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act 1

the lost boy

FADE IN: [break][break]


ORPHE FAM. HOME – MID-AFTERNOON [break][break]


The courtyard of the esteemed Orphe family, a child is playing in the grass and is interrupted by the clicking of heels on cobblestone. [break][break]



[break][break]

A woman appearing in her mid 30's with long hair, accompanied by a silver back gorilla. Her stare is neutral, expression is unreadable. She is the matriarch of the family in all matters except public. Her name is Callisto Orphe. [break][break]



A little boy, around 5 with Callisto's eyes and lavender hair. He is dressed plainly, and distracted by an ant colony near a patch of daisies. His name is Corvus and he is currently the youngest of the Orphe family, and the only child to have lacked magical potential. [break][break]



Corvus takes off running, and a few moments later a lawn chair goes flying in his direction before the gorilla yells aggressively and lumbers after him. Callisto is left by herself while the sounds Corvus crying for help fade in the distance. [break][break]



Corvus sixth child of Rigel and Callisto Orphe. His parents are powerful representatives of an old star calling family. Callisto is a powerful illusionist that married into them due to her social standing, ambition, and most importantly, incredibly control over mana. The union between Rigel and Callisto gave them child after child, incredibly talented and skilled magical children. Until Corvus, who showed no aptitude despite extreme efforts to coax the mana out of him. He's barely eight when his younger brother, Saiph Orphe is born. After three years of no results all focus is passed on to the seventh child, and he is effectively ignored. The Orphe family is very much in the limelight as a family that breeds natural born starcallers, as well as being experienced caretakers of the Selene Celestial Observatory. [break][break]

Once Saiph is born Corvus is excused for most, if not all social gatherings and attendances. Some of his siblings look down on him while others pity his lack of magical prowess. He begins to feel disdain when his younger brother, in a brief tantrum can produce more magical control of some of the starettes Corona had been using to play with him. When the baby's screams manage to repel, only slightly, the little bits of stardust Corvus dies a little inside. Saiph is celebrated and he hears the entire household sigh in relief. [break][break]

Saiph has shown something. [break]
Saiph isn't a dud child. [break]
Saiph has earned his place at the table. [break][break]

Swept under the rug, completely forgotten, Corvus has no trouble taking what little of value he has with him as he stows away in a passing caravan that takes him to a near by town. Whether its stubbornness that he will return on his own, or absolute certainty he will be returned by those that know the family, no one goes looking for him. In the depths of his sorrow, a small voice whispers, quiet and barely there, but overflowing with anger: [break][break]

[break][break]

And so he does. He is no longer Corvus Orphe, sixth child of the Orphe Starcaller clan. He is nobody. With no past, and if he wasn't careful, no future. [break][break]

act 2

the dead boy

FADE IN: [break][break]

DOCTOR LEANORA’S HOME – NIGHT [break][break]

The inside of a closet, cracked slightly open for view OF A DARK CHILDREN’S ROOM. There is just enough space for Corvus to see a figure looming over a slumbering child. He sits perfectly still, hands clutching stolen food and coin. He is about 13 and his clothes are dull and raggedy. [break][break]



A tall man, in dark clothing probably in his late 40s quietly wraps his hands around the child’s neck and strangles the child. A hand covers the child’s mouth to keep sounds from coming out. After a few minutes, he opens a window and leaves through there. [break][break]



Corvus hesistates, before making his way to the window to beign some process of shimmying down the drain pipe. [break]



The child appears to be 10 or so years, with short blonde hair. Their eyes are closed and their skin is fair. There are large red marks around their throat. Their chest isn’t moving. [break][break]



There’s footsteps and someone calls out a name. There’s calls of alarm and Corvus cries. The child isn’t waking up, and he’s getting more and more anxious. He slaps the child’s face but there is no response. Eventually the door is slammed open and he knows there are eyes upon him, and then a screaming mother, and then finally, bodies that prevent his escape. The Voice is silent throughout this. [break][break]


ERASMOS DETENTION FACILITY, A PRISON – MIDNIGHT [break][break]

The lowlight chapel of the prison. It is small with only a few candles light. At the entrance stand two prison guards. At the very front of the room in a pew sits Corvus, eating his last meal. The meats are fresh and well cooked, it steams into the air. The vegetables are buttered and well salted. The quality of the food indicates a last, execution. A lone figure sits beside Corvus. It makes him nervous. [break] [break]



Corvus glares at them, protecting his last meal. [break][break]




Corvus slams the knife into the wood of the pew, baring his teeth at the stranger. He wished to eat in peace. [break][break]



Corvus doesn’t say anymore, having already explained what had happened dozens of times over the past few hours and still put to death. The figure is silent, and the sound of utensils scrappign a metal plate fill the air. [break] [break]



The guards who had been previously keeping watching fall to the ground with a couple of thuds. Corvus turns to look at the bodies on the ground and back at the stranger who waits for them to finish. He scarfs down the remainder of his food and scrambles to his feet before the stranger points to the corner where a small vision of an emerald snake appears and beckons him. Corvus obeys. [break] [break]



But when he was a dead man anyway, what did it matter if it was? Lady luck didn't turn away this time, allowing him the chance to find himself in a small side room to the chapel. Storage, but there was an unguarded window. That was all he needed. He scrambled out of it as quietly as he could before taking off into the night. Once again, no one came for him. In fact, he heard later that they hadn't figured out he had left until a few hours before dawn, when they found the bodies of his guards unconscious in front of the chapel. Alive but bruised. At the edges of civilization, he came across a caravan and someone seemingly waiting for him. He begged for passage and was denied, but an off hand comment about following the serpent however, got him in. [break][break]

A week later he was dropped off miles from his home town and part of a circus with no talent and no magic to speak of. The ringleader put him to work, assisting any and everyone to earn his keep. For the first time in a long time, Corvus didn't worry about food. Although his appetite did lead to a lot of snacking with his particularly sticky fingers. This is where he makes his final break with the Orphe clan and sheds the name like an old skin. [break][break]

act 3

the circus boy

FADE IN: [break][break]

OUTSKIRTS OF CARTONAS VILLAGE – MORNING [break][break]

A big top is set up but there are various crates outside of it. Some open, some still closed. [break][break]



Corvus, a little cleaner, scrambling into a half open crate and covering it with the lid. A few minutes later village guards seem to be idly inspecting the goods. Someone is leading them, assuring them there is nothing illegal going on. [break][break]



The guards talk between themselves as they inspect cart wheels and pat down sacks and carpets. All the while, the one circus representative keeps conversing with them. [break][break]



The guards move along idly paying attention. One guard kicks the crates to check if they are empty. The other moves closer to removes the lids. The circus employee begins talking faster. [break][break]




Corvus stops breathing, wide honey eyes staring upwards at the lid of his crate moves, pausing slightly as someone speaks up before continuing anyway. He’s pushed himself as far as he can into the corner and curled up so tightly to take up the least amount of space possible. The guard stares down at him and doesn’t see him. The lid goes back down and he stays in the box for a long time. [break][break]

This trick is too useful not to abuse. And so he does. Until his crude disappearing act is figured out a week later while trying to skip out on earning his dinner. There’s potential in his gift and so he's set up to learn some kind of act now that he can perform some kind of magic. He's unsure how he gets it, but he finds his niche in the trapeze. Its small at first. Then group acts and tumbling. At 17 he makes his debut as a solo act. Despite this, he tends to prefer being an extra body in similar acts, finding the spotlight on just him a bit unnerving. [break][break]


The circus shuts down. What next? The ringleader says they're going to see family. Ok. Does he have better options? Not really. So he follows, uninvited. Unaware.

act 4

the found boy

FADE IN: [break][break]

LEVIANTHAN TERRITORY – MIDNIGHT [break][break]

Low light lanterns as well as a gathering of witches who, for ceremonial purposes, all seem to don some sort of purple. They surround a small group of haggard looking witches that stand at attention. [break][break]



A certain young witch, officially a witch, with amethyst hair, dark skin, and golden eyes. Corvus stands among witches some his age, some older, some younger. He’s in his early 20s, barely an adult. He turns his head to the crow standing around them, sharp eyes searching for someone in particular. [break][break]



The voice inside Corvus’ head is silent for what seems like ages. The powerful witches inducting them are making their way through them. He doesn’t notice when it’s his turn to swear loyalty to the coven. Gold eyes go wide, and his face pales as they gesture to him. The sheer kind of commitment, the loyalty asked of him is too much. It’s constricting and the thought of these people becoming his everything makes him feel like he’s suffocating. [break][break]

When asked for loyalty he spits in response and like a cornered animal turns tail and runs. In a flash of colorful flames, the boy is gone, stunning his peers and setting the voice inside his head mad with laughter. Cackling reverberates throughout every single crevice of his mind and echoes in the stamping of his feet. Corvus runs as he always does. There is noise as he crashes through, as he hears voices pipe up, as an unnatural storm blows over to slow him down but he can’t stop. He won’t stop. The thought of those eyes he was searching for meeting his terrifies him. Is she angry? Ashamed? Disappointed? [break][break]

He doesn’t know and that unknown, that variable, chases him further and further until he doesn’t know where he is. The serpent isn’t on his tail or at least, that’s what they have allowed him to think. The laughter has subsided, overpowered by the thoughts bouncing around in his head. [break][break]
Corvus has failed again. [break]
Corvus has brought us shame again. [break]
Corvus has not earned anything again. [break][break]

He wanders into the unknown, surviving as he has always done: just barely. [break][break]


FADE IN: [break][break]

SANCTUM ALTISSIMO, A GRAVEYARD – DAWN [break][break]

Fog rolls lazily, not yet dispersed. It muffles most sound. The skies are clouded making it even darker as the sun struggled to break through. [break][break]


Corvus sitting at the steps of mausoleum, golden eyes dulled by exhaustion. He is reading a plaque, practically entranced. There are tears in his clothes and curled up by the steps he appears younger than he really is. A vague feeling bubbles up in his stomach, but it doesn’t pop quite yet. He’s hungry, but not enough to move. Footsteps are barely there and he’s slow to turn his attention from the grave and towards the stranger. They’re cloaked, and their hood is up. [break][break]



Corvus whips his head to the hooded figure as he shakes off the daze of not sleeping nearly enough. There soft laughter, and while it doesn’t sound malicious the witch is on edge. He hears the beginnings of a curse curl in the back of his head as the Voice awakens once more. [break][break]



The hooded stranger is silent for a long time thereafter. But in that silence, Corvus’ resolve grows. His family was gone. The circus was gone. And he was hungry. There was only so much petty theft could do for him. At least maybe this way, he either finally died or found somewhere more comfortable than a mausoleum to sleep in. [break][break]

So, he follows, explains briefly his situation and waits. The Voice rumbles in annoyance, noting this situation reminded him of something similar he just left from. But Corvus assures them that this is different. This had freedom without a price just like before. He enters the graveyard with the hooded stranger and a week later, exits draped in snakeskin and renewed energy. He hides away his new trinket and shoves fresh bread in his mouth before leaving for a city, any city. It wasn’t a home, or a circus. He didn’t have anyone left except the Voice but at least he had somewhere he could hide away to gather his bearings. It was one more connection that he hadn’t had before and that was alright. [break][break]