PITCH BLACK〔M〕「Hoef & Hannelorian」

[Dire Hoef]

Hachi looked over at a maintenance door as Nora went about examining the aforementioned artifacts. None of them were particularly of note, and that was partly due to Hachi never really conveying what exactly they were looking for. He had the sense that she was a bit aimless as to what to do on that front, so he decided to guide her along the right path. "This way. I know a route."

He stepped over to the maintenance door and pushed his way through. Once Nora was through, he quickly closed the door behind them and hurried along the back corridor. Through this stretch of hallway were piles of inky mass pooling at the corners of the floor, only subdued by the secondary lighting that filled the path with an ambient red. All was quiet, so much so that a pin drop could be heard. What broke it were the loose memories that Hachi let float up to surface.

One of the memories details Hachi coming to meuseum as a child and being awestruck by its sights. However that awe was quickly tempered by the harsh hand of his mother. But just as pain was about to settle into his heart, the memory shifted to him walking the very corridors he treads. He came before a vault door was tightly sealed, but Hachi had the codes to access what was inside.

"Sometimes I forget where I came from.." Such sentiment carried with it a sense of anguish at the types of dealings, himself, had to make to get some of this access. Clenched fists and gritted teeth were the physical expressions here. He relaxed seconds later, sensing that anguish dissipate. He kept it moving after that, pushing on around a couple corners and coming to that very same vault door.

The man wasted no time in punching in the code, which gave a positive beep when it worked. The door operated on its own, unlocking with a spin and a hiss. Inside, the store room was filled to the brim with all sorts of stuff that had been uncovered over the last fifty years. Everything from documents to the strange knick-knacks that sit on pedastals was neatly organized for pair to peruse at their leisure. However, Hachi was not here to peruse, he was looking for something. Someone.

Sifting through a mountain of furniture and loose documents that were knocked over during the chaos outside, Hachi came across a key whose tip is strange. It doesn't appear to be able to unlock any normal locks, but when he stuck the key into a part of the back wall, it slid right in. From there, and deeper compartment was unveiled to them.

[Hannelorian]

Nora strolled through the memories that crept to the surface of Hachi's mind. The ugly ones always held power and were fastest to rise. What little she could tell of his mother seemed of no surprise to her. Matriarchs were cruel, they were cruel to their daughters who had to exceed their mothers. They were crueler still to their sons, the leaches of the earth who had stolen away a chance for a precious life to have been born into the world. A stolen daughter. A disgraced son. What a waste. Nora's own mother had never been kind. A product of another world so beautifully adapted to a culture where she could reign unchallenged by the whims of men.

Nora thought for a moment of her sisters. Perhaps it was for the best that they had assuredly perished. Perhaps it was for the best that the world would never remember them or their vanities or their miniscule "accomplishments." But so too would the world forget her beloved brother. He had barely existed outside of a note in some tome that recorded his birth, though not with an exact date, for that did not matter. Dates were for those who might make something of themselves. Seldom a name to accompany, just the note of a boy born to Elise Templeton Sakai. A sad state of affairs. That boy had grown into a man who meant something to her, to Nora.

All erased.

But what hadn't been forgotten were the access codes to the rooms beyond and Hachi led Nora further into the depths. "And so the ancients built vast worlds, and in our haste to overcome our history and prove ourselves as worthier than our predecessor we built a new world atop the ruins." Nora spoke her words softly as they descended into a new darkness. A hidden darkness. "What do you think it is?" Nora stepped forward into the new chamber, the walls were cold and made of stone. They were damp and the air was stale with little movement. "Where even are we?" Secrets abound.

[Dire Hoef]

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"There's two reasons as to why this place was built. The first, obviously, was to showoff the artifacts we've dug up. The second however," he trailed off as the two entered a cavernous chamber that had gone far deeper than what was expected. In this chamber were crystals, emanating in purplish haze that made the vision blurry if one were to stare at them for too long. "There's... someone I would like for you to meet. Someone, I had the unfortunate consequence of becoming aware of."

Encased in a larger, more refined, purple crystal, was a woman whose two eyes were closed, but had a third one that was clearly open and watching the two intently. She also had four arms. And in front of the imprisoned was a pedestal containing a precious gem that was slotted into it. This gem was radiating power and filled the room with a low hum. This entire chamber was filled with psychic power, so much so that to Nora it might as well be white noise.

"We call her Shiva, as that is what she reminded the family of. As such, Shiva here has been the source of that gem, but we have no idea what it does. My mother told me that she was some powerful psychic who wreaked havoc on this planet before we settled here centuries ago."

"None of the family are psychics, so my mother never followed up on this.. but when this place was uncovered, my mother censored any knowledge of it outside of me. The reason being was because she thought that me being a mage was the same as me being a psychic. When she learned that the two weren't wholly related, she barred me from ever coming back here. But since she can't stop me," he smirked as he gestured to the gem, "And you're a psychic, an especially powerful one."

He looked up at the woman in crystal, locking with her eye. "I wanted to know what you can do about her and that gem."

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[Hannelorian]

When Nora entered the room every hair on her body felt like it was standing on end. The psychic energy was reverberating off of the crystals and each time the waves hit her mind it was like a crashing static, a kind of tumultuous crackling over and over again. It was like waves crawling their way up the shoreline of a beach. Nora listened to Hachi's words and nodded softly as her eyes moved to take in the entity encased within the crystal. "Can you feel that Hachi?" Nora asked almost as a throw away, so lost was she in the energy and the sight and the moment.

"Shiva..." Nora stepped forward, right up to the crystalline enclosure and rested her hand upon it. And for a moment she felt nothing but the cool surface below. But slowly and surely what felt like static electricity built up upon her palm, almost like a defense mechanism and Nora lowered her hand. "Okay, have it your way." She remarked. And almost without further thought Nora moved to sit cross legged before the creature, staring at Shiva for a few moments.

"Eleanor"

"Eleanor"

"ELEANOR"

Her name, over and over again, soft, soft and then LOUD like thunder in her mind. Shiva was demanding attention and Nora was ready to listen. With her hands folded neatly in her lap she offered a soft smile. "She's calling for me." Which meant Shiva was already in her mind, she knew her name. She used her name. It was a troublesome thought.

The world went dark. Nora was now in her own mind in a room of seemingly infinite size bathed entirely in the darkness. The emptiness was not unsettling. The feeling of being watched was.

"You'll never amount to anything if you don't work harder like your sister."

The voice was familiar and when Nora opened her eyes again she was a bystander to her own memory. A teenaged Nora was sitting at a dinning room table, beside her one sister, across from her another. And at the head of course, her mother Elise. The adult Nora, the real Nora was watching them from the corner, her hand trembling as she held it up.

"I don't want to be like Eleanor!" one of her sisters cried out.

"Yeah! Eleanor's ugly and kind of stupid." Another one added.

Both inane comments, but ones that clearly got under the teenaged version of her's skin.

"Don't do it Nora." The adult version of her said with a sigh as she watched the scene unfold, knowing exactly what happens next. The taunting and the insults continued. Eleanor was, of course, the smartest of all three Sakai children, but not only that she was the most gifted. And on this day, her family was about to find out.

In pure unadulterated anger, the teenaged Nora of memory slapped her hand down on the table, shaking and rattling the fine china as she did so. And seething in her own teenage angst and despair, losing her own control the flatware, forks, knives and all would begin to rise in the air, shocking her family. And then it would happen. An explosion of psychic energy from an untrained and unrestrained Nora would send it and every last dish flying outward, clashing against walls. A butter knife dug deep into her sister's shoulder.

And then it was gone. Back to black.

"Power." A voice called. But this was not her voice, nor any voice she knew. This was Shiva speaking directly to her mind.

"The day you were awoken." It continued and Nora simply sat there in the recesses of her mind in that infinite room.

This time Nora would respond, calling out on her own. "You must be Shiva." Her mind called into the darkness. She could hear the sound of her voice echoing and reverberating around her.

"That is what they call me." The voice reminded her.

"And what can I call you?" Nora asked and received a single word response.

"Nemesis"

Nora felt like her body had seized up and for a moment she was unable to move or speak, but it quickly passed. Her psychic prowess was actively being tested.

"Who is the one who watches?" Nemesis asked in an almost friendly tone.

"Hachiro. His family found you and has kept you here."

"Will he like what he sees when I flay your mind?"

Nora swallowed hard, quite the threat. But Nora was up for a challenge. And now seated beside her in the darkness within Nora's mind was Hachi. Their physical forms still in that room before the crystalline structure. Their bodies were immobilized. Now they were both trapped in Nora's head with an unwelcome and hostile visitor.

[Dire Hoef]

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He did, but it wasn't enough to warrant him saying anything. He instead nodded, and leaned backwards on one of the nearby crystals that connected to the main structure.

He watched idly at first, keeping to himself as he felt the feedback of what was transpiring before him. However, his anxiety only heightened at the sudden rise in killing intent in the room. He came up off the crystal and paced toward the center of the area, watching intently now. But his sense of danger was way off for he found himself almost stumbling forward into a sea of emptiness and darkness.

The man frantically looked around to find that he was pulled into the gestalt that was Nora's mind, along with herself who stood by his side. The two of them were tethered by a connection made manifest as a strap with a duracable betwixt.

"Admittedly, psionics are way out of my depth.." Hachi panned around the darkness feeling quite uncertain as to the outcome of this encounter. This mage never really came across psionics like this, and so his own anxiety was starting to come up with a rationale for what he was experiencing at this moment. But, he felt it wouldn't even be wise to contemplate such things as the nature of this entity has only just been felt.

Thus Hachi looked to Nora with concern, "How..do we combat this?"

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[Hannelorian]

Let. Him. See.

It rang through their heads like a bell. A malevolent and sinister voice, the voice of their captor, of her captor. Nora was lifted into the air, the manifest cable between her and Hachiro became taught as Nora moved higher, her hands ripped up to her sides as though she were nailed to a cross, her head bent upwards staring toward the heavens. Then the darkness was cleaved in twain as a bright white light encased Nora.

There had been no time to consider how to combat this. Hachi was forced to watch her, and suddenly her entire life would become manifest for him. All for him to see and moreover to feel.

Pain

The first word which opened the wound. Visions of Nora as a child. The first time her mother, the esteemed scientist, striking her across the face. The sting would be felt by both Nora and Hachiro. The next scene was of Nora storming after her younger sister, her fingers resting within the door frame only to have the child slam the door close, crushing Nora's bones. Nora's remembered that day. The next was her arm being broken, and Nora felt right here in this moment her arm snapping and it unleashed a violent scream of pain.

Heartbreak

The second word, vivid memories of relationships past. Fights, yelling, screaming. The feeling of Nora's rage building within her would be felt by both. The feeling of blood running hot, searing through veins. Nora's memories of intimate moments, heated, anger filled sex that would work to solve no problems. Images of men leaving and Nora sobbing.

Death

The third word. Her father before her, sick and dying. Her mother standing over him, a pillow in her hands as she murdered the man, he had outlived his usefulness. Nora, at that point an adult and working running into the room screaming, begging her to stop but it was too late. Her father was gone. Even if she had little appreciation for the man, thanks to her mother, and society, she was grieved beyond words at the act.

Now the Nora that was suspended in the air was confronted with her life, her pains and sorrows, her agonies, the anger within her was rising. The ground beneath Hachi's feet began to quake. It was a subtle shake at first and as each memory played it grew in intensity. But this was not Shiva, this was Nora's doing. The ground within the museum, within the crystal chamber began to shake equally as violently. Some of the crystals in the room began to shatter.

Before long the ground beneath Hachi began to fracture, pieces surging upward as the cracks grew wider and in number.

"ENOUGH" Nora screamed with an anger that even Hachi had not witnessed, and her body broke free of it's hold and fell toward the ground, she shot a hand down beneath and using her own abilities slowed her descent.

"Visualize a door." Nora, out of breath, seething with rage said to Hachi, even now her anger was directed and purposeful, she would not command Hachi, she would not raise her voice with him. Nora did the same, an image of a door being created and sure enough as the two focused on the thought within their very space a door was created. It was white and heavy, it had ornate patterns carved into the wood like twisting vines and leaves from a great and noble tree. The ground finally stopped shaking as Nora turned her mind over and over again in an attempt to calm it.

Flashes of her memories would light up the sky at seeming randomly intervals, little bits and pieces in particular order. "It's time to go Hachi." Nora looked at the door and a wild smirk crossed her face. "This is how we fight it." But this was no ordinary door, and it was anything but a door back to the real world and to their own bodies. With a hand outstretched the door shot open and it seemed like nothing but darkness on the other side.

"Trust me." Nora said softly, her smirk softening to a smile as she looked at him, holding her hand out for him to grasp, and once he had she stepped through the door.

The door into Shiva's mind. "Two can play this game." Nora said with every ounce of conviction she had.

[Dire Hoef]

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Let. Him. See.

Thunderous and vicious it was. Unlike anything he had felt before.

Every fiber of his being was shaken down, and strapped to a metaphorical torture table. There, laid out before him like a fifty-two card spread, was the entirety of Nora's life. Every mistake, every pain, made manifest and it crawled through him as searing pain. He could do nothing but watch as his love was hoisted into the air, dragging him with her. He hung somewhat off the abyss as he shifted several invasive thoughts away from critical areas of cognition.

Pain.

Bodily harm was nothing new to him, he was served his due. But the brutality here was an event he was never. In his own family violence was subdued, if not nonexistent. So to see it here opened his eyes to kind of pain she received.

Heartbreak.

His own heart broke.

Such relationships were turbulent seas for him. Although he never imagined that the seas of life were as turbulent hers. He would shed tears if he had been permitted to do so, but the psychic onslaughts he was receiving were throwing his attention away from the emotional trauma that was being dumped into his mind palace.

The very temples of his head were bulging to an unnatural degree due to the high amount of strain being thrusted upon his body.

Death.

It was murder. A quiet one at that, done behind closed doors. Such a vile thing to commit, but such an act was the norm for those who lived here. Subterfuge was an art, and those that could not paint were removed. His own mother followed this same method of silent takedowns and removals. Thus, it was palpable to feel the surging anger, but surprising to watch her explode.

This explosion of psychic power had forced the ancient psion to relinquish control. And from there did her anger become a sharpened blade. Which, when Hachi stood to his feet, he met the blade with determination.

And he was told to visualize a door, that's what he did. He, sure enough, saw a tall, white, door made from the very earth that was around their bodies, standing before them. Taking in everything, Nora's conviction solidified his own. Thus he followed Nora into Shiva's mind, the very warden that attempted to imprison them.

Their first steps? Into sand, surrounded on all sides by structures long-forgotten by time.

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[Hannelorian]

On the other side of the door Nora fell to her knees in the hot sand. Even though these bodies were merely projections of themselves she still felt overwhelmingly out of breath. A mental assault that was nothing short of brutal would take her time to recover from, though time was the one thing they didn't truly have. The pair had unwittingly entered a race against the clock. Shiva held more power within herself than she did within Nora. Nemesis. Whatever the entity from the past had desired to be called. Taking a look around her, the ruins, the destruction of time was ever present and far from ominous. It was emptiness, loneliness, despair. The last of her kind perhaps imprisoned in crystal but still fully aware. Perhaps the definition of hell or even prison was fitting here, for Nemesis that is what this was.

A bored and lonely mind lashing out, crying and screaming for attention and relevance, praying for freedom or at the very least a moment's worth of entertainment. AS Nora caught her breath the sand that surrounded the two began to whip violently to and fro, roiling around as if carried on heavy winds but there was no wind, only the dancing of the sand as it came together upon itself and slowly receded away from them, gathering higher and higher in the distance until it was nothing but a wall as high as the eye could see, stretching infinitely into the skies.

Nora pulled herself off the ground and looked out ahead of her, a smirk settling on her face as she finally understood what was happening. Without speaking a word, without opening her mouth Nora's voice crashed onto the scene with a profound sense of command and authority, as though it echoed and reverberated off of invisible walls. "I'd like to see you try to kill me." A taunt, a petty taunt but one that proved effective as the wall of sand seemed to arch over and begin to pour it's considerable mass onto the couple from above as it seemed to surge forward desperate to consume them. A hand raised toward the sky from Nora and the sand stopped moving, grains and granules simply suspended in the air and with her other palm outstretched the wall cease it's movement and with the most delicate of thrusts it exploded outward and around them. Sand now falling everywhere but within a set radius of the couple.

"What was that? That didn't even touch me." Nora responded again with the thunder of her voice behind her. Nora hadn't even seemed to break a sweat and that was because Nora had finally figured it out. All of the pieces were coming together, the crystal, it's purpose and what could be divined from such information. But there was more and Nemesis wasn't going to tell her everything. "Hachi." Nora said quietly as she looked into the distance and the full physical frame of Shiva or Nemesis was visible. "We have to run again." She took his hand and pulled him hard in the opposite direction toward a structure that looked to be the remains of a temple.

Her free hand reaching out as they moved she seemed to lift the temple from beneath the sea of sand itself and expose an entrance which had not yet crumbled. Using her abilities she was able to move sand from them, almost pushing them toward their goal, toward Nora's goal and thrusting them inside the darkened space. "A light if you don't mind." Nora seemed to be relatively unconcerned with the being outside, the physical manifestation of their adversary. Once the room was illuminated it would reveal an ornate space where the walls were covered in writing that at first seemed to be entirely foreign and unreadable.

"Focus on the writing Hachi." Nora did not order but she did suggest, instruct if that was a better word. And for a few moments staring at the script would reveal nothing. "We don't know this language, it is hers." Nora added, beginning to clarify. "But we are in her mind which means..." Nora waved her hand and sending a burst of energy along the wall the script was instantly translated into a language they could understand. "As long as we're in here, we know it too." Nora was quickly getting the hang of how this worked.

"The stone." Nora reminded him softly. "It's a focusing stone. It expands the ability of one's powers. It... lessens the psychic burden. Amplification through cost reduction." That was how Nora was able to act without burning herself out, how she was able to summon the power to break them free. Yes, it was her, and she was incredibly powerful and dangerous but she had been able to unconsciously tap into that energy through their mental connection. "You have reading to do, and I... I have to do the extraordinary now. You won't have much time."

Nora sat on the floor just as she had done in the real world, the two of them still bound by a physical tether. There was a sound of cold stone slamming across the entrance from which they came now sealing them within. But unlike Hachi would be confined to that space, Nora was not. She could further delve into her own source of power and force a copy of her psyche to appear outward and back out in the sands, while one version of her body remained sitting there near Hachi. "Drag me if you have to. But we're getting out of here." Her body fell silent.

The Nora that stood on the sand had reimagined her appearance, a warm yellow sundress and wide brimmed hat atop her head, her feet sinking into the surface. "You were so afraid I would figure out how powerful you were, or rather... how weak you are." Another wild somewhat unhinged smile as Nora's hand rose up to draw an ancient column from beneath the sand and it took little effort to wield it in the direction of Nemesis who stood prepared. The column slamming into an invisible barrier, but at such a force it would knock the wind out of Shiva. So much so that she wouldn't see the column coming back against and before she could guard against it, the ancient stone shattered upon the visage, tearing through flesh.

In the real world, a tiny fragment of the crystal cage broke free, popping away and sending a wave of little cracks along the entire structure. "There's just one or two problems with your little games." Nora said as she pressed forward, both hand stretching out to her sides to lift more and more from the buried depths. "You're out of practice. Been a long time hasn't it. And you haven't even figured out how to break free." Nora shook her head and snapped her fingers as though in mock disappointment. "The second, and far more amusing... is that I might just be stronger than you are." Slamming her palms downward a wave of stone and rock would fall upon the visage, some protected, some not.

Another quiet ping as a fragment shot from the structure.

[Dire Hoef]

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Nemesis. Shiva.

These names did not require too much contemplation to come to same conclusion as Nora had. It was practically written all over his face, but the oncoming sand sharpened his attention.

He was frantic at first, but found solace in Nora's ability to make light work of the sand. The resounding waves and the wailing winds were all a spectacle to him. Such displays of power appeared paradoxical to the War Mage, but what brought his attention back was Nora telling him they needed to run. And of course, they wasted no time.

The two of them were well within a temple before Hachi even had another moment to breathe.

Upon request, Hachi called forth [LIGHT] and unveiled the entirety of the space. His eyes lit up with wonder at the wealth of knowledge that, at first, was impossible to read. However, it all became legible within seconds.

He took a minute to look back at his beloved as she mentioned having to do the extraordinary.

At this moment, in the idle seconds of infinity, something radiated from Nora that he was only able to see because of where he was. It was a sight that could bear no words. As such Hachi only locked eyes with her figure before coming back to his mission, as if broken free from a trance.

He whipped back and scanned the walls with fervor.

These record the testimony of "Esther" the Forebear of Dreams, and the Cavitation of Inanna the Holy Mother.

For seven-thousand-five-hundred and sixty-three years I have been encased in this psionic-dousing crystal by the Anointed Ones. It was their hands that shaped this crystal, their word that ordered my imprisonment.

For millennia I have languished in this mental prison, forced to watch my home be encased in a hellish darkness over and over again. In my minds eye I saw monsters only birthed by the most obtuse things. These creatures, shrouded in their shadows, marched upon my kin like locusts.

I had the power to stop their plan, but I had been trapped before my mind made me aware of the impending doom. They knew I could stop them, they knew I was a threat.

Now all I have left is this prison, these bars of flesh and bone.

I am to watch my life be preserved by this focusing crystal. To remove it, is to remove me--

That second strike was enough to throw his reading off and toss things around inside the place. The mind palace was starting to crack, and everything was on the verge of falling apart from the inside out. But, he was almost there.

They were foolish to connect me with it. I was able to manipulate the stone to turn it into a weapon of my own design. I was able to pour the stars into the stone, allowing only the strongest and most adept to wield it.

Admittedly. It took parting with my most cherished techniques to power that stone. But with my parting, I had hoped that some of my kin will come take the mantle.. To take this burden from me..

But this will be my final resting place.

A prisoner.

A failure.

He took all of this, and internalized it.

"She's ultimately a victim.. Driven mad by her imprisonment," he finally said after doing one last look over at everything. "What's important here is that those Anointed fucks were the ones who started this shit show. It's been cyclical for millennia."

He looked around at where they were and figured that with Nora having all but defeated the threat, it was time to eliminate her. "It's time go," he tugged her before he dragged her fully. He picked her up and placed her in one of his mage hands. After which, they started to run off toward the entrance.

"So if I have these mindscapes right," he flicked his hand toward the way they came from and a bright light shined from it. "That's our ticket out of here!"

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[Hannelorian]

For nearly anyone else, the amount of information and energy, psychic or otherwise would have been crushing, overwhelmed, the kind of force that would drive one absolutely over the brink and into madness itself. But not for Nora. The Nora that stood on the sands could hear Hachi’s thoughts, the words he was reading. She could sense his form picking up that iteration of her body and carrying it with him, using what he had learned to attempt to break them free.

“A prisoner.” Nora felt guilty for intruding, she felt the overwhelming loneliness and madness this creature had been driven to. She understood that inherently there was only one way out of this and that was to bring this creature to its end. To destroy Nemesis, end her life and end her millennia of suffering and pain.

Nora’s voice could be felt booming in Hachi’s head as he dragged her body, another reminder. “Run for the light.” It was loud and then softened dramatically. “I’ll be waiting on the other side.” Nora knew that this was now the home stretch, and with just enough energy focused in the right way, it could end. They could break free from this and while her suffering might continue, Nemesis would be at peace at long last.

AS Nora stood on the beach her body rose into the air floating, practically weightless above the sands of the beach and the manifestation of Nemesis. Nora’s eyes opened and gazed toward the heavens as her arms outstretched reaching for the distant horizon as though she were pulling it closer and closer to her, making this world smaller and smaller. The weight of compression could be felt all around them.

“Just. Keep. Going.” Hachi would feel the weight of his body, of gravity and would need to fight against the tides to push through to the exit now. It wasn’t much farther. He just had to keep going as the world shrunk at an increasingly rapid pace, but that also meant the exit was being drawn closer to him.

Timing would be the key. Nora was a bastion of psychic energy just waiting to explode outward, a time bomb, ticking, ticking, ticking. Her form consuming, consuming, consuming, taking Nemesis power into her own form, taking her knowledge, taking her story and devouring it whole like an insatiable glutton whose hunger would never be satisfied.

When Hachi would finally reach the door, Nora closed her eyes again and allowed it to be opened, unlocking it rather easily, and what happened next was the long awaited explosion. Nora released the energy out into the mindscape, tearing through every atom of everything and destroying it. Hachi would feel the intense heat of the explosion as she pushed it outward.

And then nothing. For a few moments there would be silence and darkness. Sweet nothing until Hachi’s eyes would open in that room where they began. Nora lay unconscious on the floor, breathing steadily. Shiva’s crystal encasement had been utterly destroyed and left nothing but a mangled body behind, riddled with wounds like bullets from the shards of crystal, and if one walked around, the absence of the back of the creature’s skull would be apparent, her brain having literally destroyed itself at Nora’s command. Nora’s eyes opened and she gasped for breath for a few moments, her body spreading across the floor, crunching along broken crystal.