- Permissions and ownership are irrevocably tied to the binder and their descendants, regardless of their current state.
- The binder, or whoever succeeds them, gain an innate awareness of the state of the Core and the Holding. No specifics, simply whether it is damaged, healthy, growing.
- The Core starts to grow, expanding and strengthening based on the current leadership and family ties. A Dual Binding grows faster due to a deeper initial base.
- Awakening Gifts of the binder and successors have on occasion been known to influence Core growth.
~ * ~
Stepping back into the main room, Seb found himself squinting at the intensity of Energy flowing in front of Yshe. Where previously there had been a floor panel there was now something rising up from the ground.
Is that an orb on a table? he asked.
Yes? What else would it be?
Even though he was adjusting to the glare he pushed the impression of what he saw through to Anya and saw her wince. He immediately stopped and stepped up beside her to stand looking down at the orb.
Sorry.
Warn me next time.
"What is the orb for?" Anya asked.
"Focal point for the Seed. It lets you bind yourself to it without having to go crawling into the support spaces. Much more practical," Yshe answered.
"Is the Energy down there as intense as in the orb?" Seb asked.
"As intense- Right, you see Energy flow. If anything it gets more intense as you get closer to the Seed itself."
Seb glanced at Anya and gave a wan grin. "Let's stick to the convenient orb."
"You could just close your eyes."
"I'd trip on something," he answered before closing them and pretending to stumble towards her. As she shifted to catch him he steadied himself at the last moment. "Weird, it didn't actually help. The rest of the Patterns faded away but the Orb was still just as bright."
Valene cleared his throat before they could continue. "The ritual itself is fairly simple. You will both place your hands on the orb and push your personal Energy into it. The Energies will mingle and flow between you and the orb until they synchronize while Yshe will ensure that your chosen Holding name becomes associated with the new pattern."
As one they went to place their hands on the orb only to have Valene interrupt them.
"As with most rituals requiring Energy co-mingling, such as when you were named Heir my Lady, this must be done as your True Selves. Husks have their own additional Energy quirks that prevent success."
With a nod Seb willed himself to drop his Husk, the only real change to his appearance the color of his shirt. Feeling Anya tense beside him he let out the smallest of sighs.
You still have a robe in the meditation room from when we were working on our Husks.
She barely nodded before she'd dashed off, the door to the room bouncing off the wall before she shut it. Seconds later she had opened it once more and came walking back, a plain white robe wrapped around her as though it were formal court wear.
Why didn't you just go get it for me?
Then what? You'd still need to go somewhere to drop your Husk then put the robe on.
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Or you could have held it up for me to slip into?
Seb blinked, trying to keep any further reaction off his face but feeling his cheeks warm.
So you wanted to change in front of me?
Without thinking he put his arm out to the side, only to have Anya catch herself on it as she stumbled at his words. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her turning bright red above the edge of the robe.
Would you have peeked? she asked as she finished straightening.
Despite how flustered he was feeling he managed to counter her once more. Would you have asked me not to?
Seb-!
He felt Anya dig her fingers into his arm, the lack of Husk making the grip uncomfortable rather than threatening to crush him. In front of them Valene and Yshe shared a knowing grin before gesturing to the orb once more.
"If you are both ready and done with whatever you were saying to one another?"
Seb focused on taking slow breaths while Anya simply straightened her spine and pushed her shoulders back. "We apologize OverSeer Valene, Engineer Yshe. I believe that we," she glanced at Seb and he quickly nodded, "are ready to proceed with the ritual."
"S'about time," Yshe muttered while failing to completely mask her grin.
"Very well," Valene said, ignoring the Engineer. "Place your hands on the orb and focus on pushing your Energies into it. You will feel more Energy flow into you in return, focus on keeping it flowing until it calms once more."
As their hands touched the orb Seb felt a slight jolt from the Energy flowing through it. Instinctively he reached out to Anya, finding her hand doing the same.
It tickled, she sent.
Just a bit. Ready?
As one they pushed their Energies into the Orb, facing momentary resistance before it grew warm under their touch. Seb nearly commented on the similarity to when the Seer registered his Energy signature when the orb pushed back. Startled he nearly pulled away, only Anya's tightening grip keeping him focused.
Wow.
He said flow, I didn't think- he started to answer before the Energy pressure cut him off, his awareness pulled fully into the moment as flow was established.
At first Energy pulsed back and forth between him and the Seed, a mingling give and take that he could tell Anya felt as well. Just as it felt as though it might stabilize a stronger pulse flared out from the orb, through him and over to Anya, a matching pulse coming from her in the same instant. Suddenly the stable flow became a doubled whirlpool, circling from the orb to him to Anya and back to the orb, while also flowing in reverse.
Everything seemed to blur, one moment he was looking at Anya, the next he was looking at himself through her eyes, an instant later he was aware of them both standing above him while also somehow inside his body. He knew Anya experienced the same, felt the same confusion, saw what he saw, knew what he knew. Then everything calmed and he was back in his own body, looking down at his hand.
That was- he started.
We were- she began.
Looking up at Valene they spoke in sync, their words overlapping perfectly as the last of the experience faded.
"What was that? At the end."
They both removed their hands from the orb yet kept hold of one another. Seb was surprised to notice that he still was aware of the Seed, of the Holding as a whole. It's presence sat nestled in the back of his thoughts, there to focus on yet vanishing the moment his attention wandered. Almost like when he became aware of his breathing, yet easier to set aside.
Yshe spoke up first, apparently ignoring their question to focus on next steps. "I'll just tidy up the room and get the orb put away. Holding Syl is properly registered and synchronized with the EDN."
Glancing over at her nephew, who had been forgotten in the moment, she continued. "Sam, grab another terminal and get it installed in the training hall, I'll be there in a moment to help figure out what upgrades it can support without an overhaul."
"Yes Engineer," Sam said as he jumped to his feet to get back to work.
Valene glanced down at their still joined hands then back up at them before answering. "Your contact with one another during the ritual let to it stabilizing between the three of you rather than two paired stabilizations. The side-effects should finish fading away in the next few minutes if they haven't already. The upside is that it should, from my understanding of similar events in the past, have made the binding with the Seed stronger still."
Before they could ask anything more they heard someone banging on the Construct entrance. Confused they glanced at one another before looking down the hallway.
"Did we leave the garage open?" Seb asked.
"Maybe?"
He turned to head to the entrance, only to stop short and look at their hands. He felt a surprising reluctance to let go, his fingers almost seeming to fight against him relaxing his grip. With an effort he started to move his fingers only for Valene to step past them and head down the hall.
"I have to get back to work but I can deal with your visitor first."
"Please," Anya answered even as Yshe slammed the floor panel back into place.
"I'll help Sam with the upgrades. I was able to adjust the Holding room controls to allow basic furniture to manifest. Your Holding has more than enough Energy to handle the burden and honestly whoever did the initial install was skimping, room control is a basic necessity."
With that said Yshe vanished into the training hall just as Valene opened the door and a young woman started to step in only to pause with one foot still in midair as she noticed who stood before her.
"Thank you. I'm- Valene? Sir?"
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