[Flashback/Closed] Epiphany

[Abelach]

23th of Winter, 507 A.V. ( 18 years old )


The moon was already showing itself in front of the vast night and seemed to shine for just one person, Abelach. She smirked coldly since she realized her train of thoughts were egotistical to say the least. But it didn't help that there wasn't a 'living' soul in the area. She hummed a cheerful and warm tune as she unfolded her heavy tent and commenced to set up camp for the night. Sand and dust seemed to jump in surprise at the folded tent's plummeting onto the ground.

Abelach blinked rapidly as the sand tried to enter her bright, green eyes but the long eyelashes scattered them and caught them midway of their intrusion. Prospecting the earth with her hardened feet to find a spot just soft enough to strike a few pins down to set a base for her tent, she smiled as she found such a spot after a bit of toedigging. She even came across a small rock in the desolate field, so she had something to strike the pins with into the ground.

The entire process of setting up the tent took a good 15 minutes, which may seem long for experienced survivalists or short to citydwellers. But for an inexperienced girl who was sent out to Eloab for a meet-and-greet with a ghost, of all things, she was handling herself relatively well. She has been wandering towards The Keerdash Grove for a couple of days and nights now and eventhough her need for water was still absent she started to feel the loneliness and emptyness of a world without her tribe. 'Maybe that's why they send me out', she thought. ' To remind me that all I have in this world is my family, friends and Deities.'

She smiled, this time more heartfelt and warmer than before, her tribe cared for her and loved her. That's all she needed to know to survive. Yet a single tear came out her eye, not knowing why she looked confused and the salty tear on her copper cheek burned like it was hotter than the sun. It stinged her soul, like there was something important forgotten or lost. She wiped the tear away with the back of her hand and smiled again. This time it was a smile to banish her tears, not a smile created from happyness. Ever since she was of a young age, even younger then now, she felt she had the responsibility to never show her tears. To hide them behind a mask of smiles and cheerfulness. After all, nothing good comes from crying right?

She kneeled down and raised her slender arms high into the air, she was praying. Praying to the Goddess of rivers and the God of Crows. She rehearsed her neverchanging prayer that she was taught in her tribe and followed it up by saying out loud:

' Father, Mother; I will cast my life into the water and the wind. For it is you who decide my path for me. I pleade from you, lend me your strength and I will fulfill my mission on this world without sorrow, remorse or anger. None of those feelings come close to what I feel so strongly for you. I beg of you, have faith in me like I have faith in you. '

She lowered her arms slowly and kneeled even deeper so that her face and arms touched the ground. Once she had rised herself from the soil she entered the tent without giving it a second thought. It almost seemed like she was mad at something. Nobody could tell though, for not even she knew what it was that angered her so.

She slept and dreamt all through the cold night before the first rays of sunlight that hit her face like a warm hand waking her up by gently placing its palm on her face. She got ready and ate a piece of fruit before packing her belongings and getting ready for the last hike to The Grove.

The meeting with the lost soul was not far away anymore.

[Abelach]

Barren was the land Abelach was crossing and yet she didn't mind. It was her home and she was used to its vast emptyness. She had hiked for several hours again today and she was getting sick of it but she knew she had to keep on walking or the fate that awaited her unsuccesful return at the tribe would be worse than death to her, expulsion.

So she kept on walking and walking 'till she saw a weird silhouette at the horizon. At first she thought her mind was playing tricks on her thanks to the heat but as she came closer she realized she had nearly reached her destination. The Keerdash Grove.

Entering the grove she was so happy she could cry. Finally a change of scenery and what a change at that. The grove's trees ranged from mansized to higher than she could climb. She nearly tripped over one of the many roots sticking out of the fertile soil as she walked with her eyes aimed upwards. Stumbling forwards with her arms stretched out she managed to recover her balance and stood still for a moment to soak in all the beauty, shade, chirping songs.

It was then that she heard a voice coming from behind her.

' Fool. '

She was startled and quickly turned around with wide opened eyes to face the origin of the voice. She was forced to subconsciously blink and stare for a while 'till the finally got over the fact that she was looking at a ghost. She should've known he was there. That was her reason for being here after all, not to mention the tingling sensation she got when she arrived at the grove. She had foolishly mistaken it for excitement upon her arrival. But now she knew, she had sensed a ghost.

She had learned many things about Spiritism and everything involving it but she had never come face to face with a ghost before. The ghost was not like she imagined it at all, it wasn't a transparant version of its former body but more like a large and thick, living smokescreen that was coiling around itself while occasionally revealing a smokey limb or face. The smoke was lightgray and seemed to be pleased that she was here, even with his mocking insult earlier.

She cursed her teachers in her mind for never having told her what a ghost looked like. Maybe they wanted her to find out on her own, who knows. All Abelach knew for sure was that she was stressed, scared and anxious to run away.

' Don't fear. Rather try to understand. ' The ghost exclaimed.

Abelach tried to speak but even with her mouth open and her mind willing, nothing came out. She closed her eyes and made herself become calm again and with a clear mind. As she opened her eyes again her gaze was fixated and fearless.

" My name is Abelach, what is yours? " She asked in a steady tone.

She no longer feared like she did before, although she was still scared she no longer feared for her life. She was just shocked and the shock would soon fade away she thought.

' Why do you want to hear my name? Why does it matter? '

" It's just common courtesy to exchange names. "

The smoke started to coil faster and tighter, the shade of gray even turned slightly darker. Abelach's fear started to creep back as she hoped and prayed that she had not just angered a being from the netherworld.

' I have no need for courtesies, you are here because you want something. I am here because I want something. Now tell me, what is it you want? '

[Abelach]

Abelach swallowed what seemed to be a brick lodged in her throat as she attempted to reply to the ghost.

" I...I came here for my Rite of passage. I was told to meet you and..and..I don't know... "

The words stumbled from her tongue and left her mouth dry afterwards. She was nervous, that much was clear to anyone looking at her and the ghost had noticed it aswell.

' You fear me. You dare ask for a rite of passage when you fear me, a ghost, a being you are supposed to help and when needed even fight ? '

" I-I'm sorry, it is my first time talking to a ghost. "

' If you don't pull yourself together child, it'll be your last. '

The ghost covered in dense soulmist replied with a tone dripping with spite and mockery. Abelach could see that the ghost had calmed down though, the soulmist started to vanish from her sight and a figure could be seen now.



A handsome 'man' was visible and he was wearing a Tatsuwaat's outfit, Abelach was shocked that the man was so clear to her. She had imagined his former appearance to be how a ghost always looked yet he was standing several feet in front of her. Transparant and blurry around the edges but still.

" You're from the Tatsuwaat ?! " She said surprised and more at ease now. Surely a member of her tribe, living or dead, would not harm her.

' And you figure that because I'm from the Tatsuwaat that I will be a good lill' ghosty now don't you ? '

The ghost said, again mockingly. His eyes clearly looked down upon this pityful child. Abelach on the other hand got quite sick with the whole situation and forgetting she was talking to a ghost for a moment she replied:

" Shut up! I am 18 years old and strong! I am not just a child that you can scare, I am a Spiritist of the Tatsuwaat! "

She breathed heavily after her small outburst and her emerald eyes glowed fiercely as she stared the ghost in the eyes. The ghost did not reply immediatly, but waited a while before finally speaking again.

' The fear has left you, child, you are from the Tatsuwaat afterall. Now that you have cleared the first stage, tell me...what do you think the second is? '

Abelach's eyed widened in surprise, the ghost talked to her in a soft and polite tone of voice. She had figured she was in for a nasty punishment after her outburst.

" Euhm, to...to prove myself worthy of passing the rite by ... a test? "

' Correct, in every which way, correct! And the test will be simple, let me enter your mind and body and show you your future. If you manage to hold your own and perhaps even synchronize with me...you'll have passed one of the three tests before you. '

[Abelach]

The word shocked didn't even come close to what Abelach felt as she absorbed the ghost's words. She had to let herself get possessed? That's insane, why would anyone ever want to have that done to themselves? The ghost seemed to be able to read her mind or most likely he could see the shock on her face 'cause he followed his shocking news up with:

' Look, for a Spiritist it is required to be able to resist unwanted possession and even be able to drive ghosts out. Not to mention highly experienced Spiritists co-operate with ghosts and ALLOW them to take possession of themselves. For increased power or to help the ghost out by giving him a temporary body to increase his skills with... You NEED to be comfortable and experienced with possession. '

He gave Abelach time to let his words sink into her mind. Abelach just stared at her feet for some time while trying to figure a way out of this mess. Eventually she gave up and came to terms with the whole possession-thing.

" Ok, I'll do my best. " She said softly, like a child that had just been put in her place.

' Ok, I advise you to keep your eyes open so you don't get pulled too deep in the sensation you'll experience. Don't fight it, just try to accept that someone besides yourself is taking control of your system for a time. '

As he finished talking Abelach was standing motionless and staring into the distance, ready for the take-over to start happening. She swallowed as she saw him approaching her from the front and stretching out his incorporeal arm towards her. This is going to suck, was the last thought in her mind before they connected.

[Abelach]

Everything faded as the ghost and Abelach connected, at first she felt like she was dying. Her body was icecold, like it was being in the middle of blizzard and she even experienced pain as she was forced to take a backseat in her own mind.
The sensation of a sentient being latching on to your own soul is indescribable but the closest to describing it would probably be...drowning.

Abelach felt like she was drowning in cold waters, her vision was blurred and she couldn't breathe, the pressure on her body from her surroundings was much heavier to endure aswell. Her mouth opened to scream but nothing came out, she screamed her lungs out in fear and pain but no sound could be heard.



Memories and feelings that weren't her own started to race through her mind. Confusing and scaring her at first, but gradually they disappeared and she stared at the world like through a window. Unable to do anything but accept it she stared.

Suddenly she felt her face smiling and then it talked, but it wasn't her talking.

' Good...good! Be at ease, I only want to share my memories with you and after that I'll leave your body again. '

[Abelach]

Before she realized what was happening memories, thoughts and feelings rampaged their way through her mind and left her in a whirlwind of scenes.
Finally they slowed down and she could focus once more.

' These are the memories I'd like you to see. ' The possessing ghost said to her.

Almost instantly a vision appeared before her eyes, she was packing her stuff and getting ready to leave the village in the middle of the night. She felt herself crying as she left but she noticed that in the memory of the ghost he hadn't looked back once.

After that the vision blurred itself and was replaced by many picture-like scenes of wondrous places around the world, sometimes grim and dark while other times gorgeous and wonderful.

' Here comes the second memory you need to see. '

The scenes suddenly changed into an actionpacked scenario where she was ducking and heaving out of an angered ghost's reach while firing off weird arrows from a light crossbow, the arrows were covered in soulmist and had a large impact at whatever they hit. Just before the ghost reached her face with his clawlike ethereal hand she shot off an arrow that hit him right in the chest, flinging him backwards and pinning him against a wall. She heard herself laugh almost maniacly before the scene faded again.

' Now you have the dark side of being a Spiritist...not everything can be solved by words or giving them The Lie. '

She didn't understand what he meant by The Lie but she didn't inquire about it either, she was still trembling and scared for her life after seeing that memory so vividly.

The ghost seemed to notice the impact of the memory on Abelach 'cause he waited a while before talking again and proceeding down memory-lane.

' You're almost through it, one more memory and you can rest. '

Before he even finished his sentence the vision started to appear again.
Her body was cold and laying in a weird shape on the floor of a chapel it seemed. Her eyes were blank and her vision blurred but she could tell that there was a forest outside the chapel. She saw foliage through the glass and heard birds chirping loud. Suddenly a woman appeared in front of his gaze. She had a devillish smile on her lips and her dark eyes were windows to her black soul. Abelach felt fear overcome her body as she started to crawl away, she even heard herself pleading for mercy. What was going on, she thought.



Her eyes kept fixating on the female ghost, her platinablonde hair had a life of its own and her bandaged feet were slowly making their way towards her. It was an eery scene and Abelach was everything but happy to where this was going. As soon as the ghost was close enough she started laughing, cackling even. It was a disgusting and terrifying sound. Then she vanished in a small flash of light before appearing behind Abelach's crawling body. As she turned her head to face the dangerous ghost it all started to fade to blackness. The last thing she could see was the face of the woman, an insane expression that was chilling to the bone.

Then it all ended.

Abelach was crying inside her own body and shivering like never before. She had just died, died at the hands of a crazy ghost. Suddenly she felt overwhelmed with rage and a bloodlust for a bloody vengeance. That woman had robbed him of his life and without any remorse even. She could not forgive her, she would never forgive her!

' That was it. I'll leave your body now. ' Said the ghost abruptly and in an exhausted tone. Abelach imagined reliving his own death would be pretty tiring to say the least.

The ghost's spirit detached itself from Abelach's and her body and she felt an euphoria like never before as he left her body. Like she was ascending to a higher state of mind. In reality she was just taking control of her body again but it felt like she was a becoming a godly being.

Having regained control of her body she suddenly felt weak on her legs and dizzy. It didn't take long before everything went dark as she passed out.

[Abelach]

Night had already fallen when she woke up from her slumber. She was disoriented and feeling out of sorts as she slowly pushed herself up and felt a shiver crawl up her spine from the possession-experience. She wobbled 'till the gained her stability back and looked around in search of the ghost. Which was sitting on a large rock nearby.



" Hey, what happend? "

' You lost consciousness after I left your body, which is only normal for being possessed for the first time. You held your own really well to be honest. You'll become a great spiritist in time. '

The ghost comforted her by saying those nice things, untill she suddenly felt the fear come back over her. What if she didn't want a life like that? Battling ghosts 'till someone finally overtakes her... She stuttered as she asked:

" Did that ghost kill you? " She already knew the answer though.

' Yes, her name is Innis and she is a very powerful ghost...she tricked me into believing she was kind and warm 'till I dropped my guard and she showed her true colors. Stay clear of her, she is far too powerful for you to take on... '

He said that like she was already planning a revenge act. Which she kinda was but she knew that there was no way she could avenge him just yet.

" In time ... I will avenge you. " She said slowly.

' ... I know you will. ' The ghost replied, equally slow.

' Ready for the next test? This one should be easy. It's a test of your ability to make soulmist and apply it. '

" Sure, let me grab the ingredients and I'll make some. "

She said as she hurried off in search of her pack with all the ingredients she needed. She had learned from her teachers that she ALWAYS had to carry the ingredients to make soulmist on her.

She found her belongings and returned, alot cheerier than when she first met him.

" What is your name? " She asked, again.

After a pauze the ghost finally replied.

' Cherpaloku ' He said with a warm smile.

[Abelach]

She smiled heartily at him revealing his name at last.

" Cherpaloku, it's nice to meet you. " She responded as she took out her necessary items with a smile. She took out a small box, a small sack and an enwrapped item followed by a bowl and a stomper.

" There, I have the three ingredients. " She said as she opened the small box and took out 2 eggs and cracked them open on the edge of the bowl, pouring the inside in the bowl. Then she emptied the small sack of flour in the bowl and started mixing them with the stomper at a fast pace while concentrating on the desired result. Soulmist.

' Stay focused. ' The ghost commented while watching over her shoulder, which made Abelach slightly agitated but she hid it so she didn't ruin the good mood that was present at the moment.

" Now I'll slice the cheese into small bits and mash them with the dough so that the soulmist is made. " Putting her money where her mouth was she did just that and mashed them together 'till it made a slightly glowing white paste.
She stuck her hands in the bowl and massaged it for a while, the cold sensation tingling her hands in the process.



' Very nicely done for a novice. You did well, chew it for a few minutes and then smear it over your hands. '

Abelach was surprised at the command but she did as she was told. After chewing the soulmist glowed slightly intenser as she smeared it over her hands and then vanished from sight. She had absorbed it into her body.

' Good, now try touching me. '

Abelach blinked a few times and stared at the ghost 'till she complied and approached the ghost, standing in front of him she could see his handsome features. She held out her righthand and brought it closer to his face. She caressed his face with caution but the passion could be seen in her eyes, she was starting to fall for him as she kept touching his face, sliding her finger over the bridge of his nose and onto his lips, letting her finger rest there before pressing her lips against her finger. Her eyes locked onto his as she did this.

Then suddenly she woke up from her trance and felt deeply embarassed and even angry. What a fool she was, falling for a ghost. How stupid.

The ghost smiled at her with a look that said the feelings were mutual. Still she apologized and scurried off back to her bowl.

' It's ok child, passion is important in anyone's life. Living or dead. But let's move on, for this ... can never be. ' He said with a slightly disappointed look on his face before smiling again.

' You passed the second test. But don't forget to practice creating soulmist regularly, eventually it'll start lasting longer and have more effect. Soulmist is a Spiritist's most important tool! '

He suddenly sounded strict, like a teacher reprimanding a student.
Abelach merely nodded, still embarassed what just happend and with a flush on her cheeks.

' The third test ... is a difficult one. Tell me first though, what is it you desire in this world? '

[Abelach]

Taken off guard by this question she couldn't find the words to describe what she wanted. But to be honest, she didn't even know what she wanted from her life.
After a while of silence she said:

" I guess I want a happy life, serving the Tatsuwaat Tribe as a Spiritist. "

The ghost sighed and stared at the ground in front of him before he looked at her with a stern look in his eyes and spoke:

' Do not lie to yourself, child, that is not what you seek. Close your eyes and mind and let your heart speak. '

She wanted to retort to the sudden 'slap on her hand' but she caved and did as she was told. She cleared her mind completely and slowly opened her mouth to speak.

" I ... I want ... I want to be free...Travel the world and lead my own life. "

She slowly stated, as she opened her eyes they were watery and on the edge of shedding tears. She finally realized it. She did not WANT to stay here and be a Spiritist. She wanted to travel the world, live her own life her own way and be free.

The ghost nodded in approval. ' You were blind to your own ambitions, but now you see. One thing I must ask of you though, do not forfeit the path of Spiritism. If there is one thing you must not do, it is that. Live your life and be free, but don't forget who you are. You are Abelach, Spiritist of the Tatsuwaat and a free woman. '

Abelach nodded aswell, she agreed with what he said. She didn't even want to give up the path of Spiritism, it had brought her to this revelation and to Cherpaloku after all.

" Will you come with me? " She asked, nearly begging even.

' I can not my dearest, I have to help others find their paths. That is the destiny I have chosen, untill I can find peace...untill that woman dies. '

He concluded heavily, Abelach knew who he meant. That ghost woman Innis that had robbed him of his life. Abelach wanted to kill that woman, with a burning passion that blazed from within.

' You passed your rite, Abelach. Now be as free as the wind and water, move towards your destiny. '

He said with a sorrowful smile on his face. Abelach looked down to hide her teary eyes before looking him in the eyes.

" I'll see you again, eventually. "

She said before lifting up her pack and placing it over her shoulders and walking away, looking back and waving before hardening her spirit and resuming her walk through the Burning Lands to inform her tribe of her epiphany, plans and destiny.

' Thanks ' it sounded in two minds in the Burning Lands before silent winds took over and only footsteps on barren soil could be heard.

[Colombina]

The XP Wand Is Waved! This seems like a fun thread to write. I also dig the illustrations. I hope you enjoyed the foray into spiritism. It can be a really great skill to make the narrative of your character more interesting. A note or two to help you get acquainted with Chaktawe stuff! Chaktawe have solid black eyes, like a sharks, sadly there is no color. Only a mix would have varied eyes. Also, is this your searching? I hope not because I usually mod those and give a fancy guardian at the end! Let me know when you want to do that. I post slowly, but I keep at it. Maybe I can make the first part short and have it end with a commission to seek out a spirit or something? Then we’ll complete the searching in another thread that occurs after this one. I think I like that idea, you down? Abelach’s Loot Lore of tent setup Lore of ghostly encounters Lore of possession 2 xp Spiritism Colombina is pleased.