Paths of Divergence

Resonance

Chapter 59

-Resonance

Sleep did not come easy for the boy that night. Even after returning from the shrine he still feels the tremors run through his body and his mind. Every time he closes his eyes he sees himself unrestrained, expression blank, running rampant.

The reflection in the obelisk.

The version of himself without restraint, conscience, and balance.

He sits cross legged at the edge of the chasm. Staring into the endless abyss below. There is no sky here. No stars. No moonlight. Only depth, the presence of what comes after. The stench of death and the balance of the never ending cycle.

Maka stands a few paces behind him, silent as ever.

"You felt it," she says at last.

Shizake doesn't turn, "Yes."

"Describe what you feel," she says.

"Hmm. Unsettled. I faced the ugliest side of who I am. I don't feel strength or even clarity. Broken almost... like I'm teetering on the edge of something dangerous," he describes while staring at his palms.

Maka's mask tilts slightly, "Chaos is raw existence. There's no filter, no structure, no meaning. Most who experience it either cling to it or let it devour them whole."

Shizake takes a deep breath, "And order?"

"Order without chaos becomes stagnation. A false peace. You can't have one without the other," she begins. "You survived chaos. That grants you a right to the first inhalation."

"Inhalation?" He asks.

"Nature energy. Not the kind gathered by toads through stillness nor borrowed by the serpents through adaptation. The Abyss does not lend," she explains through hums of static. "It must be allowed."

Shizake peers over the lip of the abyss into the swirling darkness below. The darkness is not empty. It moves. Subtle currents ripple beneath the surface like a black ocean breathing in slow ancient rhythms.

"Balance is key when utilizing nature energy. All sages harness this balance. When using chakra you must balance your physical and mental energies. With Sage training you'll have to balance a third component, that being nature energy, in order to use Sage arts," Maka explains.

The boy ponders for a moment. "So then what happens if you fail to balance those three elements? What happens if nature energy overtakes the other two?"

Maka gestures towards her mask, "Decay."

Shizake nods, "Then what do I need to do to start?"

Maka shifts her arms within her robes before reaching down over the ledge of the chasm and plunging her hand in the writhing shadows. She lifts her hand back up. The shadows twist and spiral around her fingers like an organic being. Shizake stares in awe watching the woman physically hold a piece of the abyss.

"That's... the abyss?" Shizake asks.

The woman shakes her head followed by static crackles from her mask, "No, just the shadows. Here, they take form. Extend your palm. I'll place a bit upon it. It'll resonate with your chakra pathways and allow you to begin taking in nature energy. You passed the first trial. Do not fight it."

Shizake opened his palm and began his training.

*

The impact of roaring water fill the basin made training grounds. Gallons of water cascade from the cliffs above spraying a constant veil of mist into the surrounding area. The air here is cool and damp, every breath carrying the scent of fresh water and moss.