I had been giving some serious thought to just closing the passage from the castle I made up above since I didn't want to be bothered by more "visitors". In the past I didn't want to close off the sight of the stars, or some other nonsense now that I thought about it. I was sure it was some part of the "System" trying to affect me even then. Now I could close up the entrance easily and without any issues. There had been quite a few changes I had noticed in the last couple days since that odd ball had been put below my core. My son and I had both noted that it seemed to pull in all the mana around me, and purify it for lack of a better word. At first it had just pulled everything in, and only odd strands of it escaped. Which included whatever method the "System" used to affect mana and my core, which meant my attempts to activate my status were met with total failure. However, with it draining mana from the room I couldn't affect my body and started feeling very weak. It was then that my son entered the orb, and brought a column of rainbow light with him. Since then it was acting like a filter, in a growing area, but leaving the mana I worked with my Will behind.

Even the odd glyph patterns on my core were breaking down bit by bit, and more of my old memories and abilities were returning to me. Which was a blessing since I hadn't realized what had really been taken until I got it back. My burning interest in the wider world, and my desire to see it all made me want to reach out to Pyra. As well as consider a name for my son since I realized that my altered state had kept me from doing so. He had done a lot to support me until now, and he had also seen some drastic changes since the events of the last few days. He couldn't use his skills, but he told me that he was going to avoid using such alterations since he only did so out of a strange feeling that is was right. Now, those feelings were gone, and he was proud to wear the form created by me. He had spent most of his time in the stone Library and the room where the orb was made. He had even given up Air magic completely to be closer to his "natural" element, in his own words.

"I am a being of shadow and wisdom, I am not going to fight it anymore." He had said to me, "I am going to follow my desires as I should have from the beginning." And now he was drawing and shaping stone tablets in the Library to record his thoughts and musings on all that had happened so far. His dedication, if sudden, made me happy since I could see the subtle ways the "System" had leashed both of us. I also, had a feeling it wouldn't be long before he too would want to wander the world above, and probably find his sister. Shaking away my own musings I decided that a bit of work was in order. I had spent enough time thinking and musing about all these complex things that, while important, were also too stressful. And, the best way to deal with complex things was to make my own, and the designs of my previous floors were great examples. In the end I decided on remaking the second/first floor, the Maze, since it didn't really fit into the story the other floors told.

I also had to think about it's connection to the castle above since I could alter it too. So, I went back over the pages I had stored on the Library's walls. Even the little notes on the sides of the pages I had persevered since I didn't want to lose anything from those books. The story didn't say anything about before the girl and her house, and after her deal with the Dragon and her reward it just ended. I even made a tendril of mana to scratch my core, but got nothing from the gesture and wondered why humans did it. I tried to create an illusionary copy of the maze out of mana to move parts of it around, and I didn't see an angle I wanted to approach. The maze wasn't part of the story outside of some images on the walls, and I wanted the whole dungeon to work together. So how could I make the maze work....

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"Didn't that story have a bit that happened before the story began?" My son asked me in the middle of my musing, "I can feel your frustration through the mana, Mother." My mind snapped to the pages on the wall again, and he was right. There was two pages that talked about the world before the story began.

"Thank you, little one. I need to give you a good name soon." I responded to him, and he smiled in return.

"I have already decided on a name for myself mother, though I will respect your efforts to give me one." He responded, and I found myself taken aback. I thought parents were supposed to given children their names. Then again, that was for humans and beastkin and I was a Dungeon Core.

"What name have you picked son?" I asked, while beginning to shift around the maze's layout. It would be a place as close to the explanation of the world at war.

"Well, your books have only a few interesting sections that aren't related to that story you love, Mother. So I picked it from the one titled 'Ancient Imperial Translations and Locations'." He responded to the mana vibrations, "It's Yana which means 'Seeker' in the old language." I found myself liking the name the moment I heard it, and a feeling of old shadows, books, and ravens filled my core. Like my Pyra's name, it seemed that this word had a deeper meaning that flowed within the mana.

"I don't know if I went through that book, it was too confusing." I mused out loud, and Yana laughed lightly.

"It's something that is more complex than an old story, Mother, but it seems to have some connection to Dungeons and even that story you love." He said to the air, "I have a feeling that the "System" is not something naturally part of this world. And, the books you have seem to be from someone studying it."

"Really?" I asked, condensing my attention more on my son causing a cloud of rainbow light for a second, before the orb started to pull at it. My son only nodded to himself before running his long, claw like nails across the glowing pages in the wall.

"Before humans, there was only the Imperials and before them there was the Faerun. The story you love seems to have several versions that seem to come different times, but the oldest come from the Imperials before humans. Yet, talk about humans which is odd. Plus Dungeons are usually born in places of dense or weak mana, and seem to even out the flow of such." Yana paused for a second, "Are you following so far, Mother?" I was mildly annoyed with him for thinking I was so simple I couldn't follow it, but had to admit that it was starting to get difficult to do so while working on the maze. Which was now leveling out into a simple series of rooms with various strange trenches and metal wires.

"I followed that just fine, child. Though I am a working so perhaps the rest another time?" I replied, returning more of my focus to the remodeling. Yana nodded a few times and then turned back to his reading and shaping.

"Of course Mother. Also, I plan on leaving in a month to seek out my sibling. I have a feeling she needs family." His voice was casual, but I understood his worry. Even with the return of my old abilities I couldn't reach out to connect to my daughter. I worried about her, since the last thing I had felt from her was panic, fear, and the song of fire and ash.

"I understand, Yana, I also hope she is safe."