5028

Celestial Plains: The Dreamscape

Galactic Date 00:08:435 5028

Once more, I woke up to the harshness of stone. Despite the chill of the rock, there was a comfort to be had in it. The soreness I'd felt in my body was gone here, and I found myself propped up in the same chair I'd been in the time prior. As my vision focused, I noticed Cleva sitting across from me, and Luccia beside her. Cleva stirred a drink before raising it to her mask, the fluid seeming to pass through it somehow as she sipped. She tipped the glass away, setting it down on the table between us. Luccia was quiet as we shot each other a glance. Cleva cupped her hands together on the table in front of her, her glowing eyes watching me from behind the mask. Finally, I broke the silence.

"Am I in trouble again?" I asked. I could sense a smile from her as she let out a deep chuckle.

"Oh, no. No, you most certainly are not, William." Cleva said, "No. We are here for different reasons. Luccia was telling me a bit of what happened on Furelle. You've grown considerably in the short time you've been here. Suffice to say that my brother and I were wrong in our assumptions about you." I looked to Luccia.

"Well, I sure hope it was all good things she told you."

"I gave my honest opinion." She said, "Listen, Hero, you're alright, but you've got your work cut out for you." I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Yeah, believe me, I know." I said, "Thank you, by the way, for your help. I don't think I'd be around if you hadn't stepped in." She shrugged.

"Hey, it's what I do. We're connected now, you and me."

"Luccia here is what we call a spirit guide." Cleva cut in, "Most Celestials find themselves paired with something known as their Destiny Weapon. Each connects with it in different ways. Some have the spirits of previous owners, or people close to them, bound to the weapon." I thought back to the flashes of memories I'd had through her eyes. The other Molusion had Isngr, so she wasn't its old wielder, but perhaps someone close to them? "Isngr, as you may have guessed, is your Destiny Weapon."

"Do all of them give people power?" I asked. The two of them looked between each other before leaning forward.

"No." Cleva said, "Isngr is... a special case."

"When its previous owner, Vale, died, he trapped his magical potential in it for whoever would come after him." I nodded, looking down at the sword.

"So... I'm not using my own magic, I'm using this other guy's... Vale, was it?" She nodded. I looked solemnly at the blade. So I was just borrowing that power after all. None of it was really my own.

"You can learn to develop your own magical abilities as well." Cleva said, "But you are on the trail of a dangerous person, and you can use all the help you can get. While it is not the ideal situation, we will train you with Isngr's help, for now."

"Right, Jewls has been trying to train me, but" I began, but Cleva put up a hand, stopping me.

"I know. Jewls' methods are not meant for someone without the fundamentals." She said, "You have much to learn, and very little time, William. Whether or not you like it, her training will be good for you, but first you must learn to master the ability to see and sense magic in the world around you."

"You make it sound easy." I joked. Luccia stood with a smile as Cleva gestured to her.

"It is, with the right levels of magic in you. With Isngr's power, it should be elementary, with the right direction." She said. I leaned forward on my elbows, looking up at Luccia. Her eyes met mine, a determined spark in them. "Luccia will be your training partner, and this," Cleva swept her hand. I felt the ground below me shift as the world spun and shook. As I recovered from the daze, I looked around me, finding myself with the others at the peak of the tower in the distance. The blinding blue light that erupted from its center cast shadows across the floors as the chairs and table sunk back into the stone, forcing me to my feet. "will be our training ground. The sanctum of the Tower of Souls. The home of the World Spirit, and the place where your magic will be strongest." I could feel a tingle running up my spine. You could practically feel the magic here. A small blue glow shifted across my fingers as I moved my hands. Luccia smiled, as she shifted her body, pointing her hand out toward me as she moved into a stance not unlike one I'd seen Jewls do when she prepared to cast.