Shifters

Frontal Assault

Elle skipped adroitly, this time managing to land on her feet after challenging the barrier's integrity yet again. Unsatisfied with her progress, the girl rushed at the luminescent wall once more, fists bared as she crashed into the seemingly flimsy beam of light. Just as it had done previously, the moment she connected with it, the barrier propelled almost double her outputted force before sending it back at her. Handling the recoil more expertly with each passing blow, a grin formed on Elle's face as she prepared for another go. 

"Should we stop her?" Josh questioned, turning to Patricia, who still sat in the same position from earlier. 

"It's fine," Patricia said with a wave of her hand, "She won't get through no matter how hard she goes at it but it doesn't hurt to try I suppose. At least she was smart enough to stop using that knife of hers." 

"I guess you're right," Josh relented, turning his attention to Patricia, "You can continue with your story."

"Ah where was I?" Patricia asked, searching through her currently muddled thoughts. 

"I believe you'd just told us that the barrier was impervious to all physical and potentially all magical attacks, which was also around the time Elle jumped up and started attacking the barrier with everything she had," Josh clarified. 

"So we're basically still at the start of the story," Patricia replied, closing her eyes as she took another deep breath, "Well then, let's continue. As you said, the barrier is immune to most attacks, or at least it was to everything both Joana and I threw at it. The Flawless Tomb, as the name implies, supposedly means that there aren't any weaknesses. However, the Tomb part is the real issue here. It essentially preserves the body in the exact state it enters for however long it takes for someone to free them."

"So it's basically an impregnable cage that makes you immortal?" Josh asked with an impressed look on his face, "Isn't that a bit too incredible?" 

"If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is," Patricia continued, "There are more than a few drawbacks to using it. Although from the outside it might appear to be a logic-defying ability, it really isn't. Joana once stayed inside for three months and we quickly noticed a couple things. Firstly, as mentioned before, the halting of aging was noted after further investigation. Next and perhaps the most noticeable  of all was the sheer increase in power gained after lounging within the chamber for an extended period of time."

"You've only mentioned great things so far," Josh pointed out. 

"I'm getting there," Patricia complained mildly, "After she came out, Joana felt like a completely different person. It wasn't just a few bad habits or anything like that," Patricia clarified, "Her entire persona flipped on its head. It took a few days for her to eventually revert to her normal self, but during her time within that state, Joana had become cold and calculative. Powerful yes, but she'd felt as though she was on the cusp of falling onto a darker path."

"So you're saying an evil version of Joana can emerge from that thing after we free her?" Josh asked, suddenly alarmed by the prospect. 

"I'm not sure how it works to be honest," Patricia shrugged, staring at Joana's rippled, yet inert form as Elle once again careened off the barrier's surface, "Chances are she didn't spend enough time inside to have changed much, or on the other hand, it could potentially pick up from where it left off during her last stay inside." 

"Did she ever tell you what she experienced whilst inside?" Josh questioned curiously. 

"Joana always told me that she didn't remember anything, however, I could tell that she was hiding something from me," Patricia replied, "However, I could never find out what it was."