Logical Things

Stark opened his eyes to a space dimly lit by oil lamps that glinted every so often as the carriage he was in shook from the wind and dips in the road. 

As he opened his dark, hollow eyes, he lingered for a few moments and slowly assessed his situation.

He probably, at that moment, thought it was all a dream—the things that had happened to him.

However, this sudden thought of his faded just as suddenly as it came when he heard someone rummaging into something near him.

He moved his slightly numb head and looked to his side. He saw a girl with fair skin, silky black hair, and a pair of dark brown eyes that suddenly looked back at him as she felt his gaze.

Sia, seeing that Stark was once again awake, gave him a slight smile and then said, "You're awake. I was just about to leave. I'm glad I didn't sooner."

As she said that, she put down a brown leather bag, closed it, stood up from her sitting position, and walked slowly toward Stark.

While she did, she slowly moved her right hand and looked at the antique watch she was wearing.

12:00 was the time displayed on it, as the second hand made a tick-tock sound while it made a loop around the dark velvet frame of the watch.

Sia then looked at Stark and said casually, "I usually don't stay awake this long, so I'm really am, trying my best not to doze off." She chuckled faintly, neared Stark, crouched down, and then sat right beside him.

He then slowly moved his head, trying to sit up, but felt a sudden pang of pain from moving his neck. It hurt, but not unbearably. What felt more unbearable was perhaps the pain he felt in his head.

It was still thumping; not as loudly as before, but not much less either.

"Slowly, slowly. Don't pressure yourself. You are badly hurt," Sia said as she helped him sit up straight.

After a few moments, when Stark felt comfortable in his sitting position, he looked at Sia, and Sia looked back at him.

"You said you don't remember anything. Do you remember what happened? What is the last thing you remember? You don't need to force yourself; take it slowly," Sia said as she moved her left hand forward, near his ears, and clicked twice, once in his left and once in his right ear.

Stark reacted to that and looked at Sia with a confused expression. She then nodded and asked, "Can you see? How many fingers are there?" while making a V sign with her left hand.

"T-Two..." Stark said before getting startled by how raspy his own voice was.

Sia smiled and said, "Your physical senses are okay, then. The problem is your memory. Do you really not remember anything? Anything at all? try remembering something. anything. Numbers, Addresses. names. Perhaps?"

Stark looked at her, suddenly wide eyed, realizing the situation he was in.

He did not remember anything. He had forgotten everything about himself. He did not even remember what his name was at the very beginning.

But just as his thoughts began to take form, a sudden laughing sound shattered the solemn silence. His mind, lost in its own foggy depths, snapped back to reality.

"Ahh... Ah... I knew it, knew it. You did not die. You're too young to, after all. Much too young. I never doubted it. never. Now, now where was I before you lost consciousness?

Oh... I remember, I remember. After I conquer the whole Abyss and make all the 'Taken' my slaves, I will seize Lady Helga's throne and take control of the Hignstead Empire and then make the Abyss researchers my lapdogs... lapdogs, I say..."

The old clown from before started his nonsensical rambling once again, much to Stark's dismay.

But Stark did not let him continue. He raised his head and said, "Please stop. I don't get anything. You say. Nothing at all. Please calm down a bit."

The old clown looked at Stark and sized him up before replying without delay, "No, no, I won't calm down. Why would I? Hah... Why? The whole world is constantly moving. Why would we, who live inside it, calm down? Why? Won't we fall off of it if we do? We will. We will. So, I am not calming down. No. Never. I refuse to. I don't want to fall off of it and descend to gods know where."

'What is he talking about?'

His headache started to grow all of a sudden.

He then looked at the girl, whom he thought was a doctor of some sorts.

He said, "My head is starting to hurt again."

"It probably is because you are drained mentally. Maybe you're exhausted. A little rest should fix that. You should rest for—" she replied, But before she could finish her sentence, another calm voice resounded from behind her, interrupting her:

"Stark, Stark Arriate, I see you have regained your consciousness. Are you feeling okay? you are aren't you? I did not do anything harmful anyway. You probably fainted from exhaustion. That is the truth. Is it not?"

Sia, looked at Mr. Shin And glared. Seeing that He, might have probably, maybe, perhaps stiffened up a tinny bit. Stark did not notice that, though.

What he did do was, jolt in surprise before he looked at Mr. Shin and said:

"Aaa, Ah... yes. yes I am feeling all right. Better than before."

'This man is still here?! Is he planning to do something once again'

He was the same pale-faced man with a top hat, sitting atop the wooden crate.

It was as if he had not moved one bit.

Seeing stark's alarming behavior, He gave a faint chuckle, "Calm down, boy. I did not intend to harm you in anyway. It's just that, there are creatures that can Imitate human speech patterns and take their form, here in the dark forest. You get why I needed to be a bit cautious. You do don't you. That is why I had to use my mind-sorcery."

"Mind? Sorcery?"

Mr. Shin Looked at Stark for a few moments, Then lightened up. "Oh... so you don't know what sorcery is? Do you now? Okey. Okey. Let me tell, you. let me tell you... "

But before he could though Sia, looked at him and said angrily, "Stop, Mr. Shin. Now is not the time for that. I don't think he is in the mood to hear your rambling about sorcery, Stop."

Hearing that, Mr. Shin stiffened again, this not without stark noticing. "Okey, Okey... Then... "

He looked at Stark and then asked, "It seems you have lost all your memories. What are you to do now? Do you possibly remember any information about your home, where you live? Do you have a place in mind?"

This time Sia did not interject, What she did was look at stark from the corner of her dark brown eyes.

Hearing the casual tone from Mr. Shin, Stark was suddenly a bit dazed. But he calmed himself the moment after and opened his mouth to ask, "Where is this carriage going? Where are we right now?"

He needed to be rational, about how he approaches this.

But, the silent listener, Sia, looked at Stark and said before Mr Shin could reply, "We are going through an abandoned pathway, through the Dark Forest. Our destination is Hignstead. Though we will probably stop here and there to perform a few shows to earn some much-needed money."

"Shows?" Stark looked confused.

"Ohh... Did you not know? This is a traveling circus. They travel from place to place, doing shows here and there, earning money."

"Ohh... and by the way, you probably don't know but the name of this traveling circus is The Big-Heart Circus. I am their Medical support."

'So that is what it means?'

He did not get it one bit. Perform shows? What shows?

But he did not ask much further about this matter and moved to another more important topic.

He moved his head toward Mr. Shin. "Will you let me travel within your carriage for a few days? I don't remember anything, I have any places to go. I need your help. Of course, I'll compensate you people for it."

After a few long moments of silence, the mysterious man atop the wooden crate, Mr. Shin, said in a deep voice, "Yes, yes, okay. It seems fairly logical. Reasonable, indeed. Okay. I think we can use ourselves a cleaner, can't we?"

'Cleaner!?'

Hearing that, Sia nodded slightly. "But not now. Rest for now. You are injured, remember?"

The old clown nodded too. "Well, I don't see any problem. Why not?"

Yes, yes, indeed. It all did make perfect sense. Logical. Reasonable.

But Stark would be lying if he said it really was, in any way, logical or reasonable.

Because right after he opened his eyes to all this, logic and rationality had ran away through the back door a long time ago.

Nothing was logical. Nothing was reasonable.