Zii's Story

Zii continued to walk, keeping an eye on Yun Yun, smirking at her continued grace in all the confusion. She was very impressive to Zii. In this moment, even attractive. But Zii was never going to be interested in someone who seemed to have their eyes on anyone else but her in any given moment. If someone wasn't trying to have a fling, or a moment, then there would be no future.

Zii paused in her tracks with a feeling of dumbfoundedness.

'When did I become so relaxed that I could even think about such things?' She thought.

This was a bizarre place. It elicited such relaxation. Zii looked at some of the glowing shelves. Deciding to pick up what looked like a wrist guard of sorts. She fiddled with it, before it opened up and started to project an image of a robbed figured with a nice beard and darker skin.

"The technical aspects of the force is not one that can be comprehended through simple meditation. One must actively utilize the movements of their body to feel it and harness it. Pushing and pulling is one thing, but to gain...."

The hologram got cut off at the press of a button. Zii looked at a few books surrounded the holotech. She went down a row until finding a book that read: "Introduction into the nature of The Force"

She picked it and sat down at a table. Lost in her own world for a moment. She began to dissect the book as she pondered over this...force.

Cordelia sat there quietly for a moment, her attention turning to look up at Jinn. A haunting blue shine emanated from her eyes as she observed the man before her. He had reached... something, that much was certain. There was a momentary pause as she wordlessly tilted her head. She had long accepted that there were always things beyond simple explanation, her state itself almost indescribable. It was said that in the loss of something, something else compensates in turn.

She nearly jumped when the strange purple bird crashed through spacetime, but the disruption was strangely more fleeting than expected. Taking a moment to glance between Jinn and the bird, she chuckled quietly to herself—a self-derisive humor about a gathering of birds. Perhaps, to her, the color purple had become something of an omen. In an instant, there was a fleeting flow of something, the robes of the figure fluttering against something unseen. The ethereal ribbons from before seemed to lift her off the ground, setting her back on her feet with delicate grace.

"In the tangled strands of uncertainty, we find ourselves ensnared, yet we strive to unravel their mysteries, aspiring to transform from captives into weavers of our own fates," she said somewhat melodically, before she took a breath and sighed. Though she was nervous, she let out a light chuckle—not mocking or cruel, but not genuine either, something more forlorn. "I like it here, it makes the ghosts inside me sing, and they are... lovely. So, refuge, a brief respite against the indifference."

A brief pause lingered as she scanned her surroundings, and a faint trace of embarrassment could almost be discerned beneath her concealed visage. She lowered her head and looked off to the side.

"Ah, perhaps knowledge on how not to make a fool of myself would be nice too," she muttered, again with that melancholy chuckle.

As she wandered through the many rows of books, holographic recordings and other items, Yun Yun briefly let her mind wander. Why did the man named Jinn sound so much like Xiao Yan ? He didnt look like him in any manner, but he sounded, and acted like him on several levels. She found a chair and sat down in it, trying to think and clear her mind

Maybe some meditation could help ?

It did, Yun Yun then sat on the coushin set upon the floor surrounded by old books and scrolls, along with five holocrons that floated in the air seemingly of their own accord. Yun Yun simply began to meditate, cultivation was a good way to calm ones nerves. But as she did so she felt something, it felt weird really.

It was both there and not there. She could feel another source of energy as she cultivated in that space. Was it what was keeping those five holocrons floating freely in the air ? there was no form of technology keeping them aloft. they floated about a meter off the ground.

Her eyes snapped open just asthe bird landed upon Jinns arm. Very briefly her eyes glowed a bright pink with energy before the pink faded to her typical wind ability energies. Yun Yun looked at her hands, white energy seemed to burn on her skin, but it was only her cultivation reacting to something. Was she about to break through ?

The Observor merely smiled softly in Cordelias direction. "It is alright child, you need not fear or worry of others seeking you harm" She said. if she had a name it was long since forgotten or rarely spoken. If the Observor felt or knew that Jinn was within her shadow she showed no sign of resentiment or anger, meditation, studies, all of it was possible in that temple after all. Turning to Cordelia the Observor asked her. "Have you need of food or rest ?" A door slid open nearby, within the room beyond was a comfortable bed and refresher should Coredlia need either. "Perhaps a place to be by yourself until you require aid ?"

Regardless of if Coredelia accepted the Observors offer of a private space to wonder about the ghosts singing to her or not the Observor simply stood and awaited if either Coredelia or Jinn required aid, however to Jinn she said simply "The bird is housebroken is it not ?" even if it wasnt, the Observors could clean up after it without worry

Jinn looked at the thing that is Cordelia, and didn't pick up any animosity. She was lost in her own wondering and musings. This place seemed to have more to offer than expected. Jinn thought that this place of unknown power was mysterious, but now he was downright baffled that this discomforting being was also distracted by this place.

Jin shook his head, turning his attention to the Observor.

"It doesn't have such needs, as its made of the immaterial." Jinn petted the falcon. It cooed, nestling into Jinn's touch, before doing a happy caw. It melted into Jinn's hands, becoming a surge of information and something...more.

Jinn noticed that Heralding seemed to have left a bit of power in the bird, giving Jinn access to a pocket dimension by way of the shadows. Heralding...always the shocker and anticipatory sage. Jinn turned his attention back to the thing.

"I don't know what you are, but you are unsettling by nature. I dislike it a great deal. How do I address you?" Jinn bluntly stated, still looking hauntingly cloaked in shadows. He was beginning to wonder how to turn that off, but he truly didn't know.

Zii pondered the teachings of the book. It spoke on the idea of detachment and meditation, the becoming one with the essence of the force from a foundation of absence and acceptance.

"Hmmm...I guess it's similar to the requirements for magical enlightment towards the elements. Heralding and Jinn would learn this more easily than me." Zii pondered to herself.

She continued to listen to the holotech.

"-enlightement, one must allow the fluidity of its nature to flow through you by active means of movement. Combat prowess is not limited to Saber skills or attunement, but rather the intrinsic understanding that one must flow with any combatant. From the danger brings closness to life and to the very intention of others. This includes oneself, for you must-"

She paused again. Thinking on the lines in the text that read: 'To bring understanding, to bridge the feeling of the intangible, you must be guided through some trials that move your body, mind and spirit. Sparking a connection to your inner self, your belief, and your trust. To peer into the very nature of consciousness and unconscious, into the soul and spirit of the world. You must escape your preconceptions.'

"Yes, this is pretty similar...the gist is to trust in the unseen, the unknown. To grab hold of the essence of the power in the universe by way of faith."

Zii started to sit cross legged. Thinking on how she was pulled here. How she was guided. She tried to remember the feeling, the vocalization of what she now realizes to be some sort of calling from the force itself.

Zii could feel herself fall deeper away from herself.

Cordelia shuddered beneath Jinn's words, not out of fear, but of something deeper. This marked the third instance she had faced such disdain. Despite it, she composed herself, swallowing both her anger and pride. Swallow your anger, swallow your pride, or be swallowed by them.

"Ah... you don't mince words, do you? You've begun to scratch the surface, sensing what we, in our forgotten existence, have come to accept," she spoke after a moment of collecting herself. "They call me Cordelia, though uncertain if that was ever truly my name. I am Nix, one displaced from the reality you perceive. We are the forgotten ones," With a subtle step closer, her voice transformed into a whisper. "Be not so cruel, for no one is beyond the grasp of our shared fate. Seek the fire within to warm your soul, especially when standing at the precipice. Your companion teeters the edge."

With those words, she gracefully stepped back and bowed, redirecting her attention to the Observer.

"I... ah... don't recall the concept of food on this side, but I am not overly particular. However, I will need solitude to consume it, so as not to be a further disturbance," she conveyed with another polite bow.

Jinn looked the Nix, Cordelia in the eyes. Thinking on what she said. That his friend was going to fall soon. Is she talking about Zii or Yun Yun?

"I don't know anything less than efficient. But I do not intend to be cruel, simply direct. Whom are you speaking of when you speak ominous words of doom?"

As Jinn asked this, a pulse of energy newly familiar to him, lightly reaches his skin and then settles into his spirit. He turns in the direction of the hallway where a gather of more shelves, books and holotech reside. A study hall of sorts that the trio stood outside of. He could feel himself connected, through shadow and energy beyond, to Zii.

But not just her...Yun Yun seemed to be also having a moment. They both were giving off waves that were undulating from their very soul. But somehow, they were distinguished from one another.

Yun Yun felt like she was reaching into a higher realm, her pulses were growing stronger and distinctly...elemental. meanwhile Zii's felt like they were growing quite, and paced out. Like she was fading away.

Jinn didn't know how to feel...but his shadows responded to his feelings. Slowing warping and shifting away, slipping into Zii's and connecting them. He could feel his squad of teammate join in, supporting Zii, by sending her energy.

Jinn held his vision on Yun Yun, feeling a sense of longing and strong desire to support her, before breaking eyeline to look back at Cordelia.

"If we offer truce, will you support us in figuring some things out?"

Yun Yun remained seated ont he low coushin in a meditative pose, internal and external energies washed through and over her as she struggled to meditate. Cultivation in such a place felt amazing! However she was not excpecting such strength as she cultivated where she sat.

Energy swirled and danced around her and within her as her core solidified and expanded. She was at the edge of Peak Dou Zun, the full nine stars, she was ready to break through to Ban Sheng. The problem however was, could she do so safely ? Raw energy danced on her finger tips and sent tingles up her arms, she briefly shivered as if caught in a draft.

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, there. That was what she needed, what she wanted. She focused inwards and flexed her fingers, making a complex string of movement before seemingly locking in place a rune of some kind. Raw power bottled within her and then expelled itself rather violently, a rush of energies burst from where she sat as she remained seated, eyes closed.

Energy washed over Yun Yun, this time it was soothing and bright in color and feel. It was not a Heaven Flame like Xiao Yan had collected, but the wash of relaxing soothing energies meant she had made it, she had broken through from Nine star Peak Dou Zun, into One star Ban Sheng.

Her eyes slowly opened, they seemed a slightly brighter blue in color

The Observor simply smiled towards Jinn as he referred to her. Unsure of what to call her. Or if she even had a name. Most of the Observors still possessed their names. She was one of them. "You may refer to me as Librarian Yulin" She said with a gentle bow of the head to Jinn.

Turning to Cordelia, Librarian Yulin Held a hand towards the opened door behind Cordelia, It was a private space where she could eat without being a disturbance or facter of any kind of fear, offering her the utmost in terms of privacy. "Food shall br providoed, whatever suits your fancy" Librarian Yulin said to her.

Cordelia turned toward the private space, prepared to step through the doorway. She stops short, however, and gives a short chuckle, one distinct from the others—lighter in nature. She glanced back and performed something akin to a curtsy, albeit without arms. The ambiance wasn't lost on her as a surge of something flowed through the structure, her robes swaying against the unseen forces.

"Firstly, I speak of the woman whom the outsiders sought to capture, ah... the one who exists here yet should not?" she articulated, her gaze drifting down to the ground. "And secondly, a truce, sir? You speak as if we are at odds, yet I harbor nothing. I can be hurt without having vengeful thoughts, and I can fight without malice. No, it was simply that my presence was causing discomfort, and I'd personally rather not be that. I, put simply, understand. And... lastly? I'll offer what I can give regardless. So, of course."

Jinn turned to watch the ever flowing nonchalance give way to a sort of cosmic sarcasm, Cordelia's words hint at some of the very things Jinn has been keen on for this entire experience.

"When I say truce, what makes you think I mean for us? I mean for...the other one. Your muse, your kin. Will you allow a voice for that being? For I have questions, and it feels like they did as well."

Jinn did his best to focus further, he could feel the sharp increase in power ebbing off of Yun Yun. She seemed to have made an enlightement as well.

"You seem to believe in neutrality, and balance, and natural order. I dare ask, would you allow that truth to persist for the sake of further prosperity of others? A persistent imbalance for the sake of progression elsewhere?"

The energy surge continued to flow throug her body as Yun Yun took in one ragged hard breath after another, the rush of raw power was extensive to the point where it actually hurt to breath, as if she was trying to breath hard inside a deep freezer or a glacier. She shivered as she gulped in fresh air. Very briefly she had seen... something as if she had seen it before, a space wher she could walk on thin air, her old master, Yun Shan could do the same thing. She had often wondered how he was able to do such a thing.

And in her meditation she found herself inside herself doing the exact same thing, learning, fighting and building.... something. She wasnt sure what it was, but she could build and move around inside an entirely differnet space.

Spatial Movement it was called, but Yun Yun did not know this.. She continued to meditate. A pattern of pale blue began to form on the floor with her at the center of it, a mandala of a sort. As she meditated the pattern formed different designs, and also began to spin around where she sat, her remaining in the center eyes once more closed as she meditated. pale bluish white raw wnergy flowed off her like thick fog.

The Observor, Librarian Yulin smiled to both Jinn and Cordelia, to the latter she said simply, "Food shall be provided, please, be at rest, you need not fear of anything here" She said, she turned to Jinn, and briefly regarded the bird. A odd smile on the Librarians face as she regarded the creature.

Magical was one thing, but so was the Force. Both were similar, yet they were also completely oppisite, and both worked the same way on many levels. There was some Qi techniques that worked similar if not identical to some Force powers as one could term them. as Zii read the books she had discovered she'd find that the shadow walking worked similar if not identical to Force Stealth. rendering the person utlising the ability entirely invisible to even electrical sensors and thermal imaging

Cordelia hesitated, her gaze shifting uneasily between Jinn and Librarian Yulin. A heavy sigh escaped her lips, and she directed her attention to Jinn, her earlier composure now replaced with visible nervousness, exacerbated by the mention of OttO.

"OttO... that is— he is not my— you cannot simply make peace with a being who— I... want to one day return to this plane, permanently. I want... we Nix want... but the Unmaker wants to baptize this land with his Untime, his own brand of peace," she stammered, her voice trembling with anxiety. Bowing her head, she began to recite something under her breath, a murmured mantra of sorts. "You misunderstand me! I am not unfeeling, indifferent. I just can't... I can't let how I feel jeopardize everything! There's a greater cause than you realize because, for me I— imbalances will always happen, but if there's nothing to return to, then what is the point?"

With that, she turned and bowed again, then walked to the room prepared for her. However, her motions were more unsteady and heavier than before. Despite her earlier attempts to convey confidence, it was evident that she was struggling with a number of things.