Chapter 2: Bundok

Her young heart projected across the cove.

Her range was a mere twenty meters,

But that was further than most managed

At her young age.

The problem with Agatha was sight.

Her excellence in heart projection

Only served as a cruel reminder—

I’m the blind one.

A hickory staff improved her senses.

The staff was hard won by her father.

It allowed Agatha to perceive

Land through her soul.

This power was by no means perfect.

All objects bound to the ground appeared,

But those who flew and floated before her

Instilled great fear.

As a soul tool, the staff was superb,

Crafted lovingly by friends of Broxen.

An elder tortoise gladly gave,

His soul to her.

Broxen embodied great fatherhood.

He was the leader of the village,

A devoted husband to her mother,

And cherished her.

Agatha tried to be grateful,

To serve as a filial daughter should,

But she held such sorrow at what she

Saw around her.

The staff imbued her with two meters

Of crystal clear perception centered

On the shining elder tortoise shell;

Yielding no ire.

She was blessed, or cursed, a heart reader.

Her heart truly caused her suffering.

It perceived far beyond two meters,

Through one’s soul.

Growing up, she read the souls of “friends.”

In the beginning they were truly

Clear and innocent of malcontent.

Change quickly came.

Toddlers are not known for their purity.

Lies crept into their thoughts and actions.

Jealousy fell upon her treasures.

Broxen was rich.

At least he was rich in the eyes

Of children who never left their homes.

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In truth the village was poor, but wealth

Is ethereal.

Greed grows from lowly comparison,

And children hold uniformity

In highest regard.  Differences mark

The ones to shun.

And so she could not turn to her peers.

To Agatha all of one's soul,

All of one's sin, laid bare to her.

Virtue was sparse.

Even among her parents she fell

Into fearful patterns of piercing

Perception.  Most parents did wish well

For their children.

Agatha’s parents do care, do love

Her with all their might, but their souls held

The stains of their actions to others,

Held by remorse.

Broxen held the most pure soul she knew.

Though Agatha found it difficult

to examine her own soul, she felt

Unclean throughout.

Agatha knew she resented her peers.

Worse she felt the stains her sins caused her.

And so she sought solace in the cove,

Stretching her heartforce across the sea,

Detecting life.

Animals tended towards purity

And clarity in their souls. Weakness

Of the animals souls correlated

Mostly with size.

There are exceptions to this rule,

The elder tortoise for one, but few

Beings violated this rule.  Those that could

Held conscious minds.

Humans were aberrations to all

Norms regarding capacity and

Power within their souls.  Even elves

Were not so blessed.

Most of humanity did not tap

Their full potential, but those that did

Rose to unparalleled heights across

The mortal realms.

Agatha was not concerned about

Giants among men.  She strained her heartforce

To detect smaller and smaller souls.

Toil grew her spirit.

Every few months she found she could

Expand the range of her heart reading.

And slowly she came to better terms

With her parents.

Agatha began to completely

Forgive herself and humanity;

Then sprouted hope that she might discover

A pure soulmate.