A pleasant numbness enveloped my body and my thoughts alike, the gentle crackling of a fireplace lulling me back to sleep in the embrace of its warmth. I pulled the covers thigher over me, softly grunting in bliss.

"Remember me, sleepyhead?" A voice called.

Another grunt, rough in annoyance. My mind waking up just enough to check if I should get out of bed, but not enough to prevent the sleep I will soon to go back to. Maybe I was late, nothing I couldn't pull under a rug, I had all authority over the plannings anyway. Wait, I'm on a flying vessel... Still, I don't have a post to fill. And I could surely scrap a few hours after the mess with the-

My body shot up instantly before I frantically looked around me. Everything was blurry, because what I searched for was nowhere.

'No...things.'

My gaze stopped on the only movement catching my attention. A woman with long brown hair, sitting on a log across a campfire and lazily waving at me, a small smile that didn't reach the eyes on her face. I froze for a moment, my brain soundlessly recalling what happened.

My muscles went from stone to mush as I let myself fall back on the bed.

"Ugh" I yelped.

The ground. I let myself fall on the ground. I could call it a bed of leaves but that would be embellishing it too much. I took a deep breath, letting my arm rest on my forehead. My eyes didn't stung despite looking directly at the mackerel sky, fluttering embers adding color to it at times.

After a moment, I asked. "Is this the beyond?"

I heard a snort. "Your idea of the afterlife is being stranded alone with me then? Flattering, but I'm already taken."

It seemed the most likely, but now that she put it like that... There was no reason for the last reprieve of souls to be an eternity of suffering under a dim light.

"What happened?"

"A lot." She answered.

"Thanks."

She only hummed. I had already too much to think of anyway, and no willingness to fight right now.

Remembering the touch of the abomination made my skin crawl, but the absence of pain puzzled me as I groped around my body with my other arm. My smooth sternum, were I got hit by a beast weighting 5 men. The bark on my shoulders, that should have been cracked. The foliage crowning my head, still lush as ever.

Everything was fine. Great even. I lowered my hand to look at it and no splinters or scratches were left on it. My tattoos and the scars beneath were still there, thankfully.

I languidly sat on the makeshift mattress with a grunt, pushing the covers of different bundles of clothes crudely sewed together. She wouldn't be so aloof if we were in danger, and running around naked wouldn't b-

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I frowned.

"Why am I naked?"

My only answer was a bunch of leather and clothes landing in my face. I sighed, got up and got dressed before losing the pleasant warmth which I already missed. Meanwhile my ex-bodyguard just stared with a blank face.

"Basic decency would ask that you look away."

She didn't even react, sounding bored. "I already saw everything there is to see, bud."

A bit of annoyance finally crept into my voice. "Is it you or your parents I should blame for your obvious lack of respect to others?"

"You know lab rats. Care about the next useless discovery more than their blood."

'Wasn't meant for me and still got hit.' I lampooned. 'Guess it's half deserved.'

"Sorry, I'm still a bit on edge." I said.

She only hummed back.

Actually, I found it weird I wasn't more on edge. I was far too relaxed for my situation.

I finished strapping the military garb she gave me before she pointed at a pair of boots. How did she find not only a uniform of a foreign army, but also footwear of my size, was beyond myself.

I begun folding the covers by habits before feeling a slight shame at the stupidity of it. But might as well finish it now. I put the result on the makeshift bed, noticing that the latter was made of only one type of leaves. It was ecoïa leaves, a meter long with orange fuzz on it, making them smooth to the touch. I wondered if she knew their calming properties.

I ripped a fist sized chunk off it, tore it in half again and offered one of the part to her. She looked at my hand, mulling for a few seconds, before taking it and munching on its edge.

'So she knows.'

I did the same, taking care of being gentle enough to not tear it appart. It tickled my palate, letting a bitter taste with a fresh, sharp smell.

Although I hated the effect of ecoïa extracts, the raw leaves were weak enough to help you focus in stressful situations. Such as finally confronting the question of where in the gods are we.

Now that I stalled long enough, I took in my surroundings.

We were on the shore of a small lake, a few hundred meters across, made of ethereal water that shifted between pale and somber. What floated on its surface made me realize that clouds were not bloating the sky, but mist, the same kind that covered the lake. It seemed to condensate only over it, the small drizzle creating a curtain falling from high above at its edge, never touching the gravel.

Enclosing the shore, a forest of strange trees with wisps of light created a colorful vista of blue, grey and vivid green. The view baffled me, it was as if snakes were suddenly morphed into wood, their twisted trunks bringing the foliage on the side and, some, even looping all the way to the ground, mimicking bushes.

I was relieved to see the lights moving, the very first sign of life in this place. Few insects could shine, and almost none of them were dangerous as far as I knew. And I should know a lot in that aspect.

The mist, weakening the radiance of the sun, expended into the horizon farther than I could see, no matter where I looked.

'Bad news: Whatever happened is humongous in scale. Good news: It's big enough for the divine to actually move.' I thought.

I even had a suspicion that there was some damage control already done, the ethereal waters made me think of the mantle of mist that always surrounds Prosperity.

My shoulders sagged, relieved of a tension I didn't notice until now. I spat the chewed leaf and softly hit my forehead with my palm.

'No idiot, stay focused.'

The very fact that the gods acted and it was not resolved was worrying in retrospect. They made...everything really, they should have cleaned this mess in a blink. It shouldn't even happen in the first place. I had to take this slow and steady.

Helia seemed to be awake long before me, exploring far enough to find what I wore. Despite being annoying, I knew she was professional enough that we could work it out. Together.

'Positive attitude!'

I turned around to face my new partner, trying to give my best smile.

"Alright, I'm ready now! Give me a report."

"Kiss my ass."

"Aye, thanks!"

I suddenly felt a craving for ecoïa leaves. A lot of leaves.