Serenia Awakens
Ardyn listened to The Life Slip; she felt it, and she allowed it to be within her soul sea—all in attempts to not only understand it, but also to know it.
She stayed within the Central Weave for a long time—the magic of the depression raged around her as she sat and meditated. She wanted to sync with the Life Slip so that she would not lose the technique. The sync would actually allow the technique to be woven into her own personal weave of magic.
But she was still missing something integral—a defining piece to the technique—that was keeping the full knowledge of the Life Slip from her. The technique continued to slip through her fingers as if it were made of grains of sand. She continued to work on its true and lasting integration into her weave. Her power drained from her quickly, but somehow—due to the nature of The Life Slip—it also continually regenerated at an exceptionally fast rate.
But this constant drain and regeneration was taxing, and her body began to change. She drained of vitality, and her once soft, glistening skin was now dry and cracked as if it had been deprived of something essential. She looked skeletal, like a creature of the undead, and her hair had lost its luster and buoyancy.
She seemed to be dying.
But this was only how she looked. She felt as if she were stronger—eternal.
Within her, power soared; it had become a raging, never-ending torrent, and it was not only strengthening itself, it was strengthening her internal processes. Her inner magical conduits were growing—allowing for more power flow—and her understanding of magic was increasing by leaps and bounds. This was driving her closer and closer to understanding the Life Slip.
She slowly began to understand it was not about controlling this unique technique; it was about allowing the technique to be.
She hadn't understood the seeming stutter in the magical flow of Serenia. It had just seemed to be a beat change in its natural harmony. The truth was, this was Serenia resisting the Life Slip. It had forgotten its own system of healing and rejuvenation and had begun to reject it. It no longer understood how, or why, it needed this small—innate—piece of magic, and it no longer saw it as vital.
In its own need to evolve, Serenia had forgotten something fundamental about itself. It had grown in power but had neglected its own magical foundations. And so, Serenia evolved and forgot to allow a key system to evolve with it, thinking it could survive without it. This constant struggle had caused the technique to have less and less influence on the Central Weave—until it was not only an annoyance, it became seen as an enemy, or something dangerous.
As Ardyn's understanding grew, she changed how she helped Serenia. After hours of being within the depression, the islands within the crescent-shaped archipelago revived in a way the region hadn't seen in centuries. The jagged islands sparkled in deep jewel tones, and their grasses grew even more lush and vibrant. The trees began to regain their sentience and their roots thickened; their leaves and fruits became healthier, and their presence became more pronounced within the realm.
And the walkways began to stir—taking from the rich ore veins within the islands—they began to rebuild themselves. With this change, the Cheys stirred. Their ancient stone bodies shifted as one. The fine stone dust stopped falling, and their outer surfaces became smooth and polished. The patina about their eyes cleared and was replaced by orbs of deep opalescent shimmers that spoke of wonders and truths lost or forgotten.
The hair and cloaks, made of vines, fell away, and the wonder of flowing stone replaced them in varying shades of obsidian black, greys, and reds. The different colors showed the Cheys' branch—within the guard—while the shades told their rank. Their uniqueness was shining through once again as they turned and began to disperse throughout the archipelago—returning to their true posts as the guardians of Serenia.
Ardyn felt it all—the Sylvani and Atina watched it all. For all of them, it was something wondrous and inexplicable.
It was the reawakening of a unique world of magic.