9 Ymiden 720 | Ulric
The ghost metal had been forged into plate armor before the falling out. With it's faint purple glow and ethereal steam-like appearance, the armor drew the eye of most folk and every ghost... but none of them would dare move on Ulric. He was one of them and in the armor he felt more powerful than ever. He'd syphon every last bit of their ectoplasm before they could take a piece from him. The armor was probably the last great memento of the friendship between Arthur and Ulric. Their last real accomplishment before Sintra drove a wedge between them- and make no mistake it was her who drove the wedge. Her hateful web was cleverly used to make Arthur seem the villain.
Brass tacks, she wanted to kill him so that Ulric could live. It was unfair of Ulric not to understand why Arthur couldn't make that sacrifice but Ulric was dead. He didn't understand that anymore. He didn't know the will to remain alive because he'd become so used to being dead. He'd become good at it. Good enough that he could convince the boy he was an upstanding citizen.
The boy.
His name was Alex. Ulric seemed to keep meeting people with "A" names. Alex was the abandoned son of the man who murdered Ulric. The ghost had found him in Etzos, working at a tavern. Alex lived on his own and did his best to scrape by. He was far too young but he managed. Whenever Ulric probed about the boy's mother, Alex was quick to change the topic or forget what they were discussing. It was irritating, but Alex claimed he'd hit his head during the war and had memory issues. Ulric knew that to be a lie because when the boy said it, he felt his throat heat up. The remnant of his death warned him against deception... in most cases. Ulric had become a fairly constant presence in Alex's life. Twice a tentrial for the last season, Ulric came to visit Alex in the little shanty house he'd made for himself. Twice a tentrial, Ulric promised to train the boy to use his sword.
The first time they'd really met, Alex was being accosted by a few desperate types and Ulric drove them off with his ghost metal blade. After that it had been easy to convince the kid that he needed Ulric's help to become hero. Alex wanted to meet people. He wanted to be famous, renowned, loved. Ulric offered him attention and for Alex that would be enough.
At first the two of them focused mostly on swordplay lessons using sticks rather than real swords but eventually Alex's curiosity overcame him and he began to ask Ulric prying questions. He wanted to know how the specter had died and come into the service of an Immortal. Ulric had boasted to Alex about his connections to Sintra only to find out the boy did not approve of the Immortal... yet. Ulric couldn't tell him the whole truth but he decided he didn't have to cover up much. To him, his life and love had been extraordinary. Ulric enjoyed remembering the good times while talking to Alex. He changed the names of those involved, except for himself and Marian. Ulric wasn't sure if Alex knew who his father was, but he wouldn't take the chance that the boy did know.
So Ulric told Alex story after story about his adventures with Alex's father and it seemed to give Alex a passion for the swordplay that he didn't have before the stories. He was aspiring to be someone, but Ulric didn't know who. Despite his curiosity, Ulric never possessed the boy or syphoned anything from him on principle. He didn't want to damage that which would become his new form... if that was how it worked. Sintra hadn't been quite clear on that.
All and all it was a good arrangement. Had fate not conspired against them, Ulric might have helped Alex become someone worthy of legend... but fate and Ulric had more dire plans for the boy. When Ulric arrived at Alex's small shanty on the ninth of Ymiden, the boy was not alone.
A sellsword with a familiar face stepped out the door of the small house just as Ulric arrived at it. "Arthur." The sellsword turned to the ghost who stood with his hand wrapped around the hilt of his ghost metal sword. He'd stopped using his anchor ever since he got the more powerful blade.
"I still think the skull was too much." Arthur grumbled as he saw Ulric's armor.
"Why are you here?" Ulric asked, ignoring the comment about his armor. He liked the skull.
"Don't think I haven't noticed what you've been doing, Ulric." Arthur said, his posture relaxed as if he didn't expect his old friend to really strike him. "I won't let you hurt the boy. This isn't how we get his father. It is wrong."
"It is not your decision to make." Ulric decided as he moved passed Arthur toward the door.
"No, but it is his." Ulric paused when he heard Arthur's words and turned back towards the sellsword.
"What have you done?" Ulric asked as he crossed back to Arthur and seized him by the shirt.
"I told him the truth." Arthur said, shoving Ulric's hands off of him. "I won't let you lure him into Sintra's grasp. I won't let you blindly fall into her trap."
"You seek to stop my return at every step!" Ulric shouted "If you will not give yourself, then get out of my way."
"Ulric?" A young voice snuck up on the ghost who turned to find Alex standing in the doorway with his training stick in hand. "Is he telling the truth?" Ulric grimaced beneath his skull-helm and turned to Alex slowly.
"Go inside, we'll speak in a moment. I don't know what he's told you but I will explain." Ulric urged the young man. He had nearly a seasons worth of bonding but more importantly, he was the one training the kid. Alex didn't want to lose those lessons, despite what Arthur told him so he stepped back into his house. Ulric turned to Arthur again.
"What will you tell him to disguise the truth?" Arthur asked. "You don't care about him. He's just a new body to you."
"This is your final warning. Stay away from the boy." Ulric growled.
"Or what? What'll you do if I protect him from Sintra?" Arthur asked, taking a bold step towards Ulric.
"I will do what I must." Ulric said as his hand tightened around the grip of his sword.
"You'd kill me?" Arthur asked, a little taken aback by how quickly Ulric had come to the decision. "For Sintra?"
"No. I do it for Marian... for Alexios... for everyone Corvus betrayed and murdered while you stood by his side."
"Ulric you only got away from Corvus because I kept your secret!" Arthur reasoned. "If I truly stood with him, I'd have told him where you were going."
"And how do I know you didn't?" Ulric accused "How do I know it wasn't your mistake that cost me and Marian our lives?"
"Ulric... I warned you he was coming." Arthur insisted. "The moment I knew he'd found out where you were, I road ahead and warned you both. You chose not to run again." That seemed to cause the specter to fall silent. He didn't remember it that way yet his throat didn't burn... Arthur was telling the truth... but that didn't change what he was doing totrial.
"If you stand in the way of my return, you are my enemy." Ulric decided, removing his hand from the hilt of his sword. "The next time you get in my way will be the last time." And without waiting for Arthur's response, Ulric vanished into the boy's house. He had to contain the damage Arthur had done.
