The Path of Secrets

Through the thin veil of the fog, four humanoid shadows had marched for hours. Navigating through the fog was incredibly challenging due to the fog's uniqueness - the Fog of History occasionally shows fragments of ancient history, sometimes transporting unlucky adventurers an unknown distance.

It remains impossible to leave a trail in your wake, as the fog frequently 'confiscates' items, collecting them as pieces of history. Not only that, but the fog's inherent ability to relocate beings and objects renders it impossible to traverse toward a target destination.

Alista's jade eyes shone through the thin grey haze, illuminating the approaching figures. Initially, he froze. His mind raced to quickly decipher whether these figures may be hostile or not, and whether or not they would immediately attack him. Within moments, the four shadows stepped into view.

"Greetings, Outsider. We come in peace." A lithe, relatively tall young lady with bright red leather boots and a weathered navy coat took a step forth from her group and addressed Alista in a friendly manner. Her cat-like oceanic blue eyes slowly analyzed the 'outsider'. His sense of fashion was unlike anything she had seen before, delivering the same sense of bizarreness as when she first met Elder Gehrman.

"A pleasure to meet you. Please call me Alista." With a very slight bow, Alista introduced himself, meeting the eyes of the other three strangers. All three men mimicked the uniform of the other woman, instead opting for black boots instead of red. Alista wondered if the colour of the boots had anything to do with rank, as the lady with red boots was also the only one in the group wearing a half-width navy cape with a red lining cascading down from an epaulette on her right shoulder.

An older man standing just behind the woman in front hid beneath a black hood attached to a quarter-length cloak that ended around his elbows. "I'm sure you're very confused. Don't worry, we will answer all of your questions soon - naturally, we have many questions for you.

My name is Imre, and these are my comrades Leona, Neer and Bladell." 

The man Alista now knew as Imre introduced his allies in turn. Leona, seemingly the leader of the group, the woman who addressed him initially, Neer, the tight-lipped man whose face was covered by his hood, and Bladell, a broad-shouldered warrior who stood at an intimidating 6'7.

The four of them all bore the same characteristic sea-blue hair and crimson gloves, all dressed without care for the torrential downpour. As Imre motioned towards his comrades, Alista caught sight of a faint symbol of lightning striking a pyre pinned to all of their coat breast pockets, and various-sized potion bottles containing a multitude of coloured liquids and gases fastened to their belts.

"If you don't mind me asking, where did you all come from? Are you from the town I occasionally saw in the distance? I've been trying to reach there, but I can't shake the feeling I'm not getting any closer."

"I'm assuming the town you speak of is our home, Rapture City. Our Elder expected your eventual arrival, and has sent us to safely escort you." The lady and supposed leader of Rapture City's representatives, Leona, answered Alista with a pleasant and welcoming tone, making Alista feel as though he was being let into someone's warm abode - an unfamiliar feeling, though a comforting one nonetheless.

After further pleasantries and shaking hands with his guides, Alista let the four citizens of Rapture City lead the way to their town. Suddenly, something that hadn't previously occurred to him registered in his mind.

How is it these people speak my language? There's no way it's a mere coincidence that a random domain within the spirit world speaks English, right? 

Approaching the question from another angle, he resumed his silent theorising, his allies entirely unaware of his internal struggle.

Are their words being translated in my mind as I hear them, and therefore my words doing the same for them, or do we really speak the same language?

Bladell, the giant warrior with clipped teal-coloured hair, clasped his large hand on Alista's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"It's impossible to navigate back to our home. But do not fear! For we have a reliable means home."

"This," Leona slowly revealed a small, pocket-sized black steel sailboat with a brilliant white feather raised from the mast and a blank-faced human figure tied to the helm, "Is an artefact crafted by both the Elder and Pope of Rapture City. It will ferry us across the Ever-flowing River to a hidden entrance into the Church. After we reach Rapture, our bishops will provide you care and answer any further questions."

Immediately after she finished speaking, a pale-white light suffused her hands as she dropped the metal sailboat with an audible thud. Enlarging in a blinding display of light, the sailboat had increased in size over 10 times and landed on an illusory river of water.

One after the other, the people of Rapture City climbed into the sailboat and looked toward Alista expectantly.

Alista, recalling stories he was once told by one of the many vagrants he had come to know back home, was reluctant to join them. He silently wagered his chances of making it to the unknown city alone in this mystical fog.

*****

Sailing gently across the illusory black sea, Alista's vision took in the strange blend of the stormy-foggy landscape and a pitch-black cave caging the tangible river. It was as though he was seeing a different image in either eye, his mind showing him a mix of both.

The phenomenon left Alista momentarily astounded, and combined with all he had seen since he had come here, was left with a sense of awe for the mystical and unknown.

"If you don't mind me asking, which pathway do you belong to? My spirituality tells me you're a Warlock, probably of the Entropy pathway. Very rare around here." Leona's casual voice snapped Alista out of his reverie.

"Uh, yes. You're right. I'm surprised that's rare, considering the rather 'chaotic' nature of the environment."

"Ha. You make a good point. Most folk who awaken in Rapture belong to either the Life or Death pathway, with some rare cases of folk awaking as Fate sorcerers." Bladell's booming voice cut through the eerie air of the black river, seeming to echo within the illusory cave.

"Is there a reason why your people don't awaken to other pathways?" 

"We simply don't have the knowledge to teach the insight into those pathways. As a remnant society of a once much larger continent of polytheists, we primarily believe in the Goddess of Life, also known as the Mother of Creation, the Tree of Life, the Spirit of Harvest, and the Lady of Blessings. As such, most of our sorcerers gain insight and faith in the pathway of Life. As for Death and Fate, such domains are intertwined with our lifestyle. The God of Death is another prominent faith among the ancestors of Rapture City."

"I see. In that case, which pathway do you all belong to?" Alista did not know if such a question was considered taboo or not, but considering Leona's casual willingness to ask him and the group's receptive nature to his questions, he assumed it would be all right.

"Almost all of Rapture's scouts - "Red Gloves"- are of the Death pathway. For example, myself, Bladell and Imre. Neer, however, is a rare expectation. He is a Fate pathway sorcerer. The bishops and sentinels - the "White Gloves" - are strictly Life pathway sorcerers."

Alista's gaze slowly shifted to the man he had paid little attention to. Even now, he refused to say a word or reveal his face, only meeting Alista's stare with his black leather hood.

Only with this revelation did Alista now notice the difference in their spiritual signatures. While the trio of Leona, Imre and Bladell carried faint auras of death and decay, Neer's signature was far more boundless. Like a clear void of endless possibilities and outcomes carrying countless secrets and mysteries.

Not only that, but he also sensed the noticeable difference in strength of all five of them present. Leona, likely the strongest of the group and a fellow Warlock set a standard for evaluation.

Imre, Neer and Bladell were likely Mages - albeit powerful ones nearing ascension - and although Alista was a Warlock, his lack of experience made these seasoned Mages a valid threat.