A Step Away From Sanity

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

The one advantage to being connected via iLac to all of the guild notification systems was that whenever a new guild request went up, it was sent directly to the device instead of having to run out to the message board whenever it was physically posted. Digital copies were a wonderful thing and Lyra availed herself of every opportunity to read a guild request on her rather stereotypical pink device before she wasnt and examined the physical version for any additional details that may not have been included in the message. For example, certain images did not get scanned, and thus the onus was on the guild member to go and take a look at the board and see for themselves precisely what the message contained. That was exactly the case with this particularly odd request that had gone up, one that Lyra was unsure how to interpret - it probably meant that it was not for her eyes, but nonetheless the rose quartz mage was curious as to how this would come about.

By the time Lyra attended the board herself to examine the request up close, it seemed that someone else was already in the middle of perusing whatever that message had been. The mage wasn't surprised by that; it was a very unusual request and one that merited further investigation up close. Even at this distance, Lyra could see that there as a blonde-haired woman investigating the request and that she was having quite a time doing so. Seemingly enthralled by the missive, the woman was in front of the board and Lyra was not far behind.

Descending the grand staircase that circumnavigated the Grand Hall, the pink-haired woman looked over at the message board with little more than a furtive glance at the woman examining the request.

"Hi, sorry!" Lyra said with a sheepish smile. "I couldn't help but notice you were looking at the same request I was coming down to get a closer look at. Were you thinking of taking it on?" she asked, definitely interested in doing it herself, but still coming to terms with precisely how to handle it.

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

"Don't worry, I'm new too," Lyra replied reassuringly; she knew all too well the terror of being surrounded by a veritable army of new people, where the faces came and went consistently as the world continued to move. After all, the guilds were busy and full of people always trying to find work; Luminous Rose was one such guild with a dearth of members that were always on the move for something to do. Everyone here needed to work - and, as an addendum to such, many of this particular guild held second jobs, particularly in the music industry; it was an odd twist, but one that kept the secluded little river paradise a bustling hub of activity. It was most certainly unceasingly frenetic here, and this was something that the rose quartz struggled to keep up with on a good day. "But it's a pleasure to meet you, Nita."

The hesitation on Nita's part with particular regard to this mission was interesting to Lyra for a number of reasons; one, it looked interesting enough for anyone to handle, but when someone apprached it with sufficient trepidation in their heart that there was a pause when they spoke of it brought cause for concern. And, when Lyra followed the instructions as she was asked to do, then she saw, listened and understood - and, by virtue of being asked about her understanding, shook her head in the negative to indicate that the pink-haired woman did not in fact understand what was going on with the writing proferred to her - and this seemed like a more personal matter to Nita for some reason that was as of yet unclear to her. This was a not-so-common occurrence; when someone was looking for someone specific, the mission typically did not appear publically in a manner such as this.

On the other hand, Nita was sufficiently impressive to Lyra. It was obvious to the rose quartz that she was a powerful mage in her own right; magical energy rolled off her in waves so strong that they could not be ignored. THere was a solid chance Nita could have removed Lyra from existence with her eyes closed, which was oddly reassuring in a way - with the world's current state, Lyra was full glad of the presence of mages who could assist the guild and be powerful enough to handle themselves no matter what threats and dangers proved themselves present in the world. Add to that the ability to work with a wide variety of languages and the mage was sufficiently impressed by all of this. On the other hand, Lyra was just... a girl who had a sword, sometimes, and maybe some wings, and managed to stumble on her powers. By contrast, she was starting to feel small. But that was fine. She was rather used to that feeling by now, truth told. This was the joy of being late to the magic game, unlike most of her companions.

One truth remained, however: if this was a message meant for Nita, and one specifically intended to lure her into a trap, then there was only one course of action that Lyra could follow, for there was only one true response to her allies being threatened in such a way. Unfortunate as it was, this was the way of things, and there would be no remorse or other recourse than to follow her into battle.

"Well... all things considered, if this is in fact a trap designed to lure you in, I would feel awful if I did not offer to come with you and assist in springing the trap. Perhaps they might think twice if two of us go. We could catch them off guard if something goes really wrong," she offered - it wasn't much, but it was a start, as far as Lyra was concerned.

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

There was no resistance on the part of the rose quartz when she was pulled in for a hug, though it most certainly did catch her off guard - Lyra was in fact a hugger herself by nature, so returning the hug was little issue for her. Actually, it was kind of comforting, and also rather surprising, how many people in the guild were huggers once they got close to one another.

The story itself, however, was something of an absolute marvel to listen to. As she was bade, Lyra sat down with Nita, and gave full attention to every word spoken by her fellow guildmate. She offered no words until it was done, but ensured that she paid attention to the full tale - not that it was particularly difficult to listen to something that was actually rather gripping as far as stories go. Now, for some mild context, Lyra had no problems believing that otherworldly things could happen in, around and on Earthland - she herself played host to one such otherworldly experience, and she did not regret the fact that she had to play host to such. Even if that particular spirit that now inhabited her mind and body was being strangely quiet as of late, the fact was that she could feel his presence, and that in itself was rather reassuring. On the flip side, there was the sheer fact that these oddities tended to happen to those who drew power to themselves, and Nita was one such person - her strength could not be denied and Lyra was absolutely certain of the fact that she was not only capable of defending herself but exuding the immense power required to defeat her enemies, no matter where in time or space they hailed from. This was an absolute of life. Strength begat strength - not only was it a requisite for making oneself stronger, but the strong were also drawn to the strong. This was how things worked and Lyra would have no qualms affirming that statement at any point in time. The heterochromatic woman was most certainly strong enough to draw the attention of others - was this mission posted to the guild's board not proof of that logic? Her might had conjured in the attention of otherworldly beings that were now in the process of possessing locals, breaking them to their will, and then pursuing their agenda no matter how sinister it might have been. This was an outcome that Lyra considered to be abhorrent, for the corruption of innocent souls was not the path that Lyra wished to see walked. Those who did not need to be swept up in conflict should not have been, and this was how the pink-haired girl had decided on the way she wished to proceed with assisting Nita's particular enquiry.

As for the one particular revelation of Nita's heritage? "I'm not bothered at all by where you're from," Lyra declared intently. She had been at Joya, as many others had, and had bore witness to the carnage that had ensued as a result. This was the way the world had developed, and while this was no time to wax poetic about the ramifications of the destruction of an entire city, it had divided some people down clear lines of belief, ones that Lyra would not consider to walk. The war that threatened to consume the entire world was in fact going to be very real and sweep the guilds along with it - so for every step that Lyra fought the currents of political belief and power with, it was all the better for her to contemplate. This being the case, the rose quartz mage would not even consider the fact that the woman before her was Pergrandian was even remotely important. The most important thing to Lyra was what lived inside Nita's heart, and it was imperatively clear that what lied there was pure and hale and whole and devoted to the relief of others.

"If this is a trap, then I believe it is in our best interest to spring it ourselves on our terms," Lyra said as she rose from her seat with the same sort of finality that the blonde-haired woman had showed next to her. However, the serious expression that crossed Lyra's face softened a moment later. "The water might be a different story though! I'm kidding. It's fine. I don't mind getting a little wet if I have to."

Portal magic was not Lyra's forte, though she understood that magic could take just about any form. However, gathering in five minutes seemed to be a wise idea - it was sufficient time to grab a snack, stock up on the necessary supplies that they would need, and perhaps start by donning her armour should it be required to make landfall through the portal and immediately commence combat operations. This was an eventuality Lyra had to consider as well. Her abilities and equipment might be enough to sustain her through all of this, but she'd have to be ready for it - losing the initiative and being caught off guard would render all such magical boons completely impotent.

"Five minutes it is. I'll see you back here shortly!"

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

By contrast to Nita, Lyra’s five minutes were far shorter - it was, given that she had to return to her quarters to spend a minute preparing, a simple matter to have a quick glance over her equipment. Sure, most mages kept their equipment in the void between words to be summoned via the manipulation of ethernano in order to have them on hand at a moment's notice, but when Lyra was at home she preferred to keep her equipment physically conjured and on hand in case she needed them. If she planned on leaving the guild hall, then absolutely she would return them to that space so that she could use them - but it was as much a sign of trust as it was that she was prepared to leaved her treasured panoply back in her quarters - it was far simpler to leave the toys at home and ensure that this was the end of it rather than openly carry weapons that could have been used to enact needless violence against others. However, once she was sufficiently satisfied that the armoured plating of her steel rose and the crystalline weave of her rapier were both in perfect working order, she consigned them both to their fate of returning to that immortal void from whence they came, and was therefore prepared. So too was her loyal companion Akasha ready; the warmth of the bird's spirit conjoined upon hers sufficient warning that she would be in a position to be ready for whatever came her way.

Upon Lyra's return, there she was; the heterochromatic woman's presence already prepared for ahead of hers indicated that Lyra had taken just a fraction more than the five minutes that she had originally indicated to wish to take. Unfortunately, it did mean that Lyra was late, which was something that she loathed, but nonetheless she would be here and prepared to move forward with their task. The portal, rectangular and azure in nature, shimmered before Lyra, and she was mightily prepared mentally to face whatever it was that was before her. A sheepish smile crossed her face. "Sorry I'm late," she said by way of apology, before she gave Nita a solemn nod of solidarity. "I'm ready though, I promise!"

However, by way of explanation of portal magic, Lyra was thoroughly baffled. The fact that the laws of nature seemed to stop existing entirely was something that she really was not sure about - but what else could she do about that particular situation? The rose quartz mage could only marvel, and hope that her first foray into the aquatic medium went well. So saying, after Nita took a practised step into the abyss, the pink-haired mage followed suit. It was an uncomfortable feeling for the first few moments; she didn't know what to expect other than the sensation of being wet - it was so odd to not be in a traditional pool of water and feeling like one could breathe, and possibly speak, where the perception of time, space and reality all began to distort as if one had simply taken the world and twisted it a little to the left and right just to leave strange traces of everything just a little bit askew. Lyra wasn't sure what to make of it. She had eyes on her travelling companion, however, and that was the only saving grace available to her--

The dventure ended abruptly as the next portal appeared and one by one the guild mages stepped through, into the nexus between worlds-- Wakusei. Lyra had never been here before herself, only heard in passing about this place's existence. It was an oddity too that she would have to investigate at some point in the near future, though now was absolutely not the time to do so. As if on cue, Lyra conjured a small flame, for both herself and Nita; hopefully the tiny flame mote would assist in the process of drying their clothes and hair out as it surrounded their bodies, performing small orbits in order to wick away some of the moisture that surrounded their bodies.

A series of words were exchanged, and there was a very tense moment as a woman with a piercing gaze levelled some very heavy accusations against Nita, which Lyra could not help but take a step forward to. Once, she might have shied away from such, but here and now after enough time with the guild she had learned to stand up for not only herself but her friends. No longer was she a mere wallflower to be plucked or trampled. "Excuse me, but we are from Luminous Rose. Please do not mind our heritage, but we represent the Guild and have come to answer the summons placed before us. My name is Lyra, this is Nita, and we'd like any relevant information, please."

It was rather pointed. Her eyes travelled over the three gathered before her, though the last sentence was uttered directly at the woman whose vile accusations of her fellow guildmate were worth a solid rebuke.

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

The sheer reality of the situation was that Lyra had absolutely no idea what was being spoken; as a Fiorean native with little linguistic prowess, she was unable to understand a single word about anything that was being said - and the bewildered look on her face that she was unable to contain absolutely reflected that for her. She wasn't here to hide how she felt about any given situation, and the fact was that things were being said, possibly about her and her friend, that may have had some impact on the unfolding moment around them. Lyra didn't precisely appreciate the prospect of being spoken about in a foreign tongue on purpose, but she held back any remarks. There was no point in being any kind of hostile and as far as she cared there was no situation in which she had the right to be openly hostile, especially when someone's heritage might have been the question. No, she would absolutely hold back and refrain from any comments, especially--

The colour blue permeated the room as Nita stepped forth and unleashed a powerful magick that worked wonders on the professor's mental state; whatever Nita had done had stabilised a potentially bad situation, and now she was proving her ascended abilities to be more valuable than anything. Truly, whatever had made this mission happen was intentionally calling out to her, and the proof was now directly in front of Lyra's eyes. There was no arguing with this.

As Jove came to again, she met his eyes and listened to his words, and couldn't help herself. Lyra did not suppress a laugh. "That's not the first time I've been called an angel, but no, I most certainly am not one," she commented with a smile to the professor who had just been brought back to the land of the living. "This is the lovely Nita, who has just brought you back, Professor. I'm Lyra. We're here from Luminous Rose in Fiore to assist you."

Finally, the team of academics invited them to sit, and Lyra gladly took that chance; she used that moment to size up the team - the outspoken and brash Professor Bertrand, the more stoic and observant Professor Helon, and the prideful Professor Aurea. She couldn't really get a good read on two of them-- and then Jove opened his mouth. Lyra paused, pointedly casting a glance at Doctor Bertrand as he left a sly remark about the ability to contact him - for just a moment she furrowed her brow and then turned away from him. Her naivete might have been endearing but even Lyra was not that stupid so as to rise to that comment. She was inexperienced, not an idiot. However, her attentions turned to Professor Aurea, who seemed to be the one on top of everything - which was absolutely fine by her. Lyra could respect a woman who had done well for herself, particularly in a male-dominated field; this was something that she definitely appreciated. It was nice to see her keep up with her peers and, in many cases, outshine them.

"Plenty of questions, in this particular case, but I'll try and keep it to a few pertinent ones," Lyra commented, chuckling slightly. Oh how interesting it was that the person she was addressing was originally so intently hostile to them based on what had happened thus far! "The original request in question was twofold. One part to heal Doctor Bertrand, and the other to investigate the strange symbols that he had shared in his... state," Lyra started, then thought hard about this. They would have to enter Nazo in order to ascertain the truth of the sigils that had been cast and Lyra was unfortunately on so read on the situation in other worlds - and by 'so read', one could absolutely correctly interpret that as completely ignorant. She'd never really travelled beyond Fiore other to attend Joya during the great harrowing, and that was all the travel experience the rose quartz had picked up. So, she'd need to consult with the closest things that passed for experts in this field that were available to her in order to steel herself for the great unknown that was about to come for them. "I won't lie, I'm neither linguist or travel specialist. Will we be entering Nazo to investigate the situation, and if so, what information do you have?"

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

Truth told, Lyra wasn't following along fairly well-- until the word primordials was mentioned. Now, this was a word she'd encountered once or twice in the past; she knew that there was 'primordial' magic, especially as far as some slayer magic was concerned. At that point, there were more than a few people out there with primordial magic. Was it related? Possibly. Lyra knew literally nothing about the existence of primordials or what the magic involved actually was, but the only thing that she could really mentally contribute to this particular exercise was the fact that primordials existed and that they were in fact a thing. She was, by her own admittance, way out of her league here. Everyone in this room was a scholar of some description, except her; she'd never attended higher education, she'd never really done any extensive travel or study. She was just a girl who was a homebody that was only in the last year or so learning how to use magic or even how to fight. Everything that was coming out here now was very much literally beyond her skill level. On some level she was okay with that. She knew her shortcomings, numerous as they were compared to everyone else that she encountered, and also knew that she had her own way of dealing with the issues in front of her. At this point, she was absolutely out of her depth, and was rather content to sit back and listen to everything that was being said around her. The rose quartz mage didn't exactly have much to say here, and that was that.

Until, of course, they mentioned the logistics of walking through the portal into Nazo and what that meant for the two adventurers. That wasn't terrifying at all. If everything was going to turn on its head, how well would magic work? That wasn't going to be a fun experience, if things didn't work the way the were supposed to. Lyra was going to have to do her best to keep her magic and her blade equally sharp inside a place where everything was going to go completely inside out, upside down and turned through on itself.

Finally, Lyra took that moment to speak up. This was what she could handle.

"In terms of medicine and supplies we should be fine, provided our magic holds up," Lyra finally chirped in, folding her hands in front of her and staring down at them as she tried to make sense of the whole situation around her. "I know that we can at least look after ourselves in that case."

The pink-haired mage cast a glance to the blonde seated near her, and then gave the assembled professors a firm nod. "I'm sure that doesn't sound entirely reassuring for you, but it is what it is. Without our magic, we likely wouldn't be doing much against a primordial anyway."

Professor Aurea pondered the information given to her, and then seemed to acquiesce to it regardless. "Very well. We wish you luck, and I hope you return safely."

At that point, Lyra pushed herself up out of her seat and neatly tucked it back under the table with a scraping noise echoing around the room. With intelligence not her strong suit, resolution needed to be her strongest weapon; the pure resolve required to push into the unknown with measure and confidence in equal parts was something that was going to need to be the best thing she could bring to the table. Barring raw power, she was going to need to bring that surety as best she could in order to keep herself ready and relevant to the trip they were going to undertake. It was a little bit of false bravado, sure, but Lyra also knew that in the face of the unknown she could not afford to be a coward.

"Right then. Shall we, Nita? The unknown awaits!"

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

The fact that Lyra was successfully putting on a brave front showed, really, that she could do anything she wanted to. Inside, Lyra was absolutely karking terrified of literally everything that was about to happen here, but the sheer truth of it was that she could scarce afford to be afraid of whatever was about to come their way. This place was terrifying just to consider, and Lyra had yet to even really step through the gateway to a distant world.

Nita went first and, in a moment of pure force of will, Lyra followed a moment later. The perception of reality that followed shifted dramatically, though not as a directly tangible result; everything here just seemed... off, somehow. Like the laws of nature that she was accustomed to had warped into something ever so slightly off-centre. Light, gravity, time, space, sound - all of it seemed muted and distant, like her understanding of it was no longer applicable. Which, in reality, was actually a rather good way of looking at it. Her understanding of the laws of nature had changed.

"It felt like everything just sort of took a step to the left. Like it's all there, just... not where it should be," Lyra replied, breathlessly; she was still trying to catch up to the fact that now that she was actually putting effort into understanding how things worked, even her body was starting to feel a little different here. That was to be expected, though, right? Nothing here was normal, not at all. It couldn't be. However, Nita had them starting off, and dutifully Lyra would follow along; the blonde mage had the right of it when her want to continue pushing on shone through and they simply needed to proceed. She was quiet, for the most part. Everything here needed a lot of thought process to actually process correctly, and Lyra was struggling rather hard with that necessity. Her brain, as much as she joked it was smaller than everyone else's, really wasn't up to this task just yet. Her understanding of the world wasn't keen enough to know where it needed to go to wrap her knowledge around this.

Oh, hey, different world.

The voice in the back of Lyra's head actually managed to speak up as the portals between words shuddered their way into existence, which caught Lyra absolutely off-guard. At this point in her career in magic, Rhett had remained silent for weeks at a time; the disembodied spirit that was soul-linked to hers had managed to find a way to go into a state of dormancy, which allowed him to not need to really focus on the passing of time and, frankly, a thirty-something year old man living in a twenty-something year old girl's body was still a little strange for the both of them to be adjusting to. However, given the compromise that had happened, this was nice. Whatever had triggered his awakening seemed to be the transposition of worlds, and that was enough to wake the experienced fire shaper from his effective months-long nap. Sometimes it was nice to have additional company, and the real hard truth of that was that the vast majority of the progress she'd made in building her courage up to even be able to step through the portal today the way she had was largely because of his initial training into her development, and then from there the world that the Faulkner sisters-- particularly Jamie-- had put into her from there.

Rhett! I thought you were asleep.

I was, kiddo. What kind of messed up hellscape of the laws of physics is this, exactly?

The sudden whisper of voices in the air broke the mental reverie that Lyra found herself in speaking with her soul-linked companion; immediately, she could see that the two beasts in front of them were not up to any standard that she knew. But she had fought plenty of beasts in her adventures thus far; even when things were not normal here she could surely fight them with a combination of her blossoming skills and the magic she found surety in. Could she? Likely, yes. They were abnormal by Earthland standards, yet Lyra knew that she had the willpower to stand and fight them no matter their twisted visage or the restrictions that this land placed upon them.

I don't know. But we'll find out in a second when I try to deal with this.

Slowly, the rose quartz mage exhaled, and then conjured her equipment to her body; shimmering as pink crystal, the cryst-blade formed to her fingers as she raised her hand to the air, the crimson battle plate of the Steel Rose forming around her body as tightly-knit as her skin itself. In that instant, the reflective shield of the armour crackled to life, crystals forming around Lyra for a split second shimmering a brilliant pink before fading away, such that Lyra would be well-protected from any and all incoming attacks. She was, at heart, not at all really a fighter. She was there to heal and support her allies and keep them alive. However, as a direct result of that, Lyra found herself as a wonderful front-line defender of her allies, staunch and steadfast; whenever she found that she was in the thick of battle she kept her enemies absolutely unable to pierce her defences and as a result she was perfect to draw the attention of the foe and allow her allies the unmitigated ability to rain hell down on whatever target they so chose. This would be Lyra's time to really put all of her learnings to the test, particularly since the last time she had actually fought someone was at the highest point of the world where she had fought queen Stellamaria Diamantis at the behest of the Guildmistress and come out victorious.

This would be a wonderful challenge to her newfound abilities. Another breath out to steady herself. She found that such tempered courage did not come easy, and Lyra was only now finding the means with which to ensure that she could fight the battles that she needed to.  Despite the echoing oddities of the voices that plagued the air, Lyra found herself calm enough to engage. It was a really weird voice, that was for sure. Fanged beasts prowling towards them was never a good sign, and Lyra would meet that poor omen with her sheer mental resolve. It was all she had left to her now.

"Allow me to take the fight to the enemy," she said, the pink crystal rapier she had conjured to her fingers tracing a line through the air as she stared down her two foes, before two pairs of pink crystal wings sprouted from her shoulder-blades and the small of her back seamlessly through her armour. "You do what you do best - I'll draw their attention."

Then, raising the basket hilt of her crystal sword to her face, pointing the tip at the enemy, Lyra breathed out then allowed herself to give the blessing touch of wind to both herself and Nita, where they would feel both their alacrity and magical power increase sharply - then she was off at lightning speed a moment later, leading with the lancing point of the rapier. Resolution, as means of necessity, was one of Lyra's great abilities - she found herself in her enemy's face only a second later, prepared to take lashing claw and tail as these monsters struck her, but she would be there, blade swinging through the air as she thrust upon its pure weight into the chest of one beast. Crystal steel met flesh and rent it open, but it was not crimson ichor that poured from the wound; it was something odd, almost black, oozing forth unlike anything Lyra had ever seen before. Now, however, she was committed to the front, and with their attention squarely on her it would give her friend the time that she needed to do... whatever she did.

Unhesitatingly, like a poor fool, Lyra had marched herself straight into the jaws of hell.

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

As soon as Lyra had made full contact with the flesh of the beast that she had charged, the spear-pointed rapier penetrating into the beast, she knew she was going to be in for a following world of hurt. Engaging the enemy at such short distance typically meant that their attacks would simply be focused on her, and this was something she knew she had realised as Lyra's eyes widened upon contact with the foe. She was now so close to these beasts their oversized maws were visible, with rows of decaying teeth coated in dripping, venomous spittle; these fearsome monsters were now directly in her face and entirely likely to poison her lest she move incorrectly through all of this insanity. Lyra knew that combat was real, was extant, was reactive and treacherous. She was not here to mess around. She knew that it was pure muscle memory at this point that was going to carry her through this engagement with these monsters. As she locked eyes with one of these beasts, the selfsame one that she had plunged her blade into, she narrowed her eyes in a moment of pure focus, hand sliding to the front of her basket hilt so that her wrist locked with the beautiful bronze decoration, and with a mighty pull of both hands extracted the crystalline blade from the festering wound that she had caused with that bespoke and beautiful creation of her elf-friend. As the blade slid free of the beast, its pained roar was sufficient to shake her eardrums such that she cringed away from it, but not once did she truly shy away from the dread monster that was before her.

Instead, she noticed something flickering past the edge of her peripheral vision; it was something small and almost imperceptible. It had to be that card that Nita pulled moments before Lyra took off in her crazed, offensive flight. It left the monsters little time to react before the card itself detonated in a beautiful display of light, sound and concussive force; it was almost as if the explosion that the card caused wrapped the rose quartz mage in its warmth before it sent both of the foes that they had faced flying without a second care. Truly, this was a display of Nita's powers that Lyra simply couldn't overlook; she was strong. Strong in ways that Lyra could not hope to match, for she was a healer and a supporter and never a fighter, despite the way she took off to engage her foes. The blade she wielded was nowhere near as powerful as others and, in this particular case, simply gave her the ability to engage an enemy at the full strength of a lesser mage. She had sacrificed much of her offensive capability to be one of the greatest healers and protectors that she could have managed. In this particular case, her want to rush headlong in and draw the aggravation of the enemy was what Lyra did best. They had absolutely been distracted by the glowing pink girl that had charged right in to fight them and that was the exact effect that Lyra had hoped for. This was something that she was going to be able to do.

Then, tossed aside as useless, lifeless corpses, the two hyena monsters were sent absolutely flying by Nita's perfect creation. Their bodies tumbled through the air, limbs splaying in every direction, before they hit what passed for the ground in this strange dimension. And, that was that. They'd been sufficiently distracted, and then taken out of the equation. Lyra knew that a lot of mage fights tended to be quick and showy and deadly. This was no exception that the rule, for all things considered, this wasn't going to be something they held on to. Lyra knew damn well that this was a messy sort of episode.

By the time the blonde had caught up to the pink haired girl, Lyra was exhaling and wiping the ichor off the blade; sword maintenance was something she'd had drilled into her since the day she'd picked up this beauteous creation. Before she could even respond to the words that were coming out of Nita's mouth, the very delicate perception of reality that she already had was starting to unravel before her very eyes. White, spindly fingers protruded from an extrusion of space, and the strangely-proportioned monstrosity of a man began to wail and flood the dimension with light as it caused innumerable tears in space-time to disorient the two women who had come through in order to see what precisely was happening here. But that was the thing. Lyra couldn't see. There was nothing here but inky blackness now that things had shifted once more for her, and the odd feeling that a flood of light was encroaching upon the outer edges of her senses. It was almost as if the light that she had been perceiving was now no longer in existence, but simply a thing to see and know at the edge of space and time.

She opened her mouth to speak, to scream, but nothing could come out. The vibration of her tongue inside her mouth was certainly moving, that much she knew - but nothing seemed to happen when she willed it to do so. Her body, sluggish and attempting to respond, was not working as intended. This was not the way of the world. This was not something that she knew how to break free from. And while her strong-willed persona was powerful enough - it was nothing when faced with the deepest, most deep seated fears of her psyche.

At that mere mention of a thought, a low hum began to play in the back of her mind, followed by a hiss that rose in timbre. The sensation of something crawling across her skin, something slithering and scaly, began to play with it too, so much that the sensation began as one trail that ran up her arm, then a second joining it that trailed its way up her leg, and then both began to constrict. She knew what these were. Snakes. She loathed snakes. So much. She couldn't stand the way their scales felt cold and she was terrified of being bitted and god they were just so creepy-- and here they were, messing with her head, knowing full well that the tightening sensation could crawl up towards her throat and choke the life out of her at any given moment in time.

Lyra Karant wished she could scream, but there was nothing for her to scream to, and none to hear.

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

If anyone wanted to destroy Lyra Karant's mind, they only had to do a couple of simple things to ensure that happened: first, ostracise her from the companionship of others; second, leave her alone in a dark room; third, throw some snakes and/or spiders at her and let her fester in that dark pit. In short, whoever was doing this to Lyra was doing a wonderful job of breaking her down slowly. They had removed Nita from the equation of her perception, had left her in a place where light was little more than an afterthought, and now her mind was showing her the snakes that were wrapping around her, and also beginning to constrict around her body. In short, they had nailed this particular task in order to break her. Perhaps whatever monstrosity they were fighting simply had the ability to reach into the psyche of their hapless victim, extract that which they knew would work, and just do that - and here they were. Even Nita was only a secondary thought to Lyra at this point when the life seemed to be drained out of her slowly, painfully and in the one way she was really hoping wouldn't happen: being choked to death by snakes. What an oddly specific way to go, but hey, no fear ever needed to be rational.

What really began to get her was the deafening silence. There was no perception of sound here; as she screamed earlier, no sound came out, but worse yet was the fact that she couldn't hear the movement of the snakes or even the movement in her own body. Sure, she could feel the rush of blood to her lower extremities as the snake began to tighten its vice grip, but it was the same way one felt a bass drum vibrate through the rib cage, and not the thrum that accompanied it. That kind of silence was torture, and Lyra suddenly understood exactly why sensory deprivation could be considered a form of torture when it was not asked for. This was starting to drive her insane. She could certainly feel like her grip on what was left of reality was starting to slip away from her; with no light, no sound, and no real recourse for her body to resist the one thing she was terrified of coming after her, she knew she couldn't really resist this end. Was this how she was going to die? Mentally shocked into paralysis, unable to fight her worst fear?

The tears began to well in her eyes, and she could not find it in her heart to accept death. The voice in her heard told her to resist, but she simply could not fight away the end.

"And yet, you accepted mine," a voice echoed inside her mind. She did not hear this voice; no, it was a projection the same way Rhett spoke to her. This was something that was shimmering to life in front of her, a reflection of a blonde-haired main around her height and with sharp, boyish looks. He was dressed in a Ca-Elian naval uniform and stood there with his hands in his pockets, staring directly at her. She knew that face. She knew it so perfectly well. And yet, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. This was her older brother, Albion - she never, ever talked about him, for the shame that accompanied the memories of his life were too much for her to bear. She'd never even spoken about Albion to Jamie, Mysie or Blair; no person that was actively in her life at this point knew of the previous existence of the brother she had lost.  

"You have never forgiven yourself for your inaction, have you, little sister?" he chided, staring her down as the beasts that surrounded her clamped down upon her yet again, chastising her silently for her failures. "You could have saved me. Your cowardice killed me. My blood is on your hands."

Which was true. The sailor had been home from deployment for some time and, as the family was wont to do, they went on a holiday; the two siblings were off on a drive, having learned how to do so whilst in the Ca-Elian navy. However, when someone else hit the car's rear left quarter, which sent it careening over the side of a cliff - and the impact was sufficient to critically injure the other driver as it was - the car rolled, and left both Lyra and Albion seriously injured as well. By the time Lyra's senses came to, she saw three things: blood, destruction, and the half-mangled body of her brother. She was barely able to crawl her own way out of that car, trying as best she could to cling on to life - but she did not have the strength or willpower to move her brother's body, try as she might to get in there and reclaim him. Her fear struck her, and the exhaustion set in - she she lay there, barely with the strength to will her body to move. Perhaps if she was physically stronger, she could have acted. Without any first aid, he had passed away. And she had always cursed her inaction. As far as Lyra was concerned, being unable to get to Albion had killed him. Without her help-- and she could have helped, if she got to him-- he had died. That blood was on her hands, for sure, as far as her psyche was concerned. She had never freed herself of the mental prison that was self-loathing, unable to forgive herself for the loss of her bother. Sure, everyone else saw it the logical way: he'd died on impact when they hit the ground. But Lyra knew that there was something she might have been able to have done, and now, that memory haunted her forever. It was this that drove her to heal and protect. She never, ever wanted to repeat the nightmare that she could never shake from her mind, no matter how much it plagued her.

The tears began to flow. Once again, chastising her for her failure, she could not shake off that which attacked her.

In fact, it wasn't until Nita yelled into her ear that the darkness began to lift from her - like it was nothing, the veil of secrecy lifted, and reality snapped back into existence like it had never been missing in the first place. Lyra, by contrast, was shaken - ghostly white and pale, the tears very real, and with Nita wrapped around her, she was stunned into perfect silence. While nothing was choking down on her throat, she still was too shocked to move. Her mind struggled to process the weight and feel of her body, the way everything seemed to be semi-normal once again-- or what passed for normal in this particular dimension anyway-- and she simply seemed like a husk, a fragment of her normal, joyous, vibrant self.

She just stood there, unmoving, barely blinking, trying her best not to sob openly. Unlike Nita, she had not conquered her mind - it had bested her.

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

Is this a bad time to mention I saw everything? Probably wasn't meant to, but you've done a real good job suppressing that thought for a long time. Rhett's voice in the back of Lyra's mind rang clearly. At this point, she wasn't sure if the soul-joined man was yet another thing presented by the invasion to her psyche, or if it was actually him. There was no real way to tell, right? He was, after all, just a voice in the back of her head. Just like everything else that she'd encountered in that time period, there was no actual ability on Lyra's part to discern truth from lie.

Except there is, I can hear your internal monologue, and you're being dumb. Hold on.

In the next instant, her finger twitched like it was having a spasm; it was absolutely random and uncontrolled to an outside observer, somethign that just kind of happened - but both shaper and slayer knew precisely what had happened in that moment, and Lyra wasn't going to argue with results.

Okay. You win, Rhett. What now?

There was a world of deafening silence on Lyra's part, inside her mind. She couldn't hear anything, especially considering the fact that she thought she was awake - but nothing seemed to be moving; it was like time was standing still for her in a way that she couldn't quite perceive. It meant that whatever was having its way with her mind was clearly winning and far stronger than she could have ever hoped, but there surely had to be a way that they could handle the problem that was in front of them. Surely. Right?

Move over, kiddo. I have control.

It was at that precise moment two things happened simultaneously. First, she could feel that her ability to process thing was being pushed aside, as Rhett himself took partial control of her body; this was something that only ever happened in absolutely extreme circumstances, because a thirty-something year old man did not wish to control a twenty-something year old girl's body given the impropriety that it carried as an implication. This was definitely an extreme circumstance for this to be happening, however. Second, there was a voice - and as Rhett took control off her, she knew precisely what was happening.

The sound of Nita's voice rang in her mind presently, like the clarion call of something that was from the deep - but it was enough to snap her with its timing out of her reverie. Emerald eyes opened as she stirred from the daze she was in, finally blinking; struggle though it was to see through water-filled eyes, Lyra gave it her absolute all as she looked through the lens of someone whose sadness had overwhelmed them. It was not a pretty sight, but she was here, present and in the moment. The first thing she noticed, other than the blonde herself, was the golden tower that shielded them both from outside influence, one that rose towards the sky and spoke of the protection from whatever manner of monstrosity was attempting to encroach upon them. Had successfully encroached, rather, if the way that this situation had played out was to be believed. Truthfully, Lyra could still scarce believe that she had been impacted so powerfully, and that was only the tip of the iceberg; her mind was been broken into like it was absolute child's play. Whatever warning Nita had originally given about the Primordials was most certainly accurate, if that was the creature that had attacked - they were so strong that Lyra would not have fancied Nita's chances of doing this alone, and despite her reaction she was glad to be here in this strange world with her fellow guild-mate. Nobody should have ever had to have faced this monstrosity on their own.

"I'm here," she finally breathed, and let all the weight of the world slide off her shoulders as the exhale crossed her lips. Rhett, silently, sidled past the conscious world of her mind, restoring full control to the pink-haired girl who needed to be here in that moment, so that she could deal with the situation. The man who lived in the back of her head was not here to be used as a crutch, but when he was needed, he acted. "I'm here."

It was a mantra, meant to convince herself more than it was to tell anyone else that she was in fact physically present in the moment. Most of all, she needed to be able to pull herself back from the brink and think critically about the situation they were in. Okay. She could do this. Okay. Okay. She was here, and ready to help.

"Okay. What have I missed, and what do we do?" Lyra asked, locking eyes with the heterochromatic woman before her, trying to regain all control of her faculties. It seemed, in her despair, her cryst-blade had hit the floor beneat their feet, but that could be recovered later. Right now they needed a plan of action to deal with whatever this thing was, and soon.

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

Nita's explanation was sufficient now that they were ensconsed in the golden tower, and her understanding of the situation was imparted sufficiently - Lyra wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but it effectively amounted to the fact that this monster was probably a primordial, and once it died they could find a way home. The blonde haired woman's concern was so utterly endearing and heartwarming, however, that Lyra could not help but smile.

"Ready as I'll ever be. Let's do it."

The resolve was back, at least, which meant that she was ready enough to fight. The pink-haired girl watched as Nita extricated herself from inside the defensive perimeter, and then began to engage the enemy. It was enough that the rose quartz mage knew precisely what she needed to do, and there was no hesitation on her behalf to what she needed to do. Lyra knew. It was time for her to employ something that she kept hidden from most, though many in the guild knew precisely what this was given the fact that it was not the only of its kind that literally flew within the guild hall of their own volition.

From out of absolutely nowhere, a pair of shimmering pink crystal wings burst forth from Lyra's back, far different to those that previously came from her body - whereas those wings seemed simple and plain, these wings bore individual feathers, of a sort, though they were each jutting, jagged crystals. These wings began to move from her back, attached now to a large, similarly crystalline body, where a head, beak and tail formed as it came out as large and imposing as Lyra's body herself - this, then, was the moon crystal phoenix that Lyra had raised from the egg that she had located at the behest of Mysie Faulkner, her mentor, the chaotic one of the three sisters that had given her cause to travel deep to the heart of a mountain and fetch the egg. Akasha, as she was known, had spirit-bonded to Lyra directly, and nestled about her soul as a mother bird coddled its egg. Immediately, the great beast took flight, and with a single flap of its wings began to unleash one of its light-bending powers. While in this land energy, time, space and light were all so invariably distorted, Akasha could not be held back - the dazzling crystal reflection of herself and her brood-mates became the powerful weapon that the bird could use, dazzling the primordial beast and forcing it to look away as Lyra reached down to reclaim her similarly pink weapon. It was enough time for Lyra to lean down, reclaim her cryst-blade, and stare down the monster that was bearing down upon her friend and ally. Lyra could not permit her to come to harm, so dedicated to her role was she; there would be no brooking any form of argument on this particular topic and Lyra knew full well in her heart, mind and soul that she had the ability to draw the attention of an enemy if she so desired. Perhaps to her own detriment, but there would be nothing stopping Lyra from making a case for herself.

So blessed, her own wings sprung from her back, and she entered the offensive once again. For a second time this day - night? - Lyra swaddled herself in the protective shield that was her defensive capabilities granted by her crimson battle plate. For a moment, the barrier shimmered to life, then turned invisible; this would be the shell that protected her from her foe as much as possible. With Akasha circling overhead and drawing the planetary skull's attention as best as she could, Lyra was now prepared to go on the offensive to her fullext extent. She gripped the hilt of her basket rapier tightly, so much so for a moment that her knuckles turned white under the pressure, then remembered that such a grip would not do for employing the full piercing power of the weapon in her hands. The bright pink beacon of light that circled above drew sufficient attention that Lyra would in fact be able to engage this particularly misshapen foe herself. Despite her slayer capabilities being here, it was the crystalline panoply that would bear her to victory today, for she was blessed with such divine provenance that she could employ the strength she was blessed with. Perhaps she was not the chosen of a deity, and that was perfectly fine with Lyra. She was simply here, defending her friend.

Once again, she rushed forward - but this time, Planetary Skull was prepared, unlike the hyena beasts that they had faced earlier. With a white arm ending upon spindly, almost ghost-like fingers tipped with sharpened nails so much that they appeared as claws, the monster knocked Lyra out of the sky mid-charge as if she was little more than a fly to be swatted. While her plate protected much of her body, it did not shield her face - and that was precisely where she caught the blow, scratching her complete, shattering her magical shield, and drawing considerable blood from her face. While she could not see the blood, if Nita could, she would notice that it was not quite the normal deep hue of human blood - this one seemed to have a far darker tinge, and thhe sensation that Lyra felt was much akin to a tingling burn that she was unaccustomed to. The pain was almost unbearable, but Lyra knew that as she had drawn attention, she would be able to add value to the combat that Nita might be able to execute whatever primordial-slaying ability that she had up her proverbial sleeve.

Pushing herself from the pitch-black floor up on to her elbows, Lyra reached out a hand - blades of violent wind materialised from around her, and despite the odd burning sensation that was now coursing through her veins, the blades lashed out at the monster from this distance. She would not burn through her considerable mana reserves this day, but Lyra knew that her offensive strength was not what would carry her through today. Emerald eyes were as steel, staring down the monster that was now bearing down upon her, one plodding step at a time. The shield that she had already lost would not be enough, but she would fight until the bitter end. If all the attention was on her and Akasha, so be it - that would be enough for Lyra to be satisfied that she had performed her role. Dazzling moonlight was such a weapon that it could perhaps blind the beast - or at least, if Lyra was right, stun it long enough that Nita could act.

Lyra Karant

A Step Away From Sanity

Between Lyra's reckless dashing, Akasha's whirlwind movement and the supportive powers of someone who likely shoudl have been the one taking the offensive, the primordial had likely bitten off more than they could chew. Lyra, on the other hand, was doing things that she would normally find entirely outside of her wheelhouse; everything that was happening here was simply the result of her doing things that she really could not have guaranteed the results of, but being stuck in a dimension where time, space and physics were so wildldy distorted was throwing her completely on the back foot. The fact of the matter was, despite the fact that she was bleeding not entirely profusely, but sufficiently that she should have been concerned, she was now acting in a way that was decidedly not Lyra-like in origin.  She was a supporter, not a main-line fighter. Why was she doing this? Why was she trying to take risks and do things that was out of her normal purview?

Simple: this place was messing with her head. The cut that she had suffered, and was subsequently healing slowly over time thanks to all the magic flying around including her own, made the wound feel like it was... bubbling? That was a good word. Her magic felt almosdt sluggish, in response, like it was reacting to her and her abilities somehow. That, however, was the least of her concerns; she needed to handle the enemies that had appeared before them. Which now apparently included those two twisted monstrosities from earlier which were now hurling stone in Lyra's direction. Or, more specifically, Akasha's; the moon crystal phoenix was flying circles around the debris, this was true. She was a majestic creature and not one to be stopped by such trivial things. No, it simply would not do.

Honestly, between all of that, there was just nothing left in the tank on Lyra's end. This was all starting to take a toll on her, mentally and physically. Then, as if out of nowhere, Nita's voice appeared inside her head with a mountain of instruction. Her first response was surprise - this was magic she'd never encountered in her life, and yet this felt so natural to Nita. One more thing to be added to the list of things that were entirely shocking to experience in the wide world of magicka. Then, of course, there was the plan. Lyra liked this plan. Actually, she could make it better, and quite possibly allay some of Nita's fears about the way Lyra was acting - which, to be fair, the blonde woman was right to be concerned.

Uh... is this thing on? I like it. Okay. Let's do it.

Lyra wasn't at all sure that Nita could hear any of this, but there was a wordless look up towards the pink bird floating around instead after that thought had been cast into the aether; in an instant, without so much as a command, the giant creature was dashing down towards the ground in order to swoop towards its master - in the same second, Lyra pushed off the ground and found herself astride Akasha, riding the bird as if it were a giant mount. In this case, it was. Akasha's rapid movement coupled with Lyra's own ability to fly, plus her steady hand, would mean that the rose quartz mage would be at home atop the bird, and was unlikely to fall off. She'd have to take the role of distraction- which she would. They could feed off each other's energy and hopefully live up to the plan that Nita was laying down.

So, Lyra was going to do two things - one, cast a big fiery spell to draw plenty of light to herself, wrapped in both moonlight from the reflection of the phoenix's wings and the flames of her slayer lacrima, and two...

"HEY YOU! YOU BIG LUMPS! COME AND GET US!" Lyra yelled, straight into the void. Kinda dumb, kiddo, but that's what we expect from you.

At this point, Akasha was flying gentle circles around the approximate trajectory between Planetary Skull and the monstrous rock-hurling cretins; hopefully, they'd get the idea and give it a try just to humour their curiosity. Or so Lyra hoped.