Ma Neteyam

A New World

Vareya never expected her afterlife to be wondrous, never dared to hope it would even be peaceful. She had caused too much harm in her life to deserve that. Had done far too much wrong to see herself finding an ounce of tranquility.

The short time she had with Neteyam was more happiness than she deserved. The way he made her feel was enough fulfillment to last her throughout a thousand lives. Yet she never imagined that once her time had come, she'd be cursed to such an uncomfortable death.

Whatever place this was, it was unfamiliar to her. It wasn't a memory, and if it was it definitely would be an unfavorable one. Her mind was groggy, and the air had an odd odor. A foul mix of metal and chemicals that made every inhale burn her insides.

Another thing she imagined was that once a life was over, that their body would have felt renewed. That this would be a place where no pain existed and all worries would disperse.

Yet all she felt was pain. One so unbearable that it practically made her numb. Those were the first few hints that made her start thinking the unimaginable. Her eyes were much too heavy to even attempt to open them, so she had to rely on her other senses.

A faint, consistent beeping went off somewhere beside her. What sounded like distant mumbles of conversation could be heard all around. Her body felt too weak, yet she found herself capable of lifting a mere finger and placing it back down.

Instantly she felt a foreign sensation, having touched whatever flat object she was laid on. That was when she came to the only conclusion she could muster. One so ridiculous, one so horrifying, one so implausible that it was almost believable that such a thing would only happen to her.

Death would've been too good, too kind for someone like Vareya. She's should've known by now that finding relief in the afterlife so soon was pushing her luck.

"Doctor, she's coming back to consciousness."

A slight pause, then a response..." You know what to do."

She was right. Indeed death did not grace her with relief, instead, once again, she was kept alive. First was Kai, then Ralu. How many more lives will be taken, and how much longer will she have to bare the pain of hers being spared.

Yet just as her memories and thoughts began coming back to her, a cold and sharp prick to Vareyas neck stung her. It was as the liquid entered her bloodstream that she remembered the most important one of them all.

Neteyam...

_________

The cold came first.

It wasn't the kind she knew so well. Wasn't the one she'd feel every time she'd submerge herself into the ocean on a hot day. No. This one was artificial, unnatural, wrong. Vareyas skin prickled with it, as though it was trying to find its way inside her, as though it wanted to replace any warmth she had left in her body. Her thoughts swam sluggishly, every small blink dragging behind the next like her mind had been drowned in thick, humming silence.

A beaming light pulsed overhead, sterile and white. It casted long shadows across smooth, colorless walls. She tried to sit up, but her body was heavy, uncooperative. Restraints? Weakness? Or maybe both.

Something beeped nearby, steady and strange. The sound was mechanical, rhythmic, almost like a heartbeat, but too perfect, too measured. It couldn't be hers...or perhaps it was, she was having difficulty understanding anything at the moment.

She didn't remember how she'd gotten here. One moment she was in the ocean, the next... empty. There were flashes, she saw destruction, saw her cousin, saw another figure...but none of it made sense.