• The figures that had once surrounded both the "protector" and Vahn disappeared in just the same amount that they had appeared. The lingering feeling that something bad was about to befall Vahn couldn't be shaken, not even with the reassuring feelings that seemed to emanate from the glowing orb. It had spoken to him to calm him down and not thrash against the useless movements, but had said nothing more directly towards him, just about him. He wanted answers, something to make him feel that he hadn't entirely lost his mind.

    "I know you want answers, and that's why I'm going to tell you what I can in the few moments have with you alone before the Trials. You, Vahn, obviously know that you aren't at home anymore. If you do, then you have a weird concept of home." The voice said, glowing slightly brighter with each word that it spoke. "Well, here's the easiest way I can explain it. You've... fallen out of your world and into the Expanse, a vast collection of worlds, planes of existences that are just as vastly different as the last. Ethropa, for example, houses the Serons. Can you still remember your home?" The orb said, Vahn trying to speak to reply. "Don't speak, just think. I'm part of you, I can hear your thoughts." It said, reassuring, and yet scaring, Vahn all at the same time.

    "Well, I know I was born to my small nomadic tribe." Vahn said, giving audible thought to what he was saying as he quietly thought to his home, of where he had been just as he was brought to this god forsaken place. His mind wandered to the green plains of where his tribe had just set up camp for the summer months. Ethropa, as he knew from the talk with the council that had gathered to pass judgment on him, wasn't alone in the Expanse. But, he found the concept still hard to believe. Wouldn't the worlds be connected? Wouldn't things be easy to piece together that they weren't truly alone?

    "Not as hard as you'd think. The Spectral Council consists of Planeswalkers who can shift from one world to the next, and they have set up limitations to prevent such discoveries. Protectors to prevent a child from leaving their plane, such and the like. I was supposed to do just that, but, I am part of you. I will die with you, as I will not separate and kill you. They think me a fool for such a thing, but I consider it my job to protect you, above all the others of Ethropa. So, I would consider yourself a lucky individual." The voice said, shifting a bit from side to side.

    "Well, aside from that, the rest is starting to make sense. I guess." Vahn thought, letting his mind try and dig deeper to find where he had been when he had magically appeared in the Expanse. The Serons were a race of creatures that always wandered, it was part of their nature. The most common thing that Serons bore were a set of wings that spread as far as their arms could reach. It was their identifying signature on Ethropa.

    With the plane of Ethropa caught on his mind, he flipped through the most recent memories he could think of. Anything that would help him piece back together the shattered remnants of his mind. Being in the Expanse made him feel light headed, wanting to just float without worry. It also seemed to affect his ability to think straightly. "That's a common effect on a first-timer to the Expanse. Be lucky that you can at least remember your name. Though, I could partially be to thank for that, as I have a kind of... immunity, if you will, to the effects of the Expanse. So, what else can you recall?" The orb said, Vahn feeling as if someone had hit him in the stomach as he floated in the nothingness. Seria needed him. He had to go save her.

    "Ah, so you are still able to remember her. That's good. You'll need to hold firm to that, as passing the Trials will grant you a safe return to home. It wouldn't be your home if you couldn't remember who or what was there, now would it?" The orb said, Vahn feeling a bit irritated. Why was this... Protector, not just giving him the answers? It seemed to know everything, as it had been part of his life for the last couple of decades. Why would it make him flounder in not knowing what had happened?

    "To see if you can remember on your own." The orb said, as if mocking him.