Suikoden VII

Chapter Two: Part One

Note: I got sick on Sunday. I'm still not 100% but I'm determined to get 2 chapters done and posted this week.

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Chapter Two: Part One

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Dharma...

Chaos...

...What?

Astraea's brow furrowed in confusion. She rolled from her side and onto her back. It didn't feel like she was laying in a bedroll. It felt like...she was laying on the cold hard ground.

"Open your eyes."

Astraea's eyes snapped open. The man's voice sounded familiar, but it didn't. She sky above her was like a black void. She looked to her right, and she stirred in alarm. She expected to see grass, but while she did see grass...the grass was white.

"Not a pretty picture, is it?"

Astraea looked towards the voice. A man sat cross-legged beside her, his elbows resting on his thighs and his lower arms draped over his calves. He stared at her wearing a deep frown, but his eyes...his green eyes almost seemed to hold pity.

But Astraea recognized him. He was there when she accepted the True Wind Rune. He had said, "I hope you don't live to regret this," to her.

But who was he?

"It seems even in death, I am bound to the Rune," the man mused softly. He glanced towards the void above them. "But it's not surprising. I was born to wield the Rune. It was on my body possibly from the moment of my birth. Perhaps we are all always bound to the True Runes? They are a power of creation, after all..."

"W—Who are you?" Astraea whispered, slowly sitting up.

The man glanced at her. "Luc," the man said simply. "But knowing me won't matter, because we're never going to truly meet, Princess."

He knew who she was? Astraea looked at their surroundings. It was nothing but black and white; black sky, white grass, white hills. She couldn't see Sigrun, Denzel, Musashi, or Ferdinand. She looked down at herself, and she saw that she was still wearing her blue and red dress. She looked at Luc again, and he was dressed in the same green coat she last saw him in. They were both the only people around.

They were both the only bit of color in the world.

Astraea swallowed hard and struggled the find the words to speak. "Y...You said before," she said. "'Even in death'. Does that mean that you...?"

"Yes," Luc said. "I'm dead, Princess Astraea. I died eleven years ago. Our souls are usually unreachable in the beyond—not even the Rune of Restoration can recall a soul from beyond the World of Emptiness—but my fate has been tied to the True Wind Rune my whole life. I suppose it always will be. Perhaps it means that I will never know true rest. Nor will anyone who has ever held a True Rune and has died." He shrugged stiffly. "It's what I deserve, but still not a fate I would wish upon even my worst enemy."

"What do you mean by 'it's what I deserve'?"

"I don't want to linger here explaining that," Luc said. "I am here because my bond to the True Wind Rune is stronger than death. The True Wind Rune however didn't choose me—it was assigned to me. You, however?" He pointed to her. "It DID choose you. So you should understand the responsibility you now carry...and the consequences of such responsibility."