Aren felt the warmth of the sun on his cheek. His eyes twitched. He opened them, and the first thing he saw was the sun bright in the sky shining down on him. Its warm rays were accompanied by the soft breeze that moved through the grass.

Aren knew this place, the familiar feel of the air and how soft everything was. He recalled the look of paradise that this place was and when he had first gotten here.

"Arghh," he groaned as he moved his body. He could swear he heard his bones break inside him. He sat up and looked around. He was indeed inside the very same place he had met Karmela once.

"What am I doing here?" he muttered under his breath as he looked around slowly. Then he spotted it. In the distance, he saw the umbrella and Karmela sitting under it.

"She is here," he muttered as he got to his feet.

The last thing Aren recalled was dying to the attack of Shadow. He had thought it was all over, and now he was here. He did not understand anything that was happening at this point, but he hoped that as he met Karmela, he would be able to get some answers.

He walked through the field at a steady pace, his gaze fixed on her. She sipped her tea and gazed off into the distance as though she could not see him there, but he was certain that she knew he was there. There was no way that he would be there if she did not allow him.

He arrived at the table and stood close to it. He looked at her, not saying a word and not moving. He stared at her and watched her take her next sip of tea.

"So many questions, so little time. Your mind is a mess," she said and then took another sip.

"How am I here?" he asked.

"Straight to the point. You are eager to know what happened. Well, the answers are layered, the stories intertwined and your role in them important.

Have a seat and let us talk, Aren," she said before taking another sip.

"I don’t have the time to laze around," he said, clenching his fist. "Shadow is out there in my body doing god knows what. I cannot allow it."

"But you cannot stop it," she said and then looked at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You are dead, simple as that, or better to say, the shadow soul of you is dead," as she said that she placed her cup on the table and then looked right at him.

"Sit down, Aren. I believe that you have come so far. It would be best if I told you a bit of what is happening and a bit of truth about you and who you are.

I know Shadow must have told you a lot, but there are parts of the story that he did not tell you at all," she explained and gestured to the chair.

"Parts of me I don’t know? I thought I discovered everything there is," he looked at the chair, took a breath, and then sat down.

She smiled and snapped her finger. The teapot floated and served him a cup of tea.

"You know the perfect cup of tea is hard to make," she said. "It is like a chemical or alchemy mixture, if I may. The balance has to be exact and everything has to fall into place for it to work.

That is the same exact thing Shadow was looking for. He was waiting for the exact moment and right circumstances for your creation." She picked up her tea when she reached that part and then took another sip.

"You are the perfect mixture he sought for, and I saw that long ago."

"Saw what?"

"Saw you. Before your very existence was born, I saw you and I knew what would happen. And I knew that if Shadow got you, he would have all he needed for his return. I needed to act and so I did."

Aren listened to her with the concentration of a child listening to the late night stories of his mother.

"Your birth was never meant to be in two worlds, Aren. I created it. I tampered with fate and forced this to happen.

Your soul was split in two, Aren, and one was sent to Earth and another was brought here," she said and then looked at Aren.

Aren was stunned. He gripped the table as he looked at her. "Who the hell are you?" he asked.

"Well that is a bit too late to be asking that now, right Aren? But when I am done, I will tell you just who I am and what I am to you," she said and then took another sip.

"Your first soul was born on Earth through special means. Your mother was no ordinary being, I ensured that, and so when you were born you were born with her very essence inside you, one which allowed for your soul to return after you died.

I ensured this and made it seem like it was actually the Shadow that did this. It was to ensure that Shadow never became suspicious of you.

I also used Loki as part of the plan. He did not know the full details of what was to happen, but his role was to try and guide you away from the Shadow. No matter how much I wanted to hide you, your soul was still Shadow.

Loki thought he would have to ensure you never reached Shadow, while I on the other hand set Loki up to ensure your Shadow did awaken, because the only way for you to have your own Shadow was by your split soul to awaken it.

This is why you were somehow able to stand against Shadow and defy him even when Shadow belongs to him l.