As dawn broke, Gerald divvied up the reward they’d received from the guild for their information. Technically speaking, the reward shouldn’t have been handed out until after the guild sent a team through to confirm that there were unmapped sections of the Domain, but the group had provided convincing enough evidence to bypass that need.
Placing the final coin with a clack, Gerald looked at the party as they took their decently sized coin piles. “Now, normally I would suggest today be a rest day, given the level of challenge that Domain presented us, and the payout we just got. However, I know that some of us have new toys to play with,” he said, glancing at Will, “and we all might benefit from taking some time to work on our Advancements. This area has a higher mana density than most places, so it’s good to take the time to adjust to the difference in mana gains.”
Will nodded seriously, distracted from thoughts about using his new shield. “I knew I’d be making faster progress out here, but I was still shocked how close the Domain brought me to Advancement.” He shook his head ruefully, “It almost makes me wonder why I bothered training back home.”
Gerald nodded, smirking. “I understand the sentiment. Actually, you do occasionally see some families with more money than sense that send their children out to places like this, or worse, with powerful escorts to leech off of so they can hit a high Advancement at a young age. People have had all kinds of schemes about how best to speed through levels, and most of them aren’t so kind.” His expression shifted, darkening.
After a brief, but charged silence, Annette spoke. “So, will this be your first Advancement Will?”
He chuckled. “I know I’m young, but I’m not that young. I’ve had a couple basic ones so far, just the typical physical improvements most people get.”
Annette wrung her hands nervously. “Oh.”
Will looked at her in surprise. “Have you never Advanced before?”
She shook her head.
“I thought you lived in a place that had to have walls because of all the mana beasts in the area, and you’ve never Advanced before? That was something every kid back home had to learn before going in their first Domain.”
She squirmed a little under the attention. “I was… sheltered.”
He scoffed. “‘Sheltered’ seems like a bit of an understatement!”
Seeing her discomfort, Gerald put up a hand in a slowing gesture. “Everybody has things in their past they don’t want to talk about, and we all met just a few months ago. I think she can tell us what she wants, when she feels comfortable.” Will, mollified, nodded.
Annette rubbed her arm, avoiding eye contact. “I think that the people who raised me just had a specific idea for how children should be taught things like that. We were taught to… rely on our elders.”
Will opened his mouth, and then closed it. He glanced at Gerald, clearly asking for help. Gerald just clapped Annette on the shoulder and stood up. “Hey, no point worrying about the past! Today is a day for thinking about the future, and taking a load off. Let’s help Annette figure out what she wants for her Advancement, and then go enjoy the day!”
A shy smile made its way onto Annette’s face as the party enthusiastically agreed. They made their way outside, and she let her eyes wander over the houses, the people, and the walls around the Guild district. Reddish-brown, the walls were clearly local stone, and in the light of the sunny weather common to the region, most would probably say they looked warm and inviting. She shuddered lightly, feeling a tightness in her chest. As she kept walking, her mind drifted back to walls from her past, less inviting, more confining.
-=-<^>-=-
~About a year ago~
It was late in the evening, and the sun had long gone down. Annette sat, knees pulled to her chest as she looked out over the garden that kept the church self-sufficient, and at the light drizzle of rain falling on the windows of the church and its administrative offices. For the dozenth time, her eyes were drawn past the church, past the focus of her watch to the imposing, gray walls surrounding the entire compound. Set within the walls of the city, she’d always assumed that having their own wall meant they were safer, that anything that got into the city wouldn’t be able to get into the church. She jerked her eyes away, heart racing as she fought a sudden bout of claustrophobia.
It had been a while since these walls had felt like anything other than a cage.
Light flickered across the way. A small side door was open on the church. With bated breath, she waited for the sign that her nightly vigils would be over. A hooded figure stepped out quietly, closed the door, and headed for a locked storehouse near the edge of the garden. From experience, she knew the figure wouldn’t be in there long before heading back to the church.
Sucking in a quick breath, she dashed off, leaving her chair lightly clattering against the floor behind her. Running in cloth-wrapped shoes she made her way down the stairs, past the landing where the other orphans slept, and down past the matron's room, silently stealing out into the night. Out in the drizzle now, she made her way warily, keeping an eye on the storehouse. Her jaw clenched as she thought about its contents. ‘Materials for worship’, is what they’d been told. ‘Offerings to the Creator’.
She shook her head angrily. Offerings don’t cry for help.
She had to know what was going on.
She slipped into the still open door, quickly glancing down the hall to either side of her. There was no one in sight. She ducked behind a column, hiding herself from sight in the dim, fitful light, and she waited.
Shortly thereafter, the hooded figure returned, this time carrying several small crates and cages. Within were small creatures, insects, and one cage even contained an ordinary looking rock. But none of these things were ordinary. Annette could feel the sheer mana each contained, washing down the hall and crashing against her like a wave, leaving her skin tingling where it was exposed.
The person set off, pausing only long enough to close the door. Annette tailed at a distance, still wet feet almost squelching enough to send her back into a panic attack, feeling vulnerable as she openly followed the figure through the abandoned halls. I am not suited for stealth, she thought, hand hovering over her rapidly beating heart.
She followed through increasingly familiar halls, taking them from less travelled back hallways into the more public facing sections of the building. With rising dread, she realized she could hear voices, raised in what sounded like distant chanting.
Not chanting. Prayer.
Her fears were realized. The figure she was tailing turned off, taking a side door into a smaller chapel. Through the closing door she got a glimpse of more hooded figures, roughly two dozen total, each seated, praying, and one man standing on the stage at the end, faced away from the door. That was all she saw before it shut.
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Breathing shallowly, heart in her throat, she tip-toed to the door, and put her ear against it.
“... these offerings will please the Creator greatly. Fine clergy of the duchy of Pluff, know that you always are, and always will be in the Creators arms. In their Embrace, even.” This was followed by polite chuckles, a little dry, like they’d heard this line before. There’s someone important in there.
“Now, I permit you to present your offerings to the Hand.” This was followed by a collective gasp, and reverential mutterings. Annettte looked at the door, frustrated. She knew she couldn’t get in this way, or she’d be seen immediately.
Shuffling down the hall and around a corner, she rushed toward what would be the rear of the chapel. Being a ward of the church, she’d been in this area enough to know there was a small service door, hidden and out of sight, just at the rear of the stage. She should be able to get a good view from there.
Sliding into place by this much smaller and less impressive door, she arrived just in time to hear that the hooded figures in the pews had picked up with the prayers again. Using the opportunity, she cracked the door open, any creaks hidden under the sound of the voices. As the door opened, she finally got a look at the figure on stage. Relatively average height, he was a man of indeterminate age. His demeanor spoke to years of accumulated experience and wisdom, and his shockingly white hair lent credence to the image of age, but his youthful skin muddied the waters. None of this was what caught her attention at first glance.
The man wore one slightly longer than elbow-length glove on his left arm. The other glove had been removed. His right arm, from the fingers to just before the elbow, was dark. Shockingly dark against his light skin tone, there was a clean separation between the two areas. As soon as she saw it, the hand drew her gaze. More than the man’s confident expression, more than his extravagant outfit, more than his incongruous features, this hand exuded a gravity, a weight that she’d never felt before.
After a moment that felt like an eternity, he uncurled his fingers, bright red nails parting over the rock she’d seen in one of the cages. It fell to dust as he let it go. “Ahhh…” He sighed exultantly, “That was a fine offering. Which of the initiates was responsible?”
A hooded figure, one of those she now noted as wearing less ornate clothing, stood up excitedly.
The man on stage gestured him forward. “Come. Let the Creator embrace you.” The initiate rushed up to the stage, tossing their hood back as they went. Annette gasped. That’s Clare! Clare was a fellow orphan, maybe eight or ten years Annette’s senior. She’d been working for the church officially since she had become an adult.
The man put his strange hand on Clare’s head, and they smiled at each other, tears of joy running down her face.
A pulse of mana ran through his hand, and Clare collapsed, smile fixed to her face as her body disintegrated into ash.
Annette’s breath caught in her throat. Her friend, one of the orphans who was an older sister figure to everyone, was suddenly gone.
She hadn’t even had time to process that Clare was here, at some suspicious secret meeting the clergy held.
Emotion began welling deep within her, and she wasn’t sure if it was grief, fear, or rage.
Peeking over the edge of the stage, seeing this man– this monster that had killed her friend, and the beasts that cheered it on, she wasn’t sure it mattered. She set a hand on the stage, ready to pull herself up.
Please, a voice intruded on her mind. Please, child. Help me.
Distracted from thoughts of revenge or, more likely, a suicidal attack, she glanced to the side, where the rest of the ‘offerings’ were piled. In a glass container sat a queen bee. It buzzed its wings weakly.
I know you’ve heard my voice before, child. Please. You can save us both.
Gritting her teeth, she glanced at the stage where the man was opening a cage with a small opalescent newt, struggling to get away. She could hear its screams faintly touching her mind. She turned away, tears beginning to run down her face as quietly grabbed the captive bee.
-=-<^>-=-
~Present~
Annette sighed as she walked, alone, through the wilderness around Gran. Still within sight of town, she was trying to avoid the areas where most adventurers practiced skills and new Advancements away from buildings. Approaching a patch of flowering cactus, she planted her staff, affixing it to the ground with a bit of conjured wax.
“I’m still not any closer to understanding what I saw that night, Melli. I know you said my priority should be getting stronger, but it just keeps eating at me. Clare, and probably others I grew up with, are gone, and I don’t even know why.” She looked at the hive on the end of her staff, which had begun to vibrate with a deep hum. “I know getting stronger is all I can do right now… but, for what purpose? To tear down the Church of the Creator? To bring that man to justice? I… I just feel lost, still.”
The hive's vibrations picked up in intensity, and layers of it peeled apart. From within these layers, a truly sizable bee began to push its way out, until a queen bee a little over half the size of her forearm was crawling across the surface of the hive.
It buzzed, alighting on nearby cactus flowers. I understand, child. When your entire world is taken from you, it can leave one feeling purposeless. You’ve been thrust into a new environment, and you have to find a new way to live. That is what you need strength for right now. Take the advice of the elder in your group; set the past aside for now. One day, when we no longer need to be in hiding like this, we can reevaluate. For now, let’s focus on your Advancement.
Annette nodded slowly, tension leaving her shoulders. “Okay… You’re right.” She flashed a smile. “Thanks, Melli.”
The bee responded with pleased buzzing.
“So… how does this Advancement work, exactly?”
It can differ depending on the individual. Your friends, for example, would need to learn to enter a meditative state wherein they would be able to loosely visualize and touch on the mana construct that makes up their being.
“Their bee-ing?”
Melli chuckled mentally. Yes. Once they’ve entered this state, they would guide the excess mana they’ve accumulated to whatever part of their being they wish to enhance; their flesh, their bone, mana reserves, and so on. For you though, the process will be different.
Annette idly opened the hive further, allowing other bees to explore the local flowers. “What makes it different for me? The fact that I haven’t Advanced before?”
No dear. You’re bonded to me! As a Spirit, our relationship confers certain benefits, as you know. I confer upon you a measure of my abilities in exchange for some of the excess mana you take in, but I can also help guide your Advancement. More excitingly, being bonded with a Spirit, you can have some say in any new magics you want to develop as part of Advancing!
Annette looked at her Spirit patron, eyes wide. “Really? But… What should I get?”
Melli buzzed curiously. You’re my only contractor, so I don’t have the experience to help guide you on that… But perhaps this young man can help? She said, turning to look around the base of a slim tree.
A young teen with a small statue in his hand startled, hiding behind the tree for a moment before coming out, dusting himself off.
“Little receptionist? What are you doing out here?”
He looked at the idol in his hand, glaring at it. “Looking for something. Anyway,” he waved his hand dismissively, “you want my advice on your skills? Very well! Let the consultation begin.”