They hadn't seemed so bad. It is what Senia thought when she was met with the ship Captain. Sure, she'd been bound, and gagged and made to listen to these disgusting murderers. The woman didn't look that impressive. She had a slender build, and she seemed pretty young for such a critical role. The questions she asked also didn't make any sense. She wasn't even trying to guess where Master Shamshar might have fled. She wasn't asking about any of their installations, or why they'd set up on Treasure. Instead she was just asking pointless, simple questions. Asking about Senia's health, about the Enchantment she might be suffering after being so close to a Wizard like that. Things that shouldn't be the priority. Even if Senia hadn't been gagged, she wasn't about to speak to such a person. So why did it feel like so much knowledge had been extracted from her so readily?
Infuriating.
Senia wouldn't have too long to sulk on it. She was sealed away in a brig, as that soft looking boy was the one primarily guarding her. If she had to guess, he would be the magic specialist. Or as close to one as they would have. His bindings of her were pretty impressive. He'd made certain she couldn't form any Circle, and used some sort of a blue powder with the bindings. Senia had never encountered it before, but it was stopping her from approaching her Gate. Any majon she would generate seemed to disipate once it ran along flesh that had been bound up by these treated bonds. It was sickening... she could feel the life of herself slowly ebbing away the more she tried to focus. She had to choose pretty soon. Would she try to remain alert, look for an opportunity to escape? Or should she endure, and last long enough to survive?
When she was next moved, she was blindflded with those same powered wraps. Brought in the darkness of night to some other place. Their ship had reached an island. She was taken by some other force, they handled Senia more roughly than the ones who had captured her. And she was placed in a box, where she could feel the same violent disruption of her magic in the walls and floors of the place. Whatever material was powered onto the bounds was clearly build into the structure of this holding cell. She was ungagged, at least. Still blinded by the bounds she had on her, and the one questioning her was an older man. He was asking the right questions, trying to extract information from her. He'd have none of it. This was easier to deal with. All her life she was putting up walls, she'd just put up one in her mind between herself and those who were holding her. They would never use her to find the others, to hurt the Master.
The one thing her walls couldn't do was protect her from her own lingering thoughts. Her situation was pretty hopeless, even for the Enlightened. She would repeat the day, second guessing herself over and over. She was the strongesty Enlightened there save Master Shamshar. She could have done more. That murderous machine took too much of her resources and attention. She needed to lock it down quicker and more permanently. It was just so impossible to Image. The level of strength she needed to stall it had been agonizing.
To use magic, you had to pull the majon through your Gate. Every Enlightened's Gate would paint their majon. Hers was colored in the form of Barriers. It is what her inner sanctum specialized in, and her results were best with it. The same as Shamshar's Earth Gate would allow him to use majon to manipulate the land in ways she could not fathom. And that was the key. To truly change that mere potential that was majon into the reality of magic, you had to be able to conceptualize the result, and have the faith that it would be. The faith that your conception of what was real was superior. That reality answered to you, as one of the Builders. Those who lacked the conviction might only manage minor pushes against it. On the other end, all the belief in the world would do nothing if you could noit channel enough majon to support that faith, or control it to form the end result. Lacking any one of these would be failure.
Senia had lacked all three at the end. When that child had pursued her, tore through her defenses and almost killed her. She'd been exhausted on all fronts, and couldn't even image a barrier to keep her from being touched or crushed. She'd never been so thoroughly defeated before. Senia was a natural talent. She'd never been made to feel helpless. As she sat alone in the darkness, that memory was fueling anger. If these weird walls and bonds were stopping her majons, they were affecting Will, Knowledge, or Flow. The final one was most likely. Touching this material likely made it so her body lost a lot of the ability to process majons from her Gate. That is why they were being disrupted.
It felt like an eternity. Waiting there, before she heard the door open again. It was time she could process, carefully pushing on those weak limits her body now had. A barrier was just a plane of space. The formation of that plane could be anything. When she could manage an escape, it would be a blade to cut through those who held her here. It didn't surprise her that a man was holding her head now, only that he was removing the blindfold. Even the darkness of the cell she was in seemed so bright now. The man was a plain looking guy, wearing an expensive looking suit with long, wavy brown hair, and sharp looking amber eyes. Next to him was that girl from before, the one who almost killed her. She seemed to be a little different. Exciteable, and annoying.
The man spoke with a level of neutral boredom as he looked at her. "Five, bring it in. This one is concious enough. We might as well test."
"As you wish, Roshiki~" The dark haired girl spun on a foot as she walked out of the cell for a moment, more chattering outside, until she was walking back in. "She said it's harder in here, she has to prep a bit."
"More difficulties. It's a lot safer in here as well." The man would wave his hand about in irritation, as he stared at the girl next to him. "I don't care if you have to drag it in here by force."
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The girl blushed for some reason before darting out. She'd return, leading another girl by the hand. The one she led was smaller, far more slender and far more strangely dressed. She wore a silken robe, adorned with gold and gemstones. A band of silver ran through sakura hair. Her eyes remained closed as she was let, showing the strange markings along her body. Senia couldn't see everything there was, but it was clear to her that she was staring at a Mystic Art. There were all kinds of ways to supplement magic, tools and weapons mostly. Some of the Enlightened could use Song to bypass their restrictions, while others could use Art. Some built or fashioned scupltures and dolls, some painted designs.
The girl's eyes opened, showing the almost lifeless red behind them as Senia stared in a mixture of shock and disgust, as the girl approached her. That man, Roshiki, forced Senia to a lower position as those eyes bore through her. She knew this girl, an absurdly powerful Enlightened, but there was no telling what she was doing here. Their eyes locked. As Senia realized the aim for the girl she tried to move her head, but she just didn't. Those golden eyes pierced her own as they seemed to expand endlessly. A wave of majon, seeking to explore every crevise of her body and soul sank into her. It was dangerous, another's image of what reality was would clash with her own. This was Enchantment, she would get warped by it in a chaotic mix of their perspectives. It wouldn't happen instantly, but it was inevitible. Sennia didn't want to imagine what an Enlightened who worked with these monsters thought reality was. Her natural defenses would press against this invasion... to no avail. All the barrier master could do was scream, as she crumpled within the hands of Roshiki.
What was she doing here? What did they do to such a sweet girl... to make her majon so violent?
"Viable. In time. She is malnourished. She is not ready yet." The pink haired magic-user backed away from the crushed Senia. The man holding her let her fall to the ground. Her steps slowly took her from the room, her voice growing faint as she left. "Killing her would be a mistake."
The others followed her, clearly done with Senia for now. She couldn't hear any of the follow up to that last comment. Was the girl protecting her, or did she see something inside that would be of use? Sympathy or calculation wouldn't matter too much. Senia would likely be allowed to live. To suffer more in this place. However, Senia's worn body would very carefully keep the majon she'd erected a field for in place. A small little orb of magic inside herself, containing that hyperdense power that had invaded her.
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"...yet Shamshar still escaped. Was that also part of your plan, Princess?"
The dive portal they used was pretty basic. Ouka's avatar was just herself, dressed in a sweeping gown bearing the gold and amethyst that represented her nobility. The room was built like a gala, as the other nobles were taking similar routes. Standing about the room, as the shadowy avatar remained behind the veiled throne on its own elevated platform. She never spoke directly, letting the nobles bicker and claw at one another before her. It was a game that Ouka had played plenty. She could see the factions shifting on the floor as they spoke. Those who wantesd to not attract attention, those that wanted to attack and steal from her... those that were wary and wanted to see where her gambit was hidden. Ouka allowed herself a sigh, as she raised a hand to her cheek. Drawing on her own innocent aura. She was by far the youngest in this place, always seen as the same child she had been not too long ago.
"He is a strong man. A confident man. Capable of much. With a long history of flaunting that power and doing as he likes. We've engaged time and again, and our forces are usually crushed as he makes a triumphant escape. Not this time. He's broken. Desperate." The tone didn't change from her light and almost care-free demeanor. "He will try to restore himself, go to someplace safe and special and important. My vessel is currently in pursuit. We cannot track him perfectly without making outselves known. My estimation is that we will obtain a fifty kilometer estimation of a vital magic-user operation."
There was a bit of silence from the opposition, but only for a moment, as the older man bore down on Ouka. "Even if that were to be true, they still grants plenty of hiding places within high resource areas. And that's if one is to believe that your vessel can even acomplish such a feat. We have no reason to believe you can accomplish something like this. You should have destroyed him and the other magic-users when you had the opportunity."
"Impossible. The chances of a Takahane being able to finish off that man decisively was already too low. Allowing that child to extinguish an intelligence opportunity is also a net loss. She has already been turned over, safely, to Lord Brosha's facility. If you believe he is incapable of containing and questioning her for more information, that feels like another discussion. Perhaps if my vessel was allowed to utilize a high diver, we would have been able to facilitate a more favorable result."
The tension lasted a little longer here. Ouka had made a request for a Divine Arm quite some time ago. Her ship's forcs were being run ragged at this point, even as the testing bed for the Takahanes. She had plenty of advantages, but securing as many as possible is what would allow her to act as she liked. She couldn't tell what the diver of her opponent was doing, but she had to imagine it was fuming. Their voice kept growing increasingly coarse. "The Iùbhaidh already has a number of useful tools on it. There's no need to also grant you something so rare. You managed to acquire one on your own, regardless."
"This is true." Ouka's hand fell from her face to her hip, as she stared so curiously at the man she was facing. "That was given to me by an Imperial Hand. To do with as I wished. This is how I chose to utilize it, and I'm hoping for greater successes soon... without violating her own mission of course. I've placed two of my own assets to support that mission, in fact." Ouka paused, before turning to the veil. "Mother, I've been told we found something interesting. May I beg your will to leave?"
Ouka's smile never faded, as the shadowy figure inclined her head. It was a risk to leave, even with Masara in her ear. Ouka faded from the gala, as she returned to her captain's chair. Her body still shivering from the anxiety any meeting with that woman would bring. Her officers were not looking at her. They knew, surely, what a meeting like that would do to her. She'd have to buy them something in gratitude the next tiime they reached a hospitable shore. She kept a pretty good tally for these things. Her eyes eventually shifted to the screens, as her officers seemed to notice her recovery. They moved in towards the indicated zone....