Atani's run in with the pirates left her dumbfounded. She knew she was by no means the strongest of the mages, but she had never expected her magic to fail as terribly as it did. Even getting the smallest magic circle to form was a struggle that day, and now, she wasn't able to make anything manifest. The small vines she had so effortlessly grown just days before didn't so much as sprout; yet, Atani did not feel powerless. She could feel the magical energy radiating throughout her body. She could channel it just as well as she did while learning healing magic from the Wood Elves in Athalran; yet, the channeling led to nothing. The mana she could once charge and release in the form of spells simply sat dormant in her body.

In times like these where Atani struggled to know what to do, the elders always suggested going out for a walk. "Soak in the sunshine. It will clear you mind," they told her. There was no place in Hargeon where she felt as connected with nature compared to Athalran, though Azure Beach was far better than anywhere else she could go to in such a short amount of time.

To ease her troubled mind, she walked barefoot on the sands past the spot where the masses collected to relax on the beach. A certain point where it became more rocky and the waters were not as enjoyable, that was where Atani aimed to truly start her walk. She climbed over the slick rocks that blocked off the rest of the beach and became comforted as the sounds of the residents progressively drowned out in her wake. With the only sound being from the waves, her own footsteps, and the surrounding wildlife, she could finally enjoy all that the sun provided for her.

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A breeze whisked in the scent of fresh sea salt from the ocean. It felt cool against the elf's skin that had grown warm from soaking in the sun's rays. For a moment, Atani shut her eyes. The sounds of the waves gently lapping on the shore filled her inner mind. She slowly took a deep breath in, and then let it out even slower all the while becoming hyper aware of all that she could not see. The sound of the seagulls above, the shifting in the sand from small critters, the heat of the sun kissing her skin on the warm spring day.

Atani opened her eyes and stared out to the ocean. Her mind was a blank slate. No longer did she feel worried about the sudden loss of her magical abilities. There was nothing that had happened that Atani recognized to be a potential catalyst of her inability to cast her nature-based spells. The most logical conclusion she could come to was that she was in some sort of mental block. Perhaps being so far away from the very placed filled to the brim with nature had loosened the connection with her magic, causing it to be far weaker than expected.

It was, however, just a thought. She found an isolated rock barren of sand and sat herself upon it. The elf shifted into something of a half lotus position facing in the direction of the sea. She steadied her breath and thought to what the Wood Elf elders had told her once more during her efforts to practice meditation. "Let the sunlight surround you. Feel it warm you soul. Let each breath remind you of the life it provides for us all."

She felt its radiant energy do just that. Before long, Atani felt herself grow deep into a meditative state, one that she had not fallen into since leaving Athalran. Her mind was one with the sun, the provider of life.

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All negative thoughts were purged. Smothered by the light, all that remained was inner peace and clarity. The clouds that had once covered Atani's mind in a thick haze finally began to part. It was as if the sun's rays were breaking through the clouds themselves, restoring her state of mind to what it was in Athalran, if only for a moment. The elf was not sure how much time had passed-- It was often difficult to keep track of such things in a deep meditative state. Upon opening her eyes and unfolding her legs to dangle freely off the rock, she felt better emotionally and spiritually compared to how she had been in the past few days. Holding her hand out to grow a simple flower, Atani decided to try using one of the most basic spells she had learned.

She could feel the mana flowing to the palm of her hand, but that was all. There was not even a bud nor a sprout. The green magic circles she was used to seeing appear never did. All she could do was direct her magical energy, not transform it. She was at a loss.

Meditation had always worked in her favor before. The feeling she got this time... She could have sworn that would do the trick, but it was unfortunately not the case. Her soul was open. She obtained a connection with the sun. The haze that she had once experienced was now gone. For that reason, she was certain that any mental block she had was gone for the moment. Since it was gone, that could only mean the origin of her inability to use magic was not due to whatever blockade had been set up in her mind since leaving Athalran. Her problems had a different source, and now her task was to identify it.

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That task was easier said than done. With no guidance, Atani had to take charge of the situation on her own. That being said, it did not mean she could not rely on the help of the spirits or the gods. Still perched on her rock, the elf brought her knees underneath her legs to kneel. Bowing her head and clasping her hands together, Atani murmured a prayer in Val'Elvarin to the Linea god of knowledge.

"I pray for your wisdom and guidance, oh knowledgeable one. Let your light illuminate the path I should follow so that I may be able to help those in need once more."

She continued on for a little while before coming back to her normal seated position. For the Linea in the pantheon who were prayed to so frequently by elves from all across Earthland, Atani did not expect the god to answer her prayer right away, but if he touched her with even a bit of his wisdom, she was sure she would feel its effects in her pursuit of understanding.

Shifting into her meditation pose once more, the girl shut her eyes. Rather than zeroing in on the present, she aimed to reflect back on her past. She knew most of it was gone, and at the moment she did not hope to recover any lost memories in her meditation session, but perhaps there were things that were said in Athalran, things that she did not make note of at the time. After having woken up feeling like an entirely new person in the capital of the Wood Elves, her brain had to play catch up with what was going on. That in and of itself procured chaos, and chaos was known to meddle with memories. If her theory proved correct, perhaps this would enable her to relive some of those tangled fragments.

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The answer came to her though a comforting light. It was a feeling akin to having closed your eyes after staring at a light source for too long, but she couldn't visible see it. Instead, it was a sensation Atani felt deep within herself. Her mind was sent back to her beautiful elven homeland where the grass smelled sweet and the trees shaded everyone from the presence of mankind. Magic was abundant, and she was wandering like a small child bewildered by the magnificent surroundings. In reality, it was all new to her, though she felt as if she was right at home, as if somehow she had been to the place before.

"Who are you?" the elder Wood Elves asked her. "I... don't know."

"Well surely you must have a name."

There was a locket hanging from her neck. A golden one. Etched in it was a name-- her name-- written in elven runes. Instinctively comprehending the script, she read it aloud: "Atani."

"Hmm... Atani. From Elvhenair, are you?"

"I- I'm not sure."

She didn't know what Elvhenair was at the time, though she later came to know it as the home of the High Elves. There were some Wood Elves who resided within there, though they were far fewer in number than the Wood Elf population in Athalran. Regardless of where Wood Elves typically resided, Atani had no memory of where she came from. Learning of various locales didn't so much as spark a ghost of her past. The best she could do at that point was stay with her kind in the enchanted forest and learn of their ways. Her native elven culture was ingrained into her soul, and she effortlessly conversed in both Elvarin and Val'Elvarin to the people in the town, though the former was used by few. The elders found that peculiar of her, as it was far more commonly spoken in Elvhenair, though that was not the only thing they found strange about the girl.

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There were those in Athalran who had an aptitude for sensing magical capabilities within others. Mages often radiated some form of magical energy that could not be felt by all. Those who were able to feel it were often keen on identifying what specializations might be best suited for the aspiring mage. For Atani who had no memory of ever using magic in her life, she was quite surprised to hear that she had great magical potential. It was suggested that it had been raised to the point where they would have guessed she had trained to cultivate that potential. Once again, Atani did not know what they were speaking of. Seeing as she did not know what she was even capable of, these sensors of magic appraised her magic. The results left them perplexed.

"You seem to have the affiliation for water, but you cannot cause a ripple. Yet somehow, you can grow a flower with ease."

Raising her hand above the soil, Atani did so with ease once more as a demonstration. The mage who had been working with Atani shook her head.

"For a child of light, that is most peculiar."

There was that term again: child of light. It was something Atani had heard the mage mutter over and over again. It held no meaning to her, and she was afraid to ask what it could mean. At first, she had assumed it just meant she had another aptitude for light magic, though that did not seem to be the case. At the time, all she could do was utilize nature magic. In her privacy, she even tried to practice light magic but to no avail. She was beginning to think she had a misconstrued perception of the notion.

"Gaeriel--" that was the mage's name-- "What exactly is a child of light?"

Even after all this time, the idea was foreign to her. She didn't care if the question came off as naive at this point. She deserved answers.

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"Oh!" Gaeriel blushed. A look of surprise was spread across the fair elf's face. She brushed away some loose strands of brunette hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. "I thought you knew. Oh, where to start."

Atani waited patiently for Gaeriel to gather her thoughts. Perhaps this business regarding children of light was more significant than she thought.

"For some elven bloodlines, they say the essence of the sun runs through their veins. Each time an elf is born during a solar eclipse, its powers grow stronger. They're often more inclined to use light magic and befriend spirits easier, but..." Gaeriel's voice trailed off. The elf furrowed her brows in confusion.

"But what?" Atani had to know more. "It's just that nature and light are polar opposites. Furthermore, you have an affinity for water as well. I've never seen anything like it."

Just what she needed. Another layer of mystery to complement her already twisted, forgotten past. Reminded of the memory from Athalran, Atani began to grow frustrated. Her link to the past began to stretch thin. Like the wispy clouds seen on spring mornings that foretold storms to come, the memories departed. With nothing to spiritually anchor herself, Atani came out of her meditative state.

A child of light. She had never learned much more than what Gaeriel had told her. The information regarding them in the libraries were kept short. To know more, she had to have access to the restricted section, and she was nowhere of the rank necessary to enter. Perhaps that was all she needed to know though. She supposed it provided an explanation as to why she lost her ability to use nature magic. Children of light supposedly were not able to use it in the first place, though that didn't explain why she could initially. It was in all likelihood yet another enigma of her past, one that she hoped to one day learn more of.

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Of course, the whole 'children of light' thing, it was just a theory. In essence, some wholeheartedly believed it to be just as true as the Elven Pantheon, but others disagreed. Even among the believers, the Wood Elves she talked to knew of no way to prove its authenticity. Being a woman of science, Atani needed proof to truly believe in something like that. A few things made sense with the theory, such as her loss of nature magic, but other things remained illogical. At the moment in time, she did not know where she stood on the matter. One thing was for sure though, it warranted investigation.

The only problem was, Atani was in Hargeon. It was not known for housing knowledge on elven history and lore. Being part of Blue Pegasus, she did not plan on traveling back to Athalran any time soon just to satisfy her curiosity. In the end, it didn't truly matter if it was indeed real or not. She did believe that Gaeriel had sensed her potential for water and light magic. She did believe that her use of nature came as a surprise. Whatever mechanism was responsible for it at the moment, however, did not matter so much as the results. What she was experiencing now did not matter if she was truly a child of light or not. Whether or not the power of the sun ran through her veins via her bloodline meant nothing if she couldn't produce a single spell of any element.

Sliding off her rock, Atani decided to continue her walk down the beach. Meditation had reached its limit. Rather than sitting still in the sunlight, the elf wanted to stretch her legs. Bare feet touching the warm sand once more, she continued along the path she had been initially following.

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Along her walk, Atani spotted something out of the corner of her eye. An object had caught the attention of the sun's rays, glinting in the distance. Turning to the right, Atani peered through the cluster of foliage. There was indeed something there, but it was easy to miss. For the average passerby, they would not have even noticed its existence unless they too had seen the glint. Curious to know what the object was, as she still could not make it out fully, she pushed her way through the greenery. Before her was something buried in the sand. A stone spoke was sticking out with a citrine gemstone fused to the tip. The way the sand was piled on, it appeared there was more to the structure.

Atani knelt on the sand and brushed the warm, dry grains off the strange object. Once she was finished, it was revealed that the spoke had a circular base made of stone. Various symbols were embossed along its circumference that Atani did not immediately recognize. In one spot, rather than a symbol, another citrine gem was in its place also seemingly fused into the stone. Though she couldn't read the symbols, its overall shape was unmistakable: It was a sundial.

Atani ran her fingers over the symbols. Sand had been left in its crevices. She didn't know how long this had been in Hargeon, but she had never heard of it before. It appeared to have been untouched for decades at least. Depending on the conditions, she wouldn't be surprised if it hadn't been touched for a century or more.

How curious. The shadow from the sundial was almost at the citrine gem marking an hour Atani did not know. The technology was old enough that she had never seen one in action before. Patiently, she sat to observe it. The shadow slowly crept closer and closer to the citrine. Upon reaching it, the twin gemstones began to glow.

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As if charged by the sun itself, light appeared to swirl gently within the gemstones. Atani resisted the urge to touch it. As much as she wanted to, it was an unfamiliar relic. Doing otherwise could put her in harm's way. Soon, however, a thin bar of light connected the two citrine gems, and from the bottom one, another bar of light darted off in another direction back towards the beach. Curious, Atani followed with haste. If the shadow moved past the citrine, she feared the light would disappear.

The bar of light came to a halt as it hit a rune engraved on a wall of rock similar to the ones on the sundial. The rune began to take on the same glow as the citrine gems. Atani felt her hands along the rock, as if there might have been something pressure activated along the wall; however, nothing unusual was there. She did, however, pick up on a strange bubbling sound that came from overhead. The elf climbed up the short wall of rocks to see that it was not just a simple wall, but a part of the perimeter of a tide pool. The waters of the tide pool bubbled gently. Atani dipped her fingertips in the salty water. It was warm to the touch, which was unusual, but it did not seem to pose a threat. She went all in.

Atani gently stepped into the tide pool. She felt a pleasant tingle of energy ripple throughout her body. The warmth of the water seemed to spread, leaving her body with a peculiar yet comforting sensation. Bending down, the elf cupped her hands underneath the water and stood back up. Normally liking the feeling of water running through her fingers, this was something she often did at nearby streams, but this time it was different. The water didn't fall. Instead, her hands acted like a bowl for the liquid whose contents began to swirl. The uncanny feeling of mana seeping from her hands startled the mage and she dropped the water. It splashed into the tide pool below. Cautiously, she bent down again. This time, she simply hovered her hands over the water. Willing mana to emanate from her body, she imagined a sphere of water rising from the tide pool. To her surprise, it did. Shocked, she dashed out of the water and went back to the sand. She had gotten out just in time to see the beam of light dim and the rune to return back to its normal state.

Quickly, she went back to the sundial. Afraid others would discover this relic, Atani covered it back up with sand and attempted to inconspicuously shield it with leaves. Then... She had to know something. Holding her arm out palm facing up, she tried to generate a small orb of water without the aid of the tide pool. She was able to do it. It burst after a mere few seconds, but she was able to do it nonetheless. Atani was left speechless. Whatever had happened that day, she learned that the elders were right about her all along. No longer was she a nature mage of Blue Pegasus. She was a water mage.

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