Past Decisions (Ben Finn one shot)

Ben stood in front of the shiny portal, looking at it with distrust.

- “I don’t care what the Queen says”- he said to himself- “This thing doesn’t look safe; it’s just…unnatural”.

There had been sightings of The Crawler in Mistpeak Valley and the Queen had asked him to go there and investigate. The Valley was a long way from Bowerstone and due to the urgency of the matter, she had given him a special stone which enabled him to use portals in order to teleport him there.

He looked at the stone he was holding and sighed.

- “Well, here goes nothing”.

He placed the stone in one of his pockets and jumped inside the portal. For a moment, everything moved around him. All he could see was flashes of light surrounding him, which were making him dizzy.

A few minutes had already passed but he still went on moving fast through beams of light.

“The Queen told me it would only take a few seconds. Something is wrong…”- he thought.

Suddenly, he felt some invisible force pulling him away from the lights and two seconds later he fell onto the floor, hitting it loudly.

- “Ouch!...Teleporters are very safe and smooth to travel…yeah, right! When I go back, the Queen won’t hear the end of it!”

He got up slowly, feeling still a bit dizzy.

- “Are you alright, sir?”

Ben looked up and saw a beautiful young lady standing in front of him and looking at him with a worried expression. Her red hair waved in the breeze and Ben looked at her, captivated by her beauty.

- “Yes, I’m fine”- he said straightening his clothes and removing the dirt from them- “It was just a little fall”.

- “It couldn’t have been a little fall”- she added- “I heard the hit from the lake’s shore. Are you sure you are alright?”

He smiled, trying to reassure her.

- “I’m sure, miss. You don’t need to worry”.

Ben looked around him. He seemed to be in the middle of a forest: tall green trees, bushes and colorful flowers surrounded him. A crystalline lake lied in the middle of it. The scenery was breathtaking, but one thing was certain: this place was not Mistpeak Valley.

- “Excuse me, miss. Where are we?”

- “This is Sandwood Lake, sir”.

He thought about it for a moment.

- “It doesn’t ring a bell. Is there any village around here?”

- “Of course, sir. If you follow the path to the south, you’ll reach Oakvale”.

- “Oakvale?”- he said frowning- “You mean Oakfield?”

- “No, sir, I mean Oakvale”.

Ben was quite confused.

- “Are we in Albion?”

She raised her eyebrows.

- “Why, of course! You ask very strange questions, sir”.

Ben crossed his arms and looked at her: she didn’t seem to be lying.

- “Are you feeling alright, miss?”- he asked her, seriously concerned about her sanity.

The young lady seemed offended by his comment.

- “I’m perfectly fine, sir! I’m not the one asking nonsense here!”

- “Ok, ok, I’m sorry”.

She turned around and sat down by the lake’s shore. Ben approached her slowly.

- “I didn’t catch your name. Mine is Ben, Ben Finn”.

- “My name is Dainara”.

- “Pleasure to meet you, Dainara”- he sat down by her side- “It may be none of my business but what are you doing here all by yourself?”

- “I’m waiting for someone”- she looked at him and smiled- “My fiancé”.

- “Oh, that’s great”- he said, moving a bit away from her just in case her fiancé came and got jealous.

Dainara noticed it and chuckled.

- “And what are you doing here, Mr Finn?”

- “Call me Ben, please. I was supposed to go to Mistpeak Valley but I ended up here”.

- “Mistpeak Valley is so far from here! You’d better go to Oakvale and hire a carriage to take you there”.

Ben sighed deeply.

- “Look, Dainara, I don’t want to offend you or anything like that but Oakvale does not exist anymore. It was destroyed hundreds of years ago”.

Dainara frowned.

- “Destroyed? What are you talking about? I live in Oakvale and I can assure you it is still there where I left it this morning”.

- “It cannot be Oakvale! Oakvale was destroyed! Only the Wraithmarsh lies there”.

- “If you are so sure that Oakvale doesn’t exist, why don’t you go and see it for yourself?”- she said defiantly.

- “I will”- he said getting up and heading towards the path which led to the village.

When he arrived, he soon realized that he was not in Oakfield or any other place he had been before. He approached a merchant who was selling his wares in the market.

- “Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me what village this is?”

The man raised his eyebrows.

- “This is Oakvale, my good sir”.

This could not be, he must have been dreaming. Oakvale was destroyed long ago…he himself had seen the Wraithmarsh countless times.

He ran as fast as he could back to the lake. Dainara was the person he knew the most here, she had to help him.

- “Dainara!”

Ben noticed that Dainara was not alone anymore: a young man sat down by her side.

- “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

- “Who is this man, my dear?”- said the young man looking at him.

As soon as he saw his face, he got paralyzed. He knew this man, he had seen him many times before, but now he looked younger, purer…happier.

- “Oh, this is the man I told you about”- said Dainara- “His name is Ben Finn”.

The young man got up and approached him. Ben instinctively stepped back.

- “Hello, my name is Lucious. My lovely fianceé  has told me that you are a bit…lost. Maybe I can help”.

Ben looked at him, still unable to move.

Lucious raised his eyebrows.

- “I see now what you meant, my love. He doesn’t seem to be alright”.

- “Reaver…”- Ben whispered.

- “What?”- Lucious frowned- “Oh, please, where did you hear this name? That damn Silver! My name is Lucious, not Reaver, is that clear?”

Ben couldn’t believe it. This man was indeed Reaver…before he became Reaver. He was really in Oakvale, he had travelled to the past!

While his mind should be set on how he would go back home, he could only think about one thing: the young man standing in front of him would exploit poor workers, he would try to kill him and Page countless times…he would enslave his brother William.

-“I’m a pirate; I know every single route to every single location in Albion. I can take you to Mistpeak Valley if you wish”- said Lucious kindly.

The Reaver of his times was impossible to kill, but his younger self looked more vulnerable, more human.

- “I know that pirates are generally not trustworthy, but you can trust him, sir. He’s a nice man”- said Dainara happily.

He seemed such a good man now, but he knew what he would become…

Ben looked at his sheathed pistol. It would be so easy to kill him now and prevent all the future grieve…Suddenly, he noticed a little piece of paper hanging from his pocket. He took it and read it.

Do not alter the past. The consequences of your actions may be far worse than the circumstances you are trying to prevent. The past cannot be changed.                                                                                                                                 T.

“Nothing can be worse than the tyranny of Reaver. I’ll be doing Albion a favour”- he thought.

He unsheathed his weapon slowly.

- “Do not move”.

Ben looked up and saw Lucious pointing at him with his pistol.

- “WHAT ARE YOU…?”

Before he had time to react, Lucious shot his weapon. A hobbe lied dead right next to Ben.

- “That was close. This little creature was about to stab you from behind”- said Lucious- “Are you alright, sir? I’m sorry if I scared you”.

Ben sighed and sheathed his pistol again. He couldn’t kill an innocent man, a man who hadn’t done anything wrong yet.

- “I’m fine…I must go. Thank you for your offer, but I’ll find my way”.

- “As you wish, sir. Good luck in your trip! Maybe we’ll find each other again, I travel a lot”.

- “Yes, I’m pretty sure we will”.

As soon as he left Sandwood Lake, he saw a shiny portal in front of him.

He looked back: Lucious and Dainara talked cheerfully.

- “See you soon...Reaver”.