"It all started when a man named Linus and his partner Felix stumbled into a cave. You know him; you killed him."
"What, how did you...?"
"You're not the only one Brandon talks to. Anyways, he discovered a room full of spirits. There were three types of spirits. The ghostly white ones were the most numerous. There were a little less blue ones but still many. In the corner, three golden ones stood. A white one immediately entered Linus's body. He was the first to develop the Eye."
"He began to experience different things. His senses became more acute, and he started to be able to tell certain things spot on just by looking. He was so intrigued by this that he returned to the cave on multiple occasions to try and research these spirits. But, in the process, his partner attempted to harness a spirit, only to have his body slowly deteriorate before passing away, after which the spirit returned to the cave."
"Linus saw this as his partner being weak, and therefore decided to train up his own small army of Eye users. He trained us up from when we were kids. Those who he felt deserving passed his test and joined him in the cave of Spirits. He thought that they would be powerful enough to house the spirits."
"He was wrong. Everyone died in that cave, screaming or crying or just sitting there helpless as the spirit broke down their body. There were only two survivors after that day. Linus, and me.'
"To this day, I still don't know how I did it. Maybe my spirit just felt more mild than the other ones. He doesn't talk to me about it as much."
"Wait. Spirits can respond to you?"
"Oh yeah. Mine is Timorus. He's normally pretty cool, but sometimes he gets moody. Anyways, I somehow survived and I learned to talk to him. Linus learned about the communication with the spirits and took a new approach. He chose to put in the more mentally prepared people to harness the power of the spirits. The result was something I wasn't prepared for."
"Linus made every one of his students endure 48 hours of mental torture. A lot of them went crazy. Some of the kids died in the chambers. Not many survived unscathed. Only four people passed. They all went to the cave. They had heard the stories, however, and were all scared. I went with them to observe it again."
"Linus was wrong again. Two of the boys had blue spirits confront them. Both died. The remaining two weren't able to claim any of the spirits. No matter how close they got to them, none would enter their bodies."
"Linus grew worried, and thought that he would never be able to accomplish his goal of the army of the Eye. In an act of desperation, he took a young prodigy he'd been training in secret and took him to the cave. Somehow, before Linus's very eyes, the boy talked to a blue spirit and took it into its body. The boy had chosen the spirit, instead of the other way around. That was the first time I had ever seen Brandon."
"Linus was shocked, as he had previously thought that only the white spirits could be harnessed. He was moving on to a new theory about multi spirit possession. He was able to carry his experiment out and he had two spirits living inside him. But, the spirits caused some unrest, and I believe that at the time you were fighting him, he had already reached the conclusion of his life."
"A lot about the Eye is still unexplored. But, I do know that it's not just a power to be used. It's like having a partner living inside of your body. It's like working together with a part of your soul. You're not alone in your fight when you use the Eye. Your spirit is also helping you along the way. He's telling you what to do and nudging you in the right direction. It's really quite fascinating."
"Anyways, get some sleep. I'll take first watch."
I slid into my sleeping bag and closed my eyes. Traveling with Larry was a complete turn from what traveling with Brandon had been. He seemed comfortable talking to me and didn't have any problems with revealing information. I closed my eyes and breathed.
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I groaned and lifted my head. S was there with another man, holding a knife and spinning it in his hand. He examined me and touched my arm.
"Maybe there can be more use for you, but for now, you must learn the meaning of pain."
"Meh, I've heard worse."
S actually grinned. "What was her name? Ashley?"
He turned to the other man and handed him the knife. "I think the right arm will be a good reminder." The man walked towards me. I stiffened.
"Woah, what's going on?"
"I think you already know. You'll be brought down by the things you love the most in this world. Have fun." He turned right as the knife entered my arm.