[8 Months Ago; Trizen, Tekuno. 8 October 1032 (5:17 PM)]

A lone bench was nestled beneath the sprawling boughs of a maple tree, its wooden slats worn smooth by time and weather. Upon it, a young-looking man sat slightly hunched, the dull ember of his cigar glowing as he took a slow, measured drag.

Huff~…

The smoke curled from his lips in swirling spirals, twisting and dispersing into the crisp evening air.

His fingers ran through his tousled hair—black at the roots, fading into molten orange at the tips, catching the dying light like embers in the dark. His suit jacket hung open, the fabric creased and carelessly sprawled across the bench. He had quite a clear and outlined face, with the faintest rasp of stubble shadowing his jaw.

He was sitting alone, enjoying a much-needed break—until an unexpected company “showed up”.

“…She hadn’t been there a moment ago,” the man grumbled. A woman with eccentric purple hair, looking to be around her 20’s, was sitting with a completely placid look on her face, with her eyes shut closed right next to him, pushing him to use the opposite end of the bench. There was no movement from her, it was as if she had always belonged.

Her presence was as sudden as it was unsettling, flickering onto the bench in the middle of a park with no signs of her having been there earlier. Long strands of violet hair cascaded past her elbows, framing a face like that of a doll. Her breathing was peaceful.

The nature of her white and black attire was foreign to him—unfamiliar in both style and substance. It definitely felt out of place against the lush, green scenery of the park.

Hah…

He took another slow drag from his cigar, “What am I supposed to do about this?”, he muttered, exhaling smoke into the cooling night air. His tired eyes flicked to the girl again.

‘Should I just walk away? Occurrences similar to this are usually handled by Trizen’s Homeland Security…’ He thought to himself. It would probably be more convenient if he didn’t interact with her.

Without mulling over it much more, he pulled his cigar out of his mouth and padded the filler onto his palm, subsequently snuffing it out. He shook his hands a bit, and some ashy particulates dusted off of it. He placed the cigar neatly back into a silver capsule, whereby it could be saved for later usage.

…

‘I can’t see a thing... Where am I? What's going on..?’

My eyelids refused to budge, weighed down like metal shutters. A sluggish twitch was all I could manage at first, but I kept pushing against the heaviness, forcing them to part. An orangish pink sliver of light pierced through the darkness, flooding my vision in a hazy blur.

As my lashes fluttered, the first thing that came into focus was my own hands—resting motionless on my lap. My face was one of pure confusion as I looked up, taking in my surroundings before noticing the young man next to me.

“...Uh, hello?”

“—Nope. Just pretend I wasn’t here,” he said, not sparing me a glance. His enunciation was gruff but also hastily said,

“Good day to you.”

“Uhm! Please, wait!”

Before he could take his leave, I grasped the sleeve of his suit, right at where his elbows were.

“Shit…”

Thankfully, he stopped, finally looking back after a long pause. His sharp orange eyes met mine, which made me release my grip on him reactively.

“How can I help you?” He said blankly. It seemed to me that he was a bit… antsy? To what, though, I didn’t know.

“Sorry for my rudeness, but… Where are we right now?”

“We’re in Hervek Park. Trizen, Tekuno,” he stated,

“Do you… Know how you got here?” His voice dragged as he asked.

I tried to recall something, anything, but my mind drew a blank, “I—w-what… No… I-I don’t have a clue…”

The man continued to stare at me, maintaining an unchanging look.

“Do you remember your name?”

“Of course I know that; it’s Makina… Tokei Makina.”

“From Kagakuni, huh?”, he voiced his deduction. He turned away slightly, looking around, before turning back and speaking low,

“Well, let me tell you straight. You appeared here, in this park, without any fluctuations of Sethnine… How did you do it?”

Dumbfounded by all these terms I had never heard of before, I tried to make light of what he just said.

“What is this ‘Sethnine’ that you’re mentioning? I don’t think it’s familiar to me, a-and I don’t think I did anything of that sort…”

“—What? That doesn’t make any sense.”

This time, there was a very apparent reaction from him. His eyebrows turned upwards, his mouth opening partially before he returned to his previous stoic look.

…

“So… To sum this up, you are unaware of how you got here, you can’t recall anything about yourself, and you don’t know what Sethnine is?”

“I suppose so…” I wasn’t sure how I came off to him, but my lack of awareness about any of the aforementioned subjects definitely didn’t make me sound well-adjusted.

“Then, what are you waiting for?”

“Huh?”

“We won’t be able to find anyone who would have knowledge about your previous whereabouts here,” he said,

“Would you prefer if I got you to the police station or a health center nearby? It’s the easiest way we could check if you lived close by when you lost your memories.”

“S-sorry, this is all very sudden for me… Could you give me a moment?”

“... Take your time.”

I placed my hand onto my chest, taking deep breaths to ease my rapidly throttling heart.

‘Wooh… Information overload, man!’

I didn’t even know where to begin; firstly, how come I’m in a park? I don’t remember going out.

‘… Actually, that’s probably understating it.’ The more I thought about it, I realized that I couldn’t even remember any major events in my life: when I was born, who my parents were, or where I came from.

“You said something about Kagakuni, right? Oh, and—I apologize, but I was too caught up in the moment, and I forgot to ask you what your name was…”

“It’s Nanik, and yes, you are correct,” he stretched his arm out toward the open range of the park. There were people all around us. They were jogging, setting up picnics, and overall enjoying their own time.

“As I’ve mentioned, we’re in Hervek Park. You can consider this an essential for Trizen’s environment. Trizen is the country you are in at the moment, and it’s part of the continent of Tekuno.” Nanik nodded at me,

“And Kagakuni—where I presume your origins are, given by your name’s nomenclature—is a continent located quite a ways away from where we are right now.”

“There’s not much hope for me, huh…”

“Well, not quite. Perhaps you’ve lived here for quite some time, but that’s just a conjecture… Now then, we’ve got to get going. Have you decided yet?”

“Yes… The medical center first—I’d like to avoid dealing with cops, if possible for now.”

Nanik smirked, “Touché.”

…

“Why are you just standing there?” I asked Nanik.

“Waiting for the cab.”

“But… You know you could just wave your hand like the others to get the drivers’ attention, right?”

The place where Nanik and I had first spoken wasn't very far from the outskirts of the park. However, what seemed to actually take the longest was getting a ride outside, at least for those that didn't already park their vehicles down the long-winding roads of the street. Because it was so crowded, we hardly had the chance to get to a taxi before it left with another person or group.

“This is proper etiquette, you see; I’m waiting for my turn.”

“...”

Well, it wouldn’t have been as bad if it weren’t for this. We’ve been waiting for who knows how long; literally no one else is waiting like we are, so he’s basically letting everyone skip us—

Beep, Beep! A taxi pulled up right in front of us, honking.

“It’s here.”

“How—”

“Stop gawking and get in. You are going to weird people out.” Nanik had already seated himself in the back of the yellow cab.

“A-ah, alright…” I shuffled in through the open door, still dumbfounded by the timing.

The cab’s interior was a small compartment, filled with dark leather and the background hum of the engine. There was a particularly pleasant smell that came through my nostrils as I entered the vehicle.

“Where to?” The cab driver, a middle-aged man in sunglasses, asked.

“The nearest healthcare facility, please,” Nanik said.

“Medthicare’s fine, ‘ye?”

Nanik affirmed, “Yes.”

“I’ll try t’ make it quick, ‘den.”

…

I quickly found myself lost in the sights outside. Although not everything I saw was foreign, there were cafés, city performers, and landmarks that filled me with wonder.

“Such a big city…”

The driver chimed, “Yep~. Ya don’t come ‘ere often, ma’am?”

“Yes… It’s been a while,” I lied.

“There’s a real nice spot here—Percy’s. ‘Ye gotta try it, best coffee and activities.”

“What kind?” Nanik asked.

“Usually stuff with VR.”

‘VR? Sounds interesting, but…’ I made a retching expression,

“I don’t like coffee, it’s too bitt—”

Pa!

Nanik flicked the side of my head with his finger, “Don’t disrespect coffee.”

“Ow~... What did you do that f—I-is that smoke coming off of your fingers?!”

There were wisps expelling from the hand he’d just used to inflict a tremendous sting to my cranium.

“It’s steam.”

“What!?”

‘So I wasn’t seeing things… How did he do that?’

I looked warily at the driver, worried that he’d show discomfort at our exchange, but he just laughed us off like nothing happened. “Haha! Alright, we’re here.”

We pulled into a relatively large and packed parking lot. Peering outside of the car window, I could see a large white structure, which contrasted with the previous tarmac streets we drove across. It was constructed quite angularly, like one massive cube. On the building were large lettering, spelling out “Medthicare”. There was a symbol next to the signage: a half-green, half-blue plus symbol with laurels surrounding it.

The cab driver drove us to the front of the center, parking next to the doors. “That’a be 12 AE.”₍₁₎

“Here.” Nanik handed him a single jade-hued coin. The corners of the coin were carved so that it formed an octagonal shape.

“Erm, sir… Ya gave me far too much; that’s an Aero.”

“Keep it,” Nanik got out of the car.

“Ah! Thank ya, thank ya!”

I followed suit, exiting from the car. The driver waved us goodbye with a wide grin on his face and drove off.