OoC: This is a battle between myself and LEA which will later evolve into a quest/fic where we will invite certain members of the BA to participate, helping us to move the story along.

BiC:A lone figure sat on the icy ridge, feeling the biting wind assault her face in vain. The cold no longer concerned her, for her mind was far from it. Wisps of her golden hair flew about her serene face as her mind floated even deeper into meditation. The blizzard raged on as the summoner’s mental wanderings carried over the white expanse and beyond.

Until it stopped. Her consciousness brushed against another familiar presence. One she had never expected to feel again. The visiting intelligence lingered just long enough to leave an indistinct plea whispering in the air… and disappeared once more.

The summoner’s eyes opened to see precisely what she expected to see. A door stood stoically before her in the storm, independent of any sort of structure. The woman’s clear, blue eyes twinkled. Shall we go?

Need you ask, Samae? came the answer. The door opened, and Aurora the Ominae once again came to the Dome.

The Dome’s unending corridors coursed to the right and left, but her familiarity with the place immediately directed her toward her old quarters. Along the way, she noted faces passing by, many weary from training, for the Dome was the multiverse’s foremost training ground. Warriors from all reaches of every universe and dimension, both good and evil as the Dome did not discriminate, came here to improve upon themselves, some in more ways than one.

Some faces were familiar, but most were not. She had not seen any of her former students yet, and wondered if the Dome had finished their training and sent them all home since she had been gone. She knew a couple of them would be steered to teaching positions to fill the gap created by her absence, and considered tracking them down after she’d had a rest.

Before long, Aurora was once again surveying the place she came closer to calling home than any other. It was, of course, all exactly as she had left it. A hearty fire crackled in the fireplace, welcoming her back to the place where she had created so many memories in but a year. The gleaming hardwood floors reflected the firelight onto the cool stone walls and she couldn’t help but leave her shoes at the door, so she could sink her bare toes into the warm, lush rug before the fire. Then, she surveyed the kitchen briefly before going to her bedroom, reveling in the soft, cushy mountains of quilts and pillows covering the four-poster bed, and a long, luxurious bath soon ensued in the gigantic, claw-footed bathtub.

She emerged from the bathroom to find, as always, a fresh change of clothes laid out waiting for her. The Domerii are still working as diligently and as unobtrusively as ever, I see.

I agree, came Valron’s answer from the living room, I am very curious to find the reason for our return. Not that I am unhappy to be in this most comfortable place again, but…

The Dome does nothing without a reason. I know.

After scrounging a bite from the kitchen, Aurora found herself, once again, out in the ever twisting halls of the Dome. The Dome’s massive, ever-present consciousness surrounded her like the embrace of an old friend. The place was indeed so rich with magic that it had, over the ages, developed its own sort of intelligence. It was a life form unlike any other, a living pocket dimension, with a link to all other realms of existence. It plodded purposefully through the cosmoses, both everywhere and nowhere at once, about its task. It always seemed to know how to best complete its duty of training the multiverse’s best warriors and magicians. Aurora had grown used to its guidance and strange ways in her time instructing between its walls, at times expressing her frustration at its inexorable sense of duty, (She’d lost account of the amount of sleep she’d lost because of the Dome’s insistence on having her meet and take on new students almost constantly.) and at others laughing at its strange sense of humor.

Oddly, the Dome was not leading her in any particular direction now, it simply seemed pleased to have her there again. I can’t believe it only wanted me back for a visit.

I have difficulty believing this as well, Samae, however, we have little choice but to wait until our host decides to make its wishes known to us.

Of course… what was that? She felt a familiar power brush against her mind for the briefest moment, too faint to recognize, but its feel made all the hair on her body stand on end. As soon as she reached out to grasp it, the presence disappeared, retreating beyond her reach. She shook her head, trying to place the feel of the power, and why it made her so uneasy, but to no avail. Finally, she logged the odd occurrence under “just another day in the Dome” and turned a corner only to run into a familiar face.

“Sileya, you’re back, too?”