The Secret of Tanencha sy Tyrin

8 | A Dark Planet

Stella shut her eyes tightly, and when she opened them again, the plane was hovering just a few feet above the planet. She dropped her hands to her sides, exhausted, and the plane fell, causing her head to bounce against the back of her seat. She peaked out the window, to see-- what was this?-- grass? It wasn't the vibrant green she had become accustomed to, but gray. In fact, the entire planet was gray, and as she took a closer look at it, she couldn't see a single spec of color.

Frowning, she stretched her arms and cracked her knuckles. Her back hurt a bit from the small fall she'd taken, but she ignored it, and grabbed her bag, before cautiously leaving the space ship.

Once her feet touched the dark grass, she felt herself shiver, her entire body got cold. There was something about this place that was deeply unsettling, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The atmosphere, the environment, everything. She coughed, and even air tasted gray if that was possible. It was smoky.

A layer of mist surrounded the ground, as she walked, she could barely see her own black boots, and as she assessed the area, and then she felt her head drift up to see a shrouded cliff, with a cave on top of it.

"Follow the mist up to the cave," The Tanencha's voice, calming and smooth said. For the first time ever, she wasn't annoyed by the voice, she was thankful for it.

Stella looked down at the mist, which formed into a trail in front of her. The trail spiraled right towards the base of the cliff, and then up it. She followed it, in silence, the only sound she could hear where her boots clamping against the ground of the gray planet. She followed the path precisely, making sure that each foot was in the mist, because who knows what could happen if she stepped out? Stella knew there probably weren't booby traps, but she didn't want to take any chances. With the dark magic, she'd heard Azarath harnessed, he could do anything, and Stella didn't want to be the victim of that anything. So she continued on her way, walking carefully and cautiously, as the terrain got darker and darker.

"Do you think Azarath will have the crystal?" Stella mumbled under her breath, trying not to breathe through her nose.

The Tanencha conveniently didn't answer her question, "how would we know that?"

"I don't know," Stella said, "you're an ancient entity. Doesn't that grant you some knowledge?"

"Perhaps."

"Why do you always say that?" Stella mimicked. "'Perhaps,' it's annoying, can't you see I'm struggling?" She swung her hands back and forth by her side, annoyed, but still, continuing to walk. She was nearing the cliff, and her nerves were growing.

When the Tanencha spoke, it sounded irritated. "I'm a part of your subconscious Stella, which means that you have that knowledge."

"I don't know how to find it," Stella replied, reaching the cliff, and grabbing onto a rock, pulling herself up. The perks of being a renegade were she had decent upper body strength, from all the climbing she had to do. Stella was forced to be strong, physically at least.

"You'll know soon enough." The Tanencha replied, going silent. Stella didn't want to continue speaking either, which made sense. Since the Tanencha was supposedly a part of her, then if she was tired, it would feel the same too. It was weird to think about, but as she climbed the cliff, it was the only thing that she could think about. The Tanencha always seemed condescending, all-knowing. Stella had never thought she was better than anyone else, and she certainly wasn't all-knowing. So how was it possible that the Tanencha was a part of her?

She reasoned, that it was because the Tanencha hadn't always been a part of her. It had joined her later on in her life, in the caves, and because of that, it couldn't have the exact same personality as her. It wasn't split personalities, or she didn't think so, but it was more like... the Tanencha was a part of her, but a part separate from everything she knew. A part that wasn't entirely her, but nevertheless, gave her certain skills or information needed.

She grunted, reaching the top of the cliff, satisfied with her explanation. She didn't know what the Tanencha thought of it, because it hadn't said anything, but she took that as a good thing. Stella wasn't a dumb person, but she didn't know a lot, so finding a way to reason through all of the chaos was helpful-- it wasn't calming-- but it let her reason through the madness she was experiencing.

Stella stood up, proud of herself for reaching the top. The cave in front of her surprisingly continued the path of mist, and she cautiously took a step into it. The area was dark, but as she squinted, she realized that it wasn't any normal cave. The sides of it were boarded with dark black panels, and she could see different sensors that beeped ever so slightly.

"Will there be traps?" She asked the Tanencha, hoping it would respond quickly.

And then Tanencha delivered, "of course. Why wouldn't there be, what would a lair be without one?"

"How do I find them?" She prodded, though she knew what the answer would be along the lines of.

"Tanencha sy Tyrin," The Tanencha told her. The energy of Essence. That meant harnessing her power, something she was just learning. She'd learned how to fire a shot with it, save herself from falling, but this? She wasn't sure how to do it.

"I don't know what to do. Please help me." She said.

"What do you think these traps would look like?" The Tanencha asked, cutting her off.

She racked her mind, thinking about the previous traps she had found herself caught in, in other missions. Lasers, nets, she could think of anything. In many poor planets, people made sure that their materials where kept under careful lock and key, also equipping these areas with booby traps made from simple objects. But for a place with technology advanced as this, she assumed that there would be much more sophisticated traps.

She stuttered, unsure of what she was saying was stupid or not. "Lasers?" She provided meekly.

"Perhaps." The Tanencha said. Was it mocking her?

She rolled her eyes. "Why do you continue to say that?"

"My dear," the Tanencha said, "we are one of the same, so with all technicalities, it's you who continues to say that." Stella hummed impatiently. "But lasers would be plausible."

"So how will I find where these lasers are hidden?"

"There's a reason that there's mist here." The Tanencha told her bluntly, and Stella came to a realization of what she had to do. The Tanencha had alluded to the fact there was something special about this mist, and maybe, what that meant, was that she needed to activate it in some way.

She stepped out of the cave, retracing her steps, hoping to not set off any triggers, and began to figure out what she had to accomplish.