Hi, this is for Rinmaru's help request, Scholar's Wanted, for her upcoming game Ascension: Echoes in the Dark. It may be a little confusing due to the fact that it is a first person narrative told in third person, but please do enjoy! Btw, a note to Rinmaru: if this story is too long, feel free to divide the story where the capitalized titles are (e.g. LUTI MEETS THE MASTER) into different "books".
Diary of Luti as transcribed by Elluin Pelleas Hubir
A dedication: To my love, Luti - You are Forever
[Opening diary entry - ***Note: diary told in third person***]
Sanden, 3, c. 52
Shyrksha! [to Luti's dearest diary]
Today is the third of Sanden - and Luti's thirteenth birthday! Luti's mothers were so happy they decided to buy Luti a present. Luti was surprised when mothers offered the gift - so much so that she welled with tears of happiness. While Luti unfolded the package, o Shyrksha! she could hear the thumping in her ears! And when Luti discovered what was inside...never before was she so positively ecstatic. For that was the moment Luti laid eyes on you and knew you would be there for the longest of times.
Luti promises, friend, she will never release her hold on you until the day she dies!
Luti of Saara
LUTI MEETS THE MASTER
Fahrana, 16, c. 52
Luti was taken away, to a strange place. Luti asked her captor where her mothers were. The man did not know. He carried a smirk, but his eyes did not smile. They seemed sad. Sincere. Luti missed her mothers so very much, but she felt compelled to believe him.
Luti remained in the dark, damp room - a prison? - for a while. Then another man came. He introduced himself as Luti's new master.
Luti remembered the way he spoke. "My name is Navarre Aubryn Hubir!" It was unusual. Why did moonies not refer to themselves the way Luti did? More so, why were moonies so loud and so angry? The moonie's face flushed various shades of purples and pinks and he seemed like he was about to explode. Luti knew she shouldn't, but the moonie made her giggle.
Thwack!
Luti stood, paralyzed, and then collapsed, wailing and sobbing. She brushed her fingers against the swollen flesh of her cheek, flinched, and crumpled onto the ground. The moonie hurt her. Luti blinked back tears and dared to lay her eyes upon the moonie. For a second, Luti saw an unusual expression on the moonie's face: surprise, mixed with - sadness?
The moonie ordered Luti to call him "Master" and quickly fled, leaving Luti alone in the cold, unfamiliar room.
Luti of Saara
LUTI MEETS ELIAS
Thebir, 19, c. 52
Luti remained in her prison. It was so horrible here. She hated the sound of rats nipping away at the stone walls. She hated the echos of water as drops splashed from the ceiling. But Luti would be released soon, surely. For master dubbed her slave, and slaves worked. Luti must be freed to work.
Luti's ears pricked. She heard a sound. It was a boy...young...moonie. Fear arose within Luti, like a morsel of food that wouldn't swallow down. Still, the curiosity overcame her. Luti scrambled to the window to meet with the boy.
"Moonie!" Luti cried, high and shrill. The boy noticed and came to meet with her. It was at that instant Luti knew. The boy was his. The Master's. The resemblance was uncanny, and Luti felt a wave of chills overwhelm her. The moonie spoke and his words were firm, but they were not cruel or cold as the Master's was. Luti relaxed, if only a little.
"Luti wonders: what is the moonie's name?"
The moonie raised a brow, perplexed. "Who is this Luti, and by moonie, do you mean me?"
Luti smiled and shook her head vigorously. "Luti is Luti!" Luti jumped up and down and then realized the moonie referred to himself differently. Luti mentioned her name again and pointed to her face. For reaffirmation, she once again cried: "Luti is Luti!"
The moonie craned his head. He seemed curious now.
"I am Elluin Pelleas Hubir."
"Ell-pees?" Luti wondered aloud. The moonie made a funny face.
"No, not 'Ell-pees' - it's Elluin Pelleas, you fool!" He stamped his feet loudly and thrust his arms widely up and down. He was like his father, but not quite so scary. The boy was good. His actions, however, reminded Luti of Saaran fish out of water.
"Ell-pees?"
The moonie sighed and slumped his shoulders. Luti felt bad, but could not pronounce such a difficult name. She asked the moonie what he would like her to call him.
"I'm not a moonie," Ell-pees said. "I hate that. I'm a moon elf. And since you seem to be so fond of the word Ell-pees, just call me Elias...but if you ever tell anyone where that name come from, remember - I'll beat you up. So don't. Promise?" The moonie made Luti laugh, but she promised.
Luti of Saara
LUTI COMFORTS
Nhorga, 1, c. 54
Today was a good day. Luti did not see the Master, but she was sad she could not see the wife.
She went into the gardens, secretly, to play after she finished her chores. She was glad the moonies were not around. Luti felt bad, but it wasn't for Luti's own enjoyment - though that was partially the reason. The moonies wouldn't understand, but Luti had strange urges sometimes. Luti thought it was the spirit, the spirit that all Lithians have.
At that moment, the spirit wanted to go into the gardens. Luti wanted only to fulfill its desire. While she was there, Luti never felt more refreshed than in the entirety of her stay in Ildis. Though she still missed her mothers, life here was not so bad. The master was mean, but the wife was there.
Elias was there.
Luti was about to return to the house then, but heard a sound. She quickly rushed to hide, but discovered it was only him. Friend.
Elias.
Luti moved to greet him, but stopped.
Elias was very, very sad. Luti did not see it, but she knew. Lithians always knew. They felt. Luti approached, this time, carefully. When he saw her, he cried. He told Luti the wife passed away a week ago. The last time Luti saw her. Tears sprung forth from Elias's eyes and Luti's spirit urged her once again.
Luti moved to share in Elias's tears and embraced him. Luti only wanted, more than anything else, for all of Elias's pain to go away.
Luti of Saara
LUTI LOVES
Satheer, 23, c. 54
Luti was trapped within the metal box. Prison, Luti reminded herself. It had been far too long since she had been here.
She closed her eyes and reopened them. She saw no difference. In fact, Luti wondered now whether her eyes were truly open, or her eyes were truly closed.
It felt like a week since Luti had been trapped here. No longer could Luti sense the day, the night, the stars, or the clouds. Her spirit seemed dead, for it seemed like there was nothing but oblivion surrounding her.
"Ah!" Luti screamed. A light burned into her eyes and into the back of her skull. The first light she had seen in not one, as she would later find out, but two weeks.
And the man who carried the light was none other than Darkness himself.
The Master.
"Well, wretch," he began, with the countenance of the dead - pale and devoid of emotion. Luti looked at him closely, very closely. He stood so still he appeared not to be truly alive, let alone breathing. He neared Luti now, in the kind of excruciatingly slow manner that made one want to scream. But Luti refused to scream - mostly because she was too scared to at the moment.
His eyes. They were wretched, ringed by bruised and grey skin. Had the master not slept at all these past two days? His eyes were grey too. A thin film veiled his pupils, and Luti realized that the master had developed cataracts. It was surprising that he could move around so smoothly. Or rather, it didn't seem like he needed his eyes now. He wasn't like death. He was like a phantom floating above bitter earth.
He spoke and said, "You took my beloved wife away from me, and you will take my son." Luti wanted to say he was insane, but the words came out as gasps. He smiled then, caressing Luti's face, and his eyes crinkled into tiny slits. Despite the emptiness in his eyes earlier, Luti glimpsed a momentary gleam in his eye.
"But I forgive you."
The master smiled, and he patted Luti's head. Never before had Luti been so bewildered in her life. But the master seemed so kind, almost like the wife had been. Luti accepted the unusual apology, though she was insistent she didn't do anything wrong in the first place. The master's touch trailed down the top of Luti's head down to her ears, her cheeks, and then to the nape of her neck. There, his touch stayed, until he spoke once again.
"...I will tell Elluin to visit." And so, the master took his leave.
Luti of Saara
LUTI FREED
Satheer, 3, c. 54
Today is Luti's last day - that Luti knows.
The master told Elias to come to Luti's cell today. And Luti is going to tell Elias she'll be released soon. The master forgives her, she'll tell him...but forgive Luti for what? For being Lithian? For loving Elias?
Alas, that no longer matters for a sound approaches - now - at this very moment!
O joy! Luti cannot wait!
Luti cannot wait to meet with Elias, to tell him they can finally be together!
Luti of Saara
FIN
From this point on, it is my story. This is not a journal entry on my part, or an interpretation of Luti's diary on her part. It is my narrative. A recount of the events of the past.
Luti was a wonderful girl. Strange, sure, but more comforting than anyone. I loved her much as a child, as much as I loved my mother. When my mother died, it was Luti and Luti only who remained by my side. Not father, but Luti.
I hated my father. I hated him for taking Mother and Luti away from me.
He died six seasons ago. I didn't go to his funeral.
I married a beautiful moon elf girl before father died - more beautiful than any of the other girls he ever tried to convince me to marry. My wife's name is Samil. We currently have two children together - twins - a boy and a girl. The boy is Andruil; the girl is Luti.
The marriage wasn't an act of defiance, or rebellion, or simply to mock my father as he laid on his death bed so I could say "Ha! No longer shall I obey you!" I married Samil according to the wishes of heart, for I truly loved her.
In a way, I guess one could say I was still controlled by my father. After all, I married a moon elf, not a Lithian. But I think that was one of the aspects that drew me to Samil more than any other - the fact that she was a moon elf. I wanted to treat her, a moon elf woman, far better than my father treated my mother.
I love Samil and my children - and that love now goes far beyond the love I once held for a certain Lithian girl.
But I will never forget Luti.
A dedication: Luti, my once-love - You are Forever.