Looking at the face of the woman, Elara was stunned. She had never gotten a chance to look at the lady’s face up close, it was always from a distance. Elara stood there shocked for a moment, looking at the image move and switch to other images. Reaching out with her mind, she allowed herself to be sucked up into that particular memory. Opening her eyes in the memory, Elara saw herself a few meters away from the lady. The lady was clad in a white dress and had long flowing black hair. She was beaming with smiles as she sat down engrossed in her knitting. Elara tried to move and get a closer look at the woman but noticed she couldn’t. It was as though her body would not listen to her but was doing something else. Still trying to get up, Elara was now causing a ruckus. Hearing the noise being caused by Elara, the lady stood up and came over. Now, towering over her, Elara could see the lady’s face very clearly. The long black hair draped down her shoulders, with the vibrant amber eyes of the woman. Though Elara had never met this woman before, now seeing her up close made Elara believe she had known her all her life. From her long hair to her facial features, this lady reminded her of one person, herself. The lady then reached out to pick up Elara. “So what is disturbing my little princess?” said the woman. “What is wrong with her?” said a voice from a corner of the room. Looking towards the corner, Elara could now see a blonde-haired boy who seemed to be no older than five. “ I am not sure, but she's probably tired of her cradle,” said the lady. Seeing this, the boy started walking over. On reaching the woman, he stretched out his hands towards the woman. “Now you be careful,” the woman said as she handed Elara over to the boy. Being held by him, she could now see him up close. He had very fair skin, with very dark blue eyes. Seeing he held her well, the lady started walking away to continue her knitting. Being rocked slowly by the boy, Elara found her eyelids moving on their own accord and closing up.

She seemed to be asleep for a while, and then BANG! It was the sound that seemed to jolt her awake. Looking around, she could only see one face. It was of the young woman smiling and tears streaming down her face as she muttered “I will always love you”. She seemed to whisper the same words again as the memory faded away into a distance. Elara’s vision went blank after that. Finally gaining consciousness from the memory, Elara started looking around for another string that might hold the next memory, but she could find none. Boom! There was a sound, turning back Elara could see no one in the forest with her. Looking up she saw flashes of lightning, coupled with dark clouds across the sky. Not minding the impending rain she decided to look forward toward the artificial sun and yellow strings, but nothing was there. The lake and trees just stood there in their place.

Getting up, she started looking around, “was it just a dream or a hallucination,” she said. Walking around a bit and changing positions, she still could not recreate what happened. Sitting back down the faces and the memories started flooding back. The woman’s face, and the child sitting at the corner all started coming back to her. “Was that mom?” she whispered to herself. “But it can’t be, dad said she died giving birth to me”. “Are these memories or are they just daydreams?”, “but if they are real, Father never said anything about a boy,” Elara said. “And what happened to them, if they are real?” knowing she was Getting no answer to her questions at that point Elara decided to leave.

On her way home, she noticed the village was already clear, with the town folks already gone home. After getting the pie from Mrs. Pulley, she started heading home. While she was still at the middle of the road, it started to get windy, and she could feel the soft raindrops that followed. Hurrying to get home, Elara ran and quickly reached her doorstep a little bit drenched. But at least she was able to save the pie. Walking into the house she meets Nate sitting and waiting for her. “So, how was it” Nate asked as he saw her walking in. “It was kind of okay, I guess,” said Elara. “So, did anything interesting happen today?” “No not really,” Elara said, as she stopped now thinking back to the woman and boy she saw. Seeing her stand still for a while, Nate got a bit worried. “Are you sure?” he said. Snapping out of it, “Yes nothing happened” Elara said as she dropped the pie with her sword and got into her room to change. That night they had a quiet dinner with not many words being said before going to bed.

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“I will always love you” Elara kept hearing the echoes in her dreams. As the woman dressed in white, kept smiling and towering over her. Trying to reach out and touch her, Elara stretched out her hands but couldn’t get a hold of the woman. Like the wind, she caught nothing. Opening her eyes, she saw her hand outstretched with her body drenched with sweat. She got up and cleaned herself before going out of the house. “Who is she?” Elara whispered to herself, “Is she my mother?” “Why now?” said Elara. Stretching her hands out, as if trying to conjure up something, she waited for a while. But nothing seemed to happen. Bringing back her hands, she looks at it. “Perhaps it was just a dream or a hallucination due to stress”. She goes on to start her training before the sun rises.

As she trains, the door to the house opens and Nate comes out. He stops to look at her for a while, before taking his usual position under the tree. “So tell me, what is it?” He asked, “What has gotten you so worked up?” Still going aggressively at the training dummy, Elara doesn't turn to spare him a glance but keeps going. The place is now silent, with only Elara’s breaths and hits being heard. Getting even more aggressive, her strikes became stronger till she felt a hand on her shoulders holding her. “Tell me what happened?” Stopping, she could finally feel the sting of her continued strikes, racing through her palms. Breathing out, she turned to him. “I don’t know what’s wrong, I just feel confused. From dreams to now daydreaming! I can’t even tell what’s real anymore”, Elara said. Bringing her close, Nate hugs her. “It is going to be fine; I am always going to be here for you”. Holding her for a while, he finally lets go of her. Looking at her, he says, “I think we shouldn’t train today, you should get some rest, I think you need that”. “No, it’s fine, I think I can handle it,” Elara said. Smiling at her, “Are you sure?” Nate asked. Nodding her head, she took her stance.

They train together for hours, with Nate always winning as usual. When they were done, Elara decided to go into the forest as usual for meditation. Passing through the bustling village, she started to feel as though the village was irritating her. She felt as though she was having a splitting headache. Trying her best to get to the forest. She started to feel as though she might fall. Stopping, Elara decides to take a sit. Looking around, her vision starts getting distorted. After Waiting for a while for it to get better, she then does her best to proceed to the forest. There she sits and, instead of training, she takes a nap due to the headache. Waking up at noon, she decides she won’t be training again for today as her head still hurts. Instead, she starts heading back to the village. Reaching the village, she sees everyone going about their business as usual. “How are you Elara, are you good?” said Mrs. Pulley. “I had seen you earlier and you had me worried, is everything okay?” “Yes, I was just a bit dizzy but it's nothing to be worried about,” said Elara trying to reassure her.

After talking for a while, Mrs. Pulley asked how Elara had been and asked about Nate. Then it started again. Elara couldn’t think straight as the pain was getting worse by the minute. Letting out a yelp, Elara falls on her knees, as Mrs. Pulley immediately rushes to reach out for her. Mrs. Pulley, now holding her, tries to find out what is wrong with the young girl. But Elara couldn’t make out the words she was saying but could only see her mouth move. Everyone stopped to look at Elara and find out what was wrong with her. With the pain getting worse by the second, Elara braced herself, as the pain continued to wash over her. Doing what she knows how to do best, she tries to control her breathing, she starts taking in slow breaths, her vision getting distorted again but this time not as painful as before. Looking around she noticed everyone was looking at her, as her breaths slowed, so did everyone’s movements. Sometimes their movements completely stopped, before they start moving again. Perplexed, she gets up without saying a word and she staggers back home. Mrs. Pulley tries to call out to her but she seemed to be more engrossed in her thoughts as she tries to make heads and tails of what just happened.