The dust slowly settled on the ruins of an old temple, flattened into rubble as the battle that had raged for days finally came to a close, the victor standing with his sword pointed down, the tip pressed deep into his fallen enemy’s belly. The standing combatant was old and withered, with stringy strands of gray hair framing his scowling face, his red eyes narrowed in the breeze that flapped the tattered remains of his once-shining platemail armor.
“You are nothing but an ignorant child, Nyx.” he said, his voice hoarse after breathing in the cutting particles of the fallen woman’s magic that now littered the debris like glittering snow. “I wanted to end this conflict, but you left it to fester. If you didn’t stand in my way, it would not have come to this.”
The woman grit her teeth, smirking and maintaining the hard look in her eyes as she stared at him, her silver hair full of dust and weighing her head to tilt downwards, and though her empty hand held the spot his sword had pierced, she didn’t shiver, and when she spoke, her voice was as clear as it had ever been.
“After all this, you still think you’re a hero? What sort of people would cheer for the man who slaughtered most of their population on a mad quest? You and the Great Spirit truly are alike. You are both monsters bound by no conviction, who turn a blind eye to the suffering of people. You’re no father of mine.” Her blood red eyes, marking her as his descendant, held direct contact with his, and her pointed ears twitched as she talked, her breathing forcibly held steady so she wouldn’t falter in her glare.
He stepped back, pulling his sword from her body and flicking it to the side to clean it. “Half-devil or not, you are still a proud Borealis. I won’t be so cruel as to ignore your achievements just because they don’t align with mine. You just never understood that all this was necessary for peace to finally come.” He turned to the side, his gaze moving from her still form to track along the remains of the path that once bore the markings of the temple’s central hall, a simple stone dais standing at the other side.
“You mean like you denounced Hector and drove him into madness?” she asked, venom in her voice, though she was too weak to more than lightly bang the back of her head against the broken brick she laid over. “And like you turned Ceres into a broken clock, endlessly repeating your venomous ideology? How can you claim to fight for peace when you did that to your own daughter?” Once, she spoke with the same stuffy tone he used, but now, with her formerly beautiful form covered in blood and mixed particulate, formality had no role here. She had nothing to keep her mouth from moving, no reason to maintain the facade of mutual respect they once shared. “No good man would place his impossible expectations onto a child like that. It’s sickening to see what you did to her.”
He stopped his pace, turning his head to look over his shoulder. “Ceres is older than you, and she understands my philosophy far better. Regnica doesn’t need a warlord to rule it, and she will be perfect to put the pieces back together. She will respect the dead and be a savior to the living. Regnica will flourish with her as Queen. I would rule myself, but after all I have done, only the Great Spirit can fairly judge me. I became a monster to prove my humanity.”
“I’ve heard that insane mantra of yours too many times to count. It’s complete nonsense, and you know it. You’re just too arrogant to accept that the world was better off before you-” Her voice cut out, her eyes widening into saucers as she choked, the taste of iron filling her mouth as she felt the invisible force of his magic crushing her windpipe. Too exhausted to resist the invisible hands around her throat, she could do little but watch as he flicked his damaged sword in her direction. A crack in the blade had weakened its temper, and it broke off, sending the tip spinning in the air before it lodged firmly in her neck. It missed her vitals, but now, her speech had been severed, her head limply falling back. She now focused all her effort on simply breathing, staring in horror as he continued to walk towards the altar.
“Peace is all I care about, no matter what form it takes. With my actions, there are no more nations to fight over territory, no dragons to kill innocent civilians, and no wizards to twist the natural laws. From the ashes I have made will rise a world too afraid to ever again come into conflict.” As he spoke, the air slowly began to fill with multicolored dots, erratically fluttering in loose patterns that bobbed to and from the direction of the wind like living lights. “With this, everything can start from zero.”
When she didn’t respond, he frowned, reaching a scarred hand to set his helmet, smashed in on one side and off balance on his skull. “Despite everything you’ve done to ruin my ambition, I can never hate you. Though you are a half-devil, you are still my daughter, Nyx.”
He took a deep breath, giving himself a moment to stand still and listen to the quiet twinkling of the lights before he stepped up to the dais, lowering his hands and opening them to face his palms to the sky. “And now, it is time to give my prayer. Great Spirit, I have done as you asked! I have brought an end to the madness that plagued this world, and granted it the ability to start over! Will you answer my efforts?”
The ground rumbled as the lights began swirling around the platform, and though no figure appeared, a female voice sounded out, echoing across the ruins with a booming voice. “Leo Borealis. You have returned to me after so many years, so have you accomplished the task you wished to complete?”
The man knelt down, his face pointed firmly to the ground as he nodded. “It has been long and arduous, and I have begun to see the signs of old age, but it has finally ended. There is nothing for the people who have lost your guidance to fight over anymore. I have become the greatest devil that this world has seen, but in doing so there is no longer a need for them to kill.”
There was a long pause, before the Great Spirit spoke again. “You have become more than human, a monster whose Authority is without equal. I sense it in you, you have stolen the splintered powers carried by wizards and turned them into your own magic. Was it your intent to commit a feat that placed you on the pedestal of a god?”
Leo’s eyes widened, and he rapidly shook his head. “Of course not, Great Spirit! This magic that I created was only to serve your request, not to claim any sort of special title! I intend to give it back to you, so that you may take for yourself this collective power of humanity that you previously lent to us.”
The swirling wind died down, and her voice lowered as she responded. “That Authority is the product of your mortal sins, the culmination of the evil you have wrought. Though you have used it for good, it is toxic to me. I have seen what crimes you have committed, and though I am not pleased, I will listen to the request that I promised I would grant you. Keep your stolen power, and speak your wish.”
Leo faltered where he knelt, confused by the statement, before he nodded, lifting his head to face the altar. His eyes narrowed, blinded by the brightness of so many of the dots gathered in one place. “My wish is to be taken back to the time before this catastrophe started. I want to change the future, to use what I now know to alter the fates of those I killed.”
The spirit was silent as he spoke, and when she finally replied, it started with a drawn out sigh of frustration. “You have learned nothing in all these years, Leo Borealis. I had expected that you would realize the true meaning of this quest I granted to you, but it seems that you have remained conceited beyond compare. I am disappointed.”
Leo blinked, his eyes widening at the accusation. “Great Spirit, I am humbled by your presence! I did as you asked me to, this was not my own desire!”
“Be silent and ponder the wretched creature of sin that you have become. You arrogantly believed that the world needed you and you alone to be its salvation, and for that I will punish you. Your wish will be accepted, but you will be prevented from changing what you have done.” The wind picked up, a violent maelstrom that pulled rubble into the air and rumbled the ground beneath his feet.
“What have I done to anger you so much? Please, tell me and I will fix it!” he shouted, standing up and digging his heels into the ground to fight the wind as he stepped forward toward the altar. He wasn’t hurt by the wind, which bounced off the skin exposed by his damaged armor, but he still found it hard to resist, his eyes narrowing as he raised his hands to block the glittering crystals cast off by the previous battle. “If I have done wrong by you, I will accept whatever you desire of me, but I want to know the reason!”
“Your pride!” boomed the Great Spirit’s voice, deafening over the cyclone as the lights began to fizzle out, cast away by the current. “That vanity that demands you to be above all others, that despair you have forced upon those you swore on your sword to protect! You have stopped no chaos, you have simply taken its place! And as your retribution, you shall live as a stranger in your own skin, an empty boy who sees the terror he became. Just as you have one-sidedly decided the world will do, so too shall you start over from zero!”
The image of piercing green eyes shining through dirty strands of brown hair pierced through the darkness in the boy’s mind, the haunting grin of the unknown figure widening in a mad cackle as he looked up to the sky. He had no nose, the middle of his brown face lacking detail other than his snake-like nostrils, which flared out as he spoke in a childish voice that didn’t match the repulsive expression he made. “Thanks for the meal!”
As the figure looked back down, his eyes narrowing in a tired stare, the boy’s head swam, the darkness giving way to flashes of light and color that blurred together, dragged away from his head so that all that was left was a colorless void. He had no past, no present, and now all that remained was the visage of that feral beast’s face before his thoughts faded to nothingness as his mouth opened in a scream.
He jolted awake, his hands gripping the sides of his head as he stared wide-eyed at his lap, before the nightmare faded, replaced with confusion as he found himself sitting on a rickety wooden chair, a mild pain in his elbows where he had accidentally slammed them against a bar counter in front of him.
He looked around, blinking as he found himself staring at a giant of a man, staring at him with a surprised expression on his aged face. His hands were up, one holding a rag that he’d been wiping across some sort of metallic box that looked tiny in his massive palm, though after a few seconds of mutually staring at each other, the old man turned to set the box back in its place next to a series of other seemingly random artifacts situated on shelves behind him, before he knelt to reach for something in a shelf on his side of the counter, his weight making a thud as his knee hit the floorboards.
“I haven’t heard a shout that loud in years. Take the chance to relax, I’m not going to kick you out just yet.” He raised his hands, bringing out a glass that he set in front of the boy before lifting a bottle and tilting it to pour with surprising grace for his rugged appearance.
The boy blinked, reaching his hands to gingerly grip the cup and lift it to his nose. It was alcohol of some kind, though he wasn’t sure why he recognized the smell. His head was foggy, and now that he was fully conscious, he felt like he should be remembering something, but he drew a blank on what it might be. “I can’t pay for this. I’m sorry, this might be a strange question, but where am I? And...who am I?”
It sounded silly to say aloud, but questions could only be answered if asked, and the old giant frowned, shaking his head and scratching the space above one of his long braided eyebrows. “So you’re another victim of that curse, hm? Don’t worry about the payment, just drink. Even if you don’t remember, I can tell you’ve had a hard life, one veteran to another.” The man moved to continue his work, meticulously inspecting the items on display as the boy nodded, raising his hands to take a sip of the drink.
He didn’t think he was old enough to drink, but it went down easily, as if he’d been used to it for ages. Out of habit, he coughed, setting the glass back down to hold a hand to his chest. “A curse? It’s not contagious, is it?” Strange, he didn’t feel particularly worried. If anything, hearing it spoken was calming. At least he knew the cause, even if it didn’t help cure it.
The man’s laugh was hoarse, reverberating in his throat as he tapped his large fingers on the countertop. “Curses only come from their source, they can’t spread like that. By the way, I still haven’t heard any gratitude for taking you in. Old Man Rom, that’s what everyone calls me. I suppose you don’t have a name to give me, though.”
“Old Man Rom…” The boy rolled the name on his tongue, looking down at the reflection of the crystal light in the liquid, before he slowly nodded. “Thank you, I’m glad I met someone kind like you. I hope I wasn’t heavy.”
Rom smiled, one eye narrowing as he pointed a finger at the boy, his other hand gripping his cleaning rag tightly as he spoke. “I don’t like flattery. Of course I’d be able to carry you. But, I’m not the one who did that. It was another brat I’ve got under my wing, even younger than you. She found you out in the slums and dragged you here on her own. You’d best thank her too when she shows up.”
“I’ll be sure to.” he responded, and he was about to go for another sip of his drink before the door to the small shop banged open, the hinges squeaking as a green light faded to reveal the form of a young girl, who closed her red eyes in a wide grin as she held up two fingers.
“Old Man Rom, I’ve got something big coming soon!” she said excitedly, stepping in with a confident pace and heading to a table. With one fluid motion, she pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, stretching her leg and arms in front of her like a cat as she tilted her head to the boy. “Oh, hey, you’re up! About time, you’re going to help me out!”
He stared at the girl in confusion, before Rom sighed, scratching his forehead as he had before and narrowing one of his eyes with a frown. “Felt, you should be careful. This man was afflicted with the amnesia curse, so the fiend that caused it may still be around. You said you found him near your home, didn’t you?”
The boy smiled politely at the girl now identified as Felt, waving a hand loosely in her direction. “I heard you found me and brought me here. Thank you.”
Surprisingly, he didn’t get a positive response, and a flash of something crossed her face. Offense? Hurt? He couldn’t tell, but either way, it seemed like he had crossed a line he didn’t even know existed. However, she recovered quickly, and her arms crossed behind her head as she groaned.
“And here I was wanting to get back at you for crushing my house, but how am I supposed to do that when you don’t even remember what happened?” Felt pointed a gloved finger at the subject of the conversation, a cute frown on her young face. “It’s lucky I didn’t own much of value or it would have been a disaster for me.”
“I’m sorry, I can imagine losing a home has to be rough. If I can, do you want me to help you rebuild? It’s the least I can do for you taking me in when I wasn’t conscious…”
Felt blinked, before laughing, waving his offer off with a nonchalant hand in the air. “It was just a crappy tent anyway, no real loss. We’re in the outskirts of the Poor District, people here barely have stable structures to begin with. Old Man Rom’s shop is basically the only real building. The tent’s not the thing that bothers me, it’s something else.”
“What is it? I owe you for helping me, if I just woke up in the middle of nowhere then I doubt I’d have a chance to recover like this…” he said, before reeling back at the glare she shot him, startled by the grim expression.
She opened her mouth to speak, before blinking, her eyes rolling down to look at herself, and she let out an exasperated murmur before she spoke more quietly than she had earlier, the moment of anger passing. “Just drop it. You did something for me before, so we’re even.” She blinked, apparently realizing the awkward atmosphere that her statement had created, and her sharp expression returned, jumping from her seat to point at him again. “It’s because I don’t need those creepy eyes of yours staring holes in the back of my head! I don’t like ordering people to do things, so just let it go!”
The boy blinked, before turning back to his drink. He lifted it partly up, before his arm froze, his eyes staring down at the reflection in the cup. He hadn’t had a look at himself before, but now he saw at least an outline in the brown liquid. His voice was a little coarse and low, so he’d expected to be an adult, but it seemed that he was younger than he thought. He could see messy yellow hair and a pointed jawline over a thin neck, though he couldn’t see the color of his eyes or the finer details of his face in the weak refraction of the alcohol. “Do I really look that bad…?” he asked himself under his breath.
Rom had been silently observing the interaction with a small smile on his wide face, holding his head up with an arm as he listened with interest, before taking the bottle back out of its place and retrieving a second glass. “If you want some, come get it.” he said, waving Felt over, and the blonde girl seemed to materialize in the seat next to the nameless boy with a burst of wind that dissipated as she wiggled her rear to get comfortable in the hard wooden seat.
“Aren’t you too young to drink?” the boy asked, and Felt gave him a glare with no real intent behind it.
“I’m about 15, so I’m a legal adult here in Lugnica! It’s no problem!” With a flourish, she grabbed the offered cup, downing it in two gulps before setting it down. Her grin lasted for only a few seconds before her eyes went wide, and her hands went to her neck as she doubled over, hacking as her eyes teared up, rolling to look at Rom with an expression of betrayal.
The old giant smirked, reaching over the counter to pat the top of her head. “I thought you’d do that. Why are you boasting like you’ve ever had a drop of beer before? Trying to impress him for some reason?”
“Old Man!” she shouted through her coughs, and the boy chuckled, setting his own glass down as it now had been emptied.
“You two get along well. I wouldn’t have thought it looking at you, but you must be a very close family.” The two made a synchronized turning of their heads to stare at him, and he laughed at the surprised expressions on their faces. “I don’t remember my own family, but I hope I have someone that close to me.” He blinked, before frowning and looking down at his lap, his hands idly lacing together. “...Actually, I hope I don’t. If I do, they must be worried about me.”
There was silence for several moments, before a breeze picked up, lifting his chin as he found the tip of his nose being prodded by Felt’s finger, a determined smile on her face. “Ford.”
“...What?” he asked, confused, and she repeated the statement, sitting back as Rom stood straight, conspicuously deciding to stay out of the change in topic as Felt crossed her arms.
“You don’t know your name, right? People who are cursed that way never get their memories back, so you’ll be needing a new name until you meet someone you knew. So, I’ll call you Ford.”
He reached a hand to rub the back of his neck, humming as he considered the name. “I’m not a pet, you can’t just give me a name you picked out of thin air…”
Her smile widened as she tilted her head. “It’s not completely random! According to Old Man Rom, that’s the name of someone who was important to me when I was really small. There’s not many other names I care about, so it’s easier for me to remember. That fine?”
He pondered the statement for a few moments, before he finally returned her smile, nodding as he separated his hands, setting them flat on the countertop and looking up at the wooden beams holding up the ceiling. “Then, I’ll be Ford for now. I don’t want to think that I’ll never know my name, but how can I deny a little kid’s request?”
Felt’s cheeks puffed out in irritation, before she relaxed, turning to sit sideways on the chair and kick her legs out to lean back, almost lying down and balancing on her rear with her hands held over her head as a counterbalance. “Anyway! As payment for destroying my house, you’re going to help me with my next job! It’s a big one, so you’d better not get in the way!”
“What kind of job is it? I don’t know how well I’d do, but I’ll try my best.”
“I have a client who’s offering a lot of money, so I’ve got to get it done no matter what. Luckily, they already told me the description of the person and how the thing looks. There’s apparently going to be a silver-haired half-devil girl in the Commercial District tomorrow, and we’ll be stealing a little silver insignia thing from her. Dunno what it does, but it doesn't really matter to me.”
