Ajax observed wet earth beneath him as rain slowly but loudly continued to fall. The silence of the day and moment made it heavier than ever. Ajax looked at the gravestone with the carvings of the gods that were about to take his uncle's soul to the otherworld's. Bermus Melyran, dead at barely fifty, and nobody knew how he died. Ajax wondered about this since he found out about his death. Our family has been weakened since the Crusade on the Vestigor when grandfather and oldest uncle died, so the family couldn't stand completely alone, relying on others, and we had no clear ways of getting back into our position before the crusade. So what benefit could someone have of killing uncle except wanting to completely destroy the Melyran family—no, the whole Melyran cn?

  Slowly moving his eyes from the uncle's grave towards the new Cn Leader, Nera Melyran, his grandmother, Ajax didn't have a chance to talk to her since news of the death came, and he didn't know what to say, frankly. After all, this was the second time she lost a son—and not to mention grandfather. She was in the third century of her life; she should not be bearing the weight of the whole cn on her back. Just looking at her made Ajax realize that. Her long white hair and old face looked tired but strong. Her eyes caught Ajax's as he was looking at her, and she smiled. Ajax couldn't help but return a smile.

  After the funeral was done, only those closest to uncle remained to finish the ceremony—his wife and son. Ajax returned to the cn grounds with his mother. She was the only daughter of grandmother and grandfather had. His father, on the other hand, was dead, just like uncle and grandfather. The Crusade on Vestigor truly did a number on this family. Even with that, Velena never talked to Ajax about him. Sometimes Ajax thought that she was ashamed of it; he never understood it.

  “Ajax, don't be te for the cn meeting. Mother will be announcing second in command and young cn lord.” “I won't be te, but we all know it will be Nerson, eldest uncle's son. After all, he is the strongest and oldest, I will be there,” Ajax answered indifferently, which his mother did not appreciate. “It will also be the spirit awakening ceremony for your generation. We can't dey that a single day anymore.” Ajax wasn't surprised by that answer. He expected it. After all, they needed every bit of power they could get. Ajax was nervous about the spirit awakening, but he also couldn't wait.

  “My dy,” heard Ajax, somebody call to his mother. As he turned around, he saw a beautiful bck-haired girl with a deep, sharp blue eyes. Kali Evarsh came to them and walked by their side—more precisely, his mother's side. Ajax liked this girl, but she was older than him and probably already engaged. After all, it was an engaged marriage that her father and Anur Melyran, Ajax's grandfather, agreed to during the crusade. She arrived a couple of months earlier to the cn as she is waiting for the next cn head to be announced in order for the marriage to happen. After the talk with Velena, she bowed and left for her room. Ajax watched her back, not even noticing that he stared at the swaying girl until his mother bumped him. “If you like her that much, you better show off at the awakening today,” said Velena with a smile. Ajax wanted to smile to that, but before he could have any negative thought, his mother came closer to him and said, “Cn Leader is often the most promising young lord of the family, not the strongest, my dear son.”

  “I will do my best, Mother,” Ajax said with now newfound energy surging from his heart.

  ...

  In front of the mirror, Ajax looked at himself. He couldn't tell whether he was handsome, pretty, or not. It never made sense to him how standards for men worked. The only thing he had to go off was that he had nice mid-cut golden hair with green eyes that were like his mother's and a good jaw. I know I don't look like my dad that much, I think. Grandma said I do look like Grandfather when he was young. Ajax put on a pure white robe, as it was traditional for awakening, and went towards the ceremony grounds. Arriving there, he noticed that all of the cn's high-positioned people were gathered around grandmother. He could see all cn heads for the mansion, grounds, guards, and training. After that, he noticed Kali sitting in her chair as she wore a light blue dress that showed off her breasts, but there was no cleavage. She was sitting with Velena and Nerson. Mother was close to Kali and often spent time together, as they were the only women in the mansion that had no positions actively. Mother was a war medic, after all. They all noticed his gaze, and Ajax bowed his head towards his mother. If she wasn't there, the whole cn would know I looked at Kali.

  Ajax waited for the rest of the participants, but he knew that all eyes were going to be on him and Kermon, as the two in the main line of the cn. Nera Melyran stood up as the whole ground now became silent. She rose her bony hands in the air as a fme appeared above them. Then fme started to appear in the middle of the ceremony ground that Ajax and the rest of the participants were around. The fme started to transform into something that looked like a purple, dark, and even blue smoke. Ajax had heard of it before, but now it was time for stories to become reality, as he was first to break from the trance and take a step into it. Ajax walked into the smoke, and he could notice that others started to do so after him, but he knew that the whole cn saw him take the first step. Entering the smoke at first felt like walking through fog, until he felt his mind, body, and even soul start to shift and bend into something. It sted for a second, but he felt like it was longer, and then he appeared in darkness, feeling water on his face, and his robe disappeared. He was naked. He slowly got up on his feet, not even aware of how he fell. Did I transfer here in a fall, or did I fall after the transfer? Trying to clear his mind of unnecessary thoughts, Ajax started to walk through the darkness as he was sticking to the walls. It was complete darkness around him. All he could hear was water that he was stepping into. His eyes couldn't even adjust to it.

  After continuing to walk for a while, he started to hear something that wasn't water—a beat. Ajax stopped, and the water started to calm down until only a beat could be heard. He moved his hand towards his chest as he could feel and hear his heart like never before. Confused, Ajax could feel that it was getting faster and faster—maybe even stronger. And slowly, he could start to feel his blood. It was heating, making him hot. Ajax was so focused on himself now that he didn't even notice that the water around him was not calm anymore, as it started to boil and some fmes appeared on the top of the water. By the time Ajax started to get used to his heart and blood, he noticed that he closed his eyes. Opening them, he saw a pool mixed of water and blood that was boiling. It couldn't hurt him as he stood in the middle of it, and the walls disappeared, leaving only him alone in the middle of the pool. And then he noticed that purple smoke was just in front of him, and he walked towards it, finishing his awakening ritual.