Caethya checked her dress again, smoothing out a wrinkle at her hips. Her hair was next, the silver ornaments she had been gifted by her mother a lot fiddlier now that she had to put them in alone. Everything has to be perfect. After all, she would get to spend the entire day with Aperio. Free from divine bureaucracy and other deities. No distractions.
While the All-Mother had made it quite clear how she felt about Caethya by now, the two of them had never really had a date. Or much time to ourselves… The Demigoddess had quite a few ideas on what she would like to do, but most of those were still a while off. Perhaps it was her past, or because of her nature as the All-Mother, but Aperio needed time — familiarity — before she would agree to any of Caethya's more involved ideas.
"A visit to Spicor will do for now," she mumbled to herself, the ornament finally securely fitted in her hair and holding the rather intricate braid together.
Caethya looked at herself in the mirror, turning slightly to better see her hair. "Too much?" she mumbled to herself before she shook her head and picked up the dress she had made for the occasion.
Some people would probably say that having a dress made for such a trivial occasion would be overkill, but Caethya wanted to make sure that everything was as perfect as she could make it. Not because Aperio expected it — the All-Mother would probably not even approve of the amount of time her disciple had spent planning the day — but because Caethya wanted it to be correct.
The silky fabric practically flowed over her hands as she turned the dress, trying to find the small enchantment that held the back together. With a sigh, she focused on her aura, finding the magic flowing through her dress quite easily. A thought later and the back of her dress parted, allowing her to step inside and pull it up. Maybe I should have it made more open, like Aperio's?
Caethya reached back to hold her braid up as another thought caused the enchantment to spring to life again, adjusting the size of the garment as it closed itself. With a sigh she let her hair down again, smoothing out any perceived wrinkles in the dress with a touch of her magic. I can see why Aperio forgets to use her hands sometimes.
Magic had never been hard for her, but recently things had begun to just do themselves for her with nothing more than a thought required. It was nowhere near what Aperio did, of course, but small tasks like opening and closing doors happened largely on their own now. After I did something on purpose first. Almost like I have some kind of switch for it.
She shook her head at the thought and turned to face the mirror again. The silky black fabric shimmered slightly as she moved, the effect becoming more pronounced whenever light caught on the lines of silver that crisscrossed the garment. Caethya doubted that most people would figure out what the lines formed, but she was certain Aperio would notice.
The All-Mother was very attached to her wings and Caethya could see why. Being able to fly would be nice and having a pair of nice and soft wings to embrace her love like she embraced her would be wonderful. For now, however, she would have to make do with a silver wing that 'wrapped' around her dress.
A knock on the door caused the Demigoddess to freeze for a moment, then quickly check herself over once more. "May I come in?" Aperio's voice echoed through the room, the fact that she was on the other side of a solid brick wall and a thick wooden door seemingly not mattering.
"Yes!" Caethya replied, turning around and running her hands over her already perfectly smooth dress.
The All-Mother stepped through the door, closing it behind her before she set her eyes on Caethya and froze for a brief moment. The Demigoddess herself had barely noticed the slight stutter in Aperio's step, but it still caused a smile to play across her lips.
"Is that dress new?" Aperio asked, spreading her wings to their full length before wrapping them and her arms around Caethya. The Demigoddess gave a nod at the question causing Aperio to smile. "It looks good on you."
The affection Caethya could feel through the bond she shared with Aperio was hard to describe, and most certainly something most people would not expect. When people met Aperio, they invariably expected her to be cold and uncaring. Perhaps even that she would throw them through the nearest wall.
Caethya brushed her hand over Aperio's arm, still not quite understanding how the All-Mother could be so soft with the amount of muscle she had. But, that was kind of a theme with Aperio. She looked intimidating, but once you got to know her a little more, it turned out that the scary Creator liked to spend her days floating in the nothing of her Void with Caethya in her embrace as they talked about nothing in particular.
"Something wrong?" Aperio asked, placing her hand on Caethya's own and removing it from her arm. "You seem a little… lost."
"Nothing's wrong," Caethya replied, offering Aperio a smile. "Just excited." She clasped the All-Mother's hand between hers. "We've been together for a while, but this is the first time we’re going anywhere just to enjoy ourselves."
"And you still haven't told me what we will do," Aperio said, folding her wings behind her back as she tilted her head. "Just that we will go to Spicor."
"Because it's a surprise!"
"You mentioned that already," Aperio said, taking a step backwards after freeing her hands. "I changed it a little like you asked," she continued, gesturing to her dress. The usual dark blue garment she wore had undergone some slight alterations.
The main addition was a few silver threads that formed tiny interlocking wings that circled down her skirt, mimicking the armlet the All-Mother now always wore. Aperio did not have a symbol for her church yet — not an official one at least — and Caethya had made it a point to get the All-Mother to think of something.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Why did you want me to add that, anyway?" Aperio asked, poking a finger at the slightly glowing threads. "I know I need to come up with something for the church, but why do I need it on my dress?"
"You wanted to blend in, right?" Caethya asked, waiting for Aperio to nod before she continued. "Well, if you are someone with any form of authority, you display your crest on your person somehow.
"Our family does it with jewellery," she continued, turning her head slightly and pointing at the ornament she had painstakingly woven into her hair. "But, I know that besides your armlet you are not really a fan of ornamentation, so having it in your dress is a good alternative."
The All-Mother blinked at her words, brushing her fingers over the armlet before she squinted at Caethya. "If I already wear it anyway, why have it in my dress as well? That makes no sense."
"Ah, well," Caethya began, interlocking her fingers in every which way as she tried to figure out how to best explain the situation to Aperio. "The armlet itself would not be recognised in that manner…" She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "It's complicated. Just trust me with this. It's easier to simply have it on the dress and avoid awkward questions."
The All-Mother offered a shrug in response, her wings flaring out slightly as she did. "Where on Spicor are we going then?"
"Ahl Ghave," Caethya replied after a moment of silence. She had expected Aperio to just undo her modifications to the dress and simply deal with anyone that tried to tell her off when it happened. Poor guards would have to work so much overtime.
"Ahl Ghave?"
"The city I grew up in," Caethya said, offering her hand to Aperio again. "It's quite important for the Republic, being the biggest port city and all."
"And they will just let me in without a fuss?" Aperio asked, a few wisps of mana starting to dance around her form as she took Caethya's hand. "Mortals seem to have a problem with my strength until they learn who I am."
Caethya waved her off. "As long as you don't do too much fancy magics, we should be fine. And even then, Mayeia is the main deity in Ahl Ghave. We can just ask for her help if we need it."
"Hopefully that won't be needed," Aperio said, her wings disappearing as she opened a portal that led to a large expanse of green beyond.
"You don't have to hide your wings if you don't want to," Caethya said, her words causing the All-Mother to tilt her head.
"But they make it very obvious I am not a mortal?"
"Yes," the Demigoddess replied, "but I also know you don't like hiding them, and you should enjoy yourself today instead of trying your best to blend in. The dress is enough, and doesn’t cause you pain. I'll deal with anyone who takes issue with your wings."
"And what does 'dealing with them' entail?" Aperio asked, her wings spreading behind her before she folded them behind her back, making them almost look like a feathery cape. A beautiful, impressively soft cape
"Stern words," Caethya declared, placing her hands on her hip as she tried to make herself appear a little bit larger. "And maybe some punching if they are rude.
"But," she continued, resuming her normal stance and taking Aperio's hand, "that shouldn't be needed though. The Festival of Life has its second coming now, and people like to dress up for that. Yes, even some fake wings wouldn't be unthinkable."
"Festival of Life?" Aperio asked, tilting her head lightly. "Wasn't that something celebrated in Ebenlowe when I first arrived there a few…" Her voice trailed off, the All-Mother cocking her head to the other side as she tried to recall how long ago that was. "Whenever it was when I first got there. Is it supposed to last that long?"
"You don't know?" Caethya asked.
"Know what?"
"What the Festival of Life is about and how it works," the Demigoddess replied.
"I don't, no," Aperio said. "Should I?"
"As an Elf? Yeah, probably." Caethya smoothed over her dress as she sat herself down on the edge of Aperio’s bed. "I'll give you the brief version. But before I do that I have to ask you some questions, even though I don't know how any of it ever applied to you."
"And what would those be?" Aperio asked, tilting her head ever-so-slightly.
The movement caused Caethya to smile a little before she spoke again. "You never had to deal with suitors and the social norms that surround that, right?" Aperio nodded. "You probably also did not pay much mind to how frequently a Human can have children when compared to an Elf, correct?"
The All-Mother cocked her head to the other side. "Not really, no. I was never interested in having a child, and neither would an Elf be allowed to have one. All I know is that those 'nobles' had too many."
"Well," Caethya began with a slight incline of her head, "we only get a chance every few years, so the point where the most women were able to bear a child turned into an event of sorts.. That was the part you saw in Ebenlowe."
The Demigoddess took a deep breath, trying to hide the bit of redness that had creeped into the tips of her ears. "Nowadays it’s mostly for people to have fun for a week, and for the children of the aristocracy that have come of age to make their debut.
"But," she continued, "the second part, the one you will see on Spicor, is for those who are now expecting as well as those who found someone during the first part."
"So it's quite literally celebrating life?" the All-Mother asked, seemingly unphased by the topic. "A pleasant surprise. Something is named appropriately."
"Why was I even worried," Caethya mumbled with a sigh. She wasn't even sure why she was worried, as Aperio was not particularly squeamish — or modest, for that matter. The amount of times Aperio had forgotten to make sure her dress would survive a fight was… more than one, and the amount of times the All-Mother had cared about her state of undress was still exactly zero.
"Should I bring anything to the festival?" Aperio inquired, her ever-shifting eyes fixed on Caethya. "All the festivities I can recall involved a gift, clothing restrictions or some other arbitrary rule."
"It's fine," Caethya began, her ears and cheeks flushing red. "You are, uhm, with me after all. This part of the festival primarily exists so people who found someone can celebrate."
The All-Mother hesitated for a moment before she appeared in front of Caethya with a smile on her face. She held out her hand, gently pulling the Demigoddess to her feet after she had taken it. "Then we shall enjoy ourselves, no?"