The Secret of Tanencha sy Tyrin

7 | The Journey Begins

Stella was always surprised by the quietness of space. It was always unsettling, moving from places that were loud and boisterous (even places that were filled with ambiance) to the quiet softness of space. In some ways, it was calming, but in other ways, it was strange, even terrifying.

This time, Stella found it calming, despite being surprised at it. As she navigated through the dark abyss to a location unknown to her, she felt relaxed. There was a slight tension in her shoulders as she gripped the steering wheel of her small spaceship, but that was slowly released as she got farther and farther into the expanding cosmos. She was glad to be in a place so familiar, her own ship, glad that she didn't have a bunch of space ships tied to the small craft she was in.

Most of all, Stella felt this immeasurable power guiding her. She hadn't heard from the Tanencha in a while, but because she was in space, she couldn't conceive of the time that had passed. All she knew, is that the Tanencha's blunt and smooth voice had not rung through her ears. That was good, she was getting quite annoyed at it.

She continued to fly through space, squinting at the stars, trying to figure out which ones were planets and which ones were not. It was a fun game she used to play, trying to figure out what each dot in the sky was. Stella always thought it was crazy that little specs could turn into the large, booming beings of light. Wondering about the stars had become a common practice of hers when bouncing from mission to mission.

And that made her wonder, how was the person that assigned her this mission reacting? They had to have known that she hadn't gotten the ships, even more, they had to have known she had left the planet itself. There was a small possibility there was a bounty over her head, but it probably wasn't big. Stella, as a space renegade, wasn't worth a lot, and she knew this. Most were meaningless in the universe if not all.

Before everything with the Tanencha had happened, she had convinced herself that there was nothing of great matter she could do. There was nothing that would directly impact the world. That was partially why she had become a renegade because it gave her something to do. In the universe, many people were left without a purpose, and although Stella's purpose was small, minuscule, at least she had something to bide her time by. There were aliens, and people within each planet that lived to die. Stella was doing this same thing, but at least she had a way to pass the time.

But now, now that she had become the Tyrin, something shrouded with unsureness and mystery, she knew that she had more impact on what happened. Not just from being afforded power, there was a great sign of what she had learned. She had the memories of all the Tyrin's before her, the knowledge of the Tanencha, and strength from her power.

Strength was something Stella always thought she had, but now, she was sincerely doubting what her idea of strength meant. To have the capacity to withstand force, pressure, or whatever what was in her way, was what many thought strengths were. But it was also resilience and mental capacity. She had her own type of energy she could manipulate, something that she had learned to tame, which was her strength. And that strength could be different for different people.

The sound of a beep shook her out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see a huge, gray planet, right in front of her. Unlike the planet before, it was a dark place, a place that didn't look inviting at all. As she neared it, her eyes widened, taking in the true properties. She couldn't see a spec of primary coloring. The land was dotted with different shades of gray, and as far as she could see, there was no water, or food growing anywhere. How could a person live there? How could Azarath put his lair there and be able to sustain himself?

Then again, the Tanencha had told Stella that Azarath wasn't close to a human, to corrupt to be an actual person, so maybe that was how he thrived.

Almost subconsciously, she muttered to herself, "what happened to this place?" There was no way this was natural, it was almost as if... the energy had been sucked out of it. There were land-forms that symbolized structure, and vibrance, the only thing absent, was the color.

"Azarath happened," the slow voice of the Tanencha told her. "He managed to drain the energy, the color out of the place with his dark magic. There are plenty of people in this world who have power, magic like you do Stella, but not all use it for good. Not many, in fact."

Stella stuttered, unable to form comprehensible words. "How could he...?" She trailed off, staring at the planet in front of her in awe. "How did he get that power?"

"Many people wonder that," the Tanencha told her, "why don't you think about it? With the memory of all the Tyrin's before you, you're bound to figure out. I can't lead you to each answer, sometimes, you need to figure things out yourself."

Stella racked her memory, trying to unveil a previous Tyrin's mind. She tried as hard as she could, remembering the tactics the Tanencha had told her before. She focused her energy in her own heart, mind, and soul until she reached a boiling point and--

The flash of a memory came to mind, a burning city, a man, laughing harshly at it, as black trails of power, much like her own except for the coloring, erupted from the palms of his hands. A woman with magic the same as Stella's stood opposite, trying to fight back, as she screamed in terror.

And then, Stella saw a flash of white, and looked up, to see her ship rocketing towards the ground. She let out one scream, trying to keep in on course, focusing her energy, but it just kept falling towards the darkened planet. She fell farther and farther, unable to control herself, until, with one shout, she stretched her hands in front of her, trying to force her energy and power out of her.

As she focused, she knew there was only one thing she could do: close her eyes, and hope for the best.

Now would be a really good time to help me, Tanencha, she thought, frowning in irritation. The Tanencha stayed silent, and she felt herself falling even more and more. Really? Thanks. She thought sarcastically, as a white string of light began to flow from the palms of her hands.