Vena

A beautiful, harmonious, crashing orchestra of a melodious three-toned voice washed over me, I heard Her both mind my mind and aloud. "Welcome Child of the Passage. I am Vēna, The Mother. Welcome to My Embrace." As She spoke, the light reduced, the warmth dimming to be like a single ray of soothing sunshine. The black and static was gone too, even the ringing and panic were gone. I felt. Wonderful. "I.." I swallowed, realizing I didn't know how to introduce myself. This felt real, not like the game world, even though I knew she was a Deity of Eternium. But this was real. "I am Sydney. Sydney Tanner."
The melodic tri-tone returned, lilting at me "I know Sydney. I know." She seemed like grace incarnate in this moment, and I believed her. She did know me. Somehow. "You will be alright. And to answer your questions, yes. You are dead."
If my heart could have stopped again, it would have. "I.. I am?" I could feel the tiniest whisper of panic start up again, but it was quelled instantly. "I… in which world?"
Vēna smiled warmly, but there was a hint of sadness to her eyes. What an odd sight she was, she looked young and old, weeping and joyous. I couldn't tell if her face was morphing, if she was simply emotional, or if this was how she presented to mortals. "Both, My child. You took within you something that you can never understand. Even one of my children who did not Drift would need to be a very special Spirit indeed to have withstood what you did." Her decrepit yet elegant fingers swirled in the air, a shimmering pool of suspended water settling the rift between us. In it I saw both my bodies, both lying still as could be.
I believed her on this as well. She was so easy to trust. And it made sense. I'd died in game before, and that was a quick black screen before a cemetery resurrection. This was… impossible. "But… if I'm dead.. In the real world. Then how am I talking to you now?"
The creeping sadness in her eyes began to flow in to her smile. "My sweet Sydney. You are between worlds, quite literally. Your spirit, or conscience, is here beyond the Veil." Her hands drifted again, the small floating pool turning in to a little bubble that floated to me. I held out my palm and it levitated above the center. My two still bodies still swirled within the shimmering bubble, like there was still something left for me to see within. Her voice cut through my thoughts as she continued. "This was never supposed to happen. And yet, it was inevitable. Fate will always guide towards chaos in the end."
"Wait wait wait, I'm not some chosen one young adult fiction hero, right? Please, fate did not guide me to die like this." I was taken aback in that moment, and I felt that encouraging, soothing warmth tremor slightly at my annoyance.
She laughed. It was like church bells and starlings and something haunting like an echo of a woman's mirthless laughter, all at once. It was unnerving and nostalgic, so natural in the moment. "My dearest Sydney Tanner, no. No you were not guided by fate. Nor are you some chosen one "young adult fiction hero" bullshit." She'd used the word I had wanted to, but had felt it to be impolite. She shot me a smirk and the warmth increased around me. "Here in the Embrace, Mother knows all. Now." She snapped her fingers of her left hand; the void like surrounding taking a new form of a grove.
Trees overlapped and intertwined, natural benches and seats forming from roots of ancient Magnolia trees spread in a horseshoe shape, welcoming us to go and sit amongst their natural architecture. As she guided me she continued. "Well I suppose, now you are the chosen one, but this could have happened to any of the ALPHA players. You weren't special before, not like you are now. Now, your ability to open trade routes through all three levels in less than 15 years, that. That is special. You have honored me greatly with how you have been kind to my children. All of them. I've seen you speak with so many of them, seeking to heal and help. You are shrewd in your business yes, but you've also helped connect and nurture the entire world." Her voices lowered to what amounted to a whisper. "Who knows. Perhaps it was only you who could have done this. "
Special? Chosen one? Me? My mind started reeling for a moment before she smirked again and shrugged. "Like I said, the only thing fate guides is to chaos." She beckoned me to a great root, a picnic table warping from another root right in front of it. I sat, watching the automatic carpentry with awe, and a little tinge of discomfort. The more I watched, the more I could just swear I saw.. Faces within the twisting tangles of knots.
Vena gave me a comforting pat on the thigh, and a wave of recognition flowed through me. She reminded me of my mother. My beautiful mother. She would be so happy here. "There are no faces, and I am The Mother, but not your Mother, Sydney. Your mind, the minds of all Passengers, you are ingrained with the ability to seek and find familiarity in anything. Faces in trees, it's simple pattern recognition. It's how compassion and connection is naturally formed. Else I doubt you'd have a single Rainforest left upon Earth. But that isn't important now." She waved her hand to the bubble still floating above my palm. I looked and saw commotion in both. The screen on my EVOKE system was trying to reboot, while a small group of people huddled around my body in game. - Excerpt from Land of the Living - Eternium, Book 1