Calamity Falls [Draft Edition]

Scene 1 - The Narrow / Longest Way Home

"Did I deserve this? To be plotted on by the one I loved and thrown into this never-ending abyss. As a partner I guess I would have to ask, was I cruel to you? We had our ups and downs, just like any other relationship. But to get casted to a different realm, a different plane of existence... you tell me, was I really THAT cruel to you? If that's the case, why not just a simple break-up? Why did things between us always have to be so... extreme. And even now, as I walk alone endlessly in this wasteland, I still feel your presence near me".

The Narrow – ??/??/???? (date unknown)

The young man wandered aimlessly under a blood red sky. What he saw was a place that looked like home. A city that now lays in decay as if a great battle was fought here. Cries of the dead and lost souls is heard in the winds of the air. His black leather jacket is torn and covered in dust as strong winds blows through the rips in his shirt. He places his arm over his eyes as he walks the road that seems to lead to nowhere. His black leather jacket's ripped left sleeve exposes his arm. Covered in a hard-dark violet red shell with neon bright blue energy trailing his veins from his fingertips. On his forearm in the center of his tattoos lies a single eye. Closed as if its sleeping. The wind speed died down and he stopped and looked at his arm, overwhelmed by a rush of emotions, the young man burst into tears as he cries out at the sky. He drops to his knees, feeling weak and unsure of himself.

"I'm lost..." he said. "This is the end, isn't it?". He takes a deep breath and continues. "I dabbled with darkness. Infatuated with death because I was bored of life. And this is where it led me. The Narrow. The realm in between the physical world and the gates to the beyond. The mirror world to the one I lived on. I once read that souls that wander here are lost, due to their attachments and whatever regrets are carried from before their death. This world is their refuge. Why am I here though? Did I die?".

The young man questioned everything and himself as he walked the dead road. He came across what looked like a village. Broken and decayed homes surrounded by debris and rubble with a small campfire in the center near a shore. He wandered deeper into the village, some of the shelters and housing were built into the environment. Dark vines that spread like tendrils covered the broken walls and windows of the homes. He walked to the other end closer by the shore. The dirt and patches of dead grass turns into sand as he approaches the end. The light of the moon radiates on the clear black water of the lakefront. Sounds of waves crashing in the distance provides a moment of calm. He stops and sits at the edge of the shore. Not sure on how to feel, he rests his head into his knees and closes his eyes.

"I too share the same fate you have been cursed with".

He slowly lifts his head and turns to his right side, looking at the rugged dark-skinned old man who appeared next to him out of nowhere.

"You don't belong here. Do you, young traveler?". The young man looked at him in confusion. His confusion turns into sadness and uncertainty as he rests his head back down into his knees. "No". He answered. "I don't belong here. I don't know where I'm going. I don't know what to do". The old man continued watching the waves crash in the distance. The breeze of light dust and dirt travel the winds, passing by them in a calming streak.

"What is your name?". He asked.

"Vincent, Vincent Vega". The old man looked at Vincent's arm. His eyes were low and covered by his long slivered aged hair. His facial expression gets stern. His bottom lip twitches slightly on his darkened rugged face. "I feel a low vibration coming from your forearm. Hatred, malice, a grudge... love; buried deep within. You are not an ordinary traveler, Vincent".

"I guess I'm not". Vincent replied.

"And beneath that shell, you have ancient texts and symbols engraved on your skin?".

Vincent glanced at the old man, then at his arm. "Yeah. Tattoos. Transmutation circles and activations to use my alchemy". The old man's face radiates as he let off a burst of laughter that confused Vincent. His laugh echoed through the air of the space where they sat. "Something I said?". Vincent asked.

"I've had many visions of humankind rejecting the ancient science out of fear. Never did I think that I'd meet one so young to use the old magic. One must have quite the mind to go forward in learning the necessary knowledge. Vincent Vega, I am intrigued. What led you to these shores?".

Vincent stared at the closed demonic eye on his arm. It throbbed like a beating heart, as its lid remained closed. "All I can remember is my soul being taken from me by someone I loved. As far as I know, hell doesn't exist, but for a moment it did. I didn't think I died though, if that makes sense. A lot happened back on Terra, the physical world where I'm from. I let myself get caught; I didn't listen to those that tried to tell me... I heard them, but I didn't listen. Now here I am, in-between worlds, walking aimlessly in this darkness, with a closed eye and armored shell over my whole arm".

The old man looked back towards the shore. Feeling a sense of compassion for Vincent. "You say, your soul was taken from you, but here you are still in physical form. A whole of you remains, but another presence from within walks along with you. The vibrations from your arm is different from the rest of your energy. I feel a malicious intent; I feel your sorrow".

Vincent looks at his arm and felt the same rush of emotion from earlier. "I feel it. It burns but it doesn't phase me. The energy is familiar. I don't know what to tell you though. When I woke up here my arm was like this. Everything before that, I don't want to talk about it".

The old man looked at the moonlit ripples on the water with a stern disposition. "Calm the hatred of the being fused with you. Where ever your path may take you, this is not the destination. I have been watching these shores before time existed. You are not the first to sit here in these sands, you will not be the last. Continue walking onward, even if it seems home is beyond your reach".

Vincent watched his arm. Not sure on how to feel about everything. The sounds of the waves crashing in the distance provided a temporary relief from the uncertainty and despair that clouded his mind.

"There's nowhere to go". Vincent said. "I've been wandering around this darkness for I don't know how long. The narrow is the mirror world to mines. I could be walking for...forever".

The old man stood up. His aged face looking out at the distance of the nothing. His eyes still low and calming. "You have ancient texts inscribed on your body. So, you should know that in darkness we can begin again. Only in darkness can you create a new light. This is a different plane. You are not bound to the rules of the physical here. The answers you seek are answers you already have known. Silence your mind".

As the old man began to walk away Vincent stood up feeling moved by his words. "You aren't the first one to say that, but I feel like it's what I needed to hear. Who are you?". Vincent asked.

The old man stopped and turned back towards Vincent. "There was a time I watched. I watched humankind flourish. I seen them at their best as well as their worse. Old and newborn. In the beginning I gave them the light, the energy, the fire to progress. I couldn't watch as the creations I held dear were tormented and born only to be put into eternal servitude. And so, I was exiled. Punished with shackles unseen that bounds me to this realm, never to leave; unfortunately. My name no longer serves meaning".

The old man turned around and proceeded walking away. "Vincent Vega. Find your way home". Those were the old man's last words before he fully walked out of Vincent's sight and into the oncoming dust storm. A single tear rolled from Vincent's right eye, wiping away a line of dust on his face.

"I will". He said. "This is the longest way home I ever had to walk...I'll make it back". Vincent said, walking back towards the road and continuing his journey.