Mana Wells

With Darien having to t leave again, closing or moving the Valentine gate was the most important task if they could make it so the shadow clan couldn't take advantage. The question of where was left to the clan's own business. So one of their members was to be on the other side and move it to an unknown place. They would open it at another time but at least a week later.

Kurt and Layla actually had no business at all on the other continent. Kurt had stepped through the gate and been there for a second but other than that it always seemed so distant to him anyway.

Kurt was more focused on watching Layla. He originally thought he wouldn't tell her but realistically she was smart enough to notice that Kurt could see it if he was watching.

Looking at the rock structure close Kurt saw the shattered crystal formation. Examining would tell him all the pieces were there. And soon he would see it.

"So you can see it now?" said Layla.

"Yes."

"That's unexpected," I wouldn't have thought it work the same.

"Why?"

"Remember when I said I was born near the gate on Bright Flame Castle?"

"Yeah."

"And how far are they born as a manifestation of the surroundings?"

"Sort of."

"Well in your words, I'm part gate but I'm also a child of both worlds in a way as well. I thought that part was the most important."

"So what is this crystal thing?"

"A very strange object, I'm not entirely sure how it was actually made, a stone in two places at once. Entangled in space."

"So how do you do it, with the anchor and hook?"

"I think we should focus on this for now," Layla approached the gate. Tapping one of the rocks at a particular crystal formation. "You see this part is on another plane too."

"So what do we do?"

"We pull it back together of course."

She yanked one of the strands making of the gate and the frame started to misshape with it. Then pulled another one. She was being car filed and the gate was getting smaller and smaller slowly.

"See," said Layla, "we can't get these too tangled, pulling on in a manner that keeps it away from the string. And they like to get tangled."

As the gate way started to close smaller and smaller it got to a state where it was almost completely shut. "We could force it a little more, but this should be fine. It's too small so there isn't a path there, but if we continue it would make opening it back up much harder."

"Like you said about smaller gates"

The stone object was white and held a strange form. Kurt turned off his eye to see it normally. And it would look like just a strange large fine white rock. It seemed only the very interior of the frame was the important part as there was some left over so there was still a doorway just out of place without the rest of the walls and not the gate.

"Yes, I don't know how they trapped the part like this into a physical object or how the frame is constructed. But they act similar to my design. One could say I basically am doing the same thing but with the objects on a plane most creatures can't perceive."

"So how's you make yours?"

"Time and effort," said Layla. "It's like the pumps work, a part of me acts on both sides and is connected. You would say it's your soul, but I don't think that is the right word. Life force maybe."

"So you're saying something life force is in this."

Layla's eyes widened, "no, that couldn't be."

"What?"

"This gate, it may be the entirety of someone."

"What do you mean?" said Kurt.

"I mean something may have been sacrificed to make the Valentine's gate. What or who it was is unknowable. I mean look at it."

"Wait, are you saying this is a body?"

"Possibly, just the bones and its life force, but it may not have started that way. I never put it together until you said. I couldn't figure out where they got it."

Kurt looked at the stone still glowing with ethereal lines using his eyes. The stone…it wasn't stone it was bone. The entire skeleton must have been mutilated and transformed.

"So how do you like to turn it off?" Said Kurt as the gate now in a smaller rock form was still floating.

"You see you have to do this twist here," said Layla, holding the rick and turning the top and bottom differently and somehow it slid together, impossibly so into a cube. And fell into Layla's hands. "You see you have to put some of that power in your hands to affect it like that. This is sort of neat because you just twist it the other way and it might just pop out. I hope I don't have to weave it back, such a pain when it's not yours."

Coming back out Layla handed the flawless Bone cube to Luther. The deed was done. It was likely it was not going to stay in this castle either but it wouldn't matter much.

"So open it, make sure," said Luther.

"Really?" said Layla.

"I have to make sure," said Luther.

"They better not be holding it!"

"They are not."

Layla took the cube. And gave a twist the cube locked into place and slid out all on its own and once it got to a point it popped into the gate. The same man standing on the other side of it.

"Ohh it is very well made, I hoped it would do that," said Layla. "However they did it." Taking a look at Kurt.

Even though they had to do the whole process again the reasons were sound. If it couldn't get back up that would be a serious problem for the clan. And something they would have to fix immediately.

Kurt enjoyed watching again, this time he wasn't getting distracted by Layla's explanations. It really didn't seem that hard when you could see what was happening. You would just need the object itself. Not like Kurt wanted to kill anyone to do it, but there had been some bodies along his path. Like the skull of a lich.