You would ask me of my origin?

I suppose I could tell the tale.

I remember. I was an orphan.

Many of us were… ever since the eidolons arrived.

The church took us in, protecting us as best they could from the reality of the world. That was until they put the ward up around the city; that bubble which protected us from the shades who haunted the forests and fields. The clerics told us not to worry, that everything would be fine, but the look on their faces told the real story as even the keepers of the faith began to falter.

“I’m telling you it’s the end!” a cleric screamed. “We should’ve listened to the Vicar!”

“Damn the Vicar!” another cleric retorted. “She betrayed us in our time of need.”

The head cleric, Mother Izan, corralled us children away with an uncertain look in her eyes. I, too, felt the uncertainty. We all did. But there was another feeling that came with it: dread.

She took us out to the garden, where the yelling could still be heard, but It didn’t matter much to us; our play and laughter was much louder than the argument over salvation. I lagged behind the group alone, enraptured by the natural beauty of the plants which surrounded me, stopping to smell each one.

Mother Izan, seeing my healthy curiosity, said, “We are all flowers in the garden of the world,” and patted my head.

I smiled and continued my exploration into the natural world—greeting each flower and reminding them of their prettiness.

Mother Izan came around again, this time asking, “If you could be a flower, which one would you choose?”

I looked around at the rows of perennials until my eyes met with the same plant that grew around the front yard of my old home—the ones that my mother doted on and would bring in to decorate the kitchen table.

“I’d like to be the red one!”

Mother Izan smiled, the wrinkles in her face showing her age. “Those symbolize love, beauty, and courage. A fitting choice, dear.” And with a pat on my back, she sent me off to play with the others.

❦ ❦ ❦

Weeks passed, and the continued arguments over salvation drove some of the clerics to abandon the church. Mother Izan remained strong and did her best to reassure those who remained, along with taking up most of the duties of those who left. And with the lack of hands, the teens were put to work to help take care of the children. Everything was slowly boarded up, the church fortified, and the door was sealed with magic after the last of the crestfallen clerics left; and we children were no longer allowed to leave or go near the windows. I was too short to see out of them already, so it made no difference to me, but the older kids would often sneak a peek to see the state of the town and source of the distant rumbling.

One day in the bath, Nara—the closest I had to a friend in that place—let it slip that the ward which guarded the town was cracking. She continued to help me bathe, telling me not to worry, not that I understood what the ward failing would entail. She then admitted that she, along with some of the other teens, had been planning on leaving the church and joining the others that left for the mountains. I wasn’t kept in the loop beyond that, considering my age, and merely carried on with my days as I normally did; eating the one meal and trying to sleep off the hunger.

“Wake up. It’s time to go.”

Nara forcibly lifted me out of bed and set me on my feet. She grabbed me by the hand and took me down the hall to the candlelit nave—leaving the rest of the little ones behind, all younger than me. In the pews were the remaining clerics praying peacefully despite the small crowd of children gathering around them.

The teens crowded in front of us between the altar and entrance. One of them asked, “Are you sure we’ll find them, Nara?”

“We have to,” she replied. “We can’t just stay here.”

“What if they…” The other girl looked around at her friends. “It’s safer here.”

Kagu—the eldest teen—broke through their ranks. “There’s no time for this now. Stay or go; I’m leaving either way.”

Kagu seemed alone in wanting to leave despite whatever plans were made between the others. And with the newly created blockade at the door, it seemed that the other teens changed their minds without Nara knowing.

I, along with the rest of the children, was unsure of what to do; until Nara looked at me and smiled the same smile she had when I first arrived at the church.

“Let’s go,” she said with a slight nod.

I felt it was the right choice to follow her.

“Let’s go,” I said, and held her hand tighter.

The others let us leave without a fuss, merely standing like statues as Kagu took down the barricade between us and the door. Once the seal was broken, a strange smell filled the air—one I had only smelt once before that still haunted my dreams.

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Without hesitation, Kagu was the first to leave. Nara, a bit nervous yet still holding my hand, led me outside to the garden. I turned back to the group of children behind us, now sitting huddled together; some crying, others trying to sleep. And in those last moments I saw Mother Izan standing at the altar with that wrinkled smile, singing for salvation as the doors closed, sealing shut forever.

Outside, the sky was dark, and the air choked me with every breath. Smoke rose up from the outskirts of the city while specks of crystallized mana fell from the sky—the only other source of light being the full moon which hid behind the wayward plumes. The ward was gone, and the shades had already made their way in. I could hear screaming all around me, my eyes catching slight movements in the shadows. Nara’s grip on me tightened as Kagu started to run—and all I could do was keep pace, trying to ignore the devastation around me.

We ran as far as our strength could take us—out to the lake in the fields. We all knew it wasn’t safe, having been told the old stories. No body of water was. But it was the only path into the mountains where the others went.

“It hurts… I can’t…”

I was out of breath. My legs were jelly. And I collapsed.

Nara tried to drag me across the dirt of the road, letting me go as the shadows approached us from the lake—abandoning me to my fate. Kagu, a bit ahead, turned back to pick me up while Nara continued on without us. Those shadows which crept along the ground raced past us in pursuit of Nara, ignoring us. And when Kagu and I finally caught up to her, she stood frozen at the crossroads near the edge of the lake.

Nara muttered to herself and kneeled for mercy as a tall black shadow lurched over her. It gurgled and hissed, and in a sudden movement, she silently slumped over—blood staining the grass.

The shade then turned to us. A voice echoed in my mind as it approached.

“Your world stands at an apex. To join us is the ultimate salvation. You must go beyond the flesh; beyond this material plane—or die along with it. Do not resist.”

Kagu attacked the shade with a knife she stole from the kitchen and cut the shade like fabric. We were both lifted off the ground by a dark force and sent into the lake.

Despite being so close to land, there was no bottom at the water’s edge; the whole lake was an endless abyss. My eyes opened to see Kagu flailing and screaming above me. She tried to grab me, but I was in too deep, sinking further still. After exhaustion from her failed attempts, she went limp, and was lifted out of the water to an unknown fate. Alone, I sank deeper and deeper with no sense of direction as the swirling darkness consumed me—the vibrations of the water singing a lullaby in the old language of the church.

❦ ❦ ❦

I arose from the frigid waters of the lake, coughing and gasping for a real breath. The sky was bright and brought me much needed warmth in contrast to the cold abyss which swallowed me whole. I rested on the shore and felt around my body, realizing it had changed into something new. And in that realization, I panicked and returned to the water’s edge to gaze upon my reflection.

My body is… I’m an adult?

The image was distorted, unclean. I dipped my hands into the lake and hurriedly cleaned my face. When the water settled, my appearance changed again—now naked and pale with the normal features of my race missing from view.

“Hoi!”

A man yelled at me from a distance—my first time seeing one. He was taken aback by my nakedness, which I had not yet known to be of any issue. He approached me and asked if I was okay in his language, though looked away out of embarrassment. I didn’t understand him and hesitated to respond. Instead, I looked around to see that the world I had known was vastly different; the mountains were missing and replaced with some far-off settlement made of stone and marble.

“Pardaché,” he said and placed his coat around me. He pointed towards the distant city and motioned for me to follow him. I went with him, my memories shedding away with every step; replaced by curious amnesia.

And it was there, in that city, that I lived as one of them.

I learned to laugh, to trust, and be kind. Though it is also where I learned how foolish those things are when misplaced. As time passed, it became clear to me, and others, that I did not age. Those who I came to know as friends and neighbors turned on me—declaring me a monster that had invaded their ranks. And in their aggression, managed to nick me on the face, causing that familiar red ooze to well from the wound.

It was the sight of blood which awakened my old memories within me.

To think I had forgotten…

It was all an illusion.

One so powerful that I managed to convince myself it was real.

And in an instant, the city vanished; and I was standing atop the water of the lake, still bleeding from my face.

Since then, I have been unable to leave these blighted waters and partake in mortal affairs. Time’s passage has left me unaltered, and so, I have watched many civilizations rise and fall in the distance—all unaware of my existence—no more than mere legend to avoid an unfortunate fate. And while I need no sustenance, I sometimes find myself tired and weary, entering a deep sleep and awakening to find that both I and the world have changed again…

I couldn’t tell you if this is the same world that I’m from or not. So much has changed, so much time… and still, I’m not certain if this world isn’t just another illusion brought on by a nebulous dream.

❦ ❦ ❦

“I know not what you seek through my story, Magister. But if you came here asking, trying to find a way to kill me, then I consider you a fool.”

The magister spoke, “I’m sorry, Lady, but a fool is truly what I am. It was through my inventions that the others have died, unaware what consequences would follow. I now seek to return things as they were, to atone for my sin, and carry the burden of the world.”

“The world is doomed regardless. But I will grant you your wish. Death will not come for me otherwise. My true body slumbers still, deep within the waters of this wretched lake, kept safe by a being even more ancient than I.”

“Tell me then, Lady, what must I do?”

“You need only to walk across the water and accept my embrace.”

He stepped up to the edge. “I will do as you say.” Keeping his eyes forward, he walked across the water, darkness swirling beneath him as the leviathan awakened.

The magister reached the illusion of a woman, hugging her, holding her still. She wrapped her arms around him with a smile. “I ask a favor of you… before I awake. My life, but a dream, yet the child is real. Take her. She will not remember these endless days. But she will serve you well in your atonement.”

The woman then disappeared. The water sloshed and boiled. And the magister arose atop the head of a leviathan, returning him to the Shore.