Death is a strange thing. It had always been a trap in the relentless anxiety-fueled depths of his mind, pulling his consciousness into a sort of logical paradox time and time again. The fear of not existing would shift with the realization that it didn't matter because he no longer existed, then the fear of the idea of inexistence would take over his thoughts, and yet they would always cycle back to the start.

  Always a cycle.

  Perhaps it wasn't so much the point of passing itself that bothered him, but instead, the idea that he wasn't important enough for everything to stop existing when he did.

  From an obviously narcissistic point of view, clearly, nothing cared to recognize him as some supreme existence that transcends reality, but maybe it was just another irrational part of his little monkey brain that assured him of his importance to the world. Maybe it was just part of being so small and insignificant, after all, is one person in one world somewhere really that important?

  Not unless that person is you, or someone you care about.

  The man who lay dying in a puddle of his own blood was drifting in and out of consciousness as his mind tried to process his place in the world, or rather, the place he would be leaving. He couldn't remember his name or those he cared about. The memories of his life seemed to flow from his mind as fast as the blood that he lay in.

  How could anything matter when right now, right HERE, when everything is coming to an end? Everything he has done in his life, everyone he has touched, all of it, will be gone. Everything is relative, and if it's gone to him, surely it's gone in general.

  The last few breaths were slow and ragged as he realized past regrets were insignificant in his situation, but they still hurt. Even if remembering them was beyond him, just the raw emotions stripped of details and specificity was enough to hurt. Would he live on in other people's memories? Would everything be lost to the flow of time, just as he would soon be? Why is this happening to him?

  The answer to those questions was one he usually didn't like hearing, yet he knew the answers, how could anyone dying not know?

  Life didn't have any profound meaning by itself. Finding importance was part of the journey, maybe that is as profound as anything has to be. Dying on some strange back country road like this isn't what he wanted. Unable to move, or even look around him, a small patch of stormy sky, full of rain, thunder, and lightning, would be the last thing his eyes took in before his consciousness left.

  One last blast of bright white lightning seemed to strike his forehead directly. His vision went black after going white. It was the end for him.

  《《 ? 》》

  He sat up with force as if waking up from a nightmare. He was breathing deeply and his eyes burned as he tried to look around. The water on his skin seemed biting in its constant embrace. It wouldn't relent and he struggled to get out.

  His limbs seemed to flail incoherently as he sent constant commands that were never answered or followed. The pain grew as it came from all sides and sources.

  "Shira! He's awake!" A piercing feminine voice crashed through his mind. He heard the words, but they didn't translate into comprehension, and his reaction to them was to roll around in pain. The sound attacked his ears as though they had never been used before. He grimaced while trying to escape his freezing confines but a pressure built within his chest that he had never felt before. His heart pounded as he screamed in pain but the building of pressure just continued.

  Waves of burning energy crashed through his body as it tried to process the inputs he was feeling, but it was clearly overwhelming to his clouded mind and just came across as more pain. It was like being shocked with electricity while simultaneously freezing.

  "Please calm down Rath! You are going to hurt yourself!" The voice cascaded through his mind, but they felt distorted as he couldn't understand them, only the harder consonants actually being processed.

  He cried out in response to the words, only more agitated by the sounds and he covered his ears, his own screams of pain just added fuel to the fire. Just then the pressure in his chest came to a bursting point and the stress reached a peak.

  An explosion of force and pressurized electricity blasted from every bit of his body. The stasis chamber that he was in had been destroyed and most of the room was still illuminated as electricity still bounced between the debris and water.

  The naked man had lost consciousness once again and was lying in the wrecked remains of his stasis pod. The room was completely covered in the healing waters and the strange teal crystal that made up the pod itself. Another woman came barreling in through the doors.

  The blue doors hissed open allowing the beautiful elven woman to expertly navigate the destroyed room. Each step was perfectly balanced and she was kneeling at the young man's side before the first woman could get back to her feet.

  "I heard movement and when I came to investigate I saw him thrashing around in the pod," The woman on the floor said with a worried and terrified gaze.

  A blue light flashed from the woman's hands and the sound of crashing waves could be heard as water flowed out. It covered her son, who had been in a coma for 10 years. The water fully repaired his bruised body as it wrapped him up.

  Tears fell down her cheeks as she felt a steady heartbeat and no sign of the magic that had been devouring her son's life force for so long. "He's healthy, just asleep!" Shira said, adrenaline filling her voice.

  Her son's breathing slowed down, and her diagnosis brought calm to the room. The other healers had always doubted her, but she knew he would come back to her. She had always known he would come back.

  "He's alright?"

  "Yes, Dara. It seems the burst of magic was his body reacting to finally being free of the blight that had kept him from healing for so long. The stasis finally worked," Shira's eyes were the glowing blue that reminded Dara of the Azure Shores. Her passionate gaze seemed to reflect the waters of that magical place as she wrapped her son in a healing wave. She conjured some robes and covered him as she levitated him out of the room on tendrils of azure water.

  "Do you want me to spread the word of his awakening?" Dara asked, finally gathering herself from the floor.

  The water mage shook her head with a conflicted expression, her son had always been a problem for their family. He was arrogant, selfish, hostile, and above all else, he could be an incredibly frustrating person to deal with. The privileged childhood hadn't made him an easy person to deal with, no doubt partly her own failing as a mother.

  He was always very talented at whatever he put his mind to, but it didn't matter after he pushed everyone who cared about him away in anger and frustration. She still loved her son, despite the ridiculous accusations he leveled against everyone in their family. Even his sister, who was the last bastion for his defense besides herself, was finally cast aside as he turned his anger on her.

  The day he got hurt was the day that he lost the respect of his first adventuring group, who had moved on while he tried to push them into more dangerous situations. Just as they had finally refused to go deeper into more dangerous territories, he decided to go on by himself.

  She would never forget that day, the waters that flowed through her Sanctuary had been more turbulent than ever. She could feel that something was wrong from the moment she woke up. She felt it in her waters as sure as she felt the constant beat of her heart, her son was in great danger.

  Shiran'aré Elrieth, or Shira by those who are close to her, had wasted no time that day and moved her Sanctuary for the first time in many years.

  Her Sanctuary Ship was a Divine, Water-Based Artifact the size of a stadium. Its massive shape cast great shadows over the mists of the swamp as she went directly toward he son's fading life force. When she found him she screamed, the carnivorous vine that had pierced through her son's chest like a spear had also inflicted a terrible spiritual blight.

  It filled his pathways with a magic-devouring blight and it infected his magical core, reducing his foundations to not but rubble. With her incredible healing abilities, she was able to throw her son into a stasis pod and push him into a coma while she battled the blight. She supplied the blight with a stream magic to devour, forcing it to poison itself on the healing energies she injected into her son, while simultaneously destroying his magical core and progression.

  Her son wouldn't wake up for years.

  His adventuring party came to apologize, but Shira wouldn't allow them to feel guilty about it. She knew her son had pushed them away with his brash actions. It wasn't their fault, so she didn't let them feel guilty. It was his own actions that had caused this after all.

  There wasn't a day that went by without her checking on his stasis pod. The peaceful look that remained on his face for all those years belied the superiority complex her son had developed. The nasty side he showed the world was hidden in his slumber.

  The rest of the family wanted to send him onto the next life so he may be put to rest, but she refused. And since she was the strongest person in the family, they could do nothing in the face of her power. She might be a healer, but a healer that can call upon the Divine Seas, summon storms that can change landscapes, and flood valleys with scorching waters made her a force of nature.

  But now it seems like all of the tribulations she went through to save him had been worth it. He overcame the blight and seems to be in perfect health. He could wake up anytime now and everything would change.

  He would change, wouldn't he? He would be different, she hoped.

  《《 ? 》》

  Pain seemed to be a common theme the last few times he had been awake. It wasn't any different this time either. He seemed to remember the feeling of his senses overwhelming him, yet everything felt a bit more toned down this time. There was a blindfold covering his eyes and when he stirred he heard a quiet voice nearby.

  The words were too distant for him to process but the tones were soothing and non-threatening. They immediately put the tense muscles in his upper back at ease.

  He felt a soft set of hands lightly grab his left one. The smell of some incredible fragrance that could only be described as an elegant flower that bloomed in the rain, touched his nose. It was immediately registered in his mind as his new favorite scent. He couldn't help but tie the smell to the sound of those words if only he could understand them.

  They spoke again and he could almost understand them. He made a questioning grunt, but his vocal cords felt like they needed to be greased or something.

  "Water?" The smoothest voice he had ever heard said.

  He nodded his head as chills went down his spine. Whether it was from the voice or how it seemed to resonate through him, he couldn't be sure.

  The soft hands left his grasp and touched his cheek. Water flowed into his mouth, directly from her hand, it was the most refreshing and soothing water he had ever felt, cool and cleansing. Not only that but it felt like he was breathing while drinking the water, like it had enough oxygen within it to keep him drinking with no need for more air.

  He felt the urge to cough at the discrepancy, but the water wouldn't let him do so.

  He drank his fill and the water stopped. It didn't feel like being waterboarded, only like he was unaffected by water or rather collecting oxygen was as easy to get from water as it was from air. The soft hand caressed his face as it let him go, it wasn't sexual, but it was loving. Like a mother feeling her son for a temperature.

  Stolen story; please report.

  "I can breathe the water?" His raspy voice asked.

  A small giggle came from the woman who was caring for him and the voice was clearly amused as she spoke, "Breathe water? Is that not something you should be able to do?"

  He turned his head to the woman, though his eyes were still covered. "I don't think so. But maybe things are different now?"

  Her voice had less amusement but more curiosity after a small pause, "They already seem different, you have lost your accent."

  An eyebrow raised from under his blindfold as he ran her words over in his head. She DID have an accent, unlike anything he had heard before, yet it was so natural and flowing. He sounded like some brute trying to talk to this perfect-sounding woman, who could fit a sound to every curve of any letter as if it were a playground for sounds. It seemed like she was creating a new way to talk, but it was so refined that she had to have worked on it for years.

  "My accent...?" He asked, trying to annunciate better.

  She was silent for a moment then spoke again in those same soft and quiet words, "Yes Rath, you are just waking up from a very long rest. It would be surprising if things didn't change."

  He frowned in confusion, "Wrath?" He looked inward as if searching for some reason that she would be calling him that, but she spoke again.

  "That is your name, Rathal'aré Elrieth, my son."

  When she spoke the name, the 'L' carried through the apostrophe 'aré, as if the L gave life to the tone of the second half of the name, through the accented 'é'.

  His jaw dropped at the absurdity of the name. He actually scoffed, "What kind of ridiculous name is that?"

  It was time for the woman to scoff in return, "It is the name I gave you when I birthed you nearly 42 years ago!"

  "That isn't my name, you must be mistaken."

  "Oh?" She asked with a bit of disbelief and amusement in her voice, "Who are you then?"

  "Well, I am..." His heart seemed to drop to the floor as he realized that he didn't know who he was. There was a certain point where you were used to looking in at yourself, at your own mindscape. But when he looked in to prove to himself that he knew who he was, things didn't quite add up.

  "I...don't know," He said in a defeated tone.

  "Well, you have been in a deep sleep for a long time now, many people didn't think you would wake up at all," his apparent mother spoke with a compassionate tone.

  He reached up and pulled the blindfold off, "Careful, you haven't used your eyes in a long time, it is dim in here, but they should still be very sensitive."

  He sighed and pulled anyway, his eyes adjusted quickly and he looked to the source of the voice.

  Shira's eyes were as blue as the oceans where she had awoken her affinity, all those years ago. Her son's eyes had always matched hers, the deep azure blue of her affinity. But now they were different. He was different, his aura, his expression, his tone of voice, his powerful silver eyes.

  He immediately looked around in curiosity and wonder. His eyes widened as he noticed the movement the walls had, "The walls are water."

  Shira laughed, "Well, of course, it is my Sanctuary."

  "Sanctuary? Like some sort of botanical garden or something?" He asked, but it was this moment when he got a serious look at his new 'mother.'

  Shiran'aré Elrieth was beyond gorgeous, her eyes were entirely blue, with no iris or pupil, just a deep-glowing azure blue, like a perfect ocean at noon. It almost looked like waves moved in her eyes, but it was hard to see. Golden flakes that looked like sunlight occasionally flashed across the watery surface of her eyes.

  It might be slightly dim in the room, but he didn't have to squint to get a good look at her. She wore a white dress that was more like robes and they seemed to flow around her constantly like fabric in water. Golden bangles rested on different parts of her body and her skin was flawless. Her hair was blue, the same azure blue of her eyes, and it slightly glowed like they did as well. In fact, SHE was glowing as well.

  He felt oddly disconnected as he tried to process the information his senses were telling him. They were so off the charts that he couldn't even quantify them at this point.

  She looked surprised at his question, but he didn't notice her slight twitch as he seemed to be inspecting her hair, "Oh, well, it's more of a Spirit Ship...it is a manifestation of my power with the use of a few objects that enables me to create a vessel or home."

  He thought that statement through and it felt like too much so Rath ignored it for now. He looked over at her and his eyes seemed to widen further, "You...you said you were my mother?"

  Shira laughed, "Is that a surprise?"

  He didn't voice that he had no memory of having a mother in his previous life, so he just said, "You just look so young, how old did you say I was?" He asked.

  She shook her head, "You are 42 years old."

  "And a year is 365 days?"

  She looked confused, "No...there are 500 days in a year."

  "500 days, how long is a day?"

  "...25 hours of sunlight and 25 hours of moonlight."

  "So, you are saying that each entire day cycle is 50 hours if you include the night?"

  "Yes," She said with a curious smile, her son hadn't been this interested in anything besides women and battle since he was a child, even if it was basic information that he should have known. It was a strange thing to see him asking questions as if to determine his place in the world.

  "Wow, and do hours and minutes follow this same time frame as the others?"

  "There are 50 minutes in an hour and 50 seconds in a minute," Shira said with obvious amusement.

  "Strange, and everything being based on the number 50 as well, is there some specific reason for that?"

  Shira shook her head, "We can get into the specifics of the time cycles later if you are truly curious. I have a decent library on here for Nala."

  "Sorry, I don't know how to ask this without being somewhat...I don't know, rude? But what was your name and who is Nala?"

  She winced slightly, "Ah, I should have expected that question. Nala, is my wife and she loves books. My name is Shiran'aré Elrieth," the pronunciation once again caught his attention. The 'n' in Shiran, carried through the 'are, making her sound like she said Shiranaré. Rath made a mental note to ask about that later.

  "Your wife? But you are my mother, do I have a father?"

  Her amusement seemed to grow, "Yes, your father is in his own Sanctuary up north, but Nala and I live here."

  "Well, I have so many questions, you said my name is Rath?" He asked.

  "It is."

  "Can I have a different name?"

  "No, that would be ridiculous..."

  《《 ? 》》

  Shira had been leading her newly awakened son around her Sanctuary in a slow tour of her large water garden. He had spoken of gardens at some point, so she thought to bring him there, where they might relax amongst soft sounds and pleasant smells. She had changed him into comfortable yet athletic robes of a light blue and cream when he was unconscious and he almost seemed to marvel at the soft clothing. He touched it like he had never touched cloud spider silk before.

  They would have matched his blue eyes originally, but his new stormy silver eye color was a stark contrast.

  She ran a few diagnostic spells on him before they left to walk around and he was blight-free without a doubt. She had to convince him to keep his name, it was a strange thing since he had always taken pleasure in how authoritative and powerful it sounded, but watching him almost cringe as he mulled the name over was a surreal experience.

  As they walked she ran into one of her maids, not Dara who had witnessed Rath's awakening, but another Alcrynn named Carina who had also found an affinity for water, "Carina, please bring us some tea and snacks to the Water Garden please."

  "Of course, my lady," Carina said with a smile before nervously looking at Rath while he was leaning on Shira as they walked by.

  When Carina was out of sight Rath spoke up, "Are you a queen or something?"

  Shira laughed, "A queen? Your poor old mother? Non-sense, I am just a retired Adventurer."

  "Retired...adventurer?"

  "You can be one as well if you reapply for your membership to the Guild," Shira explained while effortlessly holding up Rath. "Of course, you will have to rebuild your power base before that, but it should be quite easy with my help."

  He stopped walking and reached up to one of his pointed ears, "Are we elves?" Rath asked with a resigned sigh.

  "Elves? I...don't know what 'elves' are, but we are of the Alcrynn people," She said the word pronounced like All-Crynn, but there was some sort of emphasis that she put on 'rynn' almost sounded like a bell chiming. The sound echoed through the hallways as if the meaning of the world held weight in the space they stood. He seemed surprised and skeptical as the sound hit him.

  "What was that?"

  "When you speak the name of our race, we push our magic into our voices, or you will not be pronouncing it correctly," Shira explained, happily answering any and all questions her curious son had.

  "Magic...is real then?"

  "Look around you Rath, of course it is," She smiled.

  He did just that.

  They walked through a veil of mist that must have acted as a doorway and out into a large chamber where light didn't seem to have a source but all the plants looked to reflect different colored lights. The entire rainbow of colors where being reflected constantly by all the different plants and walls that looked to be made of water. The reflection of light illuminated the opaque blue ceiling and it was almost too much information to parse at once.

  It was then he noticed the creek looked to be more like a lazy river as it wound throughout the massive chamber. It could be called a greenhouse but plants were clearly NOT the focus of this room. In the center was a spout of water that flowed up to the ceiling with unimaginable force, but it made little to no sound. Among the torrent of water were golden flakes the size of dinner plates that reflected the different unseen lights. The ceiling just continuously rippled as it seemed to absorb the glowing blue water.

  Rath drew his eyes from the geyser and looked around, noticing more physical impossibilities of the room, the water that flowed, however, it wished, including uphill, the illumination with no light sources, the pounding in his chest as he knew his life was much different than before.

  "Just breathe, it is alright, we have seating just over here," Shira's voice was so soothing that it pulled him from his thoughts like a lifeline, leaving a trail of golden energy inside his mind.

  "There are just so many inputs that I don't understand."

  "Let me teach you how to calm your mind."

  Shira pulled Rath to a small patio within the garden made up of silks and pillows, a golden light illuminated the comfortable scene and he gladly fell into the blankets and pillows. A near sense of euphoria hit him as he stretched out, the sounds of water and the presence of his new 'mother' all worked to calm his pounding heart.

  Shira walked him through a basic meditation technique that worked to relax him and would could work as a foundational technique for the future. Overexertion at this point would only be a hinderance, so she didn't let him circulate any energy. Carina had just came by and dropped the snacks and tea while Rath finally calmed down.

  "What is this?" He pointed to the floating tray of fantastical crystalline...drinkware? Tea set?

  "That is tea, from the Azure Shores, it is my favorite," Shira said with a smile, her eyes watching every movement of her son's as if she was trying to remember how he moved before his coma and compare it. She passed him a cup of steaming tea and he peered into it with limitless curiosity.

  "It's like the surface of an ocean!" Rath looked down at the crashing waves inside his teacup with awe.

  "There is much to know in the world, but if you are this surprised about tea, I am worried you won't be able to handle the more impressive sights. Not to mention when we get your magic back in working order."

  "My magic? Am I also a water...person, too?"

  "A water person am I?" Shira laughed, "No, you were like your father before your rest, with a powerful ice affinity."

  "Ice? How does one go about using magic?"

  Shira raised an eyebrow, "Why don't we save that until later, you are still recovering and we can look at your affinities and see what has changed."

  He nodded, but looked at her curiously, "You have been very patient with me so far, but I just...well, I think I should be honest with you."

  "You are not my son."

  Rath gulped but nodded, "I have memories of my last life...though they are clouded and distant, I still can remember things...and none of this is familiar."

  Shira nodded, but looked him dead in the eye, "I knew you weren't my son from the moment you woke up. Everything is different, including your eyes, your aura, and even your affinity."

  He looked nervous as if he feared that Shira might attack him, "Please, relax, I have no ill intentions toward you at all. It is rather the opposite, in fact."

  He didn't quite calm at her reassurance, instead freezing like a deer in headlights. Her voice was pleasant though and it tried to soothe his anxiety with every syllable.

  "I understand your fear of being here in a new world with no understanding of what is going on, so just relax, but know that you are safe. Let me just tell you a bit of a story," Shira said, her soft and melodious voice filled with sadness.

  "Before my son went into that coma...well, he wasn't always the best person. He was very talented at combat and eventually that led him into becoming a bit cruel to those weaker than him, like the ice he wielded with such devastation," She said with a grimace. "His derision and anger became a cancer that broke his personality. That cost him his closest friends, his relationship with his sister, and eventually, it cost him his life."

  She gathered her thoughts for a moment, "I wasn't the best mother I could have been, and honestly, I spoiled him a bit much and didn't stop his self-righteous attitude. I know my son is no longer alive, and I freely admit that I have never allowed myself to see that until you woke up with different eyes. It definitely hurt, but it also gave me a few other emotions. It was my fault for not guiding my son and I have long since made peace with that fact, but I also know that deep down...I still want a son. Even if for just a few days."

  Rath's posture seemed to turn from that of a nervous creature ready to bolt for its life, to a curious listener as Shira told her story, "You are stuck in my son's body, which I couldn't begin to understand. I won't pretend to be anything that I am not, but a grieving mother given another chance at a relationship with her child...could you rob me of that?"

  He looked confused.

  "I just ask for the chance to know you and teach you about this world...give me ten years at least and I will...well, be your mother. If you would have me?"

  She looked so hopeful, her hands fiddling with each other nervously as she waited. Rath couldn't help but feel like he wanted a connection with her as well, and despite her beauty, he wasn't sexually attracted to her. It didn't feel romantic or anything of the sort but the possibility of comfort amongst so much confusion and overwhelming confusion was exactly what he wanted. Not to mention, the lack of ever having what was known as 'motherly love' was intriguing. A memory crossed his mind's eye, something that he couldn't place.

  It was a strange thing but he had seen this type of love before. Not between himself, but between someone he cared about and their mother. Maybe his girlfriend or wife in another life. She had a fantastic relationship with her mom, and it was something he was always curious about. Looking back on the memory now, it was a time when someone close to his girlfriend had died and while he offered her comfort, he will never forget the look on her face as her mom arrived. She held her baby girl, who was an adult at the time like she could prevent the world from ending with just her love.

  "I don't know how to go forward at all right now, or even what direction I am headed. I don't know my place either." He went silent for a second and looked down at strange, unfamiliar hands, "I would welcome any guidance that you could offer me and...I won't lie that I would very much wish for a mother right now."

  Shiran'aré felt warmth explode within her, it was the excitement of a new chance to learn who her son was. To show him her world and fill the interest that gleamed in his stormy eyes. She leaned over and hugged her son tightly.

  Rath felt overwhelmed as she broke down crying, the anxiety, the situation, the emotions. It all crashed down around him and the loving and motherly embrace seemed to offer comfort and protection equally.

  He could get used to that, even as a 42-year-old Alcrynn.