1 Befuddling Rebirth

Lightning and thunder chased one another in the sky. Lightning flashed and disappeared spontaneously leaving behind the roaring thunder frustrated at its escape.

Rain drops fled the clouds in fear of the harbingers of storms and the seas turned turbulent as the wind furiously howled, unwilling to be outdone by the flashy duo; it stirred up a tempest.

Amidst the onslaught of this chaos, a tiny orange structure tried its best to navigate the deadly sea.

Inside this structure, seven individuals were bundled up in blankets drenched in water. Only two of which wore life jackets; a woman with a bulging belly and an elderly man whose hollow eyes showed the graveness of their situation. The rest simply held on to the raft firmly as the white of their knuckles prominently showed.

Amongst these unfortunate souls was a young man named Julian.

Julian's light brown hair has long since turned many shades darker as the seawater splashed his face. His dark brown eyes scanned the raft with vigilance as he wearily eyed the other passengers.

Aside from the two behind him who occupied the life jackets, he considered the rest a threat.

There were three men whose features screamed their ill intentions and one other woman who was looking forward to grasp any opportunity given to her to survive.

While Julian was no better than the opportunistic woman, he at least was not plotting to snatch the life jackets off of their current owners.

In Julian's eyes, his fate was sealed long ago, when he failed to secure himself a life jacket before evacuating the ship. And much like the four others, and he would most definitely die in this storm. Yet, the woman and the elderly man behind him, whom he got to know on the cruise ship, were different. Julian put his hands behind him defensively as he shielded his companions.

"You don't have to do this!" Julian shouted. Blood trickled down his throat as it bled. He was parched, no one had eaten or drunken a thing in a day and a half.

There was no reply, only scowling faces.

Two of the men held him by his hands and the last delivered a mean punch to his face.

Julian was no fighter, at best he could take a swing or two and be lucky enough to hit one of them. But in this situation, with minimal sleep and no food in roughly the last two days, he was not able to put up a fight at all.

Before long, under his own muffled screams and those behind him, his vision blurred and his breathing became ragged and rough. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out, was the feeling of cold water on his skin as he was chucked out the raft. His last thoughts were a mix of anger, regret and relief.

It was supposed to be the end, he was not supposed to be breathing again, much less see anything. He was no longer among the living but the dead. Yet, what was happening in front of Julian was simply, impossible… or so he thought.

His vision was blurry, yet from what he could make out, he was in a spacious room where a giant woman-like figure was holding him.

He could not make out any special features of hers, yet he instinctively felt the gentleness she exuded.

Moments later, he was being passed around from one giant to another! Unable to overcome his distraught mind, he succumbed to the fatigue that was creeping up to him.

###

In the same room Julian woke up to, a fierce voice shouted.

"Isaac don't hold him that way!" An aqua blue haired woman wiped the beads of sweat trickling down her face as she motioned to the man opposite to her.

"Aurora honey, don't worry I've got him"

Not two seconds later, the man "Who's got him" dropped the baby in his hands, only for a small whirlwind of green energy to float it back up.

Aurora, or previously identified as the giant woman by Julian, gave her husband a fierce glare and with a flick of her wrist, sent a blob of water towards him.

Isaac's wry smile twitched as water slowly trickled down his temple and weighed on his lashes

Mumbling to himself, he handed her the baby and retreated to the corner of the room to grab a towel.

'It's not like he fell or anything....'

While Isaac was brooding in the corner of the room thinking about how to appease his wife, four women entered the room briefly after knocking.

These women looked quite young and were garbed in black and white maid outfits all with the exception of the woman leading them. The woman in question, had an aged face and a much more refined demeanor, she wore a simple grey gown and a headdress.

A breath of relief escaped Aurora's mouth as she lay her eyes upon the leading woman.

"Sophia please be a dear and take care of these bed sheets. Oh, and have someone grab Isaac a tunic as well."she said, chuckling lightly as she said the last part, a bit of mischief finding its way to her tone.

"Of course Madame" with a simple gesture of her hand, the older woman, Sophia, motioned for the four young women behind her to start their work.

"Have you decided on a name, my love?"asked Isaac as he approached his wife, weary of another unexpected shower.

Aurora narrowed her eyes slightly before she nodded at her husband, granting him a temporary reprieve from his punishment.

Looking back at the bundle of life within her arms, Aurora felt a flood of love engorge her chest and a name suddenly etch into her mind.

"Elias, Elias Lyndell".

From a far, Sophia glanced at the three, while her eyes softened and her lips tugged at their ends ever so slightly forming a faint smile. It lasted but a moment before her gaze turned somber and melancholic, she fixed the glasses adorning her eyes and returned to her duties.