Chapter 23: Resonance
She felt empty. Her body weightless, her mind devoid of any sensible thoughts. Her reality was a fog, until it all came rushing back to her like a wave.
Maru opened her eyes, her nose blocked by the salty ocean waters. Her eyes darted left and right, peering into the abyssal darkness that engulfed almost every direction. A tingling numbness coated her body, shrouding any pain that may have been present.
She thought, initially confused before an intense panic began to settle in.
She wasn’t a stranger to the water and the waves, but the looming uncertainty is what instilled her with fear. Where was she? Where did everyone go? Did she succeed in the ‘spell’? Devoid of all of her senses other than sight, she had no way to truly answer these questions.
Looking up, Maru could see moonlight shining through the waters. Instinctively, she started to swim up as fast as she could.
Once she reached the top, the currents in the water immediately started to carry her like a raft. The sky was pitch black, with dark grey clouds overhead. Rain was pouring down like an avalanche, with winds so powerful that the droplets of water would fly sideways. A flash of lightning in the distance leaves Maru briefly blinded, the accompanying thunder drowned by the howling winds.
Her head turns to where the waves were carrying her. The outline of an island could be seen in the distance, illuminated by the faint glow of a lonesome campfire on its shore. Silhouettes of colossal mountains stood tall, their summits cutting through the clouds above, trees surrounding their lower half like a dense fur coat. Standing at the shore, Maru could see an elongated white cloak flowing in the wind.
She stopped resisting the push of the waves, instead letting the waters carry her closer to the island. As she got closer, the strength of the waves would slowly decline, until they gently washed her ashore.
Her stomach and chest slid gently into the soft sand, reducing her momentum and absorbing some of the water from her drenched overalls.
Maru stands up, brushing off the sand from her forearms and clothes before taking off her hat and squeezing it tightly, wringing out most of the water. Putting it back on, she presses it firmly into her damp hair, still somewhat surprised that it even stayed on her head.
The cold winds sent chills down her spine as she looked around. The shore was barren, decorated by remnants of seashells here and there. She noticed that it wasn’t raining on the island. There were only strong gusts of wind and booming thunder in the distance, isolating the sandy shore from the rest of the peculiar world.
Maru sets her eyes on a woman standing near the shore, about a dozen meters away from her. They had long and silky black hair, extending all the way down to the heels of their bare feet. Most of their body was shrouded in a white robe reminiscent of pearls. The sleeves extended far beyond their hands, and the lower half cloaked their legs. The lowest part of their robes were discolored, lightly dampened and stained by the wet sand.
“Hello?” Maru called out, “are you my..?”
The woman looks over her shoulder, her dark blue eyes staring into Maru’s own. Maru’s eyes widened, a soft blush coming across her face as she gazed at the woman’s soft, smooth, and delicate light brown skin. She looked oddly similar to Maru, yet distinct in her own ways. From her posture and the way she moved, the woman came across as more reserved and gentle.
Maru stared at her a bit longer, only for the woman to turn around completely and start walking towards Maru. She stands just a few feet away, and the difference between them becomes even clearer. The woman was taller with a slightly more defined bosom, and she gave off the robust and refreshing scent of sea and rain.
“Kataiyida,” the woman said with a motherly voice. It was feathery, yet still a little stern and deeper than most women.
“Kataiyida,” Maru echoed, “that’s quite the mouthful. That name sounds foreign too. Can I just call you Yida?”
Yida narrows her eyes for a moment. “Sure, if you want,” she muttered, turning around to face the sea again.
An eerie silence emerges between them. Maru fidgets with her fingers, trying to figure out what to say while Yida gazes at the moon in the distance.
“So,” Maru began, “are you my Magic?”
Yida is silent for a few seconds before she answers.
“Yes,” she said bluntly, “what else would I be?”
“I…” Maru hesitates, “don’t know. I guess this is just new to me. I can’t really wrap my head around my Magic being its own person.” She began to stammer over her own words, talking at a faster pace than usual.
“I hope this isn’t rude or offensive but I always saw Magic as just a power, sometimes a companion too but not in the literal sense. I don’t mean to call you an object or anything–”
“I understand.” Yida suddenly cut her off, “no need to explain. I get it. Magic is often seen as a weapon or a tool to those that aren’t Mages. You’ve lived your entire life thinking Magic was a mere power, so I don’t expect you to change your view on such short notice. If anything…”
She pauses, the whistling winds breaking the brief silence.
“I don’t want you to change your mindset. It’s okay for you to think of me that way.”
Maru tilts her head slightly, staring at Yida with a confused expression. She knew what Yida meant when she said that, but it was difficult for Maru to view someone else that way. To see someone else as a mere tool, a stepping stone for her to climb, it wasn’t something she felt comfortable with, especially when she’s told to treat someone like that. In this case, however, her Magic was quite literally a tool, a power that was meant to be used. That’s how she viewed it for the longest time, even after awakening it. Yet, as she looks at Yida now, she starts to get a different feeling.
“What do you mean?” Her voice became quieter, yet filled with concern. “You’re standing right in front of me. You’re no object.”
Yida begins to walk silently along the shoreline, Maru treading close behind her.
“You see me as a human now, but understand that this is one of my many incarnations. The world we are in now is not a physical one in the traditional sense. It’s more of a mental landscape, a place where you and your Magic can exist on equal planes.”
“So does every Mage have a ‘mental landscape’ like this? A world with an open sea, mountains, and other things? What would you even call this place?”
“Aria. A sacred realm that reflects who and what you truly are. The state of this world is a reflection of your mind and emotions. I, your Magic, exist in this place too, though not all Magics appear as human as I do. Some are forces of nature, items and relics, mythical beasts and creatures, and some have no consistent form at all.”
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“Maybe that’s why Yuri said her Magic never talked to her, it must not be a person like you.”
“Our forms of communication are often not very direct. Though I may be a human now, I am mostly a force of nature within Aria. The clouds, the sea, the winds, and the rain; all of that is me. I appeared before you like this just so it’s more comfortable for you, and so our conversation can be more direct.”
Maybe that’s why Yida wanted Maru to view her as a tool still. Her humanoid form was a facade, a cover-up to make herself more appealing and recognizable to Maru initially. If Maru understood her correctly, then Kataiyida was a force of nature, perhaps a concept in its entirety. She could be a deity, or something even beyond that, but it wasn’t for Maru to try to understand.
“What are you then, really? Some kind of God, entity, or otherworldly being that I don’t understand? You’re standing in front of me as a person right now, so why don’t you want me to treat you as one?”
“Because I am not one. I do not have my own dreams, ideals, aspirations, and life like you do. I have no past, no trauma, and only a semblance of emotion. I am like your hands and your fingers, created to assist you in every way possible, but never have ambitions of my own. Whatever you need to do, I’m here to help you do it, whether it’s walking, flying, fighting, or defying the world.”
Yida stops walking, turning around to look at Maru face-to-face.
“I am part of you.”
When she said that, everything suddenly made sense to Maru.
“Like an extension of me?” Maru asked rhetorically. “Not just you, but this whole world, right? Everything, all of Aria, the sea, the clouds, the mountains, the rain, that’s all part of me too. All of it represents ‘me’? Like, how I feel and what I’m thinking. Wait – so that’s why the rain suddenly stopped earlier. I stopped panicking so the waves carried me here and–”
Maru pauses, unsure if what she was saying even made sense to Kataiyida. She looks over at her Magic, her gaze soft as she waits quietly for confirmation.
For the first time, Yida’s expression suddenly changed, a smile appearing on her face as she nodded, “now you get it. This world is your little safe space. A place of inner respite and rest. The ability to reflect on who you are and understand how far you’ve come – that is the most important form of Resonance.”
“‘Most important form’ implies that there are other types of Resonance.”
“Yes, but those are lessons for another time.”
Suddenly, Maru’s staff manifests from a collection of dust in the air, its lower half lodged into the sand between her and Yida.
“You never did give it a name,” Yida whispered, “what will you call it?”
Maru ponders, placing one hand on her chin as she looks up at the sky. The dark clouds surrounding the island began to fade, their remnants circling around the island as if it were the eye of a hurricane.
“Stormseye,” she said confidently, “I think it’s a cool name.”
“Stormseye shall be the name of your weapon then.” Yida takes a few steps towards the staff, gently holding her hands in the air close to it. Sparks of electricity would jump between her fingertips, trickling downwards into the air like rain against wood. The bolts of lightning would weave themselves together in the air, forming a thick coat within Yida’s hands. It was a dark navy blue, its color reminiscent of the dark skies that often accompanied unforgiving thunderstorms. Large pockets were weaved into either side of the coat, with an equally hefty hood attached to the top of the coat.
“Step forward,” she commanded, gesturing with one hand for Maru to come closer.
Maru takes a few steps closer towards Yida, turning around and outstretching her arms slightly at either side. Yida slowly slides Maru’s arms into the sleeves of the coat, carefully fitting the rest of the jacket onto her shoulders and body. Then, she picks up the Stormseye and presses it gently against Maru’s back. A distinct snap is heard as the staff attaches itself to the jacket like a magnet.
“You look wonderful,” Yida whispered, gently caressing Maru’s shoulders before adjusting the hat on her head. Once finished, she steps back and stands side-by-side with Maru, both of them facing the mountains.
“What’s the fancy outfit for?” Maru asked, “it’s really comfortable actually. Do I get this when I go back to the real world?”
As she uttered those words, the world around her started to collapse, everything fading into an eerie darkness that approached from the endless abyss. The mountain ahead seemed to ascend infinitely outwards, stretching endlessly into the sky with every passing second, yet the darkness got closer. Maru looks over at Yida with a worried expression. She attempts to speak, but she finds that she has been silenced – her voice empty.
“Maybe you’ll find something like it back at your home,” Yida jokes, tugging lightly at Maru’s cheek. “You finally understand the tools at your disposal, so now it’s time for you to begin your climb.”
Maru opens her eyes again, instinctively sitting upright in the grass. Her head darts from left to right, taking in her surroundings. Everyone was still in the yard, with Yuri and Francis at either side of her, Aitheos across from her, and her mother still sitting close to the house with Tianyu.
“You’re awake,” Aitheos announced, greeting her with a smile.
“How long was I out?”
“Not long. Although it might’ve felt like a while for you, it was only a few minutes for us. Francis and Yuri woke up a bit earlier than you did, but it didn’t take you long. Time passes differently in your mind.”
Maru looks over at her friends one more time, “so how’d it go for you guys?”
“Was pretty chill,” Francis whistled, “It was just me, the winds, and the birds.”
“It was… revelating,” Yuri whispered, sighing afterwards. “A lot more insightful than I thought it’d be.”
“Mine was pretty insightful too,” Maru cheered, her face becoming flustered, “apparently my Magic is like this tall, pretty lady. She’s kind of cute.”
Francis leans in closer to her, “pretty lady you say? Can I meet her? If she’s got you all flustered then she must be quite the looker.”
“Is that even possible?” Maru asked, looking over at Aitheos.
“Not that I’m aware of. It’d be quite interesting to see a Magic converse with someone else, or perhaps even another Magic. I suggest keeping the details of your conversation to yourself though. It’s very respectful to your Magic and I’m sure it would greatly appreciate it.”
“I can get behind that,” Francis said, nodding to himself, “it’s like a conversation with a really close friend, the kind of conversation you wouldn’t share with anyone else, even if that someone else is another close friend.”
Yuri and Francis stand up and stretch while Maru remains seated.
“Is there another part to this lesson?” Maru asked, watching as Aitheos stood up as well.
“That’s it for now,” he responded, “believe it or not, but your best teacher is your Magic itself. Now that you’ve had a proper introduction to it, don’t be afraid to ask for help. It knows more about itself than anyone else.”
“Aitheos!” A voice calls out from the lower part of the hill. Everyone immediately turns their heads to see Miriam walking up the hill, her hands still pocketed in her green jacket.
“Who is that?” Maru asked, walking over to Aitheos. As Miriam approaches, Maru greets her with a gentle smile and a short wave.
“It’s a comrade of mine,” Aitheos responded. “Miriam, this is Maru. Maru, this is Miriam.” He gestures from one to the other once they are close.
Miriam looked at Maru with a soft gaze. She returned the wave, but kept the smile to herself.
“I just finished talking with Reoh about what we’re going to do next. Starting today, and over the next few days, all the villagers will be gathering their belongings and boarding the train. Then, we can take them to a secure outpost close to Fantasia while we deal with the Marastruck here.”
“I see. So are we going to be leaving now then?”
“Yes. Based on population estimates from Reoh, we should be able to get everyone off the island in about two or three trips, all of them should take less than three days.”
Maru raises her hand, “does that include me?”
Miriam shakes her head in response. “Those that are capable of fighting will be staying on the island. We need all the help we can get, and we never know if something will happen while we’re gone, so we’re counting on people like you and Francis to keep everyone safe.”
“I’ll do my best.”
A subtle grin appears on Miriam’s face. “Were you the girl that Reoh said wanted to become an Adventurer?”
“That’s me!” Maru exclaimed, “none other than Maru Marshall.”
“You’ve certainly got the spirit, but you have to show us you have the grit. Get you and your friends together, we could use your help loading the train sometime tomorrow.”
“Yes ma’am!”