Aura - An Unlikely Eavesdropper
Mar 12 06:05:57 2005

The minutes seemed to slowly creep by as Aura gaped at the
twisted, mangled once-reploid form wedged up against the mana
stone of darkness within the center of the Sanctuary. Though
it had been there for almost two days now, Aura found herself
both horrified and mystified by it, the former being out of the
clear obviousness of what it -was-, and the latter upon
wonderment of where it came from, and how it got there. Surely
corpses didn't just appear out of thin air, overnight? This one
certainly did. One night she was sleeping, and then the next
morning...

Nearby, a crowd of elemental spiritlings were gathered, some
sharing Aura's expression, others completely blank, and some not
seeming in the least bit one way or another. A single undine
lay on her stomach nestled within Aura's hair, twirling a finger
nonchalantly around a single strand of its owner's bluish-black
hair. Finally, Aura sighed, casting a sidelong glance at the
small crowd of spirits.

"Obviously... but why is it I have to remain here? This whole
thing is sorely grotesque and completely unneeded. Is it
even worse outside?"

The elementals exchanged puzzled glances between one another,
before all looking back up at her with varying eye colors, all
huge, all confused, and all silent. Aura looked away from them
and back towards the corpse. Or, more specifically, what it
was nestled against.

"This stone has been here for a long time... is it possible
that it might have some purpose for this? The wizard who
placed it here... I haven't seen him since that first and
only day, but the stone's been here ever since. I'm not sure
what it means, but I wish I did..."

A dryad from the group timidly reach out and patted her thigh
reassuringly, from where she had been kneeling for the last
several hours. It didn't help much; she was still as confused
as she'd ever been.

"But from what I can see... there -is- something else out
there... and it hurt Seikou, didn't it? And others?"

The gaze she turned back upon the crowd of elementals must've
been more intimidating than she'd intended on, as at least half
the group jumped in fright, disappearing into thin air in tiny
little flashes of correlating light. Only the dryads and an
undine or two remained, those that seemed (relatively)
undisturbed by her reaction, although each pair of eyes -did-
widen noticeably. Aura smirked just faintly, a slight upturn of
one corner of her mouth.

"Yes. I know what goes on out there. I know you only want to
protect me... but I'm not one hundred percent helpless,
anymore. I think... I might finally be getting a grasp on
these... 'abilities' of mine. I would like to think that
being able to tap into the flow of mana, and the information
carried along with it, would be a considerable notification
of this evolving process, wouldn't you?"

Aura shook her head slightly, extending a hand outward. Without
hesitation, the nearest dryad helped herself into the palm of
it, and was lifted up to around eye level.

"I know... most people would call it 'mind-reading', wouldn't
they? Some form of sorcery, no doubt. I only realized just
now how strange it probably -does- sound. But I wasn't
trying to read anyone's minds... I haven't even seen anyone
in a few days. I just... knew it, over a short time. What
I wanted to know was always there, I felt. I just couldn't
grasp it. I'm learning, I suppose... it's a start, right?"

The tree maiden seemed to consider it for a moment, then tossed
her leafy head almost haughtily, with a wide grin on her tiny
face. Aura's smirked broadened.

If only they knew for sure...

"Of course I'm still capable. I think I'm making progress
on my mobility aspect, as well. I can actually manage to
walk a short distance now without even having to use that
dumb stick. Just as long as a wall's nearby, just to be on
the safe side, you know?"

The dryad nodded, leaned up to pat her cheek in a familiarly-
affectionate manner, and jumped down from her hand to float down
amongst the rest of her elemental sistren. Aura smiled tinily,
but it was insincere.

So, another presence... Seikou... and others? I could almost
feel the fear from some of them. Maybe...

Maybe it's time I stopped hiding...