Swirl Tides

My birthday happened upon me faster than I thought it would. Time seemed to pass by so quickly.

Maybe it was because I was young, or maybe it was because I was, for once, enjoying my life.

Eyva made every moment something to be remembered.

I studied with her. I ate with her. I laughed with her.

I couldn't remember laughing this much in my old life.

Even when I read my favorite books or comics or manga, I never laughed out loud.

And aside from that, there was nothing to laugh at, except occasionally the absurdity of my own pointless existence or when someone far too weak to challenge me stepped up with nothing but arrogance backing them.

Even in those cases, though, I only let out a restrained chuckle. Now, though, I was laughing with all my belly, all my heart.

One night, a week before my first birthday, Eyva stopped my studying early.

Usually, I ended well into the deep of night. But this time, she stopped me right after the sun set, when nightfall was just starting to drape its curtains of dark and stars across the sky.

"What's wrong?" I asked, ink dipped quill still in my hand.

"You have surpassed all my expectations. You know it too, don't you? You can read the History of Oria. Any text, now, really," said Eyva. "There is no point studying so hard anymore."

"Something is wrong. You're too nice," I said. It wasn't like Eyva to suddenly stop teaching, especially with how strict she was when it came to it.

Eyva took off a pair of round spectacles that made her look quite intelligent and made a pouting face. "Come now, I always try to be nice. Especially to you." She gestured to the window. "I just wanted to make sure you did not miss something quite special.

Come here."

Eyva knelt down and picked me up, whisking me atop her shoulders. She was a tall woman, easily over six feet (~183 cm), and getting on her shoulders gave me a whole new vantage point to see the world.

And, most interestingly, it let me see through the single lonesome window I had.

As usual, all I could see was the dark night sky.

When I tried looking down, I only saw a thick veil of clouds preventing me from seeing the rest of the city below. I was locked up in a tower high up where nobody would see me and I them.

"What am I supposed to look at?" I asked.

"Patience, little leaf." Eyva nodded. "It should be about time."

A few seconds after she said that, I saw what she meant. Bright blue, wave-patterned lights started streaking across the night sky, ebbing and flowing like moving tides. The stars danced atop these waves, little dots of sparkling gold rocking upon a canvas of glowing blue.

The lights looked somewhat like auroras back on earth.

I had seen them once, in my travels, during the few times the blackened skies opened up. I didn't care much for them at the time, glancing up at them for a few minutes before I went on my way again for I had another target to assassinate, and time was ticking.

Always, always ticking.

I had to reach some place. I had to kill some person. I had to disband some settlement.

I never had time for myself.

But now, with no targets to kill weighing on my mind, I could enjoy this fully.

"What are those?" I asked.

"It is called a Swirl Tide," said Eyva. "One night of every year, the boundary between the Swirl and the Materia, the physical plane we live on, grows thinner.

Normally, the currents of the Swirl, the ebb and flow of mana, are invisible to Unawakened eyes, but during this time, everyone can see the beauty of its mana-waves."

I nodded. So this is what I would see once I Awakened. Mana flowing like water in the skies. In my body. Everywhere around me. My heart ached a little that I could not see this normally, like I was missing out on a huge chunk of life.

I wondered if other Unawakened people thought the same thing in this world.

"A Swirl Tide is always a day of good fortune. Cultures all around the world universally celebrate it," explained Eyva. "For it marks the beginning of a new year, washing away all that was past before it.

It is also said that it is good fortune to wish upon the Swirl Tide.

This is mere legend, but some even say that the Swirl listens and grants these wishes too.

So, little leaf, what do you wish for?"

"I want to Awaken," I said. "So I don't get kicked out."

Eyva sighed. "As realistic as ever. Sometimes, I wonder if you truly are a child. You are far too young to be thinking like this. Is there anything else you wish for?"

I thought about this for a deep moment, silent, staring at the Swirl Tides flow in beautiful, radiant patterns. They reminded me of how new this world was, just how much there was to explore and find out.

How this was a new life that I needed to make the best of.

I didn't want to waste it. Not like the life I led before.

"I want to explore," I said, letting my honest feelings flow. I had never done something like this before, unbottling my feelings, but maybe it was because I was a child, more innocent at heart, but it was like popping a cork.

It all came pouring out. "I want to see the world. I want to meet new people. I want to make friends. I…" I fumbled for words. But sometimes, the simplest words told the most. "I want to live."

My eyes glinted as I said this, their burnt red shade reflecting the bright blues of the Swirl Tides in a curious, driven shine.

I felt Eyva's shoulders tremble beneath me. I looked down, wondering what was wrong.

Eyva was tearing up. Her pale hands were at the edges of her eyes, wiping away sparkling droplets of emotion.

"It is nothing," said Eyva, noticing my concern. She closed her eyes. "It is just that…when I think about how you are living, trapped here, knowing you are unwanted, it makes me feel like a failure.

You want to live, to truly, truly live just as any child would, but you cannot.

No child should be living the way you do, and yet, I cannot change anything.

All I ever wanted to do was make children happy. It is why I do what I do, ensuring that children grow strong and smart and happy.

But the more I work with noble families, the more my heart aches. All these children I help birth and raise, their laughter, their mirth, their innocence, all of that melts away so, so quickly.

In just a few years, the pressures of nobility and the cold harshness of the world all come tumbling down, smothering the flame of love and warmth and happiness that I love cultivating in children.

It is a curse of my Elven lifespan, too.

So many times, I leave for several years, a time that is nothing to me, and when I return, the child I raised, the one that laughed with me and held my hand, is no longer a child. They stare at me with cold glare, the flame of warmth I ignited in them blown away by their lives."

I squeezed Eyva's shoulder. I didn't really know how to comfort people. I never did it in my old life.

But I realized one thing.

Comfort, when it came from the heart, came naturally.

The feelings you felt for another spoke for themselves.

"I will always remember you," I said. "I promise. You've made my life here happy. Without you, I know I wouldn't have ever laughed in this tiny room."

Eyva smiled, the last of her tears wiped away. She sighed. "You are too wise for your age, little leaf. And too good of a talker, too. I fear for the unfortunate lady that happens upon you when you are of age."

She reached into the pocket of her dress and withdrew the crystal ball that she and I watched videos together with. "On your naming ceremony, I intend to give this to you.

This is a Scry, a precious Orian artifact that has a tremendous compilation of knowledge within it.

Not only that, but it is capable of divination and messaging as well, identifying the unknown or reaching out to others provided they have their own Scry."

I nodded. In essence, it was sort of like a phone back on earth.

"You ask so very many questions, little leaf. Your curiosity is an unmatched flame that devours all.

It is my hope that whenever I am not present, tending to some other duty, you may ask the Scry any question you wish and sate that curiosity of yours," said Eyva. "I have noticed your smile is the biggest and happiest when I answer your questions.

I want you to keep that smile, that wonderful, innocent curiosity."

"Why can't I get it now?" I said.

"My, aren't we greedy?" Eyva giggled. "It is not yet your naming ceremony. And I need some time to decode this from myself so it can code to you.

Once it is coded to you, only you may access it with but a touch of your finger."

I nodded. It really was like a phone, fingerprint ID and all.

"But for now, let us finish watching the Swirl Tides. We only get this chance once a year, after all."

The Swirl Tides lasted for several more hours, and I watched them for the whole time. Eyva never once complained or moved with me on her shoulders.

We just stood there, mostly in quiet, watching, content in our togetherness.