The Curse of Memories ☆ | The Golden Guard

☆A Familiar Voice☆

A feeling all too familiar takes over my body, a feeling like I'm not supposed to be here. It doesn't feel like I'm alive. I know this is a dream but it almost feels like I'm in an in-between of awake and sleeping. It feels like I'm holding my breath but my body won't let me open my mouth as if I'm underwater and I'll drown if I do. But I don't feel scared quite the opposite, I feel a sense of comfort and safety. Though a part of my brain told me I was upset about something, like when you're so hellbent on being mad about something that even though you don't remember why, you still are. At that moment it felt like the world was centred around me. A feeling that is so familiar yet so foreign. It's been a while since I've had a dream like this.

I look around my surroundings, as well as best I can for not being able to move. No matter how much I try my body won't move the way I want it to. I'm sitting at a kitchen table, my arms resting on the table holding a cup of a warm-coloured liquid. The wooden table is intricately carved and worn from years of use. I want to move my hand to touch the carvings, to feel some sort of sensation other than just existing but my hand doesn't move.

A sudden voice pulls me away from admiring the table.

"Oh, good evening."

A man sits across from me. He talked in a way that was very different than most I know yet it was familiar in a very unnerving way. The thing this man and all the other people in my dreams have in common is the lack of discernible features, his face was whited out as if his face was made of fog. I start talking without thinking as if this has happened hundreds of times. I'm in control of this body, it's like I'm just a spectator in this interaction.

"Good evening to you too."

His hands hold something in his lap. I tilt my head and smile at him. "What do you have there?" Suddenly a chirp could be heard from his hands. "I want you to meet someone." You could hear the smile in his voice. He opens his hands revealing a bird. It hops on the table. I move my hand and pat the top of the bird's head.

"Well, where did you find this little guy?"

"I carved him."

I pause. I look at the man sitting across from me.

"You carved him? I knew you were interested in pailsman but I didn't think you would carve one! You did very well for your first time." The palisman tilts its head at me.

He laughs. "Well, I didn't do it on my own."

"I didn't even know humans could carve palisman." I pet the pailsman.

"I didn't either. Guess I might have a bit of magic in me." He leans on the table and smiles at me. The palisman chirps.

"What are you going to name him?" I ask.

The man in front of me perks up slightly. "A name? I guess I do have to give him a name." He leans back and puts his hand to his face. He hums as he thinks.

"I'm not sure what to name him."

"Just think of something you like," I suggest.

He leans forward. "Maybe I should call him Y/N then."

I stifle a laugh. "Oh, hush."

He taps his chin in thought. "Hmm. Something I like?" He pets the top of the bird's head and stares at it for a moment. "I think I might call him Flapjack."

"Flap...Jack?" I look at him in confusion. He seemed confused by my confusion.

"Yes? Is that not a good name?" He worries.

"Uhm no. It's not that. What is Flapjack supposed to mean?"

He gasps. "You don't know what a Flapjack is!?"

I shake my head. "Never heard of it, it must be a human thing."

"Here let's make a promise. If you ever visit the human realm I'll make you some."

"Alright?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"HEY Y/N WAKE UP I MADE BREAKFAST!"

I open my eyes. Oh, right, I slept over at Eda's house yesterday. My head pounds. I shake it off and get up. I walk into the kitchen and sit down next to Luz. She's telling Eda a story from when she was younger. I stare at the food sitting on the table as I recount the fuzzy memory of the dream I had. 

"Hey, Luz..." I slowly turn to her. She looks at me. She mumbles a 'what' through her full mouth.

"What's a Flapjack?"

She tilts her head at me. She swallows the food she has in her mouth. "Like a pancake, why are you asking?"

"What's a pancake?" I ask.

"Wait! Do you guys not have pancakes in the demon realm?" Luz looks at Eda waiting for an answer.

"Huh? Pancakes? Oh I know those things, yeah we don't have them here." Eda answers.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "Then how do you know that?"

"What? I've been to the human realm tons of times. Of course, I've eaten human food."

'Right. Stupid question.'

Luz looks at me. "So how did you hear the word Flapjack without the context of what it is?"

I pause.

"Oh, I just heard someone talk about it, just asking in case you knew what it meant."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/n wow I'm finally caught up to where I was in the other story. Also thank you so much to anyone who has read this far into the story. Seeing people's comments and stuff makes me so happy and it really makes me feel a lot better about my skills as a writer!