Everything was calm, peaceful. He let himself drift with the waves, and it felt as if nothing could touch him. He was beginning to understand why Tachi had him do this — that feeling of becoming one with his surroundings — that was what he needed to achieve to control his energy.
He thought, "Maybe I should get out… I'm starting to feel tir—"
"Soren… I'm sorry, Soren…"
"Who? Who's talki—"
-----------------------
Mountains as far as the eye could see — that's what he saw when his eyes opened. He was exhausted, and in the distance, he could make out a village, much more primitive than any he had ever seen.
He moved forward, but he wasn't walking — someone was carrying him. He asked, "Where are we going?"
The man didn't answer — not directly — and Soren began to drift back into sleep.
Before he fell completely, he finally heard the man's voice.
"Soren… I'm so sorry, Soren. But everything will be fine. You'll live… so please, don't forget us, Soren…"
And then everything went black.
-----------------------
"Damn it, Tachi! What's happening? Already?!"
Akyo shouted, "That's impossible — not this soon!"
Tachi stared at the raging sea below them. "No… that's not possible. I didn't expect this — not yet. It's already here… the first fragment of Jormungandr's memory."
He turned toward Akyo and yelled,
"Akyo! Get ready — we never know what kind of memory it'll be!"
Akyo braced himself. They still didn't fully understand the nature of Jormungandr's powers — and if he went berserk, who knew what kind of attack might come their way.
"Should I force him back?" Tachi thought. "No… something's rising — he's resurfacing."
He saw a light glowing under the water, growing brighter and brighter. Suddenly, the sea split apart, forming a circle around the light.
Soren was there — physically — his energy erupting all around him. But his mind was elsewhere, fully absorbed in the memory he had just unlocked.
'What was that? Who was that? When… and where was I?'
The rediscovery of a piece of his past only brought more questions.
"Soren! Soren, can you hear me?!" Tachi shouted, trying to wake him. Without realizing it, Soren's energy kept expanding — more than ever before.
Tachi tried to think fast. No matter how much power Jormungandr released, it wouldn't be a threat to him — but to Akyo, it might be. Still, he couldn't just stop Soren now — this was something Soren had to overcome himself.
Flames of the same color as his eyes burned around him, his cloak whipping violently from the waves of energy.
"Soren! If you can hear me — now's the perfect time! Focus! Absorb your energy! That feeling you had underwater — you can reach it again now!" he yelled.
'I really hope my hypothesis is right…' Tachi thought.
"Tachi? He's telling me to absorb my energy? What's happening…" Soren's mind was clouded, lost. He couldn't see, couldn't feel anything.
"Hey, Soren!"
"That voice… Akyo?"
"You really think you can beat me if you can't even control yourself? Come on, wake up! Get a grip — only then can you reclaim your honor!" Akyo shouted.
'I'm bluffing here, I hope this works' he thought
"Control myself? Am I… losing control? I've got to pull it together…" Soren thought, focusing all of his being on one single goal — to wake up.
"Come on, damn it…"
After immense effort, his eyes finally opened. He managed to draw in the raging energy around him, absorbing it completely.
He looked up at Tachi.
"I did it…" he said with a faint smile. He had finally understood how to control his energy. Then, he lost consciousness and fell straight into the water.
"He did it!" thought Tachi, catching Soren before he hit the waves. He carried him back to shore and laid him gently on the sand.
"Nice work, Akyo — you actually got through to him."
"I can tell he can't stand me," Akyo replied. "Might as well use that to help him." Then he asked, "By the way, why didn't you just make a sphere to contain the danger zone?"
"I could lie and say it might've stopped him from regaining control… but honestly, I kinda wanted to see if he'd attack you."
"What??"
"I wanted to see how you'd defend yourself," he said, laughing.
"You've seriously got issues," Akyo replied with a smirk.
Minutes passed. Soren was still lying there, unconscious.
"Maybe we should wake him up now?" Akyo suggested.
"Yeah, if you want," Tachi replied. Akyo got up and walked towards the water.
Soren began to stir. He slowly opened his eyes, sat up, and asked, "What—"
Akyo kicked the water, splashing Soren head to toe, completely waking him.
"Damn it! I was already awake, you idiot!" Soren shouted.
"Oops," Akyo said, feigning ignorance while going back to sit down.
Soren wiped his face and slicked his wet hair back.
Tachi questioned him, "So, did you recover your first memory?"
"I think so…"
"How was it?"
"I'm not sure. It's hazy… it was night, in the mountains. I was exhausted. A man was carrying me, apologizing to me… that's about it," Soren explained.
"I see. Well, that's something at least. It's a start. We're lucky your first memory was that one."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, recovering a memory — even a faint, seemingly harmless one — made you lose control for a few minutes. But sometimes, the first memories gods recover are painful ones — the loss of a loved one… or even the memory of their own death. When that happens, they go berserk, and stopping them becomes much harder."
"I see…", 'But who was that man talking to me?' Soren wondered.
"By the way," Tachi asked eagerly, "what did you feel underwater?"
"Warmth… gentleness… I felt at peace. The same feeling I get when I'm overwhelmed by my energy."
"Yes! Perfect, that's exactly what I needed to hear! We can go back to base now!" he said excitedly, jumping to his feet and heading off.
Akyo walked up to Soren who was still on the ground and held out his hand. "Come on," he said.
Soren took it, stood up, thanked him, and the two followed Tachi.
They walked the same path back, Tachi humming to himself.
"Why is he so happy?" Soren asked Akyo.
"Everything he just made you do — it was only a theory he had. And you just proved it right. He's been trying to confirm it for ages but never had the chance to test it on a partly elemental god. He's the wind, and you're deeply tied to water — so he thought maybe you could feel similar things. It might not sound like much, but it's still one more thing we know about ourselves."
"I see," Soren said, thinking, 'I guess he couldn't test it with Akyo since he's a god unrelated to any element…'
Ten minutes later, they finally reached the base. They entered, passing by the two guards still posted at the entrance.
As they walked past, Tachi suddenly turned around. "Guys! I just had a vision — tell everyone in the base tonight, the feast's on me!"
The two soldiers' eyes lit up. "Yes, sir! We'll spread the word!"
Tachi continued walking.
"What's he talking about?" Soren asked.
"That… I can't tell you. You'll see for yourself tonight," Akyo replied with a grin.