FFxivWrite24 Entry #21: Shade
He'd always been partial to the dark. Even when he spent his youth studying the light, he oft found himself drawn to it. There were secrets hidden there. Amongst the many dangers lurking, there were great treasures to be had, found, and used for the betterment of others.
He'd always believed it was a trait he picked up from his parents. After all, they spent many of their years studying diseases and dark magic in order to better heal their patients. They'd often told Melfice that one must study the cause in order to better understand the effect. And so the Vainchelon estate was filled to the brim of ancient texts, taboo and otherwise, to help the family better understand the curses, spells, and diseases that often plagued citizens and soldiers alike.
The truth was, however, that he was always excited to open those forbidden tomes. When his parents fell to the very disease they were studying, he used it as an excuse to dig deep and try to find any possible way to cure them. They succumbed before he made any progress. When his fiancé grew ill with the same disease, he saw it as a chance to redeem himself. Again, he failed.
While he would not openly admit it, Melfice still blames himself for their passing to this day. Stricken and mad with grief, the young scholar sequestered himself in his home looking to that very same darkness for salvation. He was secretly ashamed at how eager he was to open the most forbidden of tomes. To study the most forbidden of spells. To find ways to reanimate corpses. Capture aether. Suspend the body of his loved one so that he could have more time.
But all of his efforts bore little fruit. Try as he might, he could not bring back those he loved. The conclusion this led him to was obvious; he must go deeper. Delve into the Void itself for answers and take all that it had to offer. It was necessary to save them. Or.. perhaps that was what he told himself. An excuse to do that which he'd secretly longed for.
And so he did. That portal opened, and while it almost cost him his own life, the Void spit out the greatest treasure it had to offer. She was not specifically what he was looking for. No, she was as mad as he. As desperate and untrusting as he. As cold and vicious as he. It was as if the Void--no, the world had made them for one another.
And while the two hated one another at first, she for how he enslaved her and he for how she was not the mentor he had sought, over time the two grew to understand one another. Sure, she was not what he'd searched for, but he could study her. Use her to learn. Take the gift of her strength bonded to him and use it to perform miracles he'd previously considered impossible. And in return he gave her a home. Obedience. Love, the one thing she truly wanted but would never admit; not even to him.
Over time both of their goals shifted and became one. And, as he was always destined to do so, Melfice fell very deep into that darkness. Even when his own experiments left him tainted and cursed, she stood by his side. Loved him. Taught him how to live amongst the others in plain sight. More importantly, she taught him how some curses can be gifts.
