The Gnarled Roots of Osiris

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

(Closed to Gnarl & Root)

I’m conscious…

His eyes were open, yet he could see nothing.

Am I…am I conscious?

He couldn’t feel anything. Not his hands, his feet, his arms or legs.

Where am I?

There were no sounds. There wasn’t a feeling of hot or cold on the surface of his skin, or even a heartbeat in his chest. Everything in his mind told him he should be naturally expecting these feelings, yet they were missing entirely.

Is this real?

Suddenly, a cold prickling sensation spread over the top of his right foot. It was slight, at first, but grew stronger with every second, reaching his ankle and the bottom of his shin.

What’s going on?

A mist of murky, hazy purple began to seep through the darkness towards him. He could feel the same cold prickling sensation sweep across his face as the black void peeled away from him, slowly revealing his surroundings to him.

The room, if you could call it a room, was smothered in a dense lilac mist that rolled over a dark granite floor and cascaded down from a cracked, mossy stone ceiling thirty foot above. There seemed to be no walls…just an expanse of void that stretched on far beyond what the eye could render, obscured by the thick steam-like substance pouring down from above.

As the feeling returned to his face, Atlas could begin to taste an electricity in the air, a cold static that curdled the blood and left an awful metallic aftertaste on his tongue. Then suddenly, although muffled at first, sounds began to erupt around him.

The hissing of steam, the snapping of an electrical current, the sound of his breathing and even his heartbeat echoed through his head. He still couldn’t feel anything below his neck and above his feet, and attempts to move his limbs were fruitless.

“Welcome back.”

The voice that spoke was soft but a little gruff. Atlas turned his head left in the direction of the voice and observed silently as a silhouette paced through the sickly marbled expanse of black and purple, distorted by the smoke in the same way scenery might be blurred by heat in a desert.

The figure stopped short of him, just enough to ensure his features were mostly obscured save for a straw sedge hat and what appeared to be a cane to lean on.

“Usually, it is difficult to speak after three years of having your mouth sealed shut. However, I’m going to guess you are the exception, no?”

Atlas tried to muster up the energy for a response, but his mind drew a blank and his mouth remained shut.

“No answer?” The man shook his head. As he did so, he caught a little of the light that was present in the room and Atlas made out some of his features. A short black stubble beard, a vagrant’s white and gold patterned haori from the neck down…and soft, mellow hazel eyes gazing back at him through the black. “I have to admit I’m a little shocked, but it can’t be helped. You’ve been treated with a little more intensity than your peers so it might take a little more time.”

The man put his hands behind his back, resting back on his cane, and sighed.

“Do you know your name?”

Atlas pondered for a moment, willing his mind to try to remember, but he couldn’t make a connection. He shook his head in response, and it was the first reaction the man in front of him had gotten since his arrival.

The man pivoted on his cane and walked back a few steps before stopping abruptly, waving a hand across his body to dispel some excess mist.

“Your name is Atlas Revaan. You are a Telgradian soldier, a servant of His Royal Majesty and a vessel of his will. At this moment in time you are in a Telgradian facility called Kokushi, recovering from your wounds.”

Atlas tried hard to think. Telgradian Soldier? Kokushi?

“Don’t try too hard to think right now, Atlas, because your mind is still fragile. For now, just listen to what I have to tell you and know this: you were brought to Kokushi to heal after being gravely injured in battle in service of His Majesty. The properties of this thick mist in this place can help to re-construct the soul and body in its entirety.”

The man paused, sighing again. He took off his sedge hat and wiped a bead of sweat from his head.

“Sorry, as you can probably tell by now, the humidity here is a little heavy. Anyway, it is beyond my remit to discuss anything of this subject further. I have orders to prepare you for a meeting with the Telgradian Council and they will brief you further on your…situation. For now, I’ll release your remaining seals and give you a little time to get your body in working order.”

The man raised his right hand, outstretching it towards Atlas, before muttering a quick and almost inaudible incantation. A ring of blinding silver light quickly expanded out from an epicentre close to Atlas’s heart, through his body horizontally and shattered into glimmering dust in front of his eyes. The man turned and began to walk away, dragging his cane with him, as the use Revaan’s arms and legs began to return to him.

“…Dakuatsu number thirty…Shirubashakkuru…with half an incantation.”

Atlas’s throat was dry and burning from inhaling some of the electrically charged mist as he spoke.

“…I can’t remember much, but…I remember…Shirubashakkuru. A binding spell. You only used half…half an incantation” Atlas found himself struggling for breath after only these short sentences, and stopped.

The enigmatic warden of this strange place stopped in his tracks, and had now spun to face him. This figure once again caught the light and his once relaxed expression had changed to shock, his eyes were wide with awe and his mouth slightly ajar. It took him five seconds or so to relax his demeanour.

“So you can talk after all, Revaan. Impressive, very impressive! Even more so that you can recall the details of a Dakuatsu of that level after waking from a three year sleep.”

Atlas fell silent again, his heart now pounding and his lungs burning from inhaling the strange purple smoke. The man tapped his cane on the floor and summoned a shimmering circular portal in the centre of the room.

“ …but I recommend that you stop and rest now. The more you talk, the harsher the atmosphere of this place will be on your lungs. I will summon some attendants to take you from here shortly, so sleep for now. Farewell, Atlas Revaan. We’ll…”

The man began to pace through the portal, its silver surface rippling as his body made contact with its surface.

“…meet again.”