Banished Pt. 14

"Fuck. Do we need to put her on suicide watch?" she asked, and I snickered.

"She'll be fine," I replied. "I also removed her hypnosis, remember?"

"Right... 'hypnosis'," she said, using little air quotes to accentuate her sarcasm.

I rolled my eyes, and smiled at her, before continuing:

"If she takes me up on that offer to step away from her duties, though, can I count on you to take care of some of what she usually manages?"

Cameron smiled happily.

"You know I should have been doing that job a long time now, right? Instead, you're always like, 'you're pregnant, Cameron. Just be pregnant'," she teased, doing a ridiculously deep voiced impression of my voice.

"I sound nothing like that," I countered, as Cameron followed me down the hall.

We made our way down the stairs and through the corridor to the main hall, where Gisela was waiting on me.

"Nathan. We're about to send diplomats out to Palancar to spread word of the coronation."

"Who're we sending?" I asked.

"Alva," she replied. "We will have a hunter accompany her for protection, though no threat is anticipated."

"Hmm. Do you think we could send her with Raul?" I asked.

"Raul? Surely the Gods have better things to do than accompany a mere companion-servant..."

"How long will the task take?"

"It will be done this day cycle," Gisela explained.

"Then it should be fine. Unless this would offend Palancar?" I asked.

Gisela thought about it for a bit, then shook her head.

"It would not... though, perhaps this may bolster our standing. Might we adorn Herr Raul with armor and ceremonial dress?"

"Oh, definitely a must," I said, chuckling a bit as I pictured Raul's reaction to such a showing.

"Is there anything I need to do right now?" Cameron asked, and I took a look around, then nodded.

"Stick with Gisela. If there's anything that comes up, you can handle it at your discretion, and find me if you think I need to make a decision... or, you know, if you just miss me," I finished, leaning in to whisper those final words to Cameron, and she smiled.

"I will~," she sang, as she turned to leave with Gisela.

"Herr Auslander," a voice called, and I turned around to see Astrid approaching me. "A word?"

I nodded, gesturing to the meeting room off of the great hall, and as I stepped inside, Astrid followed, pulling the door shut behind her.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I am told you have chosen a queen," she said, her voice revealing a slight annoyance at the development.

"Yes. I always wanted it to be her," I explained, and she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose agitatedly.

"This is most unwise, Herr Auslander. Your queen must be one who completes you entirely."

I shook my head, chuckling a little.

"Think of it as the 'way of the gods'," I replied. "I want her, and no-one else will do. That's all."

She studied me for a bit.

"Let me read your future, Nathan. Before you commit to this decision."

I eyed her.

"Isn't that future set in stone?" I asked. "I thought it could never be altered..."

"All things come to pass in time... but to die this day-cycle, or a hundred seasons from now. Would that not make some difference?"

I bit my lip, as I considered the proposition.

"How long will the reading take to prepare?"

"If I am able to rest, I will be ready by the falling of darkness," she explained, and I nodded.

I got up to leave, when she stopped me.

"There's one more thing... if your heart is set on this path, then there is a task which you should perform."

"What is it?"

She took a deep breath, then nodded.

"Follow me, Nathan," she said, and I obliged as she opened the door, and led me outside.

We moved over to the supply carts, to the cart which housed our armor and weapons, and I noted that a small chest had been reserved for the cores which we'd collected.

I stared in amazement at the sparkly glow of the luminescent blue orbs, but Astrid covered the chest, and moved it aside, retrieving a small sack with a posh looking gilded design, and from the vessel, she withdrew a core which I immediately noted bore a dark, intimidating presence.

"This core was retrieved from the one that our people call 'Queen'," she explained.

"The avatar who attacked us?" I asked, and Astrid nodded.

"Jacinda. Her reign was as splendid as it was lengthy, and she left our people with a system of elected rule that would last for hundreds upon hundreds of seasons."

"The matron-princess cycle," I noted, and she nodded.

"And the council," she added. "If you are to make this... childish woman your queen. I think you must understand. What it means. What can result. How it can shape even your fate, beyond our kind though you may be."

"How will this help me?" I asked, accepting the core from her.

"A core contains the life essence of the being to which it belonged; memories, feelings, a complete log of the physical make-up, and the unfulfilled desires which persist even in death."

"Are you saying that I can access these things?"

She nodded.

"You already possess the skill, Nathan; energy manipulation. But you must be careful. To delve into a core is to step into a treasure trove where everything entices the desire; but nothing must be taken, else the desire to take will accumulate, and eventually, you too will lose yourself to the craving."

"The craving?"

She nodded.

"The dark desire which transforms sentient beings into something monstrous."

I bit my lip nervously, as I studied the thing in my hand.

"Touch only the memories, Nathan. The desires will seek to seduce, to offer you great powers in order to turn you towards its own dark will. Be vigilant; be the hand that leads, not the one that is led."

As I accepted the core, I heard a familiar shrieking cry, and turned around to spot Gunter running madly towards me.

"Auslander-!" he began, but his cry was cut short by a yelp as Lucia toppled him over from behind, landing with a knee into his back, and jabbing him with her wooden dagger.

"Herr Götze. Please... have mercy!" the boy cried, tears streaming down his face, and I chuckled a little as I bent down to examine him.

Lucia probably waited until the first sight of light before attacking him, huh?

She seemed so eager to train...

I took a glance back at the supply cart, and an idea occurred to me.

"Let's take a break," I said, and Lucia shot me a sharp look.

"Again!" she countered, and I snickered at her.

"Just a short break," I said, as I withdrew two pieces of armor from the supplies.

They were the low-grade t-one stuff that would hardly see much use anymore, and I helped Gunter to his feet, before offering to help him put on the armor.

He began to speak rapidly in the Kobalt tongue, until Astrid stepped forward and smacked him in the shoulder.

"Be less embarrassment to your kind!" she chided, before turning to me. "This one is no good, Nathan."

"Maybe, but he could certainly help me out with training Lucia."

Astrid eyed the child, licking her lips as she did.

"This one is touched by the gods," she said, measuring the girl up, much to Lucia's annoyance. "She will make a fine servant."

I shook my head at her.

"She'll be as my own sapling; nothing less," I said, and Astrid turned to study me.

"As you will," she said, bowing, then turning to the child. "Forgive me, little godling."

Lucia smiled haughtily at the greeting, and Astrid shot me a wry look.

"This brings you pleasure, doesn't it?" she asked.

"What?"

"Upsetting the manner of things."

I chuckled a little, as I helped Gunter into the armor; a breastplate, and a pair of greaves.

"I would be lying if I didn't admit it; but yes. Upturning the status quo pleases me greatly," I admitted, and Astrid smiled.

"We will see if it still pleases you when your branch towers above all others," she said, bowing, before heading off.

I offered her a little bow in return, before turning to Gunther.

"Okay. This should give you a fighting chance. Speed and Endurance one," I said, though the boy seemed more interested in the way the armor had molded itself snugly around him, than he was in my words.

Lucia, however, seemed to be annoyed.

"Lucia's armor?" the girl asked, and I shook my head.

"You can deplete your core with the dagger when Francesca's ready to train you; but until then, work on your skills and techniques."

She folded her arms, and shot me a grumpy look, before aiming her wooden dagger at Gunter.

"Again," she said, and Gunter shot me a slightly panicked look.

"You're on your own now," I said, raising my hands in surrender, and as Lucia went after him, he took off, though now with a much quicker burst of speed than before.

Maybe that will tire her out a bit, I thought, as I turned around, and found myself under the most unexpected gaze...

"Hey," I said, looking over at Casey, and she paused for a moment, as if she wasn't sure how to react.

"Cameron's taking over my duties?" she asked, and I nodded.

"Unless you want to-"

She shook her head, looking away.

"That's fine. She's more suited to what you require from an advisor anyway, but... you might wanna let Lucia use armor for training."

I studied her for a bit.

"Why? If it's just physical skills like speed and strength, won't she learn it naturally just by training?"

Casey shook her head.

"If you ran every day, then you would get faster as your muscles develop to cope with the intensity of the running, but there are some people who run every morning religiously but still can't finish a marathon, and will probably do a hundred-meter dash at the same speed no matter how much they run," she explained, and I nodded.

"So, when you reach peak muscular development, the technique behind running is what improves your speed? And armor teaches that?"

Casey shook her head.

"When you wear armor, your body accesses that technique from the interaction between your core, and the skill contained in the armor. But as you use the technique, eventually you learn it yourself. Kind of like muscle memory."

"How does that work for skills like Lucia's translation skill?" I asked, and Casey frowned.

"I don't think it's a translation skill. I think Lucia might just be a hyperpolyglot, or something like that. I mean, her vocabulary might be limited more by her age than her ability to use English right now."

"That's interesting..."

I was giving the matter some thought, when I noticed Casey seemed suddenly a little fidgety.

"I'm gonna... check on something," she muttered, turning quickly to leave, and as I turned around, I spotted Leanna and Jordan heading in our direction, with the baby aufhöcker perched on top of Jordan's shoulder.

"He seems to really like you," I said, and Jordan nodded, smiling as he patted the creature, which cooed in response.

"Nymphadora says he isn't a monster anymore," Jordan began, and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"She... what?"

"Hold on... I think she wants to talk," he said, concentrating for a bit, and Leanna jumped to my side, and grasped onto my hand as the nymph took form beside Jordan.

"W-w-what is that?" she asked, and I chuckled a little.

"See that tree over there?" I asked, pointing to the burnt, partially felled tree on the edge of what had now become our own grove, and Leanna nodded. "She was the spirit of that tree."

Leanna's hand went to her mouth.

"Nathan, was it?" Nymphadora asked, and I nodded. "What will you do with my home now?"

I turned to the tree, then thought about it.

"There's another tree like that... in Palancar. Do you know of it?"

Nymphadora shook her head, so I continued:

"The tree is used still... do you think that would be possible with your old home?"

She nodded.

"My skeleton hardens after the burning. It will endure, though grow no more... and the supplementary production will have to come from elsewhere."

"The what?" I asked.

"The supplementary items," she explained. "You sit, or sleep upon things made of my fiber."

"Oh, like furniture. Wait, that comes from the grove trees?"

She nodded.

"There are rooms on the lower level dedicated to this production, close to my core... or where it was. Interaction with the core is used to instruct the design of the items," she explained, and I rubbed my chin.

Suddenly, all of the modern looking furniture made sense.

I did find it strange that the chairs, tables, beds, and everything else seemed so very well crafted when the Kobalt possessed few tools capable of making precision cuts, but to think they were grown by the very trees that they lived in!

Being able to do this ourselves would be one hell of a boon, and I made a mental note to ask Gisela about it as soon possible.

I returned my attention to Nymphadora.

"Would it be possible to return to your tree someday?"

She shook her head.

"Life will never again flow in those limbs," she said, a slightly melancholic look in her eyes.

I let out a sigh, then turned my attention to the creature on Jordan's shoulder.

"You said he isn't a monster?" I asked, and she nodded.

"I have felt the presence of the things you called monsters; things born out of beings with an insatiable hunger, that spread that hunger like a pestilence. But this one... it was born of another of its kind," she explained. "A natural birth. And now, a thing of this world."

"So, it won't grow into a monster?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"No... but the survival of its kind is improbable," she said, moving to the creature, and giving it a sympathetic look, before disappearing into a burst of light.

"Sorry," Jordan said. "I don't think I can maintain that for very long..."

"It's fine. Was there anything else she wanted to tell us?"

Jordan shook his head.

"I asked her some stuff about medicinal properties of plants, since she knows a great deal about them, but I don't know much about medicine, so it's kind of difficult to make use of her knowledge."

I rubbed my chin.

"Maybe Ryker and Evie can help with that," I said, turning to study Leanna.

Getting medication for her would be a huge help, but I doubted that Ryker or any basic physician would be able to help with that.

But there had to be high level medicine users somewhere in this world, right?

It was definitely something we'd have to think about in the future.

"Nate?" Leanna tugged on my sleeve a little.

"What is it?" I asked.

I followed her gaze, and realized that she was glancing at Casey, who was over by the grove tree entrance hall, with Cameron and Gisela.

"She really doesn't like me, does she?"

"Casey?" I asked, and she nodded. "It's not that... just, she takes a while to trust anyone, and sometimes that distrust leads to, well, suspicions, I guess. It's fine," I added, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "She'll come around eventually."

She bit her lip, then nodded.

"I'll be right back," she said timidly, though I noted a slightly determined look on her face, and I watched closely as she walked over to where Casey was.

Casey seemed slightly panicked when she caught sight of her, but as Leanna spoke, she screwed her face up a little, shooting me a questioning glance.

Then Leanna withdrew her hidden dagger, and offered it to Casey.

Casey shook her head, an uncomfortable look on her face, but Leanna insisted, and Casey didn't move for a while, until Cameron nudged her, and she reluctantly stepped forward, and took the dagger from Leanna.

Leanna then turned, and moved quickly towards me, tears starting to stream down her face as she made it the final few feet into my arms.

I wrapped myself around her, and comforted her as she cried.

"You'll keep me safe, right Nate? You won't let anything hurt me...?"

"I will," I promised, as I wiped the tears from her eyes, and caressed her cheek affectionately. "You did really well."

She smiled, then buried her head into my chest while I stroked her hair, calming her down.

As I looked across to the grove tree, however, I spotted Casey walking off just as Cameron turned and shot me a slightly worried look, before turning to follow her.

She just needs some time, I thought.

As Leanna calmed down, however, I noticed that Francesca had reined Lucia and Gunter in, and seemed to be getting started on one of her training sessions in the area where our campground was supposed to have been.

Lucia was shooting Gunter an angry look while he grinned, and I guessed that the armor had served him quite well.

I motioned to Leanna, and Jordan joined us in heading over to the group, and as we got there, I noted that Jeannie and Molly were also there, seemingly warming up.

Molly scowled as soon as she spotted Leanna, and I nodded to Jordan, who led her away to the other side of the ground.

"Are you sure you're well enough to train?" I asked Jeannie as soon as I got there, and she smiled.

"Our new physician cleared me for physical activity this morning," she announced, and I chuckled.

"Evie's taking to the role, huh?" I asked.

"Just don't expect her to work miracles with your new psycho-girlfriend," Molly shot, and I frowned.

"Molly. We talked about this. Nate has done right by us, okay? Let's return the favor with a little bit of faith," Jeannie said, and Molly sighed.

"Fine. But don't expect me to like her," she said, and I nodded.

"That's fair. Are you both gonna train today?"

The girls nodded in response.

"Have either on you decided on weapon specializations?"

Jeannie raised an eyebrow.

"Weapon specializations?"

I nodded.

"Our abilities vary depending on what weapons we use, so the more you use a particular type of weapon, the better you get at it."

Jeannie rubbed her chin.

"Is that how Bianca managed to be so good at fighting all of a sudden?"

I nodded.

"She still sucks with a spear; trust me," I joked, and Jeannie smiled.

"Hmm... so the little one is gonna specialize in daggers too, then?"

I nodded.

"I think we should limit how many dagger users we train, though. Even though we have a lot of daggers, they aren't as useful as spears or swords in the kind of conflicts we're bound to encounter."

Jeannie nodded in agreement.

"I think I'm leaning towards being more of a spear person myself," she said, before turning to Molly. "What about you?"

Molly frowned a little.

"Spears are so... unladylike," she commented. "Is it okay if I give the sword a try?"

I shrugged.

"Suit yourself," I replied, before moving over to Francesca's side.

"You've got yourself a real following now, huh?"

She smiled proudly, then nodded.

"I was gonna run it by you, but I'm thinking a morning session... about a segment before midday? When Lucia depletes her core, she sleeps for about three to four hours, so we can also do an evening session in the segment before night."

"That sounds good," I replied. "I think Bianca also sleeps for about three hours after depleting her core, so maybe we should start doing that for the others too."

"Jeannie and Molly?" she asked, but as I nodded, she frowned a little.

"What?"

"If everyone does core training, won't they all pass me eventually?"

I scoffed.

"Core capacity, maybe... but there's much more to fighting than that. Besides, there's something I have in mind for you that might compensate for the core training."

She eyed me, an interested smile on her face.

"Really? What is it?"

"We need to do some serious scouting in Irileth's domain. I'm thinking you and I could probably go on an extended scouting mission."

"Extended? How long are we talking?"

"For starters, I wanna get back to the guildhall we used back there and map out a clear path to it. But ideally... I wanna find that river running south through the domain."

She smiled.