Cosmic Embodiment [Aura]

Stones were crumbling down the large canyons in this mysterious ecosystem that Imai found himself walking aside. While Sei was enjoying its sleep, the star mage sweated non-stop as he would consecutively look down and fathom the depths of these habitats. “What animal can live here… perhaps some extreme goats. Or maybe… maybe there exists goats with wings here!” he mumbled out to himself in wonder of what kinds of species that could do a living here. Suddenly, without having a nice grab, his left foot crushed some of the side cliff that he balanced on, which caused him to lose balance and almost fall down. If not for his totally non-magical scarf that he used as a rope to regain a grab on the cliff, then he would’ve fallen into wherever the ground was. His throat was slightly getting choked, in which he quickly used his hands to pull himself up by the scarf. As he got up, his entire face was red and sweaty. “*Huff*… that was close…” he let out in relief, surprised that Sei was still asleep, “… You lazy, little guy.” A finger travelled across Sei’s head as Imai stroked it, while moving on with caution.

Why did Ken-girl call him out here in the first place, though? He could picture earlier when he found the note on his house’s door in the Ace of Spades, where Kenna left a message about wanting him to come and see this thing that she found. Okay, it triggered his curiosity like a fuse, but what exactly would it turn out to be? And was it worth the dangers in this ecosystem, exactly as they beat all records? His clothes were being ripped by the cold rocks as well; luckily, he ‘borrowed’ one of Mashyuu’s robes and a cloak to protect him from the cold wind. “I’m almost there…” he whispered to himself as his gloves would help him climb upwards as whatever secret cave, building, ruin or anything awaited him…

Kenna poked her head outside the grotto and felt a cold shiver running down her spine as she did, the chilly air in the canyon showing its potency at even this altitude. It was funny though that she had decided to await her fellow guildmate's arrival in this very spot, instead of waiting at his front door back in Ace of Spades. Fickle as the ashen-black haired woman was, she didn't want to sway too much from her stoic façade she usually kept to show how excited she really was, but in the end had given in and returned to the location of her 'treasure' rather than to wait around any longer. However she'd grown wiser ever since her escapade with Mashyuu and Itsu at Gold Rodger's tomb, and had piped down on her excitement enough to leave a trail to her whereabouts. This trail consisted of a note she'd left in her absence, calling the cosmic magician Imai out to come and meet her at the twin-headed rocks at the Southern edges of the Mysterious Canyons.

Why out of all people she'd asked Imai to come and help her? His presence felt familiar to treasure she'd uncovered; at least, so said the wandering souls within the hidden sanctuary that'd joined her domain. These souls had confirmed it when she took them back to Ace of Spades, and had urged her to make him tag along if she wanted to see a beautiful part of ancient history come alive again. Thus Kenna had gladly accepted and made work of it. The twin-headed rocks were a man-made grotto that hid a crevice deeper within, but through the many years had become hidden from the few travellers that used the grotto for shelter these days. Kenna, who'd been on one of her personal quests for knowledge, had been lucky enough to uncover it again and found a long pathway leading down to a hall large tunnel cut out of the stones that made up the canyon. She'd no idea how far she'd walked by the time the dim light grew brighter, and had been baffled by the 60 foot large wall that arose before her in the underground cavern it had lead to. The wall showed cracks, few at the top, but a multitude of it as it got closer to the ground. As she got closer Kenna had gawked at the detailed etchings in the middle of what seemed like a vertical crater. No bigger than her palm, but so life-like nonetheless. The souls had told their new master it had been petrified and laid dormant, but had refused to tell her what it was unless she'd found someone worthy to awaken it. Someone blessed by the stars.

It was thus that when Imai had come to mind her curiosity and eagerness to uncover this mystery had flared a fire that none would extinguish. The reason she was here, and hadn't even bothered to take the right set of clothing with her, to her current regret. It was getting rather chilly up here, especially with nothing to do but wait...

From the corner of her eye the young maiden noticed someone struggling to get over the ledge of the canyon's side, and she nearly jumped up in happiness at the sight of it. "Finally...!" She cried out cheerfully. I've been waiting so long I almost became part of these sto-" Her sentence was cut off halfway when recognising the clothing of the person that crawled up the ledge. The loose and sturdy, yet slightly worn-out brown jacket was one out of the key trademarks of someone she could describe as her closest friend yet. However this was not the person she'd been expecting, and she nearly scowled out loud when it hit her. "Mashyuu?! Oh for fuck's sake... did I pick the wrong house again ?!" On second thought, that 'nearly' became an obvious fact as her displeased voice resonated over the nearby vicinities of the canyon. It was only when "Mashyuu's" not so signature youthful face and spike hairstyle came into view that she realised it was just an Imai in sheep's clothing. Or should she say, slayer's clothing. A sigh of relief escaped her lungs as she flung a smile unto her porselain face and went out to greet the panting Imai.

”?” A certain voice reached him from above, most likely from an older female, “Wait, who’s there..?” He stopped up mid-climbing and pulled his head closer to the source of the voice. “… I come with peace!” were Imai’s next words, “Do not try and hurt me, please, would you - I have tea and all if you’d like-“ He went slower up the hill with his dirty gloves, while Mashyuu’s clothes proved their sturdiness of another league compared to the stones. After a couple of dozens of seconds, his left hand grabbed onto the edge on top and pulled the rest of his body up, letting his face spot the source to be his guildmate, Kenna.

“Hey, I’m not Mashyuu; I can guarantee that,” he greeted while moving off the edge and getting up on his feet, “Phew… I must say, these robes are sturdy. I’m sure that he won’t mind me borrowing them for a while…” He began chuckling a little after that statement - God knew only of his joking thoughts and how he could ever enter the Earth God’s house, let alone ‘borrow’ his clothes without having fainted out of worry of his own safety. He began clapping dust off the cloak and looked up. “So… I saw your note. What did you find up here? Was it a treasure? What kind of treasure did you find? Was it filled with dry gold, or was it something magical? Could it fly, or perhaps light up? Was it an animal; have you found a new pet for me?!” Sei sneezed by the word ‘pet’ as it suddenly woke up and looked around, gazing at the feminine Sabertooth mage, “Or wait! Let me guess again - was it a weapon? Was it a broadsword, or another staff?! What kind of alignment does it have? Is it made out of the finest scales from some ancient monster? Or is it made from a rare material only found in one place in this world? Is it even that kind of thing that you’d expect; perhaps it’s something that we’ve never seen before! Please, you must’ve seen it by now, what is it? WHAT IS IT?”

Replying quite properly, all his questions were answered in one bite. That only meant one thing; he wasn’t able to tell what it would be! That only made things even more interesting for the young star mage, whilst his eyes shined as he approached. “Oohhhh, this is going to be so great..!” he let out while clenching his excited fists, “Lead the way, Kenna!” Following troop, he even began mimicking every step of hers until that they made it towards a large hole on the surface, pitch-black and filled with what looked like a void of darkness. It was large and worried him, since that he remembered about how high up in the air that they were. These canyons could be kilometers tall from the very bottom, so what about this hole? “U-Uhm, are we going to-“ he was about to ask in a worried voice. She assured him that it was a safe fall, in which he jumped in, but as she mentioned bats instead of scorpions, he let out: “W-Wait, what giant bats..!!!”

Landing softly, he began ruffling his hair for the fur of bats that ganged up on him earlier. “P-Pff, darn bats only targeted me…” he complained. However, watching the large hallway before him, his sense of adventure and lust for the exciting made him forget the issues and follow up. Luckily, his butt was spared because of the… moss? He was convinced that it was something handmade due to the softness, but he didn’t mind it. The hallway was very long, and as soon as his eyes spotted the pictures, they almost watered by the beautiful depictures. He saw mystic creatures chopped into the rocks or painted, while the faint lights on the walls functioned as ‘sources’ of those beings. “Woooaaaahhh…” he exhaled. All those mythical animals truly grabbed his interest, “What are these creatures? Yókais? Spirits? Biological creations?” His questions paused by the view of a large, huge dragon that covered most of the scene, surrounded by dots of light as if watching down from the peak of above. It was so large, majestic…

“This is… this is wonderful,” he couldn’t but answer like this, “… The pictures don’t remind me of anything else that I’ve ever seen. They’re so bright, so… alive.” He stroked a hand across the picture of a civilization or a group, all wearing hoods. It was as if the pictures moved around the scene, and he could even hear the echoes of that dragon from above, reaching down into his very ears… what kind of place was this? “K-Kenna, what kind of place is this? Is it a burial, or perhaps the entrance to an ancient civilization’s village?”