Despite being covered in darkness, Percy did not feel that he had lost consciousness.
He couldn't feel his body and it caused an invisible phantom itch. As if he was trying to 'look down' just to confirm his suspicions, there was no body, nor anything else visible.
Percy didn't have a particular creed, or care about any kind of religion throughout his life. Either he was busy or it was just lack of interest.
When he was in a daydream within his own soul, the surroundings began to brighten, and in the same blink that everything was dark, everything became clear.
There was no river Styx, river of Souls, gate of reincarnation or anything he'd heard about the afterlife.
Then, as if it had always existed there, a vast prairie reached Percy's 'eyes'. In it, a conglomeration of rocks rose straight from the ground reaching the heavens as if they formed the five fingers of a hand.
Within miles of it, there was nothing but the grass itself forming a perfect circle around the monument.
Large groves covered the circumference of the clearing, trees that easily reached hundreds of meters in height and some disappeared into the clouds along with the monoliths that formed the fingers of the hand.
Between the gaps in the mile-long trees and the lower ones Percy could catch glimpses of a few mountains, several that seemed to be constantly suffering from adverse weather, burning or freezing to death. There were also structures and forms he still couldn't understand, things he'd never seen or his mind could conceive.
Percy felt like an ant, everything exuded an overwhelming pressure and the air felt ethereal, making him feel as if he was constantly electrified.
'Well, then, would this be the afterlife…? My new home?'
Percy sat in the low grass, it was soft and nice and warm. He still had some doubts about the place, or, if maybe it was all his delusion…
Though there was no sound, or if there was he couldn't hear it, Percy could feel the leaves vibrate or the air reverberate, he couldn't hear it, but it was almost as if he felt the sound.
Inspired, he closed his eyes and began whistling in time with the vibrations reverberating through his 'body', or rather his soul.
It was a melodic, calm whistle, full of long, high notes. Percy hadn't noticed, but as his lips composed the little song, the trees seemed to sway with a little more vigor and some of the grass lightly brushed his 'skin'.
The wind clouded and swirled creating little eddies along the way, swirling to the tune. The only thing that was not in harmony, or, dancing in resonance with nature, was a being that was on one of the 'fingers'.
She watched him with a mixture of shock, surprise and curiosity, after the brief moment of torpor, she descended from the top of the rock floating to the ground, for anyone to see it would have been a wonderful sight, there was so much delicacy and majesty in those simple movements that it was impossible don't think they're supernatural.
She just stood there, admiring Percy's melody and basking in the feeling of harmony with nature.
Percy 'wake up' satisfied. He still couldn't define how he acted and behaved in that half-alive state of mind. But soon her questions were answered as she turned her gaze to the figure in front of her, smiling.
Despite the unearthly beauty indicating that she was clearly a goddess, or some sort of superior being that belonged there, Percy didn't necessarily feel fear or any sort of animosity towards her, but happy to finally discover that he wasn't alone. Then he gave her a sincere smile, excited, curious and a little sad too.
The being was surprised again by the sincere smile and her heart felt sorry for that hint of sadness that she could clearly perceive.
Clearly she knew the fact of why he was there, his death condition, why it had occurred, his last request and his entire life. She had seen it all long before he arrived at that place.
Strangely, to her, Percy seemed even more 'human' when he was brimming with emotions that were so transparent and easy to read. His thoughts only lasted a fraction of a second.
"Welcome, Percy, I know you have a lot of questions, but I ask you to come with me first. In fact, it was a beautiful song."
The words echoed inside Percy's Soul, and seeing that he didn't say anything to the 'goddess' she immediately realized the problem.
Clapping his hands lightly, Percy assumed a physical and material body at the same instant. He could feel it, and the abrupt new sensations made him stagger before closing his eyes to control the vertigo.
The being seemed to have a lot of fun with this, and with a nod, Percy felt perfectly fine.
Promptly assuming an upright posture, he brushed his hair back with his fingers. He hadn't realized that his hair was now much longer and fell down his back brushing his waist and hips. It was amazing what people missed when they didn't pay attention, which in Percy's case, was himself.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Percy." He said cordially, adopting the gentle tone and demeanor he always did when meeting new people.
With a captivating laugh, the 'goddess' turned her face to face his as she said. "I know, I'm Narya, it's my pleasure to finally meet you Percy."
That answer implied so many things in his mind, but as she had said before only to follow, he did so in silence.
***
They crept through the trees and followed a luminescent path that snaked through the roots.
"Percy, yes, we are gods, but not in the way you think."
She kept walking, but slowed to catch up with Percy.
"At least not in the way you humans conceive of us. I am the authority of reincarnation, and, as the name implies, I hold all authority over how souls travel between planes and worlds."
Percy already imagined that, despite not being a goddess, but something called authority, that was a superior being, still not daring to speak, especially with someone who controls his destiny, he decided to keep his resolute silence.
"Haha, don't be shy Percy. But, I will answer before you ask. Let's not talk about your daughter now, I have something to show you first."
As they edged even closer to another clearing, Percy noticed a slightly sad and anxious look on the woman's face, and just as he was about to say something and half-open, his lips he entered one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen or would ever see in his entire life.
A long, beautiful waterfall flowed directly from a cluster of obsidian that descended from the sky. The water was golden and exhaled a relaxing, sweet scent, small pillars rose across the small lake formed just below the clearing and on its sides some arched trees formed a canopy of leaves as a natural cover.
Another surprising thing was that the place was teeming with life, Percy's open mouth opened even wider as he saw small animals and birds roaming around.
None of them existed on Earth, although some looked like mixtures of other known ones, there were small animals with horns and slender, some long and colorful, in some there were some more peculiar things like parts composed of elements like a hair of fire or paws made of pure ice.
Even the birds had their fair share of variety, some downright fiery, while others resembled harpies, but with far more feathery, delicate feathers and unmistakably more angelic faces.
Many looked at Percy, but almost all bowed to Narya who returned with a wave and a smile.
Percy supposed that given that almost everyone should have at least some level of sentience.
"Very perceptive, Percy, they really are sentient. Not just them, including the rocks, trees, those pillars you see there. Including water."
Percy admired that fanciful scene, given the events he really wouldn't question the veracity of those claims. If one, he was already certain he was dead, now this was another inexorable proof that he was in another place far below Earth.
As he followed Narya, who started to walk towards the lake, a small animal, similar to a lizard, grabbed Percy's calf and in a leap slithered towards his hand.
Again Percy was taken aback, he couldn't feel or see the little animal approaching. He was similar because he really couldn't be classified as a lizard.
Its structure was slightly smaller than that of a chameleon, instead of plates of scales spread over its body, it was a completely smooth and resistant skin, as if it was covered by a single scale or a very hard leather.
But Percy was inclined to believe it was a scale because the light reflected like a mirror off the surface, and it shone in a clear, crisp blue light, almost as if the animal itself produced and refracted the light.
'Royal blue...' And indeed his thoughts seemed well founded, because as he climbed the animal's face, a small ice crown formed between the bony cavities of the skull, it looked like a natural formation, as if he had been born with the crown.
It was very elegant, a final crown with a blue a little paler than its body, almost translucent, there were actually three jewels housed in sequence in the curvature, the three had very vibrant colors that although in the foreground did not match the color crown, drew attention and inspired majesty.
Then Percy went down to the eyes and was surprised to see that they were almost human, slender and sideways, with a white pupil and an unfamiliar shade of blue supported by a proud, upturned nose.
Then the animal gently rubbed its head against Percy's palm a few times, and the last time, it rubbed its lips in a shy bite.
Narya, who had long ago stopped to watch this, immediately returned to Percy's side, just in time for the creature to climb onto her shoulder and wrap its neck around Percy's.
"Ara~, what a mischievous animal..." The little animal seemed to actually blush as it hid its snout and face inside the collar of Percy's shirt.
"Hmm? What was this? And who is she?" Or at least he imagined himself to be 'She'.
"A good guess, 'she' was thanking you for the song earlier, looks like I wasn't the only one listening." Narya touched the center of the creature's head, opening the palm so that it went into his hand.
Incredibly the creature refused and remained wrapped around Percy's neck.
"She really seems to like you... how unusual, weird I think."
Narya didn't seem fazed by the refusal, and walked back towards the lake, followed now by Percy and his new companion.
"She's a Dragar, I'm translating the name to the closest real meaning in her native language, her race name isn't necessarily that, but you're not able to understand it now." Narya then detoured to a specific place on the shore and continued on.
"I think the closest it can come to you is saying she's a dragon, although that's fundamentally different, dragons, at least the ones that exist on other worlds, are a very diluted bloodline to this little one."
"Huh?" This was something very surprising, Percy stroked the small animal's head which seemed to squirm with satisfaction.
"You think crowns are decorations? Or that the universe bestows them freely? Unlike humans and some other races who like to manufacture them as if they were toys, this one on this little one's head is a real crown." Narya paused dramatically as she continued.
"They were given of their own accord from the beginning, and to carry one means that this little one is already a princess of the Dragar's and, time permitting, will be your queen, empress, or whatever you want to call it. Although it means much more than that."
"Uh, so she's going to be an empress, the progenitor of an entire generation..."
To be honest, it didn't necessarily seem like a good thing to Percy to be born with that much responsibility. But he more than much understood what responsibility was and what it entailed. Despite the setbacks, there were countless good things and if Percy had to go through all the responsibility even if 100 times worse, just to create and be with Dawn again, he would do it without hesitation.
Narya, who seemed to be scanning all of Percy's thoughts, nodded and sighed. "Maybe that's why she likes you so much..."
"So you can read minds?" Percy asked with a slight smile that was sarcastic and at the same time amused, as he thought of something to confirm if the skill was real.
"No, I can't." Nayra replied with an amused laugh. "It's just that you are as easy to read as a sheet of paper."
"Then how did you know who I am?"
"Ah… I don't have direct access to your memory, only what your soul allows me to see, as if I were watching everything from the outside or on a television screen. I can see how you act or talk, and with that I can guess what your personality is like, not completely, of course."
"But-"
"No, you can't fool me by acting like one but thinking like the other, because while I can't read your thoughts or memories directly, every soul has a quality and you wouldn't be elected to be here if you were insincere."
It was a fact, Percy had lied very few times in his life, and he always tried to be as honest and cautious as possible. Especially after he started raising his daughter, his attention was redoubled to the people around him and especially in counseling to raise her.
Perhaps this is a protective sense that fathers develop as mothers have the sixth sense of intuition?
But, it was a fact and Percy didn't have much to argue about.
"Hmph! But if she thinks she can go somewhere with you, she is sorely mistaken little princess." She said as she looked at the creature that seemed to somehow become more and more entwined with Percy.
"You know what that would imply…she isn't a very spoiled princess. Now, come here, Percy. Sorry to show you this, but I want you to know it's going to be something good, I promise."
Narya said the last words in an affectionate tone, the truth is that, living so long alone or in the company of other authorities, she was also feeling a little spoiled and felt sorry for the man in front of her.
Walking to her side, Percy could make out a bubble in the violently churning water. From it, a humanoid-shaped creature emerged, with slightly flattened and thin ears and impossibly long brown hair.
She splashed anxiously in the water and when her eyes fell on his, she immediately ran as fast as she could towards the man.
Percy didn't know her, or so he thought. Those rather innocent and expectant eyes looking up at him, the features, though they seemed more refined and ethereal, the unmistakable hair that was plastered to her body.
So the words that came out of her mouth only served to confirm everything, it was just one:
"Dad…"