Like memories in cold decay

Transmissions echoing away

Far from the world of you and I

Where oceans bleed into the sky

The Catalyst – Linkin Park

I heard something. It wasn't very loud, but it had managed to wake me up anyway. I sat up more, one hand on the mattress to support me and the other instinctively going up to my right eye. The patch was still in place, so I opened my other eye to find out where that sound came from.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary in my room, until I spotted the red fluffy hair and some white feathers sticking out of the blankets on the floor. I smiled, relieved that it was only him, until I noticed what the sound was. Was he... crying? The heap of blankets moved up and down in tiny shudders and now that I was listening closely I heard him sniffling underneath it.

"Mark? A-Are you okay?"

He didn't respond, was he still asleep? I carefully stepped around him and crouched down next to him, like I'd done yesterday evening. He was entirely covered with the blanket, except for a tuft of hair that peeked out of the pile. I picked a corner and pulled it up, revealing his face. While he was sleeping there were tears rolling down, and his breathing was uneven. I put a hand on his shoulder and tried calling his name again.

"Mark? Wake up, it's just a dream..."

Finally he reacted, not as abrupt as last time but calmly, he opened his eyes. As I expected they were blue, they even had a hint of purple in them.

"Hey, is everything alright?"

"Y-Yeah, now it is..."

"Did you have that dream again?"

He moved his arms so they were above the covers and closed his eyes again for a moment.

"No... It was not the same one. I think- no, I know that it wasn't a dream... It can't be, it felt way too real and I just feel like the events in it have happened to me, in the past."

I stared back at him. "So... That means the other dream also really happened? You actually got here because that son of a bitch threw you off the nebula?!" He nodded slowly and brought a hand to his face, wiping the tears away.

"What... happened this time?" I asked hesitantly, not wanting to make him even sadder but also puzzled by the fact that they were actual flashbacks instead of dreams. He sat up and pushed the covers from his chest, pulling a hand through his hair.

"This was something that came before the fall in the first one, it was... a lawsuit."

I raised a brow. "Did you need to go to a courthouse?"

"Yeah, but not for a crime I committed. It was another daemon, Athmhuintearas Dé, who got convicted for attacking other people with a dagger." His face twisted again when he spoke about the daemon, though not in the same way as when he'd speak about that Maður Svik . He obviously had totally different feelings towards him, like anger or even disgust. But this Athmi-dude (what was his exact name again?), he was definitely someone closer to him, someone he cared deeply about.

"Convicted? Like, sent to prison, or..."

"Banished." He filled in, letting his head hang down. "He had spent some time in a cell, but that was only a temporary measure during the process of the lawsuit. He... He wasn't even in the Court at the last meeting of the council... I-I didn't even... get to say goodbye..."

The purple in his irises kept getting more intense, he was really hurt. I felt kinda helpless, I couldn't think of something to say that might comfort him. I could always try...

"I'm sure he was a great guy, and I'm really sorry about what happened." I said, barely louder than a whisper. He smiled weakly and looked up at me.

"Thanks Jack. It's just so weird... I feel horrible and I know he was incredibly important to me, but I can't even recall what he looked like, how long I've known him, what we've been through together,... All I have is a name, and that's only his real name. I know I called him something else, though I can't remember what his nickname was..."

"Wait, what did you say his real name was again?"

"Athmhuintearas Dé."

I jolted up slightly. "Hey, I know what that means!"

Mark was clearly taken aback. "You do?"

"Yeah, It's Irish! It means... 'reconciliation of God', if I'm not mistaken..."

His surprised expression made room for a soft smile. "I think that it suits him, it just... fits in my mind, you know? The reconciliation?" I smile back at him, glad that I managed to cheer him up a bit. However, a new question busts into my train of thoughts.

"So wait, do all of your real names mean something like that?"

"I guess so, yeah."

"Then what does that Svik-guy's name mean? Do you know that?"

He dug through his memory, one hand on his chin. "Hmm, no, I don't know what Maður Svik means, but I recall him telling me he was from somewhere pretty Nordic, Norway maybe, or Iceland..."

"Alright, no problem, and what does yours mean? Oh, also another thing I was thinking about... Why do most people call you Mark then? That doesn't even remotely sound like Ke Hiuwee... Well, your real name."

He chuckled. "Ka Hiohiona Kekahi. That means 'the marked one' in Hawaiian, since I was born there. And well, the name 'Mark' was kinda in it already, so I went with that..."

I let out a long, high pitched 'ooooooh...'

"Now it makes sense! You have to tell me about Hawaii sometimes though, I've read about it somewhere and it sounded like a beautiful place to me!"

"You know, I could always fly you th-"

"NO!"

He started laughing at my violent reaction, clasping a hand over his mouth to keep himself quiet. I tried my best to throw him an angry look but failed terribly, of course. His eyes were shut tightly but I was pretty sure the blueish purple was slowly disappearing.

When we had both collected ourselves again I stood up from the floor, offering him a hand. He scrambled up as well with my help and my eye fell on his waist, exposed by the fluttering shirt.

"Ah dammit, I forgot to change your bandages!"

He looked down and pulled his shirt up, showing the white layers running over his skin. "I almost forgot they were still there, I don't feel the bruises anymore and I quickly got used to the bandages..."

"Maybe I can change them now, it seems like it's quite early, so I guess my parents won't be up yet." I didn't wait for him to answer and went to search through my stuff to take care of him. I got what I thought I'd need and motioned for him to get on the bed. He did so and removed the black shirt with his right hand, tossing it over the bedframe. I unwrapped his torso and gaped at the sight of it. The bruises were nowhere to be seen and the cuts got degraded to scars that were barely visible.

"Wow... I didn't expect your wounds to heal that quickly..."

"Well, I guess I won't be needing new bandages then!" He chirped happily.

"Whoa there Markimoo, don't forget about your arm!"

I put the used bandages aside and went to focus on his left arm, carefully removing those bandages as well. Holding that arm in place, I put slight pressure on different places with my fingertips.

"Where does it hurt the most?"

He watched my fingers slowly crawling over his skin. "It... Actually, up 'til now it doesn't hurt at all..." He said, a small amount if disbelief in his voice.

I looked up at him. "What? Are you sure? That's not possible, a broken arm should hurt at least at some spots on your arm! Wait, maybe I missed it by accident, let me try once more."

I shifted my hands to start the procedure over, pushing gently on the place where the fracture was. While doing that I kept inspecting his face for any sign of pain or discomfort.

I came to two possible conclusions: or Mark is a great actor and he decided to hide the pain from me, or... I actually managed to cure a broken bone in less than two days.

"Don't you feel anything?" I asked him, pressing harder on his arm.

"No... I'm not in pain, my arm feels normal... You've healed it completely."

"That can't be! I'm probably just not doing this right!"

"Easy, Jack! I'm being serious, it doesn't hurt any- AOW! Stop pinching me!"

I let go of his arm and he rubbed it, sticking his lower lip out in a childish pout.

"Now it does hurt, you jerk!" He said in a matching childish voice to go with his expression. It made me laugh, wiping the stress from my mind. I did it! I fully healed someone!

Picking all the bandages and flasks off the bed I nudged him. "What a big baby! Should I change your diaper too while I'm at it?"

"For your information, I'm 26, you douche!" He quoted me. It suddenly struck me that I'd never asked him his age... But apparently we're the same age, despite the fact that he'll be 26 forever and I will just age like all other humans. A devious grin replaced the pout on his lips. "And what if I'd say yes?" He said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ew no! You're so gross Mark, don't even think about it!"

He giggled along with me before catching his breath to say something. "But seriously, thank you Jack. You definitely have a great talent for these kinds of things and I couldn't be more grateful for what you've done for me."

"Ah don't mention it, I gladly did it and I would do it again if ever needed!"

I dumped the bandages in my medicine drawer and put the small bottles back in their spot. It felt amazing, knowing that I've helped someone get better so fast that I even couldn't believe it myself. Mark should get used to the idiotic smile on my face, because I don't think it'll wear off soon.

A strange noise suddenly sounded from behind me, and when I turned back around I saw him looking down at his stomach, putting a hand over it.

"Was that... your stomach making that sound?" I asked, and he threw me an apologetic look.

"Umm, maybe?"

"That didn't sound like a hungry person, for a moment I thought there was a dragon hiding under my bed or something!"

He put his hands up and shrugged. "Sorry! No dragons to be seen here! Would've been cool though..." Trailing off he looked at the window, the sun had just risen up above the hills on the eastern side.

"You know what, my parents will be up soon, and after they're gone we'll immediately get breakfast. How does that sound?"

"Pretty damn delicious!" He said happily. "I'm getting even hungrier when thinking about that breakfast from yesterday 'cause oh boy, that was a great start of the day!"

"Ah jeez, could you stop kissing my ass for five minutes? Then I can get my clothes on and we'll be ready for when one of them comes to check up on me."

He grinned widely, and got up from the bed to grab the torn flannel from my chair. I stood in front of my closet and without hesitation I took my lucky flannel out again. It would only make this nice day even nicer, I thought, so why not? We both got dressed and sat on the bed. Mark was still getting used to not having those bandages and splints on his left arm, moving it around and wiggling his fingers.

"I can't get over the fact that you cured a freaking broken arm over two nights... You should become a doctor or something!"

I beamed back at him, but it didn't last long. Being a doctor, healing and helping others on a daily basis? Being there for people every day, making sure they can always count on me? Sounds amazing and all, it's just a shame that it'll never happen.

"That's going to be quite impossible... I don't think people would like a doctor with only one eye that's septic and green and a back that's scattered with welts. How can you trust a doctor who can't even treat himself?"

"I trust him."

I got my smile partly back, and he put a hand on my shoulder. It was pretty similar to what I did to him after that first dream yesterday, and the depressing thoughts seemed to drain from my head.

"Heh, you do? To be honest, I don't think a guy with bright red hair and giant wings on his back would be trusted by many doctors... But I do! Don't you worry about it!" I snickered.

"Maaaaybe you're right. Then you can be my personal medic!" He winked, and I played along. I plastered on my best amazed expression and put my hands on both sides of my face.

"Really?! What an honour! Will I actually become the personal doctor of the great Markimoo? Holy fuck I can't believe it!"

He burst out laughing and I followed soon after, unable to hold up my act. We desperately tried to keep quiet, but that was quite the task. The laughter died down, like it always had to at one point.

"Damn, can't we spend an hour without being ridiculous? I'm gonna have abs of steel if we continue like this!" I breathed, clutching my sides. Mark was still out of breath, so he just nodded.

"You know, maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing, then I'll be-" I cut my sentence short, a frown replacing my smile.

"What do y-"

"Sshhh! Wait a second..." I shushed him, concentrating on whatever my ears could pick up. Then I heard it again. Feet shuffling over the floorboards, a wooden closet creaking, muffled voices...

"I think my parents are awake." I whispered to him.

"Alright, I'll get up on the roof until they've visited and left again." He stood and walked to the window, opening it wide.

"Oh Mark, wait, take this." I handed him the blanket from the floor. "It'll be pretty cold, and this way I don't need to hide it from them. Just... Don't forget it up there." I added, and he rolled his eyes.

"Yes mom, I'll be good."