To anyone who is going to read this,
My name is Zephyr Yundath.
If you know who the Yundath's are, then no need for introductions. For those who don't, I am a blacksmith. I forge weapons and come from a great lineage of people that used to do this for fun on a saturday afternoon. That all changed after 2025 when we switched hobby into commerce, selling weapons to both the brave, and the damned.
I also go by another title, one that I inherited from my father, Lathe Yundath: The reaper of Gallows.
My father was great at fighting, and he fought all his life. When Gallows turned into a ghost town, he swore that no one would ever enter the Bottomless Pit again. He couldn't catch everyone obviously, but the people he did catch... Well, you know where I'm going with this.
I picked up the moniker after him. It's not like it's a well-known tale as well. I bet me and my dad are the sole individuals with knowledge of such a prestigious title.
I wish my dad was still around.
He was considered the weirdo of the family. He's one of the few who brought new blood in the blacksmithing game. I heard stories that in his early 20s he dominated with a strange sets of battle gear; a whip blade that could deform like a snake, a pistol that could shoot daggers, a gigantic 4 direction blade attached to a chain that could be used as a shield and as a boomerang, the list goes on and on and on. Some of the most fearsome warriors have used those weapons at least once.
It's hard to dispute the myths when the man grabs a briquet and attach it to an average sword.
It takes some specifications to describe how weird the weapon he gave me for my 15th birthday is.
It was, in fact, the last weapon he ever built. He kind of became my supervisor as I finally accepted to get started on the tradition. A bit late since he had already burned most of the blueprints and equipment from his brothers and sisters, as well as the dojo where all the formal, professional knowledge sat down.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I am self-thought...and not for very long, barely a year in fact. I'm a beginner, far from the heights of my father.
With that said, Lathe and I agreed on one thing, and it was to never approach the pit, nor let anyone get near it. I held that promise real tight, even after he died.
I wish he was still around, But I feel like I've learned a lot since he's gone. I know I shouldn't trade all that for a chance to see him again… And I won't.
After a fascinating 57 years of lifetime, he went missing in the confides of his mind. He faded away.
The pain I felt since my mother's kidnapping hunted me in spades. The suppressed hatred of the past was boiling. It was too late.
I was the new reaper.
But what I've never been able to understand and what, to some degree, still pushed my anger even inside of the Bottomless Pit was that, in his death bed, he oh so easily forgave Riley J. Smith.
One day, as he was starting to become very ill, he walked over there about two weeks before his death. He brought me in for the journey. We sat near the elevator, and he laughed.
I looked at him as if he had lost his mind, but he was giggling and smiling and talking about all the hopes and dreams. I felt pity, disgust for him.
My father would keep reminiscing about other parts of the destroyed village; how they created clean water through the use of mutated creatures that spawned their own canals, how they built an economy inside and outside thanks to their weaponry.
I tried so hard to bring the reaper back to that moment, the man that promised he would leave the village and kill Riley J. Smith, destroy every member that spit on the code the Yundath lived by, avenging every villager he couldn't protect, but I couldn't, and it frustrated me. He went with the flow, kept rambling about all of those amazing things we created. He was bringing up every single unnecessary detail about his career.
I was feeling horrible for him. He probably wasn't feeling bad for himself.
I remember what he left to me on his death bed. Father always said that, for my mother, writing was a gateway to the soul.
I should have known he would write me something at some point.
"Son. I'm sorry.
I've brought that hatred to you, and I'll leave you with that hatred. I know if you ever cross path with the scientist again, you'll try to punish him. I wanted you to forge forward, but I have taught you the art of forging and fighting the wrong way, with my emotions still attached.
At the end of it all, when the sun sets, I don't want you to remember the bad. You can't wipe that off your memory, but it has to contain good. Your legacy, no matter how tarnished it is, must have some good left. The Yundath turned to scandal and profit in the black market the second they saw an opportunity to escape poverty. I started killing people the second I saw an opportunity to escape the self-loathing, the hatred for my lack of willpower, the willpower I should have used on Riley the day he took Catherine away.
I can't let you do that. But I don't control you. You will make plenty of mistakes, my boy. And that's okay. Don't let it get to you. You need to do good at some point. Riley will have to do good at some point in his life too. I bet everyone will do good, bad and ugly. It's not okay, but telling yourself that you're unworthy, shameful for what you've done, well that won't change a damn thing. We change, no matter what the community says, no matter what you or I say. It matters as much as you make it out to be.
Do not think you are a saint if you deserve to be punished. But do not beat yourself up for the rest of your life, for that will only make you worse. Take the time to do good. Just once. And you will be content for salvation.
Redemption comes to does who strives towards it, not to does that moan, plea and beg every day for it, like I've done. I have tainted my legacy. Yours is still salvageable.
You can leave the cycle, so leave this cycle.
I believe in you.
You're father.
- Lathe Yundath."
So, to anyone who reads this.
If you ever feel like you've made a mistake... Like you have been on the giving end of something dark, disturbing and wrong. Sadly, your punishment is coming...
Everybody gets punished in some form or fashion, and because it's not obvious, they start blaming the whole world like it's a mistake.
Don't go on that route.
We all deserve it at some point.
Do not swallow yourself in self-loathing though.
The punishment is a good time for introspection, to learn how to do better, to learn what to do to become a stronger person, to be the best version of yourself, to do something good. It's a lesson, basically.
It might seem like the punishment never ends, but it will one day. You will be able to do good for people, and yourself...
I'm just 16, so this might be the lack of maturity or experience talking. I believe we all have a second chance, whether we think we deserve it or not, whether they think we deserve it or not. That's not on us to decide when we get it, how we get it or why we get it.
The Bottomless Pit might have been my punishment. Spending time with people I consider deviants might be my punishment. All I know is that in over a week, I have learned... A lot.
I'm not forgiving Riley, but I get where he's coming from. Alister won't forgive me, but I must forgive myself.
I will work for my redemption.
Zephyr Yundath, Reaper of Gallows.
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THIS LETTER WAS FOUND A FEW DAYS AFTER IT WAS WRITTEN. HILARIOUS STUFF.
RIDICULOUS THAT THIS ZEPHYR EVEN MENTIONS MATURITY. CLEARLY THE BOY DIDN'T LIVE ENOUGH TO EXPERIENCE THE GUT WRENTCHING RAGE THAT LIFE CAN PROVIDE. NO MATTER.
I SENT THIS LETTER TO THE GUARDIAN AND THE CHANCELOR, THINKING THEY'D HAVE A GOOD LAUGH. I WAS WRONG. JEEZ THEY NEED A BETTER SENSE OF HUMOUR.
AT THIS STAGE, THE INTRUDERS PASSED THE BARRIER. THIS IS THE LAST LETTER THAT WE COULD ENCOUNTER BEFOREHAND. I WILL BE LEAVING THIS THEN.
EVERYBODY IS GONNA BE SHAKEN BY THIS, BUT I AM LOOKING FORWARD ON MEETING THESE BASTARDS. I'LL GLADLY SEND OUTSIDERS BACK WHERE THEY COME FROM.
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- Last communication from AGENT SIERRAH, Department SIXTEEN -