Empathic Plane

The **Empathic Plane** is a location in *Magical Girl Policy*. It is a metaphysical realm that can be accessed from the physical world using certain abilities.

## Description

The Empathic Plane is nonphysical in nature. As its name suggests, it is closely linked to emotional energies and thus empathokinesis. The Empathic Plane can interact with the physical world and is seemingly all-encompassing in that even separate dimensions, such as the respective ones Earth and the Ardent Empire exist in, can be connected through it. This connection can be one between individuals, allowing interaction through means such as visions, or between points in space, allowing travel through means such as the Standridge Hill Stone Circle. There are instances of one's weapon being summoned from and returned to the Empathic Plane, but what exactly occurs that allows the object to remain in the Plane has not been stated.

## History

### Background

The Ardent Empire's rise and fall is correlated to its use of empathokinesis, with the Empathic Plane a key component. Advances in empathokinesis allowed for things such as transmitting messages along the Empathic Plane or storing items there to be summoned or dismissed by the user. The Empire searched the Plane to find empathokinetically-inclined peoples on other worlds, contacted them throughout visions, and then created foci called gateways that served as teleportation points linking them to the Ardentia homeworld. This was originally only to spread the knowledge of empathokinesis throughout the universe, but eventually the Empire went on to conquer the planets it reached.

During the final years of the Ardentia Civil War, the appearance of the mysterious and seemingly unstoppable Other Power heralded the inevitable destruction of the Ardentia homeworld, so the war was shifted to one over the gateways: one side would claim a gateway and travel through it, then destroy it so they couldn't be followed by the enemy or Other Power. The Other Power eventually destroyed all of the waystones on the planet, rendering the gateways useless. In response, the Empire designed a new type of gateway that would directly connect the Ardentia homeworld and Earth through the Empathic Plane when activated, hoping to relocate the Empire there and conquer the human race. This new gateway type worked as a pair, so the Empress projected through the Empathic Plane visions to the Atsah tribe and posed as their gods, instructing them in empathokinesis and setting them to work building the Earth-side gateway. The gateways were completed and became the site of the war's final battle, but due to the efforts of the Princess and her team, the gateway was shut down to spare Earth from the war's threats, though a gravely wounded Platicore managed to warp through to Earth at the last moment. The remaining people trapped on the Ardentia homeworld are assumed to have died either in battle or the Other Power overtaking the area. The connection along the Empathic Plane the two gateways had was severed by the Scholar, but the Earth-side gateway, which would in time become the mysterious monument of Kessia City called the Standridge Hill Stone Circle, remained functional.

Thousands of years after the Ardentia Civil War, the Spirit Guard learn through visions about the Ardent Empire and the Standridge Circle's powers. At some point prior to Kara joining the team, Angela used her Spirit Guard Valor form's powers to carve special stones, linked them to the Circle's outer eye stones, keyed them to activate a warp between paired stones by knocking on one to the beat of a corresponding Lyric Victory song, and placed them throughout Kessia City, turning the Circle into a teleportation hub for the team's convenience.

## Functions

### Communication

The Empathic Plane can be used to carry empathokinetic messages. Several foci in the Ardent Empire were designed for this purpose, like a pen that could write onto a desk, another focus that would send the inscribed message elsewhere, resembling a text message or email. It is possible for one's empathokinetic perception to sense where a nearby message is being sent from, and with the right means intercept the correspondence. Another application of the Empathic Plane is in visions: by searching through the Plane through some empathokinetic means, one could establish an empathokinetic link between individuals, provided the one receiving the vision has high enough empathokinetic potential to perceive it. The Empire used this method to find people who could make use of the Empire's teachings of empathokinesis.

### Travel

Using the proper empathokinetic means, two points in space can be connected via the Empathic Plane, allowing for rapid travel even across dimensions. This is demonstrated through gateways, special structures the Ardent Empire created to serve as teleportation points between the Ardentia homeworld and the other planets the Empire expanded to. The Standridge Circle and its Empire-based partner are a unique type of gateway that functions as a pair, being directly linked along the Empathic Plane. The teleportation system the Spirit Guard created out of the Standridge Circle and smaller stones around Kessia City appear to employ the Empathic Plane in the same manner: each warp stone has a partner at the Circle, and when activated they are directly connected in space for a seamless transit. The warp stones connected to Platicore's lair also seem to operate under these mechanics.

### Storage

Using empathokinesis, items can be placed within the Empathic Plane, allowing the user to instantly summon or dismiss them. The Shrine Maiden is shown to use her daggers in this way, and it is likely that her teammates and other combat-ready Ardentia could do this with their own weapons. It is implied that the Spirit Guards use their weapons like this as well, as their powers were inherited from their Ardentia predecessors, and Spirit Guard Serenity's use of the ability is basically identical to the Maiden's.