Having received the final words of the now faded Forgotten One, and not yet being aware of any of the actions they took, nor the actions of the three messengers, the child departed with the heart felt promises of safe passage it had received, being violently hurled into what is called by Gods of other worlds the 'Universal Divide', the void separating all universes from one another.
This void is dark and without end, being sparsely filled and lightly illuminated by what appear to be glowing bubbles. But these bubbles are in fact Universes, most of which no one has ventured to or out of. It isn't a space many dared step foot into, even Gods wouldn't venture here if it could be avoided, so as could be imagined it is a very inhospitable environment to be thrust into.
He barely made it though it the first time, arriving at the Forgotten Shrine practically lifeless, even with the protective measures the Gods and Goddesses had previously given him.
However this time it would be quite a different story.
◆
The cocoon streamed past many a crisp and iridescent looking sphere, each representing an independent universe, sometimes massive like the one that it had just left or reasonably small, like the one that it was hopefully heading to. Each of these bubbles had smaller bubbles attached to its surface, much like how the eggs of the Giant Water Bug are carried by it.
These attached bubbles would occasionally send a weak and gentle light to scan over the cocoon when it would closely pass it by, seemingly curious about what exactly it was and why it would be passing through the void. Every time this would happen the cocoon would seem to solidify ever so slightly, condensing it into a firmer shell. It seemed like an automatic defence response from the cocoon, placed down by one of the three messengers, but this action was very beneficial for the boy inside, even though it wasn't initially meant to be.
This scene continued on ad nauseam for what seemed an eternity, flying through the nothingness and being caressed by inquisitive light. The light scanning the cocoon would increase exponentially as the journey progressed through the more heavily populated areas of the void, making the cocoon shrink and condense at such a speed that it was visible to the naked eye.
That is until finally something changed inside the condensed and reinforced shell.
The blindingly bright form of the child inside the travelling cocoon was compressed so much that it started to solidify, forming back into that of the baby boy with sharp pointed ears and light lavender hair that appeared on the offering box of the forgotten shrine.
The child's revival and rebirth had been a success!
However, this wasn't exactly meant to have happened during his time traveling through the Universal Divide, he was meant to return to the people that sent him to Earth before they assisted him in solidifying his existence. This was the Forgotten One's intention, but its three messengers hadn't known what They had done for the boy and had further increased the security of the child's passage, resulting in what we have now.
The child now had an even more androgynous face, more so than before as the Ælf species have always been rather androgynous, and for an instant what appeared to be three tattoos of each a snake, fox, and deer surfaced on his chest before sinking back into hs body, though they barely resembled that of those creatures that were back on Earth. As soon as the tattoos surfaced on the child's chest the previously alive cocoon surrounding the boy now seemed dead, or at least missing something, whilst the tattoos seemed to have become alive.
◆
The small child lay there, surrounded by the warm walls of the cocoon, not moving and shallow breathing, his eyes seeming like those who were amidst a thrilling dream. As time passed the child grew from appearing to be a newborn baby to a toddler and then finally into what could be said to be an eight or nine year old healthy looking child.
Suddenly the boy shuddered and his eyes twitched before cracking ever so slightly open. He could vaguely see a golden light encompass all of his vision as his eyes opened further.
And that was all he could see, pure golden light.
He began to panic.
"Hmmm, where am I? Who is this? I feel weird…" were the first parched words he had said in a pleasant and sweet tone, though somewhat hoarse.
Trying to move his head to look around him to see whether there really only was light here he found out he couldn't move, not even a finger or a toe. He began to panic even more at this point and started to breathe at a rapid pace and thrash himself around trying to move and make space for himself.
Suddenly a voice, or the remnant of one, spoke to him from inside his own mind, sounding loving and heartbroken.
"Child, be calm."
He immediately calmed down and felt at ease from hearing this voice. "Who are you? Where am I? Who am I?" the boy asked as quickly as he could get the words out of his mouth.
"Hmm" the voice pondered, "I could be described as one of your parents in the past. Not your mother but neither was I your father, perhaps I could be described as your Mātua? And as of now, I am a part of you. Yes, this sounds right. As for where you are, you are flying through the endless void between realms inside a lovingly crafted cocoon that protects you. You are my son, reborn in new flesh! Does this help?" they said, almost being able to imagine them smiling while doing so.
The boy was stunned, and like a flood parts of his memories came back to him, from his 40,000-odd years of life in the Forgotten Realm to memories that weren't his of an unending and long life, but these memories only fleetingly passed through his mind before they were again gone.
He didn't remember anything now but felt so much closer to this voice he was hearing, to the point of weeping. "Mātua" he gasped as he wept. Saying this foreign yet familiar word he came to understand that this voice was the voice of his long past parent.
"My child, I was meant to slowly dissolve and give you my all so in this life you would never again suffer, but it seems those three rascals have outdone themselves in protecting you." the remnant voice of the Forgotten One spoke, both rebuking the three messengers but at the same time being absolutely thrilled being able to talk to their child thanks to them.
At the mention of the three messengers the corresponding tattoos emerged from his chest and their voices sounded out in his mind.
"We also don't understand why we are here alongside the child, Ōkami. We merely wanted the child to be safe. We expected our very existence to cease after finishing the transference ceremony. But here we are." came the voice of the snake inside the child's head.
"Right, right. We thought we'd be dead for sure! It's so good that we aren't! Yay, we can see him grow up~!" came the childish and pleased voice of the fox.
Pondering on what the two had said the Forgotten One's voice thought of something.
"Well, I can say that I won't last much longer. I only left enough of my soul in my child's body to see him after he reached those other rascals who would help give him back his body. And since that has happened now and here I am speaking to him I should vanish sooner than I had imagined. You three on the other hand appear to have fully fused with his previous bodies Shakujin, the sword I left him all those years ago. You can be considered 'Yōma' when you reach the Forgotten Realm.'
After thinking for a second added on, "But a kind of Yōma I'm not even sure should exist. Interesting, interesting."
"..."
"Hmm, you can't speak deer? Looks like a consequence of the method you used back at the shrine. You two, do you know what they want to convey?"
The fox was the first to speak, "Yes, they say they are over the moon thrilled to have not died, and they sound like they're sobbing…"
The child was laying there whilst these beings were having a conversation all of their own. "Umm, Mātua, what's happening to me and what is all this?"
"Haha, I suppose some explanation is needed, yes? To keep things short and to let the other rascals properly explain things I'll just say that you're on your way to meet… Hmm?" they stopped mid sentence to have another ponder. You could imagine them stroking their chin whilst having their eyes closed thinking.
"Boy, it seems you now have another set of parents, both Gods and Goddesses nonetheless. So I suppose I should say you are going to meet your mother and father, as well as your uncles and aunts!"