As instructed, Rena took a deep breath, not questioning why this was important, and on the next blink of her eyes...everything changed. Well, to say that everything changed was a bit of misconception. The truth is that while it did, it was more the case that everything went black. Not as in darkness, the lack of light. Everything here was plain as day, despite there being no source of light that she could find. This was not shadow, but void. Really, she had no idea what she was even standing on, though since this place was being held stable by Natah's mind, the answer was probably that she was literally walking on that very force of will.
It mattered not.
Rena's attention was suddenly drawn forward, away from this mystifying place and towards the voice heard to mutter "What the...?", as the space not five feet in front of her was now occupied by two figures who also found this place perplexing. Their bodies were in the state Rena last knew them in. Arden Goldswith was average of height, but well-built for fighting or just about any physical labor you could think of. He was light-skinned, with black hair that was graying, brown eyes that could light to intense orange when agitated, and minor scarring where his left cheek met jawbone. He was dressed in his usual ensemble of light shirt, dark leather pants, and harsh weather coat, and his traveler's boots. Next to him was his wife, Lia Goldswith, formerly of the elven clan, Ka'ri. While his father remained ruggedly handsome throughout his life, Lia had that eternal elven beauty going for her. She was slim, but athletically fit, slightly darker in skintone than Arden. She also had about of inch of height over him. Her eyes were a calming maroon color, and her long hair carried the same shade as Rena's own, with the points of her ears forcing their way into the open air and all. She was a ranger, dressed in leather with boots well-suited for hiking and climbing. At the moment, they were as distracted by this place as Rena had been.
"Oh lords. We're in a big black nothing. How did that happen?"
Arden was taking this in stride, in the manner of someone deals with the unusual on a regular basis. Rena was stunned silent for a moment, which is why when Lia noticed her, she lightly elbowed her husband to get his attention.
"I think the answer's staring us in the face."
You know this moment. You've seen it many times before, the apprehensive silence between loved ones who are all but shocked to see each other there, surprised by what they see because nothing could have prepared them for that moment. Rena was just a child, the last time they saw her. What they saw now was an adult warrior. Yet...the features were unmistakable. The face, the eyes, the hair...not to mention that sword on her back. No one could think otherwise than to know that they stood in the presence of their child.
"Rena...? Is that you, or are we further along than that?"
"It's me, dad. It's me..."
Rena was trying very hard to keep her composure, but her voice was breaking here and there, overcome by the impact this reunion was having on them. Yes, them. Arden was suddenly overjoyed to see her while Lia retained a certain calm. He stepped forward now. As he did, Rena sensed a certain cold about them, the unnatural sensation of their being dead. However, all of this was ignorable in the face of her father looking pleased as punch.
"Gods, look at you! A full-fledged warrior of the Goldswith family line! And with Spark! I knew you'd make it..."
"I guess Elric must have relented at some point."
"Yes, he did. He did it because you and mom were killed..."
A repeated argument between father and son: Rena's right to succeed the family. Tradition denied female heirs, but Arden believed that his daughter was as good as any son he could produce to carry on the Goldswith family line. It made him proud to no end to find that he was right, but he calmed himself when he heard the pain in Rena's voice. By instinct, he put his hand on her shoulder, and then realized his mistake when he saw her flinch at the touch. He pulled the hand back, but said...
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. There was nothing we could do."
"They came at us in force, pretty much their entire army, to a man. We only survived as long as we did because most of them weren't even real soldiers."
"We wanted to go back once we were done, to find you where we hid you and go back home, but by the time they were running out of men, we were too wounded to fight...so we destroyed them, and ourselves."
"We thought only of your life, going out as we did. You've no idea how happy it makes me to see you as a grown woman, standing on your own."
"Mom, you haven't been able to hide that big smile of yours since you spotted me here."
"True, but that's only a fraction of the true depths in which I experience, of course!"
It was stated so matter-of-factly and over-the-top, as though lampshading all elven behavior, that the other two had to start laughing.
"Heh... Still got it."
"I've really missed you two. You have no idea how many times I've looked into studies of life and death in magic, just to see if there was anything I could've done."
"Short of altering reality, I would say no. How did you even get here?"
Rena took a moment to explain...what frankly little she knew about Natah.
"She's maintaining where we are now, and we don't know exactly how long it can be sustained."
"Then, let's enjoy it while it lasts."
And so, they talked, and they shared, and the bittersweet feeling of it all continued. Lia and Arden told her things that even her uncle and grandparents hadn't, and Rena told them of her life, growing up. It was hard, but Arden was liable to pop with all this swelled-up pride he was getting. His daughter, wielding Spark the lightning sword and having learned from Rattigan Von Krauser, the earth dragon who trained the last of the Alamars! At no point did the two who had passed on explain what it was like where they were. Not only were the words inadequate to fully express the state of being, but they literally couldn't. They swapped techniques and styles, instead, and Rena apologized for not calling on her uncle, Zan Goldswith, as well. She wasn't sure if that would affect anything, but she hadn't been willing to take the chance.
"What did Uncle Zan say about his death?"
"He said he had no idea what happened. It was over too quickly for him to figure it out."
"I've been been worried about that. There's a man out there, someone powerful, calling himself Garlock The Destroyer."
"Garlock? Wasn't that his cat's name?"
"Yes, it was. I think it's either someone with a sick mind who had something against Uncle Zan or...or...I don't know what else. I have to find this guy, whoever he is. I loved that cat like family. If he killed my uncle and then got my cat just to spite him, I...!"
"Whoa there, Rena. Calm down. I don't think we want Spark going off in here, just in case."
"Sorry. I just..."
"All the pent-up angers of too much loss in too quick a time."
"Yes... I- What?"
You have to be magically sensitive to really appreciate the fullness of what was happening right now. To those without it, this is just a sort of unstable wavering, a strange tremble of the air. To those more attuned to the aether, like Rena and Lia, this was a thrum of certain energies. Ripples and coursing waves of it would be perceivable to them in some manner or another.
"It seems our time grows short."
"Shit. Already?"
"Looks like."
"Alright. Rena, whatever it is you have to do in life, know that we believe in you."
"You are everything we'd hoped for in a child. My only regret is not being there to see you grow up."
Then, despite the unnatural cold that the dead people possessed, Rena hugged the two of them, unable to hold back her tears.
"Dad... Mom... I love you..."
"We love you too, sweetheart."
"With all our heart."
She let them go, trying very hard no to shiver from the sensation there, then backed away slowly, towards Natah. Arden gave the blindfolded woman a nod.
"Thank you for letting us see our daughter like this. And to you, young lady, no dying 'till you're a ripe old age with kids of your own!"
"Yeah, no earlier than 315!"
Okaaay... Now, Rena was experiencing embarassment, turning red at the last moment comments by her parents. The two of them stood side-by-side, fingers interlocked. They had died for a good cause. The one who needed closure was Rena, not either of them, maybe not even her uncle. Feeling a little choked up, she managed...
"Okay, Natah. We can go back..."