"Don't worry. I will get it back for you. What is your name?"
"Sally."
"Sally, my name is Vana."
"Thank you Vana but I don't want you to go down there. Everyone in town knows this well is haunted. It is dangerous for you to go down there."
"Haunted?"
"Yes, many people have heard voices and spooky sounds coming from it during the night. Especially during full moons."
"I am sure that's just rumors and superstition Sally. I am not worried. I will get your plushie back."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Vana replied a she made her way to the well. She looked down into the dark hole and could not see the bottom. "Gulp," she audibly swallowed.
"Miss Vana..."
"Don't worry Sally, I got this."
Vana started her way down the stone wall. After going down a bit further she could still not see the bottom. "How is that possible?" In her distraction, her right hand slipped and as she put her weight onto her feet, one of them also slipped. She was now falling down the well.
"Aaaaaah...."
Splash.
"Gasp!" Vana emerged from the water. She had fallen into a lake. It was surrounded by rock formations and trees. There was also a small island with an exotic tree in the center of the lake. She swam towards it. As she made her way out of the water she noticed she could not see a sky or any kind of ceiling.
"So strange. Where am I?"
"Where indeed?" A blue fox said as it swirled out of the water
"Whoa! Who are you?!"
"A friend... Or maybe a foe."
"Hmm... you are way too cute to be a foe."
"Ahahaha you are certainly an interesting one. What is your name human?"
"I am Vana."
"I am Nya."
"Nice to meet you Nya. What is this place?"
"This is my domain."
"Your domain?"
"Yes, a manifestation field of sensory experience created by me."
"You can do that?!"
"Higher Elementals who have evolved like me can."
"That is amazing," Vana said as she looked around.
"Yeah, it's ok," Nya said dismissively.
"Don't play coy with me. This is quite impressive."
"You are the impressive one taking all this in stride."
"Well, a lot has happened in the last few days, so I am getting used to being surprised I guess."
"Oh do tell."
Vana told Nya about the events of the last few days.
"Oh, you really have experienced a lot in a short period of time."
"Yeah tell me about it."
"Though I have a feeling it is only the beginning," Nya said as she closed her eyes. "And I actually wouldn't mind tagging along."
"Really?! Are you serious?! I would love for you to come along! That way I would be able to pet you every day!"
"Wait, what?! Who said that I, a higher water elemental, would allow you a mere human to pet me!"
"Oh come on Nya, don't be stingy. Let me pet you for a bit." Vana said as she approached her.
"Aaaah no! Get away from me human" Nya yelled as she scurried away.
"Hehe, I swear I will pet you one day."
"How about this? If you pass my test, not only will I let you pet me, I will even gift you my relic."
"A relic?!"
"Yup," Nya replied as she revealed a wand with a blue crystal floating behind her.
"Whoa, it is beautiful."
"And it can be yours for the small price of your heart."
"My heart?"
"Yes, all you need to do is reveal your heart to me."
"Reveal my heart to you? How would I do that?"
As Vana asked her question, the space around her transformed. She was now standing in emptiness.
"What happened?! Nya?"
A translucent image began to take shape in front of Vana. She could now recognize them.
"Mom? Dad?"
They were images from a childhood memory. A sad memory. It was the last time Vana would ever see her dad. The scene of her parents fighting ended with him walking out the door. For good.
The scene then changed and Vana was now seeing her younger self crying in her room.
"Why did he leave? Was it because of me? Did I do something wrong?"
Vana's head slumped down as she remembered how it felt. She then looked up and walked toward her younger self.
"It is not your fault Vana. It had nothing to do with you. People drift apart sometimes."
The image of her younger self transformed into a bit older version of herself.
"Men are all the same. They can't be trusted." Her young teen self said with an angry face.
"I understand. But you can't judge everyone because of your own bad experiences. Everyone deserves to be met as blanks canvas until they actually show you their true colors. So like aunt Sophia always says, be gentle with your judgment but fierce with your discernment."
"No! I don't care about any of that! He hurt me! He hurt my mom! He abandoned us!"
Her image now transformed into a ferocious beast.
"What is happening?!"
"That is your grief and rage turning into an inner monster," Nya said as she appeared.
"But... that is too much..."
"Is it?"
"I... I guess... it is not."
"It still resides deep in your heart, like a blotch of black oil in water."
The beast raged and roared. But all Vana could feel was its pain.
"I... I know..."
Vana said as she touched her heart. Her chest began to shine bright. The beast was slowly enveloped by iridescent light.
"It really was painful and it still is. But I must forgive. I must move on. I need to heal."
Her hands shone brightly and so did her chest. A shadowy image of an open wound that had appeared on it began to transform and heal as it got smaller and slimmer. Vana took a deep breath as the wound closed.
"It is healing now Vana. Allow your old emotions to express themselves out of existence under the light of your awareness until only the light in your heart remains... You will not forget what happened but you can now begin to forgive and move on..."
Tears streamed down her face.
The surrounding environment began to change until they were once more back by the tree on the small island in the lake.
"Sit by the tree. Allow the light of your heart to keep shining forth as it heals itself from within. Be filled with this light as it shines forth through you as if you are a lamp getting brighter and brighter... Allow it to shine even brighter as it radiates waves of light and warmth in all directions."
Vana sat in meditation for some time. She then gently opened her eyes.
"You did good Vana. The wound from the past is on its way to fully healing and the pure waters of your heart are in their natural state once again."
"Thank you Nya."
"As promised," Nya said as the wand floated towards Vana.
"Thank you!" Vana squeezed the wand close to her heart, feeling grateful. "Nya I am truly... Huh?" Vana was now sitting at the bottom of the well with Sally's plush doll and Nya's wand in her embrace.
"Nya? Are you here?! Where are you?!"
"Don't fret Vana. I am here." Nya replied as she swirled out of the gem in Vana's wand.
"Don't scare me like that."
"Ahaha so you are not scared to find yourself in a mysterious domain but you are startled when you find yourself back in your world. You truly are an interesting one."
"Vaaanaaa..." Sally yelled down the well.
"Sally! Don't worry. I am coming back up with your doll."
Vana climbed out of the well and handed the plushie back to its owner.
"Thank you so much, Vana! You are the best!"
"It was nothing Sally. I think you should go home now before your parents start to worry."
"Ok, but you have to come with me to meet my mom and have lunch with us."
"Oh, that is not necessary..." Vana began declining the invitation but Sally's begging eyes were too much for her to take. "Ok, you win, let's go."
"Yaaaaay."
"Bodhi, let's go for a ride," Simi said.
"To where?"
"You will see."
Bodhi mounted his horse and followed Simi's directions. After about half an hour Simi announced, "we are here."
"Here?" Bodhi said as he looked around the open plain. "Hmmm, for some reason this place looks familair."
"This is where the last battle of The Great War was fought."
"That's right, I saw it in my visions back at the temple."
"Sure, that's why."
"Did I notice a hint of sarcasm there?"
"Nope, must be your imagination. Let's go over there behind those hills in the distance."
They rode another twenty minutes to get there. Once they made their way over one of the hills Bodhi witnessed a surprising scene. Huge spikes of black rock were protruding from the ground and some were embedded into it in reverse as if they had fallen from the sky. A thick shadow miasma still floated around the terrain like a heavy smog.
"What happened here?!"
"This is where Cayden fought the Shadow King,"
"Cayden did?!"
"Yes. Let's get a bit closer."
"What about the thick miasma?"
"Fret not. Even though no one has been able to approach this place since then because of the miasma, we have the sword of light with us. Lift the sword and say with me. May all conditions around me be graced with light and transformed into a pure state."
As he did the sword emanated waves of light that spread through the landscape, lifting the heavy miasma.
"Whoa!"
"Ok let's go."
They ventured down towards the huge black rock spikes. As they made their way across the landscape they found something. It was an armored skeleton laying on the ground.
"Who is that?"
"That was you."
"What?!"
"That was Cayden. Which means that was also you."
"Wait... What?!"
"Cayden is one of your past lives."
Bodhi was silent. It was hard for him to believe that, yet nothing in him be it a feeling or thought seemed to arise to refute the statement. On the contrary, there was only a calming knowing present.
"Go to the remains and touch them."
"Ok..."
As Bodhi approached the remains, he could feel an energetic charge building up and as he kneeled to touch the back of the skull in front of him, he was flooded with images and memories of his past life as Cayden.
"Whoa... That was way more than simple object reading."
"Of course, these are memory fragments. Now touch it again and focus on the last moments of his life."
"Are we gonna make it?"
"Probably not."
"What was I thinking asking you that?"
"Do you want me to lie?"
"I prefer it when you give it to me straight."
"We are definitely going to die."
"Maybe not that straight."
"Ahaha, then let us try and not die this night old friend."
"And if we do, I will see you in the next life."
"And I will see you."
Bodhi was now immersed in Cayden's last memories.
"Raj... that was you."