(Music)
Westfall Blues, Chapter 3, Part 3
Markuss had long been feeling depressed, tired, and worried about his family as a whole. A mix of emotions good and bad had been plaguing his mind for a long while. Rarely would he talk to anyone about the problems he had. Instead, his last few days were spent alienating those close to him in an attempt to 'sort things out.' In the end, it would hardly matter. As people rushed to the cellars, debris hit the house, and Markuss himself was impaled on a sharpened plank of wood. His last few minutes were spent contemplating his life; what he'd done wrong, how it could be righted, how the Light would receive him. All of these questions he asked.
As he slipped away from his body however, Markuss didn't find the embodiment of Holy energy he had expected. No. Nothing of the sort greeted the man. Instead, he was greeted by a multitude of faces long past, all staring at him. Walking past the throngs of restless spirits, Markuss' father came to him, as transparent as Markuss himself. "Am I dead?" He asked. He didn't feel much emotion; except sadness. Even in this state, he felt awful. "Papa, I've missed you so much." Markuss felt as if he was a little boy again. This was something he just couldn't explain to himself. His father set his hands on his suspenders as he watched his son. "I got some things to show you."
Suddenly, the area around him changed. He saw himself as a little boy, kicking his feet in the river that separated Westfall and Elwynn, as his father pointed to the catfish on his hook. "See that, Markuss? You just gotta chew a bit of tobacco, put a worm on the hook, and add that tobacky." Markuss slowly watched on as the past played out. The area changed yet again; this time, Markuss was shown as an adolescent, doing dangerous and stupid things to 'prove his masculinity'. He witnessed Eliza yelling at him after church all over again. The odd attraction he started to gain for the young woman. Every little detail was there.
His cousin and playmate Willy. All the times they would sneak onto other's properties, throw a raccoon into the window and run away. It all played out. The positives and the negatives in his life. He watched again the miracle of life as each of his children had been born, as he fought against the Horde in the wars. The marriage of some of his children, as they grew older. The time he looked in the mirror one day, and saw the first gray hair on his head. That day, he never felt older in his life. He witnessed his mother; younger, more energetic, and constantly teasing him about his stubborn attitude.
Finally he witnessed his own death, before he now saw a different image; one of relatives and friends huddled in the cellar of the house. He watched along with the restless spirits as the storm finally went further west, as the family made their way out of the cellar, and some even coming home to find it partially destroyed. He witnessed as some began setting up tents for the night. "Go talk to your boy." Markuss' father said. Although he wasn't too happy to leave his father's side, he reluctantly obeyed.
Jebediah was restless, and left the tent he was in; only to be greeted by his father. He considered screaming, but Jebediah had been seeing lots of dead people lately; family members his family never talked about, who would play with him when nobody else would. "Papa?" Markuss struggled to speak, to convey what he felt in this new form. "I Love you, Jebbie." Jebediah reached over to touch his father's hand; only to be greeted with cold air. Markuss looked over to the corner of the damaged house, where his father was urging him on. Markuss didn't know what else to say; so, he asked Jebediah, "You wanna play hide n' seek?" Jebediah nodded, and for an hour, he played with his son on the remains of his home, before his father told him it was time. That was when he was back with the departed.
"You see son, your time isn't over. Your wife's heavy with child, and the Defias you defeated still lurk in Moonbrook. We aren't sure if they'll ever be licked. But you have to get back to livin', boy. Your family needs you a lot more then us sorry souls." Markuss was now shown his own body; sitting in the cellar. "We aren't sure if there'll be a burial, Markuss; or if they plan on putting you back in your body. But one thing's for sure, is that your work's not done. Not in the slightest bit. Soon enough you'll be able to talk to those you love even more; Jebediah's sensitive to us, Markuss. Most young'uns often are. Use him to try and tell the rest a message."
Markuss looked down at the plantation, before turning back to his father. "Papa? Can you tell me a story?" Markuss' father chuckled at this, and said with a smile. "Well, once upon a time there was a little coyote by the name O' Hank..." Markuss listened to his father's ghostly voice, clinging to every word. He knew it was fiction; but he didn't care. He was with his father again...
((Feel free to post, those who were at the event, and those who were not.))