Closed Testing Trust (Celeste)

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna regarded the question about Voiding carefully, thinking deeply on the subject and pulling out anything she might know. The sorceress was hardly the most proficient Voider on Sahova, her own abilities could be used to dispose of hazardous Glyphed items or trash. Celeste's theory depended on being able to reliably store things within the Void at a fixed location and then extract them, which Anna was unsure if it was possible. Her forays into the art had been only slightly illuminating, though she had once looked inside the Void and saw... something.

"I... am not sure. That would likely depend on opening a Portal to the Void at the same point each time you open the Portal. I'm not sure if its possible, my experimentation has been a little limited at this point in time. I would say you could ask a more experienced Voider if you know one. I would say that in theory if you could open a Portal in the same place each time it is possible." Anna replied, her tone a little unsure.

So much about the Void was unknown to her and that annoyed her, it annoyed her immensely. She was almost a prodigy by the standards of Reimancy and Glyphing, but Voiding was a little more difficult for her to understand. Sometimes she simply had to throw up her hands and say that she had no petching idea if something would work or not.

They reached the Mudpools, which Anna noted with a smile. Mud was certainly not her preferred method of Glyphing but it would work as well as ink. This was probably a good time to explain the life of Glyphs and how they functioned when interacting with magic. The tall woman noted that Celeste had disrobed so immediately and estimated which of her fingers would work best in actually placing the Glyphs on the girl's flesh. In the end she opted for her index finger.

Placing mud on the end she first decided where to begin, this was going to be a bit more in depth than her own augments were as she wanted to leave nothing to chance. She'd work from bottom up, focusing on the primary joints and connecting them via Paths. It would be time consuming but Anna was a rather advanced practitioner of the art.

She knelt down in front of Celeste, ignoring any dirtying of her clothes as she began to work. Her left hand gripped Celeste's right leg and her right hand started on the first Focus on her ankle. Anna set her jaw in slight annoyance, if she had her smaller detail brush she probably could make the Glyphing sequence far more in depth, adding smaller Paths and Foci to the toes and fingers. Sadly she did not have the supplies so the bare minimum- in her opinion at least- would have to do.

The first Focus barely took any time at all to complete, even with the unconventional materials the stylized inverted triangle came into existence rather easily as the design was brought forth from muscle memory. She started drawing one on the opposite side of her ankle, nodding to herself in satisfaction as she worked. The girl would be a work of art yet, it would just take some time to perfect her.

"Glyphs, for the most part, are one time use things when interacting with magic. They serve their purpose and then vanish one way or another. These Glyphs will hopefully help you channel the changes through your physical form, making the transformation more seamless in theory." The woman said absently, the majority of her attention being given to the act of drawing Glyphs.

She moved on from the girls right leg and started on the Foci on her left ankle, her thoughts geared towards exactly how the finished product should look. From the ankle she would need to move up the legs to the kneecaps and then the hip. That would complete the legs, allowing her to move further upwards.

Her fingers moved with a surety, in her mind Celeste was already melting away and she was instead at work upon some grand tapestry. The strokes were confident and almost effortless, as though she was barely concerned that a mistake could be made at this junction. Before long her ankles were finished so Anna moved up to the knees, her grey eyes alight with an odd passion as the madness swam just beneath the surface. Madness and genius were two sides of the same coin, after all.

The Sorceress worked carefully in placing the Glyphs on the kneecaps, if Celeste made even the slightest of shifting movement she'd be met by an annoyed glare from Anna. As before the stokes were confident on each leg, surety being with her for each facet of the Focus. It wasn't long before that was done, which resulted in Anna starting on the Barrier around the kneecaps.

The small ring of Glyphs came to life, the pattern being that of right side up triangle, square, and then diamond. It repeated until a ring surrounded the Focus. The Glyph was added to the Foci on her kneecaps and then to the ones on her ankles. As before these were completed rather quickly, requiring little thought or effort on Anna's part. It was the sigils that really took her some time to complete, while the individual building blocks hardly took time at all.

To connect these points two Paths were created to snake up each leg, the pattern being the reverse of the Barrier in that it was diamond, square, and then triangle. Anna moved back slightly to admire the work so far, only a few chimes in and the legs were almost done. Still had quite a bit of work to accomplish though, still very much to do until Anna would be satisfied. She was something of a perfectionist when it came to her Glyphs, everything had to flow together just right for her to be pleased.

As she started on the Foci at her hips Anna vaguely noted Celeste's womanhood was rather close. The last time she'd been near another woman's had been when she had Glyphed Tsaba's for that initiation into Reimancy. That didn't really count though since the undead had been, well dead. Pity Celeste was still so very young, ah well, time would pass for her eventually and she'd grow into a fine young woman soon enough.

The Foci on her hips done Anna repeated her actions from before and connected the newly drawn Glyphs to the ones on the girl's knees. As before she examined her handiwork, nodding to herself slightly before circling around to behind Celeste. Her spine was the next major spot to be Glyphed.

"These personal augments should flow well together, though if we had a couple of Bells I'd probably be able to go even further. Ah, well this will have to do for a trial run." Anna murmured, as much to herself as to Celeste.

A large inverted triangle was drawn over the majority of her spine, the size causing her to take a little longer as well as gather more mud every now and then absently. The Focus done she started on the Barrier, which was much larger this time and connected it to the Barriers at her hips via more Paths. The spine was the point of intersection for the flow, from here there were three points it would go to.

Anna moved her head to brush some of Celeste's hair from the back of her neck, noting that inverted purple triangle again. There was something odd about it that drew her eyes, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Regardless she drew a Focus at the base of the girl's neck and connected the resulting Barrier to the larger one on her back.

"Hold out your arms." She instructed.

If Celeste complied then Anna would start with her right arm, repeating the same motions as before as she placed Focus Glyphs on her shoulders, elbows, and wrists and connected them via Paths to the point of intersection on her back. The same would be repeated with her left arm, and when it was all done Anna would start circling the girl to assess her work.

Celeste was gone and instead it was her Glyphs that mattered, the artistry of magic itself, her grey eyes searching for any flaws in the overall design with and expert's gaze. Her front half was absent most signs of work, though Anna figured that it didn't matter as much as the other parts. Not perfect but with the time and materials it would have to suffice.

"Not bad, not bad. Try these and lets see if they perform the needed functions." Anna said, stepping back a little to give Celeste room.

OOCObnoxiously long post, sorry!

[Celeste Arumen]

Celeste tried not to gape. From what she could tell, the woman was telling the truth and humbly, at that. Annalisa initially had been arrogant, slow to admit fault. But now the two of them were conversing like one academic to the other. It inspired a certain sense of camaraderie. She almost forgot to be on her guard… Almost. But no, she merely nodded, filing that away as a question slated for Ronas or perhaps one day, Eli Brent.

As the woman got to work, she too began practicing her technique. Celeste kept her focus just outside Annalisa’s aura, watching the chaotic flicker of her emotion settle into one, uniform color. It surged excited in shades of dark blue, the representation of focus as she knew it. And as she spoke, the girl cast a lancing eye directly into the heart of the color, looking deeply for just a tick before she broke away, akin to pulling a needle through cloth. There was quicksilver and flax, confidence and anxiety all welled up beneath the veil of her focus. So she was not convinced they would succeed? Or perhaps, she was, but yet still wary of the outcome?

It didn’t strike her as a trap though, so she held still. The sight wasn’t infallible and even that small expenditure of djed left her head swimming. Her posture wavered a couple of times and as it did, the woman shot her a frosty glare. Illia simply watched as Celeste tried to spy on the woman’s motivations without fainting on top of her. It amused the familiar greatly, but she knew in the very least to keep quiet, lest she incur the wrath of her master.

Annalisa hovered for a moment near her mark and she decided to go for another swim. Weave integration, the technique was called. Beginners would use it on individuals while masters were skilled enough to use it on whole crowds. At least, that was what Grams had taught her. It seemed a pretty sophisticated, given the old woman claimed little knowledge of the art form. So Celeste dove into her aura again for just a moment, searching for the signs of recognition.

She had to be careful. Spend too energy using auristics and she’d be liable to overgive when it came time to morph. But strangely, she found no sign of awareness or understanding. There had been the feathery brush of curiosity from her, but nothing more, outside of her preexisting feelings. That was odd. Either Annalisa was an aurist too, or Amaryllis had not made her privy to the nature of Celeste’s gift.

That boded well. Very well. It meant she relied on Anna to pass her information, but gave her none in kind. Well, that was the theory at least. The girl could only put so much together with such limited skill.

So she waited as the apprentice opposite her studied the glyphs. After a time, she confirmed they were satisfactory. So as soon as she moved back, Celeste utilized their power. After the intial shifting of djed, she found it easier to mold the strands. It was as if the markings made her more malleable, more easily changed. She shifted again into the shape of the tiger, forcing her spine down, lengthening and thickening the bone, meticulously pulling forth the tail. She went through each step, surging with power as the energy simply bent to her will, the symphony mellifluous and pure as each strand rang out those chords she knew best.

Before long she was a tiger, but larger, for she could press further! She was able to take each feature and push it outward, working on a grand scale. She felt as giddy as a newlywed. It was as close to Riyanna as she’d ever been.

In triumph, the huge tiger tipped its head back in a roar.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna watched the final product of her work with a grin, Celeste's transformation as seamless as they came and in fact she looked bigger and more formidable. The Sorceress was pleased by this, it also opened up new options when it came to placing Glyphs along a morpher's body. It was all interconnected after all, the world was there to be bent to her whim and the strength of her magic. Other disciplines were also hers to command, the Glyphs shaping and improving them beyond their limits. Celeste was proof of that.

A part of Anna's mind noted the large size of the creature before her, noting that it would only take an errant whim from the girl and she'd be very dead. She didn't lose her composure though, or show an outward appearance of anything but controlled calm. She had already cracked in front of Celeste, she couldn't afford to do it again. It was getting so much harder to contain though, each day was so very torturous as she desperately tried to contain her instability. She just wanted to cut loose and just surrender to the feeling, to living in the moment.

"Hmm... impressive. Though it is brought about from my work so its to be expected. You bring out the artistry of my Glyphs well, Cel, I think you'd make a fine future tapestry for augment tests. Your body is excellent for the purposes of that, not too curvy and without many obtrusive parts. If we could make halfway decent reimancer out of you then I feel there is plenty you and I could accomplish, working together." Anna said aloud, her arrogance displaying here and there.

The tall woman turned on her heel and started to pace slightly, new combinations of Glyphs show in her mind. These Glyphs were a good test run, but Anna knew she could go further with them. Perhaps if she could talk the girl into laying down on a table for her to really get some work in, that would probably take Bells of staying in the same position though. Something to ponder and perhaps propose later down the line, she didn't want to push Celeste too much. Anna was fond of the girl, in much the way a possessive child was with a prized possession.

Anna caught sight of something moving in the distance, her steps halting as her grey eyes focused on several dark outlines. They were coming closer and closer, and Anna finally got a good look at them and sorely wished that she had not. Five large disfigured looking dog like creatures were stalking a path directly towards the pair, the majority of their heads seeming to be dominated by rows upon rows of teeth and almost impossible long tongues.

The looked big enough that Anna estimated they would likely each come up to her chest and deadly enough that she had no wish for them to get close enough for her to find out. Obviously Celeste's roar had done more than signal her triumph, it had brought a pack of new friends. She turned her gaze towards the girl, grey eyes already possessing that odd maddened gleam to them.

"Well now, it looks like we have some unwanted guests Celeste dear. I'm thinking it would be only right to show them what happens when they try to peek in on a woman when she is changing, don't you?" Anna said, a grin working its way across her face.

"Stay close, I'll scatter them. When I do pick off anyone that should wander too close." Anna commanded, already focusing on her center.

The energy that made up her very existence and being, her Djed was who she was. It was only by manipulating who she was that she could manifest one of the most destructive disciplines of magic on this world. She held onto who she was and moved her Djed under her skin, pushing outwards as she adopted her ready stance. Translucent purple liquid quickly seeped up through every pore, its speed not quite as much as Maelstrom but certainly potent.

She could technically just carpet the area with fire or lightning and likely just kill the whole lot of the creatures before they even came close, but she actually wanted to see just what Celeste could do with that form of hers. Even maddened as she was, information and intelligence was a useful thing to gain. That and she really wanted to just blow off some steam against something she could actually kill.

Each breath she took added to a tiny cloud of purple res gathered near her face, a follow up to her first attack. The liquid res on her body was moved outwards before her, gathering easily in a large shifting purple ball. There was much ease apparent in the action, it was almost as natural as breathing or blinking to Anna at this point. She willed the res to separate into three distinct layers, one thin outer layer, moderately sized middle, and a large inner one that would provide control.

The Sorceress clenched her first as she willed the nature of the outer layer of res to change and become something more, to transmute into something entirely different. Purple flames sprung up around the ball, creating a large ball of fire. Anna moaned slightly, the pleasure and joy of casting washing over her as she manipulated the ball. Gods she loved this feeling, it was even better than sex in a lot of ways. So much power at her fingertips it was intoxicating, she was a like unto a goddess compared to the normal fools that walked this world.

The woman waited for the pack to edge just a bit more closer, just inside her zone of control before she raised the ball of flame high in the air and willed the middle layer to harden and transmute. Smooth stone was born underneath the flames, creating a sort of large flaming boulder. She flicked her wrist and sent it out towards the midst of the pack of mutated creatures.

The object exploded into the middle of the charging beasts, catching one aflame as it struck it while sending a sickening snap sounding through the air as the force of impact from the flaming earthen projectile crushed its spine. The remaining for scattered even further as Anna clenched her fist again, willing the inner layer to ignite and collapse causing and almost explosive effect. The beasts were scattered and confused, perfect prey for one seeking to toy with their food.

Anna already had her next spell in mind however she waited for Celeste to pick a target, not wishing to accidently fry her. That would be unfortunate and unintended. It was already difficult to control herself amidst the madness screaming at her to destroy the creatures in the most painful and destructive ways, so it was best to aim at those targets away from Celeste.

OOCI did promise some combat didn't I? Well, boom, dog beasts!

[Celeste Arumen]

It would be difficult to use auristics while changed, so she thought better of it. Instead, she simply chose to take Anna’s words at face value. Sure, she chafed a little at the clinical assessment of her childlike form, but it was undeniably true. The beast sniffed at the air, tasting the chill and something more, something not too far away…

Her head snapped in the direction of the beasts. There were at least five slavering canines on the approach, a variety she hadn’t really seen before. And again, she was annoyed by Annalisa’s presumption, but there wasn’t time to really argue the point. The woman’s ego was undoubtedly her trigger. Were Celeste to try and challenge her authority, she’d likely get her tail set on fire. It was better to just follow her lead. Plus, it’d provide some insight into just how adept Annalisa was at reimancy, as she’d only seen a small aspect of her power before. Was there some clout behind all the posturing and the arrogance?

Gods above. She’d never seen such a thing before.

Annalisa unleashed wanton destruction amongst the fold, annihilating the alpha before triggering some sort of detonation, scattering the rest. Celeste watched in mute fascination before springing into action. She stalked to one side, keeping her body between the reimancer and the rest of the pack. The tiger made sure to keep out of the way, but didn’t leave any openings between her and Annalisa. She felt strangely protective of the woman, now that they were in the midst of combat. She would fight to defend her at all costs.

Celeste approached the one limping off to the right and with no hesitation, pounced, easily overtaking it with her massive form. She savaged it, crushing the windpipe and tearing open the throat. The taste was disgusting but she was drunk on power. She didn’t care. Her prey found itself quickly discarded to make way for more.

Celeste the Tiger flanked to the other side, now behind enemy lines. It was too easy to simply topple the next, employing a similar technique. Just as she had the first time, she felt the animal inside her. This form was meant for her. Celeste was truly a tiger at heart, even when she purred like a kitten. All the rage, all the helplessness of seasons passed turned to fury as she slaughtered the dogs indiscriminately, leaving the last two to be immolated at Anna’s leisure.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna watched as Celeste sprang into action, moving to intercept one of the creatures fleeing from her little explosion and savaging it with all of the strength of a beast. The Sorceress quietly admired the savage and brutal artistry of the girl's kills, of her sheer power and brute strength. Truly, up close and personal the girl might very well be able to savagely murder her in the same way. Though, Anna would never vocalize that particular weakness aloud. Idly she turned her attention to thinning he ranks further.

The small gaseous cloud of Djed was now of a respectable size, nothing overly massive but it would very much suit her current purposes. Even as she manipulated the cloud she was drawing more res from her body, pooling her Djed at the bottoms of her feet and pushing outwards. Her mind was enraptured with the sheer joy of casting, the destructive pleasure that came from using the elements themselves as weapons. The more res she drew the more she wanted to keep drawing, the urge finally being given an outlet after having been contained for so long.

She gazed towards a stray one of the dogs out to the left, moving the cloud of res upwards and away from her body to a reasonably safe distance. She was not one to be shown up when in the midst of a display of power, secrecy was good for some things but sometimes it was important to actually display what one could do. Anna intended to do just that for Celeste, it was only polite after all to respond in kind to her display.

The Sorceress curled her fingered upwards before arcing them down sharply, signaling the cloud to start its powerful transmutation. Purple sparks sprang up within and around the large cloud of Djed, Anna herself conducting its action as one would an orchestra. The malevolent crackle bit at the air itself as the superheated flames arced and prepared to strike downward.

Just before the transmutation was completed the woman split the gas into five separate arcs, each one aiming at and around the monstrous creature. A thunderous boom roared through the air as the purple bolts of lightning arced down towards their target with unbelievable speed and deadly accuracy. In the end the results were thunderous, a loud clap sounding out as the lightning exploded into the beast.

It wasn't so much killed as it was completely destroyed, exploding into a spray of charred fleshy chunks and a mist of blood existing in the space it had once occupied. The sight sent thrills down her spine, the joy of casting and Djed expenditure almost throbbing behind her eyes. Her world was a vista of destruction and power, flames and lightning, she was like unto a goddess compared to these creatures. With a flick of her wrist she could utterly end their meaningless existence.

Her grey eyes fell upon the last of the creatures which actually seemed to have regained its wits to a certain degree and was now attempting to close the distance to Anna, his tongue lolling out of its mouth and its teeth gleaming in the sun. A wicked grin found its way to Anna's face, her hands calmly folding behind her back as she willed the purple translucent liquid she'd formed from her feet seeped into the ground. She cut off the generation after a certain point and simply waited for the beast to draw closer, and closer.

Almost. Almost there. Just a liiittle bit closer... perfect.

Once it was almost a yard from Anna and looked ready to lunge the Sorceress calmly kicked her heel into the ground, the signal for her next spell to take shape. The res gathered underneath the ground and shot upwards as a combination of attraction and transmutation occurred, the casting actually taking a fair bit from her reserves and sent exhaustion through her body. However the effects were undeniable as the ground beneath the misshapen creature veritably exploded.

A massive spike made from the very substance of the earth impaled the creature easily, the point puncturing its underbelly and spraying blood out as it was lifted into the air. The most distance flecks of blood dropped just short of Anna's feet, which were moving to inspect her work as she cut off her concentration to continuing the spell, her mind ablaze with the desire born of casting.

The creatures insides had no doubt been pulverized as the spike was rather think in diameter and certainly sturdy. Weak and wet gasping growls were barely audible from the thing as Anna observed is struggle weakly against the spell. The tall woman observed it for a few ticks more in its dying moments before shrugging and turning to leave it to suffer, and more importantly move away from the spike. Earthen constructs were notoriously unstable after all.

She slowly approached Celeste, smiling and her eyes possessing a form of joy to them that took too much glee from having killed those creatures. A slight headache was already starting to form in her skull, that last spelling having been rather expensive in terms of Djed expenditure. Overall though it had felt good to dominate something beneath her for once, and thanks to Celeste it had been rather easy.

"A wee bit overkill on that last spell, and really I probably could have just done with one bolt of lightning but I suppose its a good idea to test the limits every once in a while. Impressive work, Celeste, I think between the two of us there is very little that could stand to oppose us." Anna stated, smiling at the girl.

The woman gazed towards the horizon and thought for a moment, shrugging her shoulders slightly. Part of her wanted to find something more to kill, but perhaps it was a good idea to head back to the Citadel. No doubt Celeste was expending too much to maintain such a form and Anna could do for a rest.

"Well, talking, glyphs, and battle. I'd say we've had a full day. Truly we must do this again sometime soon, Celeste. For now though its best I head back to the Citadel, I do have some tasks that need doing at the Palsa Hydrasa and a few experiments to do." Anna said, stretching slightly.

[Celeste Arumen]

Unease churned inside of her. The apprentice watched, eyes wide, as the Res crackled, converging on the dumb beast. There was a certain amount of dread that came naturally from seeing a being’s imminent destruction, knowing it could easily be her. What was her power by contrast? She was just a skinny girl with knobby knees, but this, this was almost divine in execution and seeming. Anxious, she took a step back as the lighting flashed to the ground.

What was left of the beast laid strewn across the ground, still smoking in the wintry air.

Anna made quick work of the last of them. With a click of her boot heel, it was done. Celeste felt mildly nauseous. She’d impaled the beast with little more than a shrug. That would be an attack she wouldn’t see coming; Celeste had to make note that were they to be pitted against one another, she must find a way to shield herself from the fury of the elements.

But was it even possible? She licked idly at a paw, trying to wax casual. ”I’d say.” She replied, mind reeling. ”Take care as you walk back to the Citadel. I’ll remain here; I think I’ll give Riyanna a day off from patrols.” She thought about sharing what’d happened between them, but couldn’t stomach the thought of expressing her fear. And yes, it was fear. What was she by comparison to Annalisa?

The tiger merely growled, stretching her hind legs languidly before planting her end against the ground. She looked quite indolent. Which was good, considering the last thing she wanted was Annalisa to infer. She couldn’t reveal her weakness, her anxiety. But at least she knew a measure of what she was up against.

But could she win? That was not likely.

Riyanna would win, she thought stubbornly. There were secrets she had yet to learn, things that perhaps would turn the tide. But she did not want to fight Anna and for reasons beyond thinking that she’d lose. Anna was her friend. This bond of theirs had grown. Whatever happened to either of them, there would always be some sort of connection, albeit hidden beneath layers of intrigue and deceit.

”Good evening, Annalisa.” She said evenly. But there was a bit of sadness in her eyes.

[Mirage]

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