“Lenea, raise those arms. Althea, spread your legs further. And… uh… you…yes you! Stop slacking off and get in line!” Lanassa shouted as she strolled through several rows of children. Today was a Tuesday, which was dedicated to teaching martial arts to the children. Only the attendants of Genidoris’s temple were required to know it, but it was becoming more commonplace to teach it to anyone who wanted to nowadays. Apparently more and more nymphs realized they couldn’t always rely on their maddening beauty to protect them alone. Sometimes a solid kick to the groin was a far more practical, and entertaining, solution.
‘By Genidoris herself, why do I have to put up with this?’ She thought, then sighed to herself. She knew all too well why she was doing this. Her colleague, Polynome, had decided to mysteriously disappear a few hours before this session. And naturally, Lanassa was called on to replace her. It wasn’t as If Lanassa was busy, she only had a temple to clean and dinner to cook. Damned girl. She had probably gotten distracted. It was always the same. The simple consequence of a nymph’s playful and carefree nature. She probably found something far more interesting to do, or maybe she had taken interest in someone and now found herself between some sheets. It wouldn’t surprise Lanassa one bit. She would have to make sure that the head priestess would scold her, again. Why was she, a newborn, acting more mature than her colleague who had passed her seventh century? Probably because it wasn’t so. Given the chance, Lanassa would do exactly the same. She just wasn’t as competent at shirking her duties without getting caught, a skill that would take many hundred years of dedicated training to master.
It were times like these that Lanassa hated most, having to deal with a bunch of whining newborns, moaning about how a little physical exercise was too much effort. Pampered little girls, usually firstborns, that spend their whole life up till now being treated like princesses. Lanassa wanted a life like that, and she actually
was a princess… or was she? Are you technically still a princess even if your queen mother abandoned you? Was it truly an unbreakable bond of blood, accompanied by a family name? Or was it more than that? Did you have to be accepted, nurtured and educated before you could truly call yourself royalty? It probably didn’t matter. Who would believe that a simple shrine maiden was actually this land’s crown princess? Such a claim would simply make one the target of ridicule. Maybe one day she would find a way to get Opis, the head priestess, to ‘fess up. But today was a Tuesday, martial arts practice with whining little girls. That was not a day that was known for its twists of fate.
Or were they?
A few hours later Lanassa found herself in a comfortable chair in the temple’s living area, thoroughly worn out from working with the kids. The living area was relatively clean, seeing how it hadn’t been tended to in two weeks. Knowing how horrible everyone was at seeing their duties done, everyone made sure to at least clean up after themselves. A blessing, otherwise this would’ve been a temple dedicated to the nonexistent goddess of vermin a long time ago. And right now she found herself in sweet solitude, a rare moment of peace and silence. She managed to make herself comfortable for approximately half an hour until Leadore, the second youngest priestess boasting a modest seventy years, made her way into the room. Then again, be it fifty or fifty-thousand years of difference; no nymph ever aged past adolescence. It was impossible to physically determine a nymph’s age. Nevertheless, the shrine’s hierarchy was largely determined by age, or was it called time of service and experience in the common tongue? There honestly was no difference. Lanassa flashed her colleague a tired smile.
“Finished sweeping the temple grounds?” Lanassa asked. The girl shook her head
“Almost, but more importantly, a courier came by. You’ve got mail.” She handed Lanassa a scroll with a seal that Lanassa vaguely recognized. But what did an institution like that university want with her?
“Oh!” Leadore continued
“I completely forgot. The head priestess wants to speak with you. She wants you to meet her in her room. Don’t keep her waiting for too long.” She told Lanassa forebodingly. Bad things happened when you made Opis wait, that was common knowledge. But first, she would read this mail. Something told Lanassa that they were indubitably connected anyhow. She undid the scroll of its intricate sealing, and started reading:
__________________________________
Dear miss Amphitrite
It is a pleasure to announce that you have been accepted into Universita dei Maghi. You will be formally educated in all fields of magic that are within your affinity. Your admission, residence and training shall be provided free of charge. Please be advised that this training will be both grueling and life threatening, as should be expected of any magic devised to reseal the dark lord. You are to make your way to the campus located in Ena kristala city before the end of this week. We at the Universita dei Maghi are looking forward to your arrival.
Please fear not, your heritage is known to us in secrecy. However, the import of the station that is requested of you in this letter weighs as heavily as the heritage you seek to redeem. The university recognizes you as the true heir of Nymphe’s throne; and shall fully support any action you take towards reclaiming the name that is yours, should you wish to do so. Please be encouraged to lighten your heart before you begin your travels.
May the Elements be forever with you.__________________________________
Who was this? What was this? How did anyone know about her deepest secret? Not just the name, but also the fears she held. Whoever wrote this letter seemed to know it all. Lanassa knew that to learn how to seal the lord was to be a sage. But why was it her that was supposed to be a sage? She was a simple newborn. Her experience with magic was not even a tenth of that of many others. Sure, she had talent and skilled for her age, but she was by no means an accomplished mage. But if this meant she finally had a tool, a powerful piece of leverage to achieve the goal she desired for so long. With this knowledge, she headed to the third basement floor under the temple, where Opis’s private quarters were located.
Opis was a beautiful woman; often said to be one of the most beautiful in all of Nymphe. It was odd how amongst the ageless nymphs, beauty seemed to come with age. It was like the opposite of the curse that the other races carried. Despite Opis looking exactly as old as Lanassa, the younger girl actually seemed like a toddler in comparison. There was something about her demeanor that just made her seem so much more mature and beautiful, something that apparently came with age. Most of the Nymphs considered the most beautiful were indeed ancient, and Opis was among the oldest living nymphs. It made her presence intimidating and very attractive at the same time. Even to this very day Lanassa would occasionally freeze on occasion just by witnessing her presence. And today, just because today was a little more special than other days, was such an occasion. However, even when Opis noticed that, she stayed kind and composed, and waved the young nymph over and gestured her to a chair. Often it was hard for Lanassa to keep remembering herself that this woman withheld Lanassa’s past from her. But she wouldn’t allow herself to forget, not today.
“I’ve heard the news.” Opis started.
“You’re invited to the university, right? That’s amazing!” She smiled at Lanassa sweetly. Lanassa wondered how she had found out before she had even read the letter, but before she could ask Opis continued to talk.
“You didn’t think they’d make you leave without telling me first, right?” Classic Opis, always knew what you were going to ask before you actually did so.
“I was a student there myself, ages ago. And you can not really say no to this university…” She looked away from Lanassa, her mood shifting negatively.
“They told you, didn’t they? They always tell you something to reel you in.” She sighed.
Lanassa’s eyes started to slightly tear up. No! She had promised herself to stay strong in this confrontation. She stared fiercely at her superior. Even if Opis was easily capable of piercing her fragile façade, she didn’t wish to give in.
“I knew already, damn it.” A small gasp escaped Opis. But Lanassa did not allow her to speak
“For years I’ve known. But why, Opis, do you seem so sad to tell me who I really am? Do I bring that much shame, truly?” At this point the tears had started to flow, but Lanassa ignored them.
“Does my mother care more about her name than about her own daughter? What am I to you, Opis, that you deny me the right to know who I am!? How can you justify it?" Lanassa was trembling, but successfully kept her stare fixated on Opis who rose from her seat. She slowly stepped towards her before she took Lanassa into her embrace.
Soothing as it was meant to be, it made Lanassa bawl. Opis spoke softly
“I’ve told you many times, dear, you are like a daughter to me. I’ve held you in my arms the day you were born, and taken care of you ever since. I was always going to tell you, I wanted to, when you were an adult…but…” Opis paused
“I can’t justify it. Not to you. But please, please remember that I have never seen you as anything else but my daughter. I love you, I really do.” Lanassa looked up at Opis, who had begun to tear up a little herself.
“Truly?” Opis smiled, then cuddled her.
“Of course! And nothing changes that, alright?” Slowly Lanassa managed to calm down. As a result, she managed to recover a somewhat confident look in her eyes, which she directed at Opis directly.
“I want it back, Opis. I want my name back. I won’t allow myself to be hidden in shame, I can't allow it.” Opis smiled at her.
“Yes child. But this will take time. I will talk to your mother. You go to the university, become a sage to be proud of.” She then patted the girl on the head.
“When you get back here, I’ll arrange for you to have a talk with your mother. She’s a reasonable woman, you’ll see.” Lanassa was a tad too emotional still to ponder the truth of that statement. She chose to believe Opis. It was true, Opis had always taken good care of her. She would go to this university, become a sage and make her claim undeniable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later she set her first steps into Tenebra after a rather unadventurous airship ride. Lanassa didn’t like airships, they made her feel even more out of touch with the water than being on land. Something about this capital felt suffocating. Was it the darkness that loomed? Nymphs by definition did very badly with anything ugly and evil, and the darkness wasn’t known for rainbows and candy sticks. It also didn’t help that the courtyard to which she was designated was gated with one of the most imposing structures she had ever seen. Even walking through it somehow made her skin crawl a little.
The inside, however, was far more appeasing to Lanassa’s delicate visual palette. The innumerable amount of beautiful flowers drew in the young girl, who found herself comfort near the waters of the fountain. She could’ve made for the pillar of water she noticed in the distance, but something told her she did not want to do that, not yet at least. She sat down amongst the flowers. She then intensely looked at the sculpture of the nymph. If there was one of her race sculptured here, then she’d indubitably knew of this person. In actuality, she just wanted to jump into the fountain and play with the water. She had taken note of the other people in her vicinity, six of them and a bear. And although she couldn’t help but have a bit of inside laughter at the one that had made a glorious faceplant, she chose to keep her distance for now. Lanassa had little experience with the other races, thus she’d rather watch and observe before she’d make her approach. Till now, she only had to deal with pilgrims of other races, which were rare enough. Those usually didn’t make for much conversation outside of religious stuff, which is where she was comfortable. Talking about… well… normal things with other races? She had no clue what would constitute for them as normal anyway.
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