Kelly's Story Bit 1(Echoes: Origins)

Some time ago a friend and I discussed a story about a little girl and a ghost, and the character concepts stuck with me long after we generally forgot about the original idea.  I ended up growing attached to Kelly as a character, imagining her as this young girl who didn't give up, on herself or others.  I had started watching more animated series, and I began to imagine a broader story for the character(s).

Perhaps Kelly had some magical chalk that can create the things it draws(which I'm aware isn't wholly original), and maybe she finds it while hiding out in the attic after her first day of school.

This was probably eight or nine years ago that I began exploring the idea of Echoes, a series about Kelly, and her journey as a character.

The story begins before Kelly's first day at a new school; they've moved into her grandmother's old house after her father died and it's in a city some ways from where they had lived.  Kelly's first day is rough, and upon getting home she retreats to the attic, and stumbles across a chest which contains among other things, a large piece of white chalk.
Kelly takes the piece of chalk and makes a few marks on the floorboards to test it, and catches an oddly shaped shadow, which she decides to trace, imagining it at some new friend for herself.  An ethereal shape rises from the shadow- this is Gus.

A brief bit about Gus- they were not made by Kelly, they are actually a powerful spirit which has also served a seal to help ensure that the planes of existence stay separate(wouldn't actually ever play out well to combine them).  She calls them Gus, which they seem quite pleased with, having no distinct name of their own

Here's where I'm foggy and only have a general story.  Kelly gets bullied at school, but with the help of Gus, she rids herself of his torment, most likely by teaching him not to mess with her(scaring/intimidation).  There's more to Kelly's story than some "magical" chalk, and this bully was one of the first things she'd need to overcome.  Kelly is special, and not just because her mom told her so.  In fact, her mom doesn't really know how special Kelly is.  In the Echoes setting, there is a Spirit Plane adjacent to our own, and souls tend to be the rare travelers between the planes, if only briefly.  Kelly is what some refer to as an Archon(term for this setting, I liked the word so what), someone who has a strong connection to the Spirit Plane, and can draw from and channel its energies, though it is something she must learn to use and control.

Kelly begins to be more adventurous and curious as she is spending less time being sad, perhaps has some small adventures using her magical chalk, before finding an abandoned manor said to be haunted.  Here, Kelly begins to see a more serious world, more dangerous adventure.  There is a malevolent spirit sealed in the manor, and in exploring Kelly finds herself in a struggle to escape the demonhound and the manor, and must use her powers to stay alive.  Unable to escape even after defeating the hound, she draws a door which instead of leading her our, leads her into the Spirit Plane.

Here, is where she meets Edos and Ryelle, two Children of Gaia(nature spirits) who become a loyal friends to Kelly, and Ryelle is much of a big sister to the young heroine.  Kelly learns that a malevolent spirit whom I still need a name for wants to cross planes to feed in the Material Plane("our" plane), and plans to find and destroy the seals, and open a special gate between the Planes.  Kelly also meets Marçai, a wandering spirit of a swordsman with a troubled soul, unfinished business kinda thing.  He remembers being charged to protect someone and failed to do so.  It still haunts him, and some of his motivation to help Kelly comes from seeing her in some ways as his previous charge.


Despite best efforts, it comes down to Gus as the last seal and the villain at the Gate, attempting to break through it in its weakened state(probably blasting it with energy or something).  Gus wraps himself around Kelly one last time and helps her understand before using his energy to reseal the Gate, using the Villain as an additional seal(remember, Gus is a powerful ancient spirit, despite often being little more than an emotive wisp).  Kelly loses Gus, and after the blinding flash and disorientation, Kelly finds herself in a park near her home.  She no longer has the magical chalk and despite wishful checking, Gus is indeed gone.  Kelly starts walking home.