Chapter Text
You open your eyes – and realize it’s not quite you anymore.
All the pain you’ve been in, all the panic, confusion, agony, - they’re replaced with an everlasting sense of tranquility. You can sense something watching over you, so grand and yet so soothing; you feel its presence warming you from the inside, slowly spreading all over your body and relaxing previously tense limbs. You hear its whispers; they’re still unintelligible, but now, they no longer overwhelm you. The voices bring you a peace of mind. You feel like you could pass out right there, only if there wasn’t a gnawing feeling at the back of your head. The people you ran away from, your friends – they must not find you. If they do, they’ll probably drag you back and try to “fix” you; or, even worse, they’ll have to kill you for what you’ve become. You don’t know how dangerous you are to them right now, and you’d rather not risk it. You don’t want to hurt them, and so you need to get out of here before they find you. Not like that’s happening anytime soon, - you left late at night, and they can’t possibly search the entire Bog in around 12 hours, - but nevertheless, you have to be cautious.
You try to get up – and immediately fall back on your knees. You completely forgot about your misbehaving artificial leg in all the panic, being in such a rush you simply had to ignore it. Now that the feeling is gone, you cannot move on – but just as you start thinking about it too much, you hear someone else’s voice.
- So it was you.
You look up and see a woman standing at the cave entrance. Her face, like all others, is blurry at first, but despite that, you feel a connection between you and her. You blink, and her face becomes clear – and, although you still cannot remember, you recognize her clothing. She’s a Bogger; a Deep Bogger, for sure. Certain elements stand out to you, though, and your eyes open wide: you’ve seen them on-
- You killed the false priest… and so you were destined to return. I had to take this place for the time being - I am the only one left with connection to the Deep Bog directly. But, if I’m correct in this… you should be Rook.
You try to open your mouth to respond, but all you can get out is a violent cough. The woman comes closer and extends her hand towards you. You grab it tight, seeing it as the only way out, and she pulls you up, helping you stand and supporting you.
- My name is Grimdellia. You don’t have to remember it, but we have a long road ahead of us, and we will have to go through it together.