Yuriko took the Tower Entry Token with her hands instead of her Animakinesis. It was rather clear from the way Gwendith removed the sphere from her backpack, that the token was more than a simple identification device. The way the Elemental energies swirled around it…no, it was the way the energies were forced to swirl, told her that touching it with anything other than her body might have repercussions. There was no need to be hasty after all.
The sphere was about three inches wide, but even as she held it, the thing subtly grew larger by a fraction of an inch. Then, she noticed that there was now a bit of Radiance in the vortex of energies. It wasn’t much, but she could see the motes were doing what they normally did when pressed up against other energies. The Radiance absorbed and converted those energetic motes that touched it, then spat out more of itself.
The token then drew in the original mote into its core, leaving the newly created Radiant mote to propagate. Normally, the older mote would slow down propagation until it stopped entirely. Yuriko wasn’t sure why that was so, but the old Radiant energy mote turned into an inert mote for a while, before contact with new Radiant energy once again ignited it to its original state. In such a way, as long as the Radiant energy was contained and constantly fed energy from different sources, it would be self-contained and persist. She wasn’t sure where the tipping point was though, even if she managed to do it in that last battle. However, that took spending all of her reserves as well as a supply of Pure Chaos.
Either way, she watched the token absorb the Radiant energy while leaving the excess to continue creating more of itself. It kept it in balance so that the motes never disappeared, but also prevented it from taking over the entirety of the vortex.
“Interesting work…” Yuriko muttered as her focus shifted to the rest of the device.
It had a core in the middle of orbital rings, which spun and shifted around so much that it was hard to keep a hold of. Here fingers were latched on to the widest ring, which was also the only one that wasn’t revolving around. Runescript patterns were etched across the surfaces, but the movement blurred the details. When she tried to project her Anima perception, all she saw was the same blur. She still got a few important impressions, though, so her finger moved to a particular spot on the holder ring. Her inter hand moved to the opposite spot, and when she depressed the correct node, words made out of light appeared in front of her eyes.
“Eh! I never saw those before!” Gwendith yelped loudly enough that the slumbering Heron stirred. “Ah, sorry.” the other girl murmured as she sneaked a look.
The young man stirred and shifted around in his sleep, but a moment later, abruptly sat up. The blanket fell off his body and revealed his muscular physique. Again, Yuriko’s eyes were drawn towards his chest, where five white points were rather prominent on his bronze skin tone. Scars from back in Rumiga, when he protected her from a Hunter.
As the blanket fell off, Gwendith shivered and turned away, prompting Yuriko to wrap her arm across the woman’s shoulder. While this morning’s activity involved three of them, Gwendith only focused on her, and Heron did the same. Neither touched the other in any kind of sensual way, which, at the time, had seemed rather amusing. But she knew that the scars in Gwendith’s mind were far from faded, and it would take more time, as well as great effort on both of their parts, to overcome it.
She felt that Heron knew about those, too, which was why he was so careful. He was unbearably sweet at times, especially when her memories compared him to his adolescent self back then. Arrogant, domineering, and inconsiderate, was how she’d categorise him. He’d changed a lot, of course, and without reminders such as those scars, Yuriko would not have thought to reminisce.
Hmmm, at least his member was no longer standing stiff. She scooped up his clothes with her kinesis and tossed them at his feet.
“Slept well?” she teased. “Go get dressed, please.”
“Hrmmm.” He grunted drowsily, rubbed his eyes, glanced at them, then nodded. He pulled his underwear on while still under the blankets, and only then did he get up. She giggled at his expression when he realised he soiled his clothes, since his thighs and belly was pretty much covered in dried fluids.
“Cleanse,” he muttered as he cast the spell on himself, then gave her a side eye. His emotions and thoughts drifted, and he became aroused again. She felt those emotions and desires travel across the threads, and for a moment, she let it affect her, before she shut off the connection. That at least solved a few mysteries, though it left more questions than it answered. For one thing, it meant that her emotions could be affected by the connections through her Mien, and she wondered how much of her past reactions were borne through that. She didn’t question the attraction she felt for him as well as for Gwendith, but maybe she could take a closer look.
She needed to meditate and spend more time on introspection, didn’t she?
Shaking her head, she returned her attention to the words the token displayed in the air above it.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“The bearers of this Token may enter the Eternal Tower and decide to Ascend to the Heights or Descend to the Depths. Only one path may be chosen for each Entrant, and one cannot leave a Floor World until one has passed the Terms and withstood the Tribulations.” Yuriko read out loud.
Gwendith pointed farther down the list and read it, “...Five may enter, a Perfect Circle. To come with more is disallowed, to come with Less may bring Misfortune. A Circle must be homogenous, or may be in harmony, each brings trials on their own. Beings and Creatures Bound may not be counted and may not leave unless their Binder leaves, may not enter unless their Binder Wills, a commensurate Sacrifice must be offered…” Gwendith shook her head, “Does that mean Devotee and Desire can come, but will not be counted?”
“And homogenous…all must be Ancients?” Yuriko muttered.
“Or you can ignore that since it points to Harmony,” Heron said as he moved behind Yuriko to read over her shoulder. Hmmm, he was standing close enough that she could lean back and rest her head on his shoulder easily. “Either way, five means that all of us can go, with the two Chaos Lords you bound will not be counted.”
“Fluffington, too,” Yuriko said.
“Who?” Heron asked. “Oh, your familiar.” He snorted. “I’d like to hear that story.”
“You can meet him later, he’s in the other tent.” Yuriko grinned. “He’s also a nice fluffy hug pillow.”
Gwendith muttered, “So you did find someone else to warm your bed.”
“I did.” Yuriko giggled.
“Whatever.” Gwendith said in a falsely arched tone.
“Well,” Heron coughed, “this does match some of what those Conclavist Ancients said. You know we took so long to get this right? It should help you, and us, advance faster.”
“I know,” Yuriko said. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you, beloved,” he whispered and sent shivers down her back. She did lean on his chest, but Gwendith snuggled up to her side, too, carefully not touching the young man. Heron shifted to the left to give Gwendith room.
“A-anyway,” Yuriko continued as she scanned the lengthy text. The words made out of light scrolled up to reveal even more words, though since they were in Old Imperial, she had little trouble reading it.
“The bearers of the tokens may reach the Ground level of the Tower through any Gate, as long as the Circle bears the token as they open it. No other path is open to any who wish to reach the Eternal Tower save for those that Fate opens.” Yuriko paused then hummed. “So we need to go to Bresia City’s Portal Gate?”
“I’d guess so.” Gwendith said, “We should go back to Nirlith for the rest of our belongings. Ah, where’s Desire?”
“Desire?” Yuriko frowned as she looked down at her chest. She identified the Bindings and the Thread, then tugged at it with a strand of consciousness. She lost sight of her surroundings and her knees grew weak, but she felt Gwendith’s and Heron’s arms as they supported her weight. Both of them sat down with her. Yuriko’s hands still held the sphere token.
Her strands of consciousness followed the thread, and a few moments later, she blinked as she beheld a large cocoon. It was nestled against a small Fysalli, and there was the sense that Desire was several weeks away from the Great Continent’s shore. She also felt that the cocoon was far from ready to open, and she didn’t know how long it would take.
Yuriko pulled herself back and found herself cuddled by her two lovers. She sighed, then sent her voice through her Anima to Devotee. “Come inside the tent, please.”
“Yes, master.”
Yuriko pushed away from Heron and Gwendith, but held onto the sphere. The tent flap opened and Devotee entered. His eyes flicked from the three of them, to the bedroll, and the emotions that leaked out from him consisted of amusement and a little bit of envy.
“How may I serve?”
“How long did it take for you to rise from Baron to Viscount?”
“I’m not sure. Not too long, I think,” he muttered. “Is Desire rising?”
“Yes, I could feel her. She’s in a cocoon in the Chaos Sea.”
“Ah…oh, that might mean…”
“What?”
“A transformation, for sure, not just a normal rise in rank,” Devotee said. “I’m not sure how long it’ll take.”
“I see, thank you.”
Devotee looked at the token and at the light constructs. “Do you wish to wait for Desire to return?”
“If possible.”
“That might take years, master.”
“Should we go to her, instead?” Yuriko asked with a frown.
“She should have found a safe place, and the fewer sapient beings in there, the lesser the chance of discovery by predators.”
“I see. Then, we will venture to the Eternal Tower first,” Yuriko decided.
“I will relay your command.” Devotee gave a seated bow before he scurried out of the tent.
“Are we heading out directly?” Gwendith asked.
Yuriko shook her head, “I am still attached to the Reclamation Army. I’ll find out what happened to them while I was otherwise preoccupied.”
“It’s late in the day,” Gwendith said.
Yuriko snorted, “I think we’ve slept enough.”
Heron and Gwendith exchanged glances, then shrugged, “If you say so.”
“Ah, but aren’t Ryoko and Saki resting?” Gwendith asked. Yuriko felt her lover concentrate and her bluish-pink tinted Anima spread out, then shape into a tendril. It snuck out of the tent through the flap, though the more efficient way would have been through the canvas even if the material cost more reach to penetrate. The amount lost would have been less than the distance she used to go through the flap and curl around to the other tent. But Gwendith’s perception range was long enough to do the long way easily. Well, she was right that the handmaidens were asleep.
“By dawn’s light then,” Yuriko said. “I wish to meditate on the changes I went through, so, uhm, excuse me.”
“Alright,” Gwendith said as she leaned over and planted a kiss on Yuriko’s cheek.
A glance at Heron saw him fidgeting, glancing at her, then away. Why be shy now after everything that happened? Yuriko looked at him wordlessly, but she sent her expectations through the thread. Sure enough, he leaned over and kissed her on the other cheek.
She nodded happily, then made her way out of the tent. It was still snowing softly, but that just made the solitude more comforting. She flew up above the overhanging boulder then settled on a seated meditation pose as she considered her options.
Ah, protocol demanded that she return to Greyith in case she was separated from the main army host, but only if the Reclamation Army had retreated. She stared up at the dark skies and decided to take a few hours rest before she’d leave to scout.
Still, she was looking forward to meeting other Ancients, even if they might prove hostile. After all, they may be the only ones who could give her an even match while on the same level.