The Magi's Society

Mevi walked with her two escorts, Zelkan and the stalwart Sentinel. She attempted to feign confidence, but the worried glances from Zelkan proved she held little to none. Mevi still had no idea how such developments came to be, or why she was chosen out of everyone given from her colony. A Lord Councilor, the highest position that could be held on the Barge, wanted to personally speak with her. With the strangeness surrounding her first few days, Mevi wondered how much was planned or convenient circumstance. Kalesi held her own opinions and theories, but now all her knowledge and advice was locked behind a grievous injury holding her hostage. As Mevi slowly walked down the plain hallways, the stress of who she was about to meet seemed a fraction of how important Mevi knew Lord Maphet actually was. Mevi was lost, and forced to travel unknown waters, without a trusted advisor to let her understand what was actually happening.

What little Mevi did know was that this Magi was of extremely high rank. Whatever that high rank symbolized was beyond her comprehension, Kalesi seemed inclined to teach her the hows and whys of the Magi’s society once things calmed down. Yet there was never a real moment of true rest, only short recoveries from a previous event of significance. It would probably be more simple, Mevi thought, that she listed the things she needed to know rather than what she did; and that didn’t even cover the things she didn’t know she needed to know.

As Mevi walked, she must have been making strange faces during her personal monologue of thought, Zelkan was watching with an almost intense worry plaguing his barely-visible face. Mevi was still unsure about the man, he seemed outwardly trustworthy, but Odion ‘gave’ Zelkan to her. This idea of someone being given to another was strange to her, and Mevi could not understand how her heart felt about someone being forced to care for another. Yet, as Mevi thought about the attentive man, the more subtle similarities shone between he and Kalesi. Kalesi did not necessarily choose Mevi, and even from what Mevi understood it was almost seen as an attempted punishment inflicted by the Magi Falcier. Kalesi seemed to grow fond of Mevi quickly, at least Kalesi feigned a better care than the stiff and formal method Zelkan employed. Mevi wondered if Zelkan were to stay with her, would he also grow to truly care for Mevi?

It seemed Mevi’s thoughts were interrupted as Zelkan caught Mevi’s attention to gesture towards the wall. The trio stopped in front of a remarkably grand archway. Reaching the height of the hallway’s ceiling, was what looked like a solid slab of marble-white stone. Etched into the stone surface were hundreds of arcane runes that shone with a blue power. Intricate golden inlays streaked across the surface like shimmering veins, drawing circles in their course around the collections of runes and thus connecting them in a sort of golden web. The web converged at the base of the elegant wall, and was placed one meter above the ground. The conversion of golden webbing spiraled into a sort of flower that reached out like a strange artistic flourish on an otherwise flat sculpture. The flower, in its radiance, sparkled with an endless spectrum of colors.

Mevi looked up at the wall they were stopped in front of, and wondered if they were meant to pass through the thing; the construct had no obvious handle or even a crease where two halves might meet like with traditional doorways. There was no obvious control panel, or other plain method of operation. As Mevi looked upward at the extravagant sculpture, in a curious awe, Zelkan snapped his head upward as if receiving an urgent message. Mevi’s attention was drawn to his sudden head jerk. The man watched the air intently, as if he was looking upward at a message from his divine. A gleaming glow seemed to surround his mood as he read whatever message he received, but as he continued to stare into the air his glee lessened. Mevi wondered if some sort of bad news had been sent to him? As Mevi became curious about what he had seen, Zelkan turned down to Mevi with an almost confused stare and spoke with an amount of uncertainty, “I have received a missive from Lord Councilor, Maphet. She declares you must pass through this… doorway. That you cannot receive help, or advise, and must make this stone tapestry bend to your will.”

Mevi looked again at the solid surface, and her conclusion arrived at the task being impossible, “How could I possibly move solid stone?”

Receiving no response, and an awkward silence from Zelkan, Mevi looked up at the strange sculpture. Its intricate golden inlays shone as if in confident defiance against her. Even when she used her Maige, such feats of power were beyond her without incredible injury. Even if she could somehow conjure power, like with her Maige, she had never attempted to move heavy objects consciously. Where could she even begin this task?

Without a clear path to travel, Mevi looked again over to Zelkan. He watched with concern, but remained silent and otherwise stalwart. The golden Sentinel watched with a blank glare, only its piercing red eyes shining from under the heavy helm. Both her aids were content to allow this trial to be conquered alone. Turning back to the stone wall, Mevi investigated it for any obvious clue. The most glaring feature was its pearlescent flower, and Mevi followed what she thought was a hint. Reaching her hand towards the supposed door, Mevi touched the glittering flower. She focused her mind, and concentrated on the smooth surface with its intricate curves and waves. The small object was impossibly perfect, without any sharp or blunt edge and instead bending in smooth curves in a continuous flow. The flower seemed to be made by a single sheet of an aetheric metal that was bent and shaped into the improbable creation of a perfect flower. Yet, despite her investigation, the flower bore no fruit. Her attempt to access the door, with what she thought was a sort of handle, failed after her moments of investigation produced no effect at all.

Mevi had few real clues how to open the door, and in a confused attempt, she simply pushed on the front. Leveraging what little weight she had behind her, Mevi pushed against the immovable object. Then, in confusion and frustration, she pulled on the pearlescent flower in a vain attempt to pry the door open with force. Neither pushing, nor pulling, budged the door to any degree. Even the flower, that stuck out from the wall with only small bonds to the stone, felt as if it was one solid mass that was completely immovable. Mevi looked up at the large wall, for it could only be a wall or barricade and not a door. Its luminance was mocking her again; the stone tapestry’s carvings made the sculpture look so delicate and elegant, yet instead it was a completely solid surface of hard material and rock.

Looking back, Mevi was once again met with the silent eyes of her watchful aids. Neither offered any kind of hint through their body language; they both attempted to stand and watch with as few emotions or movement as possible. Mevi needed some kind of help to open such a powerful structure, she didn’t have her Maige to even attempt a more spiritual method. The frustration of the situation was beginning to leak annoyance into her mood. The amount of strange things happening, Kalesi’s wounding, and this incredible agreement amounting to some impossible test that made no sense. Mevi should be devastated, she shouldn’t have such a solid grip over herself as she did. The swirling emotions that boiled inside of her soul should be erupting out of her, but even as she stands in frustration, before this looming test, she has a strange amount of control and blanketed with a cold calm. As if something was dampening what was able to bubble to the surface, and before it reached an escape it was stolen away to be dulled to barely anything at all.

Mevi knew her emotions clattered in chaos inside of her, but the calm over her mood began to disturb her more than the test’s daunting challenge. Mevi wondered, was something given to her, or done to her? By rights she should be devastated, her small world crashed and burnt in quick succession. Whatever feeling of forced calm that was over her was becoming more obvious as she investigated her own mind. In her mental realm, she could understand the emotions were there but they were almost kept away from her. As if something was actively barring their escape. Then, as Mevi focused on her swirling emotions, she could feel something.

Mevi entered an almost meditative state, as she looked inward for answers. As she could feel her conflicting emotions, and understand her own deep pain, but another presence sweeped its influence over the bubbling thoughts. As it did so, the rising chaos inside of her calmed, or was pushed back down. This presence, it didn’t feel unnatural. Mevi recalled the distinct feeling of a Magi’s control; when first encountering Magi Falcier, or within the Education Forum’s auditorium. Both situations held a disturbing presence that overrode any and all correct thought. This feeling was almost familiar to her. As if this sweeping presence, keeping her many emotions forcefully held down, was some native part of herself. Suddenly, as Mevi focused on her inner self, the presence made itself known.

A great and dark shroud passed over Mevi’s thoughts. A looming shadow that possessed an alien mind, but at the same time one so similar to her own she had unconsciously ignored it up until now. This presence wasn’t new, it had always stalked her wherever she might’ve gone. It was her soul’s daemon, a malevolent spirit made of pure emotion and dark memory. This conscious nightmare stalked her every step, regardless of where she tried to run or hide. Yet here, as Mevi faced it in a cosmic realm of pure thought, it simply watched her. This dark entity observed her, where before it would have attacked and swarmed her psyche. Instead of anger, resentment, hate, and fear, Mevi felt some kindred to it. She could feel its emotions, what few feelings could be called such at least, as if they were her own. The creature seemed grateful, indebted in some way to her. While this feeling of gratitude was within the creature, it was a small kernel compared to the overwhelming memory the entity held within it.

As Mevi watched the shadow, only in the way spirits of thought could be watched, the entity disembarked from her mental sight. It returned to the swirling chaos that was steadily eating away at Mevi’s ego. It was culling her emotions, for good or ill Mevi could not tell. Regardless of its motives, the actions it took were the sole reason why Mevi’s state hadn’t deteriorated to a deranged and depressed husk. Mevi had suspected a Magi’s tampering, but instead it was some kind of hidden goodwill originating from her own inner mind.

While Mevi investigated within her inner mind, she had almost been able to forget the stress of the task before her. As she opened her eyes, and basked in the immaculate glory sculpted onto the wall, Mevi could return to the task at hand with a new perspective. Mevi had no Maige, but if Odion meant anything he had said; she might store some secret fire burning within her spirit. With the wall immoveable by mortal means, Mevi had simply to use her immortal soul’s secret power.

Mevi sat on the floor, and stared up at the object of her quest. The sculpted wall could wait. A key for such an impossible doorway would certainly take time to forge. Mevi had no other choice than to ignore the current task, and focus fully inward. If there was some kind of power hidden away within her, and Odion had seen it, then she must find it. With nothing else to do, Mevi closed her eyes and attempted to fully grasp her inner cosmos. The world that resided inside of her own mind, and that resides within all people’s minds. She would piercing the wakeless world, but with her fully conscious thought, and search for this unknown power there.

Mevi knew she could sometimes drift into a similar world of thought, when she focused inward enough. But would communing with her daemon, or basking in intense thought, be enough for the task at hand? Whatever power laid dormant inside of her would certainly be deep, and the surface scrapings of basic observation would never lead to in depth study of her own soul. Mevi needed to go deeper, and she needed to fully immerse herself within her dreams that might connect her to her core.

Mevi focused for several moments, with nothing beyond a basic grasp of her own internal chaos. Without going fully to sleep she wasn’t entirely sure if her lucid dreams could be reached. Even then, within her dreams she was more a prisoner of her rambling thoughts than an actual power of influence. Despite her lucid awareness while asleep, little could be remembered after she woke up, and few things did as she commanded while her nightmares chased. Her only memory of real control, and with any fragments of recollection after awakening, was when Odion inserted himself into her mind. Mevi rationalized that either a Magi’s influence was needed or a conscious spirit must pierce the veil of dreams with deliberate action. Either instance did not seem easily done, and if she could not be aided in her test only the later option was viable. She needed to enter her sleeping realm, but without falling asleep.

Mevi attempted, without knowing exactly how, to enter a sleepless dream. Her eyes shut and mind focused, Mevi tried to simply wait for something to happen. As she waited, feeling her own emotions boil then simmer, nothing of significance occurred. She continued to focus on the memories she had with Odion in her dream-scape, yet couldn’t guess if that was the right course of action. The realm she traveled only a few hours ago seemed so impossibly distant. Her spiritual phantom continued its strange work, the cold presence chilling away her strongest emotions as they began to erupt. Mevi was almost distracted by the thing’s work, the halt of her natural flow of emotion was a strange and eerie feeling. The unnatural calm dominated her mind, and the almost artificial feeling within her felt as if watching herself from a distance. As if she wasn’t really within her own body, only capable of watching as a foreign spectator guessed what Mevi might do.

As Mevi was distracted further by her estranged emotions, she slowly discovered more about the strange state she was in. The further she investigated, the more strange the feelings became. So distant, and almost not there at all. What feeling remained was the baser types, any spiritual sense was deprived from her comprehension. She almost felt as if being slowly detached from herself, the distance between herself and her thoughts was growing. In her inner thought’s chasm, that separated her and her turmoil, was growing wide enough to separate herself from her physical body. Then, as she felt herself deprived of her physical senses, she realized something. She could sense her physical body, from a distance, and it was in a sleep-like state. In her concentration on the strangeness within her, she had passed into some type of enhanced meditation. The gap between her thoughts and her form seemed vast, but not entirely impossible to cross if needed. She had immersed herself in some kind of state of mind allowing a deeper understanding than she could possess before.

Mevi was now, accidentally, within the realm of her own mind. The space was vast, and cosmic, as she remembered from her dream. Below her cosmic position, was a boiling planet of emotions that was threatening to explode. The diligence of her spirit daemon kept the formation from cracking, and its task was an enormous one. The spirit didn’t seem to notice, or simply didn’t care, that Mevi was now watching it closely within a mental space. The entity left a sort of trail, an icy track of dark shadow, leading further into the mental expanse. Without a proper understanding of her own mind, Mevi had no choice but to leave or follow the trail. But she refused to leave without some kind of progress, whatever that took the form of.

Descending into the mental realm’s depths, Mevi slowly approached her daemon while it performed its duty. The entity seemed to begrudgingly take on this task, what emotions that could be understood was of building annoyance marked with hints of responsibility. The entity still paid no mind to Mevi, and she realized she preferred that. The cluster of dark memories seemed docile for now, but it was obviously not her companion. There were leaking thoughts, memories even, that threatened to take hold of Mevi if she drew too close to the entity. Visions that she was instinctively terrified of, and found herself fleeing at the smallest leakage.

While avoiding what dark thoughts escaped the daemon, Mevi followed the entity’s trail. A faint scatter of essence seemed to link the entity’s body to something far away. The trail led on into the most distant expanse, and disappeared past where Mevi could fathom from her point of view. What chance did she have of chasing some unknown origin? The trail was faint, and difficult to comprehend on its own; the source of this entity would likely be well hidden or so distant it might be unreachable. Yet Mevi reasoned she had no better solution, and must attempt to find this unknown source.

With Mevi’s path made clear, she began her attempt to follow the wisps of essence. What counted as traveling in this meditative state seemed difficult. As if waves pushed against her body as she attempted to crawl her way out to sea. Some natural force that seemed to urge and discourage exploration. Yet Mevi pressed on, the pushing she felt could be noticed in her physical form as well as the mental space was explored. In the waking world, Mevi felt her skin crawl with every attempt to press onward. The gentle touch of air seemed to corrode her focus, like her entire body fought against her cosmic journey. For whatever reason, every action in this realm seemed to almost repel Mevi. Every attempt, and strenuous thought, tried to pull her focus away and back into her corporeal form. While Mevi wanted nothing less than to abandon this exploration, she wasn’t sure how easily she might enter a state as deep as this again. If her daemon’s passiveness was temporary, she might also never have a chance to uncover some small amount of the power within herself without being harassed or attacked.

As Mevi continued against the waves of chaotic thought and memory, images and visions rushed randomly into her. As if an attempt to bombard her with stimulus until she lost focus and was forcefully abandoned by the dream world. Thoughts, images, ideas, and concepts Mevi couldn’t understand, and didn’t recognize, cascaded against her senses. Impossible places and unknown faces invaded her thoughts as she continued to fight against her mind’s defenses. At this point, Mevi was unsure if following the dark trail would even lead her to whatever power she sought. Nor did she understand why she sought this power with such determination. If whatever Odion thought she could do, or what she might possess inside her, could open a wall into a doorway was unknown. Mevi’s sense of self was draining, and her common sense screamed to release her determination, but some part of her knew she had no other options. Wherever this path led, was the only one she knew that was open to her.

While Mevi focused on her mind’s expanse, her body began to shake and tremble. From her mind’s eye, she could still sense her physical body. It called to her, and demanded her consciousness’s return. In her mind’s eye, she could see herself in the hallway, shaking enough that worry was easily perceived from Zelkan. The man was on the verge of doing something, his worries leaked from his psyche and were absorbed by Mevi’s perception. She could feel the emotions that he felt, and his desire to serve was conflicting with his order to protect and aid. His own internal conflict quickly became Mevi’s. His mind was obvious to her, and in her current state his unguarded thoughts easily infected Mevi’s mind. As if her body and mind was trying any possible way to dissuade her, Zelkan’s mind became plain. With him, the fringes of other minds were touched and understood from a distance. Vague impressions, short thoughts, and small images began to slowly attack her focus further. But as Mevi became slowly aware of the distant minds, she could sense one from a curious direction. From beyond the wall, a single entity was detected.

Mevi’s attention was almost entirely shifted from her current course after she detected the entity beyond the wall. There were plenty of minds that were sensed through walls in every direction, but the mind beyond the door was one of quiet purpose. Its presence was known to her, but no thoughts or emissions escaped from the entity’s source. It felt as if a solid rock in an otherwise free-flowing river. Mevi was tempted to shift her focus entirely from her path onto the strange being. She was so distracted by the temptation of curiosity, that she felt her incorporeal body flowing back the way she had traveled. In the cosmic realm of infinite expanse, she was slowly flowing back the way she had spiritually traveled. Progress could not be made this way, and following the trail had given her nothing, so a new path was decided. The empty entity, the solid stone mind, was her new target. From her perch, within her mind’s cosmos, she could approach the entity with some amount of secrecy. If she could understand this entity, whatever it might be, she might find some way to open the door through its insight.

The blank entity made no response, and no attempt to resist Mevi’s approach. She was being pushed farther away from the friges by the crashing waves of mental chaos, but those very waves could also push her in a new direction. While not fully understanding how she did what she was doing, she rode the mystical waves in the direction of the new item for focus. She could harness the chaotic energy around her, somehow, and this energy almost seemed to bolster her when she didn’t fight against it. With her direction plotted, and the waves harnessed, Mevi began her exploration beyond the wall.

As Mevi approached the entity closer, it still made no obvious response. The other minds were quieter now, lessening the farther away Mevi traveled from the chaotic waves that encircled her mind. The blank entity began to fade as well, but with her focus replaced onto the new target it could not fully escape her sight. After fully riding the chaos, it deposited her back to her own body. But as her mind begged to be reunited with her physical form, Mevi managed to pivot what momentum she carried to go past herself and into the wall.

Mevi crashed through the wall, which until this point seemed to be exclusively part of an invisible terrain. When she pressed her mind through the wall, her psyche cluttered with noise and stimulation. The physical space of the stone tapestry infected her mental space, causing golden light to shine with blaring arcane runes who screamed their meaning all at once. The amalgamation of information yelled and screamed its names and purposes, and through the quantity of loud declarations Mevi could not hear or understand anything. Each came with a dagger’s potency as it cut into her mind, forcing understanding into her only to bleed out in pain. Mevi quickly recoiled against the wall, which somehow managed to both physically and mentally block her passage.

Mevi decided she had enough of the wall’s obstacle. With what fury she could steal from the boiling emotions below her, Mevi threw herself at the wall’s overload of information. Rather than absorbing the knowledge, Mevi instead cut the messages before they arrived as if she were blazing a trail through thick vegetation. Eating through her fury and rage from below, Mevi channeled all she could find into the door that blocked her curiosity and purpose. There was much fury leftover from her possession, unresolved anger that had no purpose, but as her weapon it became a flaming blade that could cut away the wall of thought and noise. With every swing her anger diminished, and was replenished from below. As she continued to absorb the emotions into herself, and repurpose them for a righteous cause, Mevi could briefly notice her soul’s daemon acting as a funnel to sort out her fury and rage from the other emotions. When she felt halfway past the wall’s defenses, her rage ran dry, as she cut further her frustration ran out, and finally her righteous fury was depleted. She hadn’t entirely penetrated the wall of noise, and she felt exhausted in both of her forms. Mevi slowly conceded to her body’s plea, and decided to fully return to the waking world.

As Mevi opened her eyes, and cleared her head, a strange sight was presented before her. Where the wall once was, now a hole bore through solid stone and metal reinforcement. Digging itself almost half a meter into the wall, and tearing open golden veins within the once-beautiful stone. Mevi looked backwards, and saw that Zelkan was just as surprised as Mevi was confused. Even the golden sentinel’s silent eyes seemed to linger on the excavation.

The hole Mevi created seemed almost a meter tall, and half that thick. Mevi could easily squeeze into the small space, but it did not breach the wall’s edge fully. Mevi assessed herself, and she was completely exhausted. Even as she sat on the ground her body almost begged for rest and sleep. If this was the goal of the test, she was not strong enough to complete it. She didn’t have enough anger within her to tear a hole fully into the stone. But as she began to think there was no further hope of completion, a small voice eked out a strange sort of message. As if she received the words directly in her mind, an echoing voice from far away simply said, “call…” The echoing voice resided deep, some place far below in the cosmic plane and it was plainly obvious of its mystical origin. The voice felt like a distant memory, as if she recognized it from some ancient source. Then it struck her, her daemon.

Mevi almost dismissed the thought as it appeared, but as she turned over the idea something stirred within herself. The dark cold that would sometimes stalk her psyche had wrapped itself around Mevi like a mantle. No visible sign was obvious in the physical world, but she could feel a great weight suddenly placed on her shoulders. She could feel the intent of her daemon. It was still grateful, and felt it had done its duty. But it wanted one last task to complete before its self-declared debt was paid. It commanded Mevi to use it, and to use it without the chains of a Maige. So she did, allowing the daemon to guide her hand upwards to point at the wall. With a power that was both her own and not, Mevi’s fingertips launched out a dark torrent of power that railed against the remains of the wall. The unknown power propelled itself as manifestations of pain, and this pain eroded the incorruptible surface as if thousands of years passed in the span of mere moments. By the end of her brief exchange of power, the daemon disappeared its presence back into the unknown depths of her mind. The surface of the wall was eroded and corrupted to rot and decay, and began to crumble. The gold and runes faded into dust, and only the stone surface remained of the tapestry. While the hole Mevi had excavated was coated in the ethereal pain, and began to also crumble. As the walls and stone turned to dust, a small light poked through the end of her tunnel. Then another hole shone light, and another, until the entire back wall of her tunnel collapsed enough that Mevi could crawl through.

On the other side, a glowing blue light leaked out into the hallway. Zelkan was astonished, and Mevi was equally surprised by her own effect. The golden Sentinel watched with no sound or obvious emotion, but its eyes gleamed with a curiosity Mevi hadn’t noticed before. From the other side, beyond the glowing light, Mevi could see a figure.

Sitting in the middle of the room that Mevi was once barred from, a beautiful feminine form sat in cloaked white robes. The glowing light seemed to almost emanate from this being, as it sat patiently in a simple chair. As if awaiting Mevi, the woman waved a hand for Mevi to enter. The hand was of pure blue light, as if the creature was made of stars and power that coalesced into a beautiful avatar. Mevi felt compelled to enter, and without worrying about her exhaustion, or her aids, Mevi stood to enter the room.