Tale ∞: The Tale of the Wanderer
Out in the Graylands was the Duke's secondary residence, a far humbler estate than the manor in Valnain. It was raining lightly outside in the late hours of the night. Amidst low candlelight inside one of the Duke's servants was escorting someone to his quarters.
"He's here, milord."
"Leave us."
The servant left the long-haired man curtly by himself as he opened the door. On a grand bed in the room was a thin old man in silken robes. He was regal despite his age, his hair and goatee being finely combed. His eyes scanned the dark-haired Riskbreaker in front and gestured for him to stand next to him.
"So, it seems you have finished your work in Ivalice, Ashley."
The man no longer had the guise of Jocelyn Oaks, instead reverting to his true face. Ashley gripped his left shoulder with his right hand.
"The wellspring is cut off; not even I can touch it at this point."
"And this Jocelyn, I trust we can leave the rest to him."
"Well, Sydney chose me the same way."
The Duke sighed and looked to the dark sky outside his window. He didn't quite know how to feel. For the decades he had known this man he still couldn't fathom the magnitude of what he was doing.
"I wonder if my family will cross your path once more. It seems we shall never truly be rid of the Dark."
"That's my charge, old friend."
Like the wind Ashley was gone without a trace. A shadow of a smile could be seen on the Duke's old friend, even when he collapsed and his servant rushed in screaming bloody murder.
In the mostly empty streets outside the manor stood someone in a long, black jacket observing the window of the Duke's bedroom. An officer in a raincoat noticed the odd figure, immediately thinking that they were up to something.
"Who's oop at this 'our? State yer busness!"
Turning on their heel the figure revealed themselves to be a woman who promptly flashed an ID in a leather case.
"Victoria Emer of the VKP." The wax seal on the paper caused the officer to stiffen up.
"M-my apologies, Marm!"
"None needed, strangers at night should be questioned."
The officer, relieved that he wasn't being reprimanded on the spot, quickly left the Inquisitor, though the second he turned the corner the woman he had met turned into a tall man with long, ebon hair. Jocelyn glanced one last time at the manor and walked down the road away from it, seeing Ashley sitting on a bench.
"I see you're learning quickly."
"Considering that I have to now I damn well better be."
"Well then, we shouldn't keep Emer waiting."
The two men vanished into the night, never again seen by any who once knew them.
And so continued the tale of the Vagrant,
The Wanderer
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Author's Notes: Today marks ten years since Vagrant Story and Ashley Riot first came into being. Of all the games I've played Vagrant Story is one of the very few that shows that the medium is still worth defending. Even after a decade of me revisiting it year after year it still hits me as hard and deep as it did when I first played it. I'm sure Tale of the Wander doesn't even begin to do Matsuno justice, but it's the least I can do to show how great he was and still is.