Day 1: the search for truth.

Something seemed off, but of course things were not quiet as she would expect. The sheer fact that she had such a revelation meant that she was alive, and that in and of itself was a bit off. Her eyes fluttered open. She immediately regretted the decision as the bright morning sun, slightly obscured by the heavy wooden blinds that set closed over the large window in the center of the right wall, but still far too bright for her taste. THe slow labored drawing of breath past her long chapped lips burned, edging her swiftly from the final sense of slumber and bringing clarity to her mind. Where was she? That would be the million dollar question, she supposed. Next of course being how she got here.

"S..Selene? Are you there?" With great effort she pushed herself up a mere few inches, rasing her head past the level of the small too hard pillow to bring her line of sight up to a point where she could study the knick nacks strewn across the end table to her right. Hanging from the back corner, exactly where she'd expected it to be, was the large black messenger style bag that housed her equipment, her... What had she kept in there? Her calm blue eyes searched the wall uninterestedly, almost as if searching for the memories she so desperately needed within the tight grain of the bright red wood grained walls. They were as absent from the lumber as from her thoughts. It was a simple enough question. She would keep her important tools, probably some weapons of sorts, supplies for..... THe more she searched her memory for images of the items she had made a ritual of meticulously counting, checking for breaks or abraisions, and sharpening in the event it was neccessary, the more her mind seemed to pound. That was definitely not a good sign. That fact was however pushed to the back of her mind when she realized the calm almost monotone response she'd expected was still yet to come. Where was the avatar of sorrow? New strength entered her muscles as she pushed herself father, quickly going up into a sitting position, her thighs gliding backward against the off grey wool blanket that sat beneath her to allow a more effective support of her weight.

"Selene? Selene where are you. Cry. Sorrow of Humanity." She reached her hands out past the edge of the twin sized bed, spread about a foot and a half appart as she prepared to recieve the weapon tied to her soul, a gift of dreams from Mirren herself. There was no cry, no tendrils of energy that wrapped themselves around the back of her hand, snaking out to form the snath of her signature weapon. There was only a dull silence that chilled her to the bone.

"Fuck. Ok. Keep calm, think back, and calm the pounding in your temple Amber. This isn't the worst you've had it. Hell this is closer to the best you've had it." That was true, though in number but not as much volume. Her experiences over the past year had been less then ideal at best and borderlining on a direct trip to the underworld for the most part, but there was one instance that was much better then this could ever hope to be. Her mind shifted back instinctively to the weeks spent in that land. What even was it's name? She wasn't sure, but she could see the face of Lilith smiling down on her sleeping form, hands filled with a warm mug of some yellowish tea that was bitter at first taste and fresh pasteries that smelled of orange and tasted far too sweet to be healthy. She'd learned much that day about trust, and care. SHe'd seen past the raven haired girl's cruel demeanor as her wounds slowly healed, and found caring without expected cost. Days passed with her body too broken to stand, too weak to eat, where Lilith raised her up, cradled in arms too thin to be as strong as they had proven to be, drawing a cup slightly warm broth to trembling lips.

"I never should have left. Damn my arrogance. " she knew that they would have eventually found her. That was as inevitable as the response the high god had given upon understanding over her betrayal. She shouldn't even blame him. It was their rule of law, their only true rule that she'd broken not once or twice, but for each member of the brotherhood. Life after life she took, slipping through the veil of shadow to catch them unaware and in a few strokes of her soul blade, their soul was forfeit.

The shift from the bed to the floor was easier then she'd expected, or at least she'd though so up to the moment when her feet actually touched down. Her knees buckled immediately. She watched in near paralysis as the floor rushed towards her, threatening to ensure that the mild headache was the least of her worries, but just mere moments before she would collide face first with the hardened wood, it's surface stained black from use, instinct took over. She tucked her shoulder in, moving her head to the side a bit and with a soft thud like sound her body rolled, putting her back on her feet in a three point landing style position, her left hand palm down about two feet from the bed she'd previously been on.

"Alright. Now the question is should step one be finding my weapon or easing the tension in this sore body. If sorrow is in the hands of thieves i could be in for trouble i'm not quite so well equipped to handle, but of not the presence of my soul blade will defenitely help my enthusiasm. " No matter the path she'd chosen she knew the true first step would be in figuring out where she was, and that involved walking to the door without a repeat performance of her attempt to get off the bed. SHe could feel the tightness in her muscles long before she'd drawn her left arm fully across her chest, stretching it with her other to sit flush against her breast and with each second the warm burning intensified. Repeating this she moved on to test the strength of her legs quickly, not wanting to waste too much time. Her left hand perched tightly against the foot board of her bed, providing balance to her shakey form, and with the poise and limberness of a balerina she began to rotate and shift her feet, one at a time. Left ankle, good. Right, good. That would probably do well enough for the time being. She needed to get lay of the land, and quickly.

The doorway burst open, and she was met with the rumble of convorsation. IT was.... A bit unsettling compared to the relative silence of her room, considering proximity to her position. It was significantly louder having passed the short distance across the threshold. "OH GOOD! You're awake! I was worried sick, and not just because the dead offer no patronage. " A stout older man greeted her the moment her form turned the corner into what was clearly the main room of some sort of pub or inn. That answered half of her question.

"Um... Yes. Wha... uh... How long was I out?" She determined easily from the long deep strike of worry in his brow that she'd been in that room for far longer then she should have, and most likely had entered the pub in a state that suggested there would be need to worry. That explained the exhaustion that poured through her body, now to figure out where exactly she was and why.

"OH. Well.... You got here about four days ago I suppose? We sent food to your room at your request the first and second night, but we hadn't heard from you or seen you exit for... three days maybe? I was worried sick. You didn't look very well when you came in, shivering somethin fierce and sweating all over the bar. Good to see you shook whatever it was.” Her worry seemed genuine enough. There wasn’t any blatant tells to suggest she was withholding information, her timbre unwavering and eyes focused on the girl’s face for the full duration. Even as Amber interrupted part way through to correct that her explanation meant five days instead of four, the woman never flinched.

“That.. actually would have made it five days but um, thanks. I believe I’m ok now. Must have been some strange illness. Do i owe you for the room?” As she spoke SHe closed her eyes, concentrating on the flow of magic, reaching out to search her area. THe strength was there, but as she called forth the strength that was her saving grace within this cruel multiverse she found it limited and weak. Her mana pool, which was made shallow by the sacrificial ritual failed to respond to the call. There was, however another strength pooling slowly in her abdomen, a cool flowing energy begging to be released, calling out for the demon of chance’s understanding, but the power felt strangely foreign. She was drawn from her thoughts too quickly as the woman responded, unaware of the thoughts flowing through the dark goddess’ mind.

“Well, You’re paid through the month. You said you’d need time to rest and that you would be here for quite some time? Are you sure you’re ok?” As she spoke the woman took a large bar rag, once white but greyed by various liquids and dirt she’d used it to clean up, and began slowly running it across the polished wood grain beneath her palms.

“Well. good. Where exactly are we?” Once more she allowed her strength to coalesce, reaching out to this strange feeling in her chest. She willed it to shift and turn, finding little response to her will, and with a frustrated sigh turned her attention back to conversation.  

“Well… This is the north inn, located as you’d expect in nothern hoshikagure. The village hidden in the stars.”

“Ok. Thanks.” Hoshikagure. The name felt similar, like a memory sitting just beneath the surface of her mind, begging to bubble up to realization but like so many things it couldn’t quite pierce the veil. WIth a non she moved swiftly towards the door, taking a glance out into the world. It felt extremely familar. As she glanced about her surroundings something caught her senses. Her weapon was here somewhere. Swiftly she turned on her heels, feeling the weakness in her limbs threaten to spill her lissom form to the stone below, a much less inviting home then that which she found within her room. Struggling against she found footing and kept balance through the common room and up stairs she'd climbed without realization. With the comfort of a clicking lock offering safety, for the time being, she sat herself down on the bed once more. She needed to take inventory of situation and think.

"Hoshikagure.... "dissecting the world brought meaning but not understanding. Village hidden in the stars? So they were in a village. It felt like this should make sense and yet there was still this odd void. Memories flashed through her consciousness as she searched for thought, broken visions of a girl with her face rushing across a dirt pit. In her hands she held a large silvered weapon, long blunt staff stretching well past her head before splitting off with a sharpened black blade curving downward towards the earth. The weapon felt slightly familiar. She could hear the clinking of chains beneath her feet and the soft whiz as the blade ripped through open air. "Sorrow? No. Something else. " The snath was solid silver with cherry blossoms creeping from the base where chain poured out and up to a black band just below the scythe blade. This wasn't her weapon. Instinctively Her hands mimiced the motions she watched in her mind, long overextended motions meant not to make the blade dangerous, but to draw the steel ball at her feet up and into the air. She could feel her muscles clenching as muscle memorization prepared her body to move the heavy weapon. Heavy? That was different. Sorrow was far too light for it's size, the steel ball that could crush bones to dust would lift and flow at her commmand like it was weightless. She wondered if it had been due to strength and practice or some strange effect of the weapon.

"It always impresses me the way fate makes preparations. This girl with my face happened to have commissioned a domia scythe, a weapon only Three in existence could understand the creation of. All of this in preparation for her entrance into this world. I wonder if her soul was imprinted upon the weapon this girl once held, or if there are two in the world. " With a spin she slid once more from the bed, touching down against the floor, heels never meeting the ground, and in two quick bounding steps she moved across the room, the imaginary weapon in hand. She could almost feel the weight in her hands. Mimicking the motions of her place holder she slammed her fists downward, watching behind closed eyes as the staff base bit into the dirt. Shifting weight she allowed her left heel to finally touch down against the ground, pivotting to spin. In her memory the chain sprang to life, filling the rom with the metalic clink of movement for several seconds before finally the ranged portion of the proxy weapon lifted from the ground, and into the air. This felt natural. Even with the added weight of this mundane weapon, evident with the added muscular push put into each strike, the fluid movements that would allow the Domia scythe it's movement made sense, like a long forgotten dance relearned for a formal event. That's when things got odd. She could feel the flare of what she assumed to be magic within the girl's body, but the flow was off. A powerful energy welled in her body, twisting and turning in her chest to spiral into a solid ball of power, and then she watched as from beneath her the deep black shadow fought against it's two-dimensional prison, forming a single deep black sharpened tendril that found its tip threaded between the chain links just inches from the ranged weapon, and her concentration was lost as she watched physical shadow pull the weapon from it's forward path, spinning it about the girl's head to release it with incredible force.

"I...wha... I have things to learn about this body still it seems." As the visions faded she first realized the incredible power brewing in her body. Subconsciously she found herself drawing whatever odd energy her place holder had used to..... What could you even call what she'd just seen? She knew that within the prime material that she could do similar things. This was shadow manipulation, but the methodology behind it like the energy she'd found a way to summon, was a bit foreign.

"Alright. I have this strength. Now how do I Harness it? " In her minds eye she called out to the power, moving it from her core forward, outward and away from her body. There was a bright tingling of power as she pushed the chakra from her body, reacing out to search the world around her. "This works differently then I'm used to but it does seem like with practice I could use it to... yes. " She could feel the world around her through the buzzing chakra that circled about her body. "I could use this for sensory in ways similar to the shadow sight. I just need to understand how this works. Testing the waters she formed the chakra in a circle around her form, drawing more from the strange void where it originated, and pushed more of the odd form of energy outward, filling the room. "Now. If I can keep control of this... chakra. " The word came to her almost in a whisper. It felt familiar, It felt right. This mana like energy was called charka. "If I can gain mastery over this chakra I could use it to gain information of my surroundings I believe.

As quickly as it had came she felt the strength leave her body, the powerful chakra she'd used to fill the room disipating into the air around her. Calling out to the power within her body she once more attempted to pull the strength from her body, but the call came unanswered. The vision of this strange training zone, of the girl who was to be herself controling this odd new strength faded, and as it did her head began to swim. her heels touched down against the earth fully, her ankles buckling and throwing her towards the bed. She hit the ground hard. The air left her lungs as solid wood slammed into her solar plexus. a cold darkness filled her senses. The portal offering her visions of her past was closed and her vision left her as the images passed. The last thought on her mind before sleep overtook her once was that of necessity. She cried out silently, searching once more in vain for the weapon gifted so long ago by fate itself. It was a weak attempt at an impossible outcome. The world faded to black. Her arms went slack against the edge of the small straw matress. her breathing calmed as her heart rate slowed, the excercise that'd taken it's toll on her weakened body over and in her dreams she heard, weak but ever present, the wispers of her guardian.

"Amber... I'm so close. Find me. Find me...." With the first set of memories of the past finaly opened the spirit of her scythe found her voice, encouraging the sleeping demon of chance to her first task.

(TWC 3015 claiming 15 stats and requesting 500 wc towards chakra sensory and exit )

Approved for the stats and the 500 words towards chakra sensory.