Kaelen awoke with an inhale sharp enough to cut iron. He immediately choked on the air, as if his lungs had been quietly lying in wait for him to do something as bold as breathe in. Pain vibrated through his chest with every hack, until something hot and sour snuck up his throat. Everything was seemingly out to block his airways today.
A convenient wooden bucket appeared before him and he wasted no time in releasing the contents of his stomach. He vomited like a desperate student who had finally found his calling in life. He groaned, eyes tightly shut as the bucket slipped from his grasp and magically disappeared. But there was no time to question that. First, he had to know what in the world was happening.
His chest still ached, but air moved in and out, albeit rough and ragged. As the pain subsided, his other senses seemed to come alive. He could smell the suffocating stench of medicine, hear distant voices, and feel that the surface beneath him was soft, almost impossibly so. It was in direct contrast with how his entire existence felt at that moment.
Now, where was he? He blinked his eyes open, ready to process new information. The lighting was poor, but he was clearly in a small room. He could make out a row of shelves that had bottles of different colours, shapes and sizes, along with books. Lots of dark, lifeless-looking books.
After adjusting his eyes to awake mode for some seconds, he turned to the side. To his surprise, there was a man seated quietly, small blue bottle in hand, cold gaze fixed on him. Kaelen jolted into a fresh coughing fit.
"Hey! Be careful!" The stranger chastised in a booming voice. "You already regurgitated your medicine, do you want to damage your rib cage further?! Fucking careless brat!" He hissed. Oddly enough, Kaelen could just tell that there was no real venom behind his bark.
He choked out the words, "How- am I to blame- for coughing?" A few more coughs escaped before his body relaxed again. Immediate exasperation followed, "Why were you just silently watching!?" He was startled, in pain, and increasing in apprehension by the second, but he figured, why not assess the situation wholly?
The person certainly sounded like they were familiar with him, but he couldn't place a finger on that pale, almond-shaped face at all. If he had seen such electrifying brown eyes, surely he would recall. Yes, he would definitely remember someone so handsome that his features lit up the dark room.
He didn't know whether to apologize or just pretend. They obviously seemed to care a lot about him, despite the vulgar way of speaking— sitting by his bed, feeding him his medicine while he slept, and all that.
He replayed the statement in his head and something seemed off about the whole situation.
Wait.. What? He blinked. Wasn't he doing something just now? How long had he been out?
"What the hell is going on? I.. I didn't.. Huh?"
The rambunctious visitor cocked an eyebrow. "Didn't? We don't have all day, finish your words." Then his mouth released a quiet gasp. "But Eryn said you didn't have any brain damage.." They suddenly looked very worried and deep in thought, evident in the heavy crease on his forehead. Kaelen was plunged deeper into confusion's grasp.
"What? Who? And didn't I just die? I'm confused."
The look of confusion that mirrored Kaelen's was quickly replaced by derisive understanding as a scowl graced Nix's well-sculpted features. "I knew it! You tried to commit suicide! Kaelen, just because Master was a little mean to you, you try to kill yourself? Are you trying to implicate him!?" He slammed the innocent bottle, that likely contained the medicine, on the bedside table.
"You jump to the craziest conclusions, don't you." Kaelen deadpanned, completely disconnected from the strange words the other was spouting.
This guy seems a bit triggered by questions, but I still need to know what's going on.
"Okay, alright, look. Maybe I have brain damage, but I really am confused here, help me out and stop getting mad, okay?! I'm the one on bed rest here, so.. it would be nice if you answered some things for me. Like what is my name? What is your name? What am I doing here? What in the world happened? And no, it wasn't suicide, I think."
"If you can't remember, then how would you know?" The man crossed his arms. It was a fair question, Kaelen thought. He would doubt himself too if he were to be in the other's shoes.
They stared at each other with equal amounts of curiosity. However, one pair of brown eyes had the expression of a lost child, while the other one, the coldness of a hardened criminal. He finally rolled his eyes, huffed a breath and stood up from the stool. He walked into a joined room and came back out shortly after, with a rag and a bowl of water. His eyebrows knitted, and lips slightly pouting.
He answered, while he wiped the little flakes of vomit off of the corner of Kaelen's mouth. "You're Kaelen Veyne. I'm your older brother, Nix. What are you doing here? Well, after you were found passed out under a mountain far away from home with a broken rib, you were brought here for treatment." Nix soaked the rag again before wiping the younger's whole face this time. There was no form of protest as the cloth was so warm and inviting that he could have fallen asleep then and there. But Nix continued talking. "Eryn, our littlest brother, is training as a guild physician. One of the brightest students, might I add, so he checked on your condition... How can you not even remember him?" He grumbled the last sentence and stood up to put everything back, having finished cleaning. Kaelen on the other hand, felt like a freshly washed dish.
"Thank you." He called out warmly, receiving only a grunt in acknowledgment of the thanks. He remained unphased, quickly adjusting to the unfriendly nature of this doting big brother. Nix returned and took a seat once more. The stool popped in response to the returning weight.
"We are in Sanctum Vitae, commonly referred to in roadside gossip as the most famous healer's guild. You have been here for four days now. They were the ones who found you at Silverthorn mountain. Miles away from Starlit Order, might I add." He emphasized his last words and upon seeing Kaelen's confused expression, added. "That's our guild, Starlit Order." Kaelen nodded because what else could he do. His whole origin story had been wiped clean from his memory bank. More accurately put, it was all just extremely hazy and jumbled.
"I think I get the picture now. Somewhat. Before anything else, who brought me here? I would like to thank them first."
"Glad to see you developed manners after near-death." Kaelen rolled his eyes. "Don't bother with formalities. Your impressive brother already did the needful." He replied haughtily, and folded his arms with a smirk.
The smirk quickly fell, like he had also had a drink of the strange black medicine. His face turned serious. "Afterall, I know that the only reason they didn't kill you on the spot was because of Master. There is no need to thank these war-hungry bastards."
Upon hearing that, goosebumps appeared on Kaelen's forearms and his body ran hot and cold at the same time.