Tears of Sane

Mace hated getting mocked, he knew he wasn't amazing, he knew he wasn't the smartest; but Mace was hand picked by the queen, before she became very ill, to protect Elena. He was the best soldier in the city's army, but that really never impressed; there was never a need for war or fights. He tried to keep his job professional, but even Elena seemed to mock his very efforts with the things she did. He was supposed to walk ahead of her, instead she tugged him along, he was supposed to clear people of her way, but instead Elena did all the work. He was hardly a body guard, he was lucky if Elena ever considered him a friend. And now here he was taking ridicule from her and an old man that he honestly thought was crazy, “I'm telling you, I AM her body guard. And I won't let you talk non-sense into the next queen, let alone, give her some drug you made!”

Once again the two laughed at him, Elena took another jab, “Don't worry about him Doctor Kouza.” She turned to Mace, “Down boy.”

“God damn it Elena!” Mace slammed his fist into the wall, “I've had it with your-”

The doctor cleared his throat before silencing them both, “Shut it, both of you!” For the first time in Mace's career with the girl, he watched Elena actually take an order. She stopped laughing and hung her head low with a slight nod, “Yes sir.”

Mace was in awe as the doctor spoke, his voice very rasp, “Now, Elena, this man is only trying to do his job.”

She interrupted, “But he always-”

Kouza took a deep breath, Elena stopped, “I wasn't finished was I?” Elena slightly shook her head, “Good. Now, this boy is doing his job. You may not feel like he's of any use to you, but back in the days of sun, he would have been a great warrior. Back then, men like him fought to defend princesses and queens like you. Do you understand that. There may not be any danger now, but this boy, Mace, would easily give his life to make sure you keep yours.”

As Kouza spoke, Elena couldn't help but to glance at Mace. She could never imagine this man ever fighting her battles, and especially dying for her. It was a weird thought that rushed through her head, but she did her best to just keep a calm face.

Mace wasn't so calm about the doctor's talk, “How dare you talk to Princess Elena like that! She is much more important than you, you have no right-”

The old man's scratchy chuckle cut Mace off, “Oh, you see Elena, there is his instinct killing in. It's in his blood to protect you and your honor.”

Elena turned to Mace, silent, but Mace didn't accept it, “How do you know what I do and how I feel! You've never met me.”

“I don't have to boy.” The doctor walked around his desk and reached around for something long forgotten. He pulled out a hand sized rectangle and dropped it down.

Both Elena and Mace glared at it and came closer, examining the strange object; the both mutter, “What is that?”

“This, is a tool.” The doctor opened the object, spread it and revealed thin slices of brown flaps, each of them had little black words on them. “Back in the days of sun, these tools were used for so many things. They entertained, they inspired, they taught, and they saved lives; some spoke the truth of our world and some filled our minds with fantasies. These tools, long, LONG ago, were the greatest thing humanity had. There was millions of them, millions before the rain came.”

Elena impulsively asked, “What's this wonderful device called?”

“A book.” The doctor flipped the brown sheets and revealed new words on every sheet as he flipped the the hundreds of them, “This one is a book of knowledge, it holds the truth, but not just the truth, the truth of Risim.”

Mace and Elena lingered over the book. Mace slowly poked at it, feeling the sheets, “H-How do you use it?”

“Those sheets are actually a form of paper.” His withered finger slid along the paper tracing the words, “A long time ago, what we speak now, our words, could once be recorded with these little symbols. The would write down these symbols in certain order, and people like us would actually understand these symbols and translate it into words, knowledge, or even speech.”

Elena gazed down at the words, “This is amazing doctor! How did you discover this?”

“I didn't discover this child.”

“What?”

“I never told you this, simply because you were going to be ready, but now that I have constructed the cure, I think it's safe for you to know.” The doctor eyed Elena then Mace, “What if I told you that once, when you were both very very young, you could use these books?”

Mace tilted his head, “What? I could never use this, this is the first time I've ever seen it!”

“Mace,” Kouza took a breath, “Do you know how to fight? Do you know how to use weapons?”

“Yes I do, that's why I was hand picked to protect Elena.”

“But do you ever even remember going through training? You may not know this, but not just anyone can do what you can. Or can you even remember your childhood?”

“What do you mean?”

“Can you remember when you were five or eight?”

“N-No.. I can't..”

“Elena?”

“No..”

“I believe I have a theory as to why.” Kouza flipped the pages a bit more and pointed at the words “Risim, November 1st, 1992. This book tells us when the first rain came. It tells use exactly what happened to use.”

“But that was only... fourteen years ago.. How does that work? I would have remembered that!” Elena was shocked by this, “It's impossible, the rain has been here since before I was born! Doc you would have remembered it right? Or the days of sun?”

“I would have been only in my thirties, but I can't remember any of it. As far as I know, the rain has been around since I was born. All I have to tell me other wise are these books. Anyway, this book tells us that on November 1st, the rain came down, and thousands died that night. But someone still had time to write it all down. Someone wrote down exactly how it started.”

Mace crossed his arms, “This is too much...”

Elena hushed him, “Shh! I want to know, spill it Doc.”

Kouza shook his head, “I can't fully explain it with words alone. But once you take the cure, your memories should come back.” He reached down into his desk and slowly took out a cylinder of what looked like water, “Here it is..”

“That's just water Doc!” Elena sighed, “You had my hopes up..”

“This isn't wanter.. Here,” Kouza poured a shot into a plastic cup, “Drink it.”

Elena slowly took the cup, but Mace swiped it away, “Oh no, I'm not letting you take this one first. Doctor, if I feel anything wrong, I will kill you, understood?”

Kouza nodded with an amused grin, “Understood.”

Mace nervously glared at the drink, then downed it. She wobbled his head as he gaged, “Wow..That's not water..” He shook off the bitter taste then glanced around, “I don't feel any different.”

“You will feel a massive headache soon, then you will pass out.”

“Wh-What!?” Mace scolded, “Why didn't you.. Ah..” his head began to throb before he had the chance to finished. His body wobbled and nearly slammed down if Elena hadn't caught him and laid him down.

Elena squealed as she shook Mace, “Mace! Mace!?” She snapped her glare to Kouza, “What did you do to him!?”

“He's regaining his memories,” He began to pour two more shots, “Our turn child.” He slid the plastic up to Elena, “Take it then go lay down, the boy will be okay when he wakes up.”

Elena nervously set Mace down and picked up the drink. She glared at the doctor and watched him drink the cure before walking over to his bed. Elena found herself the next best place to lay down, then downed the cure...