Chương 74: The Other Side

The morning sun felt insultingly bright as it peered over Drakehaven's walls - at least after the events of the previous night. Talia sat on the Healing House bed with her blanket wrapped around her like a large camping bag. It didn't provide any extra warmth, but it made her feel significantly more secure than she had just lying there staring at the ceiling. Not that it actually provided her any sort of true security. She suspected nothing could after what she had witnessed.

She had been sitting there for hours at this point - too afraid to sleep because being unconscious felt far too close to being dead. She knew it would get to her eventually, but she wasn't eager to allow it through consciously. For the hundredth time that morning, she looked down to where the hole in her chest had been. There was no scar, and even her clothing had been changed, which removed any physical evidence of what had transpired. Still, she could feel it.

With every heartbeat that passed through her, she was given a cold reminder of what it had felt like not to have one.

"You should get some sleep, you know…" Talia's gaze shifted over to the bed beside her. Aurelia laid there atop the covers, her eyes focused on the ceiling above.

"I could say the same thing to you."

"I did sleep… I just chose to sleep here near my patient." Talia thought back to the previous night. For the first few hours, while Talia had earnestly tried sleeping, Aurelia had continuously checked on her. It felt like every hour on the hour, Aurelia would stumble over to confirm Talia was still there. Checking statuses, switching out rags, and even just making sure her water was refilled if it got close to empty. All of that - while still being half-conscious herself after the battle.

"You can't have a patient while actively being a patient." Aurelia sat up slowly and let her feet dangle over the side of the bed. She held out her hands and looked herself over, reviewing statuses and information that Talia didn't have the privilege of reviewing.

"Looks like I'm good to go," Aurelia smiled.

"Still tired, but I'll be fine by tomorrow so long as I work light and rest often." Talia didn't provide any immediate response. Aurelia's expression softened as she scanned Talia over. Still, her eyes couldn't avoid returning to Talia's previous wound at regular intervals.

"Your status is promising," she confirmed.

"Your physical condition will be back to normal after another day of bedrest and a couple of recovery days…" Aurelia hesitated to speak further. Talia waited for a moment, but then turned to face her.

"And? I can hear the 'but' that you're trying to avoid."

"There's something still wrong. You appear to be uneasy and incredibly tense…"

"Do you have a status that tells you that?"

"No," Aurelia's focus narrowed.

"What I have is a younger sister who is trying to hide something from me." Talia had no immediate retort to that. It was irritating that Aurelia could tell so much intuitively from a glance, whereas Talia needed a whole skill dedicated to reading a situation. Talia didn't respond, but her gaze dropped just enough to make the answer obvious.

"There is nothing wrong with being shaken up about what happened…"

"You're reading too much into this."

"No, I'm not. You nearly died out there! No sane person would feel particularly at-ease after experiencing something like that."

"There's times where I appreciate you being overly protective…" Talia returned her glare to Aurelia.

"This isn't one of them." Aurelia paused. Talia immediately felt a pang of guilt rush through her after the words escaped her. What made it worse was that Aurelia did not respond with anger - she simply looked tired and slightly guilty herself.

"I'm sorry, Aurelia," she sighed.

"I know I wouldn't be here without you. You went through a lot to get me back… I don't want to seem unappreciative." Aurelia's face softened. Slowly, she planted her feet and worked to a standing position. She was a bit wobbly, but nothing unexpected after the condition she had been in the night before. Once she knew she was stable, she began toward Talia.

"What are you…" Before Talia could finish, Aurelia wrapped her in a hug. It started out gentle, but became increasingly tight as Aurelia became aware she could get away with more affection.

"I'm so glad you're here…" She didn't sob outright, but Talia could feel the unmistakable trembling of someone who was unsuccessfully fighting back tears. For the first time since she'd been brought into the Healing House, her shoulders relaxed. She returned the gesture, and buried her face in Aurelia's shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm glad I'm here, too…" They remained like that for a moment before Aurelia finally pulled away. She wiped a few remaining tears from her face, then shifted back to her usual smile.

"I think it's best if I get some breakfast for both of us. While I do so, I'd like one favor from you."

"Which is?"

"If you're not going to talk to me about what happened, I at least want you to agree to talk to someone else. Someone who's been able to give a lot of good guidance in situations that are tough." ─── 🐲🐲🐲 ───"I'm going to be honest, Talia. I am not entirely sure how I got roped into this." Talia didn't have a better answer, either. It had only been about twenty minutes, and she now sat on her bed with a cup of Flameberry tea.

Uncle had brought over a stool from the desk and sat a short distance away from the foot of her bed.

"Aurelia was insistent I talk to someone about what happened last night. Apparently, you earned her vote for best-equipped to do so." Uncle took a sip before he spoke.

"She's expecting much out of me, it seems. Still, I understand her concern." He paused for a moment before looking over to Talia, who did not seem particularly eager to speak. He had only caught a glimpse of her condition last night, and that was after she had already been healed. Even from that, he didn't need an explanation to know why Talia was so distraught. This story has been stolen from Royal Road.

If you read it on Amazon, please report it"Our resident dark elf explained the events to me early this morning," Uncle finally began.

"I'm pretty sure he hunted me down as soon as they returned with the Nightglass." Talia's eyes briefly came to life at that notion.

"Sevrin did?"

"He seems to have wanted it off his chest," Uncle chuckled.

"For someone who tries to play off having nerves of steel - he seemed quite squeamish."

"Did he blame himself for what happened?"

"I believe he was more concerned with how things could have gone different - for better or worse. It was more like a therapy session than anything. He was concerned about judgment, as well as whether or not he'd ever here the end of it from you once you recovered…" Talia pictured Sevrin sitting at the Waystation bar, explaining his woes to Uncle like a cliche drunkard at a late-night tavern. The thought was enough to get a chuckle out of her - a genuine one.

"I'm glad to hear I could finally throw off his irritating preparedness a little bit… Though next time, I'd like to succeed with a less violent plan." Uncle smiled before continuing.

"I am not going to force you to tell me your woes anymore than I did him. Though I do agree with Aurelia's judgment on one thing… There is nothing heroic about someone experiencing what you went through and purposefully holding it all in."

"Because I'm a teenage girl?"

"No," Uncle's expression became more serious.

"Because you are a living being. One who just had to face the exact thing we are designed to be the most traumatized by." It was difficult for Talia to argue. Maybe it was his willingness to acknowledge her as more than a teenager - or maybe it was still the hilarious image of Sevrin - but something in her eased. Not by much, but at least to begin.

"Part of the problem is people keep misinterpreting what happened…" Uncle did not speak. Talia finally unfurled partially from her blanket so that she could turn and hang her feet over the edge.

"Everyone keeps saying I nearly died…but that's not it. I was dead, wholly and fully." A cold seemed to settle over her as she said it. Suddenly, the tea in her hand became a lot more compelling to sip on as Uncle adjusted his position.

"My physical senses all went away," she continued.

"Orion's voice, the campfire light…even the pain went away fairly quickly. Eventually, I couldn't even tell what having a body felt like. The Weave was the only thing that remained, and that was when I realized I was actually dying.

"Interesting that you can tell the difference," Uncle admitted.

"That is not a skill I would expect of someone so young."

"It was different, alright," Talia's gaze peered over.

"Have you ever been dead before, Uncle?"

"In my younger years, perhaps I came close…" he thought for a moment before speaking.

"That said, I've known countless people who've had the experience of visiting the other side. Not everyone's story is the same, but there are a few details that seem to always match up…" Talia drew her blanket in closer.

"Such as?"

"For Awakened in particular, it seems like the Weave is always the last thing to change. They'll lose consciousness and their physical senses will be gone, but the Weave is a force that transcends even the passage to the realm of the dead… at least for most." Talia listened intently. She didn't dare speak - she wasn't sure if she could really bring herself to do so. Still, his story was eerily on the mark of how she had felt in those moments.

"The differences begin there," Uncle continued.

"After death, what happens next seems to be heavily based on life decisions. Many who follow a deity used to mention sensing their deity call them to a specific realm of the afterlife. Those who were more analytical might find themselves being drawn into a large body of knowledge while slowly losing themselves…" His expression became a bit more solemn as he continued.

"Some people note that for them, the afterlife felt like a complete detachment and descent into oblivion. As the Weave left them, they simply described things becoming 'cold and dark' before they were finally pulled back." Uncle paused to examine Talia's posture. She seemed properly engaged in the conversation, but incredibly shaky to the information she was being provided.

"It seems like your experience might have been closer to the latter?"

"Somewhat…" she finally admitted aloud.

"I felt myself detaching from everything, but it wasn't that simple. Before the Weave fully let go of me, it's almost like it began…fighting back?"

"Aurelia's spell?"

"No," Talia immediately answered.

"Her interjection came at the very end, almost all at once in a bright silver light. This other force was something significantly stronger. A reddish color, with an ocean of strength I can't even fathom. It was as if … I was staring at a dragon the size of a mountain." Uncle's fingers twitched, but that was it. He remained quiet as to provide Talia with the room to speak on her own.

"Whatever the entity was, it didn't want to give me up so soon," she continued.

"It wasn't an evil force, though I'm not sure if it was fully good. All I can say is it felt strangely…familiar? I don't know what to make of it…" She finally looked at Uncle, as if he was going to have answers to her questions. Uncle took a sip of his tea as he processed her words, closing his eyes as if it gave him better focus.

"It's difficult to say," he admitted when his eyes finally opened.

"Perhaps it was a deity, or maybe something of comparable enough strength if it fended off death. It seems as if its intervention provided Aurelia the time she needed to save you, at the very least. Beyond that, though, it may be best to simply leave it be…"

"Leave it be?" Talia asked, almost shocked.

"How could I just simply leave it at that?!"

"It's not always good to try and hunt down a force beyond yourself," Uncle admitted.

"I've had comrades dedicate their lives to similar questions, only to get to the end and find out the entire thing only happened because a deity was feeling whimsical that day. Do not take too seriously an event that your savior will not lose any further sleep on." Something about that explanation felt incomplete to Talia. It was almost as if Relevant Detail was trying to tell her something, but her Weave was still too unstable for her to fully make out the discrepancy.

Still, it did not give a sense that he was lying.

"I hate that you almost sound reasonable when you say that…" Uncle chuckled.

"I do my best on occasion. Just try to get back into your normal routine, and time will make the experience less consuming. You've learned a valuable lesson that even your older siblings have not yet had the misfortune of experiencing. Accept the portion of it that is a blessing, and continue to move forward otherwise." With that, the door to the Healing House opened. Aurelia came in with a fresh bowl of food in one hand. Kindle trailed behind her, carrying two additional bowls.

"Things appear to be going well?"

"Yes, I believe Talia and I have finished up. Your timing is impressive, as always…" Uncle moved forward and took hold of the door so Aurelia and Kindle could navigate in more easily. Once they did, he stepped outside.

"Maybe chat about something more relaxed over breakfast," Uncle smiled.

"There's many wonderful things to be thinking about at your age well before your end becomes one of them." He spared one final glance as he closed the door. Kindle immediately comments on the stupidity of Talia's cocooned blanket, and Talia snaps back at him as she normally would. Aurelia laughs at the interaction, as if reassured that things were becoming normal again. The last thing he saw was Talia's eyes. She would return to her old self, but a piece of her would never be the same again.

The door fully closed a half-second later, giving him the brief moment of solitude to let out an exasperated sigh.

"This could have ended much worse, you know?" Uncle turned his gaze. Aegis leaned against the outer wall, his body clear of the window to keep his presence hidden from those inside.

"Yes - that is how life sometimes unfolds, little dragon." Aegis did not seem pleased with the nickname.

"What would you have done if Talia had died?"

"I would've mourned for her, as the others here certainly would have…"

"But you would not have saved her?" Uncle's gaze hardened a bit.

"No one is happier than me to see that you are so attached to this family. It would be unwise, however, to think that I should intervene every time things get so dire."

"You say that…" Aegis looked away.

"Yet Aurelia unlocking that skill was far too well-timed for coincidence." Uncle thought about that for a second, then chuckled a bit. It was meant to break some of the tension, but Aegis' shoulders seemed to stiffen further - as if laughter was the precursor to a beating.

"Relax, little dragon. Nothing bad is going to happen, although perhaps I did make more homework for myself. That young girl is a perceptive one - I am surprised to hear she was able to remain so aware during her descent beyond the veil."

"Does that mean she's onto something?"

"Well…" Uncle thought for a moment.

"I think that could be the case if things remained as they are now…" Before continuing, Uncle noticed that Roy had just made his way into the Waystation. It likely wasn't to find him, but that didn't make Uncle less curious to see what was transpiring.

"But we can avoid that for the time being," he finally finished as he began walking.

"All Talia needs for now is to be redirected to something far more curious than what currently occupies her mind."