Zandelia watched Ana close her honeyed eyes, kept her gaze upon the other woman’s face for a few chimes longer so as to make sure she was actually giving an honest attempt this time. When she was satisfied that this was the case, observing the deepening of Neilles’ breathing and the lack of nervous fidgeting, she closed her own eyes and darkness became her world. She let her consciousness fill that void, trying to permeate it entirely and become it in a very tangible way. She had heard it described many ways, but she had no word for it. Out of all of the titles she preferred ‘Unity’ or perhaps the more esoteric ‘Oneness’ was more appropriate. A small crease across her brow to signify her concentration she let herself melt into the darkness of her eyelids. It was a slow process and she never quite knew how long it took.
Longer than I always hope… the thought came into her skull, unbidden and disturbing her slightly, setting her back a few moments of effort.
She felt calmer in her current state, her breathing deepening to several seconds long in both inhalation and exhalation – the more relaxed and fluid her mind became the longer each breath cycle took. It was partially a conscious process, the ritualizing of her breathing, and partially sub-conscious now. At first she had had to focus most of her attention upon maintaining it but with practise it was starting to become more natural – not enough to not need concentration though, so her meditative state was always at risk of collapsing without warning. As she kept up her breathing, in through the nose and out through her lips, she could feel the energy within her – the Djed.
Such a sweet thing, such a tempting little light of warmth… her mind betrayed her again and almost forced a growl from her throat.
Calming herself she began to manipulate it once more, as she had done previously in the meeting with Neilles. She let it trickle through her, pulling it up to begin the flow towards her skull and then directing it with a nudge here and there. It was laborious and she did not have much control over its movement, it did what it wanted and she merely directed it. She had heard of masters in the arcane art having full control of their powers, such stories only reinforced her knowledge that she was far from a master. Still, she worked with what she had and waited for her Djed to coalesce inside her head at its own pace. She did not understand why it was harder to move it to her skull but easier to elt it flow back – she still puzzled that at night sometimes, practising in her bedding.
Ah, ready now…
She opened her eyes and the world was a blaze of colours of varying hues, shapes and types – each one of tier of meaning and she had yet to decipher a tenth of them she was sure. She sat there for a few moments, relaxing into the environment as she assimilated the world in all its splendour. She knew that, with time, she would be able to read it all but for now she was restricted to merely basking in it and comprehending it in a fuzzy way, glimpsing only the edges of the puzzle. It was dazzling and tempting, the colours teasing her with their mysteries. It was an effort not to look into the eye of the storm but she knew better, she had done that before and lost her sight for a few, terribly fearful Bells. She focused her attention upon Ana then and could see the Djed flowing within her, thin strands of brightest gold – almost as powerful as sunlight.
Beautiful, she is beautiful…
It was a laced network, covering Neilles’ entire body and weaving within the flickering colours of the woman’s aura as if it was separate, as if it did not adhere to the same rules. As she watched she could make out smaller details, a few hints of gathering points within the woman’s body that flickered in and out of existence – as if they were not real. She tried to increase the amount of Djed in her head, filling it to the brim now out of curiosity and hoping that it was not one of the most foolish mistakes of her life. Her senses kicked into overdrive, her sense of smell adding to her abilities for the first time – she had not known she could sense with her smell as well as sight. As wave after wave of scent sensation assaulted her she managed to see nodes of golden power at key points within Neilles’ body.
By the Night’s Mistress!
Her sense were overwhelmed and she only just managed to cut off her flow of Djed before she fell into Overgiving. Sweat stained her skin in little pricks as Ana gave a scream of her own, raking at her eyes almost. Tiredly Zandelia grabbed the woman’s wrists and stopped the display before cupping her face and making her look at Zandelia’s face – the closer an object was the better the focus and quicker the recovery – she had learnt that the hard way too.
“Come of Neilles, it’s okay! It happens the first time, it’s impossible to prepare you for it. It’s like burning a portion of skin so that it is forever number to further searing. Focus on my eye, focus!” she told the other woman, forcing her to try and see through streaming eyes as guilt rushed through Zandelia’s chest bitterly.
“The important thing is that you managed to do it!” she giggled a little, “you actually managed it you little petching genius you! I learnt something new myself, but we’ll save that for another day I think. Let’s just rest for now, you can ask me any questions you like” she finished, panting and resting her forehead upon Neilles’ until full sight returned to her friend.
