Sona’s abilities in Odyssey differ a fair amount from her abilities in mainverse. The biggest converging point is that in her mainverse, she’s a sorceress--a magic user born with these magical qualities, whereas in Odyssey the source of her powers comes not from magic, but Ora. You could say that Ora is the magic of the Odyssey verse, but it really isn’t. Or rather, it’s much more than that. Ora is a coveted source of energy--it is THE source of energy. Any living organism in Odyssey has Ora with it. Ora is essentially the life essence to all things which linger in all living things.
HOWEVER, Sona is quite unique in regards to her Ora. She was born with an ASTRONOMICAL amount of it, to the point that she can control it innately in many different forms (which I’ll entail below) whereas most people cannot do. It’s rare to find those born with so much Ora, let alone those capable of exerting it in a way that can be applied to the world around them. It’s why Ora enhancements/prostethics and Ora-fueled weapons and vehicles are so popular. Ora is the universal energy to the world and--unfortunately--is being harvested for all the wrong reasons.
With that said, let’s tap into Sona and her control over Ora.
Firstly, Sona is able to commune with Ora. This is something that hasn’t been seen in 100+ years. She can speak with Ora and have conversations with it. The Ora itself (as I write it) is more or less a sort of hive for all the Ora which returns to the natural cycle of life/death/rebirth. They speak very formally and sterilely, going by ‘they/them/we’, for it’s not a singular identity. But this curious connection allows Sona the ability to ask advice, to vent some of her frustrations, as well as gives her another set of eyes watching her back while things get heated on the battlefield. The Ora is like a companion orb which can ease into and out of her body like water, though it has enough sense to hide itself most of the time.
This connection also burdens Sona with the ability of ‘future sight’, something which haunts her greatly. Sometimes when she goes to sleep, she instead is spirited away to a future timeline and bears witness to horrific scenes--of a universe culled of all life by the hands of a monster wielding a scythe. Sadly, this ability cannot be controlled and it always rotates around the same event; the Ora Gate. It is almost always a traumatic scenario forced upon her that she must experience all the way through, always ending with a painful death that she 100% feels and is incredibly jarring to her when she wakes. These visions are not incredibly commonplace, however when they happen she always hides away for the day, not wanting any to see such raw pain from her.
As far as combative abilities go, Sona is capable of a great deal. She fights using her own Ora, which she has a vast amount of. Moreover, she also regenerates her Ora, making it a useful tool in her arsenal. She can use it much like she uses her abilities in mainverse; gift of alacrity, healing, shielding, bolts of energy to pierce enemies. She also has the capability to sunder her enemies, stunning them momentarily by seizing the Ora in their bodies which causes them to stagger briefly. She also can ‘scan’ an area; taking time, she can focus on the natural flow of Ora around her and sift out certain sources of Ora. This can be a bit ambiguous depending on distance and familiarity to the signature of Ora, as all Ora in an individual is unique in its own right.
However, it should be noted that she has to be mindful. While she has an untapped wellspring of Ora to use, she doesn’t exactly have combat experience and can easily burn through too much Ora at once without realizing this. In threads, she has done this, to the point where she’s on a recovery period of 1-3 days depending on the severity, leaving her without the use of her abilities in that timeframe. This can become inconvenient at best and horrific at worst, for it leaves her body weaker and leaves her unable to assist those near her with healing/fighting.
Branching off this point, Sona has the ability to levitate (not fly) and speak--by that I mean she can create a telepathic connection and she can also ‘project’ her voice aloud with her Ora, though she cannot physically speak on her own due to a disorder in her throat. These are things that require such a miniscule amount of Ora that they are done without thought or without much impact on her Ora supply. However, if in dire straits, she will avoid all Ora consumption at all costs, perhaps save for her ability to speak. Even if in the company of others who can comprehend sign language, she hates not having a ‘voice’--and despite being physically mute, she wants to be heard in some manner.
As an aside to that notion, she can sing and absolutely loves to. The Ora companion also has the ability to house itself into her zither, creating beautiful masterpieces with her which act as a creative outlook and a means to decompress after stressful situations, such as enduring the visions. They’re quite a wonderful pair and weave harmonious melodies, to the same heights as mainverse Sona. Sadly, living a sheltered life, she would never have the chance to become a maven in Odyssey.
And finally, she can ‘disguise’ herself by masking her Ora abilities. By doing so, her markings disappear and her eyes become duller, less vibrant. In this way, it keeps discerning eyes off her. Yes, yellow eyes are still strange, but in this setting EVERYONE is decorated in outrageous colors, so she blends in quite well. Far better than sporting her ethereal golden glow that makes her stick out like a sore thumb, eh?
