Everyone finds their answer to the wall in their own way. Some get help, get advice, are told what to look for. Others are given nothing, not even an indication of what is happening. Most are given the slightest of hints, told to understand themselves, or that their Energy is shaped to match who and what they are.

  The one thing all answers share is the moment of realization. Finding your answer is shocking. The intensity of the moment is only surpassed by finally crossing the wall. Approximate meanings have an effect, enough that they can serve, enough to allow advancement despite not being the truth.

  An approximation is enough to finish finding the answer. It goes beyond being a clue, it is a fragment of the whole. It will serve, but it leaves behind unrealized potential and a lack of self-awareness.

  ~ * ~

  Anya knew they needed a break. The last month had been brutal even for them. They hadn't stopped, they'd barely rested, they hadn't even dedicated time to their usual sparring.

  They'd found their answers, they were both sure of it. They could pass the wall, all they needed was to reach the point where they could level up. There was a reason for their exhaustion. They had pushed, and they had made it.

  Anya looked around the now empty cave. Everything was packed and Seb was waiting.

  Home? he sent.

  Home, she agreed as she joined him on their trip back to the Staging Point.

  They could have rushed, could have tested themselves and seen how quickly they could reach the top. They'd been rushing for weeks, they could take their time. The trip was uneventful, the passage between levels always was.

  As they reached the third level Seb slowed, his eyes wandering down the empty tunnels.

  Remember the Horned One?

  The one that almost killed you? she answered. I thought I was going to lose you.

  I'm not going anywhere, not without you.

  She smiled before flicking the back of his neck through her copy of his aura.

  Come on, unless you want to be sleeping in the tent again.

  She felt his suppressed laughter as he turned to chase after her. They might have been exhausted, they might have been on edge. But they were almost home, they'd both feel better once they got there.

  ~ * ~

  Fay was halfway through finishing a report when she heard something. A moment later she was out the door, the sound of her chair crashing into the wall only catching up when she paused on the far side of the Holding.

  They were back. They were standing there laughing, their remaining supplies at their feet.

  "Fay!" Anya said as Seb nodded in greeting from where he stood behind her.

  "Does this mean-?" she asked.

  "We're ready," Seb confirmed.

  "You're sure?"

  "She froze while we were sparring, so shocked by her own realization," Seb said. "I froze a few minutes later when I figured out my own answer."

  "That doesn't mean-"

  "Fay, stop," Anya nearly snapped. "We found our answers, we're home."

  "She means we found them a month ago," Seb added. "We… well we didn't quite burn out since then."

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  She took a better look at them, took in the obvious exhaustion in their postures, the underlying dullness that their excitement barely masked. She had no doubt they'd found their answers, she hadn't been able to stop herself from pushing, from making sure they had no doubts.

  They were back and they'd succeeded. Her eyes widened as she calculated how long she'd known them. She'd met them less than three and a half years ago. Which meant Seb had made it in under four years from his Awakening. Anya was closer to six but Holding Lys had hardly pushed her to succeed. Elites took four to five years to breach the wall, they were Elites, all three of them.

  "There isn't much upstairs," she said. "I've only been keeping enough for a meal or two at a time."

  "We have something to do first," Anya answered.

  "You just got home, we need to have dinner, we need to catch up."

  She saw Seb shake his head slightly even as Anya frowned.

  "No Fay," she said. "I want to, we both do. But we have to cross the wall. We have to be done. Then we can relax."

  Fay wanted to argue, she wanted to spend time with them. She wanted to hear what they'd been up to, she wanted to know what their answers were. She wanted to tell them about the coffee shop she'd found.

  Instead she nodded before pulling them both into a brief hug.

  "After," she said. "We can celebrate after."

  Turning to head back to her office she paused as she remembered the date.

  "You might have to spend the day shopping tomorrow. You're expected at the Annual Convention and it's in two days."

  ~ * ~

  Seb struggled to settle his thoughts. Even with his eyes closed he could still tell exactly where the walls of the Meditation Chamber were. He recognized Fay's presence in her office, the feel of the Holding around them. He focused on his Gift, drawing it in as close as he could.

  He could still sense the walls around him, he could almost reach out and touch them. He knew exactly where Anya was, her presence a beacon to his mind's eye, doubly so with her proximity. To think that a few years ago he had found such proximity in this room a distraction, only for her to become such a pillar in his life.

  Ready? she sent.

  You're in my head, I'm in yours. You know the answer.

  He felt how amused she was by his answer, her thoughts turning inwards, away from him, away from their shared space. He felt himself doing the same, his attention circling until it finally found peace. The last of their band slipping away as they focused on the words that would break the wall.

  Challenge. Currents.

  His Energy compressed even as his understanding expanded. When he had first found his answer he had frozen, he had lost himself in the moment. Now the moment flowed within an eternal beat, his Energy reshaping itself to match, his awareness taking in new details. Details he had always seen, he realized. Patterns defined techniques, identified individuals. He had used them, tracked them with his Gift. Now he saw their fit, how they flowed throughout.

  Everything moved, everything danced. His sparring with Anya was an example of simplicity and complexity at the same time. Their movements harmonized, their intentions drove them further. He saw it now, he knew why he had stumbled at her realization, why the dissonance had distracted him.

  The compression continued, his Energy condensing into patterns and flows, into currents that wrapped into themselves. He could feel Anya's Energy shifting, reshaping itself to reflect who she was. They both were changing, they both had found their way past the wall.

  They had both said they were certain, that they had found their answers. They'd pushed to reach this point, reassured each other that they would stay together. They had pretended to have no doubts, ignored the lingering seeds and trusted.

  Their trust had paid off.

  ~ * ~

  Challenge. Currents.

  The words echoed through her thoughts, daring her to question. Her Energy roiled, pushing against her efforts to compress it. Seb sat knee to knee with her but in this moment she was alone. Their band broken, their bond a distant presence in her thoughts.

  She took hold of her Energy, she compressed it, concentrated it. Previous levels had taken effort, had pushed her to show she could manage. Previous levels had been a struggle, this was a war.

  Who was she to challenge? Why did she believe she had the answer? Voiceless doubts assailed her, pushing back as she struggled. Life was a struggle, success was a challenge.

  Her childhood was one of pain and judgment. Her Awakening a failure. She was a late bloomer, early to cross the first threshold but late to fully unlock her Gifts. She was the Heir no one wanted, the outcast no one respected. She had fought back, excelled at every challenge. She outfought the guards, made the perfect Husk to satisfy their criticisms. She'd survived their hatred, their pettiness.

  She'd found Seb, or he had found her. They had found each other. Initially she'd led the way, she'd shown him how to progress. Now they both pushed, both taught, both learned. She never slowed because he was there to keep going. When she saw him falter she encouraged him until he was pushing her forward once more.

  Her Energy flared, threatening to escape her grasp. Her focus sharpened in response, meeting the challenge and proving herself victorious once more. This time she felt something shift, the challenge within subsiding and turning supportive.

  She challenged, she won. She faced her fears, she faced dangers. She would not back down, she would stand tall and take control of her fate. She would push her family, bolster them when they needed it. She was the challenge.

  She could feel Seb once more, their bond coming back into focus as they finished leveling up. They had made it. They had passed the wall.

  Together.

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