The Spast stared into the mirror, thinking to himself. He’d been completely unable to sleep, a side-effect from his memory-returning medication. This wasn’t his bathroom, no, it belonged to the kindly Rethavok who had let him and his new friend Nyssi stay the night. As his memories returned though, he had become more and more concerned, mostly with who he really was.
“I can’t be.”
After a while, he started blinking each eye, one at a time. As he did so, his body shifted colours. With one blink, he was two shades of blue with red eyes. With another blink, he would turn red and silver, with deep, dark blue eyes that shined like sapphires. This was his… true form. Or at least his original, chosen colours. But the more that Tanos tou Ahvran stared at himself, the more he seemed to hate his reflection. Blinking again, he switched back to the two-tone blue and the now crimson eyes, and he felt… better.
A knock on the door distracted Tanos. This caused him to switch back to red and silver.
“Hello?”
“Sorry, I am in here!” Tanos rushed to the door and held it shut. He couldn’t let the others see him like this.
“It is not a problem,” Retvik replied from the other side. Tanos wondered why Retvik was up, it was 6:30am. “Please let me know when you are done.”
Tanos waited until the massive footsteps faded, then returned to the mirror. His memories were flooding back now, but he was still missing some of them. He couldn’t remember his brothers’ names, although he did know he had two of them.
Really, the Prince had always hated who he was. He never wanted to be royalty, and he especially didn’t want to be the heir to the throne. At the very least, he wanted the same life every other Spast got. One of luxury and partying and having fun. He’d never been allowed that, so when he’d been offered a chance to go on a diplomatic trip to Portalia, he’d leaped at it. Anything to get out from his father’s shadow.
The reality was, Lord King Ahvra was old. He was already 970 years old, and most Spasts died before they reached a thousand. On the other hand, Tanos was very young. He was only 57, and was still of studying age. His mother had died recently, after giving birth to his youngest brother, and that hadn’t made things easy. The age gap between them was huge. Tanos’s father may have made it past the big One K, but either way, he would probably die soon. And that would mean Tanos would have to take the throne. And he would be stuck as king for, well, about 900 years.
Tanos didn’t want to be Lord King. At least, not yet. Everyone else got their 200 years of being a kid and having fun, and Tanos wanted the same. He would begrudgingly accept being king eventually, but not before he’d had a chance to, well, live. Which he hadn’t yet, as his dad had basically forced him to study constantly, in preparation for being king.
Another knock on the door. Again, Tanos jumped, but he found himself changing back into his two-tone blue. Which, the more he looked at himself, the more he liked. Sure, he could have made his eyes brighter, but the mixture of dark blue and sky blue suited him.
“I apologise, but could you please pass me a roll of toilet paper?” Retvik asked. “The other bathroom has run out.”
Tanos’s eyes darted around the room, before settling on a large, unopened pack. He ripped it open, grabbed two rolls then approached the door, pausing to make sure he was still blue.
“Sorry, here you go…” Tanos muttered as he handed over the rolls.
“Are you well? You have been in there a while.”
“Yeah…” Tanos half-lied. “These memory tablets have given me nausea and tummy ache. I… don’t really want to throw up all over your fancy carpets.”
“Oh, do you want some water?”
“No, I’m good. I’ll be out soon. Sorry.”
Retvik grunted, then gave Tanos some space, pulling the door closed. “It is not a problem.”
With a sigh, Tanos leaned against the door and slid down it, really unsure of what to do. After all, he WAS the Lord Prince. But at the same time… he was also… technically dead. He could just… start a new life, as a new Spast. Or even just pretend he was some other race or something. Maybe not, but as far as he was concerned, he didn’t have to be Tanos tou Ahvran any more.
Again, Tanos flipped between his colours. He found he didn’t really have to concentrate at all to keep his blue shades. He could have done with trimming his fur collar, but apart from that, he looked distinct enough from the original Tanos that no one would notice. All he needed now was a name. Just a name. Not even a surname. Only royalty used surnames. The backstory could come later, especially since he could just cover it up with amnesia from the explosion.
After a moment of thought, Tanos smiled to himself. He straightened himself out, then opened the bathroom door.
“Oh, heya Nyssi!”
“Heya!” Nyssi beamed as she walked past. “You got your memories back yet?”
“Some of them! I remember my name now at least.”
“Oh?” Nyssi smiled. “So who are you?”
“My name is Tenuk.”
Nyssi blinked, then smiled again. “Nice to meet you, Tenuk!”
Tenuk smiled back. “Nice to meet you too, Nyssi.”