It was a sight to see. The day had slowly given way to the night, transitioning through dusk. Basically, it was evening. The towering hills stood majestically, forming our little, circular valley. My family enjoyed the view. Slowly, but gradually, we passed through the stone pavements and returned to our asphalt roads. Houses gradually lit up, the shops were nearing closing time. With the people returning to their homes, be it after a day of work, or school, or simply hanging out somewhere; the evening valley was bustling.

The school and the garden that we had been to stood on an elevated surface. The surface’s elevation itself was natural, keeping up with Ani… this valley’s theme. Yes I already forgot the name of the place. No need to grill me about it. The school had a half - asphalt, half - natural, and half stone road. From the gates it would start with modernity, then go to an unfinished work on both sides, and then transition into medieval to fit in with rest of the town. The school’s exact location relative to the cathedral was hard to determine when we went there. But from the rooftop, we could say that it lay South East of the cathedral, somewhere between one thirds of the way to the hills. The Local Market nestled itself between the two locations. Our house’s location in relation to UpCross was simple enough. Directly South of the cathedral, and on a lower surface. It rested in the outskirts, nearly 4km away from the cathedral. This distance may not have been much, but with rivers, bridges, farms, and then the local town itself populating on either sides of our path, it was a sight to behold.

Just how in the world did I miss these sceneries? Don’t tell me I’m forgetting stuff as I experience them. That would be crazy. And it would drive me crazy too. I digress.

Our journey back to the abode was a smooth one. We took a electric carriage this time. Yes. An Electric Carriage. The people of this world found it normal. Common sense. For me? I found it baffling. It was literally a mix of the past and present. But dialed up to 11.

”…”

Silence echoed in my mind as I rode in the carriage. Mana had fallen asleep once again, credit to her playing in the park a tad too much. Mom sat opposite of me in the 4 passenger carriage, Mana in her lap, enjoying her caresses. Well not really 4 passenger, since the seats were joined. Or rather there only were two seats in the passenger area. Dad was seated next to me. Looking out the window at these sceneries.

Back to my mental silence. It came as a response to one question that now roamed my mind.

How did I know what the past and present were? Not the terms themselves, I seemed to retained my understanding of the language. Like most of my daily activities or processes. What I did not retain, or rather should not have retained, was the knowledge of these terms. In the context of this valley. In the context of this world.

”Hey dad?” Slowly removing his head from his hand by the window, he focused his attention to me. “This town, this valley. What past does it have?” I spoke, unhappy with how I phrased my question. It wasn’t specific enough. And I did not know how to make it.

Mana stirred in Mom’s lap, apparently facing discomfort of some sort. Was she having another nightmare again? She took all of our attention at the very least. Soon enough, her scowling face calmed down, and she went back to sleep. Mom — though a little perplexed — continued patting her head. I heard my dad sigh from the side, his head once again rested on his hand. And his hand half dangling out the window. I could only thank the carriage for not going at high speeds — I had yet to know if it was capable of it, though I had an inkling some were — and not breaking my father’s hand. And possibly his head too. As for the inkling that I now had in my thought train, it just added more questions.

And it did not stop. Thought train. Wonder what that train part in this idiom is.

”The past of this place…” After what felt like 30 seconds of thinking, my dad spoke. “It’s complicated. Can I ask what made you think of this in the first place?”

”I suppose the main thing would be the build of this settlement itself. The road that we are now travelling is made of asphalt. Basically requiring some complicated machinery.” I continued, ignoring mom’s whispers about how Mana would be mad if she learnt that I knew more about some random road material that I did her.

’This road is made of asphalt. But then as we go closer and closer to the center of this valley, closer to the cathedral. The road changes to polished stones and pavement. The houses follow this trend as well. I don’t know whether the houses of the town have electrical appliances and facilities or not, but from the outside, they look outdated.” I somewhat finished my sentence before finding Mana rustling in her seat again, the sense of discomfort back in her face. Now even Dad found it peculiar. None of us spoke, keeping our attention focused on the little girl. She went back to sleep again, curling up to protect herself from the cool wind. With the pace we were going at, we still had 15 minutes or so to reach our home.

”Right. As I was saying, I find some of the stuff to be very outdated in comparison. That may not feel like much since it is easy to differentiate with utility as the basis, but that’s not my viewpoint. Dad, when I look at this place from a historical point, I find the town, this carriage, the farming and bridge style, the pavement road, all of it. I find it to be “medieval”. Something belonging to the past. But then I look at the the road in front of us, the refrigerator, the television, phones, camera, the electric part of this carriage. I find myself terming them “modern”. So I was asking that question Dad.” I put my piece. I seemed to have been too busy articulating my thoughts with hand gestures and movement when I spoke however, for I did not see his expression shift from expressionless nonchalance to confused bewilderment. He scratched the back of his head, once again thinking.

”Son, uhh… I—”

”He was just trying to act cool when he said that it’s complicated.” My Mom interjected from the side, scratching her head as well. Mana, too was scratching her head. Never mind, she was holding it. She let it go soon enough. Did everyone suddenly catch a head problem syndrome or something? Was I going to scratch my head as well?

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Dad looked deadpan at mother for a bit, before turning back to me. “Well she isn’t wrong. You know those skits in movies? Where people act all serious for a second, turning everyone grim? And then suddenly bam, the tension is broken and the creator of it laughing with a punchline?” He said.

It was my turn to look deadpan at him. One, how in the three heavenly flying f**ks would I, a man loved by Periodic Amnesia, remember anything about movies? Two, did you seriously try to play a dad joke while I was having a life or death crisis? Sigh. I shook my head, and looked back out the window. Only 5 minutes now remained to our house, for the driver had found a shortcut. From somewhere. Don’t know where. Dad chuckled in derision at my sigh, “Oh kids..” and put his head back out the window with that line. Mom simply observed everything in amusement. Right. Maybe she would actually answer my queries.

I could not even ask her my question however, for Mana had decided to shift in her nap place again. Just how can a person sleep so much on a moving vehicle? “Hmm?” Never mind, she woke up. Straining her eyes, she sat up slowly. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around. “Good morning sweetie.” Mom greeted her. To which, after taking one look outside the window, she responded. “It’s night raiit naow.” She couldn’t hold her yawns halfway through. Mom chuckled a bit, then proceeded to yawn as well. Then I yawned, then father. Yawns are more contagious than common cold in winter. Noted.

“We still say Good Morning to someone who wakes from their sleep, do we not?” The girl nodded, slowly dozing off again. “Uh huh. No going back to sleep now, we are nearly home now. See?” Mom did not allow that. Mana jolted back into consciousness — still not forming coherent thoughts I suppose — and took a look at everything. Yawning once again in the process. And as is the rule of the universe, everyone yawned after her. Even the driver. Heh. A silly moment I suppose.

We soon disembarked from the carriage, paid him his fees, and bid him farewell. Mom took Mana to the kitchen to wash her face, both of them found it easier to take care of the girl there. I washed my hands after them — dad had occupied the bathroom — and went upstairs to change my clothes. Done and dusted, came back down, washed my face, and freshened up. Mana didn’t look groggy anymore, going back to her normal blank expression. Power naps people, they help a lot. She went to the living room, rummaged a gaming console out, plugged it into the power socket and started playing a fighting game. The character designs were great and of variety. The game was fun to look at when someone played it, until the finishers came along. Uhh…. someone got a hole in their chest, then their heart pulled out? Just what is this girl playing?!?! And she didn’t even flinch at that. Right. I’m leaving her alone.

Dad was busy watching the TV, mom was preparing food. I literally had nothing to do. With the clock currently showing the time to be 7pm, and us knowing that we had an hour or so before food was done, I knew I needed to busy myself. So I did. By going back to my room. Explored the valley, the house, a giant physics breaking cathedral. Now let’s explore my room. I opened the doors to welcome myself into the room. It was as I how I had left it in the morning. The board was still in place, 9 9 0 written in giant letters. Bet I could see them even if I went 20m away. That’s how big they were. As for the smaller letters:

”You Chose The Lesser Evil.”

They said. Who wrote this? No, Who wrote any of this? I can understand 990 somewhat. Numbers, related to math. Maybe had a very important role in the past for me or for someone else. Hence it always stays there. To remind me of something important. The letters however? That was hard to fathom. One possible theory was that I apparently had done something in the past, or well, chosen something over the other. And I wrote this, or someone else affiliated to that incident wrote this, to constantly remind me of what had gone down, and not to regret, or to push through the times or something. I don’t know. I’m just a Periodic Amnesia Patient after all.

”…”

Was any of this related to my memory loss?

A new question had joined the pile. Guess I will ask my parents when eating dinner. Or later on.

Click. The door handle wobbled a bit, leading to the door opening. Mana soon came in, her console still in hand. “Brothaaaaaaaaaaaar. What are you doing?” She spoke in a lull voice. She— she didn’t have that blank look on her face anymore. It was replaced by sleep deprivation and boredom instead. Right. “I was just planning to rummage and explore my room.” I had not finished speaking my sentence before her eyes lit up and she went running back down. Some loud steps later, she came back, the console now missing from her hand. She was beaming with energy again. Once again, showing how many different sides a person could have.

Anyways. The search wasn’t anything much. Nothing behind the whiteboard, a simple suitcase under the bed. She sounded disappointed when she didn’t find anything else other than the suitcase under the bed. Just what was she hoping to find there exactly? Moving on, I left Mana to figure out where the keys for the case were. I looked behind the headrest, and found nothing much. On the table beside? A lamp, and a calendar. The table drawers? Random supplies that fit a math teacher, or just an academic scholar in general. Some stuff for daily life as well. It, for some reason, was not where I kept my keys though. What was I thinking? Anyways. The book pile? Math books, physics books, philosophical books, life guide books, thinking procedure books, books, books, and MORE BOOKS. The philosophical, life guide, and thinking procedure books, they all had a uh… unique cover. There always lay some depiction of a Demon. The content itself was quite different. I just found it eerie to have such imagery. Would rather go look at some gears.

A few minutes later, Mana found the keys to the suitcase. It was inside the camera lens. Wha-WHY? I could not be bothered by weird locations for keeping things anymore. I opened the suitcase. Found… f**k my life. I FOUND MORE BOOKS! I gave up, and started going through the books once again. Mana had gone to the washroom, so I was once again left alone with my thoughts. I took a look at the books once more. Nothing much made them stand out from the rest. Other than the fact, that they were literally about demons now.

I, for some god forsaken reason, had stored a literal demon encyclopedia, and a story collection of demons. In a suitcase. With the keys in a camera lens. I was done for the day. Needed my sleep. Mana made me yawn too many times.

The hour soon finished, and we sat down to eat dinner. One prayer later, everyone ate in peace. The TV continued in the background, courtesy of Dad’s forgetfulness. Either that or he knew how to keep up with a conversation, and listen to another at the same time. While eating. As for the conversations, they were about mundane things. Stuff that had been done a few days earlier, future plans, and what not. Here is the kicker. I talked about the books I found in my room, and about the stories and tales I read from those books. A demon mother, with a demon sister. Adopting a human son, the son fulfilling some ritual, and then he and his sister ascending to become the pillars of creation. Basically something you could entertain a kid with before they went to bed.

They said that those were not fairy tales.

”Demons are the most truthful creatures, and they are also the most deceitful. Trust in a demon, and it won’t be betrayed. Trust in a demon, and you won’t know how your promise will be fulfilled.”

I now realized. We truly lived in a “demonic” world.