Backstory: A Broken Soul

Within the distance a figure can be seen stumbling and finding trouble with walking, occasionally falling to the ground, barely being able to pull themselves up. Painful calls of help can be heard emitting from the figure, but they start to end sooner and sooner as time goes by. The figure eventually stops to a standstill, supporting themselves on a nearby tree, holding their stomach. The screams have stopped, and the figures movements are becoming sluggish and weak.

Not too far away walks a cloaked traveler. Their features are obscured and they seem to be scanning the area with each step. They walk silently, feet making nary a sound until the sound of a voice reaches their ears. Quickly discerning the source, they turn towards the tree and dash their within moments to inspect the origin of the voice.

As the traveler turns to the tree they can quickly understand what they're looking at. The figure is of man who is in an extremely damaged state, their clothes ripped and torn, soiled in blood and dirt. What remains seems to be barely shirt, a hood that is hanging at the seams, and a mouth cover that is so soaked with blood, the weight is pulling it off. The mans body is covered in lacerations and wounds, and they are almost unable to make a single sound as they gaze onto the traveler. "Pl-please... help me..." The man slowly begins to fall to the ground from the three, howling in searing pain.

"...Hold still." The traveler draws a circle in the air before placing a hand on the wounded man's head. "...Beyond my capabilities. Sweet Anodyne." A pale light flows from the traveler's hand, closing many of the lesser lacerations, but not many of the larger injuries, as a pleasant warmth fills his chest.

As the traveler does so she can feel an odd shift in the air, which quickly dispels after the man mumbles something. The man lets out a breath as he is healed to an extent, and holds back a yelp from his body contracting in response to the breath. "Th-...thank you..." The man pulls himself higher to his feet, gritting his teeth as he nearly falls back down. "Conqueror...failed...dying....too weak..." He seems to be speaking random words, and the air becomes heavy.

"Oh, another vagrant soul." A deep voice rumbles from the bowels of the earth. "Ah, the Astral Tool! How are you, fading one? Enjoying what will be your last time in a woman's arms?"

The man seems to panic as he hears the disembodied voice. The bloodied face mask finally falls off as another howl of pain escapes his mouth. "I'm not...not ready...please, whoever you are, don't let me die..." this seems directed at both the woman, and the voice.

"Hold on." The pale light grows stronger as the cloaked woman puts more effort into the healing spell.

"And why should I? Your goose is cooked... Unless you are willing to entertain me, that is. I'm interested in this little web you've been caught in. How will you ever escape it? I wonder if your life is even worth continuing as things are now..."

The man tries to relax as his wounds heal and close, but he soon coughs up blood. "Internal..." He pushes his back against the tree, clenching his fist. "I will get past it...I could be the spider for all you kn-" His words are interrupted by another cough of blood, and he stays silent. "I can go on..."

"A spider trapped in its own web or so the story goes, but nonetheless I can see you keeping me entertained before your true time comes. Sleep and you'll find your second chance so to speak."

"Delirium. This is worse than I anticipated."

The man looks up to the helpful traveler and gives a bloodied smile. "I'm...I'm Vulkas.." He closes his eyes and soon falls asleep, seeming dead if he wasn't breathing.

"...Someone intervened." The traveler inhales sharply before hoisting Vulkas over her shoulder and carrying him to a small cottage not too far away. There, she inspects his injuries and notices that many seem to be completely sealed, both internally and externally. "Still pale however. Severe blood loss and fatigue."

Vulkas seems to stir occasionally, mumbling things in his sleep about promises and failure. It seems to be the words of a mad man, due to seeming completely random. Some time later he finally wakes up, inspecting his body and stretching.

"You're awake," notes the cloaked figure, "Are you well?"

He takes a second to be respond, regaining his senses. "...I'm not sure. I hope so, however. Thank you." He stands up, expecting some sort of pain, but soon finds he's fine.

"It is of no consequence. Stay here for as long as you need."

He seems confused for a second, but nods. "Where on Echo are we, exactly? It appears my mind is...still foggy. The whole situation appears to have transported me somewhere else from where I once was." He looks at his tattered clothes, looking distraught.

"Northernmost point," is the reply he gets as the cloaked woman produces a book, more of a journal than anything else, from their clothes and flips through the pages. "If you require clothing, wait a moment and I have some ready for you."

"Good, not too far from the..." He cuts himself off. He looks back to the woman, and gives a forced smile. "Very well, who are you, by the way? I don't believe I caught your name."

"Adel." She continues to flip through the pages until she finds a blank one and rummages in her cloak for a pen. "You could probably use a bath. There's a tub around back and soap with cloth to clean yourself with."

He nods and begins to walk to the back. "Thank you again Adel, I'm not sure I would be alive if not for you." His face seems to twist, remembering the odd voice that was speaking to him.

"You would have lived. Maybe not ending up in the same shape, but you would have survived."

"Depending on what happens I might end up explaining to you what likely would have ended me, even after me surviving said wounds. Apologies if I'm coming off strange and lost, but its likely for the best as of now." Vulkas gives no calls of what he could be meaning or referring to, and heads to the tub. Soon after he begins to bathe.

Adel waves him off before adding to the tiny book. "No sign of him here either... Recording results for later."

Moments later he finishes and calls from the back "May I have those clothes now?"

"Just a moment," replies Adel, closing the book for a bit. She draws a symbol in the air, which quickly produces a set of clothing, before walking to the back of the cottage to deliver them.

Vulkas quickly took them and got dressed after drying off, taking a few moments before coming out. "Do excuse my curiosity, what made you help me, anyway? Most people I've met would have just acted as if I was not there."

"Not in my nature. I'm not wholly altruistic or kind, but I won't sit around and let someone die if I can help it." Adel glances at him briefly. "Besides, who am I to judge whether or not you should have died there or not? I know just as much about you as you do me, meaning I have no basis on which to judge you."

He regards Adel with an appreciative smile, nodding. "I must state I'm quite comforted by that, I believe there should be more beings who have an outlook like yours." Vulkas remains silent for a second before opening his mouth. "...You aren't from Echo naturally, am I correct?"

"Not a native of this plane, no." Adel shrugs. "It's not a hard thing to discern."

He seems to chuckle ever so lightly, but quickly regains his composure. "Ah, no. I would have to agree with you there. Regardless if you aren't native I do hope you've been finding Echo adequate. Have you come here by your own leisure? Its not the easy feat." Vulkas glances to Adel as he finishes talking, keeping his face relaxed.

"I'm looking for someone, someone who probably doesn't exist on this plane. I woke up here years ago, how long ago I don't remember."

He bites his lip. "I really shouldn't be trying to get myself into things like this." He stops and thinks for a bit. "I could see if I'm able to assist you with finding them. Of course it may not work, but there's no reason to not give it a try."

"It's fine. While the thought is appreciated, you probably have more important things to do than wander around the world with a stranger dozens of times to find a single person who may or may not be here."

"Very well, and...whether it's important or not I'm still deciding now. From what I can tell it's a definite yes. Good luck with finding them though." His face finally gives some emotion as he talks, seeming confused and oddly somber.

Adel nods briefly in response before going back to writing in the small journal.

The somber look quickly goes away as he turns from Adel, gazing around the cottage. "One thing. I must say that I think I will end up staying here for longer, there are things I must sort out and...investigate. This is fine, yes?" Vulkas continues looking away, waiting for a response.

"As long as it doesn't get you killed or take more than two weeks. I'm packing up and changing locations, cottage included, in two weeks. You're welcome to follow, but if you don't it isn't an issue."

"I must assure the injuries I sustained earlier generally doesn't happen to me. It was simply an...accident. And I'll have to see within those two weeks as to whether I'll be following or not."

"Fair enough." Adel closes the journal and puts it away within her cloak. "There's a room near the tub that you can use for the duration of your stay."

"Thank you, I'll get myself acquainted and likely rest. Theres a few things I still need to run by within my mind." Vulkas walks back to the tub and gives a slight gesture with his hand, continuing to walk. After he reaches the room near the tub he looks around, letting out a breath of air.

"It'll be dark soon... Almost time for my other job to start."

He soon sits on the bed and closes his eyes, and starts to almost trace the areas of where his wounds once were. "So foolish...what have I done...?" He hears a familar voice. It sounds alien, almost mechanical. At the very same time its comforting and unsettling. "Wonders, my dear friend. You must realize we were close to our goal. I look forward to when you decide to try it once more." Vulkas growls but collects himself, and lies down on the bed, beginning to doze away.

Once night falls, Adel silently slips out of the cottage and returns to the tree from earlier. Something warped him here, otherwise he would have never found this place... What's this? She picks up a metallic box a dozen meters away from the tree. ''He must have dropped it before he got here. Sealed, so no one can open it without bending some rules or Something close.''

She looks around once more before lowering her hood and gazing at the sky. "Astra Asterism." Teal lines and circles cover the sky, forming a map of sorts. "Not here..." An x appear in one of the circles.

Vulkas begins to stir in his sleep, slowly getting up. "Nightmares..." He leaves his room and after realizing Adel was not inside, he exited the cottage and noticed the teal lines and circles. He sat down nearby, simply watching.

"Hm..." The lines and circles shift around in the sky at a slight gesture. "It's not here either... Or here or here or here..." countless xs form in the circles as the map in the sky rotates. "That leaves this area and that one as well." Two areas glow golden on the map.

"Strange Magic..." Vulkas continues to gaze upon Adel's work, taking notice of the two golden circles.

"Then it is decided. That mountain will be the first destination, then the cloud sea." Another faint gesture causes the map to slowly fade away. "Hm? What's this?" Adel picks up a small satchel tied shut. The cloth it is made of seems worn and dirty, but remains intact. ''Possibly his. The strange thing is how I didn't notice it before..."''

He eventually sits up, walking over closer to where Adel was. "Apologies but I couldn't help myself but ask, what are you doing?"

Almost immediately he finds a sword at his neck and a startled look across Adel's face."You were supposed to be asleep... Not that it matters now. Go back inside." There is a finality in her voice that says she won't be answering any questions. The sword fades soon afterwards.

Vulkas keeps himself relaxed through the whole scene, simply nodding and deciding its best to keep this alone for now. "Nightmares. But very well. Sorry for intruding." He turns and heads back inside the Cottage.

"At the very least it wasn't in the middle of the Asterism, else there would have been time wasted. I'll confront him tomorrow, but for now..." She takes a look at her outer layer of clothing and grimaces in disdain. "I should clean up."

Vulkas takes one last glance around the cottage as he heads back to the bed, trying to drift off to sleep. "I need to play..."

Adel proceeds to dress down before entering the bath, relaxing in the water before touching the tattoo like crest on her upper back. A faint shock ripples from it and she nods faintly, as if recalling something, before exiting the large tub, drying herself, switching to night clothes and going to sleep in the chair from earlier.

Hours pass and Vulkas awakes, not realizing he passed out soon after his urge to play. He feels relief as he had no nightmares, however the event that occured is still plaguing his mind. He got out of the bed and stretched, reflecting over his current situation. He quickly left his room, and headed into the main room of the cottage.

"You're awake." Adel doesn't open her eyes when she addresses him. "I take it you slept well."

"Well, yes. Good? Probably not. Regardless it could have been worse." He turns to Adel, seeming hesistant. "What was that magic, yesterday night? I've never seen it before."

"Something you're better off not knowing about at this point. If the time comes, I'll tell you about it, but until then do not bring up the subject if you wish to stay here as a guest." Adel's tone is final. "That being said, if there is anything else you wish to know about, I'll be forthcoming if possible."

Vulkas sits down on a nearby chair, running his fingers through his hair. "During the time of you finding me, did you happen to hear a voice...?" Vulkas doesn't look at Adel, seeming to focus his eyes on his hands. "A disembodied one, coming from nothing. It sounded amused..."

"I did not," she replies. "I did, however, sense interference."

Vulkas says nothing else before tapping his fingers on his legs. "It seems to be that it wasn't just you that willed me to live. I had thought it seemed strange, but nevermind. By the way, considering you're letting me ask this many questions, I'd be accepting enough to answer some of yours if need be."

"That bridge will be crossed when it is."

"Understood..." He sits in silence for a few seconds. "Other than the interference, was their anything else that seemed to be an anomaly?"

"Nothing big, at least nothing worth mentioning." Adel opens an eye. "I found a satchel outside. Is it yours?"

"No...? I don't recall any form of satchel, even when I stumbled over to the tree. Did you check it's contents?" Vulkas sits up, tilting his head.

"No, but other things had me preoccupied."

/"Yes, I do remember that. Do you think it'd be best for us to look inside, then?"

"It's up to you."

Vulkas seems to make a somewhat quick decision. "Might as well I suppose, somehow I doubt the result of us checking could be worse than what i've lived. Hand me the satchel."

Adel gestures to a corner of the room, where the satchel sits.

He sits up and makes his way to the corner of the room, reaching for the satchel and hesitantly opening it, investigating its contents.

A long chain is visible and seems to stretch far longer than the satchel is large. The chain is coiled in such a way that it fills the bag almost entirely, but makes no jangling sound.

"Peculiar.." He lightly shakes the bag to check the sound once more, but stops when no jangling is heard. He reaches into the satchel, grabbing onto the chain and pulling out the coil.

Eventually the chain ends in the blade of a kama on one end, pitch black but engraved with runes.

Vulkas places the satchel down as he inspects the weapon, feeling the chain and eyeing the blade, eventually noticing the runes. "This is... extraordinary..."

"Quite the find then," surmises Adel.

"Generally I don't tend to exercise the use of weapons, but I have to say I might now." Vulkas coils the chain and inspects the weight on the end, glancing at the crystals before heading back to the chair.

"So long as there is conviction behind the blade, it cannot be judged by the laws of good and evil..." Adel speaks in a faraway voice.

"Correct, but regardless of conviction, actions will always hold a consequence." Vulkas glances to Adel, trying to get a read on her.

Adel's eyes seem misty, as if a memory had been stirred. Her rigid features seem to have softened and she seems relaxed.

Vulkas can't help but find the woman intriguing, wondering about what she could possibly be recalling. "Have you experienced such a time, where you questioned your conviction?"

"Long ago... Long before I arrived here."

"If its not too personal, I must say my attention has been caught. Mind indulging?" His tone of voice is sincere.

"When I was younger, it had been instilled in me that I needed to be perfection, that I needed to be the best in all fields, with no equal. Up until the incident that sent me here, I believed that whole heartedly." A distant smile forms across her face. "Then I found myself alone, desperately alone. Solitude has a way of making you look back at yourself and see what you're lacking in and in my case I recognized that the path of perfection was a lonely one, lonely beyond compare. That was when I realized I needed to change."

Vulkas can't help but feel pity, almost recalling his own past as she speaks. "I have felt nothing but loneliness throughout the years....despite not being alone." He bites his lip, holding back his words. "The things we desire always contain a hidden price, and that price can be utterly devastating. Your desire was understandable, and your price even more."

"I wonder what price you've had to pay... Then again it may be best to keep that to yourself."

"I've no reason to, and I might as well return a tale of my own. I know the pain of being alone well, but that wasn't my price. I was an orphan..." Vulkas's face seems to turn into one full of sorrow, nearly clenching his fingers. "...I'm sorry, I thought I would be able to tell that story now. It seems I can't. I've had too many prices to pay, for too little."

"Someday then. Maybe you should get some fresh air."

"Yes, thank you." Vulkas gets up and regards Adel with a faint smile, and walks out of the cottage.

"...Old scars remain raw, even with time to soothe them."

He takes a deep breath as he walks, gazing onto the tree in the distance. "Never again..." Vulkas closes his eyes as he pulls out a black ornate violin along with a bow, resting the violin on his shoulder. Soon after he begins to play a song that is slow yet happy and light hearted in tone, but as it goes on gets darker and darker, speeding up in tempo.

Adel uses this time to change into her standard attire, discarding the simple nightgown and dropping it into a small bin. "I should head out soon."

Vulkas continues to play and the red and green designs begin to glow, the iridescent eye on the back starting to glow as well. The song gets louder and louder, and Vulkas seems to be putting more effort into it.

Adel begins to warp out of the cottage, but stops when she hears the song. She quietly steps outside the cottage, unaware of the brief wriggling of her shadow.

Vulkas is now moving and walking as he plays, seemingly in is own world. Despite occasionally looking at the cottage's general direction, he appears to be unaware of Adel.

Adel listens quietly to the song, closing her eyes and gently swaying with its melody.