The Secret of Tanencha sy Tyrin

9 | Together as One

She looks back into the cave, it's darkness looming in front of her. With many precautions, she stepped one foot in, and then focused her energy, Tanencha, in front of her. The Tanencha itself did not make a sound, did not bother to help Stella out. After a moment of waiting, she forced the Tanencha's force out of her. At this point, she was getting used to controlling the white sphere of energy, and she hoped by providing the cave with that light, she could somehow activate the mist, allowing her to see any traps in her way. This was a theory of course, and all Stella was going off on were her own reckonings. She squeezed her hands, and brought them out in front of her, before slowly opening her eyes once more, to settle the white force into the cave.

It wasn't seeming to work. All Stella could see was a gleam of light, while the smoky mist still stayed, unmoving. No alarms or sounds were set off, which was quite nice. It gave her another chance to try. She shut her eyes once more, and tried again, putting something else into her mind. She searched through her memories, trying to see if, at some point in time, one of the past Tyrins experienced a predicament like this. She came up short, stopping to take a breath in, and then tried again. It was hard not to zone off, but Stella forced herself to think straight and keep her mind on what actually mattered. The cave that was in front of her, was still intimidating, waiting, and unmoving. She wondered how big it was, how far she would have to travel in the inside to come across Azarath, and take back what was stolen. From well-- that was strange-- she didn't actually know the name of the planet she had visited. In fact, she didn't know the name of this planet either. In her head, she'd just described it as The Dark Planet. The previous one had been called, the one with the caves. Stella hoped that she would soon find out. Later, she'd have to ask the Tanencha directly, and maybe for once, it would give her a non-vague answer.

That was probably wishful thinking, to be quite honest.

Stella shook herself out of those thoughts and went back to concentrating, trying to see if somewhere in her memory, and the past Tyrin's memories, she could find a solution to the problem in front of her. She focused the Tanencha's energy inside her, trying to place an answer. After much thinking, her mind stopped at one specific memory.

A person, much like herself stood resolute in front of a dark pathway. Stella didn't think it was a cave, more like an entrance, a walkway. She couldn't see any distinguishing figures in the persons face, except for glowing white eyes. The person walked with precision, avoiding certain steps, walking around other areas. Stella aimed to zoom into this scene more, but was prevented from that, she couldn't get any closer. The person continued to walk down the pathway until they stopped. Stella wasn't sure why until the lights grew even more vibrant to show a vault door. That door was opened, almost immediately. Stella hadn't even seen the person move to do it themselves, it was just commanded open. Seconds later, the person vanished, with no trace, into the said vault.

Then, everything went white for a moment, longer than a moment, too long, and Stella was brought back to what she saw as the real world. She blinked twice and this time did not end up tired, collapsed on the floor, or in an uncomfortable position. She felt a little woozy by the entire situation but sensed she was growing stronger at the same time. She was able to return and not immediately fall to the ground, and that was a definite win.

After a moment or so of pondering, Stella bit her lip, and decided to see if she could do what that person, the one she saw in her dreamlike trance, did. She shut her eyes, unsure of how to start. First, she started by taking the Tanencha's energy and bringing it out, next trying to pass it through her. But that didn't work, the white ball just went through her. After that, she attempted to just focus it in her head region, which also did nothing at all. It was a stupid idea after all. Thirty minutes of intense concentration passed by, and soon, she slumped to the ground defeated.

"Tanencha," she mumbled under her breath, "if there was a good time to help me, it would be now."

No response. Great. Excellent.

"Please?" She whined, pressing her hand to her stomach. It growled. How long had it been since she ate? Stella didn't know. All of this had gotten her distracted. She barely remembered how she got in this situation. It was all just so tiring. "I don't know how to do this," she tried again, "will you teach me?"

It seemed as if that phrase were the magic words. She felt herself let go, just a tiny bit and then the Tanencha's voice filled her head. "In order to create the energy you saw in that memory of yours," it started, "you must bring both Tanencha and Tyrin together."

"Well," Stella said, "aren't I doing that now? We're both here."

The Tanencha responded, "we aren't different Stella, we are one of the same. Tanencha sy Tyrin, the energy of essence. You must treat us as such."

"But--" Stella complained, "how am I supposed to do that? It's all so confusing."

"You're still thinking of this entire situation as if we are different entities. We are the same Stella, and once that realization happens, you'll be able to focus that energy within you."

"And get those glowing eyes?" She said, feeling a little bit small. It felt stupid to stay out loud, but frankly, if there was anything cool about the situation, it was those.

The Tanencha appeared to not appreciate that comment. Stella then tried to take that thought back because by thinking that, she was again, separating the two of them again. It wasn't the energy and essence, it was the energy of essence.

This, Stella thought to herself, is going to take longer than I initially thought. She sat on the ground, and worked through the energy again, focusing on the idea that the energy located in front of her was not only hers, but it was apart of her too. It wasn't one of another being, it was one of her own. She continued, unaware of what was happening within the cave, or what was going to happen next.

Whatever this mission, quest, or adventure was, it seemed that it was going to take longer than she thought. And in truth, Stella really didn't know what she was getting herself into.