I kept climbing for a long while, about 2 to 3 hours before stopping in another cave opening, this was a bigger than previous one and could fit about 10 to 20 people together with still enough space to sleep for each.
I sat and looked inside, it was pretty dark and scary because of the noises that were forming by the wind. I shook my head and collected a few sticks and the empty cobwebs that were on the rocks.. Dad used to say that cobwebs could work like cotton if collected perfectly in a pile.
I set them all in a campfire but didn't had anything to lit them up. I looked around in the cave for few minutes and found two rocks. After lighting up the campfire, I sat in front of it and fell asleep due to the exhaustion I got from climbing.
???:"my princess... Papa will get the source of that light. You want to know what's up there, don't you."
Ever since dad disappeared, he always comes in my dreams, but his face is always blurred and behind shadow. I didn't realize it until I was 10. I was forgetting about him little by little.
Darya:"I do!"
I was excited and asked for something I shouldn't have. It was childish of me, but how was I supposed to know, I was just 7 year old.
Mom was always worried about dad climbing that cliff, and after he disappeared, she started to feel depressed for non-sense dreams she got afterwards. It wasn't real, but people say that mom can see with the eyes of the people she loves.
Didn't understood the meaning right?.. Well, it means that she can see what we are seeing with her abilities. Similar to telekinesis. But she can't read minds.
I always got dreams of dad, each one blurry than the previous one, and I was having a hard time remember his name too. People said it was because I was still in growing phase and my memory wasn't built up at that time was it really the case?... From what I know, people get blurry image of those they have forgotten. And those images get clearer day by day. But I had a opposite case. The images were getting Blurrier each day after another.
A wind gust hits inside the cave, lighting the fire more higher and making a sound inside the cave because of how deep it is. The sound was like a scream, something that usually is heard in horror movies. It woke up darya from her sleep by the jump scare.
Darya:"ah!?... W. What was that?"
I looked inside the cave, a bit scared from the sound, I just sat by the flaming campfire with my knees to chest, it was getting colder and darker as the night was falling continuously.
I kept sitting and putting the sticks after every 5 to 10 minutes, so that the flames don't go away.
After few minutes, my thoughts went back to mom's expression and my name that she yelled out.
Darya:"should I go back?"
I thought as my face burrowed into my knees.
"No... I can't go back. I'll bring dad back... And... And... Why do I want to get him back though?.... I don't even remember his face."
"I am a idiot... A big idiot... I don't even know why I want to get dad back, and I said I'll get him back... But... Wouldn't mom be happy if dad came back?... She will stop having those dreams, right?.."
"... Pa.. Pa."
She went unconscious after thinking about them so much. And stayed like that for few hours, before a sound woke her up again, but it wasn't air this time. It was a call... Like someone talking.
???:"wake up... It's day now... You still have to climb the cliff."
I stirred for few moments before opening my eyes. I saw no one was there.
Darya:"did I dream something?"
???:"no you didn't."
I froze, the sound was of someone female, but way to gentle and motherly, I had never heard this voice before, but it felt familiar.
Draya:"w–who are you?... And where are you talking from?"
???:"that's... A wrong question, little one. ... The question should. "who are you?"."
I looked around in confusion, not sure what she meant by that question.
Darya:"I am Darya... Darya verzetse... I came from the town below this mountain."
She just chuckle softly like I said something naively wrong.
???:"I am sorry... But is that really what you think you are?... "darya".. Is that really your name?"
I went silent, it was the first time someone said that I am not me... It sounds absurd just from hearing it, and yet here I was... Facing this question.. Which I don't even know if exists. How can I not be me?.
Darya:"w–what do you mean.... I am Darya... Everyone calls me that since I was born."
She chuckled again.. It was getting annoying by the seconds passed.
???:"yes... But I didn't mean that's not you.. I am saying... "are you really the one you see yourself as right now.. Or is there more to it?"."
Darya:"w–what does that mean now?... What more could be there?"
???:"hahaha... Let me explain you in a easy way... But first, how old are you... It'll be easy for me to explain in a way that your age kids understand in."
Darya:"... I–... I am 14."
???:"ok... So, here's an explanation... Do you know about reincarnation?"
Darya:"... Isn't that when a person who is dead gets a life in a new body?... I watched few dramas back in the town explaining the concept... They were a bit cringe, but from what I understood was that when people die, they get transmigrated to a different world into someone completely different from what they are."
???:"yes.. That's true.. But it's not necessarily stuck to different worlds.. You can get reincarnated in the same world... As a new person, or maybe a different creature, as long as it's breathing."
Darya:"so... We can stay in the same world.. Just as something completely different from what we are?... So that means we can get reincarnated in the same world as we are in right now. And have all our memories."
???:"she chuckled again. It's not necessary to have your old memories always after reincarnation.... Like you, your mom and everyone in this universe."
I frowned in confusion. Because how how can everyone be reincarnated?
Darya:"but.. How can everyone be reincarnated?... And, how's that a reincarnation, if no one have the memories of their past life?"
???:"... Let me explain in a simple way."
I was confused for few moments, until the atmosphere little by little started to get comfortable and warm... And she started to hum... It was soothing.. And soft .. Like a song made for lullaby, but with a deeper meaning to it.
???:"... Time doesn't really move forward.
It just circles us patiently.
Some days feel brand new,
others feel strangely familiar,
like a song you don't remember learning
but somehow know all the words to.
We meet people and call it coincidence,
lose people and call it fate,
but maybe it's all just recognition—
souls brushing past each other again,
pretending it's the first time.
Nothing is truly lost.
It just changes form,
rests for a while,
and returns when it's ready.
Even this moment
has already been here before—
and it will come again,
wearing a different name."
I sat dazed... Like I was about to sleep.
???:"oh my... Was I singing so bad?"
Darya:"... W–what?... No... Absolutely not... I.. It just... It was too comfortable suddenly... So I felt sleepy... I.. Liked it."
I didn't even realized that I was blushing. Usually I didn't felt so comfortable around strangers.
Darya:"so.. By that song... Does it mean that like a sun which sets down but still comes back the next day, we human die and born again?... And even though we don't remember our pasts, it feels like we have done something that had become more of a instinct than a experience?"
???:"yes."
Darya:"but... Why tell me?... What's the use of telling me what 'reincarnation' means?"
The voice of the lady went quiet for few moments before the cave disappeared.. And I was on the top of the mountain suddenly... I didn't even had time to realize, what just happened? It was snowy and flat, there were no clouds in the surrounding except for all the clouds that were below the peak, I could see the sun directly and there was no coldness, it was like a normal spring, the temperature was soft cold and soft warm..still the snow never melts and there were flowers that I had never seen before, they were... Glowing.
I stood up and looked around.. And there was the light, like sun.. Which I can't look at directly. It was so bright and warm.
???:"I apologize if it's hard to stand, but this is me... Or rather.. It's my body, that's been here for how long even I don't remember.... I have seen many lives come to this world and go from this world. And you're the only one.. Who have managed to reach me in every single one of your lives."
I froze... Did she just say, "in my every life?".
Darya:"w–.. What?"
???:"yes... You have met me not once, twice but for every single one of your life... Mother."
That was for the what time, I don't know.. But I was shocked once again... I felt like I was getting crushed by one after another weight, with no warning before getting it.
???:"I know it's getting hard for you to understand this... But... You are not a human."
Darya:"oh.. I didn't know I was a animal."
???:"I didn't mean that as a joke... Sigh~.somethings never change.... You always have a knack to joke in serious situations."
Darya:"ok.. Maybe I do... But, you called me mother... What does that mean?... And what's your name?"
???:"ah... Apologize for late introduction, my name is ""cartherina"... And by calling you 'mother' I meant exactly what you thought... I am your daughter.... And by you not being a human. I meant that your are a part of "that thing"."
Darya:"... "that.. Thing"?... What is that?"
Cartherina:".. I apologize.. But you never told me it's name... You always used to call it with the name "that thing"... You just told me that it's a creature beyond human knowledge ... Acreature who's name it's can destroy the planet... A abomination with absolutely no humanity, yet calls itself a God."
Darya:".. What?!... I told you?"
Cartherina:"yes... Mother.. You've lived not 14 years, but three whole eras of this planet... You're the first person... Who have lived with the power capable enough to send humanity into chaos.. But you still chose to protect it... And I was set by you ."
The brightness dimmed down and I could see where it was coming from... There was a egg like crystal.. Shining white from the entire surface, I hesitantly walked closer and looked inside.
Cartherina:"you froze my body into this crystal, to keep it from decaying. And me from dying.... It can be open from no one but you.... Mother."
When I looked instead there was a girl, about in her mid 30s. Naked and laying peacefully, she was beautiful... Like a angel from heaven.
Darya:"this... Is you... "cartherina"."
Cartherina:"that is... If it wasn't you.. I wouldn't even had been alive today... But.. It still wasn't easy for me... Seeing you die and reincarnate everytime, only to go through another painful life, where you always loose someone."
Darya:"I... Wha–.. What?.... I've... Lost someone in every life?"
Cartherina:"..."
Seeing her silence, I understood that it was a hard topic... I can't even realize how I would've cope up in all my lives.
Darya:"but.. Why tell me that... What's the point of telling me about what am I and why did I keep you here, from dying?"
Cartherina:"... To kill "that thing"."
My eyes went wide open, and jaw hanged loose from the shock.
Darya:"... Just... What the hell is "that thing"."
Cartherina:"... To know that.... You have to free me...because it can't be explained with words."
Darya:"but.. How am I supposed to get you free?"
Cartherina:"just put your hand on the crystal I am in."
I did as she said and–.
Everything went glitchy and became red. And she started to laugh. Like a maniac.