A falling droplet of water made a pleasing resounding tone as it hit something, echoing momentarily then followed by another droplet.

Aqueo was in a daze. He had been hearing it at the edge of his consciousness for quite a while now. It felt so far from him but he knew it was the sound of a droplet of water hitting water beneath.

Everything around him was dark and his whole body felt like he was submerged in deep cold water. Uncomfortable. He couldn't move a muscle nor make a sound nor see nor breathe. But this sound he had been hearing, there was something in it. Something felt pleasant inside him every time it resounded. And every time a drop echoed, the next one seemed louder and stronger was the pleasant feeling it gave.

He clung onto it, waited for it, excruciatingly; for each interval felt like eternity, for in that torture of uncomfortable coldness it was the only thing pleasant that his senses could perceive. For how long, he couldn't tell.

As if rewarded for enduring the submerged feeling for a long time, a faint light appeared in his whole field of vision, similar to what one would see when their eyes were tight shut while facing the light of the sun. And with it was warmth that caressed his suffering body.

It took Aqueo by surprise. In that seemingly endless pressure of coldness, the feeling was ecstasy, many times greater than the effect of the sound. So when the light and warm feeling vanished, swiftly as it appeared, and were replaced by the pressing coldness, he felt like a child whose pacifier was suddenly taken away from him.

His body jerked, his eyes opened wide, his breathing became heavily erratic, his head swung left and right, looking for the light, longing for the warmth. But it was nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be felt. The only thing he could see was the dimly lit jagged stone ceiling in front of him. And that was when he realized that he could finally see, he was breathing and his body was feeling an uneven floor pressing cold beneath his back.

'A cave,' he thought while looking at the jagged stones in front of him, expanding his lungs as much as possible to stabilize his breathing. He felt like he just emerged from a breathtaking deep dive.

'How did I get here? Where is this?'

His consecutive questions were swiftly followed by visions of memories as he tried to remember what happened last: the museum, him taking pictures, the glowing gem, and lastly, him walking in the middle of the street and getting hit by something—he got into a street accident. It must've been some kind of large construction vehicle because he saw it in his peripheral vision just before he got hit. Thinking even further, based on the color of it, and as someone who had been living there for a long time that he knew most of the colors of popular commercial vehicles, it must've been a truck of that construction company.

He just sighed at the memory.

'That slam hurt a lot,' he thought as he remembered the feeling of being hit by a truck and sent flying in the air, landing so hard at the cement road, rolling several times on it, hard, and finally hitting the thick, solid railings at the side of the street. It happened so fast yet he could remember how it felt like every moment of it. When he was hit by the truck, his breathing was as if suddenly cut off, and when he hit the cement road, it seemed like all the air in his lungs was suddenly expelled from his mouth and when he was bouncing and rolling hard on the cement road, he felt like his body and his limbs were so fragile that they could’ve been torn into pieces in mid-air, and when he hit the railings, it felt like his world stopped. He was still conscious after, but everything hurt. He tried to breathe but it was difficult and painful. The last things he could remember were the sounds of honking and people shouting and approaching around him while his vision was slowly darkening, the pain dulling, the sound dying. Then everything was dark and silent.

"I must've died," he whispered, and with it were tears that flowed slowly on the side of his face.

It was the conclusion he came up with. If he didn't die, he should be at the hospital right now, not in a cave. It was also because of all the novels he had read before, so his mind immediately went after the possibility of reincarnation or transmigration in addition to his preceding experience in the dark a while ago.

He attempted to lift his hands to try to wipe the tears but it felt weak and aching, so it fell back on the ground. He tried to get up but was greeted by the same pain and weakness. His head slammed back to the uneven stone ground when he failed, adding another pain to endure.

Another sigh, but of helplessness. He didn't notice the pain earlier because of the feeling of coldness. He realized too, that his mouth was dry and he was feeling hungry.

He glanced left and right and down, looking for something to help him—there was none, just stones of walls and ceiling in different shapes. The dim light was coming from above his head, so he tried to look there even though it was difficult. As he did, a pleasant sound resounded from a distance above him. With it came the familiar feeling he had when he was in the cold darkness a while ago—the sound of the dropping water. This time, it was clearer and louder.

He waited again as he was certain it would be followed by another one just like earlier. He waited, and waited until many seconds had already passed and the sound wasn't coming back up.

'Why isn't the sound coming back?'

He felt anxious, but he waited as that was the only thing he could do right now.

His anxiety grew for each passing minute, afraid it wouldn't go back. And just when he was anxiously flailing his head to look above for the sound, it once again echoed.

He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the pleasant feeling it gave to his body. He felt that the pain and weakness had lessened—the sound was healing and rejuvenating his body.

He felt hope. It wasn't as he remembered it, the sound seemed continuous in his memories. But even so, if he just waited for a bit, the pain might completely vanish and he would be able to stand again.

No. He couldn't wait. With the aching lessened, he rolled over and started crawling toward the source of the sound. There must be something there that could help him.

About five steps away in front of him was a medium size crack on the wall which was the source of light that dimly illuminated the cave he was in. 'It's so near. I should be able to reach it,' he thought. So little by little, he crawled, even though it was painful.

Midway, the sound resounded again which made him crawl a bit faster.

When he could finally peek at the crack, he noticed a glowing translucent blob of blue substance floating towards him from the opening. And just like the effect of the light he saw when he was in the dark a while ago, he felt this pleasant warmth that coated his whole body. The pain vanished, his strength returned, and he knew that his body was finally back to normal—though he was still feeling a bit hungry.

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He sat up and stared at the glowing ball in front of him. It looked like water, but so translucent, about the size of a man's head. It was still exuding this warmth that felt so relaxing for Aqueo.

It suddenly blinked. Aqueo didn't notice those two small balls on it with a deep blue dot each in the middle. Those must be its eyes because they were blinking and had the expression of looking curiously at him from head to toe.

"What are you?" he asked his savior.

The blob of glowing ball stopped staring at his feet and immediately threw its gaze to Aqueo's eyes when he asked that. It earned a surprised look from Aqueo.

"Can you understand me? Do you know where I am right now?"

The blob of glowing ball just blinked its eyes.

"I. . . guess you can't talk then," Aqueo said disappointedly, "but can you—"

Without any sign, it suddenly turned around and began floating toward the crack on the wall.

"Hey! Wait!"

He immediately crawled with his knees to follow the glowing ball in that small hole. He was careful not to hit his head against the low and jagged stone ceiling.

It was quite faster than him. As their distance grew, the warmth and light it was exuding faded away, and so was the pleasant relaxing feeling it gave.

The pathway wasn't that long, although it zigzagged a bit here and there. Soon, it opened into a wide chamber and Aqueo was finally able to stand.

He covered his eyes because this one was lit so much brighter than the previous cave he was in. It took him a bit of time to adjust his eyesight. The source of light was coming from the lake not far from him. It seemed like the lake itself was shining.

'The ceiling above the lake seems open. The sun must be shining from the outside.'

As he observed the open ceiling, something falling in the air glinted, and as it fell on the water it made a sound that echoed inside the whole chamber. It sounded so unnaturally loud and the pleasant feeling Aqueo felt was stronger, although it still didn't compare to the warmth the glowing ball guy could give.

"So that's where the sound was coming from."

He looked around. This place wasn't just bright. There were plants all over the place too—with different colors of flowers and leaves. Some were even glowing.

He looked for his savior. The little guy was already at the edge of the lake, just floating there.

Rustles of plants and grasses sounded as he walked toward the middle of the chamber. Eventually, he reached the little guy, and as he did, the pleasant warm feeling came back.

"Hey!" he greeted as he sat crossed-legged at its left side.

The glowing ball was just floating there. Aqueo arched forward to look at its eyes to see where it was looking at. He was a bit surprised when he saw that the eyes of the little guy were a bit different. They were full of wonder and awe.

"You look so wonder-stricken. Does that mean that you can feel emotion too?" he asked as he changed his position to spread his legs and anchor his two arms on the grassy ground behind his back.

He didn't get a response just like before. Aqueo looked at where the little guy was looking, and he too was wonder-stricken.

The part of the ceiling in the middle of the chamber, directly above the lake, unlike what he initially thought, was like a deep inverted pit. The topmost part was a tremendous white crystal, shaped like an inverted rocky mountain, shining brightly. Complemented by a few vines and flowers interlaced around it, it was such a majestic view.

"It's so beautiful."

It was so bright comparable to the light of the sun, and yet, Aqueo wondered, why was he not getting blinded by the light? Instead, it felt so gentle and comforting to his eyes.

They just sat there for a little while, admiring the scenery above them, occasionally hearing the echoes of the dropping water. It came from the tip of the crystal. How it was making that unnaturally loud yet beautiful tone as it hit the still water was such a mystery to Aqueo, as well as the pleasing effect to his body every time he heard it.

It was quite a while before Aqueo realized that he wasn't wearing his clothes before he died. The one he was wearing right now was different—a set of dirty looking brown shirt and trouser, a leather chest vest on top and two leather arm guards. He couldn't see it when it was dark in the other cave, and when it was finally bright he was seeking the warmth of the glowing ball. When he finally reached the glowing ball, he was wonder-stricken by this magnificent scenery and just dipped himself in that pleasant warm feeling.

"What if...?"

He immediately went nearer to the edge of the lake to confirm his suspicion. The lake was so still it was like a mirror. And a mirror was the thing he needed. He arched forward and looked at his reflection on the surface of the water.

"Shit! Who is this guy?" His voice echoed.

A black-haired and lightly tanned guy, this reflection wasn't him. This body wasn't his. Whose body was it?

He was reborn into someone else's body. He thought it was still his because he was feeling pain all over his body and the last thing he could remember before waking up was the street accident that left him with a full-body injury.

He tried to feel his pockets to look for anything that might identify the owner of this body. There was none. But something caught his eyes. Something was tied to his left ankle like a bracelet—a deep blue gem similar to the one he saw at the museum before he died.

He took it closer to his eyes. Yes, it was definitely the same color of gem as the one back there.

Before the accident, he was on his way home from the museum. He saw the same deep blue gem there. He was taking pictures of artifacts displayed behind a glass pane when he noticed this gem from afar, glowing. He approached it and observed it for a while to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He even took pictures. Eventually, he was compelled to touch it. And when he did, the glow inside the gem transferred to his finger. The light enveloped his finger momentarily before vanishing. Mildly panicking, he waited for something to happen to him but there was nothing.

He was both afraid and excited. And when he was walking home, he was in a state of bewilderment, expecting something interesting to happen. His mind was in such a trance when the accident took his life.

He wondered if seeing a similar gem tied to this body had any connection to what happened to him. Right now, he had no answer to that.

He looked at the glowing blue orb happily gazing at the giant crystal above. He smiled to himself. He never felt this way before. This relaxing warmth from the glowing orb just felt so out of this world—his body just felt so light and at ease. He couldn't perfectly describe it.

It felt like a blessing—his accident. The reason why he went to the museum at that time was to escape from his horrible life, even just for a day. He knew nothing of what could possibly be waiting for him in this world. But this beautiful cave—filled with the charm of the glowing flowers, majestic and even more so with every echo of the tone from the drops of the tremendous crystal, and the little guy glowing beside him exuding this extraordinary warmth—these things were, as if, telling him that his accident was a blessing. It must be a blessing.

He had always been wanting to escape, or at least for things to go back to when he was still ten years old—when he was tireless and energetic and life was just all about fun—and stop the time there. Because the next years that followed opened his eyes to the cruel fate of an orphan like him in that world—to be exploited by human trafficking organizations.

All the violations, being traded and passed around—those things plunged all his years until his death at twenty-two into a game of tag with depression, numerous sleepovers at the local detention center, and other stuff that were known to be interrelated with being a delinquent even though he wasn't one. He had always repeatedly convinced himself, 'I'm not a delinquent! I'm not a delinquent!' He didn't want to call himself that, he knew his own circumstances. But the people around him still did so anyway. It affected him so negatively until he realized there was nothing he could do about it so he just steeled his heart and tried to live with it.

Wherever this world was. He wished to stay here, and never go back, whatever awaited him.

Aqueo's gaze slowly shifted into a languishing expression, anxiously hoping that the feeling he was about to convey would be reciprocated. He smiled sadly and said gently, "Hey, little guy! Can we . . . stay this close . . . forever?"

To his surprise, the glowing ball's eyes came back to that same expression of curiousness as it looked at him. But this time, its gaze carried an intensity that was telling him that it understood him, and he felt at that moment that he shouldn't speak and just wait for its answer.

Then there was something that entered his body, and with his eyes connecting with the gaze of the glowing ball, he knew that it came from it. It felt strange as if the thing that entered him was thoroughly touching every inch of his being—including his thoughts and his emotions.

The feeling didn't stay that long, for the little guy eventually withdrew what entered him. And a moment after, its eyes changed into the same expression it had when looking at the crystal above—one that was full of wonder and admiration—then a short tentacle-like arm emerged from its side, pointing at Aqueo.

Aqueo understood what the little guy was trying to do, so with his right hand, he reached for its arm.