Astral Odyssey: Dying Ember

World 4.1: Vanora

Luna opened her eyes to find herself in complete darkness. If not for the intense ravenous hunger she was feeling, she would have thought that she was still in the same space from before. 

The difference between the hunger she felt in this world and the next is that this hunger did not seem to affect her energy. On the contrary, it felt like it was driving her crazy and it was taking up all the self control she had to prevent herself from going berserk and going on a rampage. What made matters worse was that she smelt something delicious nearby.

She had to know what she was dealing with first before she did anything though. She gritted her teeth hard together. BaoBao!

BaoBao immediately knew that she was ready to receive the information so stimulated the memories of this body.

The original soul of this body was a human named Vanora. An only child born to a poor but happy couple. Her parents did all they could to provide her the best but that did not mean they spoilt her. She had to earn it by helping out with the household and work. Her father was also tough on her when he taught her how to fight with her fists, a sword, a bow and arrow, an axe and more. She was not bad at it but could never meet the standard he wished for her to attain. Her mother may not win her father in strength but she always has him beat in wits, and that was what her mother tried to impart to her. 

Vanora initially struggled with their high expectations and became emotionally unstable at one point, however she knew that they were being hard on her for her own good. They were living among the poor where crimes and unrest was everywhere. If she could not protect herself, she would end up being taken advantaged of. Some people depended on the arrival of an angel but her parents taught her to never rely on one. After all, it depended on serendipity and luck if one would grace a village with their presence. You may not even live to the day when the angel would come to the village. 

Moreover, despite the fact that she kept failing to meet their high expectations, they never blamed or faulted her, and never stopped loving and encouraging her. 

When the war started, Vanora started feeling the pressure to be even better. Her lack of ability eventually led to an emotional breakdown. 

Her parents immediately knew that something was wrong and took a day off their training and work to attend to her emotions. Her parents hugged her, one on each side, with their heads gently resting on the top of her head.

Her mom started talking. "Vanora dear, you just do what you can. Don't worry if you fail. There's nothing wrong with it. Whenever you fail, we'll be here to support you. Whenever you mess up, we'll be here to clean it up." 

"And we love doing these for you because you're our darling child."

"Besides, we only survived till today because we have each other. So there's nothing to worry about not being able to stand by yourself, we're here for each other."

"All we wish for you is to survive and live freely and happily."

Vanora felt overwhelmed with their love and tears flowed uncontrollably while she nodded her head. She felt a renewed drive to become better but now she felt lighter as if a burden was lifted off her shoulders. She improved even more and not long later news of an angel at their village traveled to their house near the outskirts of the village.

The people around them started rushing to the centre of the village to meet the said angel. The family had been focusing on their work in the fields - planting, fertilising, harvesting, and maintaining. 

Vanora's excited gaze met her father's excited gaze and they were ready to go with the rest to meet the angel. However, when they looked at her mother's worried expression, their excitement cooled.