"He still shows no sign of weakening and withering away? Tsk, he cannot be allowed to undergo the invocation ritual. It's too dangerous… Too much of a gamble. If his fate weaves him into the ranks of Bloody Mary, then we'll be completely crushed. He is a threat to the delicate power balance of the world. Kill him, even if it means making one of the higher positioned families in the Eight Phases our enemy. We cannot let our plan a hundred years in the making go to waste." Said a hooded figure, their thin fingers tapped on a golden throne adorned with white gemstones. Three men in front of the hooded figure bowed and swore their allegiance before disappearing in a flash of holy light.
"It's a full moon, just as the astrologers said. Ah, how lucky. Our children will be blessed by the Goddess for sure, a wonderful omen. For it to line up so perfectly, what a miracle." A woman in flowy white garbs talked to Antuan Diancia, who was wearing a white robe.
"Indeed. How fortunate, the happiness that you feel must be extraordinary, Antuan. It is your Son's birthday today too, right? And for it to be on a full moon and the night of his invocation too… I envy you." A man wearing the same attire as Antuan, holding a basket of pale grapes the size of oranges. "Though, I must say. It looks like little Clailip is a bit out of practice with the tea ceremony. I saw him practicing with the other kids yesterday, he kept spilling his as he poured. It was adorable." The man said with a smile, though his voice had a twinge of aggression and mockery, seemingly from jealousy.
Antuan just kept smiling, "You're absolutely right, Clailip is such an adorable clumsy bundle of joy. Ah, that reminds me. Little Diana fell so many times a day or so ago whilst practicing the Elementalist's dance, right? Her dancing was awfully stiff too, I mean little Clay might be clumsy but his movements were as fluid as water. Still though, Little Diana looked adorable trying."
"Diana was just feeling sick that day, she is an amazing dancer." Smiled the other man. Tensions rise and soon, sparks of volatile energy go off between the two.
"Antuan, Lady Kara needs you." A man dressed the same as Antuan tapped him on the soldier and pointed at the woman, the only divorakk who didn't wear white. The chieftain, Kara Diancia. She wore a blue dress adorned with colorful gemstones that shimmered like the stars.
"Right. I must be going now, Pilar, please give my sincerest congratulations to Ana, and Diana." Antuan gave Pilar, the jealous man, a wry smile before walking on over to his beloved wife.
"Antuan, can you please help Clailip get dressed? I saw him running with the fireflies earlier still in his casual clothing." Kara talked as she worked, waves of water filled up a certain hole in the middle of the large clearing. "I'm too busy setting up the moon pool. He's probably by the rivers by now, I told him not to run off but he probably got distracted by the twinkling lights again."
Antuan nodded and reassured the woman that he'll make sure Clailip will be in tip top shape before the event starts.
Antuan, nearing the river, finally caught sight of Clailip.
"Right foot to the left, hands go down in a semi-arc. Turn the water into air, hands go up in a semi-arc. Uncross your feet by putting your left foot on the left of your right one. Turn the air into fire, hold out hands in a t-pose and twirl, then hands go up in a cone. Jump and throw down the fire beneath you and then let the earth around you rise as you hit the ground wide legged." Clailip practiced, his moves were slow but natural.
"One more time." He muttered.
He held both of his arms out in front of him, bathing it in the moonlight, borrowing power from the goddess Bu'Wan. His eyes faintly glowing with the elemental energy of the forest. One quick step to the right and bubbles of water appeared. His arms moved to the right in a semi-arc downwards ending up on his left side, the water bubbles following his hand's movements. His arms go up in another semi-arc, wind trailing his limbs. His left leg moved with grace, uncrossing his feet and making the wind turn into tiny baby embers. His arms held out in a t-pose, he jumps and stomps on the ground, making the tiny embers become one with the nearby river pebbles and making them float momentarily.
"That wasn't so hard. I guess I just needed a bit of practice." Clailip said in-between heavy breaths. Divorakks didn't have much stamina, especially children. So even with a dance as simple as the one he just performed, he'd already feel as if he ran ten marathons.
He fixed his braid hanging on the left side of his braids. Straightening it out and making sure that the string didn't come off when he danced. He remembered how the braids on the right side of his sister's face always came undone when she did rigorous activities, so he's made it a habit of always looking after it. It served as a reminder that he was the Diancias child, and he felt massive pride in that.
"Ah, my little Fumblefawn is so talented at dancing. I'm sure you're going to be the star of tonight's ceremony." Antuan emerged from the bushes, happily clapping and briskly running towards the tired Clailip.
"Papa? Woah-" Before Clailip could react, he was already scooped up and put on his father's shoulders.
"We'll talk later, Mama wants you to get ready for the invocation. You're still wearing your indoor clothes so I'll be changing you into your ceremonial robes." Antuan chirped, walking at a fast pace towards their massive home.
"Okay then!" Clailip chirped back. A smile on his face, it was clear he was excited for tonight's
The moon shines down on a certain plain clearing, void of any plants but weed, and devoid of any rock or pebble. Clailip was in the middle of the moon pool, floating gently on the water with five other children, all on their knees with floating table-like structures on top of their laps. Teacups and tea kettles on top of the floating apparatus, it looked as if the children and the tea sets were floating on top of the entrance to the abyss, they glowed as they bathed in the moonlight, and as they poured out the moonflower tea steeped in their kettles. They were spiritual beings in appearance at this moment in time, the way their skins reflected the moonlight, their ethereal robes that flowed freely in the water under them, and their solemn expressions as they scooped the wooden teacups up on their hands and drank the sweet tea that made them feel as if they floated up to the high heavens, as a feeling of mana finally flowing into their veins. The four-year-olds set their tea sets away and laid down on the moon pool. The water mages of the village released their hold onto the children's bodies and let them sink, letting them be enveloped by the moon-bathed water, letting them be fully embraced by the Goddess Bu'Wan.
The children didn't drown, nor did they have any trouble. The dianians were most in tune with water, apart from their great mastery of the elements, they could also breathe under the water. It is said that the moon and the ocean have a forbidden relationship that leaves the ocean persistently trying to reach out to the far heavens to touch its lover, the Moon. Dianians were said to be the children born from this love, and as such, the water was the element they were most in-tune with. It is known that even if a dianian wasn't given the element of water, they would still be able to control it to some extent.
"How interesting, so they don't drown? This is unheard of in the outside world… there were rumors but I didn't think it'd be true." A small voice in a hushed tone said, beside him was a teenage looking boy, blonde hair and eyes reminiscent of forests. Colin hushed his master, Nathaniel. This was a sacred occasion, he couldn't believe how disrespectful Nathaniel was being.
The small boy watched on, bunny rabbits made of snow surrounding him as he took notes of every single detail of the occasion. This was a once-in-a-lifetime event, the last recorded person to have been invited into a dianian's nest was over 150 years ago, just before the Great Purging.
Soon, the children floated up from the moon pool, drenched, and with a calm and blank look on their faces. They each swam out of the pool and stepped on the grass, their skins glowed with yhe power of the moon, one of them was already leaking mana.
They all stood tall and proud. Wearing solemn expressions, they all started introducing themselves. Each child said their names, the traits of their magic, and their given element. At last, the final child, Clailip, moved forward. Being the child of the chieftain, he was saved for last to close the invocation ceremony.
"Clailip Diancia, my gifted traits were 'tailor' and 'whimsy', I was blessed with three elements, two primaries and one that was born from the energy of the two. Water, air, and ice." Clailip bowed, and the crowd went wild.
The invocation was complete, the Elementalist's dance will be the closing to this grand yearly event.
That would be the case if complete silence didn't overtake the crowd.
"Intruders. They ripped a hole in the veil. A witch's servants perhaps?" The chieftain broke the silence.
Every single divorakk there felt it, the ripping of the magic protecting the forest. The smell of fetid corruption spreading from the forests. The sounds of thousands of footsteps pouring in and closing in on the clearing.
Antuan led the villagers to the safety of the moon pool. He planned to use his earth magic and open up a path from the moon pool to the outskirts of the forest. Dianians were masterful swimmers and since they could breathe underwater, this would be an easy job. Kara assured him that she would be fine before forcing him to jump in and escape with the others by making the water jump out of the pool and dragging him in.
"This is so annoying. Really." Nathaniel said out loud, groaning, he saw this as a hindrance to his research. "This makes my blood boil really bad."
"Agreed. How dare they ruin my baby's special day." Kara's voice was trembling with anger, she spread out her mana in every single direction that she could. Planning to drown every single living being that tried to ruin this day for her beloved Clailip.
"I'm just going to stand in the middle of you two, I can't risk getting killed by either of you lashing out. So please, continue." Colin sat down on the plush grass, studying both of the magical menaces besides him.
Kara Diancia and Nathaniel Corvick, two powerful divorakks versus thousands of familiars. Of course the answer is extremely obvious, it doesn't take much braincells to know that quality stomps quantity.
But before the battle even started, it had already been lost. No matter what Kara and Nathaniel do, Clailip is already gone.
Huffing and puffing ran the bulky and muscular beastman, holding onto an unresponsive Clailip. Moonflower tea was one hell of a relaxant, it would keep you calm and relaxed even through vicious torture, you wouldn't even feel the pain. Tasked with assassinating Clailip, he runs through the woods, ignoring the violent sounds of crashing waves of water and the frostbitten cries of hundreds of decoy familiars. With his unique ability to create clones, he's managed to create another Clailip that followed Antuan into the moon pool. It would last for another two days before inevitably expiring.
The beastman only needed a minute to kill Clailip, and an hour to cover up his tracks.
Unfortunately, he doesn't know that no matter how much willpower he carries, the mental attacks have already begun. It'll only be a matter of when he lets go of Clailip, reasoning that such a harmless and innocent sweetie would never survive in this forest alone.
The skill descriptions Clailip received back then was more or less just an abridged version of the true capabilities of his unique skills. Harmless Sweetie was a more terrifying skill than one could gather from the brief description it was given earlier.
The beastman finally slowed down to a halt, he dropped the relaxed Clailip onto the ground, a gentle drop, he reasoned that he should give the child whatever comfort he's able to give him as he was about to be killed anyway.
He takes out his sword…
But just as was said. The mental attacks have taken their toll. He put away his sword and ran away. Thinking that the child would die anyway. He had sound logic, how could a four-year-old even manage to live on their own? He completely ignored the fact that dianians were known to be excellent at surviving in the wild, even as toddlers.
"But this is good too, I can't stand to kill another child. The boss has been ordering us left and right, killing all kinds of children that even showed a trace of similarity to Lilianna… Even if the kid survives I doubt it would be the child we were looking for. With the mountains of children victimized, we should have killed the Herald of The Abyss by now." He uttered as he ran out of the forest.
Call it deus ex machina, but Clailip would remember (or not) this day as the day Harmless Sweetie first saved his life.
