With a purple glow in Akupara's eyes, a rift in space shimmered into existence before Areion, the air around it crackling with unseen energy.
"There you go." The ancient sage's mental voice was a calm reassurance.
Areion surveyed his surroundings, the strange, crystalline cavern fading into the background, then turned back to the swirling portal. A profound sense of the unknown tugged at him. "I wonder if we will meet again."
"If fate wills it, young one, our paths will cross once more." Akupara's reply held an echo of timeless wisdom.
Areion walked towards the shimmering gateway, his steps hesitant as he reached its edge. He paused, his gaze fixed on the luminous depths. "I know you… you know something important about me." It wasn't a question, but a statement, a dawning realization.
"Indeed," Akupara confirmed, his mental presence growing slightly more intense. "I understood many things the moment I first perceived you."
"Then why did you stay silent?" A hint of frustration laced Areion's thoughts. "Why did you choose not to say anything? Waiting for me to confront you?" He felt a knot of unanswered questions tightening within him.
A silence stretched between them, the only sound the gentle hum of the portal. Finally, Akupara answered, his mental voice imbued with a deep-seated conviction. "My trust lies with Lady Adima. If it is her will that certain truths remain veiled, then I shall remain silent."
Areion rolled his eyes, the ancient wisdom feeling more like an ancient stubbornness. He couldn't shake the feeling that Akupara held a key, a vital piece of his own puzzle, yet refused to offer it. Scratching his head In exasperation, he finally stepped into the swirling rift.
Within moments, the strange, crystalline world dissolved around him. He felt a disorienting lurch, a sensation of being stretched and compressed, before abruptly materializing in front of the familiar, sprawling banyan tree. His consciousness flickered back into his physical body with a jolt. He stumbled, dropping to his knees before the ancient tree, and a wave of nausea overwhelmed him.
"Ah gah…"
[Shit, this teleportation shit is not good for me. It's different from the gate.] His stomach churned violently. With a second, involuntary heave, his mouth filled again, and he wretched onto the soft earth.
Cough cough "ahh…"
He breathed heavily, the unpleasant aftertaste lingering. He stumbled towards an open patch of grass, collapsing onto the soft blades, his eyes fixed on the bright sunlight filtering through the leaves. His mind replayed the journey through the dark cave, the unsettling encounter with the weeping creatures, and the unexpected meeting with Akupara. He pondered the ancient sage's cryptic words, the undeniable sense that something significant remained unspoken. How had he survived yet another brush with death?
[To be honest, at this point I think my luck has always been on my side, not giving me a chance to curse it for my failures. I guess my failures are mine only to carry; my luck has nothing to do with it.] A wry smile touched his lips. He seemed to possess an uncanny ability to skirt the edge of oblivion.
The familiar sound of light footsteps announced Adima's arrival. She entered through the palace grounds, walking with her usual graceful stride towards the banyan tree. Reaching the path, she picked up a smooth pebble, her movements fluid and practiced. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it towards Areion, the familiar training exercise beginning. But the pebble, imbued with her usual speed, inexplicably slowed mid-air, losing its momentum and falling harmlessly to the ground a few feet from his seemingly meditating form.
A knowing smirk touched Adima's lips. [Interesting.] She dashed towards him, her movements lightning-fast, and swung a sharp kick aimed at his side. Areion's eyes snapped open, no longer clouded in meditation. His right palm shot out, intercepting her kick with surprising speed and force, effectively guarding his neck before her foot could connect.
"Good work, kid," Adima conceded, a hint of genuine surprise in her voice. "You've gotten fast."
Areion sprang to his feet, leaping to the opposite side of the clearing, his gaze meeting hers for a fleeting moment. "I can now visualize you, Grandma, just as you said I would." A flicker of triumph shone in his eyes.
"Hm, I expected that from you; good job." Adima's approval was concise but genuine. She moved her wrist, and a faint purple glow emanated from her palm, forming a crest of energy beneath Areion's feet. He noticed the subtle shift in the air and moved swiftly aside, but wherever he dodged, new crests began to materialize, weaving a net of magical confinement, leaving him no clear path of escape. After a few frustrating minutes of running and failing to break free, he abruptly stopped in the center of the clearing.
Adima raised an eyebrow, her intrigue piqued. [What is he planning to do?]
In a move that surprised her, Areion focused his own nascent abilities, a similar but almost white glow forming beneath his feet. Simultaneously, with a surge of effort, he directed the forming crest upwards, mirroring hers, aiming to meet and cancel out her magic. It was something she hadn't explicitly taught him, his task had been to evade, not to counter. He was improvising, fighting back with an instinct she hadn't anticipated.
[It's not perfect, crest broken before expected. Unstable.]
"Enough, Arya." Adima's voice, though calm, held a note of finality.
Areion snapped out of his intense concentration, the white glow around him dissipating. He looked at her, a question in his bright eyes. "Yes? Grandma."
"You passed." Her pronouncement was simple and direct.
"Wait, really? That's all?" He couldn't quite believe it. After weeks of struggling with this particular lesson, the resolution felt anticlimactic.
She settled into the cool shadow of a nearby tree, leaning against its trunk comfortably. "What do you mean, 'that's all'? You have been stuck on this lesson for weeks now."
"I mean, yeah, but I thought you were going to be more strict, like you were related to my basic knowledge of shakti and crest forming…." He trailed off, a hint of mischief in his tone.
Adima chuckled, a warm, melodic sound that echoed through the clearing. She tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. "Are you complaining?"
"Nah, it's just a little out of character." He replied with a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
"Sometimes you get on my nerves, you know that." A hint of exasperation colored her voice, though her eyes held a fond warmth.
Areion walked over and sat beside her, resting his head on her lap without a word.
"Getting clingy?" Adima asked, a soft smile gracing her features.
"So?" He snuggled deeper into the comforting softness of her lap.
"I guess I don't mind; you passed your lesson." Her fingers gently traced the lines of his forehead.
He leaned even more on her lap, completely surrendering to the moment, while Adima carefully cleaned his hair with a gaze filled with motherly affection.
[I know I'm mentally supposed to be thirty-four, but for just now, just for this moment, I just want to sleep like a child in Adima's lap. I want to sleep while she cares for me and cuddles me. I don't know how fast I'll lose this freedom, so as long as I can, I will. In the race of life, we tend to forget little things that make us who we are, the care of a mother, their primordial nature. I barely remember this kind of treatment in my previous life, not because I didn't get one; on the contrary, I got enough, like anybody else, but those memories fade with growing age. But there is really no difference in what I'm getting now… All the time I look at her face, I remember something I can't comprehend.]
He closed his eyes, a single tear escaping from beneath his closed lid, tracing a silent path down his cheek.
[I don't know if this is my fate or not, but I don't want to move right now. I want to experience this one more time if I can, just one more time.]