Chapter 122: Planning Peyote

Chapter 122: Planning Peyote

“She said that she would dance with me if I brought her red roses,” cried the young Student; “but in all my garden there is no red rose.”

From her nest in the holm-oak tree the Nightingale heard him, and she looked out through the leaves, and wondered.

“No red rose in all my garden!” he cried, and his beautiful eyes filled with tears. “Ah, on what little things does happiness depend! I have read all that the wise men have written, and all the secrets of philosophy are mine, yet for want of a red rose is my life made wretched.”

-Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince, and Other Tales (1888, 2nd Era)

“My skin is going to melt off, over and over again, until my body is purified.” Garin leaned back, his mouth agape. After they cut him off from the Goddess' coddling, Dame Morgana had outlined precisely what he should expect. Which almost sounded worse than what Erec had to deal with.

When using his Soul, the fires of it burned away the impurities in his body, and that ‘ash’ or residual remains collected in his stomach for vomiting. For those with an earth aspect soul, the impurities collected in their outer layer of skin. Then, like a lizard, came free again and again in a horrible and fascinating description of a putrid-pus-filled layer of skin. The more she described it, the more he was reminded of those Blister Crawlers he slew with Gwen and Sir Alister.

It wasn’t a pretty image, but luckily this stage of soul development only occurred in the ‘E’ rank, or as Dame Morgana put it, the ‘harmonization preparation process.’

So, while Erec would be puking his guts out to get through it, Garin would shed like a monster.

“I’m out.” Garin declared simply, shaking his head. “I do not want to be free of the Goddess, and I especially don’t fancy having that terror inflicted upon me.”

Dame Morgana pouted at them—then tossed a small crystal at him, hitting him square in the face. The impact of which, thrown by a Knight Commander, had enough power to deck the Initiate and cause him to fall onto the ground flat on his ass.

“Ignorance is not cute.” She declared. “Besides, this ‘Goddess’ doesn’t want you relying on her power. Think of it as a gesture of supreme pity. If you truly worship her, you’d be able to see that her true intention is for you to grow past it. And if you want to learn from me, one of the first things we must do is to prepare your soul to stand on its own.”

Erec pulled Garin back up and let the room lapsed into silence.

His friend, for once, didn’t have anything to say either. Instead, he stared at the crystal Dame Morgana tossed at him.

For Erec, this revelation began to put things in perspective for him. After that fight with the White Stag, he distinctly recalled a woman sitting on a throne. After he came off of it and spent weeks in the temple with the Church afterward, he’d thought it some form of illusion or hysteria after his fight. It didn’t help that the vision was after a battle with a monster that twisted minds.

There was a truth to what she said, which matched what his Blessing confirmed.

This Goddess, if she was a Goddess, desired for him to go his own path. To what end, he couldn’t know. But relying on a power that wasn’t his own didn’t feel right. And now, he knew, this silver fire? It was his, somehow.

“How do you know so much?” Erec asked.

“The world whispers in my ears; all I have to do is listen to the spirits that inhabit it,” Dame Morgana answered readily, giving him too great of a smile. “But, I suppose it might be hard for those without my gift to hear it so eagerly. Therefore, perhaps we should prepare for a spiritual journey—my apprentice is due for one, and you’re already a step ahead. Listening to the spirit's advice is one of the most natural ways to become your own force in this world. I could talk about all this until I’m blue in the face, but I don’t think my words will be enough to explain to Erec what this all means compared to you two seeing it for yourself.”

Erec stared at her. She spoke each word so confidently. What she’d said about souls seemed right, but something about the content of what she said and the almost wishy-washy certainty to it always left him doubtful.

“Purification ritual?”

“Uh, nothing to be concerned about. Feeling better, yeah.” Erec squinted at her. “So you used your Divine Talent to slip past Knight Commanders to...”

“Check in on you!” Enide forced her way next to him, slipping into a relatively relaxed posture as she dug out the two bottles she had packed away. “Though, maybe the medicine was a tad overkill, y’know, they didn’t quite explain what was going on, so I got worried.”

“Worried over me?”

“Still owe me questions about Vortex Industries, uh. Yeah, that’s right.” Enide said too fast before taking a knife and jamming the edge under the bottle cap. In a fluid movement, she popped both beers and slid one into Erec’s hand before he could get a word in. “Anyways, how about we ignore the details and celebrate instead!”

“Dear Goddess,” Erec shook his head. “Being around you, sometimes I feel like I’m getting whiplash.”

“Aw, don’t be like that. I'm glad you're doing okay, and the proper way to celebrate a victory is drinking!”

“I didn’t win.”

“You lived, didn’t you?’

Erec stared at the beer in his hand. The bubbles inside were peacefully rising to the surface, joining the bit of foam at the top. Enide was so close to him; he could almost feel her next to him, which did something weird to his heart. Out here, living was a victory, he supposed. That monster may or may not be dead after his and the Duke’s wounds against it, but regardless of its state, he was still breathing.

Wordlessly, he raised the beer in a toast to Enide—and then, with a quick challenge from her, competed over who could chug the whole thing the fastest.

It didn’t take long for her to notice the book lying by him and to pick it up and turn it over and over. A grin on her face. “A book of poems? Where’d you get this?”

“Took it from the Academy’s library. Not exactly supposed to bring it away from the Academy, but well...” Erec shrugged. “This was going to be a long trip, so I grabbed two other books too.” Enide was flipping through the pages, tilting her head as she skimmed the lines.

“Shoot, so the slinger has a reckless streak after all. Never would have figured. Not often I see these; libraries in Vega are shut up tight as a vault, and the Magi have a bounty for books.”

“Think you might be surprised by my, uh, reckless streak. If you don’t get to see books often, feel free to take your time and read through,” Erec fought off a yawn as the alcohol began to hit. Before he knew it, he was resting in his bedroll, Enide not too far away, her eyes rapt with attention as she roamed her way through the book.

Though he didn’t recall asking, at some point, he heard her soft whispering recounting his favorite poem from the lot; afterward, he felt her hand brush against his own.

Then it was dark.

When he woke up to the sun bright above, she was gone. The book was sitting where he’d left it the night before; almost like a ghost, he wondered if she’d been there until he saw the empty bottles in the room's corner.

“Erec!” Boldwick yelled, startling him from the early morning grogginess. “Up! Busy day!”