NOVEL NEXT Awoken
It was decided that all those present would remain at the Losler manor for the night and return home the next morning. This was for several reasons but the first and most important was to allow Jien a bit more time to possibly wake up and hopefully both enlighten them and be able to at least participate in the event. This was meant to be a celebration of Jien's tenth birthday and his debut among the other noble children. Without the host of honor, it was a bit awkward, but this was also a chance for the other children to get to know each other. They decided to move to one of the available lounges to discuss what had happened while waiting for Jien to hopefully wake up and join them again.
At the same time the adults took turns guarding the summoned woman who remained bound to a chair beside Jien's bed. To her side were Lord Losler and Mark, their hands on their respective blades but not making a move to attack the bound prisoner. Jien laid on his bed, seemingly sleeping peacefully while Runa was to his side both monitoring for any changes and hoping that whatever had happened would let Jien wake soon, both for his sake but also for the sake of those who cared about him.
Jien meanwhile opened his eyes to see what appeared to be the night sky. Countless unknowable stars shone down with brilliant golden light in vast swirling galaxies against a dark backdrop. There was a large golden sphere at the center of it all. To call it golden may have been a misnomer as it was almost too bright to make out an actual color, seeming closer to white than gold but the light it gave off was that of a gentle, pale gold that matched the stars behind it. In this seemingly endless void of space, he finally stirred from what had been a dreamless dark slumber.
It was as he was just getting past what he assumed was grogginess that he heard an androgynous voice, one that he had only heard a few times in the past. "You have my apologies, but the issue is resolved. You may feel weaker for a while, and in some ways stronger but don't force things otherwise you will risk your very existence." As those words were spoken, he felt as if he was plummeting from a high tower, his vision blurring until he suddenly came to a stop in a familiar yet not so familiar scene.
Before him was his mindscape, the few orbiting moons and satellites around the vast golden 'planet' at its center. Stars were present here as well, but Jien could feel that they were empty unlike those he had seen just before. They had no other purpose but as an image used as a backdrop to his own mind. The difference from before was that his mindscape looked like a broken vase that had been glued back together. Most shards were present and put in the same place, but it was impossible to miss the slight red outlines around them as if they were glued in place by blood. In the places where the shards were missing there was a crimson reflection of what should have been present based on his memories.
Jien didn't know what to make of this at all. He wasn't conscious during the happenings as the invasion of the woman had been an attack on his very psyche and had knocked him out from the start for easier access to his soul. He couldn't seem to bring back the memories of the space even though it was in a sense his own mind and soul. It was like there was void where the images should have been, as if someone had surgically cut just that span away to hide it from him.
He had no idea what to make of this happening. His mindscape was different but felt the same. The last thing he remembered was that he had supposedly successfully summoned something. He remembered a set of eyes that flickered like golden flames before everything went dark. All he knew now was that there was supposed to be an event and he was somehow asleep. He half hoped that everything was over so that he could go back to his training and studies in peace while his other half hoped that he hadn't ruined the event by falling asleep. He used what he had learned from accessing the mindscape before to exit it.
It had been two hours since the summoning had succeeded by what those present could understand. Jien had remained asleep, not even shifting on his bed and Runa was watching him with a worried expression. The two that could be considered specialists in terms of magic relating to examining the psyche and soul had come and gone. Their examinations had found nothing that they could identify with their methods. This was both a relief and a cause for further concern. His body mind and soul appeared to be fine by all metrics of examination, yet he had collapsed and was still slumbering, nobody knew what else could possibly be wrong beside the woman who couldn't and didn't wish to communicate with anyone. Her golden eyes stared at the boy with a hint of deep depression and fear. She was now bound to this boy and if he didn't wake up because of what she did she would be stuck next to him until he died of natural causes.
Fortunately for her and to the absolute delight of everyone present in the room Jien seemed to stir after his two-hour slumber. His eyelids opened slowly, feeling as if they were weighed down thousand-ton weights but he still eventually forced them open revealing their usual green but showing a slight golden hue at the center of his irises. He had finally awoken despite everything but was confused as he looked around at his room and those present. How did he get here and who was that woman? Her eyes were familiar.