Soul of the Colossus: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The One Who Killed in the Name of Love

Opening Author's Notes: First off, this story is heavily inspired by a story I read on years ago. The story, titled Afterlife of the Colossus only lasted four chapters before being "left for dead." It was discontinued around ten years ago, in 2008. I was very upset that Afterlife of the Colossus had never been finished. The story's core concept, that of Wander and sentient versions of the sixteen colossi being stuck in the afterlife together with Wander being forced to aid his former victims in some way, intrigued me. With the launch of the PS4 remake of SOTC imminent at the time, I finally got the idea to write a spiritual successor to Afterlife of the Colossus. In order to ensure that the new story would not just be an extended rip off of Afterlife of the Colossus, I came to the conclusion that I would need to alter the premise in some way, while acknowledging my inspiration. So, after consulting with a couple of real life friends, you know who you are, I came up with how I would alter the basic ideas of Afterlife of the Colossus. Hopefully making this story my own, while keeping some particular elements of Afterlife of the Colossus that simply seemed to work well. I would also like to acknowledge that the SOTC fanfic known as The Wanderer and its short spinoff A Colossal Attempt at Humor inspired some of my ideas for the characterization of the colossi, including their gender identifications. Most of the ideas in this story are still original to me. I came up with my own "head canon" backstory elements for example.

The story is currently finished in rough draft form and edited. I always planned that if this story were to be posted at all, it would not befall the same fate as Afterlife of the Colossus. With the acknowledgements and history of this project out of the way, please enjoy the story. Thank you for reading.

End Author's Notes:

There was a beautiful garden atop the mysterious and ancient shrine. It was a peaceful place, where animals played and birds chirped. The young woman Mono, having awoken on an altar in a strange land to find her fiancé's horse Argo and sixteen shattered idols, had walked up to the garden. Before doing so, taking Argo with her, she had found what looked like a horned baby crying in the pool of water close to the spiral ramp leading upwards shrine. Mono had taken the baby along with her, not knowing what else to do with the strange infant.

As Mono sat in the garden, she was trying to piece together what had happened to her. She remembered being stabbed through the heart by her city's head Shaman, Lord Emon. He had told her that by accepting her death, she was doing her people a great service. Lord Emon had told her, just before her death, that the Shamans' visions had foretold that she would somehow bring about the return to power of the malevolent grand spirit Dormin. Dormin was said to be the incarnation of death and their people's ancient foe. Emon believed that he was taking one life to head off an immense catastrophe.

From what Mono could gather, since her fiancé's horse was with her. Wander, her beloved and betrothed, must have taken her to this land on the horse. However, that did not explain why she was alive again, why the bridge leading north had collapsed, or who the infant was. Mono most of all wanted to know where Wander was and if he was alright?

As the lonely young woman continued to ponder the many questions on her mind, she heard the baby's crying stop. She looked down and then saw, to her horror, that the baby had started, very slowly, to fade away. He still seemed mostly real. However, a black light had gathered around him. Mono dropped the infant, which did not seem to harm him or even restart his crying. The baby continued to fade away, albeit extremely slowly, as Argo reared up and Mono backed away. The young woman's confusion had just increased exponentially.

Wander was lying on the ground, coughing intensely. Something in his stomach felt intensely wrong. He was not sure where he was. He could barely see his immediate surroundings. The last thing the young man remembered was returning to the Shrine of Worship after slaying the sixteenth and final colossus. However, the Shaman Lord Emon and some of his soldiers had arrived and tried to kill him. He had been shot by a crossbow and then stabbed through the chest. After the blade had pierced his heart, everything was a blur. His last fragment of a memory was running towards his lifeless love Mono, who had still been on the altar of the Shrine of Worship. However, he had been unable to reach her lifeless body before he blacked out again.

Wander's eyes finally began to clear up. The young man slowly stood up, finding it easier than he thought it would be. He looked around and realized that he was alone, unarmed and no longer in the forbidden land.

Wander saw a purplish sky above him, it looked permanently cloudy. However, he could see all around him with perfect clarity. After focusing on his immediate surroundings, he realized that he was atop a cliff. All around him was a vast network of other rock formations, all made of some kind of purple-brown stone. He realized that he was only a few steps from falling into a crevice a couple hundred feet down to the maze of tunnels winding through the rock formations. Wander saw that there was a vast plain not far away. It was bordered by a sandy beach and a large river on one side. On the other side was another series of rock faces.

As Wander was marveling at the alien landscape, he realized that he had no idea where he was and saw no other living creatures. There seemed to be no animals, foliage, or people in this place. Wander then recoiled in terror as he saw a colossal snakelike figure silently pass over him. He gasped as he recognized the gargantuan serpent immediately, it was the thirteenth colossus that he had slain in his quest to revive his fiancé, Mono. Wander did not have the slightest clue about how a creature he had seen die was alive again.

The draconic snake, was now a good distance away. However, the colossus soon turned back around and began to fly lower. Wander realized that it must have detected him. As he was about to try and climb down into the tunnels below to avoid pursuit, he remembered that this beast had never tried to directly attack him during their battle.

Wander then realized that the colossal sky snake now had him in its sight. The young man was knocked to the ground in surprise when a surprisingly calm female voice echoed in his mind, "So, our murderer shares in our fate?"

Wander could only respond, "You…cannot be talking to me? You are a mindless automaton. You are a creature of stone and earth. More importantly, I killed you!"

The snake-dragon somehow began to float in place, looking at Wander with two blue eyes on one side of her head. She then replied, "Yes, you did kill me. You also killed all fifteen of my kin. I would, and maybe should, be enraged. However, it is my way to not take revenge. Unlike the others, peace and mercy is my creed. However, I would still like to know why you took all of our lives…"

Wander, still stunned, shouted back, "That does not explain how you are talking to me! Wait… I must be dead. If I am sharing in your fate… that stab must have killed me."

Wander fell to his knees, realizing that he had failed to see Mono alive again. Then, he wondered if Dormin had resurrected her? Maybe she was at least alive? Hopefully, his quest had not been in vain.

Wander's thoughts were interrupted, by the colossus saying, "I see that you are having some trouble in adapting to being dead. That is understandable. Yet, I can sense that something else is giving you grief."

Wander then asked in return, "Why do you care if I grieve? I still do not know how you can even communicate with me! Even then, I slew you in cold blood. Why do you show sympathy when I suffer?"

The Colossus replied, "It is just the way I have always been. I will not seek revenge on you, even though what you did was cruel and despicable. …However, the others will not be so kind to you, young man. I am afraid that I cannot do much to stop them."

Wander then heard a series of noises from behind him. He whirled around and saw the lion colossus he had fought after the dragon-snake hopping from cliff to cliff toward him. Just behind him was the other small four-legged colossus, the one who had been his eleventh foe.

The lion colossus telepathically shouted, in a gruff male voice, "There is our murderer! You led us right to him, Phalanx!"

The other light colossus then added, "Knowing Phalanx, she probably did not want to lead us here."

Wander heard footsteps coming from the side of the plateau he was standing on and then saw the gecko colossus, who he had been the eight he had slain, cresting the top. The stone gecko, sounding like a man with a light, sharp voice, shouted, "We will make or killer suffer for his crimes!"

As the two small colossi closed in on Wander, the stone gecko began to charge up his "mouth" with energy. Wander knew what that meant and reflexively threw himself off of the cliff. As the bolts impacted, filling the area with toxic gas, Wander found himself hurtling toward the ground.

Wander hit the ground, landing on his feet. He felt immense pain, but it was over in an instant. He also saw some white light shed off of his body when he hit the ground.

Wander then saw the first colossus he had battled, a towering minotaur equipped with a club, emerge from a wide rocky tunnel. Wander ran away from the towering brute toward the open plains. He wanted to see his pursuers coming from a distance.

The young hunter, not wanting the colossi to catch him, ran through the maze of tunnels, trying to find the open plain. He looked up and saw that the two small colossi were following him on the cliff tops. Phalanx, the massive dragon colossus was flying up high now. She watched the chase unfold from the safety of the skies.

Still being chased, Wander kept running until he burst out into the open expanse. He did not know if he could die again. However, he was sure that the colossi intended to visit terrible tortures on him if they caught him. Wander realized that he was not getting as tired as he normally would from running for an extended period of time. That could only be an advantage now, seeing as though he was trying to avoid capture by a mob of angry giants. On that subject, Wander saw the bull and horse shaped colossi farther away from the river and now chasing him as well. He also saw the warrior colossus and the one with a long beard coming in from another direction.

Wander's situation became even more nightmarish, as he began to duck and weave around a crossfire of projectiles made from energy. He saw that in the river the twelfth colossus was standing up and firing at him. Directly ahead of him, but still far away was the ninth colossus, a massive tortoise. He could hear all sorts of angry echoes in his mind. Except of Phalanx, all of these beasts hated him, or at least wanted to punish him. Wander saw that the electric eel colossus was patrolling the river, making sure that he could not consider that route of escape. To make things even worse, the hideous eyes of the tenth colossus, a massive snake that burrowed with alarming speed were watching him from the beach.

Wander then realized that the first four colossi to have detected him before he burst out onto the plains were in pursuit as well. The two small ones were now gaining on him. He then saw a small opening in the distance. It was probably a cave of some kind. He would have to skirt the ninth colossus. However, it was his only hope of escape from his monstrous attackers. There was no way that he could fight them. He had no weapons to fight even one of them with. The smallest two colossi seemed to have somehow regenerated their back armor, to make things worse.

Wander began to veer towards the cave, dodging the occasional swarm of energy bolts as he went. As wander closed in on his goal, the colossi coalesced more into one unit. However, just when he thought he could get away, he heard a new female voice call out, "Not so fast!"

The fifth colossus he had destroyed, a massive bird, swooped down past Phalanx, her talons bared. Wander tried to evade the massive bird's attack. However, he was too tired to do so. The great avian grabbed Wander in one of her talons.

Wander cried out, "Let me go! You colossal buzzard!"

The voice of the bird replied, "No possible way."

The massive bird then hovered over the crowd of colossi. Wander heard the tortoise colossus call out in a voice that sounded like a stern old man's, "Avion, you are not seizing our killer for yourself? You would not do that to us, your kin, right?"

Avion replied, "Of course I am not taking him for myself, Basaran. I would never deny any of you justice. However, Lord Malus has sent me here to apprehend the human and bring him in for sentencing. Argus waits with him. We are all to gather where Malus's soul has arrived in this realm for the human's sentencing. He will guide you to him, if you need any help."

The colossi all seemed to reluctantly agree to what Avion had said. The massive bird then flew up and away, with Wander in her talon and Phalanx following her closely. The various colossi then set out to follow the two fliers by land or by water.

Phalanx said to Avion, "You and Malus both know that I will advocate for mercy. Our slayer has already been killed, he has suffered the same fate that we have. I would also like to know his motive for our murders while he is in our custody."

Avion replied, "I know, I would rather have our captive come to understand that he has done wrong, than to have us torture him for a century. However, I have faith that Lord Malus will know the best course of action for us to take."

Wander then asked, fearing that he already knew the answers, "Who are Lord Malus and Argus?"

Avion replied, "Lord Malus is the final colossus that you killed. Argus is his most loyal servant and the penultimate of our kind that you slew."

Wander feared for what his sentence was to be. He knew that if he tried to wrest himself free of Avion's talon he would either be gripped even more tightly, or be allowed to fall and then get picked up again when he landed. The young man's biggest question was how the colossi were able to communicate like people? How could the monsters have gained intelligence upon death and then still remember that Wander had taken their lives?

Avion and Phalanx did not take long to reach a spot further down the river. There, near the shore, the sixteenth colossus stood tall. Patrolling nearby the towering colossus, was the penultimate foe Wander had faced. Somehow, the towering beast had his cleaver in hand again, as the first colossus had regained his club.

As Wander could see the other colossi beginning to slowly converge on the sight, moving faster than he had seen them move before. Avion flew up to the living tower and said, "Lord Malus, I have brought you our killer. He is yours to pass judgement on."

Malus reached out his right hand, seizing Wander just as Avion let him go. The titanic colossus then looked up at Avion and responded, his voice like that of a charismatic and self-assured man, "Excellent work, Avion. Once all of our kin arrive, I will sentence this young man to his punishment."

Wander knew that Malus could probably roast him in seconds if he made the lead colossus too angry. However, he had one question that demanded an answer. Wander raised his courage and asked, "I demand to know how all of you are able to communicate with me and with each other? When we fought, none of you ever said a word to me!"

Malus looked down at Wander, his blue eyes flashing orange for a brief moment. When his eyes turned back to blue, Malus responded, "The essence of Dormin that was sealed within us when the humans fled the 'Forbidden Land' clouded our minds and rendered us beastlike and easily fooled. You may have freed us from that existence. However, your crimes still stand and you will have to answer for them."

Wander gulped. Then Argus, shouted up at Wander, "Next time, do not speak until you are spoken to. You are the one charged with sixteen counts of murder and trying to release death itself, not us."

Malus simply nodded at his vassal's suggestion and then ordered, "Argus, alert me the moment all of our kin are here. Time is of the essence."

Argus saluted Malus with his free hand and then responded, his male voice sounding absolutely willing, "Yes, my Lord."

Wander was forced to rest in Malus's hand for a bit longer, as the other colossi assembled around their leader. Argus seemed to be counting the colossi as they arrived. He then saluted Malus and informed him, "Everyone is here, Lord Malus."

Avion, who had been hovering nearby confirmed, "Argus is right, my Lord. Shall we begin?"

Malus looked over the assembled colossi and then began, "We are all gathered here to pronounce judgement on this young man, our killer. As the acknowledged leader of our kind, I pronounce the human I hold in my hand guilty of murdering all sixteen of us. Also, he is guilty of having endangered the mortal world by releasing Dormin, the grand spirit of death. Therefore, I have no choice but to sentence the criminal to…"

Phalanx then interrupted, "Lord Malus, please. Before you sentence this young man. We should allow him to speak in his own defense. I think we would all like to know the truth as to why our lives were taken."

The various colossi all began to telepathically murmur. The sea serpent colossus suggested to the group, in a female voice "Maybe he was a sadistic psychopath? Maybe he had an innate desire to kill that he did not want to risk engaging in when he was among his fellow humans?"

The sand snake then offered up, in a gravely male voice, "Maybe he was a demented thrill seeker. Maybe he sought the greatest challenges in the world and slew us to prove his skills, if only to himself?"

The warrior colossus then queried, in a voice that sounded like a well-spoken upper-class man, "Maybe he was a surviving worshipper of Dormin's who had come just to free his master from being sealed? He probably assumed that he would gain great power from Dormin in exchange."

At that point Malus declared, "I will allow the prisoner to explain his motive. Then I will sentence him. I am very sure that he made some kind of a deal with Dormin. They are known to make deals with mortals and almost never break them. …Young man, you are ordered to explain why you slew all of us. I doubt it will affect your sentence, however."

Wander then nodded and responded, "For one thing, my name is Wander. As for why I made a deal with Dormin, I did it to recover the life of my slain fiancé, Mono. She was the love of my life and she was killed by my city's head Shaman for having a "cursed fate." Sacrifices like that are very infrequent, but the woman I loved was the victim of one. I could not live without her, so I stole the ancient sword from Lord Emon's temple and stole Mono's body as well. I then rode my horse, Argo, all the way to the Forbidden Land. There, I made my bargain with Dormin. I killed all of you in the hopes that she would live again. All that mattered to me was having a chance to be with Mono again. If what you say about Dormin and deals is true, then maybe she lives again now?"

Malus did not take much time to ponder what Wander had told him. The first colossus then chuckled, in a low male voice, "His name is Wander?"

Malus then looked down at Wander and announced, "Regardless of how noble your motivations were. Your crimes were still committed. Therefore, I sentence you to undo the damage you caused! You, Wander, are to help us to escape from the afterlife as your atonement for your actions in life!"

The colossi seemed shocked by their leader's pronouncement. Then, Malus, noticing the confusion among his followers, continued, "I have determined, as my magic has been returning to me, that Dormin was, thankfully for the material realm, banished back to their home world. Their home world being where we are now. Dormin is slowly, but steadily reforming in this world, the Chthonic Realm. When they fully regain their power here, they will surely hunt us down and absorb out souls into their being. We need to escape from the Chthonic Realm before Dormin fully reforms, or we will face a fate worse than death."

The colossi all recoiled in horror. Wander had never seen the massive beings all so obviously terrified. Malus then continued, "As many of you know, Dormin is one of sixteen grand spirits. There are fifteen others in this realm. We are going to have each one of us gain the spiritual energy needed to revive from of those spirits before Dormin becomes able to act against us. Celosia and Cenobia should be able to be revived by the same grand spirit."

At that point, the skeletal horse interjected, in the voice of a mature woman, "Lord Malus, how could we even reach the realms of the grand spirits? They all have the power to prevent unwanted entry into their realms. Only other grand spirits have the power to enter their kin's realms uninvited."

Malus responded, "The key is in the last part of what you said, Phaedra. You see, Wander here was borderline possessed by Dormin. He still has some of the spiritual energy of the grand spirit in him. I have surmised that he can grant himself and any colossus he is in contact with egress into the realms of any grand spirits who do not grant passage willingly. You all are to each go to the realm of a grand spirit and await Wander's arrival. I will do my best to guide all of you telepathically. However, I fear that many of you will seek out the grand spirits you most want to see weakened. Upon reaching you, Wander will grant you passage and assist you with any challenge that the grand spirit demands you complete in order to use some of their power. The challenges will probably vary from brutal battles to completely non-violent affairs. Regardless of the details, if this works, we will all be brought back to life before Dormin is able to begin hunting us down."

Wander then asked, "So, you want me to help all of you, in order to 'redeem' myself. What about me? Do I get revived by a grand spirit if I help you all to return to life?"

Malus shook his head and said, "Unless you could somehow make a deal with Dormin once they reform, I doubt it. You are going to assist us in order to redeem yourself and atone for your crimes."

Wander looked quite angry. However, he quickly composed himself. He looked Malus in the eyes and told the head colossus, "Fine, I will help you all. However, if any of you colossi encounter Mono alive when you are revived, you are NOT to harm her. She is not guilty of harming any single one of you. In fact, in exchange for my help, you all are to make sure that no harm comes to her and that her needs are provided for in whatever ways you all can. Do we have a deal?"

Malus nodded and then informed the gathered Colossi, "Yes, we do have a deal. You all heard him. If we find the maiden Mono, we are NOT to harm her and we are to make sure that she is safe and provided for." Malus then looked down at the small colossus with horns and a face with gritted teeth. He said, "It pains me greatly to do this…. Celosia. However, I need you to be Wander's escort during his atonement. You are to make sure that he goes to every colossus and helps them to revive. We will have Wander assist us in the order that he slew us. However, Celosia, you will have to be the last."

As Celosia was about to reply to Malus, the lion colossus spoke up, "Lord Malus, please permit me to go with my sister. I can help her to make sure our killer does not escape from his penance. Besides we are supposed to be revived by the same grand spirit. Frankly, I also don't want to be returned to life without her being with me."

Malus nodded one more time, as the other colossi were departing to find the realms of the grand spirits. He then said, "Cenobia, your request is granted. However, do not take this as an opportunity to torment Wander. We need him in order to escape a terrible fate. You will help Celosia to escort Wander from colossus to colossus. Therefore, you will go with her as the final ones to be revived. That actually does work well, seeing as though there are only fifteen grand spirits other than Dormin."

Cenobia responded, "Thank you, my Lord. I'll admit that I would love to spend hours batting our killer around like a cat plays with a toy. However, this is not the time for such silliness."

Malus lowered Wander to Argus. Argus then placed Wander atop Celosia's back. Malus then ordered, "I have mentally directed Valus to go to the nearest grand spirit, Multian. The three of you will find their lair in the city-like structures nearby, away from the river. Now, be on your way and make haste!"

Celosia, in a female voice, told Wander, "You should hold on tight!" She then told Malus, "We will not let you down, Lord Malus. We will get out of this place and see the sun again!"

Celosia then took off with Wander on her back and Cenobia close behind. As Wander held onto the back of the armored colossus, he thought, "It does not matter to me if Dormin 'absorbs their souls.' Somehow, these monsters believe that I am willing to help 'redeem' myself. However, as soon as I get the opportunity, I will take the power of one of these grand spirits for myself. Then, I will return to life and hopefully Mono!"

Closing Author's Notes:

Expect a new chapter of this story every Tuesday and Friday until posting is complete. I will try to make it clear if I decide to accelerate the process.