Chapter 3: Nightmares and Remembrance

Fall 5, Forget-Me-Not Valley, Romana's Villa

Eric is in a dark and lonely place. He has no idea nor clue as to where he might be, all he can see is sheer darkness in every directions. There isn't a trace of light anywhere. He walks around in the void of darkness, having no knowledge of where he's going. He can hardly remember anything, except his name. Why is he there, where is he going? His mind is a total blank.

After some time of walking around randomly, he finally hears the giggle of a familiar female. He turns around, and sees a young couple walking in the opposite direction of him. At first, he can hardly recognize the couple. But as he watches them walk away, he begins to remember slowly. The long black hair tied up in a braid, glasses, the blue sailor dress. He quickly realizes that she is Mary, and the other person walking away with her is Gray.

After realizing who they are, Eric panics and screams Mary's name, "MARY!!!!!!"

But no matter how loud he screams, neither of them do not hear him. They just keep walking into the dark abyss without even looking back once at Eric.

He thinks to himself, "Are they ignoring me, or could they not hear me at all?"

He then desperately runs toward Mary and Gray. He needs to stop them from getting any closer to one another before he loses her forever. But no matter how fast he runs, he doesn't get any closer to them. In fact, the couple are slowly getting further and further away from him. As he runs, he wonders if he is running backwards, or is he running in place?

After running after them for a while, he trips and falls to the pitch black ground. He doesn't understand why, but he unable to get back up. All he could do is watch as Mary walks away slowly as he stretches out his hand hopelessly. He's losing her. He has no idea how he knows, but he's losing her faster than he can ever imagine. Mary and himself are slowly starting to forget one another. To him, he feels as if he is the only one suffering. Mary has someone else who can take care of her, who she can lean on, who she can depend on. He has nobody, driving away Flora and Marty being on shaky terms.

The last straw was when he sees Gray kiss Mary passionately with her giving back just as much passion.

“MARY!!!” yelled Eric as he jerks up from bed. He takes a few deep breaths before realizing that he is in an unfamiliar place. He looks around and tries to remember what he did just the day before. The last thing he remembers is seeing Lumina answer the door for him.

But it doesn't explain where he is. He is definitely not at Ruby's Inn and he is not in the tent with Flora. His only clues that can tell him where he is are the furniture that filled the room. Unlike Ruby's Inn, all the furniture appears very expensive, made with genuine oak. A private bathroom with expensive porcelain toilet, tub, and sink. The decor is modest, but more expensive than the average joe could hope to afford.

The only place that he could think he is at is Lumina's home, the Romana's Villa. So he then climbs out of the bed and takes a look out the window. In the distance, he finds Marty's farm, still empty and lifeless as usual. He then looks down and notices the old shack nearby. He had noticed it before, but even with it's foreboding aura, he pays it no mind at the moment.

While he is distracted, he hears a knock on the door behind him. After turning around to see who is knocking at the door, he finds Lumina's head popping into the room saying, “Can I come in?”

Eric nods, and Lumina walks in. “Are you feeling any better?” asked Lumina once she stands directly in front of him. Eric does feels as if he's well rested, but he still feels rather frail. He has become thinner over time and his skin looks a little bit pale. But he still nods, but is at a loss for words.

Soon after nodding, Eric's stomach growls loud enough for Lumina to hear. Eric has never been so embarrassed in his life, but it has been a while since he last ate anything. Lumina only giggles and says, “You've been sleeping for 2 whole days, so I figure that you may be hungry. It's lunch time, please join us.”

Eric nods, and follows Lumina to the dining room where Sebastian can serve everyone. He is quite surprised to see that Eric is awake and moving around. But he would rather save his questions for later, and smiles for him seeing that he is fine.

During lunch, Eric stuffs his face with the food that he is served. Lumina, Romana, and Sebastian all watch speechlessly as Eric shovels his croquette and risotto down his throat. The relaxation tea was gulped down by the cupful. Little by little, however, life returns to their starving friend. After Eric has finished eating, he sighs deeply and thanks everyone for the wonderful meal.

“Now that you have recovered, mind telling us what happened?” asked Sebastian.

Eric sighs again, he has put Lumina and her family through so much worry. They do deserve an explanation, yet how does he go about explaining his situation properly? There's so much to say and yet so much more he cannot say. His first dilemma is trying to figure out where to begin his story. Last thing he wants to add or admit is his problem involving time traveling.

“I'm going through some hard times. . .” he begins, but takes a moment before continuing. “I know that this may not make any sense, but I am lost and confused. I have a hard time sleeping and eating. I can't work at the mines anymore, and I have a little bit of trouble making ends meet.”

“Say no more.” said Romana. She then looks at Sebastian and says, “From now on, you'll be making meals for an extra person. Until he can get back on his feet, Eric will be staying in the mansion for now.”

Sebastian understands and bows respectfully. However, Eric was not planning to stay at Romana's home, especially since Lumina lives there. How will Marty react if Eric decides to stay? Seeing that staying at the villa would only cause more problems between himself and Marty, he says, “Um, I appreciate the offer. However I really don't want to be a burden to anyone. So I'll have to turn down your offer.”

“So, what will you do from now on?” asked Romana.

Eric tried his best to come up with a plan, but the best he could come up with is, “I was thinking of heading to Mineral Town and getting a job or something. I'll manage somehow.”

“It's all right. We all would like you to stay.” said Lumina. After all, you have been helping me out with my piano lessons, and you haven't asked us for anything in return. We are grateful to you and we would love it if you could stay here. After all, if you do go to Mineral Town, who will help me with my piano lessons?”

Eric had completely forgotten about the piano lessons. For a while, he remains speechless. Since they are insisting, he thought about staying. However he still wonder's about Marty's feelings. Even though Marty knows the truth about Eric and knows that Eric has no romantic interest in Lumina, will that be enough to prevent Marty from freaking out?

Romana then approaches Eric and lightly taps him on the head with her cane then says, “You will continue to tutor my granddaughter with her piano lessons. And in exchange, you can stay in the guest room as payment. I will not accept no for an answer, is that clear?”

Eric nods, rubbing his head. Though the taps were light they still had enough force to hurt. With that problem now taken care of, it has been decided that Eric will stay at Romana's Villa for the time being. As far as Marty's reaction, he will just have to explain what happened and hope for the best.

After lunch, Sebastian clears the table, and everyone resumes their normal lives. Except Eric, who goes back to his room, and rests on his bed for a little longer. Having such great tasting food in his belly has made him sleepy again, and he still feels a bit tired. So starting tomorrow, he will officially be Lumina's tutor.

Meanwhile, the Witch Princess flies in over the forest and lands in front of her shed. She then walks in pulling out the lizard's tail out of her pouch saying, “Good grief, it took me a couple of days to find an extra lizard's tail, but at last I have one. Now to complete this rage potion before something else happens.”

Without hesitating, the Witch Princess starts her preparations to brew her rage potion. She begins starting a fire for the cauldron, lays out the herbs and other ingredients, and gets the special magic book that she will use to synthesize everything. Yet, as she is getting her spell book, she notices something happening to her detection orb. She stares at it glowing faintly symbolizing that there is a concentration of magic somewhere.

“That's strange, I can't even remember the last time the orb has reacted this way. How long has it been, about 100 years?” she whispered to herself. She then places a hand on the orb, which brings up the map of Forget-Me-Not Valley. A single glowing mark shows up over the top of the inn. The Witch Princess then sighs and says, “This thing must be broken. It's detecting a magical creature somewhere in the valley. That's impossible, I already rid of all of them a long time ago.”

Just then, the glowing marker vanishes from the Inn, and appears over the Blue Bar. This gets the interest of the Witch Princess a little bit more. She taps the glowing marker, but it remains still for a moment. She then places a hand on her chin and says, “Interesting, this thing seems to be teleporting around. It's definitely not an animals or a person. . . Maybe I should go check this out after all.” Seeing that there is something interesting out there in the valley, she takes her magic wand, and uses it to teleport herself to the Blue Bar.

At the bar, Flik scouts the area looking for his target. He then sighs and says, “It's been days, and I haven't seen any human that does not belong here. Whoever this Eric may be, he is pretty tough to find. I hope nothing happened to him, otherwise there goes my date.” He then places a hand on his chin, and bobs his head left and right saying to himself, “But if something did happen to him, the rope of time would have snapped immediately. So he's definitely out there somewhere. I should maybe check out Mineral Town, just in case.”

After raising his arm in the air and chants a spell in Earthian language, he warps himself to Mineral Town to widen his search. A few seconds after Flik vanished, the Witch Princess appears. She takes a good look around, but finds nothing. She then crosses her arms and says, “Drat, there is nothing here after all. I knew it, there hasn't been any magical activity in about a century, why would there be any now? Well, I guess I should go back, and finish my potion.”

Fall 6, Romana's Villa, Forget-Me-Not Valley

The next day, Eric wakes up from his long sleep. He feels a bit dizzy from sleeping so much, but at least he feels that he's somewhere near full strength now. Last night, he had a dream like he's been having lately. But it seems like little by little, he is losing Mary a bit more as each dream passes. It pains him to see those images each and every single night, but he has already learned his lesson about not sleeping at all.

After he is fully awake and ready to tackle the day head on, he takes a stroll around the mansion. It was not too early, but many shops have yet to open. Lumina is not playing the piano this early, instead, he finds her outside the garden watering some flowers. Afterwards, he finds the two cats that belong to Romana. The cats are friendly and allows Eric to pet them. They purr happily as he scratches them on their neck.

Just then, Sebastian walks out of his room, and finds Eric playing with the cats. He then walks up to Eric and says, “Good morning Master Eric. How is your morning today.”

“I'm fine.” answered Eric. “But please don't call me 'Master'. Just Eric is fine.”

“As you wish.” Sebastian answered respectfully. “I am about to start breakfast. It'll just take a moment, so please head to the dining hall.”

“Um, is there anything I can help with?” asked Eric.

“Help?” replied Sebastian in a confused state. “But you're a guest, I cannot ask for your help. I'll be perfectly fine on my own.”

“It's okay, I want to help out!” cried Eric. “I mean, I don't want to be a freeloader here. I know Miss Romana said I can stay in the room by helping Lumina out, but I am not doing anything right now. It wouldn't be right to just sit around and do nothing to repay Romana's kindness. So if I can do anything to help, just ask.”

Sebastian sighs, and says, “If that is what you wish, then I will not stop you. I could use a hand setting up the table, will you take care of that?”

Eric nods and quickly takes care of his task. He gets out the tableware, and places four sets of dishes on the table. Afterwards, Eric helps bring all the food out to the dining hall. But as he is passing through the main hall, he notices something odd. His hands were busy, so he finished his task first before returning his attention to the framed photographs resting on a table. Many of them were decades old, and has photos of Romana and Sebastian when they were both young. One photograph was especially odd because it had a picture of young Romana and Sebastian at about 20 years old standing with an old couple.

For some reason or another, the old couple appears familiar to Eric, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He figures that they must have been around 60-70 years old. He also feels that it's possible that he may in fact know the couple, but only when they were young. A hundred years had passed, and everyone he knows must have grown old and died. But there is something about the couple that he couldn't figure out.

The man was about as tall as he was. His facial features were sharp, but his eyes were kind. He had neck length white hair, with a moustache and beard. He wore a complete farmers outfit and had a red bandanna on his head. He was looking lovingly at the woman next to him.

The woman also had pure white hair that went down to her ankles. Her head was leaning on the man's shoulder, arm wrapped around his. She wore an overcoat, a blue dress, and a long skirt along with some boots. On her face were a pair of small glasses.

Sebastian then passes by, and notices Eric staring hard at the photograph. So he walks to him, and asks, “What are you looking at there?”

Eric shows Sebastian the photograph, and asks, “Do you remember who these people were?”

Sebastian takes the photograph, and stares at it hard for a while. He has grown old over the years, and his vision is not as great as it once was. But even with his difficulty, he can still recognize them. “Oh yes, I remember them. They were an old couple that I used to make friends with. They ran a farm over at Mineral Town many years ago. I used to be one of their best customers, buying the freshest crops for Miss Romana.”

“Do you happen to remember their names?” asked Eric curiously.

It takes Sebastian a while to remember the names, but after a few minutes he answered, “I'm sure that their names were Eric and Mary. Now that I think about it, the older man in this picture has your same name. But even so, I didn't get their last names.”

Eric's jaw dropped. The old couple in the photograph is Mary and himself. It was even more shocking to know that someday, he would meet Romana and Sebastian when they were still young. When he was back at home in his own time, Romana wasn't even born yet, and neither were Sebastian and Lumina. It amazes him how that even at his age, and in the past, they have all became friends.

“I owe a great deal to this couple.” Sebastian commented suddenly.

“Why is that?” asked Eric.

“You see, when Miss Romana was young, she wasn't the kind and warm hearted woman she is now. She was very spoiled, and rarely got along with anybody. Even I didn't enjoy working with her during those times when we were young. But then I met them, and things changed. They were a very friendly couple, and often came over to the valley to visit. One day, they started coming over to the villa, and Mary started making friends with Miss Romana. She showed her many thing that her own parents never showed her, like love and friendship. It took Eric some more convincing, several threats from his wife that still manage to make me laugh and be embarrased today, and some pleas before he would try to be Romana's friend as well. They eventually did become close friends.

Having good friends changed Romana and soon afterwards, she got married. Romana had a single son who also married, then Lumina was born. Unfortunately, our friends had already passed away before Lumina was born. But even so, what they taught Romana was passed down to Lumina by her parents. So in a way, they didn't die after all. They still live in our hearts.” Sebastian explained.

"Why did it take so long for Eric to like Romana?" Eric asked.

"When we first came to the farm, I was discussing the quality and prices of the crops with Mary when Romana began to insult Eric. She didn't understand his way of life and demeaned it. Of course he took the insults personally and they began to trade insults back and forth. It was quite entertaining to watch. One time the whole town came and made bets on who would win and when they'd stop. I was the one to befriend him. We would talk about our jobs and ways of life. We had many similar interests outside of work. Eventually when Romana decided to stay at the villa he and Mary came to deliver the crops themselves. That's how me and Mary managed to get him locked in what would be Romana's room and refused to let them out until they settled their differences." Sebastian said, chuckling at the memories.

“That's an amazing story.” Eric said. "I also don't blame myself for getting so upset with Romana. Farming's my life! Nobody should insult a farmer and his pride." he thought.

“However, even after all is said and done, their descendants didn't turn out the same way as our friends did. They were hard working and dedicated people, but their great grandchild is nothing like them. Don't get me wrong, Marty is not a bad person, but he needs to be more like Eric and Mary. I only wish that someday, someone would give him the same treatment that Miss Romana got when she was young.”

“Maybe someone will.” said Eric suddenly. “I don't know how I'm going to do it, but if the Eric in this photograph could do it, I could too. Just wait and see!”

Sebastian smiles, then they go back to work. For some reason, Eric feels like he made a good choice by accepting Romana's invitation. Already, he feels like if everyone at Romana's Villa are members of his own family. He feels like he can do anythng after seeing himself together with Mary in the picture. It gives him hope that he will make it back home, and reclaim Mary's heart.