A/N: I've been gone a little while, but some space and time in nature has reset some of my juice. Add that to procrastinating something else, and I can get some work done on this thing. I still want to write this, work just takes a lot out of me, so I intend to bring the rest of this story in time.

I swear that the second of twin jewels shall rise. May Weaves form together, and cast a new light.

*Chanting*

To Rise, Virtual - Flybyno

Finally, Kara stops for a brief moment.

"We're here!"

The road to the temple is mostly empty, with only one or two travelers coming back towards the city. The temple itself, however, is a rather interesting structure. Instead of the Graeco-Roman architecture I expected upon hearing about an ancient temple, my eyes fall instead upon a grand structure in the same style as the palace I saw earlier. Gigantic buttresses of stone are supported by flowing, single-piece shapes of bronze, while golden statues of human figures occupy the many alcoves at the sides of the wall. Slowly-burning oil flows through channels in the stonework upon the floor below us, while visible amounts of magic dance in the air between pillars of solid reddish crystal in a choreographed dance.

The fires cycle around the room in a pattern of extinguishment and reignition that I cannot identify, and a small group of people which I can only assume are priests of some type sweep the altairs and tend to the braziers and channels with fire magic. Murals of translucent glass play across the walls, the changing patterns of fire in the room lighting different scenes with every passing minute. They each seem to have their own meaning and theme, with the earliest seeming to be about triumph and conquest, before slowly fading into fear and decay, and then companionship, then conquest, then defeat, and many more stages, each one displayed as honestly, if not for the same amount of time, as the last.

How they are able to compress so much information into the walls of this temple, I do not know, but it is an amazing sight.

At the end of the grand hall, several priests polish what appears to be an ancient suit of armour, its silvery hue out of place in the halls of bronze. The magic in the air appears to swirl around it, glimmering against its hull and igniting contours within its design. I wonder whether that is for decoration, or actually serves some function.

Leanna stares at the walls, awestruck.

"I thought the Academy had beautiful murals."

She pauses.

"Or even just good ones. How much work went into this place?"

I place my guess within the ring.

"Maybe this is just what happens when you do nothing but survival and artwork for over a thousand years? It isn't like there are many places for grand artistic talent to go in a place like this."

The fires reach the end of their cycle, and a series of images rapidly flicker around the hall. First, a set of five symbols in a plus sign. Then, the one in the middle grows, swallowing large amounts of light. One flickers orange, and is almost swallowed before the others glow, trapping the black in the centre. They form a cage, and stay put for a time while the symbol in the centre shrinks back down, before the orange one starts to flash, energy arcing between the symbols in the outer layer. Finally, they all shatter, and most of the little droplets of power coalesce into a shield, while the remaining symbol continues to grow fainter and fainter. Then, fire sweeps across the room, and every channel and brazier goes out.

While I'm somewhat startled by this, the skylight provides enough light to see by, and several of the priests ignite patches of oil, starting the glass on its path through myth again.

I shake my head, detaching myself from the mesmerizing murals. Noticing that I have been left behind a little, I hustle to catch up.

The various priests wear clothing that is somehow even simpler than the city-dwellers in Oraphros. They wear a kind of loose red robe and bronze bracelet inlaid with what I assume to be fire crystals. There seems to be ritual buried in even their smallest movements, their mannerisms suggesting that they've been doing this for a long time.

"Poi…"

Forest looks around in wonder and reverence. At the sight of the pillars, he squeaks and hops up on me, claiming his spot on my shoulder. As he drinks in the surrounding energy, I notice Kara briefly bow towards the large brazier in the centre of the display, before moving to a stretch of the moving mural.

"We're here!"

Zack sighs. I, however, am intrigued. Kara might be a little… out there, but I don't get the impression that she's stupid. I wonder what makes this stretch of wall special.

"Is there a mechanism hidden somewhere which triggers a doorway?"

Her eyes glitter.

"Bingo!"

She places her foot on a segment of a seemingly repeating pattern in the floor mosaic, and then a hand on the little mote of fire produced by an image of a fey-ish man wearing red clothing. When she does this, the segment drops neatly and quietly into the floor, revealing the passage.

Kara waves at the opening with a flourish.

"Ta-da!"

"How did you know that this part of the wall was special?"

She smiles.

"Some guesswork, but then I noticed that the scenes aren't always the same size, and characters are never in the same place, at least, except right here. The Fire Elemental appears in this place every time he is in any scene, regardless of orientation. Add that to some fragmentary myths I was able to dig up, and some experimentation to figure out what exactly the trigger is, and here we are!"

She heads into the opening.

"If you aren't looking for it, you probably won't ever see it."

The rest of us move within the area, and Kara presses in a brick, causing the wall to close again. Then she leads us down a winding stone staircase which ends at the beginning of a narrow passage. Feeling a bit claustrophobic, I gaze down the hallway.

It seems well-worn and plain, with wall sconces lighting the way, no doubt placed there by Kara. Little sparkles of magic glimmer in the air, occasionally catching on my skin and causing my adrenaline to flare slightly.

As I look around and down at my feet, I notice a brick with an X marked on it. Fighting down my curiosity, I decide that stepping on it might not be the best idea when marching through an ancient temple stated to have traps. Gingerly stepping around the brick, I then notice another X a metre or so away.

"Is anyone else seeing these random X's?"

Kara glances back.

"I should hope so. I left those there so as to not set off the same traps again."

I nod, and we resume walking. The deeper we travel, the more Xs I notice. There appear to be a lot of traps in here...

As we are rounding a corner, Zack stops, and it isn't long before I realize why. The walls of this segment of the corridor are covered in large Xs.

"What's the deal with this one?"

Kara looks down the same passageway.

"Oh, it's a two-part trap.

She points to a stone on the ground which is marked with an X.

"Basically, if you step on the ground stone, it triggers thick bars that shoot out from all the Xs on the wall and block the path."

I look at the spacing of the Xs on the wall.

"That doesn't sound too bad."

Kara smiles devilishly.

"Only if you know how to limbo. The bars have something keeping them hot and will burn you if you touch them."

I feel my face pale.

"That sounds worse."

Zack, meanwhile, looks surprised.

"And you were able to cross that?"

Kara winks.

"I am very limber."

I feel the need to ask what the deal with that inflection was, when it suddenly occurs to me. Why yes, that would look attractive. Meanwhile, I look over at Zack, expecting him to brush off the comment as he would've if it'd come from any of the other women I've seen 'flirt' with him, but he actually seems… impressed?

Amelia looks between Zack and Kara.

"Based on the dilation of Zack's pupils, it appears that Kara's flexibility is attractive to him."

Zack is taken aback. Oh, that rhymes!

"I was just thinking that it is a useful skill to have."

Kara has a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"'Useful skill to have'? In what context?"

He frowns.

"For scouting and navigating. You've done a thorough job mapping this place out and marking the traps."

Leanna looks amused.

"Zack, was that a compliment?"

He glares at Leanna.

"No, an observation."

Kara smiles playfully, her chest bouncing in a manner that is insufficient.

No, bad. Don't critique the organic!

"Then thank you for your observation."

Zack falls into silence before turning away, and we continue to move through the tunnels. Eventually, Kara stops in front of another well of fire in the middle of the hall.

"The barrier is here."

She gestures at the swirling metallic wall behind the well. The way that it glitters as it wisps and curls almost looks like fire, though I can tell from here that it is very solid. Leanna and Amelia step closer, inching their hands in front of them before gingerly touching the barrier. Leanna carefully inspects the surface.

"This wall is made out of air, but it's very solid for something like that. The wind magic involved might play a role, but based on the power mix I don't think so. This is mostly fire magic."

Forest hops forward with stars in his eyes.

"Poooii…"

Then, he dashes straight for the barrier, a fact that Kara seems to object to.

"Forest, wait!"

I stretch out my arm and try to grab him.

"Don't go there!"

However, instead of running into a wall, Forest passes straight through the wall and out of sight. That's… umm.

"How was he able to get through if none of us can?"

Kara gapes wide-eyed at the barrier.

"I have no idea!"

Leanna seems to be in slight shock, though for a different reason.

"No, Forest!"

She takes a breath, setting her expression.

"We have to find a way to save him! Who knows what could have happened to him when he went through."

She presses up against the barrier.

"Forest?"

"Poi?"

A blue head pops out of the barrier, and I blink in response.

"Okay, so he can just go through it."

He hops the rest of the way out.

"Poi poi!"

Leanna scoops him up in a hug. Despite squirming at first, he eventually nuzzles into her, seemingly sensing her distress without understanding its nature.

"Forest! You're back safe."

"Poi!"

After a little while, he wiggles out of her arms and bounces back over to me. Leanna seems saddened by this, but quickly refocuses on the barrier, with Amelia and her placing their hands upon its surface.

"Whatever is beyond this wall is host to a large amount of magical energy, more than the largest tap."

Leanna nods.

"I agree. No wonder Forest ran in there."

Zack continues to hang back and observe, but Kara steps closer to the barrier.

"But how did he pass through?"

Leanna shrugs, while Amelia continues studying the wall, moving her hands up and down in a pattern I do not understand.

"The magic in place here is… reminiscent of fortification magic I've observed on a few items. I can see the recursion nodes here and here, but the way in which the magic is used is unfamiliar to me. I can, however, say with certainty that the wind magic involved is not used in creating or reinforcing the structure."

She narrows her eyes, with something between a frown and a smile on her lips. While she does this, Kara gets her attention.

"Is there anything you can do to break it?"

In response, Leanna and Amelia both put their hands on the barrier, their manipulators glowing. They transmit pulses of energy into the surface, which disperse across it in shimmering waves. Then, Amelia nods to Leanna.

"I would recommend the maximum possible force, Leanna. Do you know how to perform a Material Disjunction?"

Leanna blinks.

"Yes, but do you think it would be a good idea to do that in an area this delicate?"

Amelia nods.

"I think we might have no other choice. This wall seems uncharacteristically resilient."

Leanna sighs, stepping to the opposite side of the brazier.

"Stand back, behind me."

We all gather behind her as her gauntlet begins to glow, first with the kind light I am familiar with, then in a bright strobing pattern that builds to chaotic intensity. Then, there is a flash of energy, and the flame in the brazier seems to… not part, but annihilate, with a conical hole being drawn through it before it fills again with flame and air with a crack. I smell ozone and dust, and hear something in the roof creak. I also look over the flame to see what looks like an altar, through a quickly closing hole in the barrier.

Leanna collapses onto one knee. Though my eyes widen in shock, she waves it off.

"I'm fine. Just…"

She breathes.

"...give me a second."

Eventually, she stands back up, only to see that the hole is gone, and above it words are shining at us. As we watch, they too slowly vanish.

Absolve your world to enter Mine.

While Leanna stands and takes in the words, and Amelia looks at the portal with renewed interest, the rest of us stand there in shock - both at the massive and obvious display of power, and its apparent ineffectuality. I shake my head, and spit out the first thing that comes to mind.

"The word 'mine' was capitalized. Whoever wrote this had a massively inflated opinion of themself."

It wasn't my intention, but that definitely is what caused everyone to shake off their silence. Kara snickers.

"Yep. A lot of dead empires seem to, for some reason."

"Well, My name is Ozymandias, and this place pales before the grandeur of my works in the sands."

Everyone looks at me, confused. I sigh.

"None of my jokes work on people back home either. Don't feel left out, it's me that should stop."

Once everyone looks back towards the door, I wince. All that did was remind them that I have a completely different cultural base. How hard am I working to earn the suspicious gazes from Amelia, and now everyone else?

Trying to redirect the attention of everyone, I muse aloud at the portal.

"Still, Absolve your world to enter mine. What could that mean?"

Amelia looks around the room, the faintest glow coming from her manipulator. Torches down the hall wax and wane as she walks about. I ponder the words, hoping to contribute something, but they seem like nothing more than hyperformal, cryptic speech. Nothing I think of seems worthwhile. Amelia's gaze focuses on the brazier, frowning.

"This flame does not respond to my magic."

She casts her hand about it, concentration growing on her face. A flash of inspiration crosses her face, and she turns towards us.

"This brazier is absolutely implicated in the ritual which forms the intended path through the barrier. One theme of the religion surrounding the Ancients- or rather a theme of fire- is that of the sacrifice of material, and I believe that therein lies the key. Where physical flame would burn one's body, magic consumes the mind."

Zack scowls.

"No matter what's on the other side, I'm not going crazy for this thing."

"I believe that the priests would agree that that is too high a price. As such I suspect that the nature of this fire is more of a balance between those two ideas. If I am interpreting this correctly, we must part with a treasured possession - preferably one with considerable sentimental worth - and throw it into the flame. We are absolved, or set free, from our world, that being what we bring with us even when it is not in a pocket or pouch."

Leanna thinks a little, then nods in agreement.

"I can't think of anything else the message could mean that would offer us a way through."

I smile.

"Neither can I. Good thinking, Amelia."

She smiles back, but only a little, before her gaze returns to the brazier. Meanwhile, Kara looks concerned.

"Are you sure?"

She reaches over the fires again, testing the currents of magic in the air, her fingers twitching in strange patterns.

"The mechanics of this spell are… eldritch. I can see that it is meant to detect the entrance of objects within a poorly-defined periphery, and then there are other sensor nodes, and others, and others, detecting things I cannot identify, but they all seem linked. I think they are detecting a single, complex phenomenon. Say, for instance, an emotion. Loss, or guilt, perhaps even of a definite kind."

As she speaks, she lights up little bubbles, showing with an orange light the path of magic throughout the room. There are thousands, and power blows between them agily, almost like a computer. Leanna looks at the structure, impressed.

"These are fantastic. Whoever made these knew what they were doing."

Then her eyes narrow, and she walks forward into a coreward segment, hand gesturing around a small cluster of small nodes.

"Or they didn't. This circuit is one I learned years ago - master mages shouldn't have made so many inefficiencies."

Amelia grins.

"I'm sure we could all think of ways to improve some aspect of an ancient civilization. This place holds insights, and things we abandoned with good reason. An explorer is in our presence - she would know."

Kara nods.

"The cool stuff is usually in context."

Amelia nods.

"But to answer your question: I am certain that the mechanism behind opening the portal to a person involves personal sacrifice, and sacrifice of property makes the most sense to me."

We stand somewhat awkwardly until Leanna clears her throat.

"If that's what we need to do… well, it seems easy enough. I'll go first."

I cough.

"I know enough military doctrine to know that you don't scout with one of your most powerful assets. If there's something on the other side, it pays to have intel, and I'm not worth as much in a fight as any of you. The element of surprise would be wasted on me."

I gage the reactions of everyone. Amelia is still, so is Zack, and Leanna frowns ponderously.

"Well, it makes sense, but I'm not happy with it. We don't even know if there's something dangerous on the other side."

"We don't know that there's not."

I step up to the fire before she can object, and pick through my pockets. Sure enough, there it is.

I don't think that whoever designed this place expected a person to come along with an item that fit the requirements so exactly. I produce an item made with inhuman precision, its rounded, white plastic glinting in the light of the flames. On it, an unsmiling portrait of myself stares back at me, judging my actions. It is a Personal Identification Card and, according to the Coalition, the material representation of me. It is my bank account, my passport, my health beacon, and a hundred other important things that define my interactions with the state. When I am not speaking directly to an official, this small plastic rectangle is what talks for me, telling them that I am who I say I am because of these fingerprints, this eye, and this DNA. It might not be the most sentimental thing I've ever had, but it is my world, and it's what I have.

Getting a new one once I get home will be hard, but if I don't leave it behind I might never return. It isn't a hard decision to make. With an arcing motion, I toss the card into the flames, where it is eagerly lapped up. I cannot tell whether the fire-retardant plastic is doing its duty, or the magic fire is far hotter than a brazier would normally be, but it doesn't matter for now. I can try putting the fire out to check after I get what I need.

I don't feel any different, but sensors back on Earth don't make you feel any different either. Withdrawing my sword from its sheath, I step forward into the smoke. As I cross through I feel the tingle of energy and the low nausea I've learned to associate with magic-sickness, but the substance offers little resistance. Though the few steps in the void feel like an eternity, I reach the other side unharmed, and my eyes quickly scan the room for traps or foes. The light is dim, and my eyes take more time to adjust than I like, but I soon find that I am in a small room. The word 'cozy' comes to mind.

My gaze is then interrupted by the presence of two other beings. In the middle of the room is a fox or wolf of some kind, who swishes its tail as it observes me. I turn towards it, holding my weapon in a guarded stance, and it cocks its head curiously. The other, however, appears as a lady with flamingly red hair. She wears a neat red dress, a small bronze and gold crown, and some amount of armour or jewelry. One of her hands rests atop the fox's head, stroking through its fur without seeming to have any substance.

As I look her over, her gaze lands on me. After deciding that she must be the elemental I am seeking, I sheathe my blade in a gesture of peace.

"Who are you? Are you the Fire Elemental?"

The woman blinks at me, and then smiles. For a second, I think I see the flames lighting the room flicker, and a warmth permeates my body. It's pleasant, like an embrace, and I immediately understand how she might inspire reverence. Although she holds my gaze, she doesn't speak.

"Can you speak? Will you speak?"

Again, she remains silent, but this time she takes a step closer. I hear Zack in the distance.

"Who are you talking to?"

I peek behind the woman and see Zack standing with an eyebrow raised and his arms crossed. The rest of the group pause in their inspection of the room and stare at me. Kara stands beside an altar while Amelia and Leanna are both kneeling by the fox. The fox seems to accept their attention, rhythmically swishing its tail, but otherwise makes no move to respond. Instead, it fixes its attention on me, and the person no one else seems to notice.

Zack verbally prods me again.

"Are you talking to the fox?

"No…"

Suddenly, reality catches up to me as I stand in silence, the worried gazes of several people upon me. If they don't already know who I'm talking to…

Leanna skillfully sunders my train of thought.

"Who or what are you seeing?"

I decide to rigorously describe the scene before me.

"There is a woman with a clear Fire theme going on standing between me and what looks like her large pet fox. She has not spoken to me, but she has moved towards me since I first saw her."

Leanna looks over the area I indicated, but her eyes glaze right over the woman. She furrows her brows, concern mirroring my own.

"Okay…"

Her voice is gentle, like she doesn't want to spook me. It doesn't work. If no one other than me sees this, she might not be real, and I don't really want to discover that I'm suddenly coming down with psychosis. With a frown, I ask the key question.

"None of you see her?"

They collectively shake their heads. I groan.

"Well, I sure hope that she's real, because it would suck for me if she wasn't."

"Pooii…"

Forest hops out from behind my legs. He examines the woman with partial interest first, but the fox quickly catches his attention.

"Poi?"

The fox cocks its head to the side and observes the little guy. He perks up and cautiously bounces forward. Forest pauses right before the fox, whose nose wiggles as it sniffs at him. It then swishes its tail and Forest squeaks in fear, rushing back behind my legs.

"Poi poi!"

Something in my mind clicks.

"Wait, you saw her, didn't you Forest?"

"Poi."

Of course.

"Leanna, you have a mage's eyes. If they can't see her now, perhaps they could in another way."

She blinks, then blinks again, then looks somewhat startled, blinking to clear her vision. This place must have a lot of magic, and she just looked into all of it. That can't be fun. Meanwhile, the woman giggles silently at Forest and gently pats his head. He shivers happily at her touch. It is only a short while before she re-focuses on me, straightening up and taking a step closer. Er… step is probably the wrong word. Her feet fail to touch the floor, and the hem of her dress floats over the well-preserved wooden tiles.

I instinctively back away.

"Uh… what are you doing?"

She pauses once she draws near enough, and touches her palm to my forehead. I feel the sickness shimmer in my stomach as large amounts of magic wash over me, but a few movements of her fingers calm it, letting me absorb what she has to give with greater and greater ease. I feel invigorated, as though I had just eaten a filling meal or was given an adrenaline shot. The more strength flows through my veins, the more translucent the woman becomes. Before long, she disappears, revealing a Leanna still clearing her vision a few metres behind where she stood. Forest stares at me with renewed interest… it reminds me of that same look he gave me when we first met…

He licks his lips, and I sigh. From food to friend and now back to food. How… nice…

I offer him a hand and he glomps it gleefully. At the very least, it is rather adorable.

"Poi…"

Kara waves a hand in front of my face.

"Hey, are you okay? You kind of zoned out there for a minute."

I look at myself. Still in one piece. Maybe not my mind, but:

"I think I'm stable."

"What happened?"

I decide upon an honest answer.

"I'm not too sure…"

Leanna rubs her eyes, causing me to feel somewhat bad about asking her to use her Mage's Sight in an environment like this.

"I thought I saw something in front of him, but it wasn't there by the time I could really get a look at what was happening. Now… it looks like Alasdair is filled with Fire Magic. I've never seen so much near one person before."

She looks at me.

"Where is the woman now?"

"She's gone. I don't know whether that's good or not, but it's what I see."

Amelia reacts to the words - mine and Leanna's - by playing with her bracelets. She holds a manipulator up to me.

"It seems that at least half of Leanna's testimony is accurate. The energy available in this area is gathered within you, and an elaborate piece of spellcraft surrounds your body."

I take a moment to parse what she said.

"Well, it sure felt like I was absorbing something. I felt really queasy, like I did when I was near large amounts of magic earlier, but then it stopped, and I started feeling stronger instead."

Leanna looks intrigued.

"How is that possible?"

I shrug.

"I don't know. All I can really say is that I felt that after she touched me, and that the eyes and brain to go with that sense of touch said there was a lady no one else could see. I feel that Amelia's manipulator is the better source of data here."

There is a pause. Amelia steps back, regarding me. I am suddenly concerned.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I am merely anticipating the imminent reaction."

Remembering that I should explode soon by Terran reasoning, I step back from everyone else myself. Don't want to hide a zombie bite, after all.

After a minute, Amelia looks even more interested, and begins saying something that confuses me.

"One curious thing about the legends of the Ancients is their creation myth. It is said that they did not create humanity, but rather found them elsewhere and brought them to Terra. Most of these people found the new world dangerous to them, for the magic that blew on the winds made their souls catch fire. It took long years of training to protect yourself from this fate, and years more to wield the winds as a tool, but the ones most in danger could not protect themselves at all - unless an Ancient or better magic user stepped in."

She looks at me with suspicion.

"No one on Terra has been that endangered by magic for all of properly recorded history."

Amelia's gaze bores into me as she emphasises the word 'Terra'. It doesn't last long, as she looks back down at her manipulator.

"Two minutes have passed, and we have yet to see an adverse reaction. How curious that smaller amounts of magic could've harmed you, and yet this gargantuan mass of energy fails to do so."

Her sentence seems torn between excitement and disappointment. Did she want to see an explosion? Well, it's just too bad that-

Suddenly, Kara squeals as she gingerly picks a rusty coin out of the remains of a leather satchel.

"This is a genuine Vestan coin!"

Zack glances at the coin and folds his arms, clearly unimpressed. I wonder if he remembers what happened the last time he doubted a coin?

"How much can a rusty, outdated coin be worth?"

Kara smirks.

"A few hundred crowns."

Zack's demeanor instantly changes.

"You don't say."

Kara smoothly pockets the satchel as Zack covertly searches the room. I sigh deeply as his efforts to appear unchanged by Kara's suggestion fail utterly.

A/N: I do hope that this was worth the wait. As always, positive and negative feedback is welcome in the comments. I do my best to respond to all of it.