Ascendance

    

 It was a gathering of both old and new. Friends, lovers, and family thrown together in a place still considered to be sacred ground. Aesera and Veleris Firestorm, the twins, had been reunited with their father, who they had previously believed to be deceased. However, Veleris had recently been affected by an unseen force, and was determined to meet an unknown end; she was not in her right state of mind. Erythis Firestorm, in all of her wisdom and nearly-eternal beauty, had fallen ill after coming into contact with a strange and powerful artifact. She too had met with the ghost from the past: her former husband, Valynnas Cinderfall, who she had also thought to be long gone. She was losing consciousness now, unable to distinguish him from her current husband to be, Jerarld Del'var, who was also by her side. Mirava Del'Var, Jerarld's neice, also seemed to have fallen ill and was laying with Erythis against tufts of dark-green grass. She seemed to grow less and less aware of her surroundings. Behind them stood the two lords of Highcrest: Varinal, the elder uncle, stood stoic and surveyed the scene behind him with his one remaining eye while Vynlarion, pushed to his breaking point after spending days unable to grasp the situation, stood with his blade drawn. Veleris, Aesera, and their very-much-alive father were suspended in the air by energy unleashed by the paladin in his frustration. Evidently, he had had enough. Aurorith Everlight, Chief of House Firestorm's Second R&D Division, knelt by the two ill women during the commotion.
     Veleris Firestorm, who had became consumed by strange visions, let forth a yell. "The Well of Shalla'Elune is no more! All of you must be ready to embrace The Truth and prepare for the coming of Light!"
     "That's enough, Veleris! Get a hold of yourself!" Aesera, in the air and in a mobile stasis, protested against her nearly identical sibling. "Tell us why mother's soul has come under assault! Make us understand; no more nonsense!"
     The elder Firestorm, who had finally slipped into a silent state of unconsciousness, began to see vibrant, colorful images ripple to life in her dream-like state. The sorceress found herself alone and nude within a spacious room. There were no walls, and the expanse outside looked to be a fiery, crimson sky at sunset. There was a bright, blue celestial object poised like a sparkling gemstone in nearby space; light shimmered down from a high ceiling and danced in the air like tiny, shimmering fae. At the room's center, a wide platform stood as a focal point surrounded by a rectangular basin of still water. There was a single bridge of stone leading to its center on only one side.
     "Hello?" As the elven duchess became more aware of her self-identity, she sought out to determine whether or not she was alone. At first, everything seemed still, and quiet. Even her own voice seemed to carry little sound: barely a whisper. After a few moments, however, a thin and ethereal figure appeared at the center of the dais. The Lady Firestorm stood at the edge of the watery barrier, staring in silence. She thought she was looking upon her own reflection, but the woman soon realized she was looking upon something else entirely. "You are-..."
     "Hello, my child." The voice was calm; smooth, serene. "I am surprised and so very pleased that you remember my face." Standing there in the form a faint, ghostly apparition, was a woman who looked nearly identical to the present day Erythis Firestorm. However, the sorceress had quickly come to a conclusion. The specter before her was that of her mother: The Architect, the late Valora Firestorm.
     "I have looked upon you in my mirror, but you have never come to me before. Not like this. Your voice, it...sounds the same as I remember it. Why now? What is the significance of all this? Please, tell me you have some wisdom to bestow upon me."
     "Erythis, I know you crave answers, but words between us will only tell you so much. Soon, you will just..., know."
     "What do you mean, 'I will just know?' That doesn't make any sense."
     "Come to me, Erythis."
     Slowly, the exposed woman walked along cool marble and stone until she reached the side connected to the bridge. There wasn't a single ounce of shame coursing through her mind or body. "What is this place? Am I dreaming?" She crosses over the water and stands on the edge of the platform, facing the image of her mother.
     "You as you are here, in this place..., this is your soul. The body standing before me is a projection of your vision of self. Your soul is so very strong, as are all of ours, us Firestorm women."
     "Then, my body is..."
     "With the others."
     "I feel..., weak. Why?"
     "Your body and soul have remained in-tact for all of these years, my child. But your spirit has never been with you. In order for your spirit to reunite with your flesh, your soul had to be weakened. A strong soul often rejects spiritual identity. Your true identity."
     "I don't know if I believe in such a thing as, 'spiritual identity.' Does that mean that some deity has pre-determined my fate?"
     "No. Truly, there is no such thing as fate. One ripple in time can change the flow of events for an entire cycle. Nothing is ever completely set in stone and a single thought or action can change the world. Your soul is a part of your identity: the part that you have forged within you after your birth into this world. Your spirit is the part of your identity that was there waiting for you before you were born. Your ultimate calling and purpose."
     "When my spirit becomes a part of me..., will I still be me? Will I still be Erythis Firestorm?"
     "You will be you, and also, your true self. Your complete, spiritual self. You will know Truth, peace, and purpose."
     Erythis takes a few steps forward and stands near the center of the platform. "This place..."
     "This is where your spirit rests. Where you will become one with yourself."
     "Is my spirit malevolent? Will it lash out? Shalla'Elune said that this..., 'being,' is dangerous. A destroyer. Is that who I really am?"
     "You are beyond good and evil. What you make of your future is entirely up to you. It is our spirit, all of us, together. You, as the eldest, have the most of the original genetic material in your body."
     "Mother, what am I? Is my spirit a creature from another world? Is my body a product of a non-elven entity? Something from outside of Azeroth? Someone, like Shalla'Elune, that believes itself to be a god? There are no such things as truly divine beings. All god-like powers can be defined with magic and science-.."The projected form of Erythis Firestorm fell to her knees, looking as if she were fading, like a flickering light through a smokey haze.
     "You feel it now, don't you? Do not fight it. Your soul has become vulnerable now, and that is okay. Let it come."
     "Why did Shalla'Elune imprison my spirit?"
     "She was afraid."
     "Is our power really so great?"
     "Now is the time for you to set logic aside. None of this is logical, Erythis. You must have faith in what cannot be explained rationally."
     "Everything can...," she leans backwards and lays upon the dais, "be explained."
     "Mortals and immortals alike can become as gods, but they are not Truth."
     Erythis closed her eyes. "I'm so tired of all of these cryptic-..., so many...questions...words..."It was as if she were about to fade away and enter a dream within a dream. As the image of Valora Firestorm dispersed, another image appeared in its stead. It began as a shapeless, translucent figure, swirling with the colors of fire. Soon, it took an elven shape, one that so closely resembled that of Erythis Firestorm, and lowered itself onto the woman's projected self. Joining together, the soul of the great sorceress became enveloped in a blinding light; the pedestal was barely visible. After several minutes, the brightness subsided.
     Erythis Firestorm lay upon the pedestal, but not as she once was. Her lengthy hair was even longer, as if it were a mane of fire. Her body was dressed in flames themselves, save for scarce strands of scarlet silk that draped along skin that now looked like liquid gold. Jewels wrapped around her body on thin chains and adorned her form exquisitely, her slender frame glistening with light.
     The flesh of the mighty duchess rose before her companions, the woman no longer disoriented, or ill. She stood there, looking as they always knew her to. But as she opened her eyes, those focused orbs were a bright, solar colored gold. It was if they were looking into the very sun itself.