Member
Lord Zee
Thayr
Enzayne
Vec
WrongEndoftheRainbow
ActRaiserTheReturned
Dezuel
Dark Cloud
Verjil
&
A Li’Kallan Soul Fragment
Time went on as Orvus sat and watched his plants grow. A heavy weight burdened him, Arryn’s questions still wracked his mind. He had not told the truth, even to himself. But it didn’t really matter anymore, Arryn was gone. He was alone again, in solitude. So the days turned to night, over and over again, and the plants grew along with it. Slow and with determination, an admirable quality.
In this time, not many disturbed him, save for a strange bird. One who spoke of a fight between his siblings, Li’Kalla and Vakk. A pang of sadness hit him, but quickly dissipated. Whether to believe the story was questionable and Orvus practically dismissed it. He had other concerns to worry about, but still...
The bird flew away shortly after, once again leaving Orvus to his thoughts.
At least, until a raincloud passed overhead, pouring rain down onto the land. The plants relished in the liquid, but their relief soon gave way to fear and threat of death as the rain poured and poured.
Orvus was indifferent to the rain at first, it helped serve a purpose, but as it continued, so too did his mood shift. First from sadness, to anger and when it stopped, to grief. He had lost a row of plants to the torrent of rain, the others were in need of repair, but that was when he found something else entirely.
A particularly large depression in the landscape had filled up with rainwater. It was only a few inches deep when the rain suddenly stopped, the cloud turning from dark gray to white, and then dispersing.
A ripple originating from the center of the shallow rainwater puddle stretched, carefully and deliberately, over the entire surface, and wherever the ripple passed, the reflection of the water changed. It no longer reflected the sky above Orvus, with its lonely passing clouds and pale blue coloring. No. In fact, all reflection was gone, and one could see straight to the bottom without a problem. The water was almost invisible.
He floated over to the strange puddle, and gazed upon it.
As he peered over the edge, so did a hazy, shadowed figure. It was clearly a woman, but her silhouette was hard to make out and her face was distorted beyond clarity.
Without a suggestion, she pressed her palms aggressively against the surface of the water, looking like a distorted shadow trying to reach out to another person on the other side of a glass panel.
Orvus looked upon the strange sight impassively. His head cocked to the side as he watched the shadow figure try and try to reach up. What trickery was it? He drew closer, orientating his body to be parallel with the pool.
”Can you hear me?” he asked it inquisitively.
It was barely perceptible, how the shadow woman cocked her head to the side, as if emulating Orvus. The closer he got to her, the more of her features he could make out. First were her hands. With cuts and scratches and scars along the palm. It was the same along her arms. She was dressed in trousers and a gambeson, her feet bare and sporting the same scars and injuries as the rest of her body. Her face, however, was smooth and clear. Her impassive yet determined eyes were silver and she kept them trained on Orvus for what seemed to be a long while.
It was then that she broke the gaze and looked down at her hands. As if to make a point, she slammed her palms against the surface of the water again.
There was something about the way she looked, something familiar, but Orvus could not place it. What he did know, was that whatever he saw before him, was pitiful and he pitied her. However, he fell upon that look within her eyes. It was one of persistence, and resolve. The want, that need for a purpose and finally, resolution. Orvus knew what she wanted then.
To be free. But from what?
Slowly, he reached out his right arm, and with but one finger, he touched the pool.
The ripple expanded throughout the surface and the strange phenomenon disappeared. The woman was nowhere to be seen. A lone crystal fell from the skies at that moment, right onto Orvus’ head. It bounced off and fell into the shallow depths of the pool. It was a dark brown in color, but light reflected beautifully off it.
Orvus recoiled immediately as the woman disappeared, leaving him perplexed by what had occurred. Then something hit his head, and fell into the water. He saw it after a moment of searching, a small crystal, not unlike the one from the Lustrous Garden, but colored brown. He thought it odd, and recognized that it most likely had something to do with what he had just witnessed.
Orvus reached out and grabbed the small crystal, feeling its ridges and smooth faces. Inside of it, Orvus could feel a damaged soul. It was very slightly frayed, and most of the damage came from what looked to have been a violent fragmentation event. This was merely a fragment of a complete soul.
As he contemplated the crystal, a heavy, dark mist was emitted from the crystal, congealed around the crystallised soul fragment and eventually reforming into the shape of a pocket-sized woman. Dressed in combat trousers and a gambeson, with scars along her body but a beautiful face with striking silver eyes and blood red hair. Her intense and still somehow impassive eyes looked up at Orvus, and she spoke in a soft voice heavily tinted with caution. It was Li’Kalla’s voice, but with different mannerisms.
“... Orvus, was it? We met you before.”
”We, little soul?” he asked softly, seemingly unphased by the small women in his hands.
“We, me, it’s a strange situation. We used to be… We. And then something happened, and I became I. Laina, poor girl, couldn’t take the abuse. I tried to help her. Now she’s been eaten and probably digested by the Beast.” The little soul said, tsking her mouth and rolling her eyes to nobody in particular, “You wouldn’t happen to know how to mend souls, Orvus?”
”Laina?” he pondered aloud. The name was familiar, so was the little soul’s voice. Where had he heard it before? Then the Magpie’s words came to him, and without a shadow of a doubt Orvus understood what the little soul was apart of.
”You are apart of Li’Kalla.” he stated. ”That means something happened to her. That means Vakk…” his eyes seemed to grow angry for a split second before returning to his impassive stare.
”I am sorry, little soul, but I lack the power to mend anything right now. We would require the other pieces anyways, and I know not where they might be. But tell me, what can you remember of this beast? Does Vakk ring any bells?” he inquired.
“That’s unfortunate,” The little soul sighed and sat on her crystal, using her core as a seat. “I know Vakk. The others spoke bad things of him. Apparently he was scary… Then again, they said you were scary, and here you are helping us. I’m sorry if I seem vague. Laina never really channeled me through and so I never got to see or experience much. She was always meek and submissive after… After, well, things.”
”I see.” Orvus said quietly, almost a whisper. It seemed Li’Kalla was gone, a tragic fate, for a sad soul. He then asked, without really thinking, ”What do you wish now?”
“Help me find the others and help us recover our body. We need to get rid of the Beast. I remember a name, Katharsos, God of Death, from the Beginning. I’m the only one of us who paid attention. He should be able to somehow kill the part of us that’s the Beast, for good. Or, you could take the Beast soul for yourself and do whatever you want with it, as long as it never finds its way back to our body.” The little woman pressed a finger against her chin in thought and hummed for a moment, her eyes never leaving Orvus’ impassive ones. “Could you?”
”No.” he said flatly. ”Look around, little soul, I must fix my plants from the rain damage and insure they survive until they are mature. I am… sorry. I can’t leave this place, not yet.” he paused, his eyes growing sad, ”I… Will help… But only after this is done.”
The little soul looked around, her gaze focusing on some of the dead crops.
“I understand priorities. It is a shame, though. I’d like to request you take me to Katharsos. I can repay the favor when our body is safe once more.”
Orvus let out a sigh, before saying, ”Katharsos is far, far away little one. The trip would be long, and I would not be able to see this place grow.” he paused and looked around. With downcast eyes he looked back at her and said, ”Let me… Let me fix what I can… Then I will take you.” he said.
The little soul looked at Orvus and shook her head. “I can see this bothers you. Take me instead to K’nell. That should be easier, and quicker. Plants don’t grow in the span of a few hours, so you won’t miss much of anything.”
Orvus seemed to recoil at the mention of the name, his eyes suddenly growing fierce. ”It bothers me not.” he said with a hint of anger, ’I shall fix this place, and we shall leave to Katharsos.” he then floated over to his stump, with the small woman in hand. He placed her on the wood then said, ”Stay.” before beginning to float towards his small plot of land. The crystal, of course, couldn’t move and stayed on the spot, the small apparition of the little soul disappearing as he got further away from her.
Orvus quickly got to work, frustrated at these new turn of events. He had almost forgotten about K’nell, or had forced himself to forget about that name. Either way, he did not want to speak to him, nor even see him. Orvus knew what would happen, he would lose himself to anger for what the God of Sleep had caused him to feel. That also meant K’nell was somehow involved in this ordeal. He let out an angry sigh as he worked the dirt around a plant, only for the plant to wither and die before him.
He stopped working, and gingerly touched the now ash like leaves, and bowed his head in shame. What was he doing? He blinked, and looked around at the life around him. Life. Then he looked back down to see the plant turn to dust in his fingers. He couldn’t do this… Not like this. He knelt down for a long time, then stood up. Leaving his failure behind, Orvus walked over to the shard and looked at it with a great sadness in his eyes.
”What is your name?” he asked.
The image of the woman materialised quickly once Orvus came back to her, and she cocked her head curiously. “My name…?” She blinked, looked away and closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath. “I don’t have a name. I’m not a real person, I think, so I don’t deserve one. I’m just a part of a bigger whole. A part that ran away when she should’ve stayed…”
After a moment, she sighed and looked back at Orvus, her eyes softening a little. “Orvus, you’re sad. Is it because you can only help life find its end, but not its beginning? I saw you turn that plant to ash.”
He knelt down before the little woman, and his eyes seemed to peer into what little soul she had. He was silent, then said, ”I shall call you Silver.” he paused, taking in the subtle, fleeting sparkle in the little soul's silver eyes, before saying, “I once made the mistake of not naming someone. She was a person, just like you are. You are real, just like she is. Do not blame yourself for running, sometimes it is the best course of action one can take.”
Orvus let out a sigh before looking down at the floor, ”No, little Silver. I have started plenty of life, profane as it might be. My problem, is that I don’t know what I want to be. What I want to do. I am conflicted by a choice, creation or destruction.” he paused then snapped his head back up to look at Silver, and idea coming to mind.
When next he spoke, his voice no longer sounded quite as forlorn, ”You are conflicted as well and you don’t even know it. You think because you are not real, that you don’t deserve to live. That you must be reunited to become whole. I disagree. You may be a part of something else, but you are still you, Silver. And all life, deserves to make its own choices. I learned that… from her.” he paused. ”So tell me, do you really wish to be reunited, to be locked away again? To be unable to experience the world and all it holds? To not have an opinion when it matters most? If this is what you wish, simply say so, and I will take you to Katharsos. Or, if you desire to live your own life, and have the ability to make your own decisions, your own choices, and experience the world through curious eyes- so say it and it shall happen.” Orvus finished, looking at the little soul before him expectantly.
Her lips were closed tightly, spread into a thin line as her face took on a more severe expression. She looked at the palms of her hands and, after a long while, she looked up at Orvus. “I-I… I don't know. I don't know what I want…” She muttered, but soon she straightened her back and shook her head, “Yet I know what I must do. I've been with them… Us… for my entire life. And yes, they can be annoying and stubborn and outright dangerous, but they're me, aren't they? I'm them… And I can't fathom what it would feel like if one of them gave up on me.”
”I see, your aspiration is noble. But little Silver, I fear it is the unknown that truly binds you to inaction. The ‘what if’ of being on your own, without them. But I understand. Familiarity is what we all crave, in the end. This life is like a puzzle, and all we can do is try and put the pieces together, even if those pieces are missing.” Orvus then slowly stood up and outstretched his hand, beckoning Silver to join him. He then said, ”If this is the choice your soul desires, then I shall take you to Katharsos.”
Silver looked at him, her eyes widening almost imperceptibly and a small twitch manifesting in the index finger of her left hand. She crossed her arms, and spoke, in a much softer manned than before, “I-I'm not sure, I don't know… All I've ever been is… You know, them. Me. How could I become something so… Different?”
”Different?” It was then that Orvus realized something, as he paused, lowering his hand slightly. It took him a moment to register what was going on. Then he knew exactly what to say, ”On the path to be becoming what we are truly meant to be, we become different, yes. We change and grow. I will not lie to you, but at the same time little Silver… we can stay the same. For better or for worse, that is… life… I suppose.” Orvus finished softly, reflecting on those words.
The little soul looked at her feet, neatly placed beside each other, and sighed. She hung her head low for a long moment, and eventually she wiped some nonexistent sweat off her forehead and looked at Orvus, “Then, I want to stay with you. For a while.”
”Then it shall be so.” Orvus stated, ”But first… a gift.” With his lowered hand, Orvus waved it over Silver.
”Souls are an interesting phenomena. So much is unknown, but so much is known already. To make whole is difficult. To fray the soul takes time. To give a fragment a life, now that is but a thought.” He said, taking a step back. And is if on cue, Silver began to grow, eliciting a gasp. The once small soul, took upon the form of a grown woman, now sitting upon the stump before Orvus. She slowly and carefully looked at herself. She touched her arms, legs, face, and finally she looked at Orvus with a nervous grin on her face.
“I have never felt things so vividly before. What’s this? Is this how she felt all the time…? Can I touch you?”
The god said nothing for a moment, his impassive stare bearing down upon her new form. Then Orvus blinked and said, ”You may.” and outheld his hand.
Silver looked at his hand, her brow furrowing. Her gaze alternated between his palm and his impassive stare, and she reached for his hand with both of hers.
His skin was cold, unnaturally so and the texture was unlike anything that could be described. So too, could Orvus feel Silver. This was surprising to him, and he blinked again, his expression going wide with curiosity. It seemed that he could physically feel her, but how? Her soul was not frayed… but at the same time… it was not complete, now was it? It was a very strange occurrence, and one that he could not fathom.
With his other hand, he slowly reached out and began to feel her skin. She did the same, bringing his hand to her face and feeling it’s strange texture against her cheek, smelling it and, in a sudden movement, licking it to get a taste.
If the god thought it strange what she did, he made no move to stop, or pull away. The only thing Orvus did was cock his head and look at Silver with a soft expression. ”You are now you, Silver. I… hope this new form is to your liking.” he said, now wrapping his fingers within her scarlet hair.
The new woman smiled and nodded, “I feel… Good. Really good! And now we don’t have to leave your plants, do we? Teach me how to care for them.”
”I… I can do that.” Orvus whispered, his eyes expressing a very small smile.
