31 Strange wind

Elder Irvin was seemingly as speechless as I was. I thought I could get a blessing for sure... I even thought about if I should refuse them... If that was not arrogance then... Now here I am three gods have refused me and the fourth did not even show up. What is going to happen now?

I just stood there while Elder Irvin was babbling with them singing my praise as some brainwashed fan would towards his Idol, but the gods were stern and did not listen to him at all.

That´s it? Do I have to leave? I mean, sure I can leave and I will probably survive, but what about mom? I can´t let her leave with me... She was part of this village for far longer than I was and she has friends here. I can´t expect her to leave all that behind for someone like me... I mean am I even her real daughter? What if I did not reincarnate but did a transgression? There is a good chance that I might have killed her real daughter by somehow passing my soul into her... since after all reincarnation should not happen at all... then again neither should transgressions happen...

Yeah! I should talk with Irvin as soon as the gods are gone. Maybe we can convince my mother to stay within the village and I will leave one on my own. The first thing I should do is...

Suddenly I heard snickering in my ear. I looked up, but Irvin was still talking towards the gods and they were still pretending to listen while ignoring him. They have great patience... The other children were staring at the gods and sometimes threw a pitying or gloating glare into my direction. Nobody seemed to be snickering though.

"Your wind is strange!"

I heard a voice whispering and the wind picked up within the cavern. To be precise the wind picked up around me. I stared into the wind and tried to see through or something within. Is that Aer? Must be, right? I took a deep breath and collected all my bravery.

"What do you mean with my wind is strange?"

As I spoke aloud the rest turned around and looked in my direction.

The voice giggled and a person appeared out of the storm dancing around me. The person seemed feminine with long hair that danced in the wind, long clothes were wrapped around her. But she seemed almost ethereal like she did not have substance to her at all.

"Not in front of others!"

She kept dancing and as I was looking at her I could recognize patterns in her steps. I did not know why, but as I took my first step following hers it did feel right. Don´t worry about what was, what could be, or whatever will be now just dance and enjoy the moment. Don´t lose yourself in the sticky mood, but go on! Carpe diem! And be free!

Soon I was dancing alongside her, even though my first tries were really pathetic. I never learned how to dance. Not on this life or in the other. I never danced and yet followed her through the storm in a dancing fashion... I felt free.

I blinked once and I found myself no longer in the cavern, but in a space that seemed to be only storm and nothing else.

"Now we can talk, stranger."

I turned around and I saw her standing in front of me. She had not changed, but as I looked down on myself I did notice that I turned violet.

What the f...?

She came close and kept looking at me. Scanning up and down like some curious kid having found something that would excite it.

"What is going on?"

She just giggled.

"You are in my realm, stranger."

I frowned.

"My name is Arn."

She looked genuinely taken aback.

"Is that really your name, though? AH! My name is Aer... I think that is what mortals call me around here."

Does she have multiple names? So she has more believers somewhere else?

"Yes! My name is Arn... around here."

She smiled and nodded.

"So there is wind somewhere that isn´t me. Interesting!"

Her face showed genuine surprise and interest in that subject I did not understand.

"Excuse me? What do you mean by strange wind?"

"Oh? You do know that I am the wind, right?"

"Supposedly..."

She looked baffled for a bit before she showed amusement in her eyes.

"Yes. And I am in every living being as their wind that moves and gives freedom."

I thought back to the tale of creation my mother told me. Sure the breath in a human was often compared to the one thing that gives them life: The soul.

The secondary creation story in the bible has the same concept. It is the second, even though that story is far older than the first story... kinda confusing ain´t it? God breathed into the humans and gave them life and that breath is compared to the soul.

"Do you mean the soul?"

Aer seemed perplexed at my question.

"What is a soul?"

What a soul is? That is...

"It´s complicated...? Basically, it is the thing that defines a human as an individual. It is the center point of all our emotions and our thinking. Also, it gives the body life and it is immortal... There is more, but this should do it?"

She listened to my explanation and nodded along.

"Yeah, that sounds quite similar to my wind."

She pointed at her and the surrounding wind.

"Here in my realm, all you should be able to see is me. As only wind can enter this realm."

She pointed at me and made a curious expression.

"But look at you! This isn´t a part of me at all! How is it possible that there is wind in this world that is not a part of me?"

Wait, wait, wait! Does she mean, that wind is basically a soul? That doesn´t sound believable at all! Are we breathing souls? No... that can´t be it, can it?

"And how in the world did you manage to get your wind cursed?"