The sun had nearly set when Herbert made his way out of his house and onto the stage. In the grey of dusk, the humans might have missed how Thomas and Mira stepped outside behind him and stayed next to the door.
Herbert motioned for one of the villagers and soon there were a few torches strapped to the poles at the corners of the platform. Their light chased the shadows on his face as he let his gaze wander through the crowd. The noise died down within a minute, only the crackling fires and sizzling meat still audible. Though my ears also made out the soft bubbling of the soup and the rustle of every tiny shift in the gathered crowd.
The old man smiled softly and nodded, before stretching out his hand, palm up.
“Dear friends. Dear family. New and old. Almost strangers and not quite brothers and sisters. I have been the head of this village for a long time. Nearly 50 years now. Some of you grew up with me but most came after.
“I have made many decisions in my time. Very few of them were perfect. I sometimes wish I could have done better but we are all here today, aren’t we?”
“Hear!”, someone yelled and laughter echoed.
“Thank you, Bert. Tonight, it’s time to give the mantle to the next. I feel I deserve a long and relaxing vacation. And I know my successor will lead you well. I raised him, after all!”
More chuckles went around. I noticed Thomas’ cheeks darken a little.
“Now! The food is soon ready so let’s not dawdle! Thomas, come up here!”
Herbert turned around as his son stepped up beside him. Mira was a few steps behind, moving deliberately slowly. Her robe was billowing around strange contours.
“My son!”, Herbert said, “I wish you all the best. May you lead the village of Greypeak to prosperity!”
Thomas nodded and turned to the crowd.
“So… I’ve never done this but I do want to say a few words. I think there’s merit in that.”
Someone chuckled only to be silenced with a slap.
“I’m young. Compared to many of you. And yet I’m older than my father was when he took up the mantle. I think that’s worth something. All of you are placing your trust in me. And I’ll need your help so I won’t disappoint you. No matter who you are, or what you are”, he looked up at our platform, “As long as you live in Greypeak, I’ll make sure you can live comfortably. I want this village to keep being the wonderful community it is. There may be trouble ahead but we will deal with it together. All of us! As friends, as family.”
He held his voice for a moment as Mira took the last step onto the stage. A sudden wave of darkness flooded the horizon and the torches flickered. The [Witch] opened her robes to another layer underneath. Out fell a pile of assorted items and a slightly displeased toad. Someone in the crowd gasped. Grunk croaked a laugh.
“Rise, Greypeak. To elect your fate!”, Mira said.
The villagers complied. Even the brats and Circe stood up. Us owls were already standing.
Around Thomas, an assorted mess of everything Circe and I had collected was floating into position. I observed and found the air itself using its essence to move the items.
“Thomas Helio”, Mira said gravely, “You wish to take on the mantle of [Village Head]. Your home, your friends, your family. You wish to be their leader, not only in name but in Truth.
“Herbert Helio. [Village Leader] of Greypeak. You wish to put down your mantle. You wish to give your responsibility to another. For that he may act in your interest when you are no longer able.
“Both of you, speak. Are you prepared?”
Herbert hesitated for just a second. Then he said “Yes” in a clear voice. Thomas spoke right after.
“Very well”, the [Witch] spoke, “Villagers of Greypeak. Your leader is no more.”
Herbert sunk to his knees with a painful grunt. Leon jumped up from the side to help him up and down the stage. Everyone looked after him as he sat down at a close-by table.
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A rustling sound soon drew the attention back to the stage. Nettle stalks were wrapping around each other in mid-air and formed a loose circle around Thomas’ legs. The birdnest rose above his head and stopped. Bark formed a weave and held muddy water in a bowl. It floated up and stopped in front of the young man’s chest. Grunk slowly made his way around the circle, dragging mud behind him. Mira bent down to pick up a cloth bag which likely contained what was left of the mushroom.
“The preparations are complete”, the [Witch] said, “It is time. Greypeak is elected a new [Village Head]. Speak up now if you object to the choice.”
Mira let her gaze wander through the crowd. She met the eyes of everyone and held them for a moment. Nobody spoke.
“Very well. Greypeak, as one, speak. Who is your [Village Head]?”
The moment she spoke the name of the Class, the aspects went wild around her. Humanus, praecantatio and meto, primarily. Human, magic and harvest. The magic went through the crowd and spread around everyone, invisible to but the most sensitive. Almost every villager put a hand to their heart. I felt the magic ask me but I declined. There was an option to confront the crowd. To overpower their choice. I might have been able to do it with several times the Intelligence and Willpower I had right then. As it was, I had to simply accept the majority vote.
I noticed with interest that Circe had done just like me and was not taking part in the election. I would have expected her to do so since it was her brother’s big day. Even more surprising were Yuuna and Mum who both had their wings shifted forward, mirroring everyone else’s motion. They were taking part. Dad was keeping the boys calm inside his shadows, making sure they would not disrupt the ceremony.
As everyone had made their decision, the aspect of mind, cognitio, rushed out. I saw Mira and Grunk working together to pull the threads all at the same time. Every villager at once opened their mouth.
“Thomas Helio!”, they said. Mum and Yuuna hooted some distant resemblance of the name.
The will of the crowd pushed the [Witch] back half a step before slamming into the nest above Thomas. It splintered into every twig it was made of and formed a shell around the man. Mira opened the bag in her hand and dumped the contents above him with a quick motion. The mushroom dust spread and covered Thomas in a thick cloud.
For a few seconds, it was impossible to make him out. Then, the magical election pulsed once more, the will of the people drawing the dust into the bowl of water. It took on a soft glow along with the mud on the ground. The nettle stalks grew in front of my eyes and spread thin roots to draw upon nutrients. Within moments, the young man was covered in stinging nettles, only the bowl in his hand still visible. I saw how the plants were slowly starting to restrain his movements. Before I could intervene, Mira spoke up.
“The verdict has been spoken. Thomas Helio, bathe in the hopes of your charges.”
If he could hear her or not, he raised the bowl in his hands. The glow intensified with every centimetre until it was just a little higher than his head. With one final motion, Thomas dumped the essence over his head. The nettles absorbed the liquid as soon as it touched them only to draw even tighter. I shifted a wing, ready to help him out if need be. But it was not necessary. The plants, instead of restricting Thomas’ movement, started to sink into his body. Essence shone on his skin as they disappeared only to follow soon after. Within a few minutes, the ritual was over. I almost wanted to see it again. That last step completely eluded my perception. Whatever happened with the ‘hopes of his charges’ had to have taken place in his soul.
“It is done”, Mira said. Her voice had turned back to her normal stern but friendly tone.
Thomas turned to her.
“Yeah. It’s done. I’m a [Village Head].”
Someone started clapping. It was Herbert. It only took moments before a deafening roar of applause took the plaza. My little brothers were cowering in fear. At least Dad’s shadows were very good at stopping noise.
The applause did not stop for at least five minutes. I had to explain to my family what the humans were doing and once they understood, they began clacking their tongues to join in. The brats grinned at that.
Eventually, the humans’ hands started to hurt and the noise died down. When it was quiet enough, Thomas spoke up again.
“Thanks, everyone! I won’t hold you any longer! Let’s feast!”
Once more, cheering broke out. This time, it was over much sooner and shifted into excited conversations. People were talking about the event. The magic that had happened right in front of their eyes.
Thomas and Mira left the stage and the brats made their way down the ladder as well. I shared a look with Circe.
“What was all that for, exactly?”, I asked.
“How in the warp would I know?”, she said, “It’s the first time I’ve seen the ritual!”
“Wanna go ask Master?”, I suggested.
“Yes!”
I dropped the plates with meat I had prepared for my family from my storage before I followed my friend down to meet Mira. The [Witch] was sitting next to Herbert and looking him over.
“What’s the matter?”, Circe asked.
“Oh, this is expected”, Mira said, “But I still want to have a closer look.”
“I’m fine, girl”, Herbert said, “Go get some food!”
“Yes, that would be good”
“We wanted to ask what everything in the ritual was for”, I said.
“Oh. Certainly. Only that I have no deeper understanding of it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I only know it strips the Class from the former [Village Head] and restores his [Leader] as it was before. And then it gives the Class to the successor.”
“Oh. So Herbert is not feeling well because he lost a ton of Attributes.”
“Correct.”
“What was that ‘bathe in the hopes’ stuff about?”, I asked.
“That”, Herbert said, “is what makes a good village leader. All the time, the hopes were with me. When I didn’t know what to do, the dreams of my people gave me direction. And when I went against them, it hurt my soul.”
“It hurt your soul?”, Circe asked.
“That’s what I thought”, I said, “The magic is something like a contract between the people and their leader. If he goes against their wishes, something bad might happen to him.
“There’s one more thing I want to know about. When you said Thomas wants to be the leader not only in name but in Truth. What was that about?”
“Those are the words that came to my head. I believe my Master had spoken the same when she performed the ritual for Herbert back then.”
“I see. Thank you.”
There definitely was capitalization on that Truth. Was my friend from beyond involved in how leadership Classes work? Had he acted during the Peasanting to make things better? I was quite curious but for now, there was a feast to enjoy.