Chapter 80: Limbo

Ciaran was in a state of deep sleep. Unlike when Verdania froze him, this time he felt emotionless. He was conscious of his state of being, he knew what he was and why he was here. He understood that he should feel shocked, panicked, or even mad if wanted to fight fear with anger. And yet, he felt nothing.

Thinking had become an absolute chore, his thoughts were slowed down to a crawl and he was barely able to connect one straight thought to the next.

Time passed, and he couldn't really tell how much. It was an experience like the one he had while inside the Mist. Time dilation was something he was accustomed to, he even learned to enjoy it, or at least the usual feeling of it. And yet, right now it was just convenient, as it gave him more time to collect his thoughts.

'I need to connect to the Ice if I want to leave.'

It took him a while, maybe days, and maybe years, but he finally came to that conclusion.

There was no tried and tested method to connect to an element, however, and so he did what he was taught to do. He meditated. It wasn't hard, as his mind was now always in a state of emptiness. There was a difference concerning the emptiness he felt right now, however small it might be.

Usually, when he meditated, he started to feel his connection to the Wind increase, and his emotions stead, as a result, the connection got stronger. This time, the connection was still there, and it strengthened as well, but he just couldn't seem to care.

'I can feel things, but lack the ability to produce emotions, with which I would usually associate the phenomena.'

He could finally put into words his experience.

While learning how to connect the Wind, he was taught to let go and embrace his emotions, to rely more on instinct and less on analytical thinking. This was the polar opposite, he had no instincts here and could do nothing but think, and even that was restricted.

He tried to reason a connection with the element, and he made hypothesis after hypothesis on how to make a connection.

One of those was that since he was made of sixty percent water he could use that to make a connection. He tried to command his own body to freeze and then to boil, but it was to no avail.

Then he tried reasoning with his prison but no matter what he said, or what he did, he was only met with silence.

With no further ideas and nothing else to do, he decided to look inward, to his own memory. He tried to recall all of his memories in the hopes of finding the answer there.

Surprisingly his memories took a more physical form if one could call it that as he was still in a state of unconsciousness, trapped in his own mind. But in there, his memories had taken the shape of bubbles.

From his first memory of his conscious being, to just before Nature had rudely frozen him. He could recall it all. The only thing that irked him, was that the bubbles were out of order.

His thoughts were too random, too slow, and too chaotic for him to remember things in order. It annoyed him a lot that his memories as a toddler were next to the ones with Ariadne, so he tried to push them.

He pushed and pushed, and finally, the memory moved. He was pleasantly surprised by his new ability, and it even gave him something to do. He spent the next however long it was to put it all in order. He may not have the ability of coherent thinking anymore, but if he just started from the beginning he would eventually fix the order.

And when he did, he found himself in front of a mural, one that showed him his whole life. He could now analyze it all. Every little action, every movement, and even every little thought. It was safe to say he was not impressed with himself.

'I was such an idiot then.'

Was the most common thought that ran through his head. With nothing else to do, he spent every waking moment contemplating what he could have done better. Even with only the abilities he had at that time, at any given time, he came up with countless possibilities that would have yielded more fruitful results.

With cold apathy, he directed his own memories and stitched them back together. He weaved story after story, scenario after scenario, and finally, he heard a whisper.

It was the first thing he had heard in a long time that hadn't originated from his own mind. Finally, the Ice deemed him worthy and extended him an invitation, and of course, he refused it.

"I am busy, come later."

He was not done with his planning. When else would he get infinite time to ponder and fix his mistakes? There was no way Nature would embarrass herself and kill him, and she will, no matter what help him reach Rank One. But the boy would probably never enter this state ever again, and so he pretended not to hear the Ice.

Ironically, the more he ignored it the louder it became. It had gotten to the point it was borderline screaming at the boy. And one day, he heard the Mist alongside the Ice.

"Shut up, you are two now, talk to each other."

He said as he was in the middle of thinking up ways he would deal with Clara's speed, should the need arise. The boy was more than sure that if they were to become enemies, the girl would have no problem dealing with him.

The sheer amount of speed she had was staggering.

Before long, the voices became three, Liquid joining in the mix.

"Leave me the fuck alone, I am busy." And yet his answer stayed the same.

He was preoccupied with his project, so much so that he hadn't even realized that since the other two had joined in, he once again had access to his emotions. He could use them, but he didn't, he just kept analyzing.

Soon, the elements took a page out of his book and bribed him. In exchange for allowing them inside, they would show him how to fight, and they would give him more options.

The boy wasn't going anywhere, and they were annoying him anyway, so he agreed.

The next moment, foreign memories entered his mind. Of a body that wasn't his, performing actions he didn't conceive possible. He saw it use all three aspects of the Water element. She boosted her defense with an armor of Ice, then increased her speed with the Mist. She moved effortlessly in water, as if the Liquid wasn't restraining her movements, but empowered her instead.

Watching in amazement, the voices told him to mimic, and so he did. Every movement she made, he followed, every ability she showed, he learned.

Finally, he opened his eyes and screamed, startling Verdania and surprising Mother Nature.

He stumbled forward and grabbed the Goddess by the sleeves, panting, exhausted by every step.

"Send me back, I had so much more to learn. I was cheated, she could have shown me a lot more, the voices said so. Send me back damn it." He cursed and shook her.

She just smiled and tapped his head, knocking him unconscious.

"You have a very peculiar kid, don't you? I sent him to hell and he cursed me out for not keeping him there longer. I admit I was wrong, he is not like eighter of you, he is more like that stupid bookworm." She said the last part in disgust.

Before Verdania could ask any more questions, Eleftherios arrived and picked Ciaran up placing him on his shoulder as if the boy was a bag of potatoes. Then he dragged his sister, and they left.

From arrival till departure, he said nothing and didn't even look at his mother. The old woman wasn't even slightly bothered by this.

'Kids.' She thought as she disappeared.

Back at the Maze, the dryads were looking at the boy with worry in their eyes. Whatever the old woman did to him, he had changed. With time they would tell if it was for the better or for the worst.

"Stay here I will negotiate with the fools to give him a little more time before he goes out playing Ranger," Eleftherios said and left. After five minutes he came back, blood all over his body, none of it his.

"They said we can take as much time as is necessary. I don't understand your hate for humans, they can be made to see reason for the important things." He said, with a slight smile on his face.

In the capital, the Emperor was hugging the wall, barely staying on his feet, while ten members of the consul were standing in their chairs frozen in fear. Today the Consul of thirteen had become short on two members, and the rest finally learned why their Emperor was so adamant in not antagonizing the gardener of the coastal Academy.