Growing Lilies

Lily was about half way back to Sunica’s place when she noticed. She was pretty sure she was being followed. Every time she stopped walking, she could swear she heard an extra step or two. The first time she dismissed it as snow falling from a tree, or an animal or something. But now that it had happened three times she was pretty sure.

The question was, what should she do about it? She probably couldn’t outrun anyone around here. It’s possible they wouldn’t attack her or anything though. Maybe if she pretended not to notice until she got to Sunica’s place she wouldn’t be alone when she confronted them? But that was still another ten minutes of walking away. What if they waited for her to get tired and struck?

No. No, they were taking an offensive action against her. Taking one in retaliation is an understandable response. Of course, she wasn’t going for a kill or anything. Just getting the jump on whoever it was rather than vice versa.

So, what should she do? A spell of course. What kind of spell? She could use [Perfect Handwriting] to cast quickly with her mana. But just turning quickly and shooting a gout of flame wildly in a forest was a terrible idea. No, not fire. Ice? People around here were resistant to the cold, right? So no. Electricity then? A blast like a stun gun? Could she do that?

Yes, she thought she could. It wouldn’t be too hard either. All she had to do was make a circle with the electricity glyph in it, and use her charging latch style circuitry. The one she learned from the teleportation circle. Then she could activate it remotely when the target was almost on top of it.

She took a deep breath and stretched, trying to mask her casting the spell. Sure enough, the mana flowed out of her and onto the snow. But, she could take this a step further. When she got about ten feet from her first spell, she added another. This time, instead of electricity it was the push glyph. That way, if whoever got hit by the first one rushed her, she could activate the second and fling them away. They might only go ten or fifteen feet, but any amount of distance was better than nothing.

She was nervous, but this was self defense! An emergency. Whoever was following her was going to regret trying to sneak up on this helpless human!

Just a few more steps and… She activated the spell. There was a yelp of pain, and Lily spun around to see what happened. A figure fell over from behind a tree into the snow, steaming.

Lily saw a flash of red. And when the figure sat up…

“Sunica!?”

“Oww, what the hells Miss Lily? That really hurt! What was that? I didn’t even see anything!”

“I– I didn’t know! I just– Hey! You were following me!”

Sunica shook herself off. Her hair was standing on end. It was normally short and red, but now it was poofy and steaming. Lily tried not to laugh.

“Well, yeah! I mean. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine! Feeling more confident I can take care of myself now?”

“Not really, I’ve been following you all day.”

“What the heck! That’s so– Why!?”

“I told you, you’re my responsibility here. And I was worried about you. And not doing anything. And considering going into town anyways…”

She looked embarrassed. Lily decided to let up a little bit. She really did seem to have been snooping to make sure Lily didn’t get into any trouble, and she knew that being in town was going to be scary. It was sweet… if a little weird.

“You know, you could have just asked to come along if you were gonna anyways.”

“You seemed so determined to grow past your fear, I didn’t wanna get in your way. Speaking of that, how’d it go?”

“What, don’t you know?”

“I’m sorry! Geez.”

“It went okay. Avea was nice to me. I enchanted his canteen like I did the cup today. Star spent some time with him and made a good impression. Learned a few things about your people. And realized something important.”

“Yeah?”

Lily gave Sunica a more direct look.

“Yeah. I owe you an apology, and not my normal babbling apologies over everything. I don’t know much about you. I’ve been so self absorbed since I got here, I haven’t taken the time to learn. I’m sorry. I’d like to know more.”

“Ah- that’s… don’t worry about that Miss. You’ve had a lot to keep you busy. It’s alright.”

“No, it’s not. I’m not used to dealing with people, and I’ve treated you like another aspect of my environment. But it will be alright. Thank you for being patient with me.”

Sunica looked at the ground, seemingly unsure of what to say, so Lily just continued on.

“Wanna walk home together?”

“... Yeah.”

---

By the time they arrived back in Sunica’s cabin the sun was well on its way down. Lily was actually thankful she ran into Sunica, because while she didn’t want to admit it she was less sure of her ability to find her way back in this lighting. Having warm clothes and a compass was probably enough to not be in danger. But it was probably enough.

The second they were in, Lily stripped off some of the heavy fur clothing. Sunica’s cabin was kept quite warm. She wondered if that was because of Sunica’s red color. If white conferred resistance to cold, did Sunica just prefer it warmer?

She flopped down onto the couch with a groan, as Sunica came in behind her and started putting more wood in the furnace.

“I’m so tiiiiredddd!”

“Yeah that walk really wears you out. How did you survive on your own again?”

“I had help! Like– You’d probably call them artifacts, like that laptop. Speaking of… I bet I could charge that up. Maybe I’ll work on that while we talk.”

Sunica laughed and made a show of rolling her eyes.

“It’s always work with you. Well, at least you’ll level fast.”

“You think so?”

“I mean, if you do challenging work then yeah. Of course.”

Lily smiled to herself. That was a nice thought. She was pretty far behind by default. But, maybe she could catch up?

“Hey, I wanted to ask. What level is… normal?”

Sunica froze for an awkward second, and then continued on. Her tone was a little strained.

“Uh, well. To tell you the truth… It’s a little embarrassing but, most people are higher level than me.”

“Oh. Ooooh! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call attention to that. I just honestly don’t know.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Most people who age get to about level 20 or 30 in their lifetimes in their main class, with up to ten or fifteen levels in a few side classes.”

“Wait, really? That’s it?”

Sunica nodded, and Lily watched in shock as she reached into the flames with her hands and quickly rearranged a piece of wood. Had she been doing things like that this whole time, and Lily just hadn’t watched close enough to notice? She really was self centered…

“Well, getting past level 20 in a class is very difficult, and almost always comes with a class upgrade. The thing is, it doesn’t happen unless you do something to distinguish yourself. For the average person, it’s not usually worth it to pursue. Either you’ll have an emergency and come out on top eventually or you won’t. If you don’t, then you just level up your side classes.”

“That’s… But you said the average is between level 20 and 30?”

“Well, it’s the first breakpoint that’s really difficult to pass, but solidly about half of people do eventually. In a lifetime, most people will have their make or break moment. And they’ll either succeed or fail.”

“And that’s it? No more chances?”

The balaur girl shook her head, and rose to get into more comfortable clothes too.

“It’s not like that. But how often do emergencies like that come up? For most people, it’s not often.”

Lily thought privately that she had had a lot of those sorts of emergencies in her short life already, but she wasn’t about to argue with her resident expert on this subject.

“So, that’s most people. But people do get higher level than that right? And you mentioned people who age…?”

“Oh yeah, plenty of people rise above that. But they’re… special. It takes a certain kind of person to go out looking for the sorts of challenges that will push you past that point. It’s risk and reward. Most people don’t want to risk themselves.”

“I guess that makes sense. If it has to be… uh, life and death, make it or break it. That sort of thing.”

“Yeah. Well, it doesn’t have to be to level, but class upgrades and the like? Always.”

“So, what about these immortals. Balaur who become dragons right?”

Sunica smiled, and sat on the floor in front of the couch, staring up at Lily.

“Well, among others. Elves don’t age. Some Garr don’t age. Some Fae don’t age, and they’re all very long lived. And those are just the ones you’re likely to see around here at all.”

“Elves!? You guys have ELVES? Like, the beautiful people with pointy ears who live in the forest?”

Sunica snorted, and put a hand on Lily’s shoulder.

“You gotta stop doing that. I mean, I guess you’re not too far off, but you’re going to offend somebody. And on top of that, those are just stereotypes. Well, apart from the ears. And they are kinda nice to look at. And… some of them live in the forest. But, not all of ‘em!”

“And they live forever?”

“Well, as far as I understand it it’s more like they live till they get bored.”

“That’s… a weird rule. Does being bored age them or something?”

“Mmm, I don’t think it’s like that. I just think it’s what keeps them going after they live so long. But I dunno about that for sure. You’d have to ask one.”

“I see. And what about them? The long lived people? How much do they level?”

“Well, if you’re gonna find someone with a super huge level, nine times out of ten it’s gonna be an elf. They tend to… uh… hyperfixate on something.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well like, you might meet one that’s super into basket weaving. They’d have the [Basket Weaver] class in a stupid high level, like in the 50’s. But they’re only really going to want to talk to you about woven baskets. Damn if they won’t make the best one you’ve ever seen too. Makes ‘em difficult to deal with on like, a personal level though. Since you’ll bore the shit out of them if you don’t know anything about basket weaving, or they’ll bore the shit outta you if you let them talk about that and nothing else.”

“... Well. Shit. I have so many more questions about this. But I meant what I said in the forest. I want to know about you. So, for starters… I know some of these things might be painful subjects. I’ll happily share my own too. But, what IS up with your level?”

Sunica grimaced, and averted her gaze. Lily winced a little herself. She knew this conversation was going to cover some rough points, but it was important. She really did want to understand Sunica better.

“I don’t know, honestly. If I had to give it an educated guess, the problem is that I don’t care about being a [Trapper]. It’s what I do to have food and resources. So it’s not like your magic, you know? Something I really care about.”

“Well, what’s stopping you from doing something you DO really care about, and getting whatever class that is?”

“I– I mean it’s not like I have a lot of options. A girl’s gotta eat, and I don’t want to spend too long in Veni. For reasons you’re aware of.”

“Yeah. That makes sense. Okay, well, I’ll stop harping on that. But, what about your family? Aren’t they some kind of big shots? Can’t they help you find something better?”

“No.”

Sunica looked away. There was clear pain there. Lily wasn’t sure if she should press on. But she wanted to know, and she couldn’t just try to avoid landmines she didn’t know were there forever.

“I know it sucks, and I’ll understand if you don’t want to. But, please tell me about it if you can? I don’t want to keep carelessly hurting you with my words, but I don’t know what to avoid if I don’t know at least the basics.”

“Yeah, okay. That’s a reasonable request. It’s just been… nice.”

“Nice?”

“Dealing with someone who doesn’t know, for once you know?”

“Oh. Yeah. I guess that makes sense.”

Lily laughed her best imperious laugh, and took on a tone of voice that made her sound confident.

“By the power of my strange human sensibilities, there’s no way it will change my opinion of you, because I don’t understand your culture anyways! … Besides, I like you. I don’t think there’s anything you can tell me about you that’ll change that.”

Sunica grinned in response, and seemed to lose some of her tenseness.

“Yeah, okay. Geez. You’re really silly sometimes, you know that?”

“The silliest Human this side of the– uh… forest?”

“So… My Mother is Viorica Nor. She’s the [Matriarch] of Avezare. It’s uh… sort of like a [Queen]? She runs the city. Although, unlike a [Queen], her heir might not take over if she’s not the strongest choice.”

“Avea mentioned something like that. But, like… if your Mom is so important, how come you are living down here? How come people are so dismissive of you?”

Sunica bit her lip, and Lily felt the room get a little warmer. 

“It’s because of my color. Like I said before. I’m not part of the Nor family, because I’m red.”

“Even though that’s not your fault at all? You didn’t choose your color, right? It has something to do with where you’re born, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. But it matters. Before she was [Matriarch], my Mother had a relationship. She had someone she was very interested in, and wasn’t allowed to be with. Because of politics. See, in our society uh… Well, to put it simply, families tend to trade men around for political reasons. A [Matriarch] like Viorica usually has a lover from every major political family, both from Avezare and other nations.”

“Wait, wouldn’t they have other colors?”

“Yeah. They usually have other colors, but they’re held in high regard either way. They’ve married into the family, see? Well, in a sense. They become sort of a belonging to be treasured and well kept. But they often lose a lot of freedom in the process. Still, they live pretty charmed lives.”

“But I don’t understand. Wouldn’t mixing colors be bad for like… kids?”

Sunica practically winced. Lily kicked herself. Bad question.

“No. A baby can come from any father. It’s the mother that matters. And where she gives birth, see? Here in Veni and Avezare most babies will come out with white scales. Because of the environment. And most Balaur cities are centered around… well, like, up in Avezare, there’s a place within the palace. Through an ice cave into the heart of a glacier. That’s where members of the Nor family are supposed to give birth. As well as the few other important families in Avezare. That’s why when you look at their scales you’ll see the most pristine snow white, almost opalescent. It’s also why when you look at the people of Veni, many of them have off white or even grey scales. They don’t have access to such a place.”

Lily frowned. That didn’t sound fair at all. So the nobles hoarded the best places to themselves? And what’s more, in addition to pretty scales they had straight up stronger natural powers? And then they used those purer more saturated colors and better powers to justify ruling? It was starting to boil her blood a little just thinking about it.

“Okay. I’m starting to see the full picture. But what happened to you specifically? Shouldn’t you have been born in that cave?”

“No. Like I said, my Mom wasn’t interested in any of the men the other families sent. She only had eyes for my Father. So, they had an affair. When a balaur is going to have a baby, they try to travel to a place to have the proper colors. But, my Mom’s relationship was a political insult. So, her parents refused to let her stay in the palace. After all, if I came out looking like an ordinary citizen, it’s not like I’d be able to rule…”

“Really? It’s that superficial? Even with the right bloodline?”

“Like I said, the [Matriarch] isn’t a position inherited by blood alone.”

“Hmm. Okay. Please, go on.”

“It was a simple thing really. One of Mom’s lovers was jealous. Or his family. I don’t even know for sure. But, they made sure I wouldn’t be able to inherit, no matter what. As my Mother was having me in her manor, they burned it to the ground.”

“What?! That’s attempted assassination!”

“No. With my Mother’s attendants there, there was no way she would die from something like that. But, the environment was… well, an inferno. Sure enough, my scales came out red. Saturated and beautiful. If they were white, I might have been born into prosperity despite my grandparents wishes. But, instead… I’m an embarrassing mistake, tarnishing my family’s appearance. So, I am not allowed to take their name, or live in the palace. They tolerate me living a simple life here.”

“That’s such bullshit! What about now? Your Mom surely feels differently! Now that she’s in charge, why hasn’t she done anything?”

Sunica laughed bitterly, and stared at the floor.

“She learned from her mistake. It took almost ten years, but she had another baby. My sister, Adelina. Mother regrets what happened, but says that she was clearly in the wrong.”

Lily realized she was clenching her fists so hard her fingers were going numb, and made herself relax.

“I see. I’m getting it now. Wait, if that was only like, 20 something years ago, isn’t your Mom like… young to be a ruler?”

“Extremely. I think that’s part of why she won’t accept me even now. It would become another avenue for other families to attack her standing.”

“That’s so stupid! There’s clearly a right and wrong thing to do here! I wanna give them a piece of my mind!”

At that Sunica almost chuckled. It was a brief reprieve from the tension.

“How’re you going to do that? Won’t you have a hard time talking to them?”

“I’ll– I’ll get better.”

“I believe you.”

Lily gave Sunica a surprised look, and got a reassuring smile in return. Then, Sunica’s stomach let out a loud grumble, and she laughed.

“Hungry?”

“Famished. Lemme make somethin’.”

“Let me help! I’m terrible, but I can’t let you keep cooking for me forever and never help out.”

The two of them got to something more pleasant. They cooked together, and enjoyed a meal together, and spent the night exchanging stories until they fell asleep. Lily on the couch, and Sunica on the floor next to it despite having a perfectly good bed in the next room.

---

 

“The [Message] is sent.”

“Thanks.”

Avea left the guard house with a weight on his heart. He felt like he’d done something wrong. But, it was just his job. He was a [Guard] in a balaur city. 

Still, he hoped Lily would be happy wherever she ended up, and that Sunica would forgive him. He should do something nice for her.

But, Lily was an interesting human. There was no way they wouldn’t send someone, and there was no way he wouldn’t get in trouble for concealing it if he did.

 

---

 

Authors Note:

Hello dear readers. You all may have noticed that last week there were no new chapters. A family emergency came up and needed taking care of, but we're back in business now! Sort of!

You see, since the writathon I have just not been able to get ahead of my work enough to have a buffer. I like keeping a buffer that way if anything happens we don't have interruptions like we did last week. So, now that I'm back and the importance of that is fresh in my mind, here's what I'm going to do. We're going down to one chapter a week until I build up a sufficient buffer again. Ya'll can have my word that I'm going to be writing my butt off in the mean time. And when I'm all caught up we'll go back to our normal update schedule.

Thanks so much for sticking with me. We're really just getting started laying in plot hooks for the rest of volume 2 and a major climax, so I hope you'll all be excited with me. <3