In the endless black void ... ,
Floated a silhouette, of a young girl, no was it a man? a dragon? no one could guess ... ,
The silhouette started thinking ... ,
WHERE AM I? WHAT IS THIS PLACE? I FEEL ... WARM AND COMFORTABLE. I FEEL SECURE DESPITE BEING ALONE ...
The girl(?) continued to float in the space for an unknown amount of time.
One fine day ... ,
A tremendous attractive force pulled her into a black hole like thing ... ,
The next thing she knew was her suspended in some fluid, her arms and legs waving about. She was barely aware of her surroundings and could hear someone talking to her.
The words she heard were the lifeline that kept her sane and living.
After some period of time ... ,
A powerful force, just like the suction force that pulled her into this fluid, started to push her headfirst towards the light that came out of nowhere.
~~Uwaah~~
With the loud cries, her birth, and her hypothesis came true.
She was in the womb of a woman until now ... ,
She is an infant, born just now ... ,
After gaining the ability to open her eyes, she could barely observe the woman smiling at her while breastfeeding her with milk. The woman was lovely, with two pointed ears standing out.
" Husband, look. Our child is observing her mother. " The mellow voice of the woman reminded the girl of the voice she heard in the womb.
The man, who heard his wife's words, walked over after the feeding was over and took the baby into his arms.
" Look, I am your papa. " The man tried to make funny faces in an attempt to make the girl laugh.
" She is just a month old baby. You need to wait a little more to hear her laugh. " The wife laughed at her husband and took the baby back.
SO THESE ARE MY PARENTS. I AM HAPPY, BUT, SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT. SOMETHING'S MISSING. WHAT IS IT? WHAT AM I LACKING?
The girl grew up as the princess of her parents, their lovely daughter. Her parents pampered her, catered to every need.
Yet, the girl remained aloof and unmoving, like an ice block.
Emotionless, cold and intimidating ...
These were the words that defined her.
She was now 5 years old.
" Villagers, the Matriarch has announced that the Dantain awakening ceremony will be conducted this year. All the parents of five-year-olds are to get ready. "
An announcement that changed her life was made.
She, along with all other five-year-olds in the village gathered at the town hall. From there, they started on a journey to the shrine where the Dantain awakening ceremony was scheduled to take place.
" We shall depart at once. " the matriarch of the elven village announced to the cheering crowd as she held the hand of her five-year-old daughter and climbed the chariot.
The girl simply sat silent throughout the entire journey, not trying to listlessly move around or glance at everything with curiosity, like her peers, showing a maturity seldom seen in children her age.
They reached the shrine of Quetzalcoatl with no major incidents that required the strongest among them, the matriarch herself, to act in person.
The shrine was an old ruin cloaked amidst vines and outgrowths. Entering the shrine, they found the torches on the walls light up on their own.
At the end of the shrine was the statue of a beast that looked like a fusion of a serpent and a bird. It gave a suppressive feeling to those glancing at it.
Placed, on a pedestal in front of it, was a small green pearl, the size of an infant's head. It gave off a green glow.
" Everyone, stand guard. Children of age five, queue up. Touch the crystal when your turn arrives and close your eyes. Got that? "
" Yes, matriarch. " x?????
The children touched the pearl, one after the other. Whenever their dantain got awakened, the crystal shone in the color that corresponded to the element/dantain nature of the child.
It was finally the girl's turn.
When she touched the crystal, her mind was transported to some other dimension.
There, she saw a silhouette that resembled the statue in the shrine. It was alive.
The girl exercised her right to be silent but bowed her head in respect to the deity in front of her.
He shot a ray of light with his talon into the lower back of the girl, causing her to feel a jolt.
Out of nowhere, the sky raged, raining lightning bolts onto the altar, and the winds howled. The weather turned chaotic. All the children, frightened, hid in the shadows of the elders.
The girl simply shrugged her shoulders. The deity racked his brain but couldn't find any reason.
Right as he wanted to say something,
" The sudden disturbances in the weather are signs of the lower deity, this girl is destined to be a great asset to our village. " the elders chimed in, so as to earn the favor of the little prodigy.
It was rare for the elves to get an offense-oriented dantain nature due to their gentle temperament. Those who get so are extremely valuable assets in this 'strong reigns all' world.
It was no wonder that the elders were excited.
The matriarch was silent and indifferent, however.
The girl glanced at the deity.
He nodded.
The girl was sent back to her body. She opened her eyes to see the elders all clustered around her while the daughter of the matriarch, unaffected by the commotion, touched the pearl.
This was the first time the girl saw the matriarch's daughter, the princess of the village.
Yet, she felt as if a hundred tonnes of weight pressed her heart. She was ... ecstatic.
Why in the world would she, an emotionally paralyzed person, feel such unreasonable euphoria upon seeing the princess?
It was akin to love at first sight, only, much deeper and profound than that.
A measly attraction to the body of the opposite sex due to puberty or beauty is not even worth a dime in front of the pure yearning of her heart.
She wasn't attracted to the princess sexually. She wasn't even at that age anyway.
It was inexplicable, something way beyond mundane attraction to the physical body.
The princess finished her dantain awakening in an unusual way.
A man who resembled an upright monkey, dressed in clothes she never knew existed, picked the princess in its arms and growled at the statue like a feral animal.
The moment the princess opened her eyes, " Thank you, uncle Sun, " she thanked him with a cute smile.
Sun Wukong couldn't help but lift her up and cuddle her. " Your beard tickles, hahahaha…..stop, stop….it is tickling." She laughed while being tickled by his beard.
Meanwhile, the elders and the Matriarch were dumbstruck.
So was the girl.
Sun Wukong, the Heaven's Equal, was known for his ferocity and strength all over the cultivation world. He was the friend of their ancestor and the progenitor of the elven race, Aria.
His deeds were the stuff of legends, told and retold as folklore to the villagers, children or otherwise.
'As expected of the princess' was the girl's honest thought.
After a week,
The girl was walking in a corridor of the matriarch's house when she tripped and ... almost fell.
A slender arm stopped her from falling while supporting her weight in a way that wouldn't cause pain to either of them.
" P-Princess!? "
" Call me Sarcony, silly girl. Our village is not a kingdom. " The princess flicked the forehead of the girl, painlessly that is.
" Th-Thank you. "
Sarcony, or the princess, laughed out loud at the fidgeting, blushing girl who stuttered while thanking her.
'She is adorable' Sarcony thought.
Sarcony and the girl parted ways, Sarcony, leaving the house to play with her uncle Sun, and the girl entering the house to meet her father who worked under the matriarch.
The girl mumbled,
" Thank you, Onee sama. "
Unfortunately, Sarcony did not hear the words of the girl.