Assessment

They entered the temple and a priestess in long crimson robes bowed to them.

"May the changes of Tamult bring Order." she said.

"May the Order of Tamult support our changes." Qiya said. Haphor, Qiya, and Jay all bowed deeply to the priestess. Misty copied their bow.

"What brings you to the temple today?" asked the priestess.

"Our new daughter has come into power and we ask the temple to assess her." Haphor said. The priestess looked at Misty.

"This is your daughter?" She walked over and stared intently into Misty's eyes. Misty tensed up and reached for Jay's hand.

"She is Jay's mate." The priestess looked at the tattoo on Jay's chest and looked toward Misty. Her eyes looked her up and down and Misty realize that she was looking for her mate mark.

"My kaunak is covering it." Misty told her.

"Ah, I see. Follow me." The priestess led them deeper into the temple. At the entrance to another room, she turned around and held up her hand. "This is the assessment room." Unlike most of the other entrances, this room had a door on it. On either side of the door were two spheres and above the door was a crystal embedded into the archway.

"Misty, you will have to go in by yourself." Haphor said.

"That is correct." said the priestess. "Let me explain how the assessment works. You enter here. Once you are inside, we will close the doors. Inside is another sphere similar to the ones out here. You will place your hand on it and pour your mana into it."

"How will I know I am done?" Misty asked.

"The crystal at the top of the door will tell us and there is another crystal inside that will glow once your results are ready. It shouldn't take too long."

"Does it hurt?" Misty asked, concerned.

"It shouldn't and we will enter after the assessment if done or after the sun reaches midway. Don't worry too much, we have had people come in who were unable to trigger the assessment." Nodding, Misty looked at Jay who smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry, we will stay out here." He pointed behind him and she realized that there were several chairs and couches over in a niche by the room. It look a little like a hospital waiting room.

The priestess opened the door to the room. Misty let go of Jay's hand and walked into the room. The sides had several glowing orbs to light the way. She turned and saw Jay standing at the entrance. As the priestess closed the door, he waved. Once the door was shut, she walked over to the platform that held the other sphere.

She placed her hand on the orb and thought back to how she felt when she triggered her mana in front of Lyon. The orb began to glow. As Misty poured more and more power into it, the room around her began to get bright. She closed her eyes and felt a sudden shift in the space.

--------

When Misty opened her eyes, she could see a vast empty white space. The orb was gone and she spun around until she say two familiar creatures. Melcar stood holding a staff with a glowing crystal and Astara lay next to him, lazily licking her paws.

"It is nice to see you again." Misty said. She pointed to her head. "Is the encyclopedia in my head your doing?"

"Of course," Melcar said haughtily. "It isn't your fault you were stuck here, but you should at least have some knowledge."

"Tamult was happy about it but THEY weren't" Astara sneered.

"Shut it, Astara." Melcar shifted as if he was uncomfortable. "Misty, we saw an opportunity and decided to bring you here to answer any more of your questions."

"Did you find out why Tamult brought me here?"

"She thought your death was too tragic." Astara hopped up and walked over to Misty. "And she needed a soul that didn't start in this world."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you have learned a little about mate marks now, right?"

"Yes."

"The mate mark one of the foundations of the laws in this world. Everyone must have the possibility of a mate." Misty looked at Astara in confusion.

"Does that mean that Jay had no mate originally?"

"That is exactly what that means. You see, normally when a person can't find their mate it is because they are too far away or died before getting to meet them. You also have people that are compatible but choose not to have a mate for what ever reason. But with Jay, his mate didn't exist here. He had no possible mate."

"I see," Misty thought for a moment. "You said that if I was sent back, that would throw off the world's balance."

"That is correct." Melcar said. "Mate marks being one of the foundations of this world, if the foundation is cracked, the whole thing could start to fall apart." Melcar shook his head. "Back when Jay was born, we started to see some of those cracks, but they weren't that big. If it had only been Jay, I think that we could have patched it up."

"More were born without the possibility of a mate." Astara pointed at the lotus on her chest. "They all had the same compatibility needs and potential as Jay."

"So Tamult brought me over because I was the person who could fill that gap."

"Essentially, yes." Astara sat down on her haunches folding her wings down to her back and looked up at Misty. "If you don't meet your mates and decide if you want to pair with them, the world will begin to collapse."

"But you said as long as there is a possibility it should be fine."

Melcar shook his head. "You are a person from another world. You aren't synced to this one. To satisfy the requirements, you have to personally meet them."

"Do I have to mate with them?"

"If you decide now that you can't, then they never had the possibility which would further put the world out of balance"

"So I can't decide until I meet them and give them a chance."

"That is correct."

"What happens if I don't do this?"

"Tamult will eventually be destroyed." Astara said grimly.