IC Date: 09/02/2025

Sailor Tempesti hadn’t returned to the Tower of the Winds since she’d stabilized her magic there months earlier and as the ferry glided across the bay, the familiar trepidation twisted and knotted within her chest. Magnificently illuminated texts haunted the dreamlike memories of hours spent in the Tower’s library. Hidden among the books it was easy for Elysia to lose herself to fanciful imaginings, finding in them a deep comfort that allowed her an escape impossible for her physical body.

Though Elysia’s life held less terror for her with every passing visit, the living Tempesti still struggled to push aside the quietly aching dread that accompanied the dead woman’s memories. The discovery of this ferry made it far more difficult to make excuses to stay away from the island. Its steady progress across the bay drew the Tower closer and as she worked up the courage to focus her gaze upon the imposing edifice the senshi realized for the first time that the once decrepit structure at its apex gleamed golden in the light, an enormous golden crystal resting within.

A beacon!

It shouldn’t have been a surprise, considering the island’s rocky position in the city’s harbor, but she’d never truly considered the possibility that this place could be much more than a prison. A slight smile curled her lips as the ferry came to a gentle stop at a small, white stone dock, if there could be hope for a place like this, there could be hope for anything. Hildegard hopped from the boat’s prow before her human companion could disembark, clearly eager to see what the place had to show her.

When Tempesti passed through the monumental bronze doors, she found herself struck by the change that had come over the place since her last visit. Though the antechamber was still cluttered with the petals of countless pale purple blossoms, there was significantly less structural debris, a significant relief considering the fact that as far as she could tell from what limited information she’d been able to glean from Elysia’s memories, the library was up. Somewhere.

She was still unwilling to brave the ornate caged lift toward the back of the antechamber, so the fairy-chicken-former wisp-thing flapped along behind her as she ascended the pale stone stairs. Smooth, glossy steps spiraled upward through the colorful light which filtered through the stairwell’s stained glass windows. Massive, vaultlike doors punctuated the climb as her instinct pulled her upward until she reached a door that felt right.

Luckily, whatever security measures that undoubtedly sat within the mass of metal that stood before her were disengaged. Whatever her magic might have been able to activate within the doors of the Primordial Tower would certainly not work in a place designed to contain her. Centuries of her. Again and again.

A deep breath.

In.

Out.

Another.

In.

Out.

Tempesti was not going to fall into the trap of spiraling into Elysia’s mind, not when there was so much to do. She had a goal and she was not going to let a half-mad dead woman interfere.

Stepping across the threshold, she scanned the curving hallway, the doors radiating from the walls, the glinting mosaics beneath her feet. Ancient memories drew her along, toward the most elaborately rendered of the doors, which bore the likeness of an elegantly twisting tree, roots sinking beneath the cast bronze ground beneath it. With a surprisingly light push the door swung open to reveal an enormous, almost cavernous round room. High, pointed arch windows bore darker stained glass than the rest of the Tower, likely a protective measure for the books the room housed. Stone bookcases meticulously carved into the walls lined the chamber each bearing an overwhelming number of volumes in varying states of intactness and throughout the room. There was nothing to do but pick one and see what she could learn.