Memory is a curious thing. It is an impression on the mind, a sublime mixture of colors on the tapestry of the wondrous organ we call the brain. It weaves threads of past moments into a vibrant mosaic, where each memory flickers like a distinct hue, blending and shifting with the passage of time. These impressions are not static; they evolve, reshaped by the brushstrokes of reflection and the fading light of forgotten details. Memories are both the echo of past experiences and the canvas upon which our present selves are painted, their contours and shades continuously refined by the artist of our consciousness. Memory is found, and memory is lost. Memory, this strange and elusive entity, is never truly destroyed. It hides in the deep crevices of our mind, reaching out and extending its pervading influence over our very being and consciousness.

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Caden grunted as he fell down again, the wounds on his back reopening. He sat up, his hands pressing on the wounds and muttering curses while healing himself. It was a futile attempt; the wounds kept reopening with each failed attempt at Jumping. This attempt had been marked by rather strange events. His first sight was of a person who looked like he had walked out of a vampire book, casually asking him if knew where some boy named 'Bod' was. That man didn't even raise an eyebrow at his appearance. It seemed that he was completely used to individuals suddenly appearing out of portals and leaving without a word of explanation.

An ethereal voice came out of a dark corner. "That was ill-done, Nightshade."

Caden angrily got up and dusted off his clothes. He frustratedly spat, "You think I don't know? I haven't even got a clue how I saw someplace else while trying to Jump back!"

"Instead of wading against the flow, you ended up moving diagonally across time streams. Imagine the flow of time as a river; rather than moving directly upstream or downstream, you moved diagonally into a different stream. You ended up encountering a different and past point of time in another universe.

"Had you stayed there for more than an hour, the power you leak as well as the matter and energy traces you carry off from this universe would have corrupted the other universe. Since the same energy signature cannot exist at two different universes in a sizeable quantity, the quantum entanglement of the particles you carried off, caused by the time simulflow you encountered, would have brought these two universes together, entangling several other universal timelines in between and causing a collapse of the fabric of our reality such as never seen before." Aeternia, the Elevantic of Time, seemed utterly composed as she narrated this, but her tone carried an undercurrent of anger and reprimand.

Caden almost growled in frustration. "I did exactly what you told me to! I cleared my mind, and emptied my consciousness through your aura. I saw that realm, and I tried to traverse it. As I soon as I started to move, I was veered away."

"That was no outside force, Nightshade. You lost control of your emotions and you allowed them to pull you towards a universe. This universe you encountered was no coincidence or random selection, Etherii. It was near to your personality, or at least the major events there must have been. But I digress. You lost control, and you will give me an oath not to let your emotions interfere within the fifth dimension, or at least cut off your connection if they do. This is the only condition I want in exchange for teaching you the art of moving across space and time in a compressed quantum state, or as you call it, Jumping."

Caden glared at her, his mind a storm of frustration. It was difficult to discern if she had any reaction at all, as her face remained completely blank and her stoic expression never wavered an inch. His mind was a whirl of thoughts and emotions. Each time he Jumped, he had to erect a mental dam to hold back stray thoughts and emotions, but it was never enough. A single flicker of emotion always broke through, causing him to lose control. After each failed attempt, the sudden rush of pent-up thoughts left him irritable, gnawing at every minor issue.

Finally, he relented. With a sigh, he sat down on the floor in front of the floating Elevantic. The floor was cool and hard beneath his hands, the texture of the stone rough and uneven. Suppressing a sudden urge to trace patterns in the cracked stonework, he said, "Tell me how to Jump again."

Aeternia's voice was like a gentle whisper, barely audible but still carrying with it a sense of gravitas. Each word was carefully enunciated, before effortlessly flowing into the next. It was as if each word was a fruit, and she had plucked it and served up its essence to him. Her voice remained soft, yet unyielding, as she explained Jumping to Caden again.

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"Jumping is not merely moving back the clock and reaching a point in time. Time flows as a river, and it exists in the fourth dimension, but it can only be traversed in the fifth dimension. This is the meeting point of time and space. Every distance you travel, you cover space as well as time. Time is formless, but to traverse it, your mind has conceptualized it as a river. When you wade against it, you resist its flow, and you have to give your utmost to not be carried off by its flow. Till you have a solid grip on your consciousness, you stay in the fifth dimension. Veering off course from your own river, only when you lose grip on your consciousness, lands you in another multiverse. You must not think of anything while travelling there. Wade against the flow using the energy I grant you. When you reach the point, your mind will recognize it. Let your consciousness drown in that point, and you will reach there."

The way Aeternia said it, it seemed to be no more difficult than riding a Voyager, but its application was exceedingly tough. Having a grip on your consciousness was something most people never even grasped the complete concept of. It did not merely mean having an organized mind and managing your life. It meant knowing yourself, your faults and your strengths, your entire self, and only then would you have a grasp on your consciousness. Most Etherii knew of this concept, but did not learn about themselves. Caden was one of the exceedingly few who had meditated long to delve deep into themselves and confront themselves to learn who they truly are. The knowledge hurt, like all true knowledge does, but it gave you an understanding of yourself, a description of yourself beyond all words. This was the main reason he had progressed so far into Jumping. However, now, his sister, the very reason he had started to make the journey, was stopping him. As he mused, he got up and moved out of the small hut. He walked to the nearby cliff and sat on the highest peaks, letting the sound of the crashing waves lull him into a meditative trance. He cleared away his scattered and chaotic thoughts and opened his mind to his inner self. As he thought about himself, he asked himself, 'Who am I?', and the answer came, 'Caden Nightshade, an Etherii and a brother'. But this answer was not his true nature. It felt incomplete. The abstraction of who he was could not be just those seven words. There had to be more to his nature. He sat there and meditated till the moon rose. He thought of everything, his desires, fears, his memories. His fear, of losing himself to the sadness that clawed its way into his heart. His only ambition, to meet his sister once again. His happiness, whenever he saw her. His anger and despair, when she fell to that accursed Shol. His rage, as he decimated the creature. His tears, as he wept, clinging to her lifeless body, apologizing over and over again for not protecting her. And then, as the silver light of Ilian's Eye shone upon him, he gained an understanding of himself, the part of him which had died along with his sister on that horrible day. And as he understood it, it opened a door within him, and he felt right and whole again. He stood up, feeling the warm and salty wind on his skin, and the pale light of the moon on his face. 'I know who I am'. That thought reverberated within him, comforting him, exuberating him and consuming him within its gargantuan depths.

When he returned, Aeternia was waiting for him, as if she had never moved from where she floated before. Eagerly, he poured out his experiences to her. How he finally understood himself again. How he now felt that he knew his consciousness, and that he would not lose himself again. She understood, and there was a connection between them, that she knew about his journey and internal conflict. Calmly, he let his consciousness flow into her aura, which seemed to be more receptive. As he moved towards his destination, his mind was devoid of emotion, but behind that mental dam, he could feel his happiness and eagerness, and he dived in that moment where he knew his sister was waiting for him.

He awoke in a field of corn. The tall, slender stalks of grass were swaying and bending gracefully in the direction of the wind. He followed them, and saw the same moon in the sky, and the same fields where he had played with his sister everyday till the moon was at its peak. The same battered old hut, where he now lived. The air was filled with the sweet scent of summer, mingled with the faint smell of freshly cut grass and the earthy aroma of the corn stalks. The scent of nostalgia and memories also permeated the air, bringing warmth and comfort to his senses. As he walked through the fields, he could feel the soft stalks of corn brushing against his skin. The wind blew through his hair, carrying with it a hint of salt from the nearby ocean. And then, he saw his sister, Elara, as she played with him in the field, chasing each other and laughing whenever they fell down. Her infectious laughter echoed in his ears, as his eyes again took in the sight of her beautiful smile, that same aura of innocence around her, the playful way in which she called him a prat. Tears welled up in his eyes, but they did not fall. And then, a single word fell from his lips. "Goodbye". That was all. It tore at his heart that he could not speak with her, but this memory would always remain with him, and she would always provide solace to him. And though his sister could not possibly have heard him, she tilted her head in his direction, and a radiant smile graced her lips. With a bittersweet smile, he allowed himself to fall back into the fifth dimension, and through there, to his own time, to his own place in the universe, to live a better life from now on. For his sister.