Aidan
The Realms
Unknown Date
Early evening
Just outside the Starchaser village, Mistvale Highlands

"You," Aidan told Brighid ruefully, "are a tease. Setting that aside, though, there are some things we need to talk about before the Council."

Brighid nodded. "Quite a few. Where do you want to start?"

"I don't want to keep any more secrets from you. There are still some things that I've been keeping to myself, and I need to share them with you."

The redhead shook her head in denial. "I trust you, love. You do not need to divulge your secrets to me."

Aidan resumed scrubbing her back and said, "I know. I trust you, too, and that's why I can tell you. It's more than that, though; I need help. I've been lucky so far, but I can't rely on that forever." He began to explain everything about his situation from the first time he logged in. "I told you before that I'm from another world, and that I woke up without knowing how I got here. That isn't the whole truth, though. At the time, I believed I was playing a game, one designed to be indistinguishable from reality. I could enter and exit the game at will, returning to Earth to live my life there. I actually did so twice, while I slept here. When I died, though," his mind skittered over the cause of his death, "I woke up with a notification saying that I was now wholly present in the Realms and couldn't return to Earth any longer. I have tried repeatedly since then, and, unfortunately, it seems to be true."

Brighid attentively listened as he spoke. He could tell that she had questions, and her face darkened when he spoke of the consequences of his death, but she appeared to be willing to wait for him to finish. He continued, "When I first started the game, after choosing my starting Skills and appearance and so on, I woke up in a canyon just south of here. I wasn't alone, though. There was a cranky old man who claimed to have been contracted by my Patron. He taught me the very basics of the interface and gave me a few 'gifts' from my Patron, as well as some advice. He warned me about dying, actually, though I do not know how I could have avoided it." Aidan took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

"He also cautioned me against revealing the next secret, but I trust you completely, and I think you need to know. Every Chosen has a unique Trait. Mine is called Limitless, and it gives me 100 affinity with every Skill." Brighid gasped in shock. Her eyes were open so wide that he could see the full green circles of her irises.

"Birgitte, Brigantia, and Braihan! Such a Trait exists?! Aidan, my love, I am honored by your trust, but you must be extremely careful who you tell about that. I would not even trust Mother with this knowledge, let alone the rest of the Council or any other Starchaser. You have the potential to be the most powerful single being in the Realms, given enough time. I cannot imagine that those who already hold power, or seek to claim it, would hesitate to snuff out your flame before it grew into a bonfire beyond their ability to suppress. And your Patron..." Her voice grew hard, and she stood up, starting to pace back and forth in the water.

"Beings beyond either of our ability to understand have brought you from another world to be a playing piece on a board I cannot even comprehend. They have stolen your entire life from you, and with the gifts," she spat the word as if it were poison, "they have given you, I do not know that you will be able to live a peaceful life. You have been set up for naught but tragedy, and I am so, so sorry, Aidan. However," she spun, spraying him lightly, then knelt in front of Aidan. She reached out to take his hands in hers, twining their fingers together, then pressed her forehead against his. A fire burned deep within her green eyes as they gazed into his. "I swear to you: You will never be alone in this. We vowed to face Fate together, and I fully intend to keep that oath even in the face of the Divine. I will be your shield and your sword; I will be your friend and your teacher; I will even be your beast of burden. I will do everything within my power to help you, and if I ever lack the power, I will grow my own strength until I can once more help you with your destiny."

Aidan smiled up at her and squeezed her hands. "I seem to recall someone getting so terribly upset at me for swearing an oath to them. It was only a week ago; I wish I could remember who it was..." Brighid blinked at him, momentarily confused, before she began to giggle and push at his hands.

"Here I am trying to be righteous on your behalf, and you make jokes?" She laughed, still trying to disentangle her hands so that she could express her displeasure physically.

Aidan tilted his head to capture her lips in a brief kiss, then smiled at her. "You were getting a little too serious. I agree that my situation is," he paused, searching for the right words, "less than ideal, but it's not as bad as all that. I can't put my finger on why, but I have a feeling that my Patron isn't quite as bad as you think of her. Them. Whatever. I believe that rather than my Patron plucking me from Earth and bringing me here, instead, I was brought here, and my Patron chose me at that point. This wasn't explicitly arranged for me, but rather, I fit the criteria my Patron needed for a champion. I don't know how all of this works, but unless she lied to me for no reason at all, she expended a lot more effort on me than other Patrons spent on their Chosen. I doubt anyone else has anything quite as powerful as Limitless, and Cunning Linguist has been invaluable as well. Beyond that, how many others got dropped a half-day's walk from a village in which just so happened to live a beautiful young woman warrior-mage who would fall in love with them and swear the Oath of Companionship with them in just a week?"

Brighid smiled at the compliment, but still shook her head dubiously. "There is truth to your words, and I trust your judgment. You are wrong about one thing, though, and it leads to something I can teach you here and now that will be of immense use to you. You called me a warrior-mage, but that is not my Class. I realize you do not know much about Classes, and I see why you would call me that, but I am a Paladin." Aidan blinked at her. Before he could ask for clarification, though, she continued, "I want you to look at me and focus your mind on learning who I am. Do not ask it as a question in your mind; focus on the desire to know."

He followed her instructions, focusing on her, and—

"Whoa!" Aidan exclaimed, greedily devouring the new information. He hadn't realized he could get access to other characters'—other peoples', he corrected himself—statuses. Mostly, it was in line with his own status screen, but even so, this was a treasure trove. It shows my relationship status, just in case I forget, I guess. What's a Profession, beyond the obvious? Interesting that I can explicitly see her Alignments, Traits, and Abilities. Also, wow, that's a lot of Skills. I guess most of them are pretty low, though; low affinity but lots of practice, or the inverse, I suppose. Then he spotted something that made him smirk. "One level in Exhibitionism? Tell me you earned it that night after you made me scrub your back for the first time."

Brighid squeaked and blushed bright red, then started splashing water at Aidan. "Hey! You should not be able to see that! Stop looking at embarrassing things!"

Aidan laughed and ducked his head to avoid the worst of his lover's frantic splashing. "And what's this?" He continued. "Thirteen whole levels in Masturbation? Someone's been a horny little mare." Brighid's protests grew louder and more energetic, and she started to rise from the water. Her movement instantly ceased, however, when Aidan pressed his hand against her back and pushed downward. "Ah, ah, ah," he scolded. "Stay put, my lovely firebrand."

Brighid shivered and nodded.

"Good girl." He stroked his hand along her spine. Another shiver passed through her. "I can't see your affinities, just your Skill levels and ranks, but I can guess. Your affinity for both Sex and Submission are high, aren't they, love?" He was sure that was an exceptionally intimate question, but he was equally confident that she wouldn't be offended.

"Yes, sir," Brighid replied, hesitating only slightly. "My affinity with Sex is 94, and Submission is 79." Her cheeks were nearly the same shade as her hair and she wouldn't meet his eyes.

Aidan stroked her fur soothingly. "That sounds like something we need to explore in great and exhaustive detail. You agree, don't you?"

There was a flash of green as Brighid's eyes darted to his, then away. Her arms wrapped around her waist, then she swiveled her shoulders forward and shifted her arms upwards slightly, framing her breasts and causing them to appear even plumper and more delectable than usual. Her eyes flickered to Aidan's again, and she bit her lip as she saw the hunger in his gaze. "Ohh, yes; I foresee many long, hard nights spent on that. You will need to explore the subject deeply and repeatedly to ensure that you have a firm command of each and every aspect of those Skills. I am eager to work under you, Sir, for as long as it takes! Please do not hesitate to make use of me in any way that might further your research."

"Well," Aidan said approvingly, his hand stroking further back towards Brighid's rump, "I must say that it's a pleasure to have such a devoted assistant. I look forward to putting you through your paces, and I'm confident this partnership will be long and fruitful. Indeed, as they say, success breeds success," he said, observing her reaction to the innuendo, "and I anticipate many successes in our future."

There was an audible gasp from Brighid as she realized his meaning. Their eyes locked together, and Aidan could see the emotions plain on his love's face as they warred within her: love, sadness, lust, insecurity, and intense longing. "Aidan, I—" she started to say, but he interrupted her.

"But that's for the future. For now, we have a Council meeting to prepare for. What do I need to know about tonight?"

Brighid gave him a this-isn't-over look but answered his question anyway. "There will be three matters addressed tonight. First, the Council will question you about your Quest and how you were able to return to the village so quickly. Then, assuming you answer to their satisfaction, they will hear your report on what you found at Ceallach Macht. Finally, they will vote on the matter of your trespass." Brighid's posture gradually relaxed while she talked and Aidan returned to scrubbing her fur.

"The most critical of those are the first two. You must explain your unexpectedly swift return, and the information you returned with must be valuable enough to warrant returning instead of completing the Quest. If you satisfy the Council on those two counts, Mother informs me that the vote should go your way. That is not entirely reassuring, I know, given the circumstances, but I believe she was being honest."

Aidan nodded. "Do you have any advice?"

"I think you will have to reveal that you died and came back to life. I wish we could keep that secret, but I do not see any way around it. Mother knew as soon as you destroyed your talisman, and even if you knew such a spell, you would not have been able to teleport through the ward without it. At least, not without destroying it. There is simply no acceptable way for you to make it back here so quickly. If, however, you tell them, under the ritual of truth, that you died in the city, but returned to life and the village so that you could tell them what you found, I do not see how even Anwn could find fault."

"Wouldn't that be revealing a little too much? I would rather keep the Chosen thing secret."

"Do not mention how you returned to life, only that you did so. They will wonder, but it is beyond the scope of the inquiry. Technically, the entire reason for the Council meeting tonight is to judge you for trespassing. Your return to the village is relevant because the Quest is incomplete, and you will be using the information you bring as your defense; they cannot compel you to answer anything beyond the bare facts, however." Aidan nodded his understanding.

"Beyond that, my advice is to speak carefully and formally. You tend to talk casually, with strange phrasing and word choice. I understand why, and it does not bother me now that I am used to it, but it will emphasize how much of an outsider you are."

Aidan grimaced. "Given what I'm on trial for, I can see how that would be less than desirable. Thank you, love. That is excellent advice." She twisted and bent down to kiss him, then rose smoothly from the water.

"Alright, we need to finish cleaning. We still have a stop to make before the meeting, and the hour draws near."

"Oh? Where are you taking me now?" Aidan wondered.

"You did not think I was going to present my Companion and mate to the Council dressed only in a blanket, did you?" She flashed him a smile. "One of my dear friends is the best seamstress in the village. As soon as I brought you home and put you to bed, I visited her and asked her to make you a set of formal clothes."

"Oh, thank God."

Zurai

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