Well, that's interesting, indeed... "Don't worry Alkir, I'm not mad."
Alkir looked confused, though relieved. "Good, thanks, why? Do you know where Agni is?"
Jace nodded, helping Nell to sit against a tree and facing the spot Agni had been sitting. "Yes, and I believe that any second now she'll be back." This further confused Alkir, but neither he nor Jace chose to further advance this conversation. Any second... There.
Nell, being unnoticed, slightly perked up, directing his gaze to the depression in the grass, a look of fascination crossing his face, unbeknownst to either of the others.
Jace smiled as he noticed the slight warping of light, a twist in the colors, swirling around that space where Agni was previously. Where she is. The bubble of distortion blotted out all sight of anything within, and in an instant vanished, the environment turning back to its original state, with Agni at its center. Alkir and Nell looked stunned, while Jace was purely amused. "Welcome back to the land of the mortals, Agni."
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Jace sat, the other three before him in a loose arc, waiting intently for him to explain what happened. "Now, I believe I have been withholding something from you, all of you, and it seems to be the perfect time to explain." He took a deep breath and began. "The Aether, you all know it as the origin of mana, a place of pure energy, where no beings can exist. This is true, to an extent. The realm of the Aether is the home of the gods. They only exist in there, what we interact with are embodiments of their being, not even close to their true forms. We simply have ties to the Aether as children of the gods, each having a bubble of its space as our own, which naturally replenishes once exhausted." This made Nell perk up further, but Jace continued.
"Alongside this, beings can enter it. Think of infused items or Alkir's rare summoning, but nothing beyond a summoning ability is even possible. Save for one thing. Aether Walking. I believe that Agni can enter the Aether, and I also believe this has to do with her extraordinary mana content. Agni, you can transcend the plane's barrier, entering the metaphysical realm, this is an extraordinary skill to have."
This further enraptured his small audience, leaving them generally speechless.
"So, me. I can enter the Aether? I, what? That's damn great!" Jace figured Agni's response would be something like that, and he smiled and nodded his agreement.
"Indeed, but what is concerning, is what prolonged exposure to it could do." The look of confusion on her face prompted Jace to continue. "As I said, it is pure energy, how you can go there in the first place is strange enough, and how you can avoid disintegrating once there is even stranger. You must be careful, and if anything feels wrong or out of place you need to exit it. Immediately. And don't rush to use this ability until you learn its limits, cautiousness is essential."
Agni nodded her understanding but looked slightly disgruntled. "Yeah, one problem, I don't even know how I got there or came back. I mean, I just closed my eyes and did the thing you said... Oh!" She closed her eyes once again and concentrated. This prompted a heavy sigh from Jace knowing full well what she was going to do. That strange distortion to the light around Agni returned in full force, and it seemed it acted much quicker than when she returned, only taking a second or two to engulf her form and disappear. An audible pop accompanied the vanishing of the sphere, and a rush of air brushed across the trio remaining.
"Well, that is cool as hell!" Nell spoke up from his sitting position against the trees, and his two companions only nodded their assent.
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Okay. So, that's how I enter. Now, what does it look like? The moment Agni opened her eyes a flood of information assaulted her brain, the sheer amount of, well, stuff within this space was overwhelming, bordering on painful, forcing Agni to close her eyes again. Ouch ouch ouch, god damn. Well, that's a no-go. Reassessing her options Agni focused instead on her other senses. Hearing, nothing. It seemed as if even the sounds that accompanied you in silence had vanished, it was weird for sure, but not bad. Smell, nothing, again. More of the same, the sheer absence of everything. Touch? Maybe? What Agni 'felt' could only be described as what she thought floating in a salt bath, with way too much salt.
Almost like being carried by a cloud... That at the least was pleasant. With those checked off, She tried to move. An effort that proved pretty useless. Although the motion was possible, it was sluggish, and she didn't feel like she was going anywhere, so she gave it up for now, turning back to sight. Alright, round two, let's go a bit differently about this. Instead of rushing straight to opening her eyes, Agni focused on what light was coming through her eyelids.
Well, damn, can't you cut me a break? More nothing. She took a deep breath and noticed that there was no real feeling of taking in air, or of really needing to. More strange stuff. Just as she worked up the courage to open her eyes again, something came to her attention. It kinda feels warm... The space around her started heating, slowly at first, but now it was evident, and rapidly increasing. OH shoot. She reimagined the traveling through the gate but now thought of it in reverse, her coming out of the gate back to the anchor point in her mind's eye.
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"Jeez. What did I say?" Jace sighed in his exasperation, but was quick to note the faint steam, smoke, he couldn't quite tell, rising from her skin and clothes. "Are you all right?"
His look of concern must have tipped her off, as Agni immediately began glancing at her arms and legs. "Yeah, I thi- Oh shit, that looks bad. Is that bad?"
"Relax, relax, Alkir, would you mind passing some water over? You'll be fine, the fact you're still standing is a good thing at least. It seems the energy of the Aether is a bit much for you." Four seconds. Amazing. Jace thought to himself as he handed the hide container to Agni, who promptly down its contents, returning it to Jace, who then further placed it beside Alkir. "So? What's the realm of the gods like?"
Agni relayed her brief glimpse and exposure of the Aether to Jace, who sat with a bemused expression at her recounting and ended on the note of the rapidly increasing heat. Once she was done, she walked over to the sizeable 'campsite' Alkir had set up, joining Nell under the canvas rain cover to drink some mixture the boy had made, leaving Jace to his thoughts.
Seeing "too much" all at once. Hmm. Perhaps it being an extradimensional plane is too much? Or perhaps tolerance needs to be built up? Do you want to help me out a bit here?
No dice, as they say. This is a first for me as well. The amused reply echoing through his head came swiftly and was taking some amount of enjoyment with the development of Agni's skill.
Jace sighed, directing some of it through his communication with his 'boss.' Honestly madam, where do you keep finding these?
The goddess lightly laughed, then regained her composure and replied. Well, I need to keep something fun and entertaining going on, immortality is quite boring sometimes... Before Jace could gather a reply himself, Astrinar continued. Jace. You must make haste tomorrow. The relic you are searching for is near, that much I can tell, but the monsters grow unsettled, they seek new prey. Again, make haste. She was stern, not cold, but straightforward, and immediately severed their communication after relaying her message, leaving Jace with a lot to contemplate.
Well, way to dump more work on me... We should be able to make it. Just another four hours, maybe five of quick travel and we should be able to start looking... Looking back to the ragtag team he had accompanying him, Jace sighed but gave a content smile alongside it. It will all work out, I have faith. He walked under the cover, and struck up a conversation about the drink and food nearby with Nell and Agni, gesturing to Alkir as they began to eat dinner and settle in for the night. Preparing for the final push to come.