She stood at the top of those stairs that were so blurred in her vision, staring down into the darkened depths below, a sense of unease filtering through her usual upbeat attitude. There was just something about the darkness that she didn't like. Something that she couldn't quite remember, couldn't quite grasp a hold of.

Screams. Human screams. The smell of blood thick in the air. Explosions. Gun fire. A jarring sensation of great impact.....

She had begun to take steps down the stairs without even noticing that she had done so, and that feeling of foreboding continued to haunt her at every careful step, until she reached the bottom, her breath held, as though waiting for something to jump out at her. To grab her. To snap her up between giant jaws lined with razor sharp teeth...

But nothing happened, and she let out the air with a great whoosh of breath, before giggling, nervously, a shrill sound that bounced off of walls and echoed throughout the cavern.

Now what?

She took steps further in, the clomping sound of her boots repeated back to her through reverberations. It was so dark, so cold, and she felt so alone. So overwhelmingly lost since the first time since she had awakened.

But she had been told she would find something down here. Somebody that belonged to her. Something that would make her feel complete and whole.

It was not long before she came to a wall, for the cove itself was not overly large. The wall drew her in, for while still a short distance away, she could see it. Lights. Gleaming lights that called to her, made her steps hurry as she stopped in front of it.

And then the whispers began, light, rising in volume just slightly when she stood even closer. "Wh-who's there?" Her voice came out a whisper itself, as if those whispers could only be answered in much the same way. She strained to hear them, to know what they had to say, but it seemed like the harder she tried, the more they slipped away, just as indiscernible as ever before.

They did not seem threatening, however. More urging, then anything. A hint in those murmurings that she could later say was the reason she decided to stretch her hand out, to touch those tablets that made up the wall, with their engraved images still gleaming at her.

She reached out, and her touch made the tablets shine brighter still. She laughed with delight at the sight of it, at how the murmurs became louder. First purple, then blue, then green and yellow and orange and....

< Here...Up here...>

This time the voice was clear, and her gaze shot up, hazel eyes squinting, but finding the source quickly, so easily, as though she already knew what she was looking for.

It was another tablet, of course, but this one seemed to somehow glow just that little bit brighter then the rest. A dull red-orange of light but still, bright in it's own way. It was above her, high enough that she had to stretch to reach it. Stretch, and reach, and strain, her breath held and her teeth clenched tight with the effort. She was up on the toes of her boots, wobbling precariously. She was going to fall back....

She leaned forward instead, and her fingers slapped down against the face of the tablet, which suddenly burst alight, like flames it glowed, it lit up the room, and in a panic and a startled gasp, she fell back, hitting the ground hard with a small shriek of pain.

And something clattered down to the floor beside her.

She stared at it for only a brief moment before snatching it up into her hands.

"Got you!" She giggled, before clutching the tablet close.

< Yes! Yes indeedy you have! You caught me, and now, great fortune is yours! > The voice that rang out inside her head was shrill, but with just enough of a hint of masculinity for her to know that it belonged to a male.

Still, she very nearly dropped the tablet to the floor at that invasive sound in her head. As it was, she found herself gasping again, jumping from where she sat on that cold stone, drawing the tablet away from her chest to look at it again.

"You--You're talking to me."

< Well yes of course I am! How else would I talk to you, silly-nilly~ Haha! You have captured me, and I am now yours. I belong to you and- Oh my, I can tell I am going to like this. Such adventures you have been on! >

"I am afraid I still don't quite understand...." She murmured, fingers tracing the glowing engraving on the front of the tablet, eyes squinting to make it out and then...

"Oh! Oh you are my weapon!"

< Yes my dear I certainly am! Yes yes! I am Rorric, and you are Lydia! And I am yours! >

"Oh well I am delighted and---" Suddenly something seemed to click in Lydia's mind.

And you can hear me, like this? She questioned, excited at the prospect.

< Yes yes yes! All yes! Delightful yes! I can tell this is going to be a fantastic friendship! A partnership! > The more they conversed, the easier it became to accept that voice, and the more subtleties she could distinguish in her head that was all him. The rustling of feathers. A vision of bright plumage. It drew her in and....

"Amazing." She whispered. "But what, might I ask, are you?" She was staring at the tablet again, still unsure of what she was looking at.

< Why, I am a firebird, of course! The highly coveted, most elusive, greatest giver of fortune! >

Firebird. Slavic folklore. A blessing but...a bringer of doom as well...

< Ahem yes well...all good things come with at a price after all! And my kind would not exist if not for Fear of misgivings. But Lydia, oh Lydia please listen to me! The benefits of wielding me far exceeds the consequences!

She considered this for a moment, before carefully pushing herself to her feet, still holding the tablet, still speaking to it despite the fact that the voice was quite obviously in her head.

"And how, exactly, do I wield you? You are only a stone."

< By concentrating, Lydia, and I will be given form! You must summon me. You must wield me! >

It seemed...strange. But she really saw no reason not to give it a try. She concentrated then. She thought about the engraving. She thought about the bright feathers. She thought about how she wanted that tablet to change, to be given a new shape and then....

Light. It was bright, like a fire. It lit up the room. It chased away the darkness.

< Yes Lydia, yes! You will yield light! You will fight the darkness with me! >

In her hands the tablet changed. It glowed and it changed, and when it was over her hand was gripping a leather handle that glowed with red runes, and her other hand clutched at at multiple leather strands, at multiple tails at....

"Oh..Oh my. You're a..."

She swallowed, her cheeks beginning to burn with a blush. "A very interesting weapon, I must say." She breathed, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she stared at the cat o' nine tails now held firmly in her grasp.

< Wonderful! Simply wonderful! I am so happy you approve. Now, I can not stay like this at all times. You can desummon me, and I will rest, but not in that tablet form oh no, Lydia! I will become something different that you may carry with you always, even while I will always remain with you. Now isn't that a great fortune? A great fortune indeedy! >

Lydia swallowed, and smiled.

"Yes. Yes indeedy."