Twisted Light

Lyra Karant

Twisted Light

To say that Lyra Karant was concerned was an understatement.

As she sat within her quarters in the Luminous Rose guild territories, the pink-haired girl contemplated the depths of the mystery that was being placed in front of her. This was not something she considered normal, by any means, but the fact of the matter was that this burning feeling that was so very akin to the feeling of her nerves being on fire had only started after her fateful trip to Nazo with Nita, and had only begun to worsen ever since then. That very dark, dank, unfeeling place where time and space fell topsy-turvy, had resulted in the two Roses engaging with an ancient, unknowable beast known as a Primordial. That twisted abomination with its infected blood had managed to slice open the four-winged angel,  where droplets of the beast's ichor had managed to intermingle with an open wound of her own. Ever since that moment, there was a strange corruption of her abilities that had followed, and the physical symptoms of such a moment were rather self-evident to follow. The searing feeling that crawled up and down Lyra's arms was something that had been growing for quite some time now, and with it her ability to interact with her magic had changed dramatically. No longer did things seem to be... compatible. The way she manipulated both flame and wind was no longer the same, as if the Primordial had found a way to overwrite the magic that the slayer lacrima had given to her. In fact, that was almost precisely what it seemed like, for the blessings of wind and flame had almost seemed to leave her entirely. If that was the case, then how in the world was Lyra going to be able to use magic any more? Those lacrimae were all she knew. She only inherently understood how to use them, and the attendant abilities of her equipment, in order to make her way through the world. After all, members of the Rose sought to know power for power's sake. She could certainly still manipulate the crystals in her items and the resultant energy that flowed, and that was a good starting point. She'd unleashed a powerful tidal wave of crystalline energy with Desi present, after all.

Then, as if a light had switched on inside her mind, she paused. What if that was the end result?

In her fingers, as she concentrated on the Primordial's dissent, Lyra warped the ethernano around her, and in her fingers was a clear prism. Somehow, within this, was the warmth of the light of magic, a crystal with perfect facets and pure clarity. This stone was simply... perfect. It was different to the crystals that she conjured with her energy, for it really did glow with actual light. That wasn't usually a property of the crystal magic she bore. What if the primordial had distorted her magic to something different? That in itself was something worth investigating, and preliminary findings showed that this was the case? The pink-haired mage was going to have to look into this more, potentially with the help of an expert in all things crystal.

A small, tired smile crawled over her lips. The burning feeling hadn't left, but maybe it was worth the suffering.

Lyra Karant

Twisted Light

To see how this entire change had played out, it was worth examining in much more depth precisely what had happened. The last few months of Lyra’s adventures across the world had changed her, fundamentally. While she had specialised for such a long time in being the protector, supporter and healer for those around her, the necessity of fighting a war and becoming stronger for those around her had changed how she looked at things. The way she had engaged multiple enemies to protect Desireé and her crystal cages in the opening moments of the war, and even how she had faced the primordial threat that she and Nita had encountered in another dimension - this had been the catalyst for everything going forward. Being struck by the primordial and their blood intermingling had become disastrous at this point.

Bed-ridden, the fever that afflicted young miss Karant was the worst illness she had ever encountered. It was not for a lack of care or attention on the part of others, either. The guildmistress herself, knowing that Lyra was ill beyond her wildest conception, had been nothing but perfect support for her. Bringing her meals, medicine and company– and when her duties forbade her from doing it herself, ensuring someone was always present for her– as well as being the perfect other half that she could be. The greatest gift, even as Lyra struggled to maintain consciousness with every cell in her body, was a tender kiss to the forehead that shone through as perfect as the crystal that the idol embodied. It was something for her to cling to, and a gift from the greatest paramour one could have possibly asked for. It was no surprise that the other Blooms sister– Lyra, ironically– had been consulted for this as well, and all to no avail. It seemed the change had to be allowed to run its course, no matter the result.

Sweat beaded from her body for… actually, how long had it been? The affliction twisted her perception of time to the point that she could barely tell which way was up. Even with Desireé sitting right there, Lyra could barely see, let alone perceive - being trapped in the darkness of her mind was an experience that she had no ability to break free from. Not without help. The shining light that sat at her side was not sufficient to break her free. Not alone. The shackles that bound her would not break from the mere passage of time, for this was no simple affliction.

This was going to change the very core of Lyra Karant - but when she emerged from the other side of her own volition, she would be all the stronger for it.