Dawn came quietly.
The darkness drained from the sky, taking away the strange, venomous green and blue swirls with it. In their place settled something ordinary—a pale blue expanse, with clouds catching the light in shades of amber and white. A sun stood in the east, as familiar as that of their world.
The grass made more sense in daylight. Its color settled at something between sage and seafoam. It moved a bit more lively than at night, but the movement remained strange, not particularly matching the wind.
Alden couldn't think much of all this.
He was already on his feet before the scream had finished. With loud heartbeats in his chest, his eyes searched for the source.
Briefly before falling on a figure standing within the field, same as them. The group formed a loose circle as they observed a woman—the same woman in pink pajamas who had complained about her kids. But she was different now.
Her hair was fire. Not just by color—actual fire. It looked alive and restless, curling upward from her scalp in ribbons of bright orange and deep red. Her eyes had changed as well; they had a molten glow in them.
Alden wasn't certain if she was the one who let out the scream. But if she was, her face told a different story. There was no trace of panic, only a deep calm as though something locked away had been revealed to her.
Everyone remained still for several seconds. The first to break this silence was just to the right of Alden. He dropped to the ground, clasped his hands, and began muttering words.
"Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!..."
Alden was too lost in his own thoughts to pay attention. 'I–Incredible. A Soul Attribute.'
This was by far the greatest thing he'd witnessed. He'd read about this, but seeing them with his own eyes was very different. People returning from the Beyond never used abilities in their world, so you could only see it in action here.
This could only be awakened by becoming a Beyonder. All souls are different, and because of this, the time of awakening varies from person to person. It can take a few hours up to two full days. It was remarkable how she was able to awaken this early.
'Is it because of the emotion she's been feeling towards her children?' Alden didn't know how or why soul attributes manifest. 'I wonder how she feels?'
The woman looked down at her own hands, then slowly turned them over. The flames in her hair flickered with her breath.
"Congratulations!"
The woman turned to see Julius already moving towards her with a smile stretched across his lips. Everyone had been looking at her in surprise, but now, it was her turn to look at Julius the same way.
He was pretty much how they imagined him: straight black hair, tall, calm and composed.
But neither she nor anyone here anticipated that he'd have a scar on his face.
It appeared to be caused by burns, stretching from the right side of his forehead down to his cheek.
Given the nature of the soul attribute she had just awakened, the irony was not lost on anyone.
"It's a good thing to see our rebirth has begun. With this, our chances at survival increase significantly. May I ask your name?"
"Cait. My name is Cait." The flames in her hair and eyes dimmed as she spoke, flickering down slowly until they were gone.
"Cait. You must have a powerful soul to awaken this early. If we play our cards right, then you will get to see your children again." He turned to the rest of the group.
"As a teacher in the trial academy, I can tell you there isn't any universally guaranteed method for awakening your soul attribute. But what I can tell you for sure is that you need to open your hearts and minds to acceptance."
'Acceptance?' Alden wasn't sure where he was heading with this.
"Accept your past. Accept your present. Accept what you want to be, and what could become. I'm not the most experienced teacher, but I can go into a bit more detail." A brief pause followed. "Unfortunately, we don't have the time. We'll starve long before I finish with everyone. So you'll have to make the discovery yourself."
Julius left them in thought with these words.
'Accept the past?'
Two faces flashed before his eyes.
"We promise, son. We'll come back."
A frown formed on Alden's face. He didn't enjoy thinking back to that time in his life, but he had already accepted it a long time ago. That was the only reason he'd made it this far.
Still unsure how this would help him, he decided to set it aside for now.
"Wait! Can't you just tell us a little bit more? I don't fully understand," the woman in office clothing requested, barely hiding the desperation in her eyes.
"No!" The husky-voiced man cut in. "He's right. We can't waste energy focusing on something that isn't certain to work. We should find a way out of here."
"Yes! I feel hungry already. Can we find food here?" It wasn't surprising given the source. Even his bathrobe couldn't hide the figure underneath.
Everyone seemed to agree with the notion, so Julius nodded. "There's a problem. Which direction do we go?"
Eyes glanced in every direction, looking for an answer to this question.
Then a voice came — soft, carried on a gust of wind.
"East."
Everyone turned to the source to see a girl — a young woman, if you will. She was the only one still seated on her rock.
She sat still with her legs folded neatly beneath her. The atmosphere around her made it seem like the chaos of the past several hours had simply moved around her without leaving a mark.
Dark brunette hair rested at the curve of her mid-back. It swayed gently as her brown eyes moved across the group without hurry, settling briefly on each face before moving on, as though she were cataloging rather than just looking.
Her eyes finally wandered back to the direction she had just pointed out. The rising sun pushed back against her eyes.
"I can see dense trees to the east," she said.
"It's the most reasonable direction. We barely have any other choice."
Her voice was quiet, not in a timid manner, but rather like someone who didn't see the point in using more than what was needed.
Julius studied her for a moment. "Do you have a name?"
She replied after a short pause.
"Elina."
"Elina." Julius nodded slowly. "Thank you for your observation." He then addressed the group once again. "There could be dangers lying there, but as she said, there are trees, which probably means there's food. We don't have a choice."
It didn't sound reassuring, yet they agreed anyway.
Alden watched her from where he stood as the man beside Elina helped her climb down from the boulder. She looked to be just around his age.
He wasn't sure why, but he felt an unusual sensation while looking at her. Maybe his hermit instincts were just kicking in, seeing a situation where it would be normal for people his age to try and interact.
Alden simply shifted his attention to the east.
"So much in just one morning." He muttered. "Can I really get used to this?"