Michael

We're sitting at the table drinking tea and not having a conversation, at least I think no one is talking but I can never be too sure with all this telepathy. There is very little eye contact between me and the now conscious 'Welcomers'.

After they woke Jonah made fun of them a while, especially Rumeria for some reason and then they all got quiet. I think they know more about what happened to me than I do but none are talking, it's almost like they are afraid of me but I can't be sure.

"So, you're old huh?" I ask Jonah, I've been getting the vibes that he's the oldest person here. Something I picked up while my crown chakra was active.

"How old do I look exactly?" He asks casually striking a slight pose.

I snort at that, the man is a bit corky. Something I can understand after hearing that he stays here all the time, have for years, alone.

"You don't look a day over 40, but from what I felt it's something over a hundred isn't it?" I ask.

He felt much older but it just can't be possible for a person to be that old, no way. I must have miss felt whatever it is I felt from him or I wasn't able to interpret it correctly.

"I think I am 634 years old this year, or 643, after a while you just stop counting and just enjoy your youth you know?" He says nonchalantly as though discussing the weather, though even the weather here is worth a proper discussion.

I scowl a moment, not sure whether or not to believe him but he shouldn't be able to lie here. And that's actually close to how old he felt, something the three welcomers didn't know judging by Mirabilis' reaction to the declaration.

"You know there are some records of people living almost as long on Earth at some point, but of course they can't really be proven to be accurate," I say thinking about the old men in the bible.

"I wouldn't be surprised. The first few generations of people on your world would still have dense ethers within them and passed that on to their children." He shrugs after that, leaning back on his stool.

The man is strange, he is half naked exposing his big hairy chest, his hair is long and thick going down to his shoulder blades. His beard is bushy and coarse coming down to his chest, his feet are bare and his pants seem tough and comfortable but really ugly.

Yet looking at him closely I notice how clean he is. He smells nice, comforting like freshly rained on soil, his nails are manicured and clean. His teeth are in perfect symmetry and health, pearly white even, and he looks like a handsome man under all that hair. The only indicator of age is the slight wrinkles around his eyes, yet the man claims to be and feels 600 years old. What kinda place have I ended up?

"So, what do you know about Gaia now that you are more in tune with the world around you?" He asks gesturing towards me to open up.

I'm not sure if its because I worked on my throat chakra or what but I feel like talking as well. I look around at the other quiet people around me, Mirabilis looks concerned about something but they are yet to voice their concerns or to voice anything actually.

"Well, from what I went through and what I figured out when everything was happening, you all mean me no harm."

I say looking at them, I saw them and they saw me. Opening my crown chakra like that allowed me to make connections to them even if briefly, and to make connections to other things I'm yet to understand. And I saw them, their intentions towards me, they remind me more of my cop friends than anyone else, just doing their job. It felt almost like I'm an assignment to them, a protected that they may never see again after doing their duty. Something I can relate to, why are they even helping me or people like me at all though?

"I figured out that this world revolves around a sun more than 10 times bigger than the one I'm used to, so that means longer hours," I say to a nodding audience.

"How long is a day?" I ask outright.

"100 hours make a single day divided into 10-hour dawns, 40 daylight hours, 10 twilight hours of dusk and 40 hours of the night," Rumeria says still looking away, seemingly contemplative.

"Jesus, that's a lot," I say trying to think of the implications.

"How many minutes make up an hour here?" I ask time is always relative to each planet's orbit within its solar system.

I know the planet Earth doesn't revolve around the sun in exactly 24 hours, there are some decimals we disregard most of the time. Only adding them up every four years in what we call a leap year by adding an extra day in Feb so everything balances. But it seems this world Gaia, revolves around its sun in exactly a hundred hours.

"There are 60 minutes in an hour and 120 seconds in a minute," Jonah says looking at me with curious interest.

"Jesus! How old did you say you were? 'Cause that's two minutes on Earth for every one minute here." If 120 seconds make a minute for every hour here it's two on Earth when converting to Earth time. For every 24 hours here it's 48 hours on Earth.

That's double everything if my math is correct, and that's before I take into consideration the fact that every day there is something like four days on Earth. Jesus, how old would he be in Earth years? How old would any of them be, how old would I be?

"How many days in a year?" I ask at the grinning Jonah, seemingly liking where my head is going.

"You know, most earthlings don't try to calculate the time difference until they've spent a full day on Gaia." Mirabilis finally communicates again seemingly having made a decision about whatever has been bothering her.

"So what do they usually concentrate on?" I ask actually curious.

"The new sensations, the beauty of Gaia, how magic works and how they can learn it. Things like that, things that are pertinent to their immediate survival mostly."

I smile at her words, some of those I've thought about but I honestly thought the telepathy was more technology than magic at first. I figure I was on another planet with advanced intelligent life that resembles humanity, not the birthplace of humanity. The sight of the dinosaurs sort of gave it away some though. And of course, the knowledge that's slowly seeping into my mind in a way I can't fully understand yet.

"I will get to things pertinent to my immediate survival, especially when I feel threatened but I assumed I was safe with you. Am I not safe with you Mirabilis?" I ask while looking straight into her eyes, holding her gaze.

The mountain or whatever may not allow lying but reading people the old fashion way is still how I'm used to doing things. And though I feel I already know the answer to that question from the connection I shared with my caretakers, it's always a good idea to make them verbally confirm it. Make them feel responsible for me, make them promise to keep me safe.

The table is quiet for a moment as she looks at me, I can also feel everyone else's eyes on me, everyone else's but Jonah's.

"You're safe with us Michael." She finally says and I quickly look at Jonah to find him looking back at me with a little grin.

It's kinda creepy that my new senses can't feel him staring even though I can feel everyone else, but then again the man is as old as dirt.

"How many days make a year again?" I reiterate my question. If it's 365 days that make a year then that's multiplied by 4 'cause four days on earth is one here. Then multiply by two cause one minute here is two there. Nea. I'll need to do the minute conversation first-

"There are 300 days to a year on Gaia," Estergon says smoothly, the quiet one in the group, and before our connection, I would have said the oldest. But the guy is actually the youngest at about my age, Earth years wise.

"How do you divide your months?"

"There are 10 months, each month is made of 30 days, each day 100 hours, each hour 60 minutes, each minute 120 seconds satisfied now?" He asks, his voice slightly raised before getting up and leaving the cave.

Jonah giggles, Mirabilis frowns then sighs, Rumeria doesn't seem bothered in the least.

"So are we going to talk about it?" I ask to change the subject and try to clear the air. "What's with him, what's with all of you?"

"Sorry, you just gave us a little scare there when that thing invaded you. It's not something we are used to, fear, and if you knew us and knew what we were capable of you'd understand. Estergon is just a little shook up by the display that's all." Mirabilis says before going silent again, getting a faraway look.

"You saw that huh, do you know what that thing was that came into me?" I ask it's always a good idea to learn as much as possible. Especially when my survival may be at stake, no one wants to die a weak meaningless death possessed by the personification of a storm.

"It is what we call a primordial element, very rare for it to be found in the physical realm. Very destructive and powerful, but ultimately an element of nature so it isn't really alive in any way we can quantify." Jonah says with a slightly tilted head.

I'm not the only one who seems to be digesting his information but primordial seems to be as much a title as it is a description, at least in my head. So far everything they say into my mind telepathically has been what they meant, even when I thought I misunderstood.

"By primordial, you mean old right?"

"By primordial, I mean a concept or entity that existed before the creation of the physical realm." He says casually.

"Really old, gotcha," I say with a wink while trying to place that idea and scale it in my mind. Something that existed before everything existed. Everything physical anyways.

We stay silent again as we all try to assimilate what Jonah told us, I'm not so curious about calculating time and how old the man is in Earth years anymore. The thing within me is a 'Primordial' and with that description, I understand more of what it showed to me, but I have no context for so much more.

But it's definitely a part of me now, without a doubt this thing is intertwined with my very soul and spirit intimately. And those are two different things the soul and the spirit. I'm not sure how I know but I know that the soul is almost immortal, the spirit though, the spirit can be broken and destroyed so much easier than the soul. Not so much mine anymore, but yea...

"Anyways, shouldn't you guys be teaching more about Gaia?" I say looking at my two Welcomers and Jonah, there is still a lot I don't know and so begins the most popular story of creation on Gaia, and the world's history.