Veyra - 12 Years Before Flood Event (B.F.E)
I remember everything.
Every moment of triumph, every death and every drop of blood spilled. All of the pure, absolute chaos that the people now call the Dark Age.
I saw first hand those who just appeared. Confused unprepared, many fell.
I remember the snow. The wind. The hunger that went deeper than any wound. The Resonance, whatever others called it, whenever one took a life. It was addictive. Horrifying. Necessary.
And I remember him. Actually, I am him.
Caelis. Not the myth, but the last original. A boy who refused to die. A boy who became a force no one could touch. Wanderers — even those who controlled the Vita to the extent of immortality — eventually fell by his hand.
I've lived the various centuries in his head, watching the barren wasteland that ended countless lives in screams grow quiet. I've watched the influence of those that survived the first gruelling century expand over time, and continue to fight against the pests that've plagued humanity since the first day.
I've seen our own kind climb from the caves and the tunnels they took refuge in to hide from those hungry for power like us and strive for peace. I've seen hundreds fall by the hand of the very being's mind I reside in. Including me.
And I am... bored.
I move through his senses, not outside, not free. I see the world through him. Smell it. Taste it. Hear it. But it is filtered. Controlled. Tame. The thrill of life, of survival, is gone.
I ache to feel it for myself.
"Do you even notice?" I whispered into his mind. Not a sound, not a voice. Only a thought and intent.
There was a pause. Not emptiness. Instead presence and weight.
"I want... I want to move. To breathe it myself. To see without your eyes but mine." I pressed. "I want to live in this world... I want to do it in my own way. Not in yours."
He didn't answer immediately. That was... expected.
"Bored," he finally said. One word, flat and honest. But he was right.
That word carried more power than anything alive. Enough to bend centuries just from the speaker's inaction.
But he hummed, the vibration brushing my mind. "I am bored, yes. The world is quiet. Only few fight and fewer fall. You want to move freely? Do it."
I practically lit up inside his head, and a rush of adrenaline came over me.
"However,"
As Caelis even began to think of those words, my hopes fell. Surely he'd add some ridiculous condition and watch over me like an overly-doting parent that I couldn't escape from. I almost began to let out a bitter laugh. How stupid could I have been? And I almost did, until he spoke again.
"I need you to understand something. When you're in your own form, you're still me. If you die? I die. You move freely, alone. Danger doesn't care for intent. And if something threatens us, and you can't handle it? I will step in."
I practically beamed inside his head, nodding exitedly — or I would've if I had a head. "I understand-"
"I'm not done." He said. The statement honest as always. "One condition. You have freedom, your own body. But it ages, and can die. You'll live a normal life before returning back to normal. If I think that life is in danger you can't get your way out of, I will not hesitate to take control. It is my body too, after all. Are we clear?"
"We are."
"Good."
I hesitated. A memory surfaced, sharp and biting. I had carried it far long than I should've. I felt it a duty to not forget the screams, the blood, the weight of survival and the echoes of every original I had seen die. I thought it would fade eventually — it didn't.
"I..." I started, choking on my own words, "There's one more thing I need to ask."
His head tilted, even if I couldn't see him I could feel the weight of his presence shift slightly and I could feel him considering me silently. Patiently waiting.
"I want... to live as myself. To exist freely. But I do not want the past to follow me."
"You mean your memories," Caelis said, as if reading my mind — which, he probably was in some way.
"Yes," I said. "Not all of them. Only enough to survive, to remember the lessons, the instincts. I... want everything else gone... maybe aside from knowledge around the time."
Another pause. I could feel him weighing me. Again. Always calculating. But I also felt... pity. It was very slight, but there, all the same.
He was silent for a bit, "You understand what that means?" he asked.
"I understand."
"And once it's done?"
"I cannot undo it," I said, "I doubt I'll even know it's there, I cannot retrieve what is gone. I know this, Caelis. Our deal will still stand, you can take control. Just... please don't cause chaos."
He hummed again. Slow, deliberate. I knew he understood. He was probably satisfied.
"Very well," Caelis muttered, "The mind can be erased. However, there is something you need to understand. By removing me from the equation..."
"I know. I'm willing to do it. No matter the cost."
This time, I felt Caelis smirk. Physically, this time. "You're selfish, Veyra." he said with a chuckle.
"I... I guess I am." I said.
He sighed. A simple motion that seemed like it had been building up for centuries. "Then it is done. Freedom. With no boundaries other than self-preservation. Do remember to care. A life wandering until you die is meaningless. Live, breathe. Touch. But remember, nothing here forgives carelessness."
"Yes," I whispered in his mind.
"Good."
I could feel the shift in presence until I couldn't. All my ability to sense Vita faded with my memories. Then it all went black, and the last original disappeared off the face of the earth.
——————————
I hit the ground hard, coughing and spluttering in the dust as I skidded across the forest floor.
I was barely strong enough to get up, resting on a nearby tree.
Where am I? I'm in... that's a good question?
Who am I? Veyra Solen. I'm the daughter of General K. Solen.
My parents and I were travelling until they died in a monster attack 2 days ago. I've been walking west ever since, to our home in the military city Calcan of the north-west empire — by far the strongest military force on the whole continent.
Which happens to be the same city that is just after the end of this treeline.