15 - Heavy is the Head (Patreon)

Phoenix sat on a stool against the far wall of one of the smaller ritual rooms, carefully reapplying the mana-replenishing tattoo on her thigh as Dazien was using Sapphire Caste Arcane Chalk to draw out the ritual diagram to resummon Rex. 

Uriel and Rayna were assisting him with placing the various Shards in their respective places while Saiya sat beside her, idly petting a spoiled Snowbelle lazing about in the voxen’s lap. The Healer was looking through the catalog of Sapphire tattoos that one of the nicer parlors they had visited loaned to them, happy to serve the House of Wayland with anything they might need.

“I’m still kind of surprised they just let us take the entire book with their work examples,” the Wayfarer said as she pricked her skin, “Don’t they need that for other customers that show up?”

She noticed the furry head shake in her periphery as Saiya said, “I don’t think you understand how rumors spread through this city. Just on our trip to get Spirit Gems the other day, Rayna and I overheard your house name at least a hundred times.”

“At least that,” the bard replied from the center of the room, still placing materials, “I kinda stopped keeping track. The whole city is abuzz with Paul Wayland’s Ruby battle and the Obsidian Champion taking up his post once he fell.”

“I think half of them believe he died,” Saiya said quietly, “Everin shared the recordings he took of the battle and gave a brief summary of what happened with becoming an Avatar to save Paul’s life but has remained rather quiet about your involvement specifically and the nature of the magic keeping him asleep.”

“Either way,” Rayna interjected, “The name ‘Wayland’ is being thrown around with both awe and fear.”

“Fear?” she asked, pausing her tattoo work to look up at the pugilist, “We saved the city. What are people fearing?”

“Everyone fears being near an Obsidian Caster that’s not afraid to risk their immortality. Those don’t usually end up as pleasant stories,” Dazien stated, not looking away from the runes he was drawing from the diagram imprinted on his mind.

Uriel nodded in agreement as the gemite continued, “Obsidian-level Caster fights are practically unheard of due to the havoc they can wreak on their surroundings, which Kara displayed quite spectacularly. 

“The idea that the ageless immortality one worked so hard to achieve could be stripped away from one wrong move usually keeps battles more diplomatic in nature or overwhelmingly one-sided like what we witnessed. Kara the Sunlight Champion, is not a completely unheard of entity on this continent and is known to be a bit… battle-loving.”

“Phoenix will probably be one of those battle Obsidians, though,” the Mage pointed out softly and that caused everyone to pause what they were doing to look towards her in contemplation.

“No risk to immortality means no reason not to fight,” Dazien pondered aloud, “That’s a mildly terrifying thought.”

“You mean it’s badass,” Rayna corrected, giving her a toothy grin.

“You’re assuming I’ll hit Obsidian,” Phoenix interjected, returning her attention to her in-progress tattoo, “Kara said that might never happen. There’s no guarantee.”

Uriel’s low chuckle filled the space as he said, “I don’t think anyone here doubts you’ll reach it. It’s not like you have a time limit like everyone else.”

The idea that she would live forever potentially without her friends, who would hit the Ruby wall with her but still be limited in years, brought a mixture of emotions that she wasn’t sure she could handle at that moment. Would she end up struggling alone a millennia from now? Would Paul be awake by then or would she have died so much she’d never even reach Ruby?

“Oh, I kind of like this one,” Saiya said, interrupting her thoughts to show the catalog to her. It was a drawing of a blue lotus flower with green leaves and had the note “increased mana efficiency and Life effects” written below it.

Phoenix looked at it in confusion for a long while before glancing down at the spiral of runes on her thigh and then back to the artwork as she asked, “It’s beautiful, but how is that magic? Where are the runes required?”

The voxen grinned at her, “The runes are hidden in the artwork. Woven into the lines with a mixture of the magical ink you’re using and mundane ink that fills in any blank space. It is both magic and art.”

“Huh. That’s awesome,” she replied, her mind slightly blown by the talent that must have been required to accomplish that, “Maybe I’ll have to let someone else do this when I hit Sapphire. I don’t think my art skills are up for that kind of challenge.”

“What? Not going to be the Supporter that does all the things?” Rayna teased as she placed a pile of Water Shards down.

“I don’t think that’s a thing in this world,” she replied with an exaggerated sigh, “No matter how much I might wish otherwise. Looks like I’m destined for destruction.”

“You shouldn’t joke like that,” Dazien said flatly, surprising her as she looked towards him to find complete seriousness on his face, “All of our powers do more than destroy things. It’s about how they’re used, remember?”

Phoenix glanced towards Uriel who seemed to be pointedly looking at the ground where he set a pile of Fire Shards and she tried to keep her tone light as she said, “I just meant that I’m trying to come to terms with my Role of either standing there as an aura beacon or making things explode.”

As she finished the last rune inked onto her skin and set the pen down, she tried turning the topic back to the tattoos as she noted, “I’m surprised they even let children get permanent tattoos without some kind of guardian permission. You had to have that or be an adult where I’m from.”

Dazien stood up, done with the diagram, and clarified, “Most children can’t get tattoos here either, mundane or magical, but that’s until sixteen.”

“Oh right, you tried explaining the different stages earlier,” she tried recalling, “Sixteen, you’re like a half-adult, and at twenty you can get legally married, then full-adult at thirty.”

“That’s right. I think this has been a kind of recurring error in your translation ability, not having an equivalent word for child versus child versus child,” the Defender said thoughtfully as he walked over to look at her simple but clean line work.

Her nose scrunched in confusion, “You just said the same word three times.”

He gave her an amused look, “I think you’re proving my point. Listen to the actual enunciation I give,” he said. Then she focused more on the sound he was saying rather than what her magically tweaked brain was translating for her as he slowly enunciated, “Naweka ba nawenu ba nawenon.”

Her eyes opened wide in surprise as she asked, “Why do those all translate wrongly? They’re close sounding but not the same.”

“Well, do you have a word that means… um, a childish child or naive kid that is separate from either a more mature child –one that might have a bit more self-discipline and responsibility for their actions– and also separate from a wiser child that might be ready to look for love and start their own family?”

She thought about that for a while before explaining, “Well, for the first, we have toddlers, but those are like younger than four or five. Then there’s child or kid. Then we kind of have tween or pre-teen for like ten to twelve. Then teenagers are thirteen to nineteen. But usually, after eighteen, everyone is just an adult –at least in my country.”

“We have ‘toddler’ and ‘teenager’ as well, but those don’t properly include or separate the three stages we are referring to when we use those terms I gave you. Whenever you’ve talked about a non-adult, it always comes across as the first version, naweka, a naive child with little understanding of the world or how their actions affect it.”

Saiya spoke up then, adding to the conversation, “At sixteen, most people have experienced a blood moon –though the timing isn’t always precise– but more important than that, people are usually mature enough by that point to be held accountable for their own actions. They’ll be expected to care for themselves and at least not cause trouble for others by following the rules of society, so they become a nawenu. That’s what really separates the stages of children under thirty from adults: responsibility over self versus responsibility over others.”

“Not that every nawenu shows great responsibility for themselves,” Rayna injected with a grin, walking over to sit beside her sister, “Teenagers often do stupid crap.”

“You know I’m still technically a teenager,” the Wayfarer pointed out with a flat look.

“Yup, and I recall someone running away for a week without telling anyone,” the bard retorted, but the tease was obvious as she added with a grin, “Classic ‘stupid crap’ that teenagers do.”

“Don’t we have a ritual or three to get done?” she said in an attempt to redirect away from her.

The group laughed and Dazien gave her that ruffle of her loose curls again as he relented, “Yeah. Hurry and finish that tattoo, and I’ll start. I don’t want to distract you in the middle of that.”

“I’m almost done,” she said, gently applying the magical powder over the still-wet wound and letting it sit momentarily. While that was processing she asked the pair of voxen, “Which Spirit Gems did you two decide on, by the way?”

“I managed to find a Sapphire Caste Focus Spirit Gem at one of the bigger shops that collect them,” Rayna said happily, “They had quite a bit to choose from but this one seemed pretty promising to me. ”

“I went with the more common Mana Spirit Gem, but it’s usually a good one for Spell-oriented Casters,” Saiya added, handing the catalog over to Rayna to look through next.

“Makes sense,” Phoenix replied with a nod before brushing the powder on her thigh off with the tattoo quill’s soft feather as she announced, “There we go. I’m all set. Now, let’s get Rex back.”

Tala appeared atop her head where Dazien had patted and gave a merry, “Cheep cheep!”

“See? Tala misses him already, too,” she added with a grin, “I hope we can spend some more time with him now that you’re living here.”

Dazien frowned at her slightly but it was gone in a moment as he smiled and replied, “That would be wonderful. It was hard to make room for him at our apartment, but I don’t think we’ll have as much of that problem here.”

Then he moved back towards the ritual and began the long incantation for his [Avatar of Sovereignty], “From the realm above all realms, where your dominion reigns supreme. Let your sovereignty be the pillar of mine kingdom. Let your majesty make all kneel before us. King of Kings, I invoke thee!”

Luckily, cultivated Familiar abilities were a bonus because the vessel would come back at Sapphire Caste, even if the ability hadn’t been upgraded with a Spirit Gem. So while Dazien wouldn’t have the extra effect from the ability, Rex would likely have more tools at his disposal.

When the large chimeric creature that was parts lion, stag, eagle, and dragon came into being with a shimmer of golden light, Phoenix was relieved to see he hadn’t really grown a bunch in size like Snowbelle had. The Wayfarer often felt bad when she realized the giant Familiar was left out of participating simply due to space constraints like when they would go to restaurants.

Dazien grinned at his companion and gently brushed his fingers against the golden forehead before the giant lion's head pushed forward to nuzzle into the gemite’s chest like an overgrown kitten. The Defender chuckled, tangling his hands into the glittery mane in a hug as he said, “I missed you too.”

Phoenix moved to join them and conjured her book to hold out in offering as she said, “Welcome back, Rex! Can we see what you can do now? We’re all pretty excited to see how you’ve grown.”

A large golden eye rolled at her, but the matching nose indulged her curiosity as it touched the pages to give them all a glimpse into the Familar’s capabilities.

Name: Rex
Species: Avatar of Sovereignty (Familiar)
Mythical chimeric creatures not of this world that are attuned in Blood, Covenant, Gem, Song, Wind, and Radiant magic.
Caste: Sapphire

Can perform a roar Special Attack, inflicting Song damage.

Can fly with a low carrying capacity and perform a gust Special Attack with its wings, inflicting Wind damage.

Can make a tail Special Attack, inflicting Gem damage.

Attacks made with the antlers, teeth, or claws inflict [Bleeding].

Can cast [Benevolent Mercy] for a moderate mana cost to empower nearby allies.

Can cast [Tyrannical Punishment] for a moderate mana cost to intimidate nearby enemies.

• Bleeding (bane, magical, blood): Inflicts low ongoing Blood damage.

• Benevolent Presence (boon, magical, covenant): Abilities have decreased resource cost, and innate resistances are increased.

• Tyrannical Presence (bane, magical, covenant): Abilities have increased resource cost and innate resistances are decreased.

When merged within the summoner:

• The summoner gains [Sovereign Scales] along their spine that grant increased resistance against physical attacks.

• Abilities that use incantations have increased effect.

• Other beings subconsciously recognize the true motivations behind the summoner’s words.

• The summoner gains [Sovereign Antlers]; one antler can cast [Benevolent Mercy] and the other can cast [Tyrannical Punishment] with their own internal cooldowns.

“Antlers?” Uriel inquired from over her shoulder as he and the others moved in to read as well.

Phoenix couldn’t hide the excitement from her face as she felt the smile creep across it and she looked up pleadingly at the gemite –who had definitely gained a couple of inches of height since ascending. He chuckled while shaking his head, “For some reason, I feel like this isn’t going to go in my favor.”

“Please let us see! You know you’ll have to eventually, might as well not make it a public surprise,” she pointed out pragmatically. Perfectly reasonable and not at all because she wanted to tease him about turning into a deer.

The Defender gave a heavy sigh as though he could read the thoughts plain on her face and the next moment Rex seemed to dissolve into golden glitter and merged with his summoner. 

The antlers that appeared among the shiny purple hair were a moderate size at around six inches high, single-pronged like a yearling buck, and were glossy polished gold.

“You look like a royal daekin,” Uriel noted with wide fiery eyes, “They have horns similar to that from what little I’ve read.”

“I thought they went extinct centuries ago,” Rayna said, “Weren’t they the first species to be ‘cleansed’ by the Renseres since they were related to demons?”

“That’s the story,” the Mage agreed, “More recent speculation thinks they might have escaped to the Underdeep since the surface has been getting more diplomatic relations with that section of the world in just the last few decades.”

Then the cinderen gave Dazien a pointed look and said, “I would warn you not to be surprised if the Renseres try to ‘cleanse’ you too just for looking like them, but the point is a bit redundant when they’re openly trying to kill everyone at the moment.”

The gemite gave a sigh before giving them all his usual charming smile and saying, “Well, it’s not like I’m unaccustomed to standing out from the crowd. If this can show that my powers have grown, then I will be honored that Rex agreed to be my Familiar and not shy away from his expectations for me.”

Phoenix grinned as she said, “There’s a quote from my world about being a king that you just reminded me of. It goes something like ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown,’ and I think these antlers will grow into a beautiful crown for you, Daze.”

Her brother’s smile became softer and felt more genuine as he said, “Thank you, Phoenix,” then his gaze moved to his partner’s as he added, “I look forward to growing together and seeing how else we all change in the future.”

Rayna swung her arms around Phoenix and Uriel’s necks and ruined the tender moment by prodding the pair, “Now to get these slow pokes across the threshold without dying!”

The cinderen chuckled and added his own teasing, “I’m not sure you’ve been paying attention to the Princess’ habits.”

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