Deus Didymus: Rend

Chapter Thirty-Six: Comfort in a New World

The woman approached Kami with a wooden bowl. "Here. Drink this. It should make you feel better."

Kami stared at his reflection in the verdant liquid. A sense of familiarity hit him before fading away. 

"Do you remember anything?" The woman questioned. Her soft gaze displayed her empathy, hinting to Kami that something was wrong. 

Despite his flaring nerves, Kami drank the green liquid before staring blankly at the empty bowl.

"That seems like a no." The woman frowned. "You don't seem like a local, but you breathed in the dust from one of the nasty plants. It blocks your memories, but hopefully the medicine will help you get it back."

"Blocks my memories?" Kami repeated.

The woman nodded, "It suddenly sprouted out of nowhere; I've been looking into it, but without an inert sample, I run the risk of losing my memories as well."

Kami studied the woman. She wore a white lab coat with a tight black sleeveless top that hugged from her neck to her waist. At her waist, a black pleated skirt dropped above her knees where a pair of thigh highs ran underneath. 

"What do you do?"

"I'm a healer." she smiled. "My name's Sumin. Park Sumin. What's yours?"

Kami remained silent. 

"Right... You can't remember."

The crimson eyed instructor moved to his feet. 

Sumin extended her hand toward the young man. "Hey! You shouldn't be moving so soon after waking up!"

Kami stepped through the doorway, widening his eyes at the sight before him. The land dipped down into a bowl shape. Many streets and buildings tightly coated the surface until they reached the opposing mountains. 

Lights brighter than any lantern he had seen before twinkled like the stars he gazed upon so often, outshining the cascading moonlight from above.

"What's happening...?" Kami questioned. "Are we under attack? Why are there so many bright lights?"

Sumin giggled as she stepped next to Kami. "Amazed? You're definitely not from here."

"I need to go help-"

Sumin grabbed Kami 's wrist with an amused smile, "There's no attack. Those are the city lights."

Kami furrowed his eyebrows, "City lights...?"

The amused expression on Sumin's grew to glee as she tugged at the young man's wrist, "Let's go get you a catalog!"

"Catalog?" Kami questioned.

Sumin pulled her hand away, crossing her arms, "How do I explain... It's a thing that hooks up to your brain and gives you a bunch of information and stuff at once. It's like looking at all of the books in a library!"

"That sounds useful." Kami commented.

"It is!" Sumin giggled. She leaned forward, lowering her voice to a breathy whisper. "Follow me~" 

The pair walked down the dirt path Sumin's hut resided on and through the illuminated streets. Throughout their walk, the awe that covered Kami's face brought joy to Sumin's face as if she had taken a young child to a candy shop. 

"Are you a traveler from a far away village?" 

"I don't know." Kami replied. 

Sumin shrugged, "I'll assume you are since you don't know what city lights look like. You speak really well for someone from a distant village though." She swayed in her spot, bumping Kami with her shoulder. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you were a scholar or someone high up from this city."