𝕻𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖚𝖑𝖚𝖒 - [𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲]

𝐯𝐢𝐢. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 — the mirror dimension

━━━━━━━

 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 just how fast time seemed to pass within the Kamar-Taj; Stephen had been housed and trained within the walls for months now.

 Everybody could easily notice the changes within the man, Especially Emilia, who spent a majority of her time with the man. His arrogance had been quelled, not entirely, but Stephen wouldn't be Stephen without a sliver of arrogance and ego, she supposed.

 He had opened his mind to the mystic arts and was more than ready and happy to digest any and all information offered to him; he had approached Emilia a multitude of times to ask for her help with Astral Projection, and yet each time she had to say no out of respect for the Ancient One and her designated plans for the former surgeon.

 He was a quick learner, much like Emilia. He mastered anything thrown before him, now that he had surrendered his mind, spirit and body to the arts.

 Emilia, on the other hand, had become rather dedicated to her training. She had spent far too long within the Kamar-Taj and was growing frustrated with the lack of control to show for it. Lessons became more frequent, often resulting in both Emilia and the Ancient One sealing themselves away within the mirror dimension so that they could practice without worry.

 She progressed well; perhaps seeing Stephen finally prosper was the kick that Emilia herself had needed... Though her fear still permeated her bones; whilst she was more than happy to display light uses of her abilities without the safety of the mirror dimension, she couldn't bring herself to show her new tricks.

 From teacups to books, to seats and to tables. She could lift and levitate heavier objects without too much trouble, and yet the moment she stepped out of the dimension that protected people from her chaos, she reverted back to being utterly useless.

 It was disheartening, to say the least. It felt empowering and liberating to use her abilities without having to worry about unintentionally launching objects at passersby; but it seemed that the more she used her abilities, the more they craved to come to play in times where they needed to be contained.

 There were times where Emilia would demonstrate some of the things she could do for Stephen who found himself rather engrossed when the woman would so much as levitate a pencil before his eyes. The mere thought of Emilia being able to manipulate gravity confounded him.

 His mind would reel whenever he saw her use her powers; attraction and repulsion, that was the level that Emilia was on, being able to lift and lower objects at... Mild will. But the implications of what she could do with further training was both amazing, and terrifying.