Myriad Reckonings

Sirejj didn't like how visible this was to her, but maintained a relaxed posture. "I don't think it will affect my training. It will simply be something I must work through." He took a few steps forward so he was closer to the center of the room. He rested the end of his staff on the ground. He was very careful not to dwell on what bothered him. If he was honest with himself, he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"As you wish." She gathered her robes around her. "I've given you little more than history lessons and rudimentary spells up til now. I would like to teach you how to conjure minor illusions today."

Spoiler

sirejj? self control? character development right there.

Sirejj nodded. He had some skill at this already. "My people were once masters of the art...sadly I have only learned some of what they left behind." He gripped his staff slightly tighter subconsciously, his eyes flickering with a little mischief. He was tempted to show off what he could do, but he reined in that desire. The time would come.

"Different cultures have different methods," Kurra replied. "This may not translate to your people's way of conjuring. Observe." She stepped back from him and rolled her sleeves back slightly, then chanted a few brief words in the Old Tongue. The air around her became glossy, then solidified into the shape of a tall and elegant young man with dark skin and short black hair.

"Our illusory technique makes use of scaffolding," the young man said. His voice was musical in quality, light and kind. "We cast the spell around ourselves, with the image being pulled from the minds of others." The man looked at Raia, who stood still and cold at the back of the chamber. She glared at her sister--she knew it was her sister despite every sense telling her it was Arlo--her Arlo--in his youth.

Sirejj sensed the friction between the two but studied the mind of his teacher as she cast the illusion. It was brilliant, but quite different than his own. His spells were so easily fueled by the emotions of those around him; they would always see what they wanted to see. Conjuring something from the depths of their minds...that was another thing.

He watched intently, intrigued by the illusion. "How interesting..."

The illusion dissipated. "It lasts a considerable amount of time, but once you are discovered then it can no longer be maintained. You aren't quite performing a mind probe--imagine looking askance out a window. You're not there to gather information, just a snapshot. One can usually comb through a weaker mind without them feeling it at all. It takes immense skill to pull an image from the mind of a more powerful being, and an absolute prodigy to do so from a fellow keeper of the Heart."

"Fascinating. It does feel quite different from what I am used to." He sensed their magicks drew from a lighter place than his own. Though he had learned over time to reach into the depths of whatever world he stood on to fuel his strength, his original connection would always be to his homeworld, and the ichor of Dathomir flowed through his veins. He could not separate himself from it, even if he wished.

"I want you to try it on one of the dreamers," she said, gesturing to the trio. "They will be unharmed, and because they are not aware of this plane they won't register your presence or resist. Be mindful that the Final Heart beats in them, so it won't be an easy task."

Sirejj nodded, his mind immediately reaching out and searching the minds of those who seemed to sleep before him. He was met with a strong opposition, but it was more of a veil he could not see through rather than actual resistance.. Kurra was right. This would not be an easy task. Sirejj shut his eyes for a moment and stretched out his left hand towards the one who lay in the middle. Something drew his attention there. An old memory, perhaps. His mind went quickly to search out a stray thought or fear left unguarded, for those were the easiest to manipulate. The runes that entwined his staff flickered for a brief moment as he began to form an image in his mind. He strained to see what it was, for it was not his own, but an image from the mind of the dreamer. It hid itself from him well. He remained focused, but image was forever hiding from him behind the shadows. Whether those shadows were from his own mind or the mind of the dreamer, he was not certain.

Kurra watched him carefully. "A look askance, Sirejj, not directly forward. You're putting too much effort into the search. Let something catch your eye rather than your eye catching it. Does that make sense?"

Sirejj gritted his teeth slightly. He was a hunter. Passive gathering was not his training. He could see a flicker of an image dancing just out of his reach. Whenever he drew close enough to capture it, it flitted away. He'd done this before, there was no reason it should be this difficult. He took a half step forward and his arm tensed, his brow furrowing in concentration. He waited, his mind poised and ready to pounce once the memory came within his grasp.

It came closer. Closer still. He waited, withholding his urge to strike until it was so close there was no way he could miss it. He suddenly tightened his hand into a fist, finally entrapping the fleeting thought of the dreamer. He whispered the Atoan spell through his clenched teeth. He felt the illusion begin to gather around him unsteadily. It had no real form, only an ever-changing figure of someone that yet resembled no one at all.

He opened his eyes. He stood there as he had in the beginning, with nothing in his hands. He released his posture, slowly bringing his left hand to his side. He noticed sweat drip from his brow onto the floor. Stifling his irritation, he looked up to meet Kurra's eyes. "You were saying?"

"You remain a Dathomiri to my eye," Kurra said with a small frown. "Do it again."

Raia smiled to herself and turned away to scrounge for mushrooms. Kurra would call her back when it was time for Sirejj to return to his room, but she had a feeling this would be a long lesson. She had seen her sister struggle with illusions many, many times over the years, and she had only mastered it at the age of thirty.

Curbing his frustration, he tried again. And again. He was not used to struggling with magicks...he was one to pick battles he knew he could win. Being unable to cast a simple illusion put him in a vulnerable position that he disliked immensely. If his life depending on casting this spell, he wouldn't have survived ten minutes.

On his fourth attempt, reaching a point of exasperation, he turned back to his teacher. "You said they would not resist, and yet their minds are guarded." His tone had changed a little, and his frustration was evident through it. "What am I missing?" If he was studying under one of his own, he would have understood this far easier.

"They are like us, remember," Kurra said. "Their minds have natural barriers--they may not be aware of them, but they exist nonetheless. Mold your presence into something like theirs and you may get the walls to come down. Make yourself familiar to them."

Spoiler

asking the sneaky shadowy dathomirian with a card up his sleeve to be vulnerable? challenge impossible.

did zero thinking about this scene btw and only imagined an epic animatic of this story all day so rip

Sirejj took a deep breath. Getting frustrated was unnecessary. He knew he was capable of this. But for whatever reason, putting it into practice was difficult. He forced his shoulders to relax, closing his eyes and keeping his mind still. He was accustomed to always moving, always adapting, always melting away into the shadows. In order to see the mind of another, they must be able to see him as well.

It was not unlike how he had traversed these caves when he came in search of the civilization in the beginning. The reason the Sith had not found the remaining Atoans was clear. They were beings that defined themselves by their strength to destroy life. Their presence was so different from that of these people that they couldn't even see them. Sirejj had only discovered them because he was like the Atoans in many ways. He took refuge behind the veil of their world. He slipped behind the wall that shielded him from prying minds. He felt the pulse of their world beating alongside his two hearts.

He saw an image, but instead of reaching for it, he let it pass by him as he watched. It unraveled into a scene. He saw Atoa as it had been long ago, before intruders ever set foot on her crystal surface. Glimpses of people drifted by, but few of their faces were visible. They lived only as shadows, memories of what once had been.

One face finally stood out to him. It was the face of a young warrior, close to his age and height. He had braids of light hair and blue eyes that burned like the lamps that lit the halls beneath the waterfall. He wore light colored robes, similar to those that were worn by the survivors, only they were clean and without a single stain. He held a long spear in his hand. He looked at Sirejj, studying him for a moment. Sirejj felt the urge to grasp the image in his mind and project it before him, but he waited. Still, silent, hands by his sides.

The figure met his eyes and for a moment did not move, but at length extended his hands towards Sirejj. Sirejj stretched out his arm once again, but this time he felt a rush of icy coldness run up from the ground through his boots to the tips of his fingers. For a moment his mind was crystal clear, and he opened his eyes.

There before him stood the figure he'd pictured. It lasted for but a moment and then vanished, but it had been there, clear as day.