Name

Sending the woman away, the golden-haired man entered the room, cell, whatever it is called and pulled up a chair for himself as the other man just sat on the bed, unbothered by anything.

"Who are you?"

"I want to know that myself." He said, touching the back of his head. Surprisingly, it did not hurt anymore. "I don't remember anything. Or even how I ended up here."

"Are you lying to me?" The man asked, golden eyes glowing as he did a once over of the man in front of him.

"No. I have no reason to." He said calmly as the golden-haired man seemed to be slightly content with his answer.

"Then tell me, how do you know my name?"

There it is. The man thought, wondering how he was going to answer this one. Well, I have nothing to lose, so best to just answer it honestly.

"Your name popped up in the head the moment I saw you." He said, taking one look at the golden-haired man's sceptical expression. "I am honest. You can check me if you want to. I just wondered how I remembered your name when I don't even know mine."

"I cannot sense any lies with you." He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "But it is still a question as to how you knew my name."

"Your name is Aseko, right? Maybe I heard someone call you that?"

"Impossible." Aseko pulled out a cigarette and took a puff, annoyance written all over his face. "No one knows that name and those that do are long dead. There is no way a kid like you would have been alive long enough to know."

Just as he said that, the man remembered his age and said, "Kid? How old are you?"

"Why-"

"Just answer the question."

"Twenty-two," Aseko said, looking at him with an annoyed look on his face.

"Well, I am older than you. I am twenty-nine." He said smugly, not even sure why he felt such pride with this but he just decided to just let himself be. It's good that I can be happy even in a situation like this.

Aseko looked at the red-haired man with a raised eyebrow, "You remember your age but not your name?"

"It seems so." He said, not wanting to look him in the eyes as he burnt with embarrassment. "Sorry."

"You know, I could have you killed just from knowing my real name." The man said, blowing out a cloud of smoke. "In fact, I should have just left you in the cold."

"Why didn't you then?" The red-haired man asked, not a bit of hostility coming from him. He is asking that as if someone is asking why they chose the purple shirt over the pink one. Both are bad choices, mind you. "Why save someone you don't know and could also be a potential threat?"

Amusement dancing in his eyes, Aseko leaned in closer, blowing a cloud of smoke in the man's direction, "I don't know. Perhaps I wanted to see if this kid has anything I could want."

"I am not a kid."

"As long as you insist on that, I will keep calling you a kid." He said, instantly shutting the man up. "Now, tell me, what do you know about that mark on your chest?"

Looking at the black rose and moon on his chest, the man just looked back at Aseko and said, "Uh. I got blackout drunk and got a tattoo?"

"You are pretending to be more naive than you really are," Aseko said, pointing the cigarette at the man. "Your memory might be gone but I can see that you are still on guard. Not bad."

Aseko smiled at the man, slightly impressed.

"Shouldn't that be … raising a red flag or something like that for you?" The red-haired man asked, now it is his turn to be slightly sceptical of the man in front of him. Is he even … reliable?

"I praise what impresses me. It is quite simple." He said shrugging as he handed him a tin box of smokes, "Want one?"

"Sure." The man took a cigarette and touched the tip as it lit on its own, taking in a deep puff. "When was the last time I had, I smoke? I wonder."

"The loner I am talking to you, the more I have questions," Aseko said, chuckling to himself as he stared at the man in front of him closely.

"Don't do that." He said, deep violet eyes turning to him as his long lashes seemed to flutter. "I just might think you want to do something with me."

"Funny," Aseko mumbled, turning away from the man before clearing his throat. "About that mark on your chest. I am sure you have already heard that woman say it is a curse."

"I did." Little clouds of smoke escaped his lips as he stared at the man. "What curse is it? Why did she look so horrified?"

"I cannot say for sure. A story has been passed down for the past couple of generations about a curse from the Deities themselves and it seems that fits the description." Aseko's hard expression continued to remain the same as he asked. "What exactly did you do?"

"I angered the Deities enough for them to put a curse on me?" he asked, looking at the mark on his chest as a throbbing pain came on the back of his head again. "Ow."

"Are you ok?"

Gritting his teeth, while touching the back of his head, unable to move as the pain spread through his head, like boiling hot oil being poured into his skull.

"Eclipse!" A frantic woman's voice called him from the depths of his memories. "Eclipse! My star! Please be safe!"

He could not feel or see anything else as he continued to desperately search for that voice at the back of his head. But the more he tried to hold onto the voice, the more the pain increased, until he finally opened his eyes.

Just to see Aseko under him, laying on the ground, hair slightly tasselled all over the floor as he continued to stare at the man under him, confusion written all over his face.

"Whoa. Whoa. Easy." Aseko said from under him, the gears on his head turning as he just stared at him. "Did you remember something?"

"I think so." The redhead said, getting off him before pacing around the room like he did not just attack his big man, tackle him to the ground and mess up his clean suit a little bit. "I think … but, it's still so fuzzy."

"Are you ok, boss?" An unfamiliar voice asked as the man turned to look at another man in the room, jet black hair and deep red eyes to match his Victorianesque outfit.

A Vampire? Really?

"Of course I am fine." Aseko got to his feet, looking at the man with an interested expression on his face. "Don't you think he is perfect?"

"I was just about to say that, boss. A little too perfect." The man said, his fangs coming out as he smiled excitedly. "We can't let this situation just be."

"I have been thinking and, it might be that curse that is keeping your memories from you," Aseko said, pointing to the mark on his chest. "I don't know much about that mark but I have some of the best people that I could ask about. We can investigate about that mark on your chest more."

"Why?" The man asked, narrowing his eyes at the man, suspicion written all over his face. "You kept me behind silver bars to keep me from trying to escape right? I am sure have some torture tools around that room too."

Aseko kept a straight face as the man on the other side of the bars suddenly disappeared as loud crashing sounds of things being thrown outside the window filled the empty room.

The two never broke eye contact as the Vampire came back, a little messy but he managed to pay it off, smiling at the two. "Your guest can come and look around if he wishes to."

"Yes. I have no bad intentions." Aseko said, opening the door of the cell for the red-haired man who just looked at the two, slightly amused. "You can check."

"First, tell me what it is that you need me for. If you are helping me, you must have something you need me to do."

"We just need you to carry out a mission for us." The man on the other side of the bar said, trying to be as vague as possible. "You are just perfect for it too."

"You are not going to tell me, are you?" He asked, the two remaining tight-lipped. "Fine. I guess I can help, but are you sure you want to trust someone you don't even know?"

"Yes." The two said at the same time, a little too eagerly too.

"Alright then." He nodded, walking to the entranceway. "I am hungry. Let's go eat."

"Wait, let me undo your chain." The man said, rushing into the cell. "It is made of silver and high-grade spells. So you will not be able to break it even if you tried."

"You mean this?" He asked, grabbing the chain circling his ankle and snapping it like a twig. "Oh. Sorry."

"No. It's ok." The Vampire looked at him with awe, eyes sparkling before he turned to Aseko who nodded and turned to the red-haired man.

"What did you remember again?"

"My name." He said, grinning happily as he held his hand out. "Pleasure to meet your acquaintance. I am Eclipse."