Chapter 103 - A Small Gold Coin

The flickering light from the candles and the dome of billowing grey fog became calm once more as Argus regained control of his mental state. His eyes focused on the shrine with quiet contemplation.

“Can you enter the aetheric plane from here?” Argus asked.

“Yes, with the energy from the ritual.”

“Can you bring me with you?”

Yuzu frowned, interpreting her feelings as she explored the idea. After a moment she shook her head, “No, I don’t think so. It would be like trying to carry a heavy weight with me into the white world... I don’t think I’m strong enough to do so.”

Argus nodded, not surprised by Yuzu’s instinct. “The ability to traverse the planes is already a rare enough ability. There are only a few paths in the mortal realm that I am aware of that can bring other souls with them, but they are all Adept level.”

His eyes lit up as he seemed to be struck by an epiphany, “Even if I can’t enter the aetheric plane, I can still provide assistance, though. With the shrine we can make use of several rituals. For example, the bestowment ritual.”

“What is that?” Yuzu asked.

Argus stepped forward, pulling something from his pocket. He opened his hand to reveal a small gold coin. It was a standard currency of the kingdom, though due to its value it was rarely used in every day transactions. This round coin had the image of a sword piercing a mountain range on one face, and the usual seal script found on NianXing coins on the other. One gold coin was worth one hundred marks, an enormous sum of money!

“When it comes to mysticism, gold is extremely valuable. Its properties make it the perfect vessel for many mystical energies.” Argus explained, “This coin is charged with my powers of concealment. By injecting spiritual energy into it, a fog like the one hiding us right now will instantly fill the area.”

Argus placed the coin inside the silver bowl that was sitting in the shrine. There was a soft clink as the metals touched against each other - the aetheric liquid that had previously been poured into the bowl had already long evaporated.

“Let us experiment.” Argus said.

He closed his eyes and placed his hands together as he murmured a soft prayer. Yuzu heard the illusory words ring out clearly in her mind. The words of the foreign language took shape in her mind as she intuitively understood their meaning.

White Maiden of this Shrine,
I am Argus Dayton, the Great Library’s Keeper
Please accept my offering

In her spiritual vision Yuzu saw a white thread extend from the coin up out of the shrine. The end of the thread glowed like a star, just within Yuzu’s reach.

Yuzu reached out to take it, but found that the thread was too heavy for her to pull.

“This ritual is a bit different.” Argus explained spontaneously, “I act as the conduit between the focus and yourself, but I am not providing an offering of energy to maintain the ritual. This method requires the conduit to provide the initial energy to establish the connection, but demands the entity receiving the ritual to complete it.”

“You’re the one sending the package to me, but I have to pay the cost of the delivery.” Yuzu frowned.

“Exactly.” Argus nodded. “The energy requirements for this reverse connection are more than double the normal amounts, and so attempting this usually results in an angry backlash against the ritual holder. For the sake of this experiment, try using the energy from the previous ritual.”

Yuzu nodded, directing the energy within her into the star as she pulled at it once more. An unpleasant suctioning sensation pulled at her spiritual body as the star siphoned out a large amount of energy. The silver bowl began to shine as a white light filled it and then dissipated, revealing that the gold coin inside had vanished.

Yuzu opened her hands, expecting to see the gold coin there, but they were empty.

“The coin should be in your possession in the aetheric world. You would have to perform the reverse ritual to retrieve it.” Argus smiled with satisfaction. “It seems that the experiment was a success. This puts us one step closer to retrieving the chest. I may not be able to accompany you into the aetheric plane, but I’ll be able to provide support when the time comes.”

“You mean, I’ll have to go down to that giant door alone?” Yuzu frowned.

“Yes, eventually.” Argus nodded, “Now that we have a way for you to enter the aetheric plane and bring items with you, there are only two things we need. First, a way to protect you from that entity’s influence, and second, sufficient aetheric energy to descend to the depths of the plane and return.”

“Give me three days.” Argus said, “I will try to find an answer for you.”

Yuzu nodded with hesitation. A thought glimmered in her mind which she tried to suppress, but Argus had already caught it. He looked at her expectantly.

He won’t speak my thoughts for me, but he still wants me to ask it out loud? She sighed inwardly as she reluctantly asked, “Why are you helping me so much? This amount of assistance seems far too valuable for the cost of one question.”

“Simple.” Argus said, “I believe I will require your assistance in the future. Increasing your strength will benefit me greatly when it comes time. Consider it a downpayment for future services if you will. I would be lying as well if I said I wasn’t immensely curious about the contents of that chest.”

“It’s a deal, then.” Yuzu said.

Argus grinned, then nodded. “There’s one last thing to clarify, which is the method to fill the porcelain jar. I was originally going to try a ritual to form a connection to the shrine, but given that it is directly connected to you the process should be much simpler.”

At Argus’ direction Yuzu brought out the jar and cupped it with both hands. After a simple test Argus nodded, “When you receive prayers, you should be able to divert some of that power into the jar to refill it. There will be some loss as it re-attunes to the life domain, just like there is some strain when you intake the life energies from the jar, but it means you can have an emergency supply of aether when you need it the most. All that remains is finding people to pray to you.”

Yuzu smiled upon hearing these words, “That shouldn’t be too difficult.”

~

At the edge of the plateau Medusa rested on the grass. She stared off across the dark canopy of the forest below, looking relaxed as if she were lost in thoughts. This was only a facade, though. Her ears were pricked and her attention was spread across the plants and lifeforms in her vicinity, listening for any changes in the environment.

It had been over an hour since the strange pair of Exalted had erected the bubble of mist around the shrine. She didn’t know their identities, but she had a strong hunch.

The tall one was most certainly the master of the two. Though she was concealed by fog, Medusa could make out her thin frame and strands of long flowing hair. This was the being that Prince Deka had informed her about: The white maiden. A mysterious entity that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

She was undoubtedly powerful, and her affiliations were unknown. However, based on her actions thus far it was highly likely that she had just awakened and was not allied with any powers. Thus, Medusa was instructed to act as her guide and provide assistance, in order to gain her favour.

More than this, Medusa did not know. She prayed regularly to Prince Deka, but like most Gods, he rarely responded. In recent months, with the assistance from the monks she had performed rituals, sending energy gathered from the land to her Lord, and as a result he was able to come to her in her sleep.

Recently she would wake from a cryptic dream with the distinct scent of pollen lingering around her. Intuitively she knew these were her God’s way of communicating with her. It was in one of these dreams that she became aware of her instructions to assist the maiden.

As for the short one, Medusa doubted he was anywhere near the power or strength of the maiden. He had not even been present in her dream.

As she sat on the plateau waiting for a sign that the Maiden had finished with her task, Medusa’s ears perked up. Somewhere in the forest below a man had entered her sphere of awareness.

She could not sense him directly, only feeling the spiritual fluctuations as he navigated calmly through the underbrush. His presence was light, almost imperceptible. He walked on fallen twigs and leaves without sound, and dense underbrush didn’t seem to impede his path.

Medusa stood up, instinctively reaching for the crescent shape blades that were sheathed in the small of her back. At that moment, though, blue candles around shrine suddenly extinguished and the fog broke from the dome. Blue lantern light pierced the fog from within, revealing the pair of spectral figures once more.

Medusa frowned, refraining from drawing her weapon as she cast a look in direction of the intruder below. She didn’t know his intentions, but she didn’t have time to deal with him. She had to give her full attention to the Maiden and win her support, lest the spirit feel slighted by her.

The fair skinned woman with vine-like hair turned towards the spectral figures and approached them with her head bowed. She placed her hand over her heart, stopping a fair distance away as she waited for their acknowledgment.

The broiling pool of fog licked against the tips of Medusa’s boots leaving behind tiny crystals of frost where it touched. The pair stopped a few metres in front of her. Medusa shivered unintentionally, feeling the cold from the mist - or perhaps it was an instinctual reaction to the mysterious entities before her.

“I have a request of you and your Prince.” The maiden said, her voice which was distorted by the mysterious fog sounded both sweet and penetrating.

Medusa nodded, kneeling down once more, “Please tell me how I may assist you. If it is within my power, I will make it so.”