Waking

"How is he?" The soft voice was full of worry. 

"Lady Ellen, the young man appears to be healed from the wound in his chest. However, we can not heal the many scars upon his body. They will remain even with the strongest healing we possess. Even the blessing of a saint may not purify that harm which was done on to his body and soul. I will pray to our goddess." 

The healer appeared to be full of worry. This was a first. 

The healers following the light had always been able to remove the scars and pains of others. Once strong enough, they could even bring someone from the brink of death itself.

"This is the only survivor. He must live. If he does not…" The paladin of light trailed off. Her voice and eyes were distant. 

A small groan broke the silence within the room. The slight flutter of the young man's eyelids made the healer leap to his side. Lady Ellen! He is waking up!" 

"Get the guild master immediately. This was a joint venture between the guild and the church of light. He must see the waking moments of the only survivor!" This was imperative to the relationship between these two groups.

However, it was also the potential answer behind the Aldrich cult. Information that came from this young man that neither the church of light nor the adventurers guild could know about what had happened. 

As the eyes opened, it was clear that the golden irises were unusual for a human. But with so many races and so many half this half that, it did not deter the paladin as she stood calmly waiting for the young man to focus and understand where he might be.

The silence drifted in before he took a deep breath. The sigh that followed appeared to have a slight growl in it. As if he was finding his vocal cords but had forgotten how to use them. 

"Hello, my name is Ellen and you are safe now. No one can hurt you. The entirety of those cultists were captured and imprisoned or faced the end of their lives." 

The foreign words made the young man's eyebrows furrow. Yet, something else happened as well.

'Spark of divinity has awakened.'

'The vessel has awakened.'

'The Lost soul has been forced within the empty vessel'

'The skill, siren's chords- passive has been activated.

Siren's chords- passive

Allows the understanding and speech of all languages. This is used along with other skills to create confusion, allure, and various other status effects for those being hunted by the siren singing.'

As the young man attempted to speak the way he had just heard, Ellen softly placed a hand on his shoulder. "Take your time. You have been through a lot." 

This slowed the young mans' beating heart. He felt a calming energy enter him. He could tell it was influencing him for the better. It was enjoyable.

Some basics started to flood his mind. How to speak. What basic words meant. But nothing more than that. It was more so that someone had left him with the bare minimum information to function but nothing more. Like a task was begun and abruptly cut off. 

He could sense something more though. A sense that he had more to himself than what he could say or remember. As if he was being held back by a fog. 

"Thirst." A small burning in his throat was recognized Instantly. This was thirsty. He needed water. "Need to go to the well…" 

"Here, drink slowly." The kindness in Ellen's voice was enough to trust her. Just the feeling of her being around was enough to understand that she had a pure heart. It was not a threat at all.

After a few small sips, the burning of thirst left the young man. "Can you tell me your name? What you might remember?" Ellen was soft with her words, a slight worry that she would cause the young man some mental pain.

"Name?… I am… I don't have one." The boy's voice was lost. He had no idea if he had a name he could be called by. His mind felt heavier trying to recall a name that he might have had. 

"I don't think, I know anything. You're the first being I've seen." There was some worry but more importantly, awe in the young man's voice. He was looking at her as if he had just realized what a goddess was. 

The attempt to remember more made his heart break out in pain. A sharp pain that made him flinch. 

"Goddess, what should I do?" His question stunned her. Ellen had been confused for a saintess or a high priest before. But in her light armor or her heavy armor, she embodied a paladin of light as she should be. 

The flowing blond hair seemed to capture the light itself in to physical form. Not to mention the clear cut features of her face. It was as if they had been sculpted by even greater bearings than what he was witnessing beside him. 

"I'm just a paladin. I could never be equal to a goddess…" 

"I'm here, he's awake?!" The man that burst in made the young man flinch. It was the loud noise of the door being pushed open followed by the loud voice. Naturally, anyone would have flinched. 

"Very loud." 

"Look at you, he just woke up and needs calm. You have ruined the atmosphere." Ellen reprimanded the tall brown haired man that had come in. 

From what the young man could see, this taller man was rough around the edges. A short beard, some hints of scars from fights, and well worn hands full of calluses. This was someone easily described by the word rough in and out. 

"Fine fine, I can talk a bit quieter. So boy, what happened?" More confusion formed on the young man's face.

"He already told me that I am the first person he has met. I assume he was tortured too much. Experimented on too much. He does not recall who he is. No name." Ellen sounded like she was mourning a lost friend. She was a kind soul.

"There are more cultists. That was a small branch. Not the main heart of the problem. We only cut down one of the high priests who went unnoticed for too long." A lingering sigh came from the man's mouth.

"So, our only lead is no lead at all. We also can not find a record of a boy your age and appearance missing because the only nearby village is in cinders. The scars might be the reason though. For the memory loss that is. Too many scars and too many painful…well, regardless, he needs a home now." 

"Before I get too far from it, my name is Markus. I am the current adventurers guild master in the celestial kingdom branch. We take on odd jobs. Monster slaying, harvesting, scouting, and the like. I can offer you a room and a job for now. Maybe you can remember some things." 

Besides the loud, this Markus man appeared to be fairly kind. He just was too blunt for the good of anything. Not that blunt was bad. Right now, it was clear that bluntness would make things a little clearer. 

"If you can remember anything. Any skills you have. You can find a job doing that?" Ellen was still calm and kind as she looked in to the young man's eyes. 

"Job? Just chores around the farm. I haven't been able to look at my-" pain hit him again. This time though, flashes of memories hit him. 

They were broken memories. Faces seemingly covered in a shadowed cloth. Different names scribbled over by louder noises. When the sudden flood of pain left him, he realized that he felt different. 

"Why do I feel like this?" His question was odd. From what Ellen and Markus could tell, he had just realized the state of his body. 

"Please take a deep breath. We have a mirror here for you to look at. You were hurt pretty badly by those monsters." Ellen held her breath as a scared face was shown. 

But the face was foreign. It didn't look like the one in the young man's memory at all. "No, I should have black hair, not brown. I should have green eyes, not gold. And where's my normally tanned skin. Why am I so pale? Am I taller too!?" The young man jolted up and was grabbing the mirror. None of this was the same. 

"I had my mother's eyes. They were green like the field when it was covered in dew. And my father's hair, like the brown and dried straw in the barn that we would feed to the cows." More memories resurfaced. 

'Corruption has begun.'

'Divinity within the vessel does not match the untethered wandering soul.'

'The skill mental fortress has been activated for survival.'

'Mental fortress- passive

A skill that any golem will have due to the unique nature of its creation, it can not be influenced by mental skills. It is impenetrable due to the very creation of its existence. Due to this, it will not be affected by mental illusions. By mental attacks. By possession. By various other mental attacks based in psychic magic…'

The odd floating words appeared again as the pain faded yet again. But this time, the young man appeared to have pieced together more of who he was. 

"Take as much time as you need. You don't have to stand up right away. Just breathe easy and let us help you." Ellen offered the young man a hand. Markus offered the same so that they could help him to his feet. 

"Malik" 

"Malik?" Markus looked at the young man with curious eyes. 

"Well, that's what they called me. They said it meant adaptable and king or something. I don't know what language or where from, but I was the king of the farm before we had to. Before we had to…" Malik lost what he was saying. The memories weren't there. 

"Then, Malik, don't try to force it all. You clearly survived an ordeal and remember your village. We are going to help you get up and walking. If you remember more, just let me know." Markus looked worried.