In the distance, a winged man kneeled alone amidst the aftermath of a war. Weapons and bodies scattered everywhere, blood flowed like river, the stench of death was strong in the air.
Be it fate or misfortune, this lone survivor witnessed all the bloodshed, heard all the screams, felt the souls of those he fell lingering around him. A thought enough to drive the most iron-willed of warriors insane.
The winged figure raised his blade glowing with green light, and pointed it towards his chest. His face drenched in sweat and blood, his hands shaking as he prepared for what's to come.
When he could bear it no longer, he drove the blade through his own chest.
Pain. Immense pain was felt as the winged warrior falls to the ground breathing for air, which was near impossible with a blade in his chest. The suffering, the agony, he wished naught but for his death to come quicker.
As he struggles to draw his last breaths, darkness slowly engulfs his sight. Soon after, an ominous voice followed, and four words were spoken.
"Varkos, find the truth."
"GAH!" A man gasped for air after emerging from a body of water.
He stood up and noticed himself naked, his lower body still submerged. He looked around to find himself standing near the shore of a lake from within, and realized the strange surroundings he was in.
A lake in the middle of what seems to be a mixture of a rainforest and a desert biome, with the latter dominating. Accompanied by the blazing sun scorching from above, the man came to a conclusion that he was in some sort of oasis.
At a loss, he tried to remember how he got there, but that's when he realized. He doesn't remember anything, not how he got here, and not even who he was.
He focused and kept thinking about it again. Who was he? What happened? He struggled on and on but to no avail.
Riddled with disbelief, he clenched his forehead to recall any sort of memories, and was met by a vision.
A vision of a land of death, a winged warrior, and the ominous voice that said.
"Varkos, Find the truth."
In search for answers, he ended up finding more things to question. Why was the vision the only thing he remembers? Who was that voice? What truth is he meant to find and how? His mind was utterly overwhelemed with thoughts.
"Hey there." A female voice was heard behind the man, a rather young sounding one at that.
The one in the lake turned around to find a girl sitting on the trunk of a bent palm tree.
Her hair was as pink as a flamingo, she wore a dress with a motif that resembles nature. The most intriguing sight however, was the blue fox-like spirit floating beside her.
"Can I help you?" The man asked.
"No, not really. If anything, it looks like you're the one here who needs help." The girl replied in a rather amused tone.
"Yes...It would seem I am in need some clothes." The other continued.
The pink haired giggled, then gestured the spirit beside her to come close. She whispered to the creature for a few seconds before it scurried off into the woods behind them.
"The name's Floryn, and you are?" The girl asked while floating down from her tree.
"To tell you the truth...I do not know." The man answered.
"Hm? What do you mean by that?" The floating one replied as she stops on her tracks midair.
The one in the lake would proceed to blank with confusion, while the other tilts her head with curiosity. Akward silence filled the air for a while, and Floryn had to break it.
"Are you drunk mister?"
"No, it's not like that. I...I fear that my memories are not with me at the moment..."
He continued to explain about how he doesn't remember anything at all. Not his name, not his past, and not how he got here.
"Not a single thing?" Floryn confirmed.
"Well, now that you mention it, I do remember some sort of vision. A really ominous and vague one." The man answered.
As he contemplated about it, he recalled the four words that were spoken by an ominous voice.
"Varkos." The man said.
"Varkos?"
"Yes, It was a name that I heard within the vision. I'm not sure but...it could be mine?"
"So, should I call you Varkos? And is there anything else you remember besides the vision?"
"Perhaps, and no, just the vision."
Floryn crossed her arms and looked up for a while. "Visions huh, that's out of my field of expertise." She stated.
"Would you happen to know someone who is an expert in visions?"
The girl looked down with her hands on her chin. She pondered for a few seconds.
"There's this tale, about a woman hidden somewhere in the Land of Dawn called the Oracle." Floryn spoke.
"It's said that she has the answer to every one of your questions, especially when it's about visions. Long ago, kings and queens would visit her when they have questions or nightmares, and neither of them has ever been wrongly answered by the Oracle."
"Then again, it's just an old legend that my friend told me." She continued.
Before their conversation could go any further, a shout was heard.
"COME BACK HERE!"
The two looked into the forest where the fox-like spirit ran into. To find that said creature returning with clothes in it's mouth.
It threw the clothes to Varkos and circled the girl. Then, four men came out of the bushes.
Vulgar and reeking of booze, armed with jewelry and swords, they were clearly a band of thieves.
"And what do you people want?" Floryn asked, with a hint of anger in her tone.
"The hell you think huh? That pet of yours stole our clothes, and we want it back!" A thief replied.
While they were distracted with one another, Varkos took his time to wear the clothes.
"Yeah, and why should I? You thieves have destroyed trees and plants just for the fun of it, but having your clothes be stolen is crossing the line?" The pink haired said, slightly angrier than before.
The thieves took a good look at each other, before bursting with laughter.
The girl's face grew slightlty frustrated.
"Look...we just want...our clothes back. Then we'll...I don't know...stop playing with trees?" A thief said as he is barely able to contain his laughter.
Just as he finished his sentece, a ball of glowing energy striked the laughing thief's face, sending him flying back to the bushes.
The other three's laugh vanished after they saw their friend take flight, replaced with a shocked look after they returned their focus to the girl.
The pink haired swirls her hand, creating another ball of energy, she proceeds to smirk at the thieves. Making the trio grow agitated and charged towards her.
Floryn blasted the ball of energy at one of the charging thief, knocking them back just like his friend. When the other two closed their distance, the fox-like spirit struck the face of a thief with it's head, dazing him.
The girl on the other hand leaped above the two and shot another ball of energy midair. Knocking the dazed one down.
Varkos, who had just finished wearing his clothes, found himself quite impressed. She was agile and skilled in magic, didn't seem to be much of a fighter at first, but this certainly proved him wrong.
The last thief found himself pinned between the girl and the man who had just stepped out to the shore. After seeing what the former was capable of, he decided to charge the other, hoping he was far more vunerable.
"NO!" Floryn shouted.
The thief slashed his sword to Varkos, and the latter blocked it with his forearm. What came after, was something rather odd.
The sword's blade shattered to pieces, time seemed to slow down as the shards fall to the sand below. The thief and his target stared at each other in confusion, silence filled the air once more.
"Wh-what? AARGH!" The thief shouted in pain as he fell to the ground unconscious. Courtesy of an energy ball hitting his back.
"Hey! Are you alright?" The pink haired approached Varkos.
She checked his forearm, and to her suprise.
"Not...a scratch?" Floryn said to herself whilst turning the man's forearm back and forth.
She then stared at Varkos much like how the thief before did, with confusion.
"What's wrong?" The man asked.
"What's wrong? Your arm just shattered a sword and it's not scratched at all!" The girl answered.
She lets his forearm go and took a step backwards, raising one of her eyebrows, she asked once more.
"Who are you mister?"
"Like I said, I do not really know, and believe me I wish it weren't so."
The two fell silent, this time it was tension that filled the air instead of akwardness.
Varkos proceeds to eye one of the fallen thief, and approached him to analyze his lavish set of jewelry. It baffles him how one chooses to wear six golden necklaces at once.
Unbeknownst to the man, Floryn was staring at him with a judgemental look from behind.
Varkos kneeled and reached out to the thief's neck, before grabbing his cloak. He would then dust it off and wore it around his neck.
When he returned his attention towards at Floryn, her expression lightened with relief.
"What is it?" Varkos asked.
"Oh, it's just...I was expecting you to steal their jewelry, but I knew better from the start that you're a good man." Floryn answered with a small smile on her face.
"Yes..." The other replied in a rather conflicted tone, before adjusting his cloak and walking off to the distance.
"Hey, wait! Where are you going?" The girl asked as she catched up.
"To find this oracle you speak of."
"You are? You do realize that it's just the stuff of legends, and do you even know where you're going?"
Floryn made a good point. If this was an oasis, then there would only be sand and heat waiting further beyond. To walk aimlessly in a blazing desert would be pointless, especially when one's quest is seeking an old legend that none is sure to even exist.
"No, not really." Varkos answered after stopping.
The pink haired giggled before she floats to face the man eye to eye.
"Okay, in all seriousness, are you actually going to find this Oracle? A folklore myth that a stranger just told you five minutes ago?" Floryn asked.
"I don't really have any other choice. My memories are gone and I can't expect anyone to know something about it, but if this Oracle does have the answer to my questions, then it's my only option." Varkos answered
"Fair point, but you still don't know where to go right?"
The man stayed silent, while the floating one smiled.
"Heh, and that's where I come in." Floryn said.
"What? You would like to join?" The man asked.
"Well yes, if you really are serious on finding the oracle."
"I am serious, but why join me?"
The fox-like spirit beside Floryn wiggled it's tail. "You see, Dew and I have seen just how dry and torturous this desert is, and we would like to spread the green through it." She explained.
"Also, if we do meet this Oracle, I'd like to ask her a question about the green, and why the humans are destroying them for fun nowadays..." She continued in a rather sad tone.
"You care for nature, do you?" Varkos commented.
"Yes well, I am born from it after all."
The cloaked one raised one of his eyebrow.
"Oh, it's a long story actually, but yes, I was once a dying flower given life by a tree man. I'll tell you more about it, if you let me join." She persuaded.
To say that the other was bewildered would be an understatement. There's certainly a lot more to her story, but is that really something Varkos should be focusing on their journey?
"So can I join?" Floryn asked.
"Allow me to ask something in return, why help a stranger that you just met five minutes ago?" The man questioned.
"Why not? Especially since the both of us have a common goal right?"
"No, not just that...I meant when I woke up in the lake. Why help me then? Why didn't you assume that I was just another thief?"
Floryn's smile slowly fades. "Well umm, it's not exactly something that I can just explain, but I'll tell you about it...if"
"Let me guess, if I let you join me?"
The girl giggled and remarked the other for being smart despite having little to no memory.
"So, just to be clear, is that all you want? Someone to accompany you and a question for the Oracle? Also, how can you help me?" Varkos reaffirmed.
"Yes that's all I want. As for that last part, I can help you get to a city called Los Pecados. It's quite far, but we can find some informations about the Oracle there."
The man faced sideways, considering. If what Floryn says is true then that city will be a good start to find this myth. From his point of view, there really is nowhere else to go but there, and no one else to rely on but the girl.
He took a deep breath and exhaled, then said.
"Why not."