“Could it be... my fault?!” the small girl whimpered.
“Anya... What did you do?” the tall man asked.
“Mikage couldn’t control himself and asked me to make him pass out. So I used his mana to overload his senses and make him unconscious. I never thought that his memories would be affected.”
“No... It’s not your fault. If all you did was overload his senses, then it wouldn’t make sense for his memories to disappear too. I think it’s because he absorbed that strange energy”, Amelia said.
“Oh yeah. I have a blade to pick with you, Mikage! Why in the world did you think that absorbing that strange energy is a good idea?! You were practically playing with an inextinguishable fire!” she scolded me.
“I have no memories about that so I don’t have an excuse”, I replied.
“Sheesh... What can we do about your amnesia?” she grumbled.
“Can’t you just stimulate his mind? You can peek at memories so maybe you can just make him remember things”, the tall man suggested.
“Normally, I could do that. But his mind was wiped clean. Instead of it getting sealed or buried like what normal amnesia does, his memories were completely erased. I can’t stimulate something that isn’t there.”
“Wait. His memories were completely erased? So there’s no chance of it coming back?” Amelia asked.
“Unfortunately, no. Amnesia would normally just make your memories inaccessible. There is a lot of magic that could make the patient regain his memories. But in Mikage’s case, there’s nothing to remember. It’s like someone stole it”, the small girl said.
So... I would never remember my past? My heart felt heavy. Memories were the things that make up a person’s identity. Was there absolutely no hope in recovering them?
“Mikage.....” Amelia looked at me sadly.
She must have noticed how I felt.
“How about you go to the Hall of Memories?” the tall man suggested.
“Oh yeah! It’s a pretty helpful place”, the small girl said.
“Hall of Memories?” I asked.
“They said it’s where the Primordial Memory lives. The Primordial Memory is said to have every being’s memories, whether dead or alive”, the tall man answered.
“That’s a great idea. So... Where is it?” Amelia asked.
“I don’t really know. Why don’t you head to the library and see if there are things about it?”
“Thanks... Umm... What’s your name again?” I asked him.
“Oga Aragami. Good luck, Mikage”, he waved his hand as Amelia and I headed to the library.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The library was a huge building. Countless bookshelves were filled to the brim with books. There were long tables with citizens reading books on it. There was even a second and a third floor and it had books too.
“There are a lot of books here. Can we find anything related to the Hall of Memories?” I asked.
“In times like this, we should ask the librarian”, Amelia said and headed to a counter.
A black-haired girl with a round hat was seated behind a counter. She was wearing a white uniform and had a monocle. Her blue eyes were reading a book intensely.
Amelia cleared her throat and the girl looked up from her book.
“Oh. Amelia, didn’t see you there”, she said.
“Hey there, Rosalyn”, Amelia greeted her.
The girl looked at me, “You know... A library is not really a good place to have a date. It’s a place for keeping quiet and reading books in peace.”
“Nah. This is Mikage Kamishiro. He’s just my friend. Mikage, this is Rosalyn. She’s the librarian”, Amelia introduced us.
“Hello”, I greeted her and she just smiled.
“Well... What do you need, Amelia?” she asked.
“I’m looking for books that mention the Hall of Memories.”
“The Hall of Memories huh?” Rosalyn thought for a while, “Can you wait over there? I’ll bring those books to you.”
We sat down on a chair as Rosalyn left.
“Isn’t she going to use a machine or an index to find the book?” I asked.
“Nah. Rosalyn read all of the books here in this library. She knows them by heart. That’s why she’s a really convenient librarian”, Amelia answered.
Rosalyn returned while pushing a cart of books.
“I have around 7 books that mention the Hall of Memories. On another note, there are 8 books here that talk about the Primordial Memory. It might help you out”, she said.
“Thanks, Rosalyn”, Amelia told her.
“No problem”, she went back to the counter and continued reading her book.
“Now then. Let’s research!” Amelia took a book and started reading it.
I took a book and opened it. It was about the different primordial beings. The Primordial Memory, Primordial Fire, Primordial Moon, Primordial Star, Primordial Dark, and others.
I flipped the pages and apparently, the primordial beings have appeared throughout history. Some of them chose to inhabit a vessel and explored the world Others have been summoned and had other people use their powers.
The page landed on the Primordial Dark and I read about it. The Primordial Dark was the oldest primordial being. After all, in almost every creation myth about the world, everything started with darkness. Because of that, the Primordial Dark had no will of its own and could barely be considered as alive. However, it was one of the most powerful primordial beings. Its symbol was a raven.
“Mikage... Find anything on your end?” Amelia asked.
“Err... No”, I put down the book and took out another one.
Time passed as we read and Amelia took out a map.
“I got an idea on where the Hall of Memories is”, she said.
“Really? Where is it?” I asked.
“There’s a riddle for the Hall of Memories. Here”, she handed me a book.
North of the land of the rabbit people
The valley of the red river
Pass through the black sandstorm
Head towards the blue cave
The Hall of Memories will be ahead of it
“What’s this?” I asked after reading it.
“Mikage, pack your bags. We’re going on an adventure”, she said.
“Wait... You’re coming along?”
“Of course. A riddle like this needs a great detective to solve it. And besides, you’re an important person to me. I’ll gladly help you out”, she patted my shoulder, “Now let’s clean up and start preparing things. I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”
And so we decided to head on a journey for my memories.