Musa was the first to move and he sat upright in a single fluid motion that seemingly surprised even he.

His gaze met mine and I both of our hearts raced while Tal awoke.

“W-“ Musa whimpered as Crystal Tears continued falling from his eyes.

“Where is Aunty?” He cried as Tal sat up.

“Mommy?” The girl called out.

I took a single breath before smiling as best as I could.

“M-my children.” I sang as softly as a gentle breeze on a sunny spring morning.

“Heziyn and Vah, your aunt and your mother were both lost to the storm. They died trying to save you.”

Musa’s eyes trembled.

He then lowered his head but while he wept silentl , Tal screamed in sorrow.

I gently wrapped my arms around them and, using Glass Transference, I covered them in clothes that resembled my Pāttiram robe.

“There, there.” I said not knowing any words I could say to comfort them.

Is this how people react to death? I wondered.

Did anyone mourn for me in my previous life?

Would anyone mourn for me in this one?

I shook aside those thoughts and focuses on the children in my arms as they cried.

I didn’t know what to say to comfort them and so I remained silent.

.

..

Musa was the first to raise his head and we once again locked eyes.

“Who…” He wheezed.

“Who are you?”

“Sav’ta.” I smiled and the boy’s eyes immediately widened.

I could feel that he wanted to move away and probably bow or something but I held him just firmly enough to let him know that I wasn’t going to let go.

“My Lady!” He cried while lowering his gaze and I couldn’t help but giggle at his reaction.

“Yes?” I asked while trying not to grin from amusement.

“A-am I dead too? Is this… Nurukes?” He asked while shyly sneaking glances at me.

“No. We are still on the physical plane, my dear boy.”

“Oh? So… is aunty Heziyn in Nurukes?”

“I… mmm…” I droned while trying to figure out how best to answer him.

There was definitely a place, one beyond sight and comprehension, where souls were sorted, distributed and possibly birthed and stored but I didn’t know what or where it was.

Nurukes was a nice name though.

“Yes.”

Musa’s eyes widened a little.

He then did a little nod before lowering his eyes once more although his expression was a a little more sullen.

“Can I… please ask you to speak to her?”

I bit my teeth.

“N- the time will come when you are again reunited.” I said while thanking Uyil for giving me the knowledge that formed my understanding of the cosmos, regardless of how little I knew in the grand scheme of things.

We are all fragments of the First will.

One Will.

That through which we are united.

Musa nodded at my answer before looking around into the central atrium of the Temple of Tablets.

We were lit only by a single pillar of moonlight from above and although everything else was shrouded in darkness, I knew Musa could see everything clearly.

“What is this place?” He asked as Tal finally raised her head.

“This is the Temple of Tablets, built by a-“

I stopped myself upon realizing that I was just about to info dump the entire history of the Pāttiram on a fifteen year old.

“Err… it was built by Men of Glass who walked my surface long before you were born. It both a place of study and worship.” I smiled but Musa frowned in turn.

“Your surface?”

“Oh- yes. I, Sav’ta, am the very ground atop which you walk, the very water in your rivers and the air you breathe.” I nodded to myself smugly.

Musa nodded and, while he digested my words, I turned to Tal.

“Hello, my child.” I greeted and the girl shyly nodded.

It looked, for a moment, like she wanted to say something but just as she opened her mouth, tears began welling in her eyes again.

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“Shh. You need not say anything now. You have endured a lot but, in time, the words will come to you and I will listen attentively, alright?”

Tal’s big grey eyes shifted back and forth and I could tell that she didn’t quite understand what I said and so I gently rubbed her cheek with my thumb and smile.

“You don’t have to say anything right now.”

Tal’s eyes lowered in apparent thought for a moment but she eventually raised them and nodded.

I nodded back and its here that Musa spoke again.

“Who is she?”

“Her name is Tal – daughter of Tik'vah and Pele. She was born in a land that the distant north called Y’shuah – the land delivered to them by Jua all those years ago.”

Musa nodded at my explanation.

“Ah- before we do anything else, I must tell you that you now inhabit new bodies. Ones of Glass and the very primordial energy that created all things. Could you both stand up for me?”

Musa and Tal glanced a each other for a bit and it’s here that they realized that they weren’t humanoids anymore.

“W-what?” Musa winced and I understood that it would be a lot for them to understand at once and so I stood up, prompting them to do the same.

They were able to balance themselves and move without issue which made my smile.

“Come.” I beckoned them while they looked over their new clothes.

They then cautiously followed me towards the Temple’s main entrance.

The sun was still a few hours away from rising but the sky was awash in a dark and gentle grey.

“You both also died but, by some miracle or an extreme amount of fortune, I was able to be a vessel for your rebirth.” I explained while expecting them not to understand my words again but that was fine so long as they knew-

“I-if you were able to save us then why couldn’t you save aunty Heziyn?” Musa asked and I unthinkingly frowned making the children flinch a little.

I let out a sigh, relaxing my face in the process.

“I could not save your mother and aunt because… they had already reached the Planes of Nurukes while the two of you hadn’t.” I lied but this was seemingly enough to convince Muse who’s eyes lowered a bit.

“O…k.”

I noticed that Tal was standing closely behind Musa.

I understood her apprehension and so turned to the city which I had built.

“This is the Isle of Tablets – a place which will soon become a home for those who seek my guidance.” I said even though I had only come up with that use case for the city as I spoke.

It was also impractical for people to travel back and forth from here just to talk to me so I’d probably have to build a temple on Hatua and Y’shuah.

“Why are you helping us by yourself now?” Musa yawned while glancing at the Pāttiram vehicles that was parked next to the temple.

I fully turned to face him and saw that both he and Tal still looked somewhat sleepy, something which shouldn’t have been possible.

“I… because you are my children and I want you to prosper and thrive. For if nothing is done, your end will come far too soon.” I smiled while glancing at my children’s Uyil Belts.

My eyes narrowed upon seeing them turn really slowly within the two.

It was as if their belts were still trying to turn as if they were in a normal humanoids.

I nodded to myself before leading the two into the Chamber of Tablets where I sat by the Mega Crystal.

I then patted my lap, prompting Musa to sit by my side and rest his head on my lap who Tal sat on my lap completely.

She rested her head on my chest and it’s here that I realized that I was still half naked but it didn’t really matter.

“I have blessed you both with bodies that will know no hunger and feel no fatigue. You will be able to crush boulders and run forever, if you like. That said, you can still die so take care of your new bodies, alright?”

Musa sleepily nodded and, at this point, Tal was already asleep.

My smile brightened and I thought about what to do next.

Mmm…

“Musa?”

“Yes, My Lady?”

“Is there anything you would like to do when you next awaken?”

Musa remained silent for a moment.

“I… I want to see my mother.” He whispered as his eyelids fell.

I nodded gently before letting out a sigh as he fell asleep.

The souls ability to retain memories was very important, it seemed.

That’s why I took an a humanoid ethereal presence.

That’s why my children were struggling to instantly adapt to their new bodies.

Chances were that almost everything in the universe had a soul but no Soul Memories.

But what decided that?

Or who?

Was it Uyil?

Or was Uyil just a Pāttiram who studied the cosmos?

I bit my teeth and softly gasped as a familiar frustrated bubbled in my mind.

I sighed it away before turning to my other children.

Those to the far north.

Someone who had caught my attention before my abrupt pregnancy was Kiynah.

I watched as he awoke next to his wife, Chakh’mah – daughter to the late chief Mashouah.

He was half naked and this allowed me to see the many fading scars he had gotten during the Shrimp War.

He was a warrior with a small frame and he gained an understated aura when he put on his clothes – a formal set of trousers and a jacket.

Chakh’mah awoke soon after and prepared her husband breakfast from with their home on the upper, northern part of the Cavern.

The city of Pele was still under construction but Kiynah and his wife had already been given a home in what would be the centre of the city.

“What’s on the agenda today?” Chakh’mah asked while handing Kiynah his breakfast as he sat in the dining room.

“I have a lot of heavy lifting to do while the Royal Family is out but that doesn’t mean I’ll cast my other duties aside.” He yawned while examining thin stone tablets that depicted the moon’s various phases.

I laughed internally at the fact the humanoids still hadn’t invented paper.

Chakh’mah nodded before joining her husband in eating breakfast.

She then saw him off and he made his way to a fairly large building, the front of which was marked with the symbol of Aviyvism.

A perfect circle which housed two intersecting arcs.

These encapsulated all that Aviyvism taught.

Aviyv – the Great Ocean God, created everything in a single wave and to him all things shall return as the ripples of the initial genesis wave.

Aviyvism was slowly dying out but people like Kiynah were doing their best to keep their heritage alive.

He entered the building, which had no more than twenty people within.

These were the devout.

Kiynah walked up to a large, marble bowl that sat atop a stone pedestal.

It was lined with a pattern that was an extension of the intersecting ripples of Aviyvism.

The bowl itself was filled with water from the ocean.

Kiynah knelt before the bowl in silent prayer.

While Sav'taism stated that I was the creator and God of all life on this world, myself, it also acknowledged the existence of other worlds and was open of the idea of other gods although most people believe that I was the one and only god.

The core tenets of Sav'taism were worship, academia and pragmatism. Hence why Blessed Sisters – women who studied the divine knowledge I had given Mlezi and his family all that time ago, held high importance.

There was also a somewhat demonic character in the faith but be was veiled in mystery and there were many interpretations of his supposed existence.

For one, some thought he was a mirror of me. A dark God meant to mirror my light.

He was also said to reside in the dark realm of Giza Olam.

Following the theme of mirrors, it was the opposite of Nurukes – a realm of light and souls.

Giza Olam was a dark and hellish place where all the dark concepts of the cosmos came from.

The demonic character was called Uovu.

Aviyvism, on the other hand, stated that Aviyv was the one and only God of all things.

He was the ocean that spat all into existence along with lesser gods who were his children as well.

One of these was Sav'ta and according to the creation myth, he "Blessed" her with the seed of life.

She would ultimately mother all life and lesser spirits.

However, much in Aviyvism has changed ever since Ua came to power.

For one, there was a growing divide between men and women in that women are no longer allowed to hold too much power in any way.

And secondly, there was a major change to Sav'ta's character.

While she was still the mother of life, at some point she got corrupted by her newfound relevance and basked in the glory of being on par with her creator.

This led her to eventually attempt overthrowing her father.

She failed and was sealed within the soil of the world where she was damned to wait along with everything else for the day when all would be consumed by Aviyv on the “Day of Returnal”.