Private Tales Memories Lost

[Ferelith Scathach]

Everything hurt.

Ferelith didn’t know why..It just hurt. She remembered doors...Doors and Heike. What a door was? She couldn’t tell you. What a Heike was? She didn’t know. She just kept saying it. Because if she didn’t she would forget. Waking hadnt hurt as badly as she thought.

It was the fact she was buried under six feet of dirt and stone and the undoing of that leaving her reduced to a messy half naked heap as she clawed her way from the soil. One of her eyes glowed a bright yellow. A tattoo black as pitch adorned most of her right side. A small vial of light blue liquid dangled from her throat. Her mind focused on one goal.

To feed.

Her thirst tore at her throat. A lone highway man had done nicely. She didn’t know why she needed to drink blood but had regardless given into her instinct with little hesitation. Once her thirst was satisfied she came back to herself slightly. She realized what was happening..

Some what..

Her memories didn’t return, but she remembered her name..

She was a hybrid vampire. Her thirst and memory loss had left her a bit foggy, but at least now she knew where she was..Some what. She knew common things. But names..Heike...Kyla..She knew they were names. Remembering them no longer requiring verbal reciting. But who they were? Nothing. Not even really who she was was known. She knew she needed that blue stuff though.

She took the small bottle from around her neck and popped the cork before tossing it back. Her black tattoo began to glow a light blue before dulling, leaving it a simple blue on her skin. Her yellow eye now a light slightly glowing blue matching her other. Her skin more light, but less paper white. She then looted the bandit she had killed. A modest purse, some clothes, and a dagger, and short bow. Not a bad haul.

Afterwards she kept wandering until she came to a town. She had the coin, and it had taken a little tailoring and some real doing to find a full set of clothes that didn’t have blood all over them, but when she came to town no one shot her any funnier a look than they normally gave outsiders.

She soon found herself passing a rather nice church. The light from it reflecting from the dew drops on the leaves of a tree nearby. Leaving it almost glittering. Her eyes strayed on it.

A sudden flash. A necklace. Pain arched through her mind and down her spine leaving her shaking at the steps of the church she had been passing. She fell to her knees.

Sweat coated her forehead. What was wrong with her?

 

[Eilerias]

Eilerias knelt before a large statue depicting the Light God. She had been there for hours in the same position, praying on the cold marble floor. She often felt as though she had to work harder to earn her place as a follower and practitioner after healing sessions left her bedridden for days at a time.

To the average person, the pain and suffering wasn't worth some "God" blessing them with gifts, but it was her life. She knew she was destined to help others and one day she would become a Priestess of the Light.

While taking a brief moment of silence, she heard the sounds of someone nearby and she could feel that they were in pain. She took a deep breath and stood, leaving one last quick prayer to the Light God's statue and turned to face the entrance of the church. Her heels clicked lightly on the floor as she cautiously made her way to the large dark wooden doors and paused. You'd think she would be used to strangers getting dropped off for healing, but something felt different.

She silently prayed as the heavy door creaked open and her eyes went wide at the woman. "M-ma'am? Are you okay?" She rushed to the woman's side. She felt the woman's pain, but couldn't pinpoint an injury. "You're so pale" she started, trying to maneuver the woman without hurting her further. "Have you lost a lot of blood?" She took note of the sweat on her forehead. Fever? She took a mental note.

"Can you follow me inside? I can help you" She offered a hand.

 

[Ferelith Scathach]

Ferelith said nothing. She couldn’t. It hurt to think of words. But the offer of help was heard and she responded the only way she knew to. She clung to the woman like someone blind quickly, but with silent, weakened gentleness. “P-p-l..” She tried before faltering.

“Please..” She finished after a small effort. She allowed herself to be maneuvered inside as the pain began to pass slightly. Her head throbbed but she could see.

Thinking didn’t seem to be hurting at the moment either. She clutched her head tightly. What was wrong with her. She..Ferelith couldn’t put into words what she felt. She just wanted to hurt something. Hurt someone.

Kyla? Heike? She wouldn’t know. Couldn’t know. But for now she was leaning heavily on her new found savior as the large, heavy doors swung shut behind her.

 

[Eilerias]

Eilerias pulled the girl along towards one of the benches in the large hall. "Please stay still" She said as she lay the her down gently. There's something strange about her. She thought to herself moving around the bench. She picked up one of Ferelith's arms and examined closely before dropping it back down to her body. I can't see any obvious wounds but shes so pale. There is no explanation for being this pale without bleeding out. She had never seen someone like this before.

"Pardon me" She said before running through one of the doors on the left side of the room. Maybe I don't have to treat her with magic. She thought as she grabbed a cloth and bowl of water, silently praying she wouldn't have to suffer for a stranger so soon after the last. I just need to find her wounds. Then she will be okay. She grabbed a few more items before slipping back into the hall, repeating the last phrase in her head a few times to prepare herself..

"Can you tell me what happened to you?" She asked, prodding around the girls arms, legs, and abdomen trying to see if she was bleeding from anywhere. She dabbed at the girl's forehead with the cool cloth, wiping the sweat. "I can't find any source of bleeding." She admitted, pulling up her sleeves and kneeling next to the bench. Elierias shut her eyes tightly as she held her hands close to the woman. They emitted a soft golden light as she attempted to heal her. "Please..." she whispered "please don't move". She could feel her head start to ache, but she continued.

 

[Ferelith Scathach]

Visions would flood her mind. Each scraping across it like sandpaper.

First a voice.

“You can’t just do this! Your mind will be shattered!” Pushing open a large set of doors covered in chains. “You can not simply decide not to die child! Your memories will be scattered to the galactic wind! Gunhild! St-.” And screaming.

Pain.

It was getting worse.

Almost unbearable.

An endless void stretching forever into darkness. A woman clothed in black reaching for her.

The pain returned.

Screaming.

Blood.

It was unbearable and all consuming. Before it became too intense Ferelith seemed to sense the woman taking on her pain. She felt so at peace. Like her mental anguish was being pulled away.

“Stop!” She said frantically squirming to shove the woman away.

“You..Dont want whatever..This is..” She panted. She felt better but her mind still ached. Her sweating had halted and her skin regained its normal color.

A combination of the woman’s magic and taking a moment for her brain to relax had done the trick.

She wasn’t breaking down anymore at any rate. She had rolled over on her stomach in the squirming and the open back of her shirt revealed a tattoo in edition to her large, blue, flowing tribal one. It spanned across her back.

A pack of wolves.

Names crossed out above every wolf in the pack accept a blue and a red one at the head.

The wolves were a legendary gang. Ruthlessly cold blooded and led by two blood thirsty sisters. Known for shrewd business, horrific violence and malicious torture they had risen to acclaim from Elbion to Alliria before suddenly vanishing.

This very tattoo was rumored to be the mark of them though no one knew what they truely looked like. Just that the red wolf was the older sister, the blue was the younger. One cunning, one brutal.

And neither liked witnesses. It had almost been a decade since their disappearance and still circulation of their descriptions and the rewards on bounty boards stayed as high as ever.

No doubt continuing to help this woman would only get more dangerous even beyond her ailment.

 

[Eilerias]

Eilerias fell backwards as the woman pushed her away. "I told you not to move" She was aching everywhere. This woman must have been in a lot of pain. She opened her eyes and was surprised at what she saw.

Normality.

Scrambling to her feet, she took note of the woman's skin color. It looked normal. But there was no bleeding. "Please can you tell me what happened to you?" She begged as she was told to stop. She could feel that the woman wasn't in as much pain. She looked and felt better, but still Eilerias could sense that something was wrong.

She took notice of the open shirt and sat next to her, looking over the strange tattoo. "What is this?" She asked curiously. She touched each name that wasn't crossed out, reading them out loud and shot the stranger a curious look.

"Is this some sort of hit list?" She laughed nervously.

 

[Ferelith Scathach]

She flinched at every touch, but seemed too weak to do much more. “I don’t know what your talking about..” Ferelith said. And it wasn’t sarcasm. She genuinely didn’t know what the woman was talking about. Just that she didn’t like being touched in those places for some instinctual reason.

“I don’t know what happened to me. I just woke up. Someone had buried me..And my head doesn’t feel right..” She was working herself back up again. Her tone building in panic memories pushing. Just reaching the surface.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me..” She whispered softly. Her hand making a fist and slamming it into the wall behind her. A crack ran up the solid stone and she pulled free her decimated hand. Shattered to almost oblivion in hung like a gory nub on the end of her arm. She seemed as shocked as anyone else.

“W..what..” She stammered as she paled once more. The shock and pain rocking her tormented mental state. Before her tattoo began to glow a soft blue and it stopped once more.

Fresh bone began to jut from the stump and a new hand formed. The bones were covered in tiny intricate runes that glowed a soft blue that matched the girls tattoo as even her eyes glowed slightly. The bone was quickly covered up by muscle, blood vessels, and flesh leaving it unmarred.

She stared in disbelief as she glanced between the woman and the new hand in utter shock forgetting to be amazed by her apparent massive amount of strength.

“What..H-how..” Ferelith seemed to have taken in too much. Her eyes finally rolling back in her head as she slumped back onto the bench looking almost fine. Tired, but not at deaths door. Like her body was constantly breaking down and building back up.

 

[Eilerias]

"What the?" Eilerias said in shock. "You were buried?" She asked raising an eyebrow. How could someone survive something like that? How long could someone survive something like that? She thought to herself.

As the woman destroyed her arm, Eilerias screamed. "What the hell?" She watched in horror as a bone began to protrude from the bloody stump followed quickly by tissues and skin. Those symbols...What could they be? She noticed the foreign characters matched the tattoos that were exposed.

She wasn't sure what was going on, but she did know one thing. This was not Eilerias' work. She seemed to be healing on her own. But how?

"Ma'am!" She moved back close to the woman and sat next to her, holding her up. "What is happening to you? Have you been cursed?" She begged for an answer. "You shouldn't be alive!"

Despite being half elven, she knew very little of anything other than human life. Was this woman undead? She looked over her once again, noticing that she looked normal. Should she try healing her again or was it too hard on her body? She had never met someone she could not repair.

"M-Ma'am" Eilerias held onto the woman. "I'm Eilerias. I am a healer...But I'm not sure what is wrong with you." She signed. "You can sleep in my bed. You look tired." She tried to help her to her feet.

 

[Ferelith Scathach]

“c-cursed.” Was all the girl was able to answer.
In a sense it was true.

“Thank you..” Ferelith muttered in response to the aid.

She held fast to the woman for support. Through her half lidded eyes the white woman almost looked like an angel taking her to the beyond. Tears of sorrow and frustration slowly trailed down her cheeks.

However even after they made it to the healers bed and she was allowed to lie down she continued holding onto her.

“I’m sorry..” She said but it didn’t seem to be directed to who she was with. Faces swam in her mind. Inserting themselves in place of Eilerias’s own. She wouldn’t let the white healer go.

Like she was an anchor holding her to the earth where she threatened to spiral away. The void..

 

[Eilerias]

Cursed...What did she mean? She was cursed? She was cursing Eilerias?

Eilerias led her to her bed and tried to assist her in getting in, but she didn't budge. She tapped on her shoulder gently, trying to get her attention. "It's alright." She said as she wiped away the girl's tears.

Her voice was gentle and calm, a technique that she used to manipulate people's minds. In most people, it would soothe them as she healed deadly wounds, or it would give them a more comfortable death. Either way, it should have calmed this woman down...but it didn't. Her grip was tight as she held on to Eilerias.

She kept repeating the phrase as she rubbed her back. "What can you tell me about this curse?" She tried to get the girl's attention. She wanted to know what happened, so she could try to fix it or find a cure. She was not well versed in magical curses, but someone in town had to be.

"If you tell me everything, I can try to find someone to remove this curse." She once again attempted to pull her down to the bed. "You need to lie down, you aren't well."