23rd of Frost, 120 AS
From within the darkness, Lyra opened her eyes and found herself in that place... The Soul Space, but not the imitation in which she had spent so much time up until now. The world was clear glass, perfect without cracks or chips of any kind. The sky above was like an endless dome of swirling lights, while the ground was made of grey stone and black fog. It was open and barren, save for a single fixture. Right before her, there was a floating gem, a perfect replica of the dragonshard that would become a core soon enough. She could see her own markings on its surface, in clear and perfect detail. The more she looked the more she realized how foggy, or distorted the world had been before. Indistinct, like it wasn't quite there. Now, however...
Looking down at herself Lyra saw her own body, her TRUE body. Pale for a Hytori, silver hair fell over her shoulders, and her black nails drug long lines over bare skin. Curious Lyra extended her hand, and a tricky of black smoke began to mist from her fingertips.
"A mimicry of myself from before?" Lyra asked allowed to the empty air. Experimentally she moved her fingers around, making the black smoke collect and condense into the shape of a cube, then a sphere before it dissipated in streams of fog, "Or is this simply how I see myself?"
She knew from previous tests that this place, the Soul Space, was built from the things that inhabited it. That meant that the her she was inside was what she saw herself as. Which meant... The fog from the ground began to swirl, forming around Lyra into a flowing dress of black. With a smile Lyra stepped forward, gliding up to hover a short distance above the gem that made up the only landmark in this empty space. Lyra clapped her hands, and a ripple was sent through the black fog. There was a sudden feeling, a sensation... So odd and peculiar. Joy? Happiness? Surely not, but to have a glimpse of her true self, whole and complete... well that was enough to make even Lyrielle smile a genuine smile.
Floating to the ground once more Lyra turned to look at the gem over her shoulder, her thoughts shifting back to the task at hand. She had created the soul space, after all, to be able to manipulate these cores more efficiently. What she remembered of the process with the circle of minding had been a lot of visualizations, conscious thought, and pressing of information into the darkness of the mind that fed into the glyphs and to the core by extension. In this place, however, what she could do and efficiently express was exponentially greater.
Lyra called up the memory of the schema she had prepared in her workshop, spreading her hands wide as she did. Then instead of thinking about the schema Lyra utilized the soul space and brought the schema into being from the smoke around her. She watched with fascination as the swirling mass of black split itself apart, twisting and winding into the shapes of circles and pathways that matched the vision she held in her head. As it progressed Lyra was able to make minor tweaks, modifications, and corrections to the process until at last she was standing inside of a larger recreation of her own design. Once more Lyra floated upward, examining the whole from above with a smile.
It was everything and more than what she had desired. The world was stable, powered both by the dragonshard itself, as well as Lyra. Both together influenced the space itself, and through this tool, she could directly interact and influence the core inside. She did not have to rely on something so amorphous as though when she could create exacting visuals. What's more, because the core existed within the space as well it could learn from the interaction even as Lyra was refining what it was exactly that she desired from it. If this was possible with these basic components, what if she created a larger soul space powered from a source outside of herself and the gem inside of it? Would that give them even greater control? Would each of the power sources be reflected here, or did it depend upon the schema? Questions upon questions upon questions... yet she had to focus.
Flowing down Lyra pressed her hands on the shard's surface, staring into its depths of swirling lights with curiosity. She then... impressed upon it. She showed it what she saw, through their connections she let it SEE the world and the schema in which it sat. She floated up once more to stare at the schema as a whole, and as she did she mentally told the Core that THIS was its domain. This was what it interacted with. This was its home.
As with the emerald and ruby before, Lyra felt an... acceptance of this. The Core accepted that this schema itself was its home. It was what it would interact with, where it would be housed. With a thought, Lyra added more pathways to the design, had them branch and twist. She gave it them different inherent purposes, combined vortexes with convergences, and at the end of it, she wiped it all free to leave the original schema. At that moment she impressed upon the core that its surrounding would change, and what it interacted with, but so long as the circle it rested in remained the same it was still home. Again Lyra felt the acceptance, and she nodded.
"Clever Rock." Lyra said in amusement, and she thought she felt the Core pulse as if in response.
With the ability to interact with its home established Lyra then turned her attention to the connecting circle in the Schema. It was empty, of course, for Lyra planned to place another core there fashioned from a normal gem. The same one she had utilized before, that came alight when a particular glyph was touched. Then Lyra had a thought...
Focusing Lyra brought to mind that particular gem, and as if in response the smoke flowed and shaped itself into a shifting replica of what she held in her mind. Lyra nodded slowly. It wasn't perfect, but for now perhaps it would do...
Lyra drifted down to stand on top of the core then, turning to face the other circle where the gem replica sat. She thought for a brief moment about how to import this, but with a smile, Lyra shook her head. She sat down onto the gem, and sent a command through their connection that was simply... 'watch me'.
Lyra touched the point of the schema that liked toward the adjacent circle. With a pulse of aether Lyra sent a stream of light down that pathway, watched as it circled the design, and slammed into the connecting gem. As she did so she envisioned the gem lighting up with soft green light, and to her surprise, the replica mimicked this. Smiling Lyra whispered softly, "Use your aether, connected with your brother. Touch his soul, and the pathways inside."
Lyra imagined two figures, hands outstretched and touching, and their forms were created floating over the floating design.
"Speak with one another. Trade aether as you need, and when you command..." She made the figure nearest them reach forward and touch the other's forehead, making that figure glow, "Make his aether pass through the pictograph, and bring it to light."
There was a pulse, a simple understanding, or acceptance yet Lyra felt it was not quite there. She then realized she had given it no trigger. To that, she chuckled and patted the gem.
"Connect." Lyra said, adding meaning and purpose to the word. AS she said it she had the design pulse with aether, signifying the two gems were linked.
"Light." A new pulse was sent down the line, and the image of the figure pressing on the other's forehead returned, and the gem glowed a soft green once more.
"Dark." The light fade and the aether was retracted as the figure removed it's hand from the other's forehead.
"Disconnect." Another pulse of aether sent down the line, cutting off the connection as the gem replica faded, signifying it was no longer able to be interacted with.
Simple and straight forward. Lyra was pleased and with a wave of her hand, she let the design fade back into the black fog that covered the ground below. Sliding down one side of the gem Lyra pressed her forehead against the Core's surface, staring into its depths.
"Do you understand?"
A pulse was the only response. Acceptance. With a last smile, Lyra closed her eyes and came back to the world outside.
From within the darkness, Lyra opened her eyes and found herself in that place... The Soul Space, but not the imitation in which she had spent so much time up until now. The world was clear glass, perfect without cracks or chips of any kind. The sky above was like an endless dome of swirling lights, while the ground was made of grey stone and black fog. It was open and barren, save for a single fixture. Right before her, there was a floating gem, a perfect replica of the dragonshard that would become a core soon enough. She could see her own markings on its surface, in clear and perfect detail. The more she looked the more she realized how foggy, or distorted the world had been before. Indistinct, like it wasn't quite there. Now, however...
Looking down at herself Lyra saw her own body, her TRUE body. Pale for a Hytori, silver hair fell over her shoulders, and her black nails drug long lines over bare skin. Curious Lyra extended her hand, and a tricky of black smoke began to mist from her fingertips.
"A mimicry of myself from before?" Lyra asked allowed to the empty air. Experimentally she moved her fingers around, making the black smoke collect and condense into the shape of a cube, then a sphere before it dissipated in streams of fog, "Or is this simply how I see myself?"
She knew from previous tests that this place, the Soul Space, was built from the things that inhabited it. That meant that the her she was inside was what she saw herself as. Which meant... The fog from the ground began to swirl, forming around Lyra into a flowing dress of black. With a smile Lyra stepped forward, gliding up to hover a short distance above the gem that made up the only landmark in this empty space. Lyra clapped her hands, and a ripple was sent through the black fog. There was a sudden feeling, a sensation... So odd and peculiar. Joy? Happiness? Surely not, but to have a glimpse of her true self, whole and complete... well that was enough to make even Lyrielle smile a genuine smile.
Floating to the ground once more Lyra turned to look at the gem over her shoulder, her thoughts shifting back to the task at hand. She had created the soul space, after all, to be able to manipulate these cores more efficiently. What she remembered of the process with the circle of minding had been a lot of visualizations, conscious thought, and pressing of information into the darkness of the mind that fed into the glyphs and to the core by extension. In this place, however, what she could do and efficiently express was exponentially greater.
Lyra called up the memory of the schema she had prepared in her workshop, spreading her hands wide as she did. Then instead of thinking about the schema Lyra utilized the soul space and brought the schema into being from the smoke around her. She watched with fascination as the swirling mass of black split itself apart, twisting and winding into the shapes of circles and pathways that matched the vision she held in her head. As it progressed Lyra was able to make minor tweaks, modifications, and corrections to the process until at last she was standing inside of a larger recreation of her own design. Once more Lyra floated upward, examining the whole from above with a smile.
It was everything and more than what she had desired. The world was stable, powered both by the dragonshard itself, as well as Lyra. Both together influenced the space itself, and through this tool, she could directly interact and influence the core inside. She did not have to rely on something so amorphous as though when she could create exacting visuals. What's more, because the core existed within the space as well it could learn from the interaction even as Lyra was refining what it was exactly that she desired from it. If this was possible with these basic components, what if she created a larger soul space powered from a source outside of herself and the gem inside of it? Would that give them even greater control? Would each of the power sources be reflected here, or did it depend upon the schema? Questions upon questions upon questions... yet she had to focus.
Flowing down Lyra pressed her hands on the shard's surface, staring into its depths of swirling lights with curiosity. She then... impressed upon it. She showed it what she saw, through their connections she let it SEE the world and the schema in which it sat. She floated up once more to stare at the schema as a whole, and as she did she mentally told the Core that THIS was its domain. This was what it interacted with. This was its home.
As with the emerald and ruby before, Lyra felt an... acceptance of this. The Core accepted that this schema itself was its home. It was what it would interact with, where it would be housed. With a thought, Lyra added more pathways to the design, had them branch and twist. She gave it them different inherent purposes, combined vortexes with convergences, and at the end of it, she wiped it all free to leave the original schema. At that moment she impressed upon the core that its surrounding would change, and what it interacted with, but so long as the circle it rested in remained the same it was still home. Again Lyra felt the acceptance, and she nodded.
"Clever Rock." Lyra said in amusement, and she thought she felt the Core pulse as if in response.
With the ability to interact with its home established Lyra then turned her attention to the connecting circle in the Schema. It was empty, of course, for Lyra planned to place another core there fashioned from a normal gem. The same one she had utilized before, that came alight when a particular glyph was touched. Then Lyra had a thought...
Focusing Lyra brought to mind that particular gem, and as if in response the smoke flowed and shaped itself into a shifting replica of what she held in her mind. Lyra nodded slowly. It wasn't perfect, but for now perhaps it would do...
Lyra drifted down to stand on top of the core then, turning to face the other circle where the gem replica sat. She thought for a brief moment about how to import this, but with a smile, Lyra shook her head. She sat down onto the gem, and sent a command through their connection that was simply... 'watch me'.
Lyra touched the point of the schema that liked toward the adjacent circle. With a pulse of aether Lyra sent a stream of light down that pathway, watched as it circled the design, and slammed into the connecting gem. As she did so she envisioned the gem lighting up with soft green light, and to her surprise, the replica mimicked this. Smiling Lyra whispered softly, "Use your aether, connected with your brother. Touch his soul, and the pathways inside."
Lyra imagined two figures, hands outstretched and touching, and their forms were created floating over the floating design.
"Speak with one another. Trade aether as you need, and when you command..." She made the figure nearest them reach forward and touch the other's forehead, making that figure glow, "Make his aether pass through the pictograph, and bring it to light."
There was a pulse, a simple understanding, or acceptance yet Lyra felt it was not quite there. She then realized she had given it no trigger. To that, she chuckled and patted the gem.
"Connect." Lyra said, adding meaning and purpose to the word. AS she said it she had the design pulse with aether, signifying the two gems were linked.
"Light." A new pulse was sent down the line, and the image of the figure pressing on the other's forehead returned, and the gem glowed a soft green once more.
"Dark." The light fade and the aether was retracted as the figure removed it's hand from the other's forehead.
"Disconnect." Another pulse of aether sent down the line, cutting off the connection as the gem replica faded, signifying it was no longer able to be interacted with.
Simple and straight forward. Lyra was pleased and with a wave of her hand, she let the design fade back into the black fog that covered the ground below. Sliding down one side of the gem Lyra pressed her forehead against the Core's surface, staring into its depths.
"Do you understand?"
A pulse was the only response. Acceptance. With a last smile, Lyra closed her eyes and came back to the world outside.
