AN: ...Don't have the strength or patience to do an author's note. Leave a review if you are interested in more.

"My name is Lucatiel. I beg of you, remember my name. For I may not myself…"

The undead traveler listened as I spoke with an intense struggle to focus. It might've been the last time I ever saw them as myself. That was mutually understood, I'm sure of it. And once the traveler left, I picked myself up and swiftly exited the ragged wooden shack which housed the bonfire just outside Aldia's Keep. I couldn't sit idly by while my memories faded, taken by the curse. Something needed to be done about this. Despite my mind running rampant, tearing itself apart and losing the memories most important to me, forgetting myself…I knew I could not allow my physical self to become the same. Not now. The curse was certainly taking it's toll, and I would keep pressing on despite it. But…if I could find no cure before, why should I believe I could now? Does it matter?

I don't want to lose myself. There is nothing I would not give if only to break this curse and return my sanity. It shames me, but it is the truth. My…obsession with this insignificant thing called "Self"…it drives me, even at the brink of utter ruin.

Avoiding the kobolds in the field to my right, I quickly ascended the stairway and plunged into the mouth of Aldia's Keep. I was hardly inside and already the place was rank with the stench of death, magic, potions and beasts. A chained and fully enclosed cart to my right shook and growled as I passed. My attention was taken by the large, surprisingly bright chamber before me; but my steps continued to be taken with caution.

At the top of a higher level in between twin staircases, what appeared to be the back half of a monstrous dragon skeleton perched; gleaming scarred white in the light pouring from the large hole in the ceiling above it. The dead beast's upper body's bones lay strewn about the chamber as if from some forceful blast. I found myself staring at the strange and somewhat suspicious scene for longer than intended. It had an odd brilliance about it that caught the eye, despite its obscene degradation...much of Drangleic was that same way, when I thought about it.

My attention however was soon taken by the echoing sound of a croak and the cold slap of scaly, webbed feet on the chipped and dirty marble floors to my right, just around the frame of the large doorway. Listening intently for a few seconds in order to gauge the creature's distance from me and the opening between us, I drew my greatsword smoothly and quietly. I knew the reach of my sword like the reach of my own arm. Spinning around the edge of the doorframe, I plunged my blade between wide, bulbous eyes and through the basilisk's head with a swift crunch. It groaned as I easily retracted my weapon and flicked the blood (and small amount of brains) from it. Stepping over the twitching corpse, I surveyed my surroundings more closely before deciding to take a cursory look around the entire floor. Afterwards, I'd continue up the stairs. There was another opening across from where I'd entered, just underneath the shattered dragon remains. After approaching and peeking cautiously, but speedily in both directions, I decided to take the left first. It appeared to be a wrap-around hall.

Faint orange light caught my eye and I felt a low pull at the back of my mind, along with the strange excitement and nostalgia that came with finding a bonfire…as if it were home. But I knew this glow to be that of a message. I laughed hollowly and shook my head, trying not to allow my thoughts to run completely rampant once more. When I stepped around the corner, I discovered there was not one, but several messages covering the floor with their hazy light. At the far end of the hall there sat a switch. This could not be good. I read one of the frantically placed messages: "Pull back". All of them seemed to say the same thing. Without bothering to approach the switch, I turned to instead explore the other end of this hall.

It surprised me a bit to see a purplish fog wall at the very end of this side. Even so I approached, squinting from behind the bearded Mirrah mask in an attempt to pierce through the fog. Once close enough though, I discovered a hooded man clasping his hands to his head desperately, and seated on a small wooden bench inside the cramped room beyond the misty gate. Not knowing what to say (or if I should say anything), I stared at the man for a brief moment before he took notice of me.

"P-please, just stay away. No, please, don't come near me! Nothing good will come of it. Just leave me alone, please. Leave this place and leave me be, as I'd not see any harm befall you."

His voice was anxious and fearful.

"Are you so dangerous, prisoner?" I asked coolly in reply. His trembling suddenly ceased, and the air seemed to freeze.

"Well…you're hollowing quite nicely, aren't you? How did I miss that?" His entire demeanor had completely changed. His voice was calm and held a cold, poisonous edge to it.

"Undead, eh? Well…you've come a long way. Are you tormented by memories? Burdened by guilt?"

That struck something in me. I felt only the rising surge of white-hot anger in my chest as he spoke his next words:

"Now the question, are you ready for more? If you are, then…we ought to talk."

"And just why would I desire to make further conversation with a madman?" I snarled viciously, "I'll hear no more of your deluded ramblings!"

As I turned swiftly on my heel and strode forcefully back the way I had come, I desperately fought the overwhelming urge to turn and tear the man to bloody pieces. The feeling was inflamed by the sound of his mocking laughter. The last thing I needed was a reminder of the curse and it's effects on me in my current state. It was all made worse by the fact that I'd never had such difficulty controlling a primal and violent reaction. I closed my eyes and shook my head as if to purge it of the image of the hooded man, dead in a pool of his blood and me standing over him, contentedly wiping my blade on his cloak.

I was losing, and the curse would not wait.