Read by candlelight.

"Twenty years ago, in that very town we travel too and from, a strange girl appeared in the waves within the towns shore, beneath the docks. None knew this girl, her name, or where she could have come from. She was... abnormal; as she had aspects of each of the Lights people. The lividity of humanity, the beauty of the elves, the stubborn nature of the dwarves, the ferocity of the fae, and the innocence of the gnomes. She was cared for by a family, whose patriarch was an angel of Yrit. Then, it happened, the bells of all the Lights sacred lands began to ring. Across the townships, cities, villages and tribes, there were some who became Chosen. None but the Gods and the Chosen themselves know how many there were, and it was only a year prior from now that it had been discovered that Ihsrom and Pyurus had no Chosen sired at all."

I interject, saying. "There were six, one for each god that had made a Chosen."

The captain looked to me with satisfied eyes. "Ah, I expected that Ariel diety would be the real deal. Not many know of Yrit's ****, you see, and those that do often created cults to announce themselves as the newest Martyr God."

"How could you not know that a God died?" I ask, perplexed.

She explains that "Information is difficult and dangerous to spread. The roads are long, and full of danger; as is the sea. Rare is the message sent that reaches the intended ears or eyes, for the Dark has spies and raiders both to intercept them. I should know, having been one such spy myself for over a hundred years. For these reasons, much is unknown about the Chosen, for they hid away most knowledge of their travels, only revealing themselves after the **** of the foul Fallen Ruya. For all the common man knew, there were tens, maybe even hundreds of Chosen. As for Yrit's followers, those who would tell of his ****, The Night of Bloody Tears silenced them; for all time. I only know of it because... I was there, when it happened..."

She seems to want to end that line of thinking, her heart tells me it is a shame so deep it makes the sea seem like a pond by comparison...

Pocketing 'Fallen Ruya' and 'The Night of Bloody Tears' in the questions bag of my mind, I say. "You don't have to say any more of that subject, lets continue on with Tomoko's story instead."

Eased by the change of subject, Thrusk continues. "As I was saying, she was chosen by Maiyo; and the only child of the angel, too, was chosen by Yrit... that Ariel is him, correct?"

I nod, and so she continues. "And so the two were empowered greatly, and given the guardian spirits known as the Pegasus, and the Lamb. With this power, they uncovered the dark secret of their town, a cult of Khalthosh, who aimed to undo Maiyo's blessing upon their wicked mad God's impaled heart, plunging the town into madness. Once victorious, the two set out in search of the others. The first they would find was none other than the arch-traitor, Maxwell. An old elf, whose dark deeds were so well hidden, than even the God of Nature, Ardor, knew not of a single one when making Maxwell his Chosen. His secret, hideous acts, where he would wander from town to city, and from city to village; giving to the needy, all as cover. He would hypnotize women with magics of his true god, Carnachias, and violate them in ways so horrible, even those of us born of such things shudder in fear... The lucky were the ones who died during their time with him, for those who survived were **** to bare his children in secret, held against their will by binding rituals to raise their spawn as obedient soldiers... except for one, his first child, who was raised as an heir to Maxwell's cult; raised to replace him..."

Cilla... 'The Heiress of ****.'

"What was Maxwell's guardian spirit?" I ask.

A look of pity is what I am given in return, with the words. "The Worgenfaust. The Wild Hunt. A spirit containing the heart of all wild beasts... When his betrayal was complete, Ardor transformed the spirit, turning it into a curse, for him, and all of his spawn. Now, the name Worgenfaust is merely the name of his new kind; cursed with timeless life, and sterility. That their only end may be brutal, and violent; much like the Worgenfaust itself. Your handler, Priscilla... do tell her I am sorry. Us gorgons, born of a predecessor to Malanoche, we feed off of rumors, lies and the such. It is... an addiction."

My disdain for the Captain dissipates, and I agree, telling her. "I will."

She nods in thanks, continuing the story. "The two heros, and the not-yet-traitor head out, ending evil where it is found, and by the end of the first year, they had found another group of three chosen. I assume you know of them?"

"Indeed." I reply.

"From then on, the six would primarily go to major battles, turning the tides in the favor of the Light each and every time. Their only true opposition was none of that the yet to be redeemed Runa Ruya, until Tomoko turned the poor abused thing against her wicked father, and with her, a portion of the Dark... The ones like us." Thrusk brushes across the strips of red cloth tied to her belt.

After her reminiscing, she continues. "The details of their many battles, and the final one in particular, are too vast to discuss over a single night; as well, I know not of much of it. There is a lovely library in Bounty that I visit once in a while, in one of the poorer districts. It is owned by a kind older man. I would recommend looking for more there... or, speak to the one with you who fought those battles."

"Ariel... doesn't seem to like speaking of his time as a Chosen." I reply. "And I don't want to bother him too badly."

"How thoughtful" she says. "Well, then I shall tell you more of what I know of Tomoko, as a person. She even now goes out and hunts evil, saving the innocent. I am told she refused the hands of many a young noble, princes, and the such. It led to her being called 'The Virgin Heroine' by many, who saw it as an attempt to remain as pure as possible... but you are her lover, as you claim to be. While you may be delusional enough for me to not sense a lie, I very much doubt it... you're far too interesting to simply be insane."

Well, she's wrong about that.

"Tell me more of her..." I say, wanting to change the subject.

The Captain smiles, saying. "Well, despite her refusal of a husband, I'm told she loves children. Many an orphan, born of Light or Dark, have been graced by her care... I always did wonder why she chose what she did as her symbol of arms; that which she bares on the back of her armor, but maybe you would know?"

"What symbol?" I ask.

The captain ceases speaking entirely, heading down to her cabin while moving her hands in a 'wait here' manner.

Returning, she hands me a blank piece of paper. "On the other side is her symbol of arms. A symbol used in prayer to our shared patron these days."

I turn the paper around and my heart feels as if it had just stopped. A silver engagement ring... topped with a sapphire heart...

My vision starts blurring, changing between the mindscape and reality as I begin to fall into nothing, an empty space...

...

Thank god Dad pulled through for me on this.

That's all I can think as I enter the jewelry store, looking for my means of finally getting my happy ending with Bell; I can already hear the tin cans at the back of our car...

"Good day sir, could I help you?" Asks one of the employees, a lovely young lady.

"Thank you, I'm looking for an engagement ring." I say, the smile on my face refusing to die for even a second.

"Oh, congrats! Come over here, sir, this is our current selection." She says, leading me further into the store.

I look at a variety of rings, each unique, but none of them say... Her. None of them are Bell.

Then I see it, a silver ring with a sapphire, in the shape of a heart. It's just like that one song we danced too on that rooftop! Oh, she's going to love this...

Love this...

This...

"This isn't what I meant by wanting closure, Damian!" Bell shouts, running to our room and slamming the door.

"Bell! Please honey, It was just a suggestion. If you don't want your dad to come to the wedding, thats fine!" I call out, damn it! Why did I even suggest it.

I hear her crying, oh god. "Bell, hon, please open the door. I'm so sorry. I just... I just wanted to find a way to fix things..."

She opens the door, tears streaming down her face. "You can't fix what happened with me and my dad, Damian... It's not like with you and Lilith. She got better, he wont..."

I wrap my arms around her. "I'm sorry..."

I'm sorry...

I hear multiple men and women shouting, 'CC's this, 'Miligrams' that, as I'm rushed to the ER on a stretcher.

"I'm sorry..." I croak out, the burns hurt so badly... my chest... I can't breath... "Bell... I'm sorry..."

"Don't talk, Son." Says one of the doctors. "Stay with us, just stay with us..."

Stay with us...

Stay...

"Please... Jesus. Please let my son stay with me." My dad weeps out his prayers in the bathroom of my hospital room, the door closed shut. "He doesn't deserve this pain... please Lord..."

He thinks I'm sleeping... why won't he just accept it, I'm going to die soon... I'm going to see her...

I'm going...

I...

"I am going insane, got it." You say, voice mangled your burns.

No, you're not crazy. We're not crazy.

"Yeah, it's fine, pal!" Says Urge, the clink of a shot glass hitting a table in the background of his voice.

"No, this isn't normal. People don't just have voices in their head." You yell, but that's an arguable point.

"Who are you, I know the other guy, but whose the one describing things..." You ask me.

I am Logic, how wonderful to make your acquaintance, Ego.

"That's not my name." You say.

But it is, you are Ego. The self.

The self...

...

I sit on a blanket atop a hill, graced by the shade of a tree. She thinks this is just a little picnic, but the little black box in my back pocket says otherwise...

...

I just wanted to fix things... and now you're gone...