The Dead King

At the former Heroca Town, in the Mountains of Murok, Sullivan Marin stood before a knight that was nearly two feet taller than him. Marin had to angle his head high to get a good look at his helm, which covered the knight’s face entirely.

The intimidating figure not only knew of Marin, but had correctly identified him. What was even more concerning was his words that were still echoing in his mind. I am disappointed that you do not seem to recognize me.

Why would he? Lost memory aside, Marin knew he was from a former time period, sprung into a new world where everyone of his past were gone. Anyone he could have possibly known wouldn’t be alive now. This knight was making a bold claim.

Marin had not responded right away from the statement. It took him off guard, and he struggled to find an answer.

The mysterious knight didn’t rush him. He seemed wise enough to know something was wrong with the man he was claiming to once know.

After much intense thinking, Marin failed to recall anyone who appeared similarly to who stood before him now. Even in a more dire realization, Marin found himself unable to even recall a single person from his past.

“I’m sorry. If I had known you at one time, I do not anymore.” Marin simply stated.

The knight would have lowered his head from the answer if he wasn’t already looking down at Marin. He relaxed his stance, readjusting his dark purple sabatons in the snow they were surrounded in. He then sheathed the massive blade to his back, now that his identification of Marin had been confirmed.

“I guess I should not be surprised. It has been nearly 250 years since I’ve seen you last,” the knight responded, his voice echoing out of the helm.

Marin panicked, but tried not showing it. This had to be a ruse. No one was immortal. Well, almost no one. Marin knew certain exceptions, but those powerful beings were few and far between. Marin had tried his hardest to become one of those exceptions as well, but partially failed.

“Perhaps a refresher of who I am is due? It might aid in your recollection,” the knight offered in his ghostly voice.

Marin swallowed a very dry throat. Shock had taken over him, and despite having most of his bodily functions shut off, the anxiety caused him to feel as if they all worked again. Finally, after all this time, he might actually receive some information from his past, if this was in fact a legit situation and not some kind of elaborate prank.

“I would much appreciate that,” Marin responded as calmly as he could, fighting all the excitement in his mind.

“I am Sygol, a spectral warrior who you aided in stopping the Decay from trying to destroy the world.”

That only confused Marin more. It did not help in the slightest. Sygol? The Decay? Marin didn’t understand. Was there an attempt to destroy the word? If there was indeed a force that strong, wouldn’t a situation like that be taken care of by the powerful leaders of the world rather than him?

Sygol the Knight didn’t like the long silence after his statement. Marin stood frozen, looking but not looking, directly at the knight.

Sygol sighed. It was apparent none of it was ringing a bell to the now masked man he once knew.

“Pyreth…? Remnor…?” Sygol tried. “Do you not remember those people?”

The names brought no reactions to Marin. He did not recognize them in the slightest.

“I’m sorry,” Marin apologized with disappointment. “Are you sure you have the right man? Perhaps you are mistaking me with someone else.”

Marin almost hoped that would be the case. It was embarrassing to him that he appeared so ignorant to the knight.

“Sullivan Marin, the ice wizard who founded the Nocturne Kingdom in 608?”

There went that idea. Marin definitely was the man the knight knew.

“Yes, that is indeed me,” Marin responded. “Well, in the case that this is all real and you truly know me, we both have quite a bit of catching up to do. I’m sure you’re wondering how I’m alive right now.”

“It was a question I was soon to ask…” Sygol admitted.

Marin nodded. “Same to you. Can I ask you to return to my cart and meet some of my friends? Afterwards, we can have a discussion.”

Sygol obliged, and both of them walked back to the cart that was parked in the middle of Heroca’s downtown road. Gus gawked in awe as he watched the massive dark knight approach him, with the doctor admittedly doing the same.

When they finally reached it, Marin was shocked to see that the knight stood a head taller than the cart itself.

“Greetings,” Sygol said in his spectral voice to both Gus and Eisen.

“Either I’ve met two anomalies this week, or I’m losing my abilities,” the doctor responded.

Marin knew it was in reference to Eisen’s detect life skill. The doctor could not read any vitals from the knight. It was confirmation that Sygol was truthful in claiming he was spectral in nature. This had to be the case, seeing as the knight was still around from a couple centuries ago.

Gus didn’t understand what the doctor was talking about.

“Indeed, another anomaly, doctor. This is Sygol, and we knew each other from long ago. Long ago, if you understand,” Marin said, emphasizing that this was someone from his unknown past.

Eisen squinted his eyes in thought, then nodded understandably.

“I’m going to take a bit of time to catch up with him, then resume our transit to the castle. Will that be okay?” Marin asked the two of them.

Both Eisen and Gus nodded approvingly.

“Thank you. I won’t be more than an hour,” Marin promised.

Sygol politely waved to them. With that, Marin and the knight walked away from the cart, and back into town.

Gus was bewildered. This large knight knew Marin from before? Marin had kept his past life such a secret, and now suddenly, someone had come to reunite with him.

What was most interesting to Gus, was that this towering knight was just as mysterious and hidden as Marin himself. What concealed past was Marin hiding that his acquaintances also hid any identification of themselves as well? Marin must have lived in secrecy for so long.

Gus watched as the knight ducked his head into a doorway of an intact house in the town. Marin followed behind, as he shut the door so they could have a private conversation.

Left outside in the cart, Gus stared at the shack he watched them enter as many theories ran through his mind. It seemed like any time he found out something new about his King, it only deepened the murky ocean of his past that he refused to share about.

He turned to glance at Eisen, who also had a puzzling look on his face.

“What do you think?” Gus asked him.

“I think Marin has done quite a bit in his life, before the kingdom.”

That was quite apparent. Gus couldn’t agree more.

“What are those two anomalies you were talking about?” Gus pried, feeling like he was being left out from some important information.

The doctor scratched his long forehead thought, wondering how much he should share with Gus. He decided to let him know about his detect life skill, and how it allowed him to read the vitals of anyone from a distance.

Gus was astonished, and excited to hear more about the secret skills that the general public have little knowledge of. This was yet another one he could write down in his book that he would have to learn later. That, along with Speed and Slow Time.

“So, the knight isn’t living?” Gus affirmed, after hearing the doctor’s explanation.

“I don’t even think there’s a body in that suit of armor, based on the voice I was hearing,” Eisen analyzed.

That idea alone sounded like something out of a fairy tale. Gus was beside himself.

“Actual living armor? Could it be possible?” Gus said.

“It’s probably an artifact, I’m sure. That or someone’s soul was tied to it,” Eisen explained.

“An artifact?” Gus asked.

The doctor sighed. So much Gus did not know. Since they would have time to kill, waiting for Marin, Eisen wouldn’t have much better to do than to teach him.

“Artifacts are objects that have been given sentience and special abilities. They’re generally used as tools or weapons by people, but some can work on their own.”

Gus was shocked. “Living items… Superhuman skills… It’s all real. All the stories I heard before bed…” He realized.

“Where do you think they came from?” Eisen asked.

Gus ignored the question. He wanted to know more. He had to.

“Have you known any artifacts? Anyone with them?” Gus excitedly interrogated.

Eisen chuckled. “...Of course.”

“Tell me!”

“Well, there’s a scarf that can grow and split itself endlessly. It was always around the neck of this woman, who could control it. She could bind enemies by having the scarf wrap around them, or use the splits of it like whips and knock down a house…” Eisen reminisced.

“You’re kidding me!” Gus exclaimed.

“Nope, not at all. I also know of a beer bottle that is always full, and every time you swig it, you gained a random power for one hour. But if you drink the bottle again before the power wore off, it killed you.”

There was no way this was real, he had to be making it up. The doctor must be having a grand time getting him riled up this much with these tall tales. He didn’t want to accuse Eisen of playing a joke and insulting him though, if it was all true, but decided to confirm the existence of these ‘artifacts’ with Marin before officially believing it all.

Marin and Sygol had entered a small house, that consisted of only one room. There were a few chairs left inside. Marin took a seat. Sygol looked down at the chairs, which were smaller than he would’ve liked. He unsheathed his sword, and took a seat in the relatively small chair, having his legs spread out and leaning on the blade with his right hand.

As Sygol situated himself, it gave Marin a moment to notice the house. It was in disrepair and raided from it being abandoned. It reminded Marin of his castle when he first saw it again after many years. The windows let in enough natural light to not need a lantern, and the two began to talk.

“Two hundred and fifty years…” Marin started, realizing how long it truly had been since his regular life.

“What has kept you occupied all this time?” Sygol asked.

Marin chuckled. “I’ve been dead.”

Sygol didn’t answer, his set of armor sat still and silently on the small chair in response.

“...But I’m alive now again,” he added.

Marin attempted yet again to think back to when he was a regular functioning human. Even the general knowledge of his past was quite scarce. It included studying and graduating at Arkana, founding his Kingdom, and crafting the immortality potion. Small details of that, and the insignificant events that happened in between that could not be recalled.

At least thoughts that were second nature to him, such as speaking, moving, and using his ice element, were remembered. If even that had been lost, Marin would be no more than a new-born infant.

“And I would take that as a reason for your lack of memories?” Sygol followed up with, unflinching at the statement Marin made.

“Yes,” Marin confirmed. He was relieved to finally meet someone who did not seem initially shocked at his predicament. Loid was beside himself. Helva didn’t even want to see him without the mask. Even the experimental doctor Eisen was explosive in finding out. This knight called Sygol, however, was unimpressed.

“May I ask how your situation came about?” A rare sliver of curiosity was found in Sygol’s question.

“I’m happy to tell you.”

Marin went into detail, as much as he could recall, about his immortality potion and what happened after it. He spoke of awaking on the floor, in a now abandoned castle. He told the tales of entering Heroca Town, finding out what year it now was, and saving the village. He explained how his castle came under restoration, and how he had been out on a mission to recruit new allies.

The entire time, Sygol sat unmoving, silently taking it all in. It almost seemed as if Marin was rambling to an empty suit of armor, his sanity slipping. This thought entered Marin a few times, but he easily reminded himself that the knight was being respectful in listening to the information.

After the unloading of his tale, the suit of armor finally moved, with Sygol’s left arm raising – his hand reaching his chin in thought.

“Sounds like you’ve been quite busy in this last month,” Sygol analyzed.

“You would be too, if you knew nothing but empty darkness for two centuries,” Marin stated, sounding more morbid than he would’ve liked.

It looked as if Sygol winced at the response, but he then swatted away with his hand.

“I don’t mean to trivialize your experience in darkness, but I’ve known it for a lot longer than that, and it might come to pass again if I don’t take action,” Sygol responded.

Marin was now truly concerned. That was such an ominous statement. What terrible fate awaited the knight?

“I suppose I should hear your story, now. Er, again, technically speaking, if I had already known you before my situation,” Marin pressed.

The suit of armor adjusted itself in the chair, trying and failing to get comfortable.

“Let me give a more detailed introduction of myself, since you have nigh a single ounce of memory regarding me.

My true name is Yazul Sygollious. I am only known as Sygol these days, though.”

Marin shuddered. That was a name in the ancient language. Marin knew it well enough to identify that.

“When I had a human form, I served a kingdom that only existed before the modern year. When it fell, my spirit was bound to the suit of armor I always donned. The technique of how it was done has been lost. Due to this – and to my knowledge – it can’t be undone, I have been destined to wander the planet for an indefinite amount of time.”

Unlike the former, Marin was impressed with Sygol’s situation.

“So it is true then, the suit is unmanned. Your mind pilots an empty suit of armor,” Marin confirmed.

Sygol reached up, and grabbed his helm with one hand. He detached it, revealing an empty hole that entered the chest piece of the armor. A dark smoke slowly rose from the hole.

He then tossed the helm to Marin, who quickly caught it.

Marin studied the helm for a while, noticing that the style it was forged in was from another time. He looked up to the headless Sygol for a moment, before the ebony helm dissipated from his hands.

Marin frantically looked down to see there was now nothing in his grasp. A wisp of shadowy smoke that had appeared from the disappearing of the helm traveled back to Sygol’s armor.

When it hovered above the chest plate, it reformed into the helm, re-stationed perfectly over where a head should be.

Marin grinned. It was the shadow element. Loid had performed the same Dispersion trick during the raid in Heroca, only this time Sygol was able to do it with a single armor piece.

“The shadow element,” Marin noted.

“Indeed.”

“You learned it while you had a body?” Marin asked.

“Afterwards,” Sygol responded.

“That’s quite impressive that you first contacted the power plane with nothing more than a suit of armor,” Marin pointed out.

“I had many centuries to figure it out,” Sygol admitted. “A lot of free time.”

Marin figured that would be the case. If one had been a part of the mortal plane for over eight hundred years, you were bound to learn just about anything you wanted. It astonished Marin to think that he had worked with this impressive being in his past, and it saddened him greatly to not be able to remember him.

“Tell me about this Decay, and how I knew you,” Marin requested, eager to get back on the main subject at hand.

Sygol nodded. He needed to continue.

“The Decay is the name for a cultist organization that wishes to bring Kudu to this realm, and destroy it entirely.”

Marin leaned forward in shock. Vague memories made themselves known. He finally had a sliver of previous knowledge he could grasp at.

“Kudu! The Decay were the ones who attempted to empower the hungering entity into entering this world!” Marin exclaimed.

He knew of Kudu, many others did too. Marin knew that he was almost brought in from his endless realm, and figured it was this cult that Sygol referenced.

Sygol nodded approvingly. “Seems like I have sparked some recollection.”

Marin was satisfied that he still had much general knowledge, and some of it bled back into his personal experiences. Sygol did not have to explain what Kudu was, Marin already knew.

Kudu is an entity that wipes realms clean. It views any development on any realm as a cancer, and wishes to do nothing more than cleanse it, leaving the realm nothing but void.

Spayce, the mortal realm which Sygol and Marin existed in, was quite developed, consisting of millions of planets and intelligent life. Kudu would consider their realm to be in a highly cancerous state, and would direly pursue the ‘cleansing’ of it.

The way Kudu brought realms back to their original void state was by slowly consuming them in a chaotic energy dubbed ‘The Decay.’

Marin knew all this.

“We both encountered some of Kudu’s followers in 603. That is how we met. After being attacked by them, we teamed up with a few other warriors to end their attempts. While we were successful, their leader, Remnor, has returned to life in our realm, and is beginning his actions once again to end this world.”

“Why?!” Marin demanded. “Why would anyone want to bring about the end of their own home?!”

“We know Kudu to be a cunning entity. He has most likely promised Remnor and the Decay cult a new world, where they can rule. But you and I both know he would have no interest in attempting to go against his ultimate nature.”

Marin nodded.

He began to think though, if this was such a dire issue to be taken care of, why weren’t the leaders of this planet alerted to take action against the Decay.

Marin brought the question up.

“At the time, they weren’t enough of a threat yet. We were able to dispose of them before it got to that point.

...Though, if I don’t fix this again, it might get to that point. And it will take more than words to convince the Grand Wizards, The Neo Generals, or RAM’s Directors to take action. And by then, it will be too late,” Sygol explained.

Marin sighed. “So this is why you found me. You are requesting my help again.”

Sygol tilted his helm, not answering immediately.

“Initially, yes. Although, after hearing your stories and getting a closer look at you, I fear you may not be in the prime state you were originally at,” Sygol admitted.

Marin raised an eyebrow. Now this was news. The knight had made a bold claim to Marin’s power.

“During your two centuries asleep, you’ve forgotten much. Is there a chance your elemental skills have dulled in that time?” Sygol tried.

Marin thought hard. His ice element was at a level far beyond most, though he still had not pushed himself to his upper limits yet for final conclusion. There’s also the fact that Marin couldn’t remember in detail just how strong he was from before.

“I guess I wouldn’t know,” Marin answered, realizing that he had no reference to bounce back to.

“I bring this up based on the encounters you’ve told me you had with the Scarlet Eye. The Marin I knew would have disposed of those low class rogues without so much as a single scratch on their body. Seeing as they got quite a few jabs in, I fear for your abilities.”

Marin shrugged. “I guess we won’t know, will we?”

“We can find out,” Sygol offered.

Marin grinned under his mask. “Are you saying…?”

Sygol nodded. “How about a friendly duel?”