Soleil would be leaving home soon.

Her mothers were still saying their goodbyes to each other. But that scene quickly got too affectionate for her. Hugs were great, but Soleil had a low tolerance for anything more than that.

Instead Soleil found herself across the stoneyard and in the workshop where they kept Hope. The six legged magitech Hexcrawler, H6-074 Pale Emissary hummed to life under Soleil’s touch.

“Good afternoon, Hope!” Soleil said with a sing-song voice as she changed into an apron and donned some thick gloves. “I hope you don’t mind if I give you a last minute checkup. Veilura is busy hugging our moms. You know how long that can take.”

Hope hummed, but only because she was brimming with a full tank of mana that reacted to Soleil’s presence. Veilura’s Hexcrawler came equipped with a size 90 mana tank marking her as a fairly standard pattern magitech walker meant for general use. The plan was to have Hope pull a cart full of foodstuffs and alchemical curatives to a small village in one of the Eastern Groves.

Between the capacity to bring 90 points of mana distributed into any soul attributes that might be needed and a capacity to wield two oversized armaments, Hope could be counted on to serve as a formidable force multiplier. Unfortunately for their first outing, they would not be able to rely on her overly much so long as she remained hooked up to the cart.

Soleil started by sliding underneath the Hexcrawler about three times her size in order to apply oil to the leg hinges. Next came testing the connection points on Hope’s forelimbs intended to attach grabbers or tools. Hope’s standard attachments were an axe, hammer, and pair of articulated steel grabbers for dealing with debris on the road. Seeing as they were not likely to rely on her for anything more than that, Soleil installed the two grabbers and belted the other two attachments to Hope’s side.

Loading and unloading was unlikely to be a problem, even if the right pilot could manage to get Hope to delicately grab stuff. There was always a risk of applying too much strength when piloting a body that was not your own. They would not have to worry though. Brigid easily load the cart all by herself. No doubt an entire village eager to receive the promised food and curatives would be eager to help unload.

“Hope you’re comfortable wearing a harness for the next few days.” Soleil said as she examined the length of connective rigging. “You shouldn’t need it on the way back. Unless Veilura and I decide to pick up another transportation request.” She really couldn’t predict how the Grove’s needs might change in a few days. Veilura might have some ideas about their needs, being originally from there and all.

Soleil really hoped that she could get her hands on more magitech or magical implements. Veilura would keep her well stocked on curatives so she could go at whatever pace she wanted. But equipping and gearing herself up would have to be something she managed on her own.

After rigging Hope up to handle transporting a cart, all that remained was to inspect the armor. The white honeycomb plating had been one of Soleil’s pet projects, a skill she learned all on her own over the course of a half dozen years.

Normally Magitech walkers came equipped with fitted armor plating to shield the delicate mechanics that allowed it to store and channel mana or move around. But those required access to a specialist equally ranked in [craft magitech] to repair as the one that crafted it.

Small hexagonal metal plates on the other hand? Anyone with the time and resources could manage those.

Soleil pushed, tugged, and wiggled at each hexagonal plate in turn. She was looking for loose connections, chipped plates, or any other imperfection that would demand a replacement. Each plate was only two hand widths wide and tall, intended to allow for quick field repairs. Being able to rely on mana to actively avoid harm was great and all, but magitech was not alive in a sense that Vitality would automatically shield it from harm.

Differences between mana engines and souls be damned. Soleil had too many fond memories of growing up with the Hexcrawler to watch it collect dust between lengthy repairs. Endlessly fond of Veilura’s faithful magitech engine, Soleil designed and crafted the honeycomb plating to protect what she saw as something resembling an older sister.

Last came filling a number of pouches with spare armor plates, oil, and other fiddly bits for simple maintenance on the road.

With all that done, Soleil stepped back in order to marvel at her work. “Maintenance checks complete. H6-074 Pale Emissary, otherwise referred to as Veilura’s Hope is ready to travel!” Soleil gave the saddle straps a test tug in various directions before climbing atop the Hexcrawler.

In front of her sat an orb for fueling and manipulating the mana engine that sat beneath her. So long as there was room in the engine and she remained in contact with the orb, it would drain her mana at a steady rate. For all intents and purposes, it was the focus point for a mana engine’s channeling.

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Soleil reached for Hope’s Intensity, urging it to burn the attribute at a slow rate. Stirring to motion, Hope began to follow the channeled commands of the mana flowing through it. Exiting the workshop, Soleil guided Hope around to where the cart had been left waiting in the stoneyard behind her home.

There she found Brigid, once again wearing an apron. This time layered atop the chitinous armored plates from their sparring session. “I see you’ve already finished the maintenance checklist. Hope is moving and purring like a kitten!”

Soleil’s smile beamed from atop the Hexcrawler. “Yeah. I need a bath though. I think I got oil in my hair.”

“You poor thing. At least neither of us have to worry about using fire to get things out of our hair.”

“Small blessings! Wait, just how uncommon is our [Fire Affinity] skill?”

“In humans? Almost unheard of. An Affinity is typically a cause for celebration for them.”

“What about monsters and demons? I know about cinder spiders and how elementally inclined drakes tend to be.”

“An Elemental Affinity tends to represent embodying an element in some way. No amount of training can make fire become core to a part of your being.”

“But it can be hereditary?”

“Evolutionary too. Cinder Spiders adapted to these mountains. When we stabilized this zone and cured the spiders of their corruption, adaptations to the zone’s fire mana remained.”

“But we can share this gift.”

“Ah. I see where you’re going with this. Yes, but how you do it matters. Trying to force it for the sake of it is bad. This is how a lot of humans end up turning into monsters. And I mean that in a very literal sense. Mana can be deeply unkind when someone tries to abuse its gifts.”

“Oh. That’s kinda scary.”

“Mana can be. But we would probably be drowning in problems if people could do whatever they wanted with the power at their disposal.”

“This is where promises come back into play, isn’t it?”

Brigid placed a hand atop her daughter’s head, headless to the oil stains. “That’s right. Veilura has already accepted a big request to help keep a town fed through the winter. Between supply shipments, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to build up a reputation of your own.”

“In the eyes of mana and the other factions.”

“That’s the idea. You should not have to worry too much about deceptive promises. Mana gets to see all sides of an exchange. It is when certain cultures and expectations come into play that Mana tends to rule in favor of humans, but you shouldn’t have that problem as a Demon.”

“Nadir seemed very intent on freeing me of any obligations to you all.”

“That’s right. We love you Soleil, but we do not own you. We are invested in your development only so far as you have everything in order to freely pursue your own interests.”

"Or if I need a humbling from a spar in the stoneyard."

Brigid chuckled. "You will fight more things stronger than you than weaker. But as a Spell Shaper, you will have more creativity to respond to a problem than most."

Soleil scoffed. "If I can find time for it."

Brigid's confident smile seemed to communicate a lack of worry. Soleil chose to interpret it as an open challenge to come home and show her mother how much she learned.

Soleil approached her mother and was soon drawn into a hug. "I'll be sure to kick your butt next time."

"Looking forward to it." Brigid said.

It was not long before other sets of arms joined the hug. Nadir and Veilura were here.

Veilura was the first to complain. "Soleil, you are absolutely covered in oil." Which was fair enough. Fox mom did not like getting difficult to clean messes in her hair or clothes.

Nadir on the other hand took it as an excuse to wrap xer daughter in darkness and hog Soleil to xemself. "We would be all too happy to spirit Soleil away instead. If you refuse to take her."

"Girls girls." Brigid practically laughed her words aloud. "You'll all get a turn to be in Soleil's party." She gave Nadir and Veilura affectionate forehead kisses. Soleil got a pat on the head instead.

"Yes yes." Soleil purred. "You all enjoy your forever goodbyes. I am going to get changed."

Veilura smiled, head and tails peeking around the curtains of darkness that comprised a very affectionate Nadir. "Our witch hats are already in the cart."

Nadir thankfully did not fight Soleil on her freedom, allowing xer daughter to gracefully untangle herself from the tangle of hugging demons. "You ran away before we could give you gifts. So you will find them next to the bag you left on the kitchen table."

"I hope there's still cake left. I am kinda hungry."

"Worry not Little Sun." Brigid sent Soleil off with a grin. "Half the leftovers are already packed up for you to enjoy on the road."

"Thank you! Your blastberry cakes are the best!" Soleil half turned to give Brigid a hug, before realizing her mothers had expected this. She ducked underneath an open arm and fled to take her bath in peace.

She was going to miss Brigid and Nadir so very much. Soleil did not even make it into the water before deciding that she would write her first letter home that very night. If her mothers were not going to set expectations on how often to write, she would chronicle her adventures nonstop.