The thick, oaken doors easily yield to me, cracking open with barely a protest from the well-maintained hinges. Probably due to how inscribed up this entire place is, I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if whoever built it – or whoever they hired to build it – put the damn things in every nook and cranny. I already confirm my suspicions as I look down to the worked metal near the bottom of the door that joins it to the wall, easily seeing faintly etched markings in both items before getting back on task.
“Samantha?” I call out into the dimly lit halls, the dangling crystals above offering their small light. I wonder if Akiko keeps this side of the estate dimmer on purpose? For what, the ambience? Wait, that actually makes sense…
Not too long after my mental musings, I hear the sure and steady footfalls of someone approaching, and it’s kind of wild that I know exactly who it is just from how solider-y their marching cadence is. Sure enough, rounding an intersection down the hall to the left of the door which I’m poking my head out from, the curly blonde shoulder length hair up in a ponytail and ever perfect postured Samantha comes bounding into view. It seems she was in the middle of forging again, as she turns to head my way with her soot covered heavy apron, tight fitting clothes hugging her smoke scented body as she approaches.
She stops her advance a few feet away from me, her eyes going wide as I fully step outside of the room, closing the door behind me. I turn back and give her a little curious head tilt at the weird face she’s making. “What?” I ask as I turn my hips a little, looking myself over to see if I messed up the battle kimono or something. Finding no culprit to her amusing yet concerning expression on my person, I resume the previous tilt as I see her still staring at me, eyes still wide and mouth slightly hanging ajar.
“Seriously, what is it?? Do I have something on my face? You’re freaking me out here Sam, you’re just… standing there. Menacingly.” I jokingly try to deflect, even if that’s absolutely what’s happening right now! I’ve never seen her be… whatever this is. Stoic, sure, but not full on speechless and just gaping her mouth like a fish out of water!
Finally, Samantha regains her composure, shaking her head side to side a couple times before she speaks, at last, “I apologize, Amelia. I had heard tale from Gerra that your tribulation had produced some rather… prominent effects on your person. I thought her being dramatic, but now it is obvious that she did not warn me enough. You are stunningly beautiful, even more so than when you first arrived here, and it took me off guard for a moment.”
I squirm a bit in shock under the sudden brutally straightforward compliment – as is Samantha’s way, it seems – but I try my hardest to keep facing her despite the want to curl up and hide, a wobbly smile coming to my lips as I shakily respond back, “T-thanks. I uh… guess that body cultivation has a few other benefits besides just making you stronger. Uhm… so…” I stumble on nervously, fidgeting in place under the growingly more and more pronounced smile of Samantha as I ramble on.
“Yes?” The woman in question says, her voice gaining a rare playful edge to it as she leans her side against the wall and continues to study me, her lips arching up wickedly as her eyes gleam with amusement. She crosses her arms on her chest, cheekily waiting for me to make more of a fool of myself as the seconds tick on.
With a last push of desperation, wanting to start growing out of this social awkwardness I have, I finally gather my nerves and ask, “W-well, I just assumed that you were going to be my first teacher from what Akiko said, so I was wondering if you wanted to get s-started or… however we’re supposed to do this?” Damn it Aims, keep it together!
Samantha softly chuckles, her breathy laugh making my heart feel both calmer and slightly more excited all at the same time, before she teasingly says, “Well, that can be arraigned, if you are ready. It is technically Jun Li’s time with you, as we are at the formal weeks end, but trusting us to adjust the schedule was a matter that the Mistress imparted before she left to attend administrative tasks around the Village. So, rather, it is a question of who you would rather spend the day with, now that you are ambulatory once more.”
I hum in response, looking down toward the spear in my hands and all the motivation I was so comfily riding on before my brain decided to be a bitch and get all self-conscious again. I sigh mentally, turning my face back up to Samantha as I reply, “I think I’d rather start moving around, testing my new limits first. I feel bad for continually missing chances to spend time with Miss J, but after spending like, 3 weeks in that room I’m ready to stretch my legs.”
Samantha nods, her smile becoming more genuine and much less snarky as she happily says back, “Excellent. And while I am sure that Jun Li will be a bit crestfallen that your next proper meeting will be slightly postponed once more, we all had assumed that you would be… how did spirit Ios phrase it? ‘Chomping at bits’ to begin with more active endeavors once you awoke.”
It’s my turn to stare at her with an open mouth, as somehow she pulls off the absolute cutest pose I’ve ever seen from her while she said that. Cocking her head to the side, her curly ponytail fell behind her shoulder as she made a pouty face, bringing a single finger to rest right on her chin, hips shot out to the side while she thought. Her usual demeanor being turned on its head as she pulls off a perfect ditzy blonde routine in pure juxtaposition stuns me, and before I can stop myself my whispery voice exclaims, “Oh my gods, that was the cutest thing ever.”
Coming full circle, its her turn to give an awkward cough and turn her head away, the faint creeping blush that fades her cheeks even more evidence of the abrupt role reversal. “Thank you, I suppose. *Ahem* Now then, follow me and we shall see to stretching those legs of yours properly. I will setup the training room so that you may face off against opponents and test your mettle.”
While I do feel a little apprehensive about actually fighting something that may appear more… real than any of my other fights so far, I can’t help but revel in the buzzing anticipation of letting loose and seeing just how much of a difference my growth is going to give~. I eagerly walk behind Samantha as she guides us to the much more lit corridors of the estate proper, finding ourselves once more at the stone stairway leading below the earth after just a minute or so of walking. Going further in, Sam brings us to the first door on the right, leaning down like she is about to inspect it before she pauses and then stands back to her full height.
“Actually, the Mistress did mention that you were primarily going to be focusing your attentions to inscriptions and their related branches. Why don’t you see if you can set the parameters of the room for your training session? It will be important for you to know so that you may avail yourself of these rooms and train or cultivate, especially during times when you may be alone here at the estate.” Samantha says as she moves aside, her watchful eye taking me in as I gulp nervously.
“I-I mean, I could try? I won’t like, ruin the room or something if I mess up right?” My hesitant voice replies as I shift my weight between my feet.
Samantha lets loose a small laugh before answering back, “You mean like you did with the Qi gathering room?” I wince and wither at her words and the memory of the sound of shattering glass it brings, making her sigh softly before walking up to me. “Apologies, little pup, it was merely a jest told with bad time. None here blame you for your actions that day, and I personally was quite impressed with your display of power. Even if some of it was lent to you by this ‘Empress’. She is a part of you as much as you are a part of her, in my eyes. Regardless, these rooms are more complicated in function but sturdier in resilience, and to my knowledge no adverse effects should occur if you were to incorrectly tinker with their settings. If a wrong input were to happen, they will simply revert back to their last correctly given formation.”
“O-okay…” I mumble as I feel one of her leather gloved hands rest on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze before she once again moves off to the side to give me space. I close my eyes and breathe out, letting the shame and anxiety flow out of me with the exhale as I open my eyes. I focus intently on the center of the door, trying to remember where Akiko messed with stuff the few times she took me into these rooms, the absolute chaos of glyphs, circles, and transient lines connecting them almost making me dizzy as I realize just how intricate these rooms are.
I study each one, each pairing and connection, pulling back on my memory from the time that Aki let me do the same even if it was only to briefly study them that time. After a few minutes of investigation, I finally find the right pairings and inputs that determine the conditions inside the room once it’s fed Qi, a bead of pride forming in my chest as I lean back to regard Samantha.
“Okay Sam~! I think I found where to change things at, and how to do it. What am I going to be fighting?” I ask out eagerly, a small part of me wanting her to praise me for all of my hard work~.
That part becomes well fed as she turns and studies where I’m pointing to, giving me an affirmative nod as she ruffles my hair, the wispy scent of burned wood and spicy citrus filling my nostrils. “Fantastic work, little pup~. You found the correct spot quite quickly for your first time truly studying the door. How much of the rest of it did you comprehend, I wonder?”
I close my eyes as I nuzzle into her hand, smiling like mad as I bounce on the balls of my feet, “Well, all of it really~! I just went from top to bottom, and since the conditional glyphs for the enemies, boundary strength, gravity pressure, and environmental effects are all down there I kind of had to read it all! I was wondering why they were so far down there at first, but then I realized that having them so low in the clause chain means that you can produce a whole load of sub effects! Provided you push enough Qi into the storage arrays here around the edges that the gathering runes can spin up to full cycle, of course. It’s really quite ingenious! You could essentially make a small little pocket dimension or something in here if you had the time to setup all the rules, effects, and resolve any logical conflicts in the model!”
Sadly, the hand that was petting me stops moving, making me frown and open my eyes again to see the stunned look of my failing head pat distributor staring back at me. For the second time this morning, I give her a confused look as I don’t know what made her stop before asking in an innocent voice, “What? Did I get something wrong?”
Samantha shakes her head, a true and full-bodied laugh with the weight of disbelief and amusement echoing along the worked stone walls and floor, my pout deepening thinking that she’s making fun of me or something. “Hey! You don’t have to be rude if I messed up, you know! I only just started learning all this shit like, a week or so before I got put in bed for nearly a month…”
I cross my arms in a huff just in time to be scooped up and nearly raised to the ceiling, my head inches from skirting along the roof of the hall as Samantha keeps her raucous laughter flowing. “No, you incredible woman~!” She finally says between gasps of air, her emerald eyes opening to reveal genuine warmth and pride as she sets me down, “I assure you, little pup, I was not laughing at your expense. The opposite! You truly are gifted in these written arts, and I am certain that the Mistress and spirit Ios will be sure to levy their own astonished praise upon you when they can. It is beyond extraordinary that you have essentially reconstructed one of the Village’s most prized possessions and sought after secrets: the training facilities here at the estate.”
I gasp as she gives me a hug, her laughter infecting her lungs once again as she holds me. “W-what??” I say out in my own incredulity this time, “But then, who made these ones? And shouldn’t what’s her name… Elder Miko! Shouldn’t she know how to make or fix these too? Or maybe another elder at the Flowing Pen Branch?”
Samantha gives me a final tight squeeze before she backs away, her arms still outstretched with her hands on my shoulders. “The former Elder Miko may know of their function, and how to repair certain elements, but due to her declining age and weak spiritual power from lack of cultivation for nearly 150 years, she no longer has the ability to make anything so complicated. At least, that is my assumption from what the Mistress has shared regarding such matters. Aside from us, the Mistress, and now yourself, the only other people capable of so intimately knowing how these doors function would be Tyler Ashfell – who is their original creator – and possibly whoever Miko’s prodigy is. But that last option is questionable, if I am to be honest with you. Miko was never one to share her secrets willingly.”
Whoa… I mean… It wasn’t that complicated… I turn back to the door, my hands idly coming up to place themselves on Samanthas waist as I study it again. Trying to see if there’s some… hidden meaning or purpose that makes them so unique and special, outside of just being insanely intricate at first glance and powerful if used correctly. My eyes narrow as I search and search finding… nothing.
I turn back to Samantha with a complicated look, “It’s funny, Ios said this morning that I need to be more accepting of just how… special I’m becoming. And I am trying to, but then shit like this happens and its… I don’t quite know how to feel about it yet. On the one hand, its kickass that I’m so great at inscriptions! They seem fun and have so many uses, even outside of combat!” I say with briefly lived enthusiasm, the melancholy taking me again as I lower my head and continue on, “But on the other, its just one more thing that feels like it sets me apart from everyone, isolating me on my own little island of gifted talent in a world I barely know anything about. And that scares me… sure, maybe Sandy will also be just as bat shit crazy powerful as I am when she gets up to speed, but who knows how long that’s going to take…”
I feel the stinging heat of salty liquid beginning to form in my eyes, which only makes my frustration and growing loneliness worse. Frustration at failing yet again to just focus on the upside of things for once, and loneliness for… obvious reasons… I feel two strong arms wrap around me in a more intimate and gentler hug, the crisscross of them before firm hands grip my sides and Samantha’s heavily clothed body presses into mine.
“Thank you for sharing that with me, Amelia, for trusting me with those admissions and emotions. You are young, thrust into a world only spoken of in literature from your home. The fact that you are already absorbing and adjusting so well speaks volumes of your character and resilience. But trust me when I say this: the Mistress, spirit Ios, myself, and the others will never leave you in such an isolated and despairing state. If you climb too high for us to reach, then we shall dig upon the wells of our resolve and simply climb higher to reach you. If you stumble and fall, we will be there to catch you. And when you need to let your guard down to share your burdens, lay your heart upon your sleeve, we will be there to welcome you with open arms and compassion.”
I look up to her, my watery vision in full swing as I sniff, trembling lips holding back a sob from her beautiful words. She smiles softly before leaning down and giving me a long, pressed kiss on the cheek. “You are not alone, Amelia. Not anymore. You have earned my respect and care several times over by now through your actions, deeds, and steadfastness to yourself despite the overwhelmingly challenging odds you must contend with. Not to mention the care you have from the Mistress, your spirit, and the others.” She moves a hand up to my face, using a faint touch of the leather glove to wipe away a few tears, while also probably smearing my face in soot again, though I couldn’t give a shit about that right now. Right now, all I can see are those sparkling green gems looking at me deeply, my heartbeat echoing like thunder inside of my chest.
Samantha notices it too, and pauses all her movement as a quiet, fragile tension begins to settle between us, like the softest touch or voice would shatter it and lead to something glorious~. Both of us stare at each other, barely breathing as our hands slide achingly slowly to each other’s waist. A droplet of sweat rolls forms on her brow before making its mesmerizing journey down the side of her beautifully sculpted cheek bones, down to her chin. It beads for a moment, before slipping its surly bonds and free falling toward the ground below, the heat in the atmosphere rising along with its descent. Before it even makes its splash of an impact, Samantha and I have pressed our bodies together, lips locked in a rough yet passionate embrace.
