you’ll remember everything!” Agatha cheered. “Well... I remember who he is and... I remember admiring him.” he smiled. “Speaking of remembering.... tomorrow, I really hope it warms up and the ground is loose enough to harvest the turnips. We only have two days left to pluck them out of the earth, wash them and put them in the crates. And it’s going to be hard without Felix’s help...” Agatha groaned. “But you have my help.” the creature offered “If I’m going to be staying with you, I want to help. In fact, I can do it now.” “Now?! It’s going to get dark soon and all three of us couldn’t pull out one turnip together! You look strong, but not that strong and it would take you all night!” Agatha argued as he pushed away his empty bowl and got up to go outside. “Actually, it won’t take me long at all.” he explained as he went out to the fields. “It’s kind of you to offer, but-” Safie began, but was stunned when he bent over and pulled the turnip out of the earth with ease and finess. He turned to the two stunned women “Where should I put them?” Agatha and Safie looked at each other in shock.