The sounds of engaging conversation echoed throughout the darkness for a few hours.
Notedly, Ignazio spent a substantial amount of time listening to James and his life experience. The each shared stories about themselves, James of his life on Earth and Ignazio of the Hollow Wilds.
The two chatted like old friends, in the solitude they had found comfort in each other's unseen presences.
James learned a substantial amount even from Ignazio's casual speech. This world seemed to be much vaster than Earth, the first humans to settle here 2000 years ago named it the Hollow Wilds due to the extreme feeling of emptiness it brought to them.
The Wilds were divided into twelve unique areas with their own special characteristics known as Parishes. Within each Parish humanity had crafted special environments using the topography and uniqueness of the lands to create secluded areas called Farms or Plantations.
However, unlike the Farms or Plantations in James' previous life, these places acted as bastions for humanity. Humanity occupied the lowest level in the food chain of this world and are often prey to the creatures beyond the borders of the Farms.
James' mind was filled with dazzling new information about this world. Ignazio spoke of a lake with the most beautiful creatures a man could ever see with the tail of a fish and the body of a woman , a maze of wheat that stretched beyond the horizon , a pumpkin patch where the souls of the dead could be reached. He did not forget to mention another place, one that James had a certain intimacy with.
A forest that was filled with silence and creatures that flickered in and out of reality like a mirage. As Ignazio described The Silent Forest James felt a tingle in his legs, it was a sort of phantom pain or a memory etched into his flesh.
James lightly massaged his thigh as he listened. ' I am going to burn that forest to the ground...'
The second most important thing James learned of was Karma.
James in the dark watched as a bright red aura seeped out from the darkness infront of him. The aura trickled upwards and tipped off like the flame of a candle, with this, James was able to gaze at the silloutte of Ignazio.
James imagined an older man, but the frame hidden within the silhouette seemed to be no older or younger than himself by any large margin.
'How old is he? ' James questioned
James let this thought drift to the recesses of his mind, staring intently at the red silhouette within the darkness. It held up a single finger.
" Karma is the force generated by a living being's actions. Karma exists in all things with potential. The heights that a tree grows to is a manifestation of its actions over its lifetime. The light of the Seven Spoked Sun that shines down and allows the tree's to grow is a manifestation of The Sun's action of bringing life to all that exist. Therefore, all Karma in this world originates from the sun. '
Ignazio paused. James nodded with a renewed understanding. He was able to relate this revelation to his own journey in astro-science. All energy that life uses originates from the Sun, the only powers that do not are gravity, space and time. These forces do not have a direct consequence on the formation of life to the best of human understanding, but they are responsible in the way life continues to operate. These external forces collide and affect one another forming the balance of the universe that he once knew.
'It seems that this world follows a similar system of operations'. James immediately began to think and contemplate on how he could use this to his advantage if others have not done so already.
James smiled at the prospects. He may not be a pioneer in his worlds advancements of knowledge and information, but here he was sure to have a better step than most with his grasp of the universe.
Once again a platinum like aura leaked out of James as his emotional state drifted into one of excitement. If observed externally, it was as if in a world of nothing, a red and silver flame danced casting their radiances on eachother.
Ignazio continued. " Now, If the Sun is the Origin of all Karma, that means that even the Karma that humans generate originates from the Sun, but humans are special in that they cheat."
James looked a bit confused. "How do humans cheat?"
Ignazio spoke. " Humans produce little karma over their lifetimes, especially if they live a life of minimal suffering or trials. However, humans have a natural ability to absorb karma actively rather than develop it passively like most cryptids"
"Wow!" James couldn't help but smack his knees in amazement. But a thought quickly formed in his mind and he was even quicker to voice it.
" If Humans can absorb karma why are we still at the bottom of the food chain?"
Ignazio's silhouette nodded in approval. 'It seems this boy has potential, after-all he does possess a unique karma.'
"Humans can actively absorb karma but there is a limitation. In each human there is a lake at the base of their navel. It is immaterial. It does not exist on this plane of existence, but each individual can inspect and develop their own Karma lakes"
James took a second to look at his belly button in the darkness. Observing closely he observed a strange space. It was vast and empty. At it's center there was a depression in the illusory fabric, similar to a crater generated by a meteor colliding with the Earth.
The ceiling of the space was actually covered with the effigies of the Fool Card. The card seemed even more grand and majestic as it blanketed the sky with an interconnected web of stars that spread out like constellations above his Karma lake.
The lake seemed small in comparison to the vastness of this area. If he had to quantify it in mathematical terms. The crater of the lake occupied around 10% of the space provided and currently it seemed to be nearly empty. At the lake's center was a tiny puddle of light silver water that even now seemed to be rapidly evaporating. As the puddle evaporated and became smaller James started to feel a sense of dread fill his whole body.
It was once again like a primal fear had taken over his body and mind. It quickly began to feel like he was suffocating as his once stable aura began to hemorrhage and sputter like a water fountain lacking pressure.
James's silhouette immediately began to claw at his own throat. James' hands pressed on his adams apple thinking it would expand his airway but no matter how he breathed and hyperventilated it still felt as though his brain was loosing oxygen. " What....Is...Happening..."
Huck! Huck! Huck!
James reached out to Ignazio's silhouette who quickly assessed the situation and spoke.
"Cross your feet and concentrate" Ignazio urged.
Unable to retort and desperate to survive James quickly crossed his feet and began to concentrate as best as he could.
" Close your eyes, think of the vastness of life. Think about all living things...The leaves that breathe, the birds, the unseen things in the dirt.The life of those you care about, the life generated by the Sun, the life you have lived and carved out for yourself."
James thought about these things. His Mother's image flashed quickly in his mind , then Gasper, then mabel, then the spoked sun he saw in the sky then he focused on his own life.
He was quiet normally, extroverted when around the people he felt close too. He spent a lot of his days reading and studying. He was engrossed in the natural world but also the world he built in his mind.
Fantasies.
When he was a young boy and he thought of where he wanted to go. It was never to Rome, or Paris or any place on Earth. He dreamed of something far away. It was his escape from the things that hurt him and the furthest thing from earth was outerspace. So he dreamed of going there.
He grew up fast, learning more when other kids would play, taking on the roles of men twice his age. He had matured before the age of 16 his temperment at that age was that of a adult.
He was silent observant and cautious with his every word. He thought of things two steps ahead. Even his most miniscule actions were planned and measured because if things didn't go his way he wished it be that he was meant to fail rather than a lack of his own effort.
And he did fail, many many times. Lost friends he thought would stay forever. Made friends that would stay for a lifetime. Failed exams, resat them and passed. Lost opportunities due to the greed of family. Gotten into dangerous situations where he lost things due to the ignorance of men who had less to live for than him. But still he never gave up.
He was close though... there were moments where death seems like a sweet release when the world is weighing down on your shoulders. But Death is the final curtain and life is an endless stage, so what if there are twists and falls? Why not get up and dance again?
So what if it hurts? James would not know how to love if he never experienced pain.
Pain... Pain... Pain...
As he was drowning in nothing. All James could feel right now was pain, but he would not falter to this pain. Is this pain worse than losing his leg? Is this pain worse than near death? No. So he would persevere, not because he was strong but because the pain of yesterday is smaller than the pain of today. And maybe, one day, there would be no more pain.
It was then something inside of him rumbled, like pressure in a cooker being released. James felt like he had taken his first deep breath in a long time. "Hmmm"
Drip.. Drip.. Drip.. Drizzle... Drizzle... Rain.
A vast amount of platinum water slowly fell down from the vast sky above his Karma lake, the lake slowly filled from a puddle, the water level rapidly rising.
The pressure on his chest was alleviated.
Cough.. Cough..
James massaged his throat and looked at the silloute of Ignazio. It's mouth was open and it had yet to blink as it stared at him in a daze.
Ignazio watched all this happen over the span of a few seconds and couldn't help but bask in awe at this young man before him.
He watched as karma flooded into his body like an invisible river connecting again to a once dry tributary. What surprised Ignazio even more was the rate at which his Karma lake guzzled the natural energy.
'This boy might be one of them... ' Ignazio felt these words almost stumble off his lips, luckily he kept his composure and his face quickly morphed into a pleasant smile.
Ignazio was an old soul and even with his shock, he had seen many more surprising things as his mind quickly cleared and analyzed the strangeness of the situation.
'This boy... He is not a native to the Wilds... How is he so attune to the color of life? What kind of life must he have lived for his karma to take on this shade? Even more-so How did his Karma lake end up so dry? And how has he survived so long without it being refilled? '
Questions and observations kept forming in Ignazio's mind as he observed James.
" HAHAHAHAHA " Ignazio suddenly laughed out loud, slapping his knees repeatedly.
James was startled for a second as he finally turned his thoughts away from his Karma lake and the Platinum water that filled it. He glanced at the Card that acted as the heavens of the space he was in, he stared at the Jester or himself and frowned slightly. His thoughts at this moment were unknown.
James turned to Ignazio's silhouette once again. It seemed to be engrossed in laughter at a joke nobody but himself was hearing. Eventually Ignazio calmed down.
"Ahem...My apologies. I have never seen something so amusing" Ignazio lamented sarcastically.
James payed him no heed but stared at the platinum aura that radiated off himself and the deep Red aura that radiated from ignazio and asked. " Why are our auras different colors?"
Ignazio was about to answer when his silhouette turned away from James looking out somewhere in the vast emptiness. His brows furrowed as he turned to James. " It seems that fated time is here. I enjoyed our talks. "
"Huh?" James inquired.
Ignazio smiled once more. "Explore the Wilds. Never tether yourself to a farm and most importantly never let someone inspect your Karma lake. "
As Ignazio spoke his voice became more distant as even his silhouette seemed to stretch further and further away from James as it vanished like a blip into the night.
James was alone again.
But not for long.
Suddenly, a row of fire was ignited infront of him, illuminating the stone of his cage around him.
James squinted and his pupils dilated as they took in more light. His head slowly tilted upwards craning his neck to see what stood infront of him.
He could only speak a few words. " What are you?"