It’s not an uncommon occurrence, as there are new people every month. That’s the way that Teleios works, he’s finding. Every month, like clockwork, the Two bring in a new crop of people to put through their unnecessary tests and they all complain about the same things. Max stopped going at this point, wanting to stop listening to useless questions that no one ever liked the provided answers. It’s a waste of time. And the one person he wants to see shouldn’t be trapped here anyway.
So why go?
Still, there’s a new girl on the dock, and while that would not usually be a thing of note, today he notes it. She’s a pretty girl, that much is true. She seems out of place in a spot where he had been pouring out dead fish from his morning haul only moments before, but he’s glad she’s there. A change in scene from the crassly vocal fishermen is probably good for him, one way or another.
“Can I help you?” he asks as he drops another net of fish down onto the pier next to her, and when she turns and smiles at him, it’s like she’s graced him with a presence Max’s been lacking, a hole he didn’t know needed to be filled.
“I’m here to work,” she replies, hands on her hips. “Which is just as gross as it sounds, but I’m trying to prove a point to someone.”
He can’t help but raise an eyebrow in response, looking her over for a quiet moment. She’s got the standard gold bracelet on her wrist that designates Indebted, so if she’s assigned to work here, there’s nothing he can do to stop her. It’s proving a point that gives him pause. “What kind of point are you proving, exactly?”
“That just because I’m the daughter of a love goddess doesn’t mean I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. So. Put me to work.”
He should correct her and say he’s not the one actually in charge, there are big burly men behind him who will likely have a better idea of where to start, but he’s too intrigued to say no to that request, and nods to the fish next to him. “Help me sort these? Mostly by size and type. The kitchen doesn’t like it if we don’t sort out the prime fillets.”
“Got it.” She then sticks out a hand to him with a smile. “I’m Piper, by the way.”
He reaches for her hand in return and nods as he shakes it. “I’m Max.”
- - - - - -
Sorting fish turns into flirting, and flirting turns into a few dates, and Max can’t help but feel a small sense of déjà vu. It’s not the first time he’s felt it while being in Teleios, but it’s undoubtedly the strongest. There’s something about Piper that he feels in his bones, and while he doesn’t mention it, he lets her pull him along into the beginning of a relationship, a bond without interrogating it too much. It feels good, it feels right, and he doesn’t want to jinx it on the off chance she might go away.
The first time he kisses her in the front entrance to the temple, it’s almost like coming home, even if ninety percent of the time, he feels so far away from all the things that make home, home. He would have been content to kiss her forever if she hadn’t pulled away and said goodnight. There are few nights like this, with teasingly familiar kisses before he’s sent back to his room and she to hers before things come to a head.
“Wait.”
He stops as soon as she indicates, he always does, but when he does, the look on her face doesn’t match his dopey, teasing smile. The humor fades, and the quiet coax to kiss him some more dies. “What? What is it?”
Piper licks her lips. “What would you say if I told you that we’d done this dance before?”
The moment she says it, he can feel the truth of it – the déjà vu, the knowing that he can’t seem to escape. Still, if they had, he would remember. Wouldn’t he remember? When he doesn’t answer, lingering too long in the silence, she brushes her hand against his cheek.
“I won’t tell you if you don’t want to know. But I don’t know if we can keep doing this if you don’t. It doesn’t feel fair.”
That doesn’t feel acceptable either. The idea of not remembering Piper is one thing, but completely losing her feels impossible, so he stays silent again, waiting for an answer that feels something like the truth. Does he truly want to know? Will this make this better? He can’t be sure. More importantly, can he walk away from this and pretend that it doesn’t mean what it does, even if he can’t put his finger on why.
Piper reaches into her back pocket and pulls out a letter and hands it to him. It’s addressed to her, but she folds his fingers over the edge so that he takes it. “If you don’t want to know, don’t read it. Just send it back to me, and we’ll figure out what’s next. If you do read it … we’ll talk about that too.”
She turns to head back to her room and stands there, staring into the space she’s left behind before he turns and calls after her.
“Do you want me to remember?”
Because he’ll do it for her if that’s what she wants. He doesn’t care about this letter or whatever his reasons may have been for forgetting. He’ll do it for her. He doesn’t understand how he can feel that strong an urge for someone Max hasn’t known long, but it’s there and he’s never been one not to follow those kinds of feelings. She stops and turns back to him before shaking her head.
“It’s not about what I want, Max. This time, it’s all up to you.”
She leaves him standing in the entranceway, letter in hand, and tries not to feel entirely at a loss as to what to do next.
- - - - - - -
He reads the letter three times. The first, to read it because he doesn’t know what it says, even if he should as he seems to have written it. The second, to verify it was indeed his, to check his handwriting against the tired words on the page. Then the third, to take in the weight of it.
The problem is, he can’t say he wouldn’t do this.
According to the letter, his sister went to Utopia, and Piper was gone. It says it didn’t want her to come back as a kid again when he was only getting older and still find himself in love with her. It says Max was taking an offer from an agent to wipe it all away, start himself fresh and work to get where Max needs to be – working off his debt to find his way back to Sally’s side. He wrote the letter to explain, for Aphrodite to give her if she ever did return from wherever it is people go when they leave Teleios so that she would understand and hopefully not be hurt by it.
Piper knew he didn’t remember, but she still came and found him again. He can’t imagine what kind of place he was in to think that forgetting Piper was an acceptable consequence, but Max also isn’t sure he wants to remember now. He doesn’t know who that person is, the person he gave up to become someone new. He knows he probably didn’t like him, as some element of self-loathing is always part of him, but is that enough to wipe him away.
He leans back on his bunk, staring up at the ceiling as he turns the day's events over in his head. Eventually, he reaches for his bracelet, closing his eyes and focusing on the goddess in question to see if he can get her to focus on one thing long enough for a brief conversation.
“And here I thought you were done with me.” He could almost picture her face, blond and beautiful, alternating between warmth and vanity, depending on what suited her. “This must be important.”
“Did I give you this letter?”
“You’re calling me to fact check me?”
He makes a face because he should have known she would make this problematic. She’s made a career of it. But he squares his shoulders and does his best to stay on track. “Did I do this? Because you and me don’t get along, so if I asked you to do this, it must have been for a good reason.”
“Because you knew that if Piper came back, I would be the first person to find her.” The voice becomes resigned, almost as though she’s already had this fight with her alternate universe daughter. “And if your follow up question is going to be why did I let you, it’s because it wasn’t my choice. I wasn’t trying to make your life difficult or keep you out of Piper’s life. That’s my job. My job is to accept your favors when you’re ready to cash them.”
He swallows hard, staring up at the ceiling as he tries to phrase his next question. “Is it worth getting them back? Is she worth it?”
“I can’t answer that question for you.”
“Why not?”
“Because she wasn’t the only thing you forgot. She wasn’t the entirety of your story, nor was she the only thing you were trying to forget. You ask for your memories back, and you’ll be getting all of that.”
She’s right when she says that it’s his story to remember or forget. Before this, he hadn’t felt as though he was operating on empty pockets of information. He had had what he considered to be a good life. But now, he knows what he’s missing. Can he still live with all the vacancies that now sit ahead of him?
“What do I have to do to get them back?”
“Are you asking, or is this purely hypothetical?”
“I’m asking. What do I have to do?”
Silence echoes from the other end of the line, but eventually, she sighs. “I may have a quest that needs doing. If you’re still interested, meet Baal Amari on the dock tomorrow morning. If you don’t, I’ll know you’ve decided to stay as you are.”
“Can I back out in the middle if I change my mind?”
“You mean, can you fail? I would really rather you didn’t. But let’s say that if you change your mind in the middle, I’ll let you bank the favor for later use.”
Max nods, content with the bargain for now. “Deal.”
“Good.” She pauses, before delivering one last parting shot. “If you want my opinion, Max, love is always worth the risk. But then again, it is my brand.”
Max doesn’t respond one way or another. Instead, he curls up on his side, closes his eyes and tries to sleep. Max’s going on a quest tomorrow, after all. He’ll need the rest.
- - - - - - -
He sends a message to Piper early the next morning, letting her know to meet him at the docks. He’s not going to do this without saying goodbye, for better or for worse, but he’s hoping that it’s not goodbye they’ll be saying. When he arrives himself, Baal is there waiting when he arrives, and the usually smooth pirate is leaning against the mast, eyeing Max critically.
“Aphrodite tells me you’re in search of a quest.”
“I am,” Max crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Are you going to tell me that you were in love with me, and I erased you too?”
At that, the stern pirate exterior cracks, and the other man laughs. “No, no, nothing so serious. But you were a great first mate on my boat, once upon a time.”
So. Another friendship forgotten because Max decided to sell them away. The discontent must show on his face, and Baal shakes his head, before coming forward. “There are no hard feelings, my friend. We got to say our goodbyes, and I know why you did it.”
Max nods slowly before looking up at the pirate again. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing, trying to get it back?”
The pirate shrugs. “I can’t say for sure one way or another. But I’ve never found love to be an unworthy cause.” He smirks. “That’s why she likes me.”
Max huffs a laugh as he drops his pack on the deck of the boat, and he turns to see Piper standing there, seeming nervous. He makes his way closer, before holding out the letter to her again. “I wanted to give this back to you. I wrote it to you; you should have it.”
Piper nods, before glancing over the boat and waving to Baal. “So, are you going to get them back?”
“I’m going to get a favor that I may use to get them back. I’m still kind of undecided, and even if I don’t, it’s nice to have one, just in case.”
Piper nods again. “Well. Good luck. Hopefully, you find what you need.”
Max pauses, glancing back to the ship himself, before turning back to her. “Do you want to come with me?”
She blinks in surprise. “You want me to go.”
“I mean, I’m doing this because of you.” Max shrugs. “I don’t know if it’s the things I don’t remember, but I feel like we should be doing this together. And maybe by the time I get there, I’ll know whether or not I want to know.”
Piper squints at him. “Are you implying that I may be terrible company and not worth remembering after all?”
Max smirks, then shrugs. “I mean, I don’t think so, but better to be safe than sorry, don’t you think?” Then he grins, making it clear that he’s kidding, and she smacks him lightly on the shoulder in response.
“You’re the worst. You know what, you don’t have to remember me, but I’m going to come anyway.” She turns to charge over to the boat. “You’re a newbie at questing now. Someone has to make sure you don’t get killed on the way.”
He laughs, before turning to follow her onto the ship. Even if he doesn’t get any answers out of this, he still feels like this is where he’s supposed to be. And no matter what pain may be waiting on the other side, he’s yet to run away from something that’s felt so right.
and this present will be past ~ teleios ~ 2,475
It’s not an uncommon occurrence, as there are new people every month. That’s the way that Teleios works, he’s finding. Every month, like clockwork, the Two bring in a new crop of people to put through their unnecessary tests and they all complain about the same things. Max stopped going at this point, wanting to stop listening to useless questions that no one ever liked the provided answers. It’s a waste of time. And the one person he wants to see shouldn’t be trapped here anyway.
So why go?
Still, there’s a new girl on the dock, and while that would not usually be a thing of note, today he notes it. She’s a pretty girl, that much is true. She seems out of place in a spot where he had been pouring out dead fish from his morning haul only moments before, but he’s glad she’s there. A change in scene from the crassly vocal fishermen is probably good for him, one way or another.
“Can I help you?” he asks as he drops another net of fish down onto the pier next to her, and when she turns and smiles at him, it’s like she’s graced him with a presence Max’s been lacking, a hole he didn’t know needed to be filled.
“I’m here to work,” she replies, hands on her hips. “Which is just as gross as it sounds, but I’m trying to prove a point to someone.”
He can’t help but raise an eyebrow in response, looking her over for a quiet moment. She’s got the standard gold bracelet on her wrist that designates Indebted, so if she’s assigned to work here, there’s nothing he can do to stop her. It’s proving a point that gives him pause. “What kind of point are you proving, exactly?”
“That just because I’m the daughter of a love goddess doesn’t mean I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. So. Put me to work.”
He should correct her and say he’s not the one actually in charge, there are big burly men behind him who will likely have a better idea of where to start, but he’s too intrigued to say no to that request, and nods to the fish next to him. “Help me sort these? Mostly by size and type. The kitchen doesn’t like it if we don’t sort out the prime fillets.”
“Got it.” She then sticks out a hand to him with a smile. “I’m Piper, by the way.”
He reaches for her hand in return and nods as he shakes it. “I’m Max.”
Sorting fish turns into flirting, and flirting turns into a few dates, and Max can’t help but feel a small sense of déjà vu. It’s not the first time he’s felt it while being in Teleios, but it’s undoubtedly the strongest. There’s something about Piper that he feels in his bones, and while he doesn’t mention it, he lets her pull him along into the beginning of a relationship, a bond without interrogating it too much. It feels good, it feels right, and he doesn’t want to jinx it on the off chance she might go away.
The first time he kisses her in the front entrance to the temple, it’s almost like coming home, even if ninety percent of the time, he feels so far away from all the things that make home, home. He would have been content to kiss her forever if she hadn’t pulled away and said goodnight. There are few nights like this, with teasingly familiar kisses before he’s sent back to his room and she to hers before things come to a head.
“Wait.”
He stops as soon as she indicates, he always does, but when he does, the look on her face doesn’t match his dopey, teasing smile. The humor fades, and the quiet coax to kiss him some more dies. “What? What is it?”
Piper licks her lips. “What would you say if I told you that we’d done this dance before?”
The moment she says it, he can feel the truth of it – the déjà vu, the knowing that he can’t seem to escape. Still, if they had, he would remember. Wouldn’t he remember? When he doesn’t answer, lingering too long in the silence, she brushes her hand against his cheek.
“I won’t tell you if you don’t want to know. But I don’t know if we can keep doing this if you don’t. It doesn’t feel fair.”
That doesn’t feel acceptable either. The idea of not remembering Piper is one thing, but completely losing her feels impossible, so he stays silent again, waiting for an answer that feels something like the truth. Does he truly want to know? Will this make this better? He can’t be sure. More importantly, can he walk away from this and pretend that it doesn’t mean what it does, even if he can’t put his finger on why.
Piper reaches into her back pocket and pulls out a letter and hands it to him. It’s addressed to her, but she folds his fingers over the edge so that he takes it. “If you don’t want to know, don’t read it. Just send it back to me, and we’ll figure out what’s next. If you do read it … we’ll talk about that too.”
She turns to head back to her room and stands there, staring into the space she’s left behind before he turns and calls after her.
“Do you want me to remember?”
Because he’ll do it for her if that’s what she wants. He doesn’t care about this letter or whatever his reasons may have been for forgetting. He’ll do it for her. He doesn’t understand how he can feel that strong an urge for someone Max hasn’t known long, but it’s there and he’s never been one not to follow those kinds of feelings. She stops and turns back to him before shaking her head.
“It’s not about what I want, Max. This time, it’s all up to you.”
She leaves him standing in the entranceway, letter in hand, and tries not to feel entirely at a loss as to what to do next.
He reads the letter three times. The first, to read it because he doesn’t know what it says, even if he should as he seems to have written it. The second, to verify it was indeed his, to check his handwriting against the tired words on the page. Then the third, to take in the weight of it.
The problem is, he can’t say he wouldn’t do this.
According to the letter, his sister went to Utopia, and Piper was gone. It says it didn’t want her to come back as a kid again when he was only getting older and still find himself in love with her. It says Max was taking an offer from an agent to wipe it all away, start himself fresh and work to get where Max needs to be – working off his debt to find his way back to Sally’s side. He wrote the letter to explain, for Aphrodite to give her if she ever did return from wherever it is people go when they leave Teleios so that she would understand and hopefully not be hurt by it.
Piper knew he didn’t remember, but she still came and found him again. He can’t imagine what kind of place he was in to think that forgetting Piper was an acceptable consequence, but Max also isn’t sure he wants to remember now. He doesn’t know who that person is, the person he gave up to become someone new. He knows he probably didn’t like him, as some element of self-loathing is always part of him, but is that enough to wipe him away.
He leans back on his bunk, staring up at the ceiling as he turns the day's events over in his head. Eventually, he reaches for his bracelet, closing his eyes and focusing on the goddess in question to see if he can get her to focus on one thing long enough for a brief conversation.
“And here I thought you were done with me.” He could almost picture her face, blond and beautiful, alternating between warmth and vanity, depending on what suited her. “This must be important.”
“Did I give you this letter?”
“You’re calling me to fact check me?”
He makes a face because he should have known she would make this problematic. She’s made a career of it. But he squares his shoulders and does his best to stay on track. “Did I do this? Because you and me don’t get along, so if I asked you to do this, it must have been for a good reason.”
“Because you knew that if Piper came back, I would be the first person to find her.” The voice becomes resigned, almost as though she’s already had this fight with her alternate universe daughter. “And if your follow up question is going to be why did I let you, it’s because it wasn’t my choice. I wasn’t trying to make your life difficult or keep you out of Piper’s life. That’s my job. My job is to accept your favors when you’re ready to cash them.”
He swallows hard, staring up at the ceiling as he tries to phrase his next question. “Is it worth getting them back? Is she worth it?”
“I can’t answer that question for you.”
“Why not?”
“Because she wasn’t the only thing you forgot. She wasn’t the entirety of your story, nor was she the only thing you were trying to forget. You ask for your memories back, and you’ll be getting all of that.”
She’s right when she says that it’s his story to remember or forget. Before this, he hadn’t felt as though he was operating on empty pockets of information. He had had what he considered to be a good life. But now, he knows what he’s missing. Can he still live with all the vacancies that now sit ahead of him?
“What do I have to do to get them back?”
“Are you asking, or is this purely hypothetical?”
“I’m asking. What do I have to do?”
Silence echoes from the other end of the line, but eventually, she sighs. “I may have a quest that needs doing. If you’re still interested, meet Baal Amari on the dock tomorrow morning. If you don’t, I’ll know you’ve decided to stay as you are.”
“Can I back out in the middle if I change my mind?”
“You mean, can you fail? I would really rather you didn’t. But let’s say that if you change your mind in the middle, I’ll let you bank the favor for later use.”
Max nods, content with the bargain for now. “Deal.”
“Good.” She pauses, before delivering one last parting shot. “If you want my opinion, Max, love is always worth the risk. But then again, it is my brand.”
Max doesn’t respond one way or another. Instead, he curls up on his side, closes his eyes and tries to sleep. Max’s going on a quest tomorrow, after all. He’ll need the rest.
He sends a message to Piper early the next morning, letting her know to meet him at the docks. He’s not going to do this without saying goodbye, for better or for worse, but he’s hoping that it’s not goodbye they’ll be saying. When he arrives himself, Baal is there waiting when he arrives, and the usually smooth pirate is leaning against the mast, eyeing Max critically.
“Aphrodite tells me you’re in search of a quest.”
“I am,” Max crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Are you going to tell me that you were in love with me, and I erased you too?”
At that, the stern pirate exterior cracks, and the other man laughs. “No, no, nothing so serious. But you were a great first mate on my boat, once upon a time.”
So. Another friendship forgotten because Max decided to sell them away. The discontent must show on his face, and Baal shakes his head, before coming forward. “There are no hard feelings, my friend. We got to say our goodbyes, and I know why you did it.”
Max nods slowly before looking up at the pirate again. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing, trying to get it back?”
The pirate shrugs. “I can’t say for sure one way or another. But I’ve never found love to be an unworthy cause.” He smirks. “That’s why she likes me.”
Max huffs a laugh as he drops his pack on the deck of the boat, and he turns to see Piper standing there, seeming nervous. He makes his way closer, before holding out the letter to her again. “I wanted to give this back to you. I wrote it to you; you should have it.”
Piper nods, before glancing over the boat and waving to Baal. “So, are you going to get them back?”
“I’m going to get a favor that I may use to get them back. I’m still kind of undecided, and even if I don’t, it’s nice to have one, just in case.”
Piper nods again. “Well. Good luck. Hopefully, you find what you need.”
Max pauses, glancing back to the ship himself, before turning back to her. “Do you want to come with me?”
She blinks in surprise. “You want me to go.”
“I mean, I’m doing this because of you.” Max shrugs. “I don’t know if it’s the things I don’t remember, but I feel like we should be doing this together. And maybe by the time I get there, I’ll know whether or not I want to know.”
Piper squints at him. “Are you implying that I may be terrible company and not worth remembering after all?”
Max smirks, then shrugs. “I mean, I don’t think so, but better to be safe than sorry, don’t you think?” Then he grins, making it clear that he’s kidding, and she smacks him lightly on the shoulder in response.
“You’re the worst. You know what, you don’t have to remember me, but I’m going to come anyway.” She turns to charge over to the boat. “You’re a newbie at questing now. Someone has to make sure you don’t get killed on the way.”
He laughs, before turning to follow her onto the ship. Even if he doesn’t get any answers out of this, he still feels like this is where he’s supposed to be. And no matter what pain may be waiting on the other side, he’s yet to run away from something that’s felt so right.