When Kalen awoke, the chaos in his mind had dissipated. He had drifted in and out of consciousness far too many times for him to count. His thoughts were muddled and his entire body complained.

Moving seemed out of the question. He could barely feel his limbs as it was.

Had he gone overboard and got hurt trying to do whatever Seth bet he couldn't? What had it been? He couldn't remember. The chaos might have been gone but it was still foggy inside his head.

Slowly, some pieces started coming together. The cliff... It collapsed, he thought. No, that's not right.. I shattered it.

Striking the cliff, falling with the unknown man, the blue light. Kalen began organizing his memories. Opening his eyes proved a hard effort, but even harder was changing the awkward position his body was in. Kalen grimaced at the pain caused by rolling to lay on his back.

The rocky ground was cold. The ceiling glowed the same brilliant blue he had seen before. He was probably in a cavern, but how? He should be dead, or at least drowning in the bottom of the ocean. The last thing he remembered before falling was making sure Shiori wasn't falling with him.

Shiori!

Kalen abruptly shifted his body, feeling as if a thousand needles pierced every nerve in it. He was able to move his arms — under tremendous amount of pain — but his legs were a different story altogether. He gritted his teeth, tugging on an imaginary rope in his mind, and rolled one more time. If his legs wouldn't answer then he would crawl. He needed to find Shiori and make sure she was safe.

Looking around only extended his confusion. He couldn't find Shiori, or the man they fought. There was also no indication of a cave-in.

"How the hell did I end up here?" Kalen tried saying aloud. His voice, however, failed to properly come out.

An underground river flowed nearby, attracting his attention, its translucent waters shining under the blue glow of the cave. Suddenly, as if the finding had lit a lamp in his head, he realized his throat was as dry as firewood.

Dragging himself towards the river turned out to be a challenge greater than he anticipated. Crawling for what felt like ages, Kalen was finally able to dip his face in the liquid surface.

The river water was lukewarm, but its temperature was enough to allow his head a much needed cooling off. He opened his mouth and gulped the water avidly. Then he noticed. It was fresh water. In all his confusion and pain he had forgotten he should have been around the ocean, but then... how could the water be fresh?

After swallowing as much water as his thirst allowed him to, Kalen crawled towards the cave wall, leaning his back on it. He needed to make sense of everything, find out where he was.

While trying to settle himself in position, the fingers in his right hand entered a small fissure in the rock and he looked at it reflexively. When he moved the hand something reflected out of the fissure, so he reached inside tentatively.

"An amulet?" Kalen muttered, studying the piece in his hand.

He easily recognized it as an exquisite work. An imposing bird arched its wings inside a ring. The way it reflected the light and the fact it was in perfect condition — despite being in a fissure inside a cave — told Kalen it was no doubt an expansive piece.

As Kalen stared at the amulet his senses suddenly reacted and he heard that familiar calling reaching out to him again. The piece shone, a blinding clear light radiating from it, forcing him to cover his eyes with one arm while closing the hand holding the amulet.

"Hello, young man." A woman said, too close to his ear.

Startled, Kalen searched his surroundings for the woman's whereabouts.

"You won't find me in the cave, I'm afraid." The woman said. "I am inside you."

Kalen frowned. Am I hearing voices now?

"I supposed that's the expected reaction." The woman said, some amusement leaking in her voice. "I had the exact same one on my first time."

Kalen closed his eyes and his left hand went to his head. It still throbbed, but he was calm and his thoughts had cleared since the initial confusion. The calling however, was stronger than ever. Before it had always been so subtle he could ignore if he wanted to. Not anymore, it seemed. 

What's going on? Did I hit my head too hard?

"You're not going crazy." The woman said. "Give me a chance to explain. See the amulet in your right hand?"

Kalen hadn't realized he still held on to the amulet. The piece continued to radiate a bright light, but the intensity was greatly reduced, no longer blinding him.

"It was my amulet." The woman said. "Before I died I connected it to my soul hoping someone would find it. And well... you did."

Kalen was dumbfounded. An amulet connected to someone's soul? He was definitely hearing things and quite the fantastical ones to boot. The voice's denial had to be a self defense mechanism. There could only be such an explanation for the bizarre exchange between his thoughts and the unknown female voice inside his head.

The woman sighed. "You're a stubborn one aren't you? Alright, focus your anima on the amulet once more and our soul's connection will strengthen. That way I'll be able to manifest my projection to you."

Anima? What's anima?

"What?" The woman asked. "How come you don't know what's anima? You would need to wield it to connect your soul to the... wait..." She seemed confused, which in turn left Kalen confused. Again. "Your name is Kalen, right? I am sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sarah."

Was he supposed to say something? For starters it wasn't as if he was trying to have a conversation. The voice simply talked after Kalen thought about whatever he had heard. Should he pretend he was really talking to someone else?

"You ARE talking to someone else!" The woman, Sarah, snapped, raising her tone which so far had been sweet and calm. Kalen was taken aback by the force in it and remained quiet, unsure if he should be feeling afraid.

"I am sorry for that." She continued. "I just didn't expect it would be this complicated. It seems the reason for it is you being unfamiliar with anima and what it allows us to do. I'll explain about that in a second, but first, I need you to close your eyes and focus on the amulet. Imagine you are creating a tunnel connecting your mind to it."

Kalen did as he was told, mostly because he didn't know what else he could do to stop the voice.

The amulet grew colder in his hand. Suddenly, the dark space in his mind was being half filled by white, and soon a woman's figure wearing a white dress appeared in it.

Sarah was stunningly beautiful. She looked older than Kalen, possibly around her mid-twenties. Long platinum hair falling smoothly down to her waist. Porcelain white complexion which was paired with deep violet eyes, making Kalen wonder if he was seeing some kind of wingless angel. Her dress was sleeveless so he noticed her arms displayed trained muscles while maintaining the ladylike exuberance her figure evoked.

Sarah smiled, amplifying her angelic aura. 'Perfect. This is much better. Nice to properly meet you, Kalen.'

'How is this possible?' Kalen asked. 'I'd say I am dreaming but I don't want to risk upsetting you anymore.'

'Good. Losing my composure served for something at least.' Sarah said, sitting down with such elegance that Kalen pictured she was in a field of flowers. Smooth movements he had only seen once from a distinguished traveler. Slowly folding her knees until she was at the ground, then extending one leg over the other — which remained folded. All the while her dress covering her legs and her back kept straight. Kalen wondered if she was a princess before dying.

Sarah chuckled. 'An angel and a princess? You are rising quickly in my standards.'

Kalen flushed.

Sarah winked. 'I am just breaking the ice. Please make yourself comfortable. This is, of course, your mind.' She gestured to the space around them — which had become white in its entirety. 'There is no concept of tiredness here, but the projections you and I see are the state of our souls. If we seek relaxation with our intent, then it will propagate to our soulstate.'

'Have you been in other people's minds many times?' Kalen asked, taking a seat cross-legged while processing Sarah's metaphysical explanation.

Sarah shook her head. 'Not at all. This is my first time. I have, however, been in the position you currently are. Connecting with someone else's soul. That's how I learned this ability and everything about the Garden of Souls.'

Kalen frowned. 'Garden of Souls?'

'We'll get to that eventually.' Sarah said. 'Now then, since you couldn't possibly imagine what you have never known, can I assume I proved my existence?'

Kalen nodded. He wasn't completely convinced, but he couldn't deny he was experiencing something beyond his comprehension either. He needed to understand how he woke up in that cave. Maybe Sarah could help with that.

Sarah smiled. 'Smart thinking. You have piqued my interest, Kalen. So much so I'd like to make a request. Could you visualize the most impactful moments in your life so far?'

After Kalen complied, Sarah closed her eyes. She remained silent while he tried to think of anything important he could remember. Kalen found it was an unusual request, but it seemed she had been reading his thoughts so he guessed she was concentrating on something. More than one time he regretted the memory which had popped up in his mind, feeling embarrassed. It didn't help that in each one of those instances Sarah let a smile appear in the corner of her mouth.

'I see now,' She finally said, opening her eyes. 'the reason behind your skepticism. You have lived your entire life hidden away. But who would have thought... of all people, my amulet would be found by a lost descendant.'