Her calculations stopped and she sent the same magic into him attempting to replicate the effect and she found herself feeling the same pulse of emotion. After a few more tests she found that the emotional pulse she was feeling was coming from a dark violet sphere within his soul, and rotated at greater speeds when certain emotions were high. And when the spin reached a certain speed, that unique energy she was detecting started shedding off of the sphere, into his body, and then into the environment.
He was feeling fainter and fainter as she experimented on him until finally, he passed out completely.
...
"My master would like to apologize for having you pass out." A voice cracked through his ears as he started regaining consciousness.
The boy opened his eyes and found him looking into the amber eyes of a woman dressed in black and white. He looked her over and found it to be similar to a maids dress, but with symbols and patterns, he could not recognize.
He felt a shock run through his body as something deep within him shook. He tried swallowing a knot that had developed in his throat when he felt a wave of Deja Vu pass. He felt himself immediately go into alert and tried to figure out what was wrong.
The maid-looking woman saw him go rod straight and tried to get him to relax, "My name is Ewa, and I serve Adona, she gave you to me after you both left the Atrium and said to apologize and take care of anything you needed." She finished her explanation with a small curtsy, she seemed a bit uncertain about the situation but held certain confidence in being able to help him.
He took a slow breath to calm his nerves, he felt a small amount of embarrassment for seemingly freaking out over... nothing? He could not think back to any reason why he should be so freaked out, but he knew that something was off. But this maid seems upfront and honest, so he might as well try to learn whatever he could.
"Uh, hello Ewa, my name is... I actually don't recall my name?" He started his reply but was sidetracked by a sickening realization that only furthered his feelings of dissonance. He didn't want to sit in silence and further the awkwardness so he decided to try to push the conversation off onto her so he could try to divine what was happening. "Uh, do you know my name, or how I got here, or why your Master wanted to apologize to me?"
"Ha, I wish I knew the answer to those questions as well. I can give a few guesses though, well we don't usually get many "visitors" as my Master isn't exactly the welcoming type." He could feel almost an instinctual urge to agree with her there, though he didn't know why.
"And with your memory loss and apparent lack of physical, spiritual, or magic prowess I imagine my Master knows something about you that she wanted to investigate. Or you're the child of someone who my Master owes a favor for, and she is protecting you and wiped your mind as a safety precaution. Though I can't imagine there is a high chance of that, as there aren't many favors that my Master owes..." She kept a small smile as she spoke, checking him over as well. She was happy that he seemed courteous enough, and wouldn't demand to be treated like a prince.
He had recovered enough and caught the majoring of her reasoning and agreed with it. He felt his stomach grumble and looked at her with a wanting look, "Would your services include preparing me a meal? While I feel like throwing up right now, a soup would be great."
She gave him a wide smile and said, "Of course, I'll tell the chefs to prepare something to settle your stomach. I presume you do not have a favorite dish, considering your... Memory problems."
He gave her a nod of confirmation, which followed with a small bow before alighting the room. He watched Ewa leave with conflicting emotions, he felt like that was the first positive interaction he has had in years, but still wanted time alone to try to understand what the hell was this thing that kept causing him severe anxiety and fear.
When Ewa returned with a silver tray of amazing-smelling soup and a cup of tea, he had entered some type of meditative state. Where he was simultaneously freaking out and calm at the same time, like he was disconnected from his body but feeling everything more. He felt like he was able to understand whatever was causing his disturbances but it was like it was behind a shroud he couldn't pass through. He tapped into it when he wanted to through his focus, but all it did was send a warm pulse through his body before dissipating into nothing.
He had sat up on his elbows and inspected the bed he was laying on, its high-quality cloth and elegant trim had surprised him until he had a good look at the room. Its gold plated standing clock with black wood floors and dark red carpet along the sides of the bed, and smooth dark brown coffee tables and nightstands. Everything smelled, looked, and felt like the highest luxury available to people. 'Well, one thing I can confirm is her Master, Adona I think it was? She is pretty filthy rich.' He thought to himself.
When Ewa set down the tray of food on his lap she asked, "How are you doing? Most people aren't very... OK, after they have their memories wiped." She looked at him with an understanding smile and intrigue on her face, her white frilled collar shifted as she turned her head to face him. She placed her hands behind her black long skirt so she could sit down on the bed without crumpling the soft fabric, she then shifted her shorter sleeves for comfort that now hung limply at her elbows as she settled in to talk with him.
He narrowed his eyes slightly before replying, "Get a lot of people with wiped memories around here?"
She chuckled slightly, "Depends on how many is "a lot", but I have served Adona for many years and she has a preference for how she keeps her guests. Either compliant or comatose and when she wants something from one of them, ignorant. But I do have compassion, I was in the same position as you are now, it is not exactly an enviable one." She said with a wistful smile on her lips.
He raised an eyebrow at her seemingly reminiscent expression, curious and slightly frightful at her situation. But he shook those feelings and replied, "But, you ended up her servant? Why?"
She shook her head slightly before replying, "Your soup will get cold, keep eating and I will tell you when you're done."
He shrugged before picking up his spoon and digging in, she watched him eat with a small smile on her face before speaking up after he had made some progress through the meal.
"I was a traveler, that left my village when I was young to avoid a marriage proposal. I came across a city that floated on a river in multiple floating sections, and when I came across a young man and his cousin drinking at a bar. Later found out they were blacksmiths and who I spent the last of my money on to get a set of tools and daggers. I had learned a lot during my travels and knew what kind of berries to pick, which ones would sell a lot on the market, and which bandit areas to avoid. So I started making a living and getting better and stronger, my smithing friend and his cousin saw my success and joined me. We became an unstoppable team that no one would dare cross." Her look of pride was held for a moment as she enjoyed her memories.
But then her face changed into a look of sad acceptance, "The blacksmith and I got close, and he proposed to me. They were the happiest days of my life, but the joy was stopped when I walked into our bedroom one day and saw his cousin standing over his dead body with a bloody knife. Turns out that his cousin had been developing venomous jealousy for years and one day it broke him. He tried to convince me to leave with him and run away together. I couldn't stop crying and people were trying to get in to see what the commotion was, but he picked me up and carried me away from the city and towards the forest." She stopped to pause and check on the small boy and gained a small smile before continuing with her story.
"I was too empty to move and too broken to think. It is a miracle that he accidentally came across the Master's tower. She killed him almost immediately but stayed her hand for me..." She trailed off for a second.
"Then she offered me a new life, one where I can care for people. People who can't die on me. The worst thing isn't dying, it's having people you love die. And my Master and the people she cares for can't die with her magic. So I don't need to worry anymore." She took a deep breath and sighed, then looked into his eyes.
"We need to get you a name, I think you're like a..." She was interrupted by a feminine voice at the door.
"His name is Deon." A familiar face spoke, someone he feared. Even though he did not remember her face, she terrified him to the bone.
Ewa got up and bowed, "Master. Deon? As in, Leon, Seon, and now Deon?" the maid spoke in a slightly confused but curious manner.
Adona, her master, replied, "Yes, we had a Leon and a Seon. So that means he is Deon now." She spoke with a hint of laziness and patience and knew that Ewa would complain.
"But your magnificence..." Ewa started, "He... He does not have amazing magical control as Leon did. Or the absolute spiritual abilities that Seon did. I'm afraid I do not know why you've given him this name." Ewa was trying to understand why Adona had bestowed upon him a name that should have fit someone of extraordinary ability.
Adona grew a smirk and said, "He does, and it seems it's been affecting you unknowingly." Ewa grew a confused and then insulted look on her face, she realized she had told him a personal story. She wasn't exactly closed mouth but thinking back on it, her inhibitions towards him were lower than they should have been for an unknown variable.
She turned to Deon and said, "Why did you do that, I have been nothing but kind to you." She added a pout at the end of her statement. She did so because she realized that he was probably only trying to get information so he could stay safe, so while she was hurt by the attempt she lost a lot of her anger by the time she had finished her sentence and so wanted to lessen the accusation with a childish expression.
"But- I-" He started to reply but was cut off.
"Oh, worry not lovely Ewa. He has not done so knowingly. It comes naturally to him." Adona commented, saving Deon the pain of having to explain he had no idea what she was talking about.
"I haven't done anything to anybody though? And also that naming scheme is dumb. I don't want to be called Deon." Said Deon.
Ewa spoke up before Adona, "I'm sorry for getting angry at you, but you should be happy that Master has given you such a good name. It is a great honor." Ewa spoke seriously and was slightly hovering over Deon now and with a more forced smile.
Adona piggybacked off of Ewa's statement and said, "Deon is a good name, and you did do something. Both to me and Ewa, and if you can't recognize it then we will have to keep you isolated from others until you can control it. Wouldn't want you causing any accidents." Deon turned to her and felt his stomach churn, almost wanting to refill the soup bowl with its contents.
"Did... did you use Ewa to see if my... ability? Would affect her as well as you?" Deon gave an accusatory glance at Adona.
"Of course!" She proclaimed with an excited look on her face, "We have to get reliable and repeatable data to confirm a hypothesis. Or else what would the pain and suffering mean if it was all statistically irrelevant? Hmm~" She had a smile by the time she finished her sentence, staring at Deon in the face.
Deon felt that shroud in him overflowing as Adona became closer and more focused on him, his emotions were overflowing into this endless pit in the center of his soul.
"MMMM, awesome isn't it? You can feel that, can't you? That warmth that buzzes through your body as emotions rise. It is truly amazing to see with my own eyes, again and again, it excites me. Though you probably have a hand in that part. There is a gate in your soul, that is where this is energy coming from and I would give anything to take a look in there." Adona spoke as she walked closer, her eyes large and focused somewhere on Deon's chest.
He felt his skin crawling as she got closer and started pushing into the backboard of the bed, almost as if trying to fuse with it to get away from her.
"My lady, if I may. But you see Deon is quite uncomfortable with you so close and it would gladden me if you would keep a distance from him, if you would be so kind." Ewa bowed deeply as she spoke, but confidently.
Adona switched her eyes between Ewa's bowed head and Deon's surprised look, he was staring at Ewa as if she had just spoken a foreign language. Adona replied, "Deon if you want to keep staring at Ewa's backside with that expression I will acquiesce to Ewa's request and depart immediately." She spoke with a smirk, but her eyes withheld her true emotions. Deeply calculating and efficient, but playing it off as a joke.
Ewa smiled and spoke with a cheery voice, "My master is so kind thank you so much." She didn't pay any attention to Adona's joke, she was honestly surprised herself that Adona was willing to leave. She had seen her Master's eyes like that before... And warnings, requests, and pleadings had never stopped her before when she had that look of curiosity and possession in her eyes. But Ewa was more than willing to take the win.
Deon's surprise grew even more, firstly he never expected the subservient Ewa to request that Adona would leave him alone. And secondly, he never would have thought that Adona would agree to do so. By the time Adona had quietly left and Ewa turned back to him, he was slightly blushing from Adona's remark regarding him staring at Ewa's backside. But Ewa sat back down on his bed again and resumed chatting with him for the rest of the night, before she left for bed and he feel asleep for what felt like the first time in years.
