Complete Lake Horatio End of an Age, Life of a Sage, Then he gets a Page, From a Wandering RANGER*

[Blader X]

"Legendary Sage hmmmmm?"

Laylabelle was currently walking, as she often was, this time towards Lake Horatio. If she were just wandering about, Laylabelle tended to find things to keep her occupied, she could just leave things up to following wherever the wind carried her. This was a rare time she was forcing the issue, and she was looking for a single person in a wide wide world. A famous person, sure, but one shrouded in MYSTERY. A living legend! Well, she hoped he was alive. She'd asked every npc-----person of the land-----person of the person----- she'd passed about the stories whenever she could. See, Laylabelle was a very curious person, so, finding someone who knew a lot seemed very very interesting. Maybe she could get some tips. The game didn't have a tutorial. Or, if it did she'd accidentally skipped it.

"Of course I'd wanna meet him, but why is he so hard to find if he's so dang legendary?"

Laylabelle sighed as she headed in the direction of a lake that was said to have quite the scenic view. Even if she were searching, she never made it a point to ignore other points of interest as she went. She wasn't in a hurry and it seemed like a waste.

"Wooooaaaaahhhh~!"

The wind blew fluttering her hand as she reached to secure it sending a smooth ripple over the surface of the pristine lake. Laylabelle couldn't help but catch her breath as she stood. On one hand she wanted to move closer, on the other, from where she was standing, she could see almost the entirety of its majesty in her field of view. Then, the sun blinded her ruining the moment as she reached up to shield her eyes. Doing so she saw a pale figure. Not so much his skin, well, maybe his skin but his thematic color seemed white and maybe light blue to counter her black and gold. If he transformed he'd definitely be the white ranger. He was currently sitting watching the lake like some kind of person who knew a whole lot, and felt a whole lot, from what she could maybe gather from his body language. A thinking type. Maybe.

"Most defo has that white ranger en en, errr wait, could that be him? White ranger was always the mentor one right?"

Laylabelle began her approach.

"I mean he matches the description..."

She said, suddenly feeling kind of nervous. Wasn't this guy some kind of big shot? Well game, recognizes game, she thought, so she puffed out her chest and thought of a cool opening line. Ermmmmm, she cleared her throat and dropped its pitch a bit to set it to hardboiled.

"You know, you're not an easy man to find..."

She said, walking up to stand a stone's throw behind him.

Nailed it.



@Haru

 

[Haru]

"I hear that from time to time. Ha, ha, ha... Do you think that it's perhaps because I don't wish to be found? If that were to be so, you've done well to find me."

A moment of silence gently rest upon the lake's waters. His voice sounded as if it were made to sink into the surface of the lake, to sink down and merge with the sound of still water that rippled in quiet winds. The man had yet to turn to her, yet she could see it in the lake-his reflection was watching her. His reflection was bare. Something else that looked like Haru was in that water, something that had fallen apart and put itself back together so as to watch her.

Perhaps the pale light that shone from his image came from the light that radiated from his form, or perhaps it was the sunlight that reflected in the mirror of the still lakeside.

The sight was cut away by the wall of swirling hair that blew in a new gust of wind. By the time that silken mane settled, the reflection was gone from the lake and the sage's gaze-a brilliant violet hue-had turned to watch Laylabelle back.

"Oh, but I wasn't hiding. I've been sitting here all day, in fact. Ha, ha, ha. You wouldn't think of me as a man who would need to hide, would you? I just do love to travel, you see, and today my path has crossed your own. This wasn't a coincidence, though, now was it? How may I help you, miss wandering girl?" His words could have sounded accusatory, were it not for the gentle voice of his that softened the tone of the statement. He surely wasn't mad, and that wasn't so bad-especially since Laylabelle just couldn't seem to get a read on the man's information. Nothing showed up on her UI about the man, neither of an NPC nor that of a player. Even so, he appeared as life-like as any important NPC would.

 

[Blader X]

Laylabelle stiffened a bit when the man spoke, she hadn't expected to get such a ready response. In fact, most others she chanced upon had kind of sort of blown her off as she approached them. In essence, Laylabelle never thought she'd get this far so fast. And so, she decided to answer the man's good faith with some of her own.

*erherm* Laylabelle cleared her throat.

"I imagine a lotta people don't want to be found at least *some* of the time, and you seem like a rather busy person soo, uhm, so in respect to that well... well, hm... I'm actually feeling a little awkward about intruding on you all of a sudden now... but well I'm already here so... you know you're a sage and stuff... so I was just wondering... Kind of everything..."

Laylabelle gestured around her, essentially, at the world. Perhaps the sage could see her gesture in the lake's reflection. What the lake's reflection didn't deem to show Laylabelle, herself, however, was a grim fate. Swarms of red and black, a desperate time approaching on a war-scarred battlefield. Dark days were ahead, moments of testing truth. Everything would be taken from her; it was these coming days that would determine whether she would find the tools to take it back.

"I mean, I've heard from some of the others, though I kind of already understood it myself, but this is real-real, right? I'm a bit of an outdoorsy person back home, so I think I can tell."

Laylabelle sighed, shaking her head.

"So, a lot of people told me you know a lot of things, Mr Sage, so I figured I would just ask. What do you think of this world, what exactly is going on here?"

Laylabelle laughed.

"Because if this is totally real like I suspect it is, then what the heck is all this magic stuff?"

Laylabelle furrowed her brows producing the tiniest of spirit-magic sparks before it sputtered out.

@Haru

 

[Haru]

"Ha, ha, ha..." A pause filled the air instead of the answer she hoped for. The sage before her took a grip onto the driftwood cane by his side, using it as a leg with which to drag himself up to his feet. Instead of leaving with a cane-bound stride, though, he had gotten up to face the girl properly. His free hand stretched outwards towards her outwardly bared soul.

She could feel a difference immediately. As if she had taken a pill for the day, she could feel her heartbeat in her chest that was abound with frantic life. The sparks in her fingers bloom into a luminescent flower for a moments' time, long enough for the sight to be burned within her eyes before the petals fell apart and blew away in the wind.

"What do you think of magic, little miss lost girl? The talk of philosophy, the prayer of man unending for thousands of years-the thought of whether the human soul is tangible. First came religion, a doctrine for the heart. Then came modern studies, like how your brain gives off neural waves for several minutes after your death. We all think of a reason for it in every era, yet our hearts tell us that we're touting a dream no matter the year we're in.

However, dear lost girl... Just because this is all a dream you're having doesn't mean that it isn't real. This world is impossible perhaps-yet it's still here all the same. Your pain is shared when you awake. That which you lose is carried on in your heart all the same. If something happens in this game, you won't escape from it.

You'd best remember that," He spoke. His words had gotten serious over the course of this talk. It almost sounded as if he were warning her of something, a sentiment confirmed when he next spoke, "It would be best for you to leave now while you could. Those sparks you have in your palm are an open door to the worst of all afflictions, something that you won't escape by logging out if you catch them."

It was unclear which part of his statement was disturbing-was it the sharp tone he'd taken, the warning of danger to her life or the notion that he knew what 'logging out' was? Either way, the sage was telling her to leave. He was not brushing her off like the others-he was directly addressing the girl. The notion made the warning just a bit more personal than any other speech that would have come from an NPC.

@Laylabelle

 

[Blader X]

Oh jeez, I think I hit a nerve, but even so, I think he's answering because he's concerned...

The Haru who had seemed to her, not disrespectfully mind you, as a kind of beautiful flowering shrub in the sun now felt like he was looming over her like a still beautiful but darkly gnarled ancient tree in a dusky forest. The duality of man, perhaps, but such things, at least symbolically, flew over Laylabelle's head, because to her nature wasn't composed of symbols but of the nice and not so nice things one could see and feel.

Magic though, there was a stumper. Laylabelle had had few interactions with sages or other wisemen of fable so frankly, she was a little out of her league, even so, she gave it honest thought. And then...

"I dunno about magic, but if you want me to guess sir, then uhm, weeeeeeell I guess it's a part of this world's nature? So it should be guided and cherished alongside it. At least, I feel that way."

Laylabelle nodded.

"And I get it, your warning, I mean, some other people have told me something similar... but... hmmm... with respect... I mean... I'm no wise wizard... but herm... what am I trying to say here...? One sec..."

Laylabelle squinted her eyes shut really really hard.

"Basically~ is it so bad to be wrapped up in something~? If we'll carry the pain and loss with us when we wake up, won't we also have the joy and what we've gained? Sometimes sucky things lead to something amazing, ya know? And well, I've already made it my life's work to kinda preserve these nice places we're already standing in~"

But that's just a lotta talk, now, isn't it? Hmmm~ Hmmmmmmm~!

There has to be some way to show him, right?

Do I even have to show him anything? I mean it's my fault for asking.

But

But...

I feel like I have to justify something to him. And, I might need his help to figure out how.

Laylabelle cupped her hands to her heart and began to produce sparks once more.

Now, what do I feel about magic?

It's kinda neat. It's kinda fun. It's kinda practical.

Maybe it's another way to get wrapped up in something just a little special.

And of course, it's a sign of me.

"Boof!"

With a poof and that strange bark, something manifested. No larger than a baseball it was the floating fuzzball head and tail of some kind of spiritual hound with a big lovely button nose. The first wolf-o-wisp.

"All in all, I only know what I know, which is why I appreciate your confirming some things, but most of all, what I really want to know now is how to help people the best way I can. If, well, you can stomach my insolence a bit, ahahaha, because now that I know what I'm seeing is real, I can't back down, I'm a park ranger in real life and if this is also real life, then well, I suppose I've got a duty, sucky or not. That's what I've sworn to do."

Laylabelle sighed.

"I've only gotten to step zero thanks to the help of a lot of kind people so far, do you think you could help me find my footing? Me and this little Maverick would be awfully grateful."

@Haru

 

[Haru]

It seemed that her words had gotten somewhere with him, as his expression had softened at the first sign of her really pushing back against his orders. He wasn't here to stop anyone here-he was nothing more than an advisor in his own eyes.

"Is that so..? I'll have you know, you're quite out of the jurisdiction of your park. I doubt that the United States considers the Lake Horatio to be a part of their borders, let alone wherever you're truly from. Ha, ha, ha..." The location he'd spoken of was pretty much a guess, not that he would tell Laylabelle that-as far as he remembered, other countries called park rangers by a different name. By the look on her face, though, he was about as accurate as he had hoped to be.

"Sadly, I know that my words alone won't sway you. Others like me would say that you have yet to experience death, that you don't truly understand. I am not one to spit on beautiful resolve like yours. All I may do, then, is help you survive this world as best I can." One hand reached over and pet the dog as if it were solid and furred. It was so realistic-that is what brought about the realization that came to Laylabelle. The way his body did not flow with the wind nor get wet beside the rippling lake, he was just like this spirit in her palm.

Haru was just a soul.

That same person led her a moment's walk away from the lake, walking towards a few trees that sat in a peaceful ring. This place, he explained, would help him show her a way to defend herself.

"There is a way to use your magic that is lost to many-it is an art that once belonged to the Yladians, now only hidden within their palms. Many things have a spirit, not just those with a soul-if you find one, you may attempt to bind them as a partner to yourself. Even I am little more than a fraud at the art of Spirit Binding. Ha, ha, ha... But I feel that you may have a talent for it. Why don't we give it a try with the little ones we can find in this grove?"

The Sage Haru's request was punctuated by a practical demonstration-he showed her how to look for that which hid away from eyesight. There were little spirits abound in the grove, each a fleeting life that would soon be blown away by natural erosions without the proper guiding hand. One could find these things in many a way-a keen eye and an open heart, as well as a trick with the Investigative Mode of the UI both worked as options. However, Haru offered a different idea.

"That dog in your palm could be quite the seeker if you trained it to search, you know." Not just little spirits of the land, either-dangers and other things afoot could be found with a proper guard-dog. According to Haru, he felt that such an idea fit her well.

Through practice, she was able to find many a thing in the grove. [[Fading Spirit of the Breeze]], [[Fading Guardian of the Bark]] and [[Evaporating Soul of the Sunkissed Dew]] were among many others. Yet finding did not beget a successful binding. This, too, would take practice-and all she needed to do now was try her best.

@Laylabelle

 

[Blader X]

"Ahahaha~ maybe it's arrogant of me, but I guess you could say the jurisdiction of my heart is 'sans frontieres,' an oath is an oath after all~ I can't help how I feel about it~"

If Laylabelle were in a ghost story, she surely didn't know it. Still, the kind but perhaps haunted (if one can forgive the pun) man seemed otherworldly to her. The problem is, however, that this was another world, so something seeming otherworldly to Laylabelle would in essence just be the norm. Said plainly, Laylabelle didn't know what weird things weren't normal, she'd spent the last week hanging out with a talking karate cat after all...

Even so, the man puzzled her. But, Laylabelle trusted him anyway. The string she followed, its path had dictated that this was a sure to be interesting destination.

"Hmm? You don't seem very fraudulent. I mean you haven't even tried to sell me a subscription package yet. Though I'd probably buy it anyway if you did, this whole situation is hopelessly super duper complex... ha ha..."

Laylabelle scratched her head.

"But that's why I'm so grateful for your time, seriously, thank you, I'll try my best, kay~ Okay erm... Let's stick with Maverick, let's show the good man our best so he doesn't feel like we wasted his afternoon~!" "Boof!"

Laylabelle placed Maverick on her head and crouched down to literally touch grass. Maverick quieted and seemed to match his master's meditative state as they both shut their eyes and breathed.

***

Later, Laylabelle was getting the hang of it, though there was sweat on her back, not from the excursion but from some embarrassment as she felt self-conscious about how long this was taking her...

Laylabelle couldn't afford to rush, but at the same time, she needed to really double down and focus and gain everything she could from her practice. Laylabelle continued to move around the quite large lake. Still, something was holding her back, with Maverick's help, she had found her objectives, but her heart held her back from binding with any of it.

"Master..." Laylabelle returned looking a little down, Maverick was still on her head as he whimpered. Getting into the spirit of things, Laylabelle was now calling Haru 'master" without really realizing it. "Sorry, but I can't quite get it figured out. Well, actually, that's not totally true... I came close with the breeze but... it just felt wrong... to disturb it. Am I being silly?"

Laylabelle asked looking down. This nice man had helped her free of charge and she'd eaten a lot of his time with little to show for it.

So much for acting so cocky Laylabelle you dummy, you're greener than the grass.

"My heart is just saying that it's fine where it is, like, that's where it's supposed to be. I'm sorry, I'm being stupid, but that's just how I feel. If you're a fraud then I'm just nothing more than a bootleg lemon... I don't think you're a fraud though... but I do think I'm a lemon..."

Laylabelle was feeling sorry for herself, because frankly, she was completely embarrassed that she'd wasted Haru's time.


@Haru

 

[Haru]

He first had to wonder why 'lemon' was the first thought to come to the girl's mind. Did she have a poor experience with them in the past, or perhaps she just really didn't like them? The second thought that came to mind was an old one, that of a steady guide.

"I wouldn't be. You've shown more affinity for the work than I have." The sentiment was crazy-wasn't he on the advertisement for the game?-Yet he meant to say it honestly, "You have a talent for it, I'd say. Why else would you find so many while blindly stumbling through the dark? Ha, ha, ha..."

That was a nice way of saying that he hadn't shown her how to properly bind a spirit at all. He had wanted to make sure that she was attuned enough to begin with, and Laylabelle seemed a natural at the art. He was ready to elaborate the problem to her.

"...They ignore you not because of yourself, but because of what they are. Look at their names, Laylabelle," The sage instructed of her. They always had little monikers on their names--[Crumbling], [Evaporating] and most oft [Fading] could be seen. He explained, "They have short lives before they return to the world. A dewdrop is gone by the afternoon, and a pebble will be swept away by a river's current. They are such beings with little life left to enjoy, and none to spare for people such as us. To seek a Spirit's loyalty, you must fix their issue. Nurture them. Bring them life, and only then may you make the first step."

His hands curled together. Whether she could figure out the rest was up to her-one either gets it or does not.

 

[Blader X]

"I've been so stupid... thank you master you reminded me of something really important. Just because things are 'natural' doesn't mean that people don't have a place there in the process. That we should just let things be and not try to improve any of it. I can't believe I forgot that, and that's literally my whole thing. Ughhhh I'm super embarrassed. Really, Master Sage, you've seen nothing but my embarrassing sides, and you're such a good teacher too! Really, I wouldn't have gotten any of it without you!"

Laylabelle shouted, really letting her feelings show. She meant every word. She was eternally grateful for what the man had tried to show her out of the goodness of his heart. And she was extremely embarrassed that she was fumbling so much of it. She needed to shape up. She told herself yet again. She needed to get this right. For his sake.

"I haven't had a lot of masters in my lifetime but you're among the masteryest and I'm gonna prove it, so please, don't sell yourself short! I just have to follow my heart right? Then please excuse me just one more time while I embarrass myself and act a little shameless! Come on, Maverick!"

Pride's a cruddy currency compared to the payoff of a job well done. You've just gotta do it and stop worrying about how stupid you look Lay, you look stupid all the time anyway!

"Hyoooooooo~!"

Raising Maverick above her head with both arms, Laylabelle took off in a sprint, she looked like she was doing one of those carry the object over your head quests in your standard mmo. So maybe, she looked right at home. Even so, she certainly looked funny as she went. She reached her first destination as she ran around the lake.

"Boof!"

I didn't want to bond with you because I thought I was taking and that would break you, now I see how dumb I am, if I want to, I should just fix you up instead! [Crumbling?] Well! Then all you need is a little [Mending!] Take my energy, it's yours!

Oof. Laylabelle felt the drain but she didn't stop. One bonding complete. Shoddy as it was.

"Boof!" "Boof!"

I didn't want to bond with you because I thought I would drain you all away! Now I see how dumb I am, if I want to, I should just fill you up instead! [Evaporating?] Well, after evaporation comes the rain! No goodbye is forever and by my will I will see you again! Become [Replenishing!] Take my energy, it's yours!

Ooooof. Laylabelle was slowing and beginning to teeter, but she didn't stop. Two bondings complete. Shoddy as they were.

"Boof!" "Boof!""Boof!"

Facing you, I feel the most shame of all. I didn't want to bond with you because you were fading, and that's how I thought it had to be. Now I really see how dumb I am, If I want to, I should just take you into myself instead. When the fire lowers, a little kindling is all the fuel it needs, it's no different from people, we are not islands, we are connected and fuel one another. [Fading?] Take my energy and become [Brightening] once more!

GACK. The strain racked her body, but still, Laylabelle did not stop as she sauntered toward the finish line, where her master was waiting. Reaching it at last at the slowest most exhausted and sweaty of a jog as possible, she collapsed on all fours and was heaving to catch her breath, and thus, her energy. Three bondings complete. Shoddy as they were.

"I... hah... hah... did it master... or at least... I think I did... and if I didn't... I'm still satisfied... sometimes I can be a little... slow... but never when it comes... to doing what I think is right. Thank you... for reminding me of that..."

Laylabelle looked up and smiled a pained grimace.

"Correct or Incorrect, this is the Right answer for who I am."

Laylabelle continued to smile.

@Haru

 

[Haru]

"And it will carry you well, Laylabelle. I'm proud of you."

Those were the last words that she heard of the sage. When she looked around for the man, he was gone, for he had decided to leave before he felt too proud of the girl. Watching her do what he could not was a prideful feeling to the man, an affirmation that he could lead the girl towards places in which he could not go. It was best for him to leave with a message before he grew attached to her.

He left behind a gift, one that Laylabelle's newly trained eyes could spot clearly. A single shining flower lie in the ground, and it was laden with great power that she could not quite understand at first glance. It was spiritual, certainly-yet she couldn't quite tell how other than that it was strong.

[Soulbloom], flower of the afterlife.

Haru only hoped that this would be enough of a gift to keep the girl going until the next time in which they would meet. Traveling again, Haru left a slightly safer soul behind-one that could take care of herself. That thought alone was all the sage needed.

---

@Laylabelle (Giving you an end.)

 

[Blader X]

"Proud? Ah~ hehe, well... I'm just glad I didn't let you down Master-----? Huh?"

When Laylabelle looked up the sage was gone and in its place was a beautiful flower. She'd never seen anything like it before. It was like a translucent crystal as it caught the light but lacked any the rigidness of that material. Its soft petals seemed to dazzle as it lightly waffed on the breeze. Like a dandelion, Laylabelle worried that if she even breathed it might drift away. An ephemeral blossom.

"Wha..."

Laylabelle was too exhausted to move but a chill went down her spine as the already drained color from her face faded a little more into a paler shade of blue.

"Boof."

The spirit doggie on her head barked as Laylabelle shuddered.

Spirit is just another synonym for Ghost, Laylabelle thought looking at the flower. The shock gradually gave way to contemplation. But he was a nice ghost. Still, I don't think I should tell people that the great sage is dead. Well, not until Halloween anyway, what a kind spirit...

Gently, Laylabelle retrieved the flower and added the farewell gift to her inventory for posterity.

"Well then, I suppose as the living I should just keep on doing that and let the spirits keep on living their best too. Right buddy?"

"Boof."

"Hehe's let's figure out what you like to eat my little fluffball, you~"

Ruffing the fur of the Wolf-o-Wisp, Laylabelle headed toward the nearest town.

The End.