In the early morning, before the tribe would open their eyes, Mr Yamato woke me up and asked me to accompany him on his travel. It was still dark outside with very minimal brightness of sun rays lurking on the horizon of mountains. The deers were tied to the cart and the ride was ready to move. He waved his hands toward me and I placed myself inside the cart.

"Don't you think you should ask the tribe leader before taking me for a ride?"

"Don't worry," He said with a cold face. "I'm sure he won't mind."

I stood quietly, holding the edges of the cart walls and the deers started pulling the cart behind them. The air rushed through the trenchcoat against my arms and without trembling or shaking, my body felt the coldness of the area.

"The blue herb you speak of," I asked while the ride moved at a steady pace. "What is it? How does it work?"

"The people native to these mountains call it the flower of life," He replied. His eyes were stuck on the road which made sense considering the unpredictable flow of snowy winds. "It is an actual dark-blue coloured flower, which is found in the depth of the surface - these people call it the abyss. The flower emits a dark-blue glow which makes it easy to locate even in the darkness. It was first found by me and the current tribe leader around seventeen years ago and it has healing abilities."

While travelling, I looked around and my eyes went to the frozen waterbody we passed along the way. The temperature was below the point that it could freeze the surface of the water body, in such a condition the cart was pulled by the deers with enough speed to freeze someone and yet, my body didn't feel much cold.

Sure, I could still feel the strong winds of cold rushing through my arms and clothes, but it was not as harsh as it should have been otherwise. I looked back at Mr Yamato.

"You sure it only heals one's body?" I asked, squeezing my eyes due to the direct flow of wind. "Cause I feel like it did many other things to me."

Mr Yamato didn't turn around and kept looking at the road ahead while guiding the deers. He said, "The flower, the blue herb, is found in the depth of the surface, a place from where the natural energies originate. For any person who possesses the natural energies, the flower acts like a medicine and has effective healing abilities."

He paused and stood quietly for some time fixing his eyes on the snowy road. I waited for him to continue his explanation but he didn't say a word ahead. After a while, my restless mind was tempted to ask him the remaining explanation and I asked, "Then what happened to me?"

Brief laughter escaped him which he controlled in no time. "Your situation was much different," he said. "Unlike most others, you didn't possess any form of natural energies which is unusual for someone who lives on this land, and your body had no signs of life when you were treated with the herb."

"I'm originally not from Lydia," I said, telling him the truth. "I was born in the Nation of Rose, that is where I spent the first five years of my life before ... before people at SIMI kidnapped me and my brother."

Nation of the Rising sun? The nation beyond the sea? Mr Yamato realised. He was surprised but he still managed to control his expressions and life force. "That explains why you don't have any mutation and no energies." He said calmly. "You have a brother?"

"I had a brother ... he died in an incident in Thena."

He sighed, releasing his breath. "Sorry for asking."

"It is fine." I shook my head. "I never mind. Even William doesn't know about him."

The gust of cold wind rushed through my body as the cart turned left from the corner and moved ahead on the road. I still didn't know where he was taking me. The supplies, he often used to bring to the tribe, were brought some days ago, so there was less possibility for that.

I stood quietly, holding on to the edges of the cart and he fixed his attention on the deers and road. After travelling for a while, the ride slowed down and eventually stopped in front of an open area. The area was decently big snow-covered ground with some white dunes of snow standing roughly in the middle.

Mr Yamato got off his driving seat and took a broad wooden stick with him. He walked some steps forward and it seemed like he counted his every step while moving. After moving some steps, he stopped at his place. Removing the layer of snow to reveal a hard rock buried inside, he lifted his stick and struck it on the stone a few times, producing a striking sound.

There was a silence in the area before there appeared a sound of chains rubbing against the metal surface. The sound continued and I kept looking at Mr Yamato, standing ahead looking at the white snow dunes. More machinery sound emerged from the place like some mechanical parts were rubbing against each other and the white snow dunes in front started ascending.

My eyes widened in shock, looking at the scene in front. The white snow dunes ascended as the machinery sound continued and the ground in the area rumbled, the snow the surrounding of those dunes got seperated and a wall emerged from the ground. The snow dunes revealed themselves as roofs as the snow slid off them and a massive mansion emerged from the layer of snow on the ground.

Mr Yamato turned around and smiled. "Follow me."

I walked toward him with a surprised face. "What place is this?"

"It's a mansion-the Yamato residence-once created by my ancestors," he replied while walking toward the gate doors. I caught up to his pace and walked with him.

"This building ... it just emerged from the ground," I said with a questioning look.

"The mansion was once stuck between a battle and was severely damaged. Later, Steve Tradis funded me to rebuild it in such a peculiar way. So if needed, it can move inside the ground and work in various ways."

"Steve tradis?" I asked. "The current Eva director?"

He nodded and walked ahead toward the gates. His palms touched the gates and he pushed the doors inside. With a creaking sound of wooden doors, the gates opened and the interior was revealed to me. The mansion was built in traditional style and polished wood was used in greater numbers of areas. The place was built like the base of some company.

I noticed a person inside, sitting on a comfortable seat in something which looked like a waiting area. He was dressed in grey attire and a white coloured Haori on the top. As the gates behind us closed due to some mechanism, the person turned around and stood up noticing us.

The person looked young, almost like William if not a little older. He closed the book in his hand, kept it on the seat nearby and walked through the corridor toward the lawn we were walking on.

"Master Itsuki," The person said. "Welcome back to the residence."

Mr Yamato smiled and pointed toward me. "His name is George, George Watson as he introduced himself. He will be joining us."

The person in front looked at me and bowed a little. "My pleasure. You can call me Akio."

Assuming it was tradition, I bowed and smiled back. "The pleasure is mine." I looked back at Mr Yamato and asked. "What do you mean by joining you?"

"As I already mentioned, I am Itsuki Yamato." Mr Yamato said. "The owner of the residence, a former elite and the person working under Eva."

"You were the person Steve asked me to look for?"

"Might be," He replied. "Steve never directly mentioned anything regarding that. He did say a person from Eva would travel the harsh depths of the mountains and I or Akio might come across him. But we never talked about any details."

Mr Yamato turned toward the other person. "Akio, show him around the area. I'm assuming he will stay here for a while."

~~

Akio, the only person in the residence except for Mr Yamato's wife, showed me around the mansion. The place was big, grand, minimally yet elegantly decorated but much more comforting than any other place I visited in the last few weeks. It was a square-shaped mansion, with a rectangular free space from inside where one could see the snow falling from the sky. The borders of the mansion were broad corridors, wooden floored and had sliding doors which connected them to the rooms and sections.

Below the roof, which at first looked like snow dunes, there was the main part of the mansion with one big hall which, from the tiny scratch marks on the wall, I assumed to be a sparring place or big auditorium. Another room, joined to the hall, had old relics and paintings and records. There were many old mythical paintings carved on the walls and old weapons placed on top of it in their holders.

In the end, there were some rooms and two cooking places which, I assumed, were for personal use.

After showing me around, we returned to the broad corridors at the beginning of the mansion and Akio opened one of the sliding doors.

"Here," He pointed inside. "As asked by Master Itsuki, for now, you can rest yourself here. I hope it will be comforting for you ... as much time as you plan to stay."

"Why do you call him Itsuki?"

"Oh... um... it's his first name." He said with a tiny confused smile. "Here we call him that."

"We?"

"Um... yes." He looked a bit nervous. "Until a week ago, there were many more people-his students-here. After they completed their classes, they departed back to their places."

I nodded and walked inside the room. Akio smiled again and took his leave. His smile was much different from others. I was able to feel his feelings and intentions were pure and he was a kind soul. A humble and sincere student and, a kind of, servant to Mr Yamato.

I rested myself on the bed in the corner of the room and looked around. It was a fine room - a table in one corner, a single clean wooden chair, a closet, a decently big window and a bright lamp above head, to which I was surprised to see the electricity connection in such a remote place in this harsh terrain.

I stood up and closed the door. Removed my trench coat, kept it on the table in the corner and let my body fall on the bed.

'Steve never directly mentioned anything regarding that.' I remembered Mr Yamato's words. 'He did say a person from Eva would travel the harsh depths of the mountains and I or Akio might come across him. But we never talked about any details.'

Looking at the roof above, lying on the bed, I wondered why Steve Tradis sent me to this place. He said there might be someone waiting for me, someone who can assist me. Even if it is Mr Yamato, why would he not inform him about my arrival earlier? Or was it someone else who's still out there in these mountains and is expecting my arrival?

After more than an hour had passed, there was a knock on the door.

"Mr Watson," The voice sounded like Akio. "Mr Itsuki is willing to meet you. Can I inform him you're coming?"

I got up from the bed. "I will be there. I just need a moment."

"Very well," he replied. "Visit the hall of carvings I showed you before on the opposite end of the mansion. He shall meet you there."

The knocking stopped and he went away. I adjusted my hair, removed my waistcoat-there was no need to wear that indoors-and walked out of the room. My eyes were still not tired of the grandness and elegantness of the place. It felt like a royal house, just with fewer servants. One of the other workers showed me the way toward the restroom and after freshening myself up, I walked toward the hall.

As I entered the door, I saw him sitting down on a circular cushion, on the big square carpet on the wooden floor. There was another circular cushion kept some feet away in front of him-for me to sit-and he was alone. He looked at me.

"You called me?"

Mr Yamato glanced at me. "Yes, have a seat." He nodded and pointed at the cushion in front.

I walked ahead, near him and sat down on the cushion on the floor. I saw his face looked a bit more active and he had trimmed his beard. His white beard was not as long as it was before. He was dressed in a brown wraparound with a white haori, just like Akio, on top of it. I sat silently in my place, noticing a faint floral scent in the surrounding. A mild scent but it would have calmed any hot or angry mind.

"The Mountain people, Himians, noticed you the moment you stepped on the mountain." Mr Yamato said.

"Say what?"

"These people of mountains," He repeated. "They noticed you, saw you, observed you from the very moment you walked in the area of mountains. They see everything."

"And why are you telling this to me?"

"These people are cautious and sceptical about the outlanders in their area. They always tend to throw them out or make them leave this place willingly." His eyes blinked. "Same would have been the case with you, they would have observed you for a long time and then confronted you, finally making you leave the mountains."

"I'm sure they don't own the mountain," I said, resting my hands on my knees. "And even if they do, why are they so secretive toward the people from outside?" Asked the curiosity inside me.

"Right now, these people, the Himians. They are strong, raw and brutal fighters- just like the beasts on the rampage." Mr Yamato said. "They were not the same before, before some decades. They were kind, and innocent and served anyone who visited them with respect-just like their own family-until the blue herb was discovered. A herb born from the depth of the soil and had a direct connection to the flow of natural energies and the layline centre-the tree of life."

"The tree of life."

"This blue flower was said to have abilities beyond human beings-connecting one's inner consciousness to the source of the energy flow, the ability to see and travel between realities and dimensions. To enhance their consciousness enough to see the visions of the future." His voice was deep and serious and once in a while, he would look around, confirming that no one was hearing the conversation.

"Outlanders realised the supernatural abilities of this peculiar blue herd and expressed their obsession toward mining it," He continued. "The mountain people refused to cooperate but outside people refused to back off. They built massive walls and roadways, brought heavy machinery-enormous drilling rigs, bucket chain elevators, bulldozers and containers-and ravaged their lands for decades."

He kept explaining the past of the Mountain people and the time around us seemed to have been frozen. His every word felt much deeper and I could see the scene happening in front of my eyes. Was it because of my body harnessing the essence of the very same herb which, these humans tortured the mountain people for so long? I didn't know.

"The machinery," I said. "Those machines actually exist?"

"Why of course they do," He nodded. "They existed from before the calamity of 500 years ago, and are left out by the previous civilisation. When there existed no border between the nations, the People of Thena ravaged the lands beyond their limits, including these mountains. The machines were later banned after the peace treaty was signed between Lydia and Thena. People today don't know that technology exists in this world. So the Himians changed themselves after knowing true nature of humanity . . . learning it the hard way."

"Even though at first, as you said, they refused to heal me," I said. "They didn't seem as cruel as you make them sound."

"You even survived because I made him trust me that you were sent here by fate."

I shot a curious glance at him. "Sent by fate? What, are we a part of a fantasy or something?"

"Fantasies," He quoted and laughter escaped him. He looked back at me. "Fantasies don't exist outside the human brain, son. Everything you see, you feel and you make has a reason, and a force of scientific evidence. People who don't understand this 'Science' call those things spells and sorcery, just like you people from Eva."

"So you lied to them."

"Sometimes, there occur things which can't be explained by science," He said and I noticed his voice was getting more stable and calm. He was still serious as before but now there was no feeling of rage inside his tone.

"A decade ago, I and the current tribe leader ventured inside the depths of the surface." Mr Yamato took a sip of water from the glass container nearby and continued. "There were legends about the Blue herb still present in some parts of the mountain, very few left after the invasion of Thena. We wanted to find it to help make the Mountain people strong again."

"You ventured into the Abyss?"

"There's no Abyss," He strictly said. "You are among those people who don't understand the true nature of something, thus use a fantasy term to come up with a conclusion."

I apologetically bowed to apologise for interrupting him.

He nodded. "When we finally found some of the remains of the Blue herb, a voice appeared around us," he said. "It was not exactly a voice, but rather a feeling that someone whispered or said something in our ears at the same time. A prophecy."

"A prophecy," Laughter escaped me which I tried my best to control after looking at Mr Yamato's horrifyingly serious face. "I-I'm sorry."

"What is there to laugh about?"

"How exactly does this claim of hearing a Prophecy work according to science?"

I saw Mr Yamato go quiet for a moment and a feeling arose inside me telling me that I should have not asked him that question. His white hair shows his old age and his experience in this world more than mine. It was rude and disrespectful of me to react like that.

A chilly breeze of wind came through the open sliding door and went through the area, making my hairs wave and his bit longer hairs wave more elegantly in it. He looked outside the window at the tree branches which were white due to the snow and looked back at me.

"The prophecy was," he said, ignoring my earlier rudely asked question. "The people are divided and conflicts aroused, but there will arrive a person-an outlander-different from the rest of the world. He will harness the strength of beyond, break the physical boundaries and unite everyone. He will start a new, better beginning."

Mr Yamato still refused to disclose or share much about the people of the Mountains, but hearing this felt different. Those words had much deeper importance than I thought when I first heard them from him. I kept thinking about it, only to understand its meaning after many years at the end of the Genesis.

"Then some days ago, you showed up in the mountains." Mr Yamato said, looking into my eyes and my eyes kept staring at him. "You kept moving forward in that storm with that child. In the situation of death, which you knew you were in, another person would choose to leave the child and save their own life. But you chose the kid's life over yours."

He looked out at the trees again.

"That showed you were different from others," He said. "The word of Prophecy runged in my mind when I found you with the child. But that alone was not enough. So, when you were dead by the time I brought you back to the settlement, instead of keeping you dead, I convinced the tribe leader to resurrect you using the blue herb."

"But the blue herb not only brought me back to like..." I continued, realising what he was willing to explain all this time. "The natural energies of the blue herb also resonated with my body, which originally had no natural energies."

Mr Yamato nodded, realising I understood the conclusion. "Your body was able to survive the effects of the herb without any energies. Now you possess the true forms of energies of laylines deep within you."

I was not sure If it was a moment for me to be proud of surviving the blue herb's deadly effects, as mentioned by him, or to be confused about 'how did I survive it?'

"As of now, this is just a theory," he concluded. "But, I believe you might be the person in the Prophecy once heard by me and the tribe leader."

He said straight away and I was speechless. Many questions crowded my brain and were willing to come out to ask him the answers but my mind didn't know how to respond to his conclusion. I sat silently, looking at him.

* * *

In the Nation of Assyria, William and Maya descended the valley near the massive cloud wall of the cursed belt and, now, Maya was standing in front of the lake Auntie Sophia mentioned earlier and William was standing inside the water, marvelling at the phenomenon of shining particles of water waves.

"Get inside the lake,"

William shot a confused glance at Maya as she said that.

"You said 'what do I have to do?'" Maya repeated. "Remove your clothes-just the shirt- and get inside the lake"

William looked down at the shining water and walked out on the dry surface. Crossing his arms and reaching out to the end of the shirt cloth, he removed the t-shirt borrowed from his relative brother Joe and kept it aside away from the water. He asked nothing and walked back inside as ordered by his sister.

"This is just an attempt at an experiment," Maya said. "I still don't know if Mary's consciousness actually is inside you. My assumption might be wrong. . ." she paused for a while. "Don't expect success . . . so there won't be a disappointment."

"Ever since I was separated from you-my only sister-and Mary," William replied. "I lived with nothing but just the possibilities. Possibilities for everything. . . don't worry, there won't be any disappointment."

"Good," said Maya. "Sit on your knees."

Following her orders, William got on her knees and Maya, without making any foot noise, walked some steps away from the water and removed her clothes, only keeping the undergarments on her, and walked inside the water.

The particles inside the lake, which to an ordinary human eye looked like stars of a galaxy submerged in the lake, shined silver-white with the waves produced by the disturbance in the water. She walked closer to William, who was on his knees and wrapped her arms around his body, giving him a hug, keeping her chin on his shoulder.

William was shocked and hesitated, "What-" He moved but Maya's arms were locked. "What are you doing?"

"Calm down, idiot," Maya snapped. "I still have my undergarments on."

"Is it really necessary?" William asked. "Can't you just sit on your knees, beside me?"

"Mary's consciousness was transferred inside you, not me," Maya said in a scolding tone. "And you clearly don't possess enough strength to manifest even her partial form. I'm using myself as a catalyst, as a tool-like a battery-to provide your body with enough flow of energies."

"Not enough strength?" William replied. "I was able to stand against a rank you know?"

"A lower order rank, and you still needed Charlotte's assistance to defeat him," Maya scolded. "Heck, you couldn't even protect yourself when a higher-order rank appeared. If Charlotte hadn't sacrificed herself, you would have been dead by now. Now dump that ego and stay focussed."

Maya's voice had a sense of anger and frustration inside it. William clearly felt that and realised that even she, an exceptionally stable-minded person, was feeling it hard to stay stable after the recent events occurred. William nodded, apologised and stood calm.

Maya's arms gripped tighter around William and her palms touched his, inside the water touching the floor of the lake.

"Spread your fingers and let the palm touch the sand inside," Maya said. "Focus on the flow of your energies and concentrate all the alienated energies toward the palm."

Maya explained and guided him and William, silently, followed her orders. Maya's palms extended over William's and she followed her steps to act as a catalyst in the mass manifestation process.

Extending the relation between mass and energy-which early science gave the world-if the energy and mass are interchangeable to a degree, then if one had close to the infinite amount of energy to draw from and a blueprint or a recipe to work on in the form of memory data, one could theoretically manifest anything they wanted. This is how the manifestation techniques used by Elites at Eva worked, which the people who didn't understand the science behind it would call it 'sorcery' or 'spells'.

Maya was familiar with this form of the ancient, yet much higher form of science developed over millions of years which were buried in history after the calamity of five hundred years ago. For her, this was the time to put this theory to use. To act as a catalyst, and boost William's energy emission close to infinite to Manifest a partial form of their mother, from a faint spark of consciousness present inside him.

"Focus," Maya said again, calming her mind. "Feel my natural energies engulfing yours and push them with enough strength out of your palms. Leave the rest to me."

William followed.

As William confirmed the flow of alienated energies inside his own natural energy flow. His face was intensed and his mind stressed. A vision flashed in front of his eyes and an intense spark ran all over his head. Maya caught the unusual energy flow and engulfed them around her. Using her as an accelerator, the energies were pushed down into the lake water which made the water shine like many flashes of fairy lights.

A part of lake water bulged and then took a shape like a water dune. The water rose upward and started reshaping itself like a human. A white figure emerged from the water dune with blinding light but the light didn't affect William's eye.

"Mary..." words escaped William's mouth.

A figure of a lady-dressed in a moon white wraparound, blue eyes, covered by the pupils and long silver-white hairs just like William-emerged from the lake of shining particles. Maya looked at the lady and a tear came running down her face. Looking at her opening her eyes, Maya released her palms from the floor and sat back inside the water, heavily breathing.

"William..." The lady said. "M. . . Maya?"

The lady walked some steps forward toward them both and instantly losing her strength, got down to her knees. Looking at her fall to her knees, William and Maya stood up without catching their breaths and raced toward her. They got closer and the lady took them both in her arms.

"Mary," William said. "It is actually you."

Maya said nothing but tears in her eyes expressed her happiness and satisfaction after meeting their mother again.

"How... how am I here?" Mary said.

"Just taught William some deep concepts of physics," Maya said and chuckled. "A spark of consciousness was inside him."

Mary chuckled back taking her both kids-William and Maya-closer to her, tightening her warm long awaited hug.

"I. . .I feel so weak?" Mary noticed.

"Your consciousness," Maya said, supporting Mary to her stomach. William stood quiet. "Your consciousness is still weak. William's body is still acting like a host."

"You mean she's stuck inside me forever?" William asked, adding to the conversation.

"No-no, I just need some more time and strength," Maya said. "I'm sure I can do something about that."

"You did more than enough, sweetheart," Mary said, kissing Maya's head. "You surpassed your limits. Look how strong and mature you both have become."

"Oh, this all was just me," Maya said mockingly. "William did nothing. He's still small, childish and immature."

"Hey!" William replied. "Stop pretending you're great."

"Cause I am, Mr little peanut."

Maya said and Mary chuckled. "You both didn't change even a bit did you?"

Maya and William felt Mary's body softening and with a satisfied smile on her face. Mary's physical form disappeared in front of their eyes. William looked around, confused.

"What happened," He said in confusion. "Mary... where's she?"

"Don't worry," Maya replied. "She's fine. A spark of her consciousness is still inside you. You just need to be stronger."

Maya stood up from the lake water and walked out. William kept looking at her. Maya wore her upper clothes and looked back at him.

"Come on," she said. "Let's move back home."

William smiled. "It feels good here. Go ahead. I will wait a little longer and catch up to you before you reach the car."