Never
Age comes for all beings and with age arrives the dark embrace of death
Elizabeth Turner's death bed was nothing to boast of. The room was aboard one of the ships formerly owned by Sao Feng. The alliances created by Sao Feng's death and with his crew picked her up as a final favour. She could still recall the dark, small and sparse cabin. Her declining health suffered a further blow by the lack of hygiene on-board but she had hoped for that.
"Are you ready?" an aged, frail voice asks.
Elizabeth flinches at the sound. The dark roof of the cave drips mercury. She quickly glances around. She's standing in the middle of a four-way crossroads. The ground is too far below to see.
She wraps her arms around herself and turns to the woman. "I've told you already… I can't,"
The woman holds out a bowl. "The soup is warm and will heal you of your worries,"
Elizabeth replies immediately. "That soup is the cause of my worries,"
She sighs and places the bowl on her lap. "There aren't many like you here. Why aren't you resting with others of your origin? You would be at peace then,"
Elizabeth kneels by the woman. "I can't be at peace without Will. Tell me, were the tales Sao Feng's crew told me true? Is there any chance of me being with Will again?"
The woman frowns. "My soup erases memories so people can move on. Once they forget they can re-incarnate as they please,"
She inches closer. "Can people re-incarnate without taking your soup? Can they re-incarnate with their past memories?"
The elderly woman smiles mysteriously. Her eyes gleam with mischief and infinite knowledge.
Will stares out across the port. His life is now in is fiftieth cycle. His one day ashore has been forsaken time and time again. This time, his father has forced him onto land. Bootstrap Bill's stern words ring in his ears that makes the key is in his hands almost burn. An old man begged for it to be delivered to his cousin. Will felt an odd sense of obligation and completed his task.
As he makes his way from the cousin's home; an odd little house beside the tavern, he finds himself strangely afflicted with odd emotions. His eyes catch a woman in the far distance. Her eyes are already upon him. Their light and radiance is all too familiar to him.
She smiles brightly. An odd type of arrogance marks her smile. The most profound of all emotions embodied within her is relief.
She whispers. "Will…"
Author's Note: As I can't locate the intonations I haven't named the woman. Sao Feng is, I believe, the Cantonese variation of his name which doesn't include intonations. That is why there is none and also why he's mentioned. If this is the Mandarin variation then I'm sincerely disappointed in the franchise for getting that wrong. This story is not my best, no. It's also behind schedule. However, the fact is clear that I'm beyond caring right now. I'm just glad that my laptop's working though for how long no one knows. I'm also in quite a bit of pain and my OCD is kicking in so if I seem to be in a foul mood then I apologise. Thank you for putting up with the tone of this author's note and for reading this piece.
Part of the Revival Collection.
