Celestial summoner book 2 ch 3 back up

    A carriage makes its way down the dusty road among the grassy hills and farms, inside Mirai sits alone with Tempestia riding in her lap like a toy doll. Mirai's hands around the miniscule spirit's waist and legs.

   "Tempestia," says Mirai with a stern look as if trying to glare a hole in the opposite wall and empty seat, "how do you know Rhoan?"

   "I am but the dream of a great dreamer," says Tempestia, "My memories are limited, but I know him, and an echo of another self reflects back when he speaks. I feel that he was in a past life my brother; yet...somehow also my son."

   Mirai looks down with a confused and concerned expression.

  "However," says Tempestia, "I feel there is no father. I...created him, I think, perhaps not even intentionally; there is a shadow of lonliness attatched to his essence like a tulpa born of lonliness perhaps; only by a grander force than a mortal subconcious; and he grew. At least that is the echo of another self I hear. I do not wish to dip further into the dark bubble."

   Mirai thinks a moment, choosing not to pry at the visual but instead, "Tempestia, that is a coincidence my family line has your..relation, and you come to me...that is a question."

   "Understood my princess. I doubt it is a coincidence. Powers beside myself may be at work, another me, or perhaps he himself was drawn to your soul floating through time."

   "Tempestia," asks Mirai, "what do you have to say about what that Overlord Succubus said about racing to me when I performed the summoning ritual."

  "I do not doubt her," says Tempestia, "My princess, as I have been here awhile and the bells chime I am more aware; when you sang many a force flew across the waves of time, space, and chaos against the storms of creation and destruction even within and beyond the far dark. More than one part of myself bent to this world in response to the unexpected song. This piece of me I feel however was closest to this world and this time and reached here first. Reached you first my princess."

   Tempestia's tiny hands grips Mirai's skin a little tighter as if to express an intent to not let her go. Mirai thinks back to the dorm and Tempestia asking her if she is unhappy with her and wants her to leave. Before Mirai can speak again however the carriage stops and the driver announces they have reached their destination. The door opens and in steps Lance, with his Leprechaun elemental faerie spirit riding on his shoulder and his massive sword set to the side of the carriage.

   "Long time," says Lance half jokenly, "been hearing you've been doing jobs solo since leaving the guild, surprised when I got a job from you to escor...t...why am I telling you things we both know?"

  "Tempestia," says Mirai lifting the spirit up to her leg as she had been sliding between them ever so subtetly for a few minutes.

   "Psionic aura boyo," says the leprechaun, "truth and over sharing, you are good boyo to catch onto it so quick. That spirit der is tricky as always aye?"

  Tempestia barely acknowledges the red bearded man in green smoking a pipe whose smoke vanishes into thin air, an illussion for show.

  Mirai cups her hands around the doll sized Tempestia as she gazes down to the upward gaze of the spirit, "I know you can't ask directly," she says, "so instead of you trying to figure it out I'll just tell you okay. We're going to a Agaron City at the edge of our nation's boarder. The city used to have a one spirit partner only law that was only lifted a few years ago." Mirai looks over at Lance's sword and the leprechaun quickly before continuing, "however Agaron City is most famous for its Soul Contracts. Alot of the spirits in the city are ancestral spirits, people who formed contracts while still alive with their loved ones or...others." Mirai looks away a moment her thoughts going to the glowing runes that appeared around her neck, and the rings used in Kurka to entrap spirits, "there are spirit poachers that operate around the town that the guilds help go after when they've stolen an ancestral spirit."

   Mirai sighs, "Well according to the text books we read Agaron was founded as a way to prevent ghosts from manifesting and cut back on Daemons and other dark spirits. The people who live there are required to have annual check ups before a Spirit Mirror. The city was formed around them, these walls kept closely guarded show the true form of a spirit, including that inside a person. If someone, is, say the reincarnation of a powerful spirit the Soul Contract can cause this spirit to manifest upon that person's death and be contracted to their family, the kingdom, or...well...they can also put their soul up for auction to help out their family."

   "Yeah," says Lance speaking up, "about that Mirai, your family isn't in need, hell your family is one of the richest. If what you told me in the job description is true all you're going to end up doing if your right is get some Spirit Poachers after you."

    "I checked ahead," says Mirai to Lance, "I have an appointment with a soul therapist, its just like the spirit checking we did at school to look for our elemental compatibilities, only more indepth, that's all I told them. I didn't tell them what I told you, but yeah, there are we know ways for poachers to find out. That's why I needed a body guard. I'd have loved to have called Sakura and Angela too but too many people also draws attention. I heard these days its also a tourist destination to check out your spirit and photograph it. According to the guild we havn't had a serious case of spirit poachers since the Agaron started to allow people to have multiple spirits and summoning cards. I think they want to steadily change their reputation from human soul enslavement to just another summoner spot. But still."

  Mirai feels around her neck before going quiet, making Lance a little uneasy, noticing also the spirit in her lap's eyes are glowing blue and looking up at Mirai with a studying gaze.

   ******

   The carriage crosses over the stone bridge past the stone walls of Agaron City; an old city with an old history its walls still bear the marks of ferocious battles with the dark lords and their armies of old, worn as a badge of honor; massive claw marks of spirit beasts not seen in ages and battlements still standing with guards that in this day and age feel to be more ceremonial than functional. The carriage continues on through the streets, its occupants hidden till arriving at the front steps of a spirit therapist's office. As Lance steps out first he is unaware across the street of a figure hiding in shadow, this man in a darkened alleyway pulls from his pocket and odd jagged and thick piece of what looks to be glass. In it is reflected the carriage and building but where Lance should be there is instead a blue orb of light, just above and to the side a small green orb of light and by his feet a dog sized orange see through lion. As Mirai steps out the shard reflects a purple light coming from the carriage; however a darkness comes over the shard and three long black spikes shoot from it, one through the man's jaw and up through his head, the other two peircing his chest through his lungs. The man is pulled by a force that has overtaken the shard deeper into the dark confines of the alley. As Mirai and Lance with their spirits in tow make their ways up the office steps and into the door they are unaware of the corpse hidden among the litter and drainage of the alley, black spikes rescending into the shard, as the darkness fades a whispering voice like a woman far away says, "None shall interfere with me".

  ******

   In the office Mirai is sitting across a desk from a small middle aged woman in a smart suit, nearby Lance is standing beside a fake potted office plant and watching, rehearing the entire account in person from Mirai.

   "Interesting," says the spirit therapist, "before I can begin to analyze your account Miss Tokona I will need to confirm something first."

  She takes from a drawer a handheld mirror, "This is just a contract confirmation mirror, a little more complex but also a little less precise than the alignment confirmation tests the Grand Summoning School has; but no where near as detailed as the Spirit Revelation Mirrors our city is famous for."

  She turns the mirror to Mirai, "You will be able to see any spirit marks indicating a contract, meanwhile myside is more like a window allowing me to see it as well."

   Lifting up to Mirai's neck the reflection in the mirror shows a glowing band with runes on it around Mirai's neck.

   "Hmm," says the spirit therapist, "its a contract alright, let's see, I see a spirit tracking element as well, and a...triggering element, I'd say anyone else with the same or similar contract in their spirit would trigger it to become visible; I can only speculate but in my experience a feature like that is not unlike a secret tattoo or code word between allies."

   She pauses, "So let's see, you encountered what might be an Overlord class succubus type Mystic Monster or Daemon bearing the same mark that was drawn to you and had tried to become your partner, beaten to the punch by this other spirit currently in your lap who was also drawn to you; but not in the normal summoning ritual manner but specifically because of this contract. I see, this could indicate any number of things Miss Tokona, an ally in a past life, a friend, lover, master, you may have served this spirit; there are any number of possibilities; especially considering you say this is an Eldritch spirit. The next step Miss Tokona if you'd follow me would be to get a more indepth look at your spirit, the nature of your association and what to expect from spirits drawn to you would be easier to deduce with a clearer picture of what your spirit actually is, a regular ghost, Daemon, elemental, you might be surprised at the sheer diversity of spirits that can reincarnate into a human form and what details our specialized equipment can gleam from the Spirit Revelation mirrors other than just a bunch of pretty colors. Before we head over however i have to ask if you've stepped in front of one of the publically accessible mirrors yet in the tourism quarter?"

   Mirai looks confused, "Well, no, we came straight here."

   The Spirit Therapist seems to think for a moment, "alright, wait for me in the lobby, I just need to gather up my tools and I'll be out there in a few minutes."

   ******

  The carriage takes them past the tourist spots to a warehouse like building housing a very large rectangular structure in the center consisting of a purple curtain rig covering up a mirror that is twenty feet tall byt forty feet long.

   "We use this Spirit Revelation Mirror for special cases," says the spirit therapist, tourists can walk in front of the dozen other mirrors by appointment but we've been experimenting on this one to give us the ability to adjust the relative distance and focus to the inner realms to better analyze details of one or a group's spirits, a tad more medical in other words than the usual tourist spot.

   They walk over to the edge of the curtain, "for the purposes of an affective analysis I will have to ask that only Miss Tokona stand on that X on the floor, a good fifteen feet back form the mirror while the rest of you stand over here out of the path of the reflection. I in the meantime have a spirit reflection ward that will render my reflection invisible in the mirror so as not to interfere while allowing me a more direct view of the spirit reflection to determine any quirks, details, and types without my own spirit causing any glare overlaps muddying up the results."

   Lance, his two spirits, and Tempestia by Mirai's orders stand over to the side while the spirit therapist pulls back the curtain. As she said her reflection is missing, however where Mirai should be is a lithe feminine figure standing nearly seven feet tall with a body that looks like molded pinkish-purple smooth clay or metal, her face is like Mirai's, eyes closed, she has a massive fiery plume of energy based hair that cascades down her back to just above her buttocks made of pink energy with a few strands of appearing and dissappearing blue energy. Around her neck she is wearing a glowing golden necklace with black runes on it that also appear to glow.

   "Fascinating," says the spirit therapist, "and by fascinating I mean...I honestly am at a loss, I don't recognize this spirit. Some traits tell me its celestial in nature, maybe fire, but..."

   The eyes of the reflection open slightly revealing pink flames and the reflection moves, smooth motions more like statues of different poses changing places rather than anything resembling muscle movement, as the reflection moves differently from Mirai. Mirai *gasps* her body feeling paralyzed as a pink glow comes over her own eyes. Her reflection reaches up with both hands and undoes the clasp of the necklace which then flows in the air like a snake before being slurped up into the glowing pink open mouth of the spirit reflection. A voice echoes through the open space of the warehouse, "there, no more indications. My empress can still find me, no more of me can become needlessly suspicious."

  Mirai chokes up and forces herself to speak, "Who are you?"

 The reflection's eyes close and says, "I am you, and you are me. We are two people in a dream talking to one another, who are really one, as is the nature of a dream."

  With that Mirai can move again, however the reflection grows bright, a waving distortion over takes the mirror and Mirai's reflection vanishes.

  The spirit therapist speaks, "I defensive reaction, I'd imagine from now on no Spirit Revelation Mirror will show your spirit; however this lack of a reflection in one would still be suspicious to the wrong people."

  "What was that?" asks Mirai.

  The spirit therapist shakes her head, "A subconcious awareness, your spirit upon seeing its self reflected awoke briefly and became aware of its self, and acted it seems in a way to prevent any further suspicions...from what it said I'd imagine not just by you but any potential future incarnations. Hard to say why, or what is going on, but that line it said *my empress can still find me*,"

  "My...princess," whispers Mirai.

  "Ma'am," says Mirai to the spirit therapist, what do people and spirits normally look like in these mirrors."

   "Well we'll just show you, young man if you would step over here."

   Lance walks over, in the mirror a blue fuzzy ball of light is hovering at about Lance's chest height, a green more solid ball of solid just above directly over where the leprechaun is and by his side a dog sized see through orange lion.

   "Oh my," says the spirit therapist, "your sword is a transformed Leo spirit, you also have an earth or forest elemental with you and your own spirit is a typical human spirit. Upon death you would either pass on to the next life or if conditions are unfavorable return as a ghost. A relatively simple diagnosis. Miss Tokona on the other hand has a complex and very large spirit whose details I am unfamiliar with, spirit awareness isn't unheard of, generally old souls that used to be Daemons, Eldritch, or Celestial elementals have more complex forms and can become aware from a person's subconcious, that Leo for example has a fully formed body in the reflection, and the small size is due to currently compressing into a weapon. If released to full size their reflection would likely be a one to one ordinary mirrored image.

   "Tempestia," says Mirai, "c; come here please."

   The tiny form of Tempestia the instant she floats in front of the mirror transforms to her human size in a sudden flash of blue light; the mirror however see a curtain of black cascade over it, even before Tempestia reaches Mirai the entire mirror only sees black.

   "Woah," says Lance.

   "My princess," says Tempestia with a dip of her head.

   "Another defense spell," says Mirai, "are you hiding your reflection too?"

  "No, my princess, we should leave." replies Tempestia calmly.

  "Not any kind of interference," says the spirit therapist, "the young man here and his spirits are being overshadowed, hmm, maybe not."

   She walks over to the mirror and steps over to the frame on their left tapping at some runes, "that Eldritch's inner realm is dominant over that of anyone else in the room, typical for an Eldritch, also typical, she's too close to the mirror. Most Eldritch are very large, at this distance you'd only see some pulsating flesh, scales, wriggling tentacles. Whatever her true form is, she is very big and possibly very dark."

   The spirit therapist taps on the runes and there is movement in the mirror, "This mirror like I said is specially designed, I can actually back up the image to get a better look at giant or even gargantuan spirits."

   After a few seconds they see waves of reds, blues, and greens as lights among a now clearly waving darkness. However just as something glowing intensly blue and possibly the waist, upper hip, and lower right breast of a woman comes into view the image suddenly jerks stopped; a slight earthquake shakes the warehouse and the spirit therapist falls back in surprise.

   "What?" she stammers as she stands, the glowing blue form changes, darkness like an armor forms over it, cascading blue lights like the form beneath appear every few seconds, behind it like a frame are verticle and undulating lights of red, blue, gree, and black not unlike incredible long hair behind a person; and what appears to be an arm rises up and the image is encased in darkness again.

  "The palm of the hand," says the spirit therapist, "she's blocking us from seeing her fully; but she does appear to be at least partially humanoid, and in several ways does resemble the same true spirit as yourself Miss Tokona; only much bigger. That said the exact size in the mirror can't actually be determined; these mirrors were designed to originally auto-adjust to our proportions. For all we know your spirit could be tiny as fly or hundreds of feet tall. The amount of power though Eldritch give off internally tends to overwhelm the mirrors to only show part of their forms; an extreme close up in other words."

   The spirit therapist pauses a moment and looks behind them at the door and back to Mirai, "Miss Tokona as part of my job I also do auctions and contract assessments. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't extend at least an offer; my office has contacts with many wealthy guild masters and influential individuals who would jump at the chance to have unique spirits bonded to their guilds."

   She pauses her spiel as Mirai gives her a confused look, before Mirai can speak Lance stepping closer to the mirror says, "So is this just not a big deal or something? Are we just not caring that Mirai's inner spirit could just turn invisible and act on her own? Or that her partner spirit is totally blacking this out or clearly interacted with it from her higher self's side? I may not be a spirit therapist or an expert but I have enough adventurer training to know something grabbing a mirror from inside the reflection and shaking the room isn't something you just ignore."

  "right the bodyguard," says the spirit therapist sounding a bit annoyed, "Miss Tokona I can assure you its fine; but if you want we can cover the mirror back up and discuss this in my office instead."

  "I'm sorry," says Mirai, "but my family runs the Sain Kingdom Guild and my grandmother was a founder of the Lobo Guild."

   "There are always collectors, even within the guilds," offers the spirit therapist.

   "My princess," comes a low whisper.

   "Tempestia?" asks Mirai, seeing Tempestia's eyes are glowing an intense blue, her lips not moving as the voice comes again, only two at once, "My princess,"; three at once, "My princess," a chorus of "My Princess," almost hissing and moaning, coming from the mirror.

   Lance leaps back from the mirror as the image chnges to waves of black and deep reds, fewer of the other colors from before and appearing through, as if swimming up to view are white masks in the form of Tempestia's face; all with either pint points of blue light, orbs, or discs, within the eyes of the masks.

   One of the masks rams the mirror and a glowing green crack spreads out from the impact, another, and another.

   "What, wh...what is this?!" shouts the spirit therapist running to the side of the mirror with the runes, but upon touching them rears back screaming and clutching her hand, her finger tips blistered and red.

   "My Princess!" the masks scream as the ground shakes, green glowing cracks form around the corners of the mirror like someone squeezing it and trying to break it as the masks continue to ram it.

   "Tempestia!" shouts Mirai, "what is this? what are you doing?"

   Tempestia speaks at the exact same time as the masks in the reflection, "I am the dreamer and the dream; two personalities within the same mind, having the same dream, as she is I and I am her; two parts of the whole."

   Tempestia alone speaks, "I am as you have named me Tempestia, a stoic goddess, first of myself to reach you."

   The masks in the reflection speak, "We are the Primal Shadow, lust, hunger, aggression, primordial instinct, give us back our Princess, do not try to steal her again ephemeral worlds!"

   Mirai steps forward, "I spoke with my reflection, she wanted to continue living here. I...I wasn't going to take this spirit therapist's offers. I just had to see formyself what the truth was."

   Black vines covered in thorns appear along the inside of the reflection and red and purple blossoms form along them as if to frame it like a picture, "Step into the mirror, come home."

   "My princess," says Tempestia, "the Primal Shadow is equivalent to that part of your dreaming mind that doesn't hold back, has no inhibitions, for good or bad; that part of your dream you awake from and may feel dirty for what you did during a dream. Essentially the same implusive part of the brain that calls for you to punch someone the moment they anger you, break something out of frustration, or leap onto someone you find attractive; impulses that must be guided, focused, and prohibited with reason. If this aspect of the self had reached you before any other your story thus far would have been very different; and no doubt you would have sent us away; you'd be here not seeking answers but a cure for your curse."

  "Silence you passive bitch!" screams the mask, "sitting around doing nothing, you havn't even fucked her yet!"

   Mirai takes a step back in surprise.

   "and you," says Tempestia calmly, "would have killed Mr. Farns, and likely turned Mirai into a vampire or some other monster lacking in inhibitions the moment she expressed any desire to never lose us or even to become stronger. Still likely resulting in her or her family and friends seeking a way to seal us or send us away. I will not allow the Primal Shadow aspect to endanger Mirai."

   "You dare imply any part of us would harm her?" asks the masks, "we offer her power and pleasure, freedom from that soft ephemeral shell that will age and decay around her if she does not embrace enough of her power to ascend!"

   "Subtle," says Tempestia mockingly, "this is why you rarely work out save as a destroyer, as such I am left without recourse."

   Tempestia raises her hand and snaps her fingers, a loud chime can be heard that repeats three times.

  "What is that?" asks Lance.

  Mirai shoots a look his way, "You can hear it too this time?"

  Tempestia's body blinks in and out a few times as she smiles, as does the darkness in the mirror.

  "What...no, what are you doing Tempestia?!" shouts Mirai.

  "I will not endanger you," says Tempestia, "you have seen our darkness, we are not seperate beings, but only two small parts of a much greater whole. I will awaken now and release you from..."

   A brillaint green flash comes over the mirror, the cracks heal and the darkness is gone, from waves of green not unlock a dense aurora another woman steps through the mirror. She isn't much taller than Mirai, her brown hair up in a bun, she is wearing white priestess like robes, holding a silver staff with a dragon claw top holding  a blue jewel, and wearing a silver circlet with a small blue jewel as well.  She taps her staff at the mirror and the green is gone, however all reflections now are just those of a regular mirror.

   The spirit therapist is holding her hand, and about to speak when the woman looks her way and simply says the word, "Heal," and a white light envelops the spirit therapist's hand restoring it.

  The woman looks around and speaks, "Good, no fatalaties...I hope;  I sensed the Primal Shadow was reaching out from her dream."

   She looks at Tempestia and Mirai, "Hmmm, not what I was expecting. I thought she'd be in some small animal form. This nature goddess form was unexpected."

  "Don't take another step forward," says Lance drawing his sword.

   "I restored her sleep," says the woman, "that was the green you saw in the mirror, and to be safe I disenchanted the mirror as well."

   Tempestia is just standing there stoic as ever.

   "Who are you?" demands Lance.

   The woman looks between them, Mirai whispers, "Y...you were real? I thought that was just some weird dream."

  Lance shoots her a glance as Mirai continues, "In the Ocean Temple, while going down the vortex I heard those chimes and ended up in a room full of books, and a window looking out over some campus or town I didn't recognize. This woman was there and acted like I was a student late for class."

   "You are,:" says the woman, "but not your fault. It's...complicated and I'd rather discuss the matter in a more cozy environment if you please Mirai."

   "What kind of spirit," mutters the spirit therapist as she taps a device from her pocket, three men enter the warehouse.


   "So which one of these killed Dill?" says one of the men.

   "What?" asks the spirit therapist as she rushes by their side, "what do you mean? what happened to my brother?"

   "Found the poor chap dead," says another of the three men, "in the alley across from your office; three holes in 'em, looked liked something reached out the shard he had and offed him."

  "No," whispers the spirit therapist, hands covering her mouth in shock.

  "Valuable spirits you lot have there," says the third man producing a spirit capture ring from his pocket, "we'll be taking them."

   Lance steps forward, sword drawn.

   "What a valuable learning oppertunity," says the mysterious woman who had emerged from the mirror, "Mirai, this was not my first stop. I did some research on this world after our last visit. Summoning I believe."

   "What does he mean someone was killed?" asks Mirai addressing Tempestia.

   "I sense," says Tempestia, "that unlike this mirror with its protective runes one of these men had an unguarded shard of such a mirror and was using it to scope out potential victims to this woman's office. Unprotected, along with the next closest part of me near the surface of this world; the Primal Shadow. That aspect would not hesitate to kill a potential threat to you."

   "That sounds like the Primal Shadow," says the woman; as she holds out her staff a series of green cards manifesting around the jewel and orbiting slowly, "summoning is the game, so I shall demonstrate the true potential of this magic; a form of summoning your past self once used in a somewhat different game."

   "Why," asks Mirai, "who are..."

   She stops as a capture ring is stopped in mid-air just in front of the mystery woman, "I see these men who wish to do us all harm just want to cheat."

   She blows at the ring and it shatters surprising them, "do you men not have any spirit cards to battle with? Or any other summoning potential?"

   "Who are you?" demands Lance.

   "Uh, yeah," says Mirai, "who are you and why are you helping us?"

   The woman stands proud, "I am Holly Lia, an Empress of the Ravashira Empire, an sorceress!"

   No one even bats an eye, but one of the men says, "a spirit of a sorceress, and one that walked out of a spirit revelation mirror; I know a buyer or two who will want one of those."

   "You want...to enslave me," says Holly Lia, "then battle me."

   She turns to Mirai, "Also, I was your instructor in your last life; and I am not about to let a little thing like a temporal over write take a student from me."

   She taps her staff on the ground and vanishes, along with one of the men. A bubble forms around the two men and the spirit therapist and a seperate one around Mirai, Lance, and their spirits; dimensional viewing bubbles from which they can see a dark world with a blue grid on the ground, a familiar set up, same as the Ocean Temple. A raised platform on each side where the summoner stands and between them a grid of three foot by three foot squares arranged 7x7 squares with the platforms dead center putting one square in front of them and three to their right and three to their left.

   "So the stakes," says Holly Lia, "what do want mortal?"

   The man chuckles, "A spirit with a bunch of sub-summons? Really valuable, play you to capture you; normal rule around here spirit."

   Holly Lia glares at the man, "If you win you enslave me. Very well if I win you will die and your soul dragged into the False Paradise primordial Hell."

   The man raises an eyebrow, "yeah right, another all talk big shot spirit. But one uh ya killed Del so guess I have no choice. But the first thing I'm gonna do is make you clean my house top to bottom, you already look like a made.

   "Idiot," says Holly, "very well you make the first move. Challenger."

  "As expected," says the man taking out his cards, "I summon to the space directly in front of me, Fire Slug."

   A giant red slug with a mohawk like flame of fire down its back appears in that space, "and that ends my turn."

   Holly Lia shakes her head, "Either you have some confidence mortal or you didn't bother to read the rules on that holographic screen in front of you. This is summoning from another world. You can summon up to four protectors on your first move. Keeps things moving at an even pace that way."

  She holds up her staff, "Also, not limited by card but spiritual contract!"

  Her staff's blue jewel glows green as she calls out names,