"Junjie, baby, please sit down, you make Mommy nervous when you do that."

Kenmei held her arms out, inviting the young child to come sit on her lap, instead of walking around in circles in the space in front of her. They were gliding together on a carpet high in the sky, having just left the Kou Empires Capital Marketplace, where Kenmei usually bought her clothing and daily items for her and her child. It was errand day for them, and instead of leaving the child with a caretaker like she normally did, she decided to bring him along.

Usually, she left Junjie in the care of a dear friend, but the child had begged to go with her, and those big, red pleading eyes always got her to cave in. Even now, as he looked back at her from near the front of the carpet, holding onto the big red ball he had gotten from the marketplace, his eyes turned her into complete mush. Just like his had before.

Junjie turned to face her, holding the ball up above his head with a wide grin on his face. "I wont lose the ball, mommy!" Kenmei gave a smile, shaking her head. "I know you wont, I just dont want you to fall off. Now come here." She waved her hands towards herself and the child obeyed, waddling himself over to her and plopping himself onto her lap, hugging the ball tightly to himself the best he could. Kenmei laughed to herself quietly as she watched him, finding it adorable the way he tried to fit his arms around the ball that was obviously way too big to do so with.

"You like that ball, don't you baby?" Kenmei stroked the child's black hair gently, causing him to lean his head back to look up at her, giving another wide smile. "I love it, mommy! It's the same color as my eyes!" He tilted his head back down, banging a bit on the ball with his small hand.

Kenmei gave a small nod, eyes focused on his hand as it moved. "That's right..." Looking at him, she was only reminded about how incredibly frail the child was. He was so small for being two and a half years, thin and was so easy to get ill. And now, as she watched him hug onto his new prized possession, she prayed he would not fall ill like the last time she took him out to the marketplace. Being born so prematurely had really taken a toll on the child's health, and this caused Kenmei to be constantly worried about him.

Still, today the child had gotten her to take his side, and Kenmei was glad she had done it. Junjie had seemed quite sad the past few days, and had been begging her to take him out of the palace. He had enjoyed himself so much, smiling, laughing and even playing with some other children he had met there while Kenmei did her shopping. Even now, she could still feel his joy as he twisted the ball around on his lap, his wide smile still plastered on his face. She loved that cute, goofy grin that reminded her so much of him.

In fact, almost everything about the child reminded her of him every time she looked at him. His wild, black, uncontrollable hair. His thin, frail frame. His uncanny adaption to magic. But most of all, those red eyes. And yet, with all his physical similarities, the child was nothing like him at all. Junjie was kind and gentle, with a sensitive soul that only begged for knowledge. If his childhood at been different, Kenmei liked to imaging that he would have been similar as a child.

Kenmei was pulled out of her thoughts by a loud yawn coming from the child, guessing that all his excitement was finally starting to bring him down. She stroked his hair again gently, smiling as she watched him lean his head on the ball as if it were a pillow. "Nap time, huh? We'll be home soon.." She took the moment to turn her head a bit to look behind her, wanting to make sure that all of her possessions she purchased that day were still on the back of the carpet.

But, with her mind elsewhere while glancing over the items, she did not notice the increase in the wind speed. Within a moment, the wind pushed the carpet off balance, causing it to shift and wave erratically. Thankfully, the carpet was big enough that none of the items fell off, and Kenmei was able to keep her balance and place. Junjie, however, slipped forward out of her lap, only to be caught by her seconds later.

However, the ball that Junjie had been clutching to so dearly bounced and disappeared over the edge of the carpet. In a moment of panic, Junjie gave a yell and wiggled himself from his mother against her protest. He crawled over to the edge and looked over, eyes already swelling up with tears. "Mommy! My ball, it-" He stopped suddenly, causing Kenmei to grow confused and concerned. She moved herself over to the edge, grabbing him and forcing him back onto her lap away from the edge. "Junjie, you cant go to the edge like that! We will get you ano-" "But mommy, I didn't see it falling."

Kenmei frowned, a bit confused. They were currently hovering high over the plains and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and such a bright color should have been easily seen falling to the ground. She shook her head, rubbing his back gently. "No baby, it fell. We will get you another one, I promise." She tried to give a comforting smile, but only noticed that Junjie was staring off into the sky, completely focused on something that they had not noticed.

She watched as his eyes moved down, giving a small gasp as the child pulled himself once again from her arms to stand up on her lap, looking behind her over her shoulder. Kenmei frowned, holding onto him to help him keep his balance. "Junjie, please, what are you doing?"

"My ball!" Junjie thrust out his arms, almost causing him to topple over Kenmei's shoulder. Kenmei was about to speak again when she heard the familiar sound of the ball in Junjie's hands, and she picked him up to pull him back over and into her lap. She stared down at the red ball in his hands in confusion and disbelief. "How did that-"

Junjie only grinned wide, but it was not at her, but once again over her shoulder. "Thank you, mister!" Kenmei felt her heart clench. Mister? Who could it possibly be? Another magician going to the marketplace? A traveler? A thief? She clutched Junjie tighter to her, feeling her heart racing, too frightened to even reach for her wand to defend herself.

"Who-" "Mommy, what are those black things? Rukh? They're not white?"

Kenmei looked down at her child, seeing him still gazing curiously up behind her. She had taught him much about magic already, as even so young, he was able to see the Rukh already and had even had progress with his borg, though it was still extremely fragile. Still, she could not understand why he was saying he was seeing black Rukh. That only sent more fear through her, though as she herself looked up to watch the Rukh beginning to flutter around them, she felt as if they were.. familiar.

"Wow, he's just as clumsy as you are after all? Did he seriously get nothing at all from me?"

Kenmei instantly brought a hand up to cover her mouth, feeling her stomach instantly tighten and twist into a thousand knots at the voice that just came from behind her. It wasn't possible. He was dead. She saw him pushed into the sky. She attended his funeral. They visited his temple weekly to pray. And yet, here she was, hearing his voice for the first time in two years. It wasn't possible.

Kenmei was broken out of her haze when Junjie nudged her gently. "Mommy, who is that man?" "I..." For the first time with the child, she was completely speechless. She didn't know what to tell him or how to react. She had to confirm what she had heard wasn't a dream, that she hadn't fallen asleep on the ride home. And so, she slowly began to turn herself around, though kept her eyes downcast and locked on the carpet.

She gave a loud gasp as her eyes landed on bare feet and black, puffy pants, both hands coming up to cover her mouth. She began to breath heavily, vision blurring as her eyes started to well with tears. By the time her eyes met the head of the blurry figure, only able to make out his vague form and the movement of a long braid swaying behind him in the wind.

"Hey there.. Stupid girl."

"Y-y-you... y-you're not...-" Kenmei's breathing only intensified as she stared up at him, feeling her body beginning to grow numb and her head swim, becoming lost in the wave upon wave of her mixed feelings, emotions and thoughts. This isn't possible... you're dead.

"Y-you're dead!" Her voice finally croaked out, her whole body shaking as she started to feel herself growing weak. Junjie frowned from her lap, looking back up at the figure in front of them. "He's not a ghost, mommy."

"Tch!" The figure spoke, crossing his arms. "Did you forget my name or something, you stupid girl." After he spoke, he squatted down to be eye level with them, and Kenmei could see clearly the red eyes that instantly sent her whole body into shock. He reached a hand out towards her, though she still could not move.

"It's me. It's Judar."

And in an instant, her sight and mind swirled into blackness and she could feel herself falling, pulled into unconsciousness where she was sure she would never awaken.