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Chapter 1:
As far as your trips go, it's a fairly uneventful one- Sorren's loaded you up with more boxed lunches than can actually fit in your backpack- well, they couldn't until Sorren re-packed your backpack- and you've got a brand new fluffy cloak to ward off the cold with plus some pirate advice from Willy you're pretty sure you won't need but you appreciate the thought anyway.
So you'd say it's going pretty well so far; nice and quiet as you step into the familiar clearing of the Vales.
It'd been almost two years since you'd visited the Flickering Vales last; the place where you'd first met Steve and met the candy-hungry Gravekeeper and had helped seal a torn vale.
(To be fair, you hadn't known what you were actually doing there until well after the fact. That was when your hoarding addiction had started in earnest; you can't be blamed for any memory loss or decisions made during that time.)
The rolling hills spread before you like a painting as the light from Eldemore's dual moons cast their gentle glow over the still forest beyond the stone dial that you had used to seal the torn vale, now silent and cold to the touch; you'd kind of been hoping the Gravekeeper would be around to give you some beyond-the-vale pets in exchange for some Halloween candy- you were sure to bring extra for them just in case.
You give the center rock one last pat for old times' sake and make your way deeper into the Vales.
Dolos, the Ancient child you'd met in the Mystic Glade, had led you as far as he could before having to turn back; apparently the dark magic in the air was too much for him, and with a swift 'good luck' he vanished.
Thinking about it now as you travel yet deeper into the Vales, you feel a sudden sense of dread clutch at your chest, the very air seeming to strike fear into those who enter and only growing worse as you keep walking.
Seraphina had said that there was trouble brewing here and that a friend of hers was in great danger, asking you to personally look into it, but as to who, what, where and how, you had no answers.
The air had grown still; the chirps of the forest creatures that had accompanied you before had fallen silent. Everything had become far too quiet for your liking- you've read enough horror novels to know what happens when everything suddenly goes quiet when you're alone in the woods at night.
Okay, so maybe this hadn't been your best idea.
A soft glow at the edge of the woods catches your eye- it seems to be emanating from within the thick woods, and spirit orbs of flickering fire gather at the edges, dancing and swaying in seemingly random patterns but still mostly when they have your full attention.
You knew the stories, of course- the tales of those who had followed the spirit wisps of the Vales through your many, many history lessons with Sorren and homework- of how they guided travelers along their way, though mostly to their doom.
You can recall at least one lecture off hand of 'If you see the pretty lights in the woods you are not to follow them, okay Sealer?' since Sorren learned you'd be going to the Flickering Vales again.
That doesn't mean you don't feel drawn to them- they move in an almost hypnotic way and before you know it you're walking towards them, curious if frightened; what if it's just a pet who needs cuddling?
Before you get too close, a bright flash of light suddenly fills your vision and you recoil sharply, bringing both hands up to rub at your suddenly stinging eyes.
You blink away the stars in your vision and suddenly there is a young girl standing before you, just a few feet ahead where there was nothing before.
"H-hey!" You shout, in both surprise and confusion, and almost immediately she vanishes.
You're still blinking rapidly to clear your vision when you see her reappear then dart into the forest where the eerie glow from before was and you nearly trip over your own feet as you start to follow.
"Wait, come back! It's not safe to be out here alone!" You yell, very clearly not heading your own advice as you all but run after the figure.
You charge blindly after the child-like apparition, catching only faint glimpses of her figure through the thickening trees- blue wisps swirl eagerly around you as they float by, guiding you further along and making sure you don't stray far from their lit path.
Without warning, the trees suddenly disperse and you stumble into a fairly large clearing, completely barren save for one large, barren dead tree standing ominous and defiant in the center; the wisps that had so giddily accompanied you thus far whirl past you to dance and weave around the tree's many gnarled roots and branches.
A shiver instinctively runs down your spine as you gaze at that lone, dead tree- it stands like a monument, a statue, filled with foreboding and... sadness? You feel filled with emotions; sorrow, pain, loss, and something you can only describe as 'wickedness'.
"You shouldn't be here! It's not safe!" A voice intones from behind you- or in front of you? You're not sure you heard it as much as it formed in your head- urgent and soft, like a child's whisper and your skin crawls in fear.
You freeze, scarcely daring to breathe as a cold chill pricks at your skin, your lungs, your soul- the hair on your arms and neck stands on end and your eyes widen- you're sure you didn't blink, but it feels like you did as suddenly the girl from before was in front of you, her face centimeters from yours and if you weren't so scared you'd scream.
"Didn't you hear me?" She warns, in that same whisper-loud voice, "It's not safe! You must turn back…you must. B-before it's too late for you to leave."
Every ounce of you is telling you to run, to flee and never come back, but your legs refuse to cooperate as you shake where you stand- your voice cracks as your struggle for words and your heart is going a million miles and hour as you try to come up with something, anything.
"Y-you're a...ghost," you squeak, and well. At least you managed that. Good job, you.
You'd never seen a spirit, at least like this- the tales were commonplace around the Flickering Vales, but that's all they were; tales, stories.
Besides, weren't spirits supposed to have a hard time communicating to the living? It usually took too much energy- at least, that's what you heard- but here you both were, talking normally to each other.
The ground begins to shake.
You look around wildly, looking for a source of the gradually strengthening rumble and the ghost mirrors you, clearly uncertain as to what was happening.
The trees around the clearing begin to twist and morph, blending into one another as their branches and roots entwine in a strange mirror of the wisps, a mournful groan echoing throughout the silent clearing as they twist into an impenetrable wall of solid bark and pine, and the ghost girl whimpers in fear.
"He knows you're here!" She whispers, your own fear reflected in her mostly transparent features- you start scrabbling at the bark and wood with your hands, feeling for any sort of give in the branches, any chink in the armor you could use to climb out as the low rumble slowly fades away.
"I told you to turn back. I tried to warn you..." the ghost says, panic visible in her eyes as she wrings her hands together, "Now you're trapped here with me. I'm—I'm so sorry...I didn't want this to happen. Not again."
"What’s going on here? What’s happening?!" You ask, turning to face the ghostly girl once again, thinking rapidly to try and think of a way out of here, but the forest has already stilled into unnatural silence.
"I’m so sorry. I didn’t want this to happen, I promise! I wanted you to leave. I tried to, um, scare you away... but it didn’t work. I was never very good at scaring others," the girl tries to explain, and you laugh a little despite everything.
"But you’re a ghost! How are you even speaking to me right now?" You ask, a little high pitched. She'd done a pretty good job of scaring you, after all.
"Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t introduce myself. My name’s Rowena, but my friends always used to call me Rue. I didn’t want to frighten you, but if you stayed, you would have been trapped in the Haunted Grove like all the others..." she says, and you nod in acknowledgement but not understanding.
"Others? I don’t see anyone else around here," you say, squinting into the darkness to see if there were any other lost souls- both living and... not so living- but you can't see anything through the darkness or past the tree growth.
"...They are not here anymore. Everyone fades away after a while," Rue says, looking at the ground and you nod again, slowly.
"Oh…well that’s not good," bit of an understatement, there, "Seraphina sent me here to investigate the magic disappearing from this place so, I really need to get out-"
"Y-You know Grami Seri!? Are you the one Dolos went to find? This is great! You can help then! That’s what you do…right? You’re the Sealer. You, um, seal things?" Rue asks with hope in her eyes, voice brightening for the first time you've heard and she even seems to glow brighter from it.
"Actually, I’m pretty good at unsealing things, but yep—that’s me! Or at least, what everyone calls me. Look, Rue, I came here to help, and that is what I plan to do. I know we just met, but if you can help me figure out what all is happening here, maybe we can both fix this mess together. What do you say?"
Rue's previous good mood dies as she looks at you with fear and uncertainty in her eyes.
She seems like she wants to help you, but she's afraid of something beyond what you can see and it's holding her back and she squeezes her eyes shut to think.
You look back at her with desperation clear in your eyes- you have no idea what's happening here- not like that's an uncommon experience- but it's clear the young ghost child knew something you didn't, and you'd probably need her help if you ever wanted to get home again.
Plus, the mounds of earth covered in dead grass and pale sticks were a little difficult not to notice.
The silence that follows is long and scarier than being trapped in here, but Rue eventually opens them again, determined and clear.
"I-I’m going to help you. No matter what. If Grami Seri and Dolos trust you, then I should too!"
You practically fall over in relief, smiling happily at the child who smiles uncertainly back through her terror. You forget she's a spirit for a second and very nearly almost wrap her in a hug before you remember yourself.
"I think we will need a lot of the wisps help too, though. They carry fragments of memories from the past…memories that belong to him...maybe if we gather enough they can help you escape," she says, and you glare at the mischievous wisps that had caused this in the first place and they dance happily under your glare.
"There is a little crow here with blue eyes that will aid you in collecting them. He said his name is Muzu, and he is here to help you too! He’s so adorable! He’s been keeping me company and playing lots of "rolling" games with me before you came, hehe," she giggles, and you look around wildly for your crow friend and see him happily perched on a root of the massive dead tree in the center, blue eyes glinting.
You’ve never been so glad to see the blue eyed crow in this dreary place as he flaps over to you and lands squarely on your head, only to flop down and roll happily in your hair, and you untangle him with a giggle as he gives a small caw of approval. He gently plucks a note tied around his leg off of it's string and presses it into your open palm, and a warm smile lights your features at the recognition of Sorren's elegant handwriting- and it's not marking your homework wrong for once!
"Remember that you are never alone, even in the darkest of places," the note reads, "Love, Sorren and Willy."
It's rare to hear such words from your strict mentor, and you give Muzu a little hug as the bird tries to return the gesture with a strange, feathery embrace and a birdy-kiss to your cheek. Rue giggles a little at the crow's display of affection, and you laugh with her, setting Muzu back upon the tree root gently.
"He also said something about you really, really, really liking to hoard pets? U-um, if you want, I can show you some of my creature friends too when you gather enough wisps for me! They are super-duper sweet! I’m sure you’d love them. Oh…and maybe…if you want to that is…you can come talk to me when you have the time? I promise I won’t scare you again," she giggles and you snap to attention, because pets were just mentioned. And the only thing better than pets was pets you could own.
You set your mind to the task of catching the little wisps and after about ten minutes of diving about the clearing in an attempt to catch them before you give up and stare at the sky angrily, huffing as the glow from the dual moons shines down benevolently and Rue's laughter fills the clearing.
You return, dejected, to the tree, and Muzu gleefully flies around you for a bit before chasing the little balls of light all around the clearing before coming up on a blue one and chomping down on it without mercy.
He flies back and drops the somewhat soggy spirit into your hand, chest puffed out with pride, and some part of you questions how, exactly, Muzu can catch spirit orbs, but this is Muzu you're talking about.
You fish a jar out of your backpack- used to hold jelly for a boxed lunch sandwich- and drop the wisp in there.
That'd probably work.
You can't really tell the time of day- night?- from underneath the thickly woven canopy of branches above you, but you feel exhausted and almost actually fall asleep on your feet a few times before you decide to call it quits and hole up underneath the tree, spreading down your sleeping bag before curling up in it, saying goodnight to Muzu and Rue, who seems a little sad to not have someone to talk to for a while but doesn't protest.
After a while, Rue hesitantly curls up next to you, her back to yours- a strange, barely-there cold weight, but she seems happy enough to lie there so you let her.
You fall asleep to only the sound of your own breathing.
So you'd say it's going pretty well so far; nice and quiet as you step into the familiar clearing of the Vales.
It'd been almost two years since you'd visited the Flickering Vales last; the place where you'd first met Steve and met the candy-hungry Gravekeeper and had helped seal a torn vale.
(To be fair, you hadn't known what you were actually doing there until well after the fact. That was when your hoarding addiction had started in earnest; you can't be blamed for any memory loss or decisions made during that time.)
The rolling hills spread before you like a painting as the light from Eldemore's dual moons cast their gentle glow over the still forest beyond the stone dial that you had used to seal the torn vale, now silent and cold to the touch; you'd kind of been hoping the Gravekeeper would be around to give you some beyond-the-vale pets in exchange for some Halloween candy- you were sure to bring extra for them just in case.
You give the center rock one last pat for old times' sake and make your way deeper into the Vales.
Dolos, the Ancient child you'd met in the Mystic Glade, had led you as far as he could before having to turn back; apparently the dark magic in the air was too much for him, and with a swift 'good luck' he vanished.
Thinking about it now as you travel yet deeper into the Vales, you feel a sudden sense of dread clutch at your chest, the very air seeming to strike fear into those who enter and only growing worse as you keep walking.
Seraphina had said that there was trouble brewing here and that a friend of hers was in great danger, asking you to personally look into it, but as to who, what, where and how, you had no answers.
The air had grown still; the chirps of the forest creatures that had accompanied you before had fallen silent. Everything had become far too quiet for your liking- you've read enough horror novels to know what happens when everything suddenly goes quiet when you're alone in the woods at night.
Okay, so maybe this hadn't been your best idea.
A soft glow at the edge of the woods catches your eye- it seems to be emanating from within the thick woods, and spirit orbs of flickering fire gather at the edges, dancing and swaying in seemingly random patterns but still mostly when they have your full attention.
You knew the stories, of course- the tales of those who had followed the spirit wisps of the Vales through your many, many history lessons with Sorren and homework- of how they guided travelers along their way, though mostly to their doom.
You can recall at least one lecture off hand of 'If you see the pretty lights in the woods you are not to follow them, okay Sealer?' since Sorren learned you'd be going to the Flickering Vales again.
That doesn't mean you don't feel drawn to them- they move in an almost hypnotic way and before you know it you're walking towards them, curious if frightened; what if it's just a pet who needs cuddling?
Before you get too close, a bright flash of light suddenly fills your vision and you recoil sharply, bringing both hands up to rub at your suddenly stinging eyes.
You blink away the stars in your vision and suddenly there is a young girl standing before you, just a few feet ahead where there was nothing before.
"H-hey!" You shout, in both surprise and confusion, and almost immediately she vanishes.
You're still blinking rapidly to clear your vision when you see her reappear then dart into the forest where the eerie glow from before was and you nearly trip over your own feet as you start to follow.
"Wait, come back! It's not safe to be out here alone!" You yell, very clearly not heading your own advice as you all but run after the figure.
You charge blindly after the child-like apparition, catching only faint glimpses of her figure through the thickening trees- blue wisps swirl eagerly around you as they float by, guiding you further along and making sure you don't stray far from their lit path.
Without warning, the trees suddenly disperse and you stumble into a fairly large clearing, completely barren save for one large, barren dead tree standing ominous and defiant in the center; the wisps that had so giddily accompanied you thus far whirl past you to dance and weave around the tree's many gnarled roots and branches.
A shiver instinctively runs down your spine as you gaze at that lone, dead tree- it stands like a monument, a statue, filled with foreboding and... sadness? You feel filled with emotions; sorrow, pain, loss, and something you can only describe as 'wickedness'.
"You shouldn't be here! It's not safe!" A voice intones from behind you- or in front of you? You're not sure you heard it as much as it formed in your head- urgent and soft, like a child's whisper and your skin crawls in fear.
You freeze, scarcely daring to breathe as a cold chill pricks at your skin, your lungs, your soul- the hair on your arms and neck stands on end and your eyes widen- you're sure you didn't blink, but it feels like you did as suddenly the girl from before was in front of you, her face centimeters from yours and if you weren't so scared you'd scream.
"Didn't you hear me?" She warns, in that same whisper-loud voice, "It's not safe! You must turn back…you must. B-before it's too late for you to leave."
Every ounce of you is telling you to run, to flee and never come back, but your legs refuse to cooperate as you shake where you stand- your voice cracks as your struggle for words and your heart is going a million miles and hour as you try to come up with something, anything.
"Y-you're a...ghost," you squeak, and well. At least you managed that. Good job, you.
You'd never seen a spirit, at least like this- the tales were commonplace around the Flickering Vales, but that's all they were; tales, stories.
Besides, weren't spirits supposed to have a hard time communicating to the living? It usually took too much energy- at least, that's what you heard- but here you both were, talking normally to each other.
The ground begins to shake.
You look around wildly, looking for a source of the gradually strengthening rumble and the ghost mirrors you, clearly uncertain as to what was happening.
The trees around the clearing begin to twist and morph, blending into one another as their branches and roots entwine in a strange mirror of the wisps, a mournful groan echoing throughout the silent clearing as they twist into an impenetrable wall of solid bark and pine, and the ghost girl whimpers in fear.
"He knows you're here!" She whispers, your own fear reflected in her mostly transparent features- you start scrabbling at the bark and wood with your hands, feeling for any sort of give in the branches, any chink in the armor you could use to climb out as the low rumble slowly fades away.
"I told you to turn back. I tried to warn you..." the ghost says, panic visible in her eyes as she wrings her hands together, "Now you're trapped here with me. I'm—I'm so sorry...I didn't want this to happen. Not again."
"What’s going on here? What’s happening?!" You ask, turning to face the ghostly girl once again, thinking rapidly to try and think of a way out of here, but the forest has already stilled into unnatural silence.
"I’m so sorry. I didn’t want this to happen, I promise! I wanted you to leave. I tried to, um, scare you away... but it didn’t work. I was never very good at scaring others," the girl tries to explain, and you laugh a little despite everything.
"But you’re a ghost! How are you even speaking to me right now?" You ask, a little high pitched. She'd done a pretty good job of scaring you, after all.
"Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t introduce myself. My name’s Rowena, but my friends always used to call me Rue. I didn’t want to frighten you, but if you stayed, you would have been trapped in the Haunted Grove like all the others..." she says, and you nod in acknowledgement but not understanding.
"Others? I don’t see anyone else around here," you say, squinting into the darkness to see if there were any other lost souls- both living and... not so living- but you can't see anything through the darkness or past the tree growth.
"...They are not here anymore. Everyone fades away after a while," Rue says, looking at the ground and you nod again, slowly.
"Oh…well that’s not good," bit of an understatement, there, "Seraphina sent me here to investigate the magic disappearing from this place so, I really need to get out-"
"Y-You know Grami Seri!? Are you the one Dolos went to find? This is great! You can help then! That’s what you do…right? You’re the Sealer. You, um, seal things?" Rue asks with hope in her eyes, voice brightening for the first time you've heard and she even seems to glow brighter from it.
"Actually, I’m pretty good at unsealing things, but yep—that’s me! Or at least, what everyone calls me. Look, Rue, I came here to help, and that is what I plan to do. I know we just met, but if you can help me figure out what all is happening here, maybe we can both fix this mess together. What do you say?"
Rue's previous good mood dies as she looks at you with fear and uncertainty in her eyes.
She seems like she wants to help you, but she's afraid of something beyond what you can see and it's holding her back and she squeezes her eyes shut to think.
You look back at her with desperation clear in your eyes- you have no idea what's happening here- not like that's an uncommon experience- but it's clear the young ghost child knew something you didn't, and you'd probably need her help if you ever wanted to get home again.
Plus, the mounds of earth covered in dead grass and pale sticks were a little difficult not to notice.
The silence that follows is long and scarier than being trapped in here, but Rue eventually opens them again, determined and clear.
"I-I’m going to help you. No matter what. If Grami Seri and Dolos trust you, then I should too!"
You practically fall over in relief, smiling happily at the child who smiles uncertainly back through her terror. You forget she's a spirit for a second and very nearly almost wrap her in a hug before you remember yourself.
"I think we will need a lot of the wisps help too, though. They carry fragments of memories from the past…memories that belong to him...maybe if we gather enough they can help you escape," she says, and you glare at the mischievous wisps that had caused this in the first place and they dance happily under your glare.
"There is a little crow here with blue eyes that will aid you in collecting them. He said his name is Muzu, and he is here to help you too! He’s so adorable! He’s been keeping me company and playing lots of "rolling" games with me before you came, hehe," she giggles, and you look around wildly for your crow friend and see him happily perched on a root of the massive dead tree in the center, blue eyes glinting.
You’ve never been so glad to see the blue eyed crow in this dreary place as he flaps over to you and lands squarely on your head, only to flop down and roll happily in your hair, and you untangle him with a giggle as he gives a small caw of approval. He gently plucks a note tied around his leg off of it's string and presses it into your open palm, and a warm smile lights your features at the recognition of Sorren's elegant handwriting- and it's not marking your homework wrong for once!
"Remember that you are never alone, even in the darkest of places," the note reads, "Love, Sorren and Willy."
It's rare to hear such words from your strict mentor, and you give Muzu a little hug as the bird tries to return the gesture with a strange, feathery embrace and a birdy-kiss to your cheek. Rue giggles a little at the crow's display of affection, and you laugh with her, setting Muzu back upon the tree root gently.
"He also said something about you really, really, really liking to hoard pets? U-um, if you want, I can show you some of my creature friends too when you gather enough wisps for me! They are super-duper sweet! I’m sure you’d love them. Oh…and maybe…if you want to that is…you can come talk to me when you have the time? I promise I won’t scare you again," she giggles and you snap to attention, because pets were just mentioned. And the only thing better than pets was pets you could own.
You set your mind to the task of catching the little wisps and after about ten minutes of diving about the clearing in an attempt to catch them before you give up and stare at the sky angrily, huffing as the glow from the dual moons shines down benevolently and Rue's laughter fills the clearing.
You return, dejected, to the tree, and Muzu gleefully flies around you for a bit before chasing the little balls of light all around the clearing before coming up on a blue one and chomping down on it without mercy.
He flies back and drops the somewhat soggy spirit into your hand, chest puffed out with pride, and some part of you questions how, exactly, Muzu can catch spirit orbs, but this is Muzu you're talking about.
You fish a jar out of your backpack- used to hold jelly for a boxed lunch sandwich- and drop the wisp in there.
That'd probably work.
You can't really tell the time of day- night?- from underneath the thickly woven canopy of branches above you, but you feel exhausted and almost actually fall asleep on your feet a few times before you decide to call it quits and hole up underneath the tree, spreading down your sleeping bag before curling up in it, saying goodnight to Muzu and Rue, who seems a little sad to not have someone to talk to for a while but doesn't protest.
After a while, Rue hesitantly curls up next to you, her back to yours- a strange, barely-there cold weight, but she seems happy enough to lie there so you let her.
You fall asleep to only the sound of your own breathing.
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