Ch 14–
The second circle of calling turned icy blue the second that I activated it. Cold mist poured out, skimming low over our feet. The lights dimmed and the temperature dropped. An eerie bell tolled at a great distance.
I glanced at Lucy. She looked one part trepidatious, and two parts exhilarated.
My breath caught. This was important. And my Class gave me absolutely no control.
The mists deepened then swirled together, coalescing into the form of a woman. She floated over the ground, ethereally. As I squinted into her delicate features, I realized she was slightly translucent.
Long hair, the blue of the deep ocean in the depths of winter, streamed behind her in twisting rivulets, like she was lying in a river and letting the currents be her comb.
She opened her eyes sharply. Pale blue, almost white.
The regal ghost studied me carefully. Her expression was solemn and steady.
Her form was slender and petite. Graceful, even in stillness, like a ballerina, freed from the tawdry confines of gravity.
“Wow.” I breathed.
She wore a spectral white dress of layered gossamer. As the fabric shifted, it offered tantalizing glimpses of the lithe body, semi-concealed beneath.
“Wowwww…!” Lucy sighed, awestruck.
The ghost turned a curious gaze on her in turn, and studied my bunny Familiar.
After a time, she gave Lucy a solemn nod.
Like a courtier from a respected ally might give their counterpart. Lucy made a surprisingly elegant bow in a fashion I hadn’t seen before. She offered her cupped hands, offering the pool of my cum.
I blushed.
But the ghost lady drifted to her with a stately expression, and dipped a slender finger into the warm pool.
It glowed, and slowly spread, silvery and luminous over her skin.
It covered her, even her hair, to the tip of each strand. She gave a little gasp. Maybe the barest hint of a sigh.
Then the light faded, and she was left as before.
“I accept your offering.” She said.
Her voice was surprisingly low, like a trained singer, or orator. Smooth and controlled like an expert violist speaking through their instrument.
I thought about bowing. Tried. Failed and somehow mixed it up with a curtsy, nearly tripped over my own ankle, and gave up.
I jerked my chin upwards instead, in the universal sign for a cool greeting.
“Hi. Nice to meet you. I’m Eir.” I said, trying to sound normal. My voice sounded croaky and clumsy next to this princess’ music.
She gave me a diplomatic nod.
“I am honored to answer your call, Eir.” She intoned. “I am Lorna.”
I went wide eyed. She already had a name! And Lucy sure seemed to recognize it, judging by her excited little gasp.
“You’ve been a Familiar before, then?” I confirmed.
Lorna nodded. “May I serve you to a fairer fortune.”
Ominous… but maybe that was just part of her whole ghostly aesthetic…?
“This is Lucy, she’s my Familiar as well.” I hastened to introduce the two.
I had kind of been expecting a more traditional animalistic familiar, like a bird or a wolf, this time.
Instead. Lorna. Who looked like a warrior/diplomat/princess had been painted out of moonlight and the sea.
She was about five kinds of intimidating.
And she smiled. Regal, benevolent.
“Lucy.” She said, like she was recognizing a hard earned title. “I am honored to make your acquaintance. I believe we have never met in the worlds?”
Lucy nodded. She too seemed slightly nervous. Like she wanted to make a good impression.
She hastened to agree. “It’s my first time. That is, Eir is my first time. That is, being a Familiar to someone. Not my virginity. But that too. She’s really good at sex.”
I felt my cheeks go scarlet. Lucy, rarely bashful about anything, surprised me by following suit.
Lorna, however, took it in stride.
“And has Eir been a worthy master to you?” She asked, openly.
Man, this suddenly felt like a job interview. She’s checking my references, while I’m right here.
Lucy was already nodding fervently, though. I couldn’t help but smile l at her wholehearted approval.
“I’m in love with Eir.” Said Lucy, simply. “I thought I knew what I wanted when I answered the call. I got so, so, so much more and better than I would have asked. I hope you’ll stay, and accept the bond. Because she’s amazing. And she needs someone with your wisdom and strength.”
Lorna listened with the intense focus of a chess grandmaster studying a position. She let Lucy finish, without the barest sign of wanting to do anything, ever again, but hear her in full. Then she kept on waiting, to see if she’d say any more.
When she didn’t, she turned her gaze inward and seemed to ponder Lucy’s words deeply.
A full minute ticked by.
I was practically sweating with suspense.
Was I going to have to redo the call? It would be beyond embarrassing to be rejected by Lorna. And what if astral beings talked about perspective bonders? Would I ever get a good Familiar again if Lorna put out the word on me?
Lorna broke me from my spiral.
“If, in a thousand years, I had served you well and completely, what would I have done?” Asked Lorna.
I stared.
“Sorry so.” I scrambled to keep up. Don’t sound like an idiot. You can do essay prompts. “You want to know, basically, what do I want from you?”
“I seek a reflection on your aspirations and expectations.” Lorna nodded. “What do you want from me, yes. And more, what do you want to become?”
I nodded, chewing.
“That’s…” I struggled.
Then Lucy sent me a nudge down our bond. Strength. Belief.
And a word: Trust.
“That’s a really big question.” I sighed. “And it’s completely fair for you to want to know before making a potentially really long lasting decision about me. But the truth is, a week ago I thought that my path to happiness was becoming the world’s greatest healer. Then my life got flipped upside down. I met the love of my life. I lost the one person I thought would always be there for me. My hometown was gutted, and I may never return, because what made it home isn’t there anymore. Honestly…? I’m lost.”
I sat in that. I hadn’t really talked about everything yet. It had been a whirlwind, and through a lot of it, I had felt like I was fighting just to survive. For some of it, I really was.
And mundane as it was, my mana regen situation was so tight, I hadn’t had the chance to really decompress with Lucy and talk things out. I’d only really had the night she’d held me and let me cry. Which had been lifesaving. But not like the more thoughtful approach Lorna was taking.
“I don’t know who I’ll be.” I said. “I want to be a Wayfinder. The dungeon offers a true frontier for the whole of humanity. And I want in on that. I want Lucy to be as happy as I can for the rest of my life. And honestly? I want the money, and respect, and acceptance that comes with being a powerful Wayfinder.”
I looked up. Lorna hovered, her bare feet just over the dirt of the training room, like she was caught mid leap. She was studying me with that same profound focus she’d given Lucy.
I raised my hands. “I wish I had a clear answer. I understand if you want me to dismiss you and look for someone else to form a bond with. Thank you for listening. It felt… really good to talk it out, actually.”
Lorna gave her head a slight incline, accepting my thanks, then waited. So did I. I had no more. I could only await her verdict.
At last:
“I will accept your bond.” She said, softly.
I perked up. I looked to Lucy who gave me a big thumbs up.
Lorna had a tiny smile turning the corners of her sculpted lips. Something sad lurked in the corner of her wintery gaze.
“Great!” I gasped. “Man, I'm so relieved! I thought I was good either way, but I actually think I had my heart set on you. Thank you! I will do my best not to let you down. BOTH of you.”
I squeezed Lucy into my side, feeling her happiness and pride surging through our bond.
Our bond.
A question hit me.
“Uhh, say Lorna.” I said, awkwardly. “When you say accept my bond…”
Lucy caught on and went very flushed and excited.
“The usual terms will do.” Lorna clarified.
“Yep. Yep. Definitely. I mean uhh.” I stammered. “What does Bond mean to you, literally?”
Lorna frowned. “You have performed a bonding with Lady Lucy. You must therefore know the process well.”
I squirmed. “Yep, I know how we…Bond.”
“She knows it so well.” Moaned Lucy.
That got a raised eyebrow from Lorna.
“Mmhmm!” I agreed, squeakily.
“I will accept your bond with the traditional seal.” Said Lorna, slowly. She was unreadable as she paused. Then prompted, “I will accept your kiss, should you offer it.”
Then slowly and solemnly she extended a single graceful hand to me, palm down. Warrior, diplomat, princess. Holy crap, was I in over my head with this one.
I sank to one knee, and offered up my own hand. I felt a rush of preemptive embarrassment. Was I making a fool of–?
Lorna drifted down, her spectral foot just brushing the ground.
Her hand, slightly cold, but firm and real, in spite of her ghostly appearance, rested feather light on my hand.
I’d done the right thing! Or at least she was making it the right thing!
I gave her hand a soft kiss. Her hand was smooth, and delicate. And I could feel strength in it. I let out a small gasp and my breath fogged, like in deep winter.
“With this sign, I accept your bond.” Incanted Lorna, voice rising in an echoing covenant.
I felt the bond snap into place, just like I had with Lucy.
My arm burned, and I felt another obsidian brand sear into me, just under Lucy’s.
With Lorna, it was a tiny filament of connection. A single thread of her calm. And underneath it….
I strained to feel her.
It was like peering into the depths of a midnight sea. An unstoppable current of will. Like the movement of a glacier, slow and inexorable.
And I felt that will settle behind me. Straightening my back, and reinforcing my resolve.
Where Lucy was fight and freedom and wily playfulness, Lorna was a lighthouse, a mountain, the moon. steady, inexorable, ancient.
“WHEEE!” Shouted Lucy at the top of her lungs, clapping excitedly.
I burst out laughing as the tension broke.
Lorna favored her with a fond smile.
“Should we all kiss now?!” Lucy asked eagerly.