The strange power had come to her suddenly, a flash of lightning that had smashed through wood and steel alike to reach her. But, in parting, it wasn’t anything like that. The power she hadn’t used against the pirates - which was most of it, really - had ebbed away slowly, leaving emptiness where it had once filled her so<i>fully</i>.<br/><br/>But, somehow, it didn’t leave her drained or depressed. The surging magic had flooded through her like a river - but a flooding river always left its mark on the soil. In its wake, it had left a map of the currents of power inside of her. Even without the raw magic gone, she could control the magic she<i>did</i>have more easily than ever.<br/><br/>That was the theory, anyway.<br/><br/><i>The sphere of fire barely wavered above Lucian’s gloved hand. His smile was soft, almost apologetic. “Making something out of nothing is not possible, Dawn. The closer you come to it, the more it takes out of you. It is much easier to manipulate what is already there than to make something new from it.”<br/>
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He glanced at the fire, his dark eyes seeming to glow. “Everything you need to make fire exists around you. If you instead tried to draw heat from yourself…” He shook his head. “It could kill you.”<br/>
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“Mastering your power is not just about directing it. Once you can direct your power at will, you can only hone your skill in two ways.” He held up a finger. “You can try to become more powerful by absorbing magic, like pixies do.” He made a face. “Although maybe not in the same way.” He closed his hand around the fire, snuffing it out. “But that is a dangerous path. Claiming power is an almost carnal experience, and it can become an addiction. Claim too much, and <i>it</i> claims <i>you</i>.”<br/>
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Lucian gave a small shrug, his cloak rustling. “And sure, if you throw enough power at something, it dies. But that is hardly efficient, and having that much magic will make you a target of creatures looking to get it… one way or another.” He gave her a look she didn’t quite understand.<br/>
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He held up a second finger. “The other way is to experiment, to use your power in new ways. Using objects as anchors is simple. To become stronger without raw power, you must understand what is around you and learn to use it. You must create fire from air instead of from yourself.”</i><br/><br/>Three small glass orbs spun lazily above the girl’s head as she sat in the darkness of the hold. Once, they had been bottles cast aside by Verita. Now, Dawn used them to keep her power active, trying to make it second nature. She wanted to be able to help Verita without relying on her strange power. Ever since she’d used that magic for the first time, she hadn’t been the same. And it changed everyone it touched, too. Ashy had gone from playful to psychotic, and it had taken her ages to come back.<br/><br/>And it had changed<i>her</i>, too. She’d gone from happy-go-lucky to almost careless. She’d been really close to killing the pirates. She was always confident when she had her magic, sure, but murderous? That wasn’t like her.<br/><br/>Slowly, she stood up and made her way out onto the deck, orbs still floating above her head. Unlike Verita, she looked fine. Other than the dried blood, it looked almost like she hadn’t fought at all. She’d repaired the big tear in the back of her robes with her power, using up the cloth that had once made up the hood.<br/><br/>Dawn glanced around with a small smile on her face, but it faltered when she saw Verita. Everything had taken a toll on her, and she felt like she hadn’t been able to help at all. In the state Verita was in, Dawn hadn’t had the heart to take away the alcohol she’d surrounded herself with. All she could do was become stronger, and do what little she could to make Verita happier. The way Verita was now, she couldn’t bring herself to finish what she’d started to say in the cabin.<br/><br/>She didn’t see the ramen anywhere. She wished she knew what had happened to make him so… morose. Up until the battle at the Aviari village, he hadn’t seemed so bad. What had happened to bring out such bitterness inside of him?<br/><br/>She shook her head, her eyes drawn to the mist-shrouded cave ahead. “Not at all ominous,” she said. Something other than its looks didn’t sit right with her - it felt…<i>off</i>. But where else was there to go? “But if it leads to the forest, there’s nothing else for it.”<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>