If she imagines that it's colourless and transparent like extremely high-quality glass, that works, and refines her vision of it just a little bit more.

But if she imagines that it's clear all the way through without pattern or flaw, it jars away again.

Yeah, that makes sense. Her soul probably isn't doing very well at the moment.

(The pain curls up around her, like a blanket made of sandpaper.)

How do you hurt a lens of glass... You fracture it. It's got cracks in it?

Let's try that. (ugh ugh ugh)

Yes it does! Tiny cracks, not tangible but visible, fracturing the light that passes through the lens.

... Hardly any light is going where it's supposed to. Her lens is clouded and dark. Is she. Is she really shattered this badly?

Well, souls aren't supposed to lie to their owners. So yes, she is. But that just means she needs to get better. Resurrecting her parents would definitely help with that. 

She supposes that's part of her soul too, the will to overcome. Probably most twelve year old girls would be having a crying fit right now. She's not one of them. Maybe that makes her strange, but she's thankful for it. 

The mental picture of her soul clarifies a little more, and feels a little closer to reality, when she considers the will to overcome as part of her. So yes, that one checks out.

She feels... A little steadier, now. Even if her soul is flawed, it's good for her to accept that truth. Hiding from the darkness doesn't make it go away. It still hurts, her soul is still in pain from her careless touches, but it almost lends her a little more clarity. 

Focus. She can do this. At twelve. (A little flicker of pride, quickly squelched.) 

What sort of person is she?

Stubborn. Willing to overcome. Not beholden to other people's rules. (Twelve.)

Yes, and yes, and yes. Closer, closer.

... She wants to be better and she wants to be better at making the world better, but she doesn't know how that's really a part of her personality... 

And yet it works. She's starting to see fine detail, the tiny cracks as thin as spiderwebs, the way the light sparkles from them...

... It's actually a little pretty. But she's not one to pick aesthetics over what's right. She needs to fix this.

And on that note, the image becomes reality. Her soul sits in her hand, a clear lens filled with hairline cracks, shining with splintered light.

... That worked. 

That worked.

... Now what?

Good question.

Well, theoretically she should be able to... consult her soul on it? Yes, that feels like a good idea. 

Her soul informs her that it is not generally in the habit of dispensing sage advice, but she can consider herself informed that she doesn't need to sleep now.

Really? That's all?

That's all that it's safe for her to use it for. She did bruise it rather badly while extracting it. 

Oh, and no, her soul isn't debased. She's suffering a little for not having gone with her parents, but she just successfully extracted her soul. At twelve. She's doing plenty of overcoming. 

... Well. Turns out manifesting her soul didn't fix all her problems.

There's nothing to do but go on.

Her soul makes a little sound of glass on glass. One less fracture.

... Okay, maybe this has helped a little.

Click.

... It's definitely helped.

She thinks she'll unlock the door now. 

It's been several hours. The followup letters are beginning to arrive.

Which would she like to open first? Some of the names are unfamiliar, but there is one from Rekhanthai Zierni Kelora and one from Den-aminde Rysher Nahira.

... It's probably a good idea to read the only letter she's ever received from a Rekhanthai. Probably the only letter she will ever receive from a Rekhanthai.