75 Ma (2/2)
”Can….you...my...voice?”
And after a while longer, they started becoming clearer and clear…
”You can...open your eyes now, dear.”
And then...
Reed opened his eyes and violently gasped for air like a madman. Delirious, he roughly coughed and wheezed as he observed his surroundings in a state of heightened anxiety.
”Easy there… Breathe… Let's take it nice and slow. I forgot that this would be your first time connecting to the Nexus. Sorry about that.”
There she was, the source of the voice. It was different now, though.
She calmly patted Reed's back and said, ”It's natural for people like us, who aren't connected with nature, to experience a feeling of unease when we first connect to the Nexus. Don't worry though, that feeling will fade away over time…”
Reed coughed and said, ”Like us? W-What do you mean? Where I am?”
The woman gestured towards the forest in front of her and said, ”The Nexus, of course. And as for your other question, a single glance at me should answer that for you, I'm sure.”
He turned and saw a beautiful, older lady reassuringly smile back at him. She looked like she was in her early thirties, but could easily pass off as someone in her late twenties. A mature beauty with deep, emerald eyes that gleamed like twinkling gems.
But upon closer inspection, Reed saw something was off about her.
She did not have Avunian ears at all — She was a human.
”You're a... human? But I thought that you were…”
”What, an Avunian? No, I'm quite human as you can see,” she said and pulled back her long, brown hair to reveal a set of normal, human ears.
She knowingly smiled and said, ”Didn't expect a human, did you?”
”No, ma'am…”
”Ah, no, no. Don't call me that; I hate it when people call me that. That, and 'Your Highness.' We're supposed to be a family. Just call me, Ma,” said the woman.
Ma? Really? That's so....
She lifted Reed off of the ground and said, ”I've been wanting to meet since Vel' told me all about you, but you never connected once since you've arrived. Luckily, you stumbled into my room, haha…”
”Vel'? As in gramps? How are you related to gramps... if you don't mind me asking, um, Ma…” said Reed as he brushed himself clean.
”He's my husband, silly, and that makes me your new grandma by proxy,” said Ma in cheery tone. She pulled out a small pouch and said, ”Want a cookie? They're made with all the sweetness this side of the universe.”
She handed Reed a large, chocolate chip cookie and said, ”Made them with a modified recipe of the one that my Ma taught me when I was little girl.”
Reed stared at the cookie and then bit into it after he noticed Ma's expectant gaze. It was delicious and perfect as could be… well, for a cookie. Maybe not as sweet as she had described but that was a given…
”It's delicious, Ma. You've got yourself a award-winning cookie if I ever tasted one…”
”Of course it is,” said Ma. ”It's light-years better than the my Ma's original recipe! After all, I've been perfecting the recipe for the last four and a half thousand years.”
Um, what? Did I hear that correctly? God, can you replay that message again for me?
Has she been in that crystal for the last four and a half millenniums?!
Reed awkwardly scratched his head and said, ”Um... Ma? I know it's rude for a man to ask a lady her age, but can you tell me… Well, I have a lot questions now.”
Ma laughed and said, ”We have all the time in the world, dear. Time in the Nexus is slower by a factor of ten in here compared to the outside world. And as for my age, well... you can say that I'm old enough to have lived before the Unification Era had begun.”
Reed's eyes bulged out when he heard that. Old enough to have lived before the Unification Era?!
If she's that old, then how old is fucking gramps?!