Meandering through the currents of life, 'unaware', was one hell of a feeling…
Perspectives that would reveal a proud yet sorrowful woman boiling herbs inside a metal pot, to instantly shift to an aged parchment paper full of markers related to planning out a crop field.
Repeatedly, life was shown through the eyes of a spectator, who observed the normalcy that occurred within a family desperately trying to save their newly born child.
While this baby's sickness was not physically visible, it was showcased through the absence of emotion. Especially the lack of life that would usually be shown through eye contact.
The entire world began to revolve around this sick boy, who unfortunately had the blackest eyes known to mankind.
Empty, unaware, and completely void of desire.
Even the memories of a magnificent and grand storm that heralded the arrival of said child indicated someone to be wary of, or perhaps the complete opposite…
Two years of this boy's life passed by unknowingly to the soul that rested inside the chest cavity. During this time, dozens of doctors and anyone who thought they could help passed into the humble homestead. Even the neighbors several houses down the dirt path frequently came for helpful and hopeful visits, offering glass vials of colorful liquids.
Bam!
Terror struck the face of a caring mother witnessing her soaked husband barge through the wooden door.
White cotton undershirt, with a patterned leather vest. His padded black tightly-knit linen pants were even equipped with dark leather knee-pads. Around this man's belt was a cylinder-shaped metal tool signifying his role. Bearing the name, 'aquifer' is a magical device that allows water to be endlessly created.
Such a device was popular amongst caretakers of life.
In his arms was their oldest son of four years old — dripping with diluted blood. "Phloria! I need you to heal Julian's back! He fell in the river!"
Phloria swatted the oranges that sat comfortably on the wooden kitchen table, then took a glance at her lifeless son. Its eyes were filled with absolutely nothing, and blankly stared in their direction.
Without hesitation, she withdrew her gaze from the corner of the dining room and yelled, "Don! Kitchen table!"
Only when the poor child saw something he never thought was possible — in the deepest parts of his soul — did everything he once knew and had witnessed up until this point, 'click'.
Ravines of missing pieces were filled by a miracle, rain clouds of doubt fizzled into disappearing puddles, and the eyes of a boy had finally seen enough to understand a modicum of what lay in front of him…
Teetering over the edge of a crafted chair, he fell over from the sight of water materializing around his mother's hand.
Thud!
What followed was a chain of seizures, interlocking his arms and legs while rolling across the hardwood floor.
The impact of the fall was not the catalyst, but the waves of realization and information continuously passing through his infantile mind.
"NOO! My sweet Elijah! Why must you be a problem child?!!" While the words of a caring woman were not at all heard by the boy, the vibrations of her voice allowed a sense of life to enter into Elijah's eyes.
Candles and torches lit up the humble home covered in wood and stone. Attached to the ceiling were wooden support beams that seemed to be welded into the roof, if that was even possible. Wooden tables, stone countertops, and leather couches sat near Elijah. Small palm-sized oranges were rolling across the ground, mixing with the small droplets of blood and water that were slowly absorbing into the solid and remarkably smooth wooden floors.
Now, in front of his eyes were the tan arms of Phloria and Don – tears of regret streaming down their cheeks.
Finally, peace had arrived…
The seizure had halted while the first words of the sick child had finally been spoken. Two grueling years of doctors flooding into their home every single week had paid off in the most unimaginable way possible.
If this boy had been struck across the head in hopes of solving a health issue in the past, he may have lost hope too soon.
"H-hafe I… bin, remorn?" Elijah's words were nothing short of confusing and practically inaudible. But… There was a sound other than the depressing silence they knew far too well.
Finally, after what Elijah's mother, father, and older brother thought was the resolution of this groundbreaking scene, was truly ended with the poor child losing consciousness.
The word, 'Why…', was the only word he could grasp before everything was filled with the stale color of nothing…
Inside the mind of Elijah was an overflowing lake of water as he watched his past life go by like a movie. The moments before his death, and the first few seconds of his new life.
'Is this the afterlife? A dream? An illusion? Why does it feel so real? Who… am I?'
Lukas, who had left the world without many regrets as a figure who led the world into a new era, had now become someone new by the name of Elijah.
His memories of going with the motions were able to aid him in understanding his surroundings, but the mysterious look of water appearing within thin air was a question that had to be answered.
Of course, this was alongside the simple word, "why", when it came to everything related to reality.
'Perhaps, an illusion? Life cannot exist without life always existing. Thus, death does not exist?'
A large part of him wanted to finally achieve an eternal sleep filled with dreams unfathomable to man.
Coincidentally, maybe this in itself was a dream — the afterlife, and it just had to be lived…
…
"Hey! I think he is awake!" Julian, Elijah's older brother of two years, exclaimed.
'Very basic… Brown hair, brown eyes, no freckles.' Elijah struggled to bring the words through his mind.
Elijah's small black eyes opened up as the vibrant colors of brown and bright orange lights gave him a sense of life. The words coming from his family and a gray-haired doctor were nothing short of indescribable.
The language was different from anything he had become fluent in before, which gave this so-called "dream" many possibilities of it being the truth.
Elijah was immediately picked up from his armpits and hugged tightly by Phloria. The scents of lavender and rose were very prominent, and far more present in her flowing black hair than anything.
However, while inching past Phloria's face, Elijah struggled to take in the vibrancy of her bright and vivid blue eye color.
'How is that color even possible? It's… so bright!'
Quickly, Elijah's act and behavior took a spin into an amazing direction. Faking it till you make it was never an idea Elijah had adopted to the point he was now, albeit, under partially false pretenses.
Over the course of six short months, the basics of "Kotun" had been comprehended, alongside Elijah familiarizing himself with what the people called, "Astraea".
More than ever before, he had been receiving tidbits of his past in the form of migraines. Waves of realization would paint his vision with white noise, while his imagination downloaded every bit of information it could take.
Elijah knew exactly who he was, and slowly began to feel no different from when he was laying on his deathbed — staring in the ocean from a cliffside manor of the jungle.
Phloria is a garden specialist and the supplier of Don's extracurricular activities and income. While her expertise is needed inside the humble stone and wood homestead, she goes to great lengths to provide the kingdom and family with delicious herbs and vegetables to be eaten.
Don is known as a farmer, and a rather special one at that. The number of fields Don is rumored to tend to is always creating a conversation in the many taverns and within the agriculture guild building. Although, with the talents and magitech devices that Don possesses, his achievements were not abnormal.
In fact, most farmers held the exact tool clipped onto Don's leather belt, but also several niche Magitech devices tailored to efficientize their job.
With each step Elijah took beyond the sturdy wooden door at just two and a half years old, his mother stole a moment to absorb the transformation. Eyes glimmering with the radiance of the bluest oceans, but also a tilted head full curiosity as she met his beaming, adventurous smile.
'I've thought about the possi… damn, my head… possibility before, but to think something like this is truly possible. How is everything that I am, inside this body?' Elijah laid his gaze on the lengthy grass that blew with the morning wind, clutching his head with a small and weak hand.
This new world was eerily similar in its fundamentals. Cows, sheep, horses, and goats grazed the lush grasslands while intently designed crop fields were littered across the landscape.
Modest homes made from smooth stone and wood were littered uniformly for space maximization, while layered houses that sat on top of each other stretched across the tall mountain range half a mile behind Elijah's home.
Tall forest's created many regions of dense floristry and air that was to die for.
The major difference is the lack of technology and the usage of simple yet effective magical methods.
What is known as "magitech" is the creation of runic symbols that enact a specific effect.
Knowing these symbols had to originate from somewhere, Elijah was struck with curiosity — diving into every book in the large wooden chest kept in front of his parents' bed.
Sadly, the only books found in his parents' chest were descriptions of different potions and their effects. Most of which were different healing potions with an "added effect".
While it was interesting considering Elijah's past experience with health, and isolated compounds, it was not what he desired most at the moment.
Energy-healing potion: Ginger, aloe vera, basil, mana.
'Mana? That word isn't familiar, could it be related to "mana"?'
Descriptions of ovens, freezers, fridges, water spouts, continuous motion runes, weight reduction runes, wind fans, and fire starters.
Many times over, Elijah had seen the wild display of what people here call "magic". The creation of elements.
Unfortunately for Elijah, his vocabulary is not yet broad enough to finally ask the daunting question of the specifics about magic.
Instead, he resorted to focusing on his environment. The forest behind Elijah's humble homestead has a lonely and mossy rock that allows his feet to perfectly lie at a ninety-degree angle.
Over the past six months. Elijah has been venturing to that very spot day after day as he attempts to teach himself about the potential wonders of this world.
Magic.
To fully realize and theorize what he was living in despite not making even an ounce of progress, deeply hurt.
Sure, he knew who he was deep down, but slowly felt distance being created being his past self and present self.
Everything around him felt foreign, especially the body he inhabited.
One thing was for certain: the environment around him felt very real, as if it was the only thing that was stopping him from returning to what he assumed was "meandering the currents of life".
The idea of dissociation whilst moving with the natural flow of the events around him…
A meditation strategy that pulls Elijah's focus into a specific part of his body was his everyday routine while sitting atop this lonely rock. Over a long period of time, Elijah was able to grasp a lingering and familiar energy that was not physically there, but only spiritually.
His intention had first been nothing of the sort, but soon he came to realize a difference in the way his meditations felt, only after achieving a powerful state of focus.
His very own soul.
The lifeforce of what some people would call freewill, and what passes to heaven or hell after death.
Suddenly, an event that had never happened before while focusing on his soul caused his body to begin tingling, before shifting to violent vibrations.
POP!
Elijah's limbs went flailing in a sporadic yet split-second seizure that sent a chill up his spine.
The entire world and terrain warped before his very eyes, causing the environment to transform into pure white noise mixed with every color of the universe.
The next thing he noticed was a new sensation inside his soul, or rather, surrounding his soul. By slowly feeling around his chest cavity, a black and slightly translucent energy was felt acting as a shield or core that protected his soul.
"Did I… Did I just unlock magic?!"
Considering Elijah's bank of knowledge that was also filled with blockages, he began feeling every intentional movement with his body. Hand motions that would theoretically shoot out a ball of fire or water were blatantly being thrown left and right, while the small currents of wind were attempting to be tamed.
Finally, after taking some time for a deep breath and returning to his meditation, Elijah lost the feeling of the mossy rock chilling his bum. A rainstorm had recently laid waste to the farms, causing some of the crops to drown if not repaired in time.
Instead, when opening his eyes, Elijah saw the world slowly tilt upside down.
The sparse amounts of brown and green leaves that lay comfortably on a brown branch began to be picked up by abnormal currents of wind.
Later, the feeling of weightlessness and blood rushing to his infantile head created a sensation akin to…
What was that word again?
Freedom.
The feeling of being bound to absolutely nothing!
At this point, including the natural laws of this world.
When all was finished and Elijah had completed a full rotation in mid-air, he passed out from not just exhaustion, but the excruciating headache filled with an indescribable voice in his familiar English language.
"Save me! You must save me!"
Thump!