The next day. This chapter also includes much of Gol's recollections of the past, before the events of the first game, including a scene from Maia's and his childhood. Like I said, I want this story to explore more of the siblings' past in addition to the present day plot. I want to get a better idea of what they were like before the Dark Eco corrupted them.
Chapter 5: Monsters
Gol awoke early in the morning, before the sun came up, as usual. Kassra was still asleep, and all the books were still in the bedroom, so he'd have to find other means of keeping busy. Which was fine. Maia used to sleep in, so he was used to staying quiet.
He went outside and got to work, retrieving Kassra's things that she had left behind from the night before, turning out the lights, and then went about disposing of the bodies. He carried them a good ways from town and dumped them in a pile. Let the scavengers take care of the rest. It was more than they deserved.
Finding himself rather dusty and no doubt crawling with all sorts of filth from the dead Marauders, he then returned to the house. He stopped before going inside. This was the first time he had seen the village in relative light (the sun was just starting to rise). It was now clear to see the place had been abandoned for quite some time. The once white stucco buildings had long fallen into disrepair, with broken windows and decaying walls. One had its door loose on its hinges, swinging lazily back and forth, tapping out a slow beat on the wall as a light wind moved it. Some showed signs of a past fire.
He then had second thoughts about going in just yet. He was in dire need of a bath after his work. And he still had sand clinging to his feet and legs from last night. It didn't take long for him to find the water source, a shallow river a short distance from the village, maybe ten feet wide, crystal water gurgling among the rocks, with scrub brush growing along the banks, no doubt thankful for the slight mercy the desert had given them. After finding a large rusty, aluminum pail behind Kassra's house, set beside a pathetic, little garden she had growing back there, and collecting enough bucketfuls to fill the tub, he was thoroughly exhausted and hot from the heat of the rising sun. And his back ached. He didn't know how Kassra did it.
Finally he had his bath ready, when he realized he had forgotten to heat the water. It had taken him enough work to get to this point! He settled for a quick, cold bath, but after making quite sure the door was securely locked. Not just because Kassra was here. He'd do the same if Maia was around. She had the most bothersome habit of walking into any room, regardless of whether or not the door was closed. And then she made as if it was his fault! How he missed her, though, bad habits and all. He was sure he had plenty of bad habits himself, not that he was certain what they were. The fact that he chewed up all his pens in times of deep concentration didn't count.
Once his bath was over, Gol returned to the living room. Kassra was still sleeping, or at least, she hadn't come out of the bedroom yet, and he no longer had anything to do to keep himself occupied. He settled for wandering around the room. There were more of those little trinkets on the mantle above the fireplace like in the bedroom. Upon closer inspection, he saw that they were tiny animals carved from wood. Kassra's handiwork, perhaps? She obviously had an unhealthy obsession with cutesy animals. In the middle of it all were carvings of three people. They were rough and featureless, but it was clear they consisted of a man, a woman, and a child.
She had been alone for quite some time. Why did she stay? There didn't seem to be anything left for her in this place. Gol had never been much of a people person, but he knew he'd get lonely if he didn't have Maia around for company.
He turned away from the mantle to pace about the room some more. The Sage didn't know what it was like to have all the people you knew suddenly die. But, he did have some idea what it was like to be alone. Alone, except for Maia, that is. Not in the literal sense, but in the sense that everyone but his sister had gradually turned on him. Upon hearing his decision to study Dark Eco and even, perhaps, become a Sage one day, the people he had known his entire life acted like they no longer knew him. They started to treat him with caution, as if he was tainted. Or as if one wrong move and he'd turn them to ash. But, he was not dangerous back then. Quite the opposite, actually.
Hardly any research had been done on Dark Eco. Everyone was afraid of it, and the few who did try to study it had been rumored to go insane. People claimed they had gone mad and had to be put down like rabid animals. Due to such stories, there was an unfair stigma attached to Dark Eco and anyone associated with it. Gol had intended to put an end to that stereotype. Nothing was quite as dangerous if you understood it. He had decided to learn all he could about it, and once he did, there would be nothing to fear. He would learn not only how to prevent and treat the effects of Dark Eco, but he would learn how to control it. He had learned to control it. Old Samos the Green Sage claimed it couldn't be done, but oh, how wrong he was. No one knew as much about Dark Eco as Gol. No one. Only his dear sister came close.
But, all the villagers were too blind to see this. Even his parents. His father's disgust was obvious, but his mother just tried to act like nothing at all was out of the ordinary and that Gol was simply in a phase he would eventfully grow out of. Why couldn't anyone see what his sister and he were trying to do? Dark Eco couldn't be ignored forever. Someone needed to study it, and since they wouldn't, he did.
An old memory floated up from the depths of the Dark Sage's mind. A very old one from when he was but a boy, back before anyone saw him as dangerous. He had an interest in Dark Eco very early on, and he still clearly remembered the first time he had seen it.
As it always was and always will be, when a parent said "no", all a child heard was "yes", so when they had warned his sister and him to stay well clear of Dark Eco, he was immediately curious to see this substance everyone thought was so dangerous. One day, when his sister and he were about six or seven years of age, they had been playing out in the woods and had found a small pool of Dark Eco. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Purple and a black so deep, it felt like you could fall in just by looking at it, rippling about in waves even though there had been no wind that day.
He had been mesmerized by it. This is what their parents feared? It didn't seem so terrifying. If fact, it was wondrous. He had to bring some home, so late that night, he had woken Maia up in their shared bedroom, where she slept in the upper level of the bunk bed. He had an idea.
They tiptoed out into the kitchen, and Gol found a large ceramic bowl their mother hardly ever used (he was certain she wouldn't miss it) and a soup ladle. Then, he pulled on their mother's dish gloves, for safety's sake, that were much too big for him. Maia started to giggle at his ridiculous appearance until he managed to quiet her.
They snuck out into the woods and collected as much of the beautiful substance as they could and brought it home. They hid the bowl under their bunk bed, along with the now very corroded ladle, and all was well. Their mother swore she looked absolutely everywhere for her missing things, but the twins were good at keeping secrets.
But, one day, Gol woke up to find the Dark Eco had eaten through not only the bowl, but had created a large hole in the floor that had begun to creep out beyond its hiding spot. He shook his sister awake, and the two hoped with all of their might that their parents wouldn't find out, but of course, they did, and they were punished. A scolding and a good spanking for them both, and then another scolding for good measure. But, it was too late. Gol had already seen Dark Eco, and he wouldn't soon forget it.
The Sage chuckled to himself, a strange, raspy sound. To think his sister and he had been foolish children once. It almost felt as if it didn't really happen.
"What's the matter?"
He looked over to see Kassra standing in the doorway of the bedroom, smiling at him. She had her armor in one hand and dropped it by the wall.
"Hmm?" Had she hit her head last night?
"I've never heard you laugh before. I can only assume something must be terribly wrong."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You're finally awake."
"Actually, I've been awake. I just…didn't feel like getting up, y'know." She sat down in one of the chairs and put her hands on her knees. He looked down at her before sitting, as well.
"This isn't my house, y'know," she said.
"Isn't it?" She was in the habit of being vague lately.
She shook her head, her undone hair swinging into her face. "No, I…after everything happened, my house was in bad shape. The windows were broken and… Well, there were too many bad memories. I mean, good memories, but after what happened, they kind of turned bad. If that makes sense."
He supposed it did. "Why do you stay?" he asked.
"Nowhere to go. The Wasteland's huge, and I'm really out in the boonies here. Can't even see Spargus' beacon from this far out. Plus, well, I must admit, I'm scared. If I go out alone, the Marauders may get me." She got quiet. "But, I guess I'm not safe here, either."
"I suppose not."
"As you've likely guessed, you're the only person I've seen in a long time," she said.
"I don't believe I've been very good company."
Kassra laughed. "You've been fine. And hey, you haven't been giving me the evil eye so much lately."
There was silence, and Gol tapped the fingers of his left hand on the arm of the chair, nails clicking on the rough, wooden surface, just to have something else to focus on. It felt like Kassra was staring at him. Finally, he asked, "Why didn't you tell me you were alone?" If he recalled correctly, she had done all she could to make him believe otherwise. She had been a convincing liar.
She shrugged. "Didn't want to. It's nice to pretend, I guess."
More silence. Gol stopped tapping his fingers and crossed his arms. He blinked feverishly. She was definitely staring at him, and he wasn't looking over. The silence was then broken by a most surprising statement.
"I think I know who you are."
He turned to see that she was indeed looking at him. Her face had become nearly serious. A rare look for her.
"Do you now? Well then, who am I?"
She turned away for a second, then, looked him in the eyes again. "You're that Sage…Gol…"
"Gol Acheron. That is correct."
"And your sister… You two tried to flood the world with Dark Eco." She said it as a simple fact, no sign of judgment in her voice. She furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "That was…three hundred years ago."
Three hundred years! Had it been that long? Before he could ponder the implications of this more, she spoke again.
"But, I don't think you're a monster at all."
Gol frowned. "Who said I was?"
"That's what the stories say. The Dark Eco turned you into monsters. My mother…she used to say if I went out into the desert alone, that you and your sister would get me." She gave a sheepish grin. "Well, I guess she wasn't completely wrong. I am alone in the desert, and here you are."
What idiots had made such rumors about them? They were certainly not monsters. If anything, everyone else was but insects that deserved to be crushed beneath their feet.
He heard her laugh again, and he glared at her. What was with her and her need to giggle like a loon?
"I bet you wonder how I figured it out."
He grunted at her in response.
"The Dark Eco you used last night. They say only two people could use Dark Eco that way. I mean, last I heard." She paused, and her voce softened. "I forgot to thank you for everything."
"You already did, actually." Where was Maia? Hadn't she seen his flare yet?
"I did? Oh, right. But, thank you again. Really."
"Hmm."
"And I don't believe the rumors. About, well, you know, you being a monster."
"How very kind of you," he said. She smiled. He didn't mean it as a compliment! Had she no concept of sarcasm?
The rest of the morning was uneventful. Kassra attempted small talk, but Gol had other things on his mind. Several centuries had passed since that awful day. The world would be very different. Already he had learned of two new cities in the area, but that was surely not the end of it. At least Jak and his obnoxious weasel would be long dead, along with old Samos. A shame he couldn't be the one to kill them, but it was a pleasant thought nonetheless. He looked forward to telling his dear sister the good news, if she wasn't already aware of it.
In addition to pondering the current state of the world and how he would continue their past plans, he checked the windows often for any sign of his sister, or went outside and flew up high to look all around. It felt like an eternity, but it was just turning to evening, when he saw a most peculiar shadow.
He watched as it glided over the ground. Something clicked in his mind, and he rushed outside. He looked up, a hand shielding his eyes from the sun, a blinding, pure white ball, glowering at him from where it hung a ways over the western horizon. He squinted and saw his dear Maia looking down at him, eyebrows raised and hands on her hips.
"About time I've found where you've been hiding, dear brother."
Maia's finally back! And I want to deeply apologize for putting the image of Gol bathing into your head. At least, I didn't include any detail. Please review, and I will never do it again (At least, I can't currently foresee any need to subject anyone to that ever again.). I actually still won't even if you don't review, but please review anyway, because it is very nice.