No Need For A Core?-360: Dryad’s Debut

No Need For A Core?-360: Dryad’s Debut

Communication and plans flowed between the Azeria cores and their avatars while Mordecai swiftly walked back to where everyone else was still gathered; confusion had already been stirred by the sensation of Azeria's mana sweeping over the area, plus Fuyuko and Bellona could feel their connections to the nexus restored. "Long story short, Svetlana is now a subsidiary core and a lady of the Azeria court, so our territories are one and the same. There were some side effects, including Krystraeliv growing into Svetlana's territory, maturing both her and her dryad spirit more quickly. We have a problem and solution rolled into one — Krystraeliv's presence also means we can get home in time for the awakening of my granddaughter. I'll send people to Azeria individually as soon as you say you are ready; the wagon may need to wait as I haven't calculated how much mana I will need to transport it this way yet." He certainly wasn't going to ask Krystraeliv to pay the mana cost right now.
His words sent everyone into motion, despite the lingering confusion over how circumstances had changed. Sometimes one needed to act first and get details or explanations later. Over in Azeria, similar action was taking place, as one of their pixies had been sent to tell Satsuki the situation, and she had immediately flown off to get Norumi and Haolong.
The others had followed him, and now he turned to Deidre. "You are invited as well, of course. I think Svetlana might be able to watch directly, but I haven't had a subsidiary core before, so I am not sure."
'Yes, I can,'
Svetlana's mental voice said, '
though I think it's only because Krystraeliv is helping channel the connection for my focus. Um, it feels like it might be possible to do it without her help, but it's restricted?'
Right, of course. Having Svetlana suddenly part of their greater network was going to take some mental adjustments.
'We probably need to give you permissions of some sort. If you can view things well enough for now, we'll figure that out later.'
The first people ready to go were Orchid and Paltira. Mordecai had them touch a section of Krystraeliv's root that had grown to expose itself on a nearby wall, then channeled the mana to send them to the faerie side of Azeria, next to Krystraeliv's trunk. It took a notable bite out of his mana to send them that far — about as much as casting one of his current top-tier combat spells, each.
Kazue and Moriko were able to send themselves, but first, they needed to get Kazue packed up, and having a pair of excited, if confused, baby dragons bouncing around in response to the sudden activity did not help. Moriko hadn't had the time to unpack anything. Deidre would be able to take care of herself as well, though she was waiting for everyone else to go first.
Fuyuko and Bellona had the proper connection to Krystraeliv to potentially initiate the transition, but not the mana reserves, and no one else had the connection, so Mordecai was going to need to put out the mana for each of them.
During the flurry of activity, another person approached somewhat hesitantly. "Nikita?" Mordecai asked. "I hadn't realized you were still one of Svetlana's inhabitants."
She nodded and said, "Yes. I had been intending to ask for a ride with you, so that I could get my feet under me elsewhere and start collecting the information I need, and it seemed easiest to remain connected until then. But, well, things changed, so I am asking if you are willing to take me to Azeria this way. Um, I think I can pay the mana costs myself, but I don't think she's going to let me go anywhere you don't give permission for first. Svetlana and I can break the connection after I am over there. I don't really have a lot of personal effects, so it was easy to grab the last of my stuff before I came down."
"I see. Give me a moment." Mordecai checked with Kazue and Moriko on Nikita's request, plus a little more. "We're in agreement with allowing you to do that, and we also invite you to attend with everyone else. You've experienced a lot of death, and we think that an experience involving the celebration of life would be good for you."
"Oh." Nikita took a moment to process that, then said, "Thank you, I accept your offer. I don't really know what to expect, but you are probably right. There's still more death to deal with in my future, but focusing on life for a while would be nice. It's, well, it has been a very long time."
"You should probably go back to your true form, however." Though there was no reason he would be in 'trouble', Mordecai was also very certain that Moriko, Kazue, and Satsuki would all find excuses to tease him should they notice the elements that made up Nikita's current appearance, such as how her hair ended in a red and white pattern similar to Satsuki's.
Nikita winced, then sighed. "I suppose I might as well get this over with." A moment later, she looked like a younger, not quite as ethereal version of Svetlana. "Her avatar was designed with me as a base," Nikita said, clearly aware of the resemblance.
He sent that information out to the others so that there were no surprises when she appeared in Azeria. "I am sorry for all that you have gone through. That could not have been easy."
"No," she said, "but I am aware that in many ways I suffered far less. I was forced into the role of seductress and killer, but once I had demonstrated how well I had taken to the role..." A slow smile spread across her lips, deliberately showing just the tips of her fangs. "Well, someone like Dimitri wouldn't dare put himself in that position with me. However strong he was, all it would take is the tiniest waver in his will, a little of his own dark desires betraying him, and, well, you saw what happened once I had him in my embrace."
Nikita shook her head and relaxed into a more reserved mannerism. "I've learned some interesting things from my experiences here. One of them is that the type of aggression Dimitri showed is rooted in fear; in this case, fear of his own desires. I've yet to encounter anyone who enjoyed only one side of dominance and control."
He raised a brow at her, and she smirked. "Yes, I'm aware that this includes me, but I've not been in a position where I dare explore such things."
"If you like, I'll send you to the kitsune clan for some training. They have some experience in such things. Though perhaps we'd best settle you into a more normal life first." While Nikita pondered this, Mordecai instructed Krystraeliv to send Nikita with everyone else and waited for Nikita to initiate her transfer. A short while after her arrival in Azeria, he felt her break her connection to Svetlana.
That was going to be interesting. They should probably encourage her to delve with teams for a few months as well, get her used to socializing and trusting people again.
Once everyone else was through, Mordecai considered the wagon and realized that he still hadn't fully adjusted to Svetlana's territory being part of Azeria's territory now. His core simply took it into their storage, then took it back out and placed it at the trading post.
After that, it was time for him and Deidre to travel via Krystraeliv's network. Mordecai reflexively paid a small tithe of extra mana, though where that habit had formed was something he was going to have to search his memories for at some point, but it did seem a polite thing to do if one could afford it. He also noticed that Deidre did the same, though he suspected she was copying him, as she would not have had the chance to form that habit from her own experiences.
During that brief transition, Mordecai could feel the depth of Krystraeliv's spirit more clearly, and he was pleased to note that her spirit was condensing into a proper soul, keeping pace with the growing strength and complexity of her mind, stimulated by the sudden growth of her network into an eighteen zone nexus. She should be mostly awake by the time her dryad companion was, but much like Sarcomaag, her nature was going to dictate a slightly different awareness of time.
Also, her awakening came complete with sprouting a second trunk from atop the hill at the center of Svetlana's surface area. That should stir some conversation in Trionea.
Mordecai stood with Kazue and Moriko, and Satsuki had taken up a position a little behind and to the right of Kazue. Deidre made an interesting choice when she stood near Satsuki in the same relative position that Satsuki was to Kazue. That earned her a speculative look from Satsuki, but now was not the time to discuss the matter.
Everyone else invited to this event stood in a semi-circle around a crook of exposed root at Krystraeliv's base. Norumi and Haolong were taking advantage of that crooked root to create a small private area using a simple folding screen, where they could greet their awakening daughter first.
Most dryads did not have such an audience when they first awoke, but the circumstances of this one were significantly different than most dryads.
Externally, all was nearly silent while they awaited the arrival of Norumi's first dryad child, though there were some occasional whispered conversations. However, it did not take long for Fuyuko to mentally ask, "
Um, do we know how long this is going to take?
"
"
I'm afraid not
," Mordecai replied. "
Her awakening has been quickened by the flood of power and information, but the formation of a mind is a complicated thing, and difficult to predict with precision. This makes for a good time to practice your meditation.
"
This earned him a sense of disgruntlement from her, but at the same time, he could feel the shift in her aura as she began her meditative exercises. Her meditation was far from perfect, but it wasn't exactly a perfect situation for someone as new to meditative practices as she was.
This also made it good practice for needing to meditate in more stressful scenarios.
No one wanted to risk disturbing what was happening, but with no solid schedule, many people quietly sat while they waited, and occupied themselves as best they could. Kazue naturally had a book with her already. Further away, a table was being setup by some of the inhabitants, with Kazue's 'ninjas' taking a lead role in making sure it was all done quietly. Mordecai was going to always be amused by their existence, but they were a good example of the flexibility of power, especially that of a nexus. Kazue's imagined concept of a ninja was much more actively magical than many real spies were, as being able to keep a low profile often meant not appearing to be magical or interesting, and it was Kazue's vision that shaped the abilities of the various inhabitants that followed this path, most of which came from the laganthro clans, matching her original concept of 'ninja rabbit'.
Eventually there was a shift in the flow of energy nearby, and motion in the private space Norumi had secured, which caused everyone else to get back to their feet. A few moments later, she and Haolong stepped out toward the crowd, with a third person between them. "Everyone," Norumi began, "we would like to introduce you to our daughter, Mavialeko."
It took Mordecai a moment to sort through the half dozen possible word combinations that could be combined into that name, but 'blue amber' seemed the most likely pairing.
The dryad girl looked to be somewhere around ten years of age by human standards, though with features and pointed ears more reminiscent of an elf, and her connection to Krystraeliv was reflected in her appearance. Though green hair was common enough among dryads, hers looked more like strands of flexible emerald than normal hair, and her blue skin seemed to shift in texture between normal flesh and crystalline smoothness. Mavialeko's eyes were a sharply contrasting golden amber color that had no whites, and her pupils were vertical slits, not unlike a fox's. Her mother had dressed her in a short-sleeved dress of silvery-white silk, the design simple and without embellishment.
Mavialeko looked around at the gathered people, then up at her mother, before twisting around to look at herself. A moment later, she had fox ears and a tail to match her green hair. She frowned slightly at that and looked back up at Norumi. "Mother, why do I only have one tail?"
To Mordecai, the question was more along the lines of how she could have a tail at all, but then again, how many dryad mothers had previously been kitsune?
Norumi recovered from her own surprise swiftly. "Fox tails are earned through growth and experience. You should be able to earn more over time. Now, say hello to the people who have gathered to greet you."
That explanation was a bit simplified, as there was relative power involved as well; for all that the girl was effectively newborn, her connection to a world tree made the dryad more powerful per tail than a mortal kitsune would be.
The girl seemed content with that and turned to look at her audience again. "Hello, and thank you," she said with a small bow, but as she spoke, Mavialeko's composure seemed to waver as she became fully cognizant that she was meeting a lot of people at the same time.
"Why don't we start with my parents, and thus your grandparents," Norumi said.
Mordecai and Satsuki moved forward without need for further prompting. "Hello Mavialeko," he said, "I am your grandfather, Mordecai, and this is your grandmother, Satsuki. It is a pleasure to meet you." He knelt down and gave the girl a hug as Satsuki knelt next to him.
"Hello, dear," Satsuki said as she also gave the girl a hug. "I'm very happy to meet you."
Having only two people to focus on seemed to help Mavialeko's confidence, and she smiled at them. "Hello. I think I like you; you seem nice, and Krystraeliv seems happy with you." Then she frowned. "Um, I can feel Grandfather's power everywhere, but not Grandmother's power, though Grandma seems stronger? I— this is confusing."
"Things are a bit complicated," Mordecai said. "Let me start by introducing you to my wives, Kazue and Moriko." He waved them both forward, and the befuddled girl turned to meet them.
"Hi Mavialeko," Kazue said, taking her turn to give the girl a hug. "I'm happy to meet you as well. There's nothing to worry about; while Satsuki's position is a bit different, the four of us have been figuring everything out just fine."
"We can explain it all to you when you are older," Moriko said, "but there is a lot more to learn about the world before that, and there are many people who want to meet you. The only thing that matters is that we are here and ready to be your family. Are you alright with that?"
After a moment of thinking while returning Moriko's hug, Mavialeko nodded. "Yes, I think so."
"Excellent!" Kazue said. "Then let me introduce you to your aunts, Fuyuko and Carmilla. Though Fuyuko is close enough to your age that you can probably treat each other more like sisters." There were many more hugs to go around, and by the time everyone was introduced, Mavialeko was taking turns riding different people's shoulders or backs, giggling at all the attention like the ten-year-old girl she appeared to be.Though, it took some convincing to get ‘Auntie’ Akahana to stop hugging the little girl; or smothering her, as Fuyuko phrased it, who then transitioned to placing her on the back of the alicorn Zara for a ride Nicknames were already being worked on as well, with Mavi and Leko being the most popular, but Mavial was also occasionally used, along with Aleko, Mav and Vi. No matter the name, Mavialeko appeared to enjoy them all. Mordecai decided he was probably only going to call her Mavi or Aleko, as those were the component words to her name.
After they were done introducing Mavialeko to everyone present, it was time for a celebratory feast, which included a large spread of many smaller dishes, so that Mavialeko could begin learning what she liked, while also providing a chance to broaden her palate.
Fuyuko was happy to share both the joys of chocolate cake covered in various sweet toppings and of meat, along with the occasional vegetable, combined with cheese sauces.
Mordecai never understood why people assumed that dryads must be vegetarian. Plenty of plants were carnivorous to varying degrees, and nereids were close cousins of dryads who were well known to be meat eaters. While most dryads did not choose to actively seek out meat, they were loath to let a resource go to waste if an animal did die in their territory, and a dryad who felt the need to hunt invaders of her forest was often not particularly choosy about the form their meat came in.
While the small feast was going on, Svetlana had sent messages via her inhabitants to inform Baron Demidov that she and Mordecai wished to meet to discuss diplomatic relations. So when Mavialeko grew tired and Norumi took her back to rest in Krystraeliv, it was time for the cores and avatars to gather and discuss the upcoming meeting. Kazue and Moriko declined being part of the Azeria delegation, but they did have some thoughts to share ahead of time.

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360: Dryad’s Debut