Rearrival.

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The Sound of his ears ringing. 

Pain.

Hunger. 

Thirst. 

The rotting stench of... Wait... 

Artemis opened one eye, beams of light piercing that Iris immediately. He recoiled in surprise and closed it shut.

"Is that..." He wondered softly, "...is it Light?!"

He could feel the soft manna sprites dancing around him. It was still too bright to open his eyes, but he had one open long enough to catch brilliant glimpses of blue and green. Much different than the eternal darkness he had become accustomed to.

The gentle warmth of manna pulsed into him as it flowed through the vines beneath his bare feet, the air thick with magical power. It was... It was exactly as he remembered.

He was in Nova again. 

He was sure of it.

Artemis slowly regained feeling in his fingers, coming into contact with free will again for the first time in a while. It was strange how rusty his willpower felt. Then he took time to loosen his jaw, his shoulders, his torso, his legs, and finally his toes. Everything seemed to creak as it moved, as if his body were made of corroded steel. It all took so much focus.

After a few more hours of adjusting himself to being mortal, Artemis decided he was ready, and opened his eyes. 

He could not believe what he saw.

Before him stood a vast chasm of life- complete with twirling blue manna sprites which danced all around it. Under his being was a great network of interconnected energies, and it made him feel so beautiful. 

The gift of "seeing" anything at all was astonishing- but he couldn't help feeling incredibly lucky. 

Bits and pieces of memories were left to him, but the fragments were sharp and he was tender. Such consideration could wait. 

For now, he would take a moment to breathe. To enjoy. To remember that he could die again. To feel so lucky to be able to do so.

Then, as the memories of his beloved Vennessa flooded his mind, Artemis fell to his knees. His legs were so tired, his heart so empty, and his resolve so low. He could hardly remember anything. Clashing steel and pressed flesh, ballroom gowns and bloodstains. Everything felt all.. jumbled. Mixed up. Confused. 

He shook his head vigorously, as if to clear it. It helped. Then, as it the weight returned to him, he felt heavier than he had ever remembered feeling. 

He was so Heavy. Heavy with guilt, with doubt, with grief stricken love, with heartbreak, with remorse, and then with time. And as the weight grew, Artemis fell onto his hands, and then eventually lay with the grass. 

He was unsure of what was next, and only one thing felt normal. 

And so he cried. He cried quietly, out of joy and loss, simply to be alive, and to have experienced anything at all. He sobbed into the wet leaves beneath him, and the earth sobbed with him. The Manna sprites seemed to deepen their blue, and their dance slowed. 

The wind blew a lonely howl.

As his staggered breathing finally abated, the sky rained a most gentle rain. It lapped against his skin like the tongue of a loving dog, and reminded him of how much was still unexplored. How much there was still to learn. Still so much to ask.

He sat up, and took a final deep breath- and his ego seemed to stop talking. 

In the powerful stillness of the moment, Artemis was in awe of what he could hear. Every blade of grass was breathing in and out, every manna sprite spinning and twirling around streams of energy. 

He wiped the tears from his cheeks, and smiled. 

"Nova is that way..." he thought, looking over to where the gorge cut mountains in two.

"It's time to begin a new Journey."

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Lilith was wary of the gorge. She’d never visited it on her own, or in a group. She didn’t tell anyone she was going there, for she knew she’d just be warned against it, but she was oddly curious. She had heard of special herbs that grew here, ones with more healing properties. They weren’t more powerful than lunar flowers, but she was hoping they may heal the same, without the hallucinogenic properties. She had been on the trek for a day and half now, currently fairly deep into the gorge. Her regularly shimmering hair was matted and dark with dirt and leaves, but it still swung freely around her, too knotted to put it up without hurting her scalp. Her clothes were a bit torn from the journey, and she needed to refill her water. It was easy to see that Lilith was not one who went on regular journeys like this one.

Lilith was searching for a clean stream to drink from and clean her face. She didn’t know quite where this plant was located, but she knew what they looked like, and the general location they liked to grow in. She had a bag around her shoulders, which she opened now, sitting on a tree stump and flipping to the page she had marked with the plant drawn on it. The book wasn’t to large, or she would have simply drawn the plant on a separate paper and brought that. It was a small plant, green with yellow flowers that should only be buds this time of year -- they were late bloomers. Lilith sighed, shaking her head and closing the book. She supposed this trek may have been pointless, but she when she was curious, she had to learn more.

She continued on, still looking for a stream as much as the plant now. After about another half an hour, she heard the soft sound of trickling water and her heart skipped a beat. She ended her slow steady pace and started to sprint, her elven ears twitching, trying to locate the water. When she found it, she tore the bag from her shoulder, tossing it in the grass before wadding into the water, feeling the cooling sensation over her entire body. She sunk under, knowing she may regret this later, and may catch a cold, but in the moment she didn’t care. It felt amazing. She ran her fingers through her hair under the water, removing clumps of dirt and the knots that clumped it. She sighed, enjoying the feel of the waves as she moved around. She moved away from the water that was now foggy with the dirt and dust that had come off of her, to a clear section, and began to drink it. After a short time, she knew she should continue on, so she exited the stream, twisting her hair as she did, squeezing the water out, over and over. Her clothes were drenched, but the breeze felt gorgeous in comparison to the sun beading down through the trees. She grabbed her bag, but before continuing on, she sat down again, in the sun, hoping to dry off before continuing. She took out another book she had in the bag, and a small piece of charcoal, and began sketching the stream, the fog she created in it, the trees around it, the bank, and the streams of sunlight glimmering on it. It was a decent pass-time as she dried off.

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The world seemed so fresh again.


Artemis took his final few moments to enjoy every color so vivid, and every sound so clear.

He breathed in slowly, drawing his hands above him lightly. Breathing out, he pressed them down and together, focusing his breath on his heart’s center. He took a moment to pray, bowing his crown slightly and suspended between breaths.

Manna sprites encircled his legs, spinning slow their perfectly awkward cogs of fluid energy. They worked warmly up his body, drawing uneven and wobbly blue rings around his figure. Finally, a few came to rest on the tips of his fingers, which were together in front of his chest.

Artemis smiled, gently releasing his hands and offering the little sprites a refuge in his palm.

As they nestled into the crevice of his inner knuckles, his stomach lurched into his consciousness and growled for attention. He was hungry.

So as he felt the sprites get comfortable, he lifted his hands slowly- and then devoured as many as he could. He chomped at them like sticky little pieces of candy as they popped in his mouth, flavorless bursts of energy immediately consumed.

He got eight, maybe ten before they all flew away. The sprites didn’t seem that bothered.

'So, let's see what we've got.' His inner voice echoed.

Deep within and far behind the awareness which sees only darkness, Artemis found the two gifts that he was allowed to keep. He had already - unknowingly - used his Gift of Curiosity by consuming the little fairies. He gained their knowledge of the Manna flow in the surrounding area. But his second, Godly Tactician, remain dormant. He needed a bit more Manna. 

After repeating the process of meditation, he consumed a few more sprites and stood quickly, adjusting his stance to be comfortable. 

He relaxed into the familiar feeling of magic. 

His Godly Tactician surged through him, sharpening the crystals deep in his ears, quadrupling his visual frame-rate, and adjusting his heartbeat moment to moment. He could feel everything. 

The quiet sound of charcoal scratching paper rang from his far left, and he shot off in that direction.

Artemis could see exactly where this woman was with his new-found knowledge. As he galloped towards her, he felt for more clues. Fresh, still a bit damp from being in a river, and relaxed. But as he drew closer, her figured moved and he trotted to a near stop. 

She must know that he was here. 

"I am no threat!" He spurted quickly, sensing a threatening amount of power.

She must have been less than a hundred feet away, but separated by thick trees. The sound of the river grew louder with each step. 

"I do not mean to startle you!"

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The stream flowed, the trees were set, their shadows falling on the bank as well as the soft waves she had drawn, crashing against the mush that the grass had become. From what she could see, there was little wild life in this stream, and she didn’t understand why. Small fish swam around, but none larger and a minnow. She didn’t intend to draw every detal, it wasn’t that type of sketch. It was more… to sooth her. Let her mind draw blank as she let her eyes and hands do all the work. The only sounds she heard were the leaves rustling in the breeze, the water pulsing, and her own heartbeat in time with the charcoal scraping against the parchment. Or, atlas that was all she had heard for most of the time. Her ears twitched once more as the sounds of footsteps entered her mind. Someone was coming. Her body tensed, as the footsteps indicated running. Were they running from something? Or towards someone…? Upon hearing the change in sounds, and realizing they were running, her body had tensed, causing her hand to clench the charcoal, and a thick line ran across the page, over the shadows, trees and water she’d been drawing.

Lilith’s head snapped in the direction that the footsteps stopped, and through the thick she could just barely make out a figure. She lowered her hand, placing the charcoal down and reaching down towards her book, pulling out a wooden wand. I am no threat! She heard a yell from the distance he stood, as he started walking again. She kept the wand in her hand regardless, just as a precaution. Her heart was pounding, who was this man? I do not mean to startle you! He didn’t?? Then why start running towards a complete stranger!?

Who are you..? Her voice barely carried across the distance, shaky as she was. Normally, though she was skittish, she wouldn’t be so skeptical. But, as she was in a dangerous place she knew barely anything about, her mind wandered to scary places.