[TWWM] Those Connected by Fate

A story of love, family and heartbreak. Chain reactions and coincidences the world across has brought a group of unlikely esks together, through the voids caused by their separation.


In France, 1885, Cosette was the daughter of a struggling Vintner. Guiltily, she accepted his gift of a break from their meagre lives to attend a fancy Masquerade party. She shuddered at the cost of it all, but enjoyed herself, until word was brought to her that her Father had some sort of health episode and she was needed at home immediately. During the rush, she dropped the expensive masquerade mask on the floor of a hall, and left without even looking back.
The mask was found by an Esk, and thinking it interesting, transformed it into an esk, who immediately became obsessed with the fact that she had been abandoned by the girl, and sought to find her and ask why.
Cosette's father would never recover fully, and they decided to use the last of her family's dwindling funds on a make-it or break-it 3 month apprenticeship to save their family vineyard.
She traveled to India to study vineyard keeping and procure new grape species for their vineyard.
While there, she met and fell deeply in love with a young man named Kaito, who was in fact, the son of the Japanese emperor.
Over the next weeks, he proposed, and planned to challenge the dynasty laws he was bound to, in order to marry and move her and her father to Japan where he could get the medical help he needed.
Once again however, correspondence from home derailed her happiness, and brought news that her father had died suddenly, and that the debtors had immediately descended on their family home, auctioning everything and that nothing was left.

This sudden and world-shattering news, brought her spirit to her knees. Alone and grieving in the middle of the night, in a strange country, and with absolutely no family left, and no home to return to, she fled sobbing into the vineyard.
This is where the mask-become-esk, Twyla finally found her, after months of searching. During the resulting confusion and emotional turmoil, Twyla accidentally transformed Cosette as well, into an esk.

Enraged by this, and still gripped by grief, Cosette lashed out at Twyla, driving her away again, and robbing her of the closure she so desperately had searched for.
As an esk, she was invisible to Kaito, who now was in a state of constantly searching for her. Invisible and with nothing left, Cosette fled back into the dying vineyard at the furthest edge of the area, and adopted a new name, calling herself Sova.

Kaito, stricken with worry and heartbroken over Cosette's disappearance, refused to return home, ^{Jiro and Kintsugi have been removed from this story collection, as their stories needed to have their own room to grow.}  angering his father, Jiro, the Emperor, who sent waves of emissaries and finally soldiers to bring his wayward son back home. At the last night of possible evasion, alone and grieving Cosette's loss, he was found and Transformed as well, into an esk.
Unlike Cosette, he took to his new form eagerly, and realized his abilities allowed him to sense her spirit, and rushing outward through the vineyard, he eventually found her.

Back in Japan, word reached the Emperor, Jiro, that his son had gone missing entirely. None of the guards or emissaries could find a trace of him, even after months of searching. Jiro's wife, who's love for their son was one of the only things keeping her mentally stable, lost the will to fight, and succumbed to various ailments that had been plaguing her.

Losing both his wife, and his son, and also his only heir, took a massive toll on Jiro, and adding insult to injury, Japan was rocked by a series of earthquakes shortly after. With his empire crumbling, unable to help his people in the resulting rubble and fires, he despaired, and was met by the wanderer X, who deigned it an exciting prospect to transform an actual Emperor, and so he did.

As an esk, Jiro is haunted by his past, but also hopeful for the future. He is torn between feeling that his suffering has only been prolonged, but that he has also been given a new chance at life. He is currently unaware of his Son's existence as an esk, but that will one day change.

Jiro wanders the cities and towns of Japan, and is often nostalgic about his human life and the things he can no longer access, like beautiful clothing and food. This nostalgia caused him to accidentally transform a bowl of ramen, which became a cracked and blind esk named Kintsugi, named after the gold veins that held the broken bowl together.

Kintsugi is a great source of happiness for Jiro, and he finds that she reminds him a bit of his late wife. They do not have a romantic relationship, but instead act as old friends. Kintsugi helps show him the beauty of the world, and it was her influence that caused the manifestation of his two bird familiars, who represent the two sides of his outlook on life.

In France however, over the time, Kaito and Sova reunited happily, but Sova's negative outlook became a burden on them both. She was wrought with grief and disdain for her esk life, and Kaito, loathe to leave her side, refused to return to the town, which weakened him beyond the point of movement.
After weeks of struggling this way, they decided to transform each other within the make-shift zen garden they had created in the forest.
At this moment, they both became abnormals. Kaito becoming a dragon-like protector of his dear love, and finding new strength in the forest, and Sova becoming a elegant version of herself, and finally being able to move on from her past lives and focus on her future with Kaito.
Her new outlook also caused her to think of how cruel she'd been to the mask esk, Twyla, and announced that she desired to travel back to France and find her, and mend their relationship. Kaito, ready to follow her anywhere, agreed and they did so.

Upon arriving in France, Sova returned to her childhood home, which had been abandoned after auction and was left empty and silent. Amidst the rubble she found her favorite teacup, chipped and discarded by the back door. She decided to keep it, and carried it with her while she searched for Twyla.
She found Twyla, and apologized repeatedly, and their relationship was healed. Twyla finally got closure and an explanation about why she had been abandoned (as a mask) and that feeling of loss was healed within her. Their discussion afterwards brought peace and an idea to Sova's mind, at which time she placed the old teacup in the courtyard of a little café she'd loved, and transformed it as well, into an esk named Viola.

Viola carries with her all the happiness and childlike wonder that Sova had felt while using that teacup as a child, and became fast friends with Twyla, who made it her job to show her around town. Sova and Kaito however decided to return home for the time being, and plan their next journey, which would be hesitantly a journey to Japan, as Kaito feared the worst after his disappearance.

These esks have also transformed others along their journey, but who are not part of their ultimate journey, a journey that is far from over...