Welcome back. The The Flow journey continues.

Chapter 3 – The “Why” in “How”

Eonis walked carefully, holding the focus core with both hands, passing by Alaeyira toward the table where he had to endure the painful image of his weeks of work scattered back into multiple pieces. Alone. Unfit. Without fulfilling their purpose.

Alaeyira brushed his shoulder right as he extended his hands to place the focus core on the table — an unexpected event that made him flinch, tightening his grip, thinking, “Why right this moment?”

“Don’t you forget something?” He turned slowly.

“What do you mean?”

“I showed you what the focus array needs. Don’t you think you need to show me that you are aligned?”

“Aligned? I’m an engineer with no magic bones, you know that.”

“Then why do you need the focus array? This is not a screw waiting to fulfill its design. The array is built with a purpose.”

“Purpose is negotiable. Your analogy with the screw, for example — it fits in its place, but it may also force a new way when needed.”

“So… rudimentary…” She sighed. “Have you ever wondered what happens if you force an array?”

Eonis shook his head, as if all his vocabulary had gone AWOL.

“Let me put it this way… You are lucky you did not manage to force it into anything. Because if you had succeeded, this place would be — based on this array — leveled for about half a mile.”

Eonis forced himself two more steps, just enough to fall onto the chair.

There was a long pause. Alaeyira sat at the table, enjoying her tea as if nothing had happened. Just another five‑o’clock tea, chit‑chatting with friends about little magical mishaps.

“Have some tea. It helps.”

He carefully placed the focus core on the table and took a small sip of tea.

“Better, right? Now, tell me — how do you plan to use the focus array?”

“Well… how can I say it? The focus core is… well… the core. Simply put, what surrounds it captures the energy signature and direction, and sends this to the core. This is amplified by it and then mapped. I tried to explain as simple as I can…”

“This is so… rude… barbaric even. A river negotiates and resonates with the mountains; it does not force itself through them. Why do you think it’s called a focus array?”

Eonis looked at her, then at the crystal formation on the table. He understood what she was saying — it made sense, the way fluids behave, the way energy flows. But he still couldn’t grasp what was wrong with his approach. By all calculations, all measurements, it should work… yet Alaeyira’s words convinced him that failure had been the outcome from the very beginning.

“However, you were right about one thing. It is a focus.” She paused. “But… a focus is like a crossroad, not a den. Get it?” she said, looking at him, tapping slowly with two fingers to pull his attention back.

Eonis was still staring at the focus core, as if waiting for subtitles to appear with instructions, while rubbing his left temple with his fingers.

“Now, as I asked before — you try it. If you don’t feel it, how do you expect your device to do it?”

He stopped rubbing his temple and looked at her, expecting more than just do it, because they both knew he was magicless.

But why is she insisting I try? he thought. What does she see that I don’t?

He waited a bit longer, hoping she’d add something — but he was starting to understand how Alaeyira does things. She always gives enough to work with, but never the full solution. Not as a show of superiority, but more like an invitation to find your own path… so you can walk beside her, not behind.

“OK… OK… How do I start?” he finally said, looking at her with determination.

She took a sugar cube and let it levitate above her index finger. Then she touched the focus array with her other hand — and the sugar cube shot straight up, hit the ceiling, and snowflakes began falling.

Alaeyira raised her eyebrows in a clear get it now? and signaled him to try.

Eonis ran his hands through his hair, tidying it up a bit—not because he needed to look good, but to buy himself some time in the hope that an idea might come to him. But… nothing. So the only way out of this situation—in which every fiber of his being told him there was no way out—was to repeat what he had seen work, ignoring the variables that made the difference.

“This is an equation in which the operators are placed at random, and yet the correct result is still expected,” he muttered. Eonis picked up a sugar cube, held it between his index and middle finger, and stared at it.

He could swear he caught a twitch of disappointment on Alaeyira’s face, but he had already passed the point of no return. He focused on the cube again, even though he knew levitation was out of the question. Still, it was the only thing he could think of to show her he was trying something… anything.

A tap on the table made him realize that prolonging this phase did not please her. Eonis lifted his other hand and, with caution, placed it over the focus core. He waited a few seconds with his eyes closed. He took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and looked first at the cube between his fingers, then at Alaeyira.

Her expression was not what he expected. No trace of disappointment or disgust. Instead, he was certain she showed surprise—or even… admiration? He shook his head.

What the hell am I thinking? There is no…

“Not bad, Eonis. Strange maybe… but believe it or not, you are closer than you think you are. As a reward…” she said with her usual calm. With a few rehearsed hand gestures, the focus array slipped from under Eonis’ hand and levitated to the workbench. The other pieces began levitating around it, coming closer and closer together. A low-frequency hum made Eonis drop the sugar cube and dry-swallow. The closer the parts came, the higher the pitch rose, until a small flash of light followed by the assembled parts hitting the table.

Eonis flinched.

“Now it is as it should be. The rest… you figure it out. Until next time…” she said, and left—unrushed, but still too fast for Eonis to react or ask any questions.

As soon as Alaeyira exited the room, she stopped, waved her hand, and replayed the image with the cube. As soon as Eonis touched the focus array, fine grains of sugar lifted about forty centimeters above his hand and gathered together into a miniature galaxy seen from far away. It lasted only a second, but that was a second more than she expected.

She smiled, closed the replay with a gesture, turned her head toward the door, and whispered before leaving:

“There is hope with you after all. Don’t disappoint me.”

Zian returned, distracted as ever, almost bumping into Alaeyira.

“Take good care of him,” she said, ruffling his hair a little, and vanished in a light smoke.

Zian rubbed his eyes, then smiled. “I got you, master. I do!” He rushed into the room shouting:

“Master, master…”

Eonis was moving around the table, looking, studying the assembled energy‑matter focus core. Assembled. Just like that. Her seconds versus his weeks of failure. It didn’t feel fair.

“Master… you did it… You are a genius!” Zian said with his usual enthusiasm.

“If only that were true…” Eonis said, still debating whether it was safe to touch the assembled core without risking making it fall apart.

Zian came close to Eonis, following him as he moved around the table, trying to figure out what his mentor was trying to do—or observe—or both. For a split second, Zian saw a small flicker in the assembled core. Without thinking, he simply picked it up.“Master, have you seen that? It works—”

“Put… it… down. Easy.” Eonis said, enforcing each word, following closely as Zian placed the device slowly back on the table. For a while, Eonis thought that once the core was assembled, the biggest issues with his device were solved, and from that point on it would be just a straight line. But Alaeyira’s words told a different story—a story that had just begun, and was far more complex than he imagined.

Previous: Chapter 2 – Exchange

Coming Next: Chapter 4 – Pressure