Dev Shadows of Atrisia

[Junko Ike]

When at last she began to rise from the immersion, it was gradual, a slow ascent through the layers of perception she had descended through, each layer reasserting itself with gentle clarity, each sensation returning in its proper order, a return that was both a homecoming and a transition, a return to the ordinary world of duties and responsibilities.

The phantoms dissolved one by one, returning their substance to the greater current, their luminous forms fading into soft motes that drifted through the chamber and vanished, their presence absorbed back into the flow from which they had been shaped, a return that was both an ending and a beginning, a completion of one phase of the practice and a preparation for the next.

 

[Junko Ike]

Sensation returned in layers: the cool stone beneath her knees, the soft weight of silk against her thighs, the gentle press of the force beads against her temples, the faint fragrance of sandalwood still lingering in the still air, all the small, ordinary sensations that anchored her to the physical world, that reminded her that she was still a body as well as a spirit, still a queen as well as a practitioner.

The room reasserted itself, the silk panels in soft jade and ivory, the shallow basin of clear water, the quiet aurodium glow that ran through the ebony walls, the patterns of crystal that seemed to shift at the corner of her vision, all the familiar details that made this chamber a place of peace and practice, a place where she could turn inward and reconnect with the deeper currents of the Force.

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko opened her eyes, the transition from inner vision to outer sight smooth and unhurried, her gaze settling on the familiar contours of the chamber with a sense of quiet recognition, a recognition that was both a homecoming and a renewal, a return to the ordinary world after a journey into the depths of her own being.

Junko remained kneeling for several more breaths, letting the transition complete itself, allowing the ordinary sensations of the room to fill her awareness without the residue of the deeper immersion clouding her perception, the cool stone beneath her knees, the soft weight of silk against her thighs, the gentle press of the force beads against her temples, all the small, physical details that grounded her in the present moment, that reminded her that she was still a body as well as a spirit, still a queen as well as a practitioner.