The world dissolved. One moment, Elias was in the dew-kissed garden, the crisp morning air filling his lungs; the next, a profound, echoing silence. The solid ground beneath his feet gave way to an ethereal suspension, a sensation of weightless floating. He was no longer in the garden, but somewhere else entirely, a place both immense and intimately his own.
He opened his eyes. Before him stretched an endless expanse of black water. It wasn't the opaque black of ink, but a deep, shimmering obsidian, reflecting no light, yet somehow possessing its own dim, internal luminescence. Within its depths, and swirling across its vast surface, were subtle, shifting shades of color – deep blues that pulsed like distant stars, ethereal purples that hinted at cosmic dust, and fleeting veins of crimson or emerald green that snaked through the darkness, like veins of pure energy. It was a landscape of ominous beauty, unsettling in its boundless scope.
The water, however, was far from still. It churned and roiled, a chaotic symphony of internal currents.
Elias looked down, seeing his own reflection distorted by the ceaseless motion. Even the mist that surrounded him had multicolored specks floating lazily. It looked like swirling galaxies in the dark of space, or at least he thought they did.
Elias was floating, suspended just above the surface, yet felt no fear of falling into the abyss below.
He observed the chaos. Several whirlpools spun lazily, their dark centers drawing the water into an endless spiral. Nearby, numerous vortexes erupted above the surface, some rotating clockwise with a slow, deliberate majesty, others counter-clockwise with a frantic, almost violent energy. Each possessed its own distinct, vibrant hue, a stark contrast to the black water – a sapphire vortex here, a ruby red whirlpool there, an emerald green current twisting violently. The sheer volume of churning energy was overwhelming.
Then, a voice, clear and resonant, yet seeming to emanate from everywhere and nowhere, pierced the profound silence of his new reality. It was Aina's.
"What do you see, Elias?"
He blinked, surprised that he could hear her from within this internal space.
"It's… it's water," he called out, his voice echoing and sounding strangely distant, as if it belonged to someone else. "And there are so many whirlpools."
"Good, that water-like liquid is your Flow," Aina's voice replied, a hint of something Elias couldn't quite decipher in its even tone. "Wait, whirlpools? How large is your domain?"
Elias hesitated. He turned slowly, attempting to scan the horizon. The black water stretched out in every direction, meeting a hazy, indistinct boundary that seemed to recede as he tried to focus on it. There was no discernible shore, no distant landmass, no edge to this vast, internal ocean. He felt a strange mix of awe and trepidation at the sheer scale of it. He paused, then responded, choosing his words carefully.
"I… I can't really tell, Aina," he admitted, his voice barely a whisper in the immensity.
"It all seems hazy; I can't really make things out. It doesn't really seem that big."
A moment of silence.
"Big sister?"
"What direction are they spinning?" she asked.
"Uh, clockwise?"
There was a moment of silence, then Aina's voice, carrying a subtle note of satisfaction. "Good. You must have quite an amount for there to be some independent spinning. As expected of a Mellou born." The words, 'Mellou born,' echoed in the vastness. Elias let out a breath.
'That was close. No one else needs to know I have Flow that exceeds the horizon beyond.'
"Now, look up," Aina commanded.
Elias tilted his head back, his gaze sweeping across the inky expanse above him. High above the turbulent waters, a large, indistinct symbol hung suspended. It was shrouded in swirling clouds and mist, its true form obscured, like a half-remembered dream. He strained his eyes, trying to discern its shape, but it remained stubbornly vague.
"There's a symbol… but it's vague, covered by clouds," he reported, a hint of frustration in his voice.
"Do not worry about it," Aina replied, her voice calm.
"It is good enough that it is there. That symbol, Elias, is a sigil representing your Trait. It will become clearer as you master your Flow."
A sigil representing his Trait. The words resonated, connecting this vast, internal landscape to the very core of his being, to the mysterious power that flowed endlessly around him. He looked at the obscured symbol again, then looked around.
"Big sis, my Spirit-Domain… it's turbulent. The water is all over the place."
"That is because your Flow is all over the place, Elias," Aina stated, her voice cutting through the observation with a directive. "You must calm it down."
Elias stared at the roiling expanse.
"How am I supposed to do that?" he asked, genuinely bewildered. How could he, a three-year-old, command an entire internal ocean?
"That's for you to figure out." Aina's voice was firm, offering no further instruction.
He turned his attention to the water and tried to will the waters to settle, to command the whirlpools to cease their spinning, to force the vortexes to recede. He focused all his mental energy, imagining the water becoming still, placid. But nothing happened. A small ripple formed directly beneath his feet, a pathetic testament to the futility of brute force. The rest of the vast Spirit-Domain continued its chaotic dance.
He sighed, a sound that seemed to be swallowed by the immensity of the domain. His frustration flared.
How the hell was he supposed to calm all this water down? It's not like this place was a can of soda that's been shaken and will calm down when left alone.
He cast his mind back, desperate for a clue. Then he remembered the point of today's lesson. Aina had given him the key.
Breath.
Flow circulation.
Going with it, not forcing it.
Then, it clicked. The precise breathing technique. The way her chest rose and fell with such effortless grace. It wasn't about forcing the Flow, but about guiding it, allowing it to move naturally, like a river finding its path. He had been trying to impose his will, but Aina had spoken of circulation.
He closed his eyes within his Spirit-Domain, mimicking the breathing Aina had demonstrated in the garden. He inhaled slowly, deeply, through his nose, feeling the imaginary air fill his internal lungs. He held it, then exhaled, long and controlled, through his mouth. He released his rigid hold on his Flow, letting go of the desperate need to control, instead allowing himself to simply be with it, to move with its inherent rhythm.
Slowly, imperceptibly at first, the chaos began to subside. The violent churning of the black water lessened. The vibrant vortexes, one by one, began to gently sink back inside the surface, their colorful energies receding into the depths. The frantic spinning of the whirlpools softened, and then, with a graceful, almost serene motion, they began to merge, their distinct hues blending into the vast, obsidian expanse, becoming one with the deeper black.
As the turbulence receded, the ethereal mist rose to the skies from the now-calming surface, swirling upwards and merging with the clouds, forming faint, shimmering sparks of Flow, each a different color, hanging within them above.
The water was now tranquil, a vast, still expanse of deep black, reflecting the dim internal light from above with serene perfection, making the whole place look like a galaxy of stars and cosmic structures.
At the center of the domain where the most violent currents had once raged, two gentle currents flowed into each other, intertwining with effortless grace to form the distinct symbol of 'Infinity' , which lay perfectly parallel to the still-obscured Trait Sigil in the sky.
Elias felt himself gently land on the surface of the water, his feet causing it to ripple. It was firm beneath his feet, like solid ground, yet still possessed the yielding quality of liquid. He took a tentative step, then another, walking across the calm, black expanse of his Spirit-Domain.
"It's calm now!" he called out, the words echoing with a sense of wonder and accomplishment.
Aina's voice, from the outside, was brief. "That's good. Now come back."
The world snapped back into focus. Elias opened his eyes, the sudden transition jarring. The sun was no longer a distant glow in the twilight but a brilliant orb, high in the middle of the sky.
He blinked, his hand instinctively rising to shield his eyes from the blinding light, disoriented by the abrupt shift from internal darkness to external brilliance.
He turned, his eyes adjusting, and saw Aina. She was sitting calmly on a large cloth spread on the vibrant green grass some distance away, a small, empty basket beside her. She was wiping her lips with a napkin, having clearly just finished a meal. The scent of fresh bread and something savory lingered in the air.
"On to your next lesson," Aina stated, her voice flat, as Elias's mind reeled at the realization of how much time had passed. He had been so immersed in his Spirit-Domain that he hadn't noticed the hours slipping by.
"What?!" Elias protested, his voice a bewildered squawk.
"Big sis!" He whined.