- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] "I need to tell Tom something."
On the Dead Seas
- Thread starter DangerKitty
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] "I need to tell Tom something."
DangerKitty
shoddy writter
- Location
- lala land
vote closed.
DangerKitty
shoddy writter
- Location
- lala land
also done, thanks for the catches!
Chapter 5: The Call
DangerKitty
shoddy writter
- Location
- lala land
[X] "I need to tell Tom something."
Katalina looked over the documents spread over her table with a deep, deep loathing. It didn't seem like she was going to get much sleep tonight. The high lady of Keledor had gotten it into her head that the Golden Isles would make a wonderful wedding present for her latest concubine. Apparently the spoiled man-child had an obsession for anything yellow.
The only issue was that the Golden Isles were currently owned by Girokhan and Katalina's dear sister did not want to share. So now John had to protect the floating Golden Isles while Katalina did her best to convince the high lady of Keledor that NO, it was not worth picking a war with Girokhan over Bananas.
Katalina almost welcomed the interruption as her son's door opened. The joy of getting to spend time with her son however, was quickly squashed as she saw her son marching from his room with what looked suspiciously like blood on his face. She had to fight the panic and worry welling within her.
"What's that on your face?" She asked with her best calm voice.
"It's nothing."
Like a hammer the magic slid into Katalina's unprotected mind. Her whole train of thought was violently derailed as the words forced her mind off of its tracks. Her thoughts fell apart as the words pressed themselves deeper into her mind. Her panic and worry were suppressed as she watched her son's bloody face smile nervously. Even now her mind was reordering, rebelling against this assault. She just needed to keep him here.
"Is that so?" She said, trying and failing to keep the confusion out of her voice, "and where are you going at this hour?"
But a confused mind bore flawed plans and the 'child's' next words shattered her consciousness completely.
"I need to tell Tom something."
Katalina awoke on the floor with a headache. She allowed herself one deep breath as she reordered her thoughts. It had been a long time since she had been completely overwhelmed like that. Then she stood up from the floor and rushed to her son's room. Inside she found a small pool of blood and bile staining the floor. A startled cry escaped her throat as her thoughts raced. Had an assassin killed her son?
No, no she had to think rationally. If an assassin snuck into her son's room and killed him, why would they not escape the way he had come, unnoticed. Why would they transform into her son and not even wipe the blood off their face. She was still alive, so it wasn't to try and kill more royalty.
But how would her son do this? How would he be able to wordsmith so easily, without ever showing even a hint of it before? Why was he acting so strange?
She didn't know, but her son had mentioned someone who might.
Still, as much as she didn't want to admit the possibility, she still raised the alarm. If her son was dead, the perpetrator would not escape.
_
"I need to tell Tom something." Felix said and watched as fire swept over his mothers face once more.
His mother turned glassy eyes towards him, "Oh... Don't be long then. It's bedtime soon."
Felix nodded, "Okay." and rushed out the door.
The castle was much less busy during the day, but it was still far from empty and Felix did his best to hurry as quickly as he could. Some small part of him worried about how strange his mother was acting, but it was buried beneath the all consuming desire within him to answer the Call. He stumbled past maids and servants, bathing them in fire with muttered apologies as he struggled to keep his mind straight.
Even now, as he ran to answer it, the Call was trying to pull him down into that place where there was nothing. Most of his senses flickered as they were each pulled into that strange place, before being reflexively pulled back by something within Felix. The hallway vanished into nothingness as he ran. Sharp pain struck him as he ran head on into a wall. Blood flowed from his nose and tears stung his eyes as he turned to continue his journey only for his body to go numb. All feeling left his body, and he couldn't even feel the ground beneath his feet. The only sensation left was the taste of hot blood in his mouth.
It hurt and it was terrifying, but it was nothing compared to the Call that wouldn't leave his ears. It was a steady beat that overwhelmed him. It drove him forward to seek it out. To understand. To answer. And so he walked and walked, oblivious to the world around him until he finally saw the castle gates. Only to see that they were barred shut, with several soldiers standing guard and in full work mode.
Something was wrong. Felix had never seen the guards so alert before. Felix knew that whatever was going on, they wouldn't let him pass. But he had to pass. Felix racked his brain for an answer.
Ah, Tom. Tom had some authority over the knights, and he was always a little sneaky besides. Surely Tom would help him. He would understand.
_
When Tom heard a knock on his door late at night he thought it might be a servant, some idle fantasies even had him hoping that it might even be Jezzabelle. Instead he opened the door to find Katalina flanked by two royal guards. His eyes flickered to the guards; very big, burly types. Not the kind Tom would want to tangle with. But when he locked eyes with Katalina, he quickly reevaluated his opinion. He would have much preferred to tangle with the guards over whatever this was.
"Tom, " Katalina smiled, "Have you seen Felix?"
Tom frowned, "Not since a few hours ago, no. What's this about?"
Katalina gave a low hmmn as she advanced into the room, forcing Tom to back pedal until he was sitting on the bed. Oh, this was not good. She was trying to pressure him. What had the little brat done now to get his mother so riled up? A bit of concern wormed its way into Tom's old heart.
"Don't tell me the kid hurt himself."
Katalina's eyes narrowed, "I never mentioned my son being hurt."
"You didn't need to. He's the only reason you'd get this pissed at me. Tell me, is he alright?" Tom scoffed.
Katalina's gaze bore into Tom's eyes as he did his best to ignore the two guards, "No, there's something else. You left with my son earlier today. Why?"
It was insane, but for a moment Tom actually considered trying to hide what he and Felix had been doing. He was never one to spill secrets, but this had clearly gone too far. Somehow, fuck knows how, "We went to visit Colton. Kid's been wasting away in his room for too long. Thought he could learn something useful to show off to ya and hopefully make a few friends besides. Clearly that went wrong somehow."
"What was he trying to learn?"
"It's Colton. Wordsmithing, what else?"
Tom couldn't miss the way some of the tension bled out of her body. Instead of angry, she seemed tired now, "Well that explains that at least then. How long has he been working at it?"
"What do you mean? He just started training with Colton today?"
"Ah."
Everyone in the room turned to find Felix standing in the doorway. His nose was bleeding and his lip was busted. His clothes were a mess, but that wasn't the most alarming thing to Tom. Even as the boy's mother rushed forward to tend to him, Tom saw a look in his eye that set him on edge. There was confusion there and pain, but Tom had traveled the world and he had seen all kinds of men before. There was a desperation in the boy's eyes.
Something was eating away at him.
_
Felix needed to leave, but his mother wouldn't leave him alone. She was too busy wiping blood from his nose and calling for a medic. Even worse, they weren't listening to him anymore.
"Mom, please stop." he pleaded.
"No I won't stop, look at you. you hurt yourself so bad. What in the world happened?" she said as she pinched his nose, just causing the blood to flow back into his throat.
"I tripped."
"Don't lie to me Felix Caelus, I wasn't born yesterday. Honestly, what got into you? First you come out of your room with blood on your face and then you sucker punch me and run away? Have I not- "
"I didn't sucker punch you." Felix protested.
"Really? You are trying to do it right now! and if you keep it up then you will be grounded young man." She chided.
"No I'm not!" Felix didn't have time for this. He needed to go. The Call was getting louder.
"Felix. Stop it. Right now."
"I'M NOT DOING-." His voice cut off as his vision cut out once again. But it did not come back.
"Oh, it's happening again." he said as his sense of touch went next.
"What's happening?" Tom asked and Felix tried to answer, but found that his voice had gone next.
He heard his mother panic as he lost control of his body next and fell to the floor like a doll with its strings cut.
One by one his senses shut down as the Call beckoned him into that place.
And he could not deny it.
A/N: No vote yet. Next part should have a vote, but this seemed like a good stopping point since I really wanted to get something out. Next chapter will be more chill.
Last edited:
Is she meant to contradict herself like that?
DangerKitty
shoddy writter
- Location
- lala land
Lmao. Fixed it. Wrote it at work. Which isnt always the best enviroment for staying focused.
- Location
- Australia
Wow, this is like deciding to learn how to swim by starting off with the high-dive, except the pool is lava. He's certainly got something special to call his own at least.
Chapter 6: Burdens of the blessed
DangerKitty
shoddy writter
- Location
- lala land
Chapter 6: Burdens of the blessed
Felix was in the void once again. As before, he was stuck, Unable to perceive anything besides the call. It held him in its grip as it forced itself upon him. The longer he suffered it, the deeper the changes were. What had started as a want to answer had burrowed down until it became a need and deeper still did the vile magics squirm like maggots upon a carcass. Yet, the deeper it burrowed the easier the burden was for him to bear. Its hold did not weaken on young Felix, but the more the call possessed him, the less wrong it felt. It rooted deeper and deeper within the child and like a parasite, it did make its nest.
And like a parasite it changed its host to its liking.
Yet despite the aggressiveness with which it had invaded the poor boy, the changes it made were minor, but ironclad in their simplicity. Felix would answer the call. He could not right now, because he did not know how to. But as soon as he learned how, he would. With this promise came peace. No longer did the call pull at his mind like a child with a toy. It did not grate at his will with its endless petition to his very being.
Now the call rang within the child's mind like a prayer. Its repetition a gentle reminder of the oath at his core. No longer grating at his mind, the call faded as the boy tuned it out. Still present, but no longer as forceful as before. With his mind no longer overwhelmed Felix began to pick out other sounds from within that senseless void.
He heard voices speaking in the void then. Felix could hear the murmur of people speaking nearby, but it was faint and the language unfamiliar. He couldn't parse their words, but he could understand their tone. They were amused as they spoke to each other. It was the idle chatter of friends speaking about the latest gossip. Some of them spoke haughtily in their strange tongue and others with disdain. Felix tried to look around in that darkness for the voices so nearby, but he saw no person. Rather he saw tiny little puffs of red flame-like sparks that flickered and faded in the void around him as the strange voice spoke.
Felix didn't know who these voices belonged to, but he did know that they might be able to help them. He tried to speak, but once more his voice failed him. Yet, he did feel something within him stir. For a moment he was able to feel the first that ran through his body and for the first time he no longer felt bodiless in the void. Seeing a way forward he stoked that fire quickly and fiercely. The fire swelled in his blood and once more the boy tried to speak.
This time a little blue spark of his own sailed forth into the void and the voices hushed, before bursting in a clamor. Encouraged, Felix tried to capture that feeling again as he set once more to stoke the fire within his blood. The more the fire built, the more real his body felt in that darkness and the more power he felt. It was a heady feeling and it drove Felix to push even harder. The flame within his breast swelled and burned as it grew in size and heat. Felix saw something change in the void then. A faint blue glow lit the void as the fire within his chest seemed to burn its way into existence. Felix heard shocked gasps as the fire grew steadily brighter.
Felix was almost ready to do something when a tired chuckle lit the void around him with wisps of purple flame. The other voices shouted in alarm and fled. Felix hesitated, his blue flame crackling as it steadily beat the darkness back. Then a voice, both sleepy and musical voice rang out.
"Still thy tongue." The voice commanded and everything dimmed. No longer could Felix hear the voices fleeing in fear and even the ever-present call was beaten into the faintest murmur by the tide of violet flame that lit the void around him. It snuffed out Felix's meager flame as it lit the void in its eerie light. Thus illuminated, Felix could see the faint outline of something staring at him from the darkness and Felix felt a headache spring up as a terrible pressure built behind his eyes. He instinctually 'shut' them and the headache faded. Nervous and more than a little bit afraid Felix heard the thing stalk closer,
"Ah, young wild-blood so lost and fragile,
Take heed. Run, hide and grow.
Take shelter with the sheep and wear their skin.
Hunters stalk the Wild, not the pen."
Every word the strange' voice uttered was accompanied by slivers of purple flame so close that Felix could see the glow behind closed eyes.
"Hold fast to your words.
Each a testament of sin.
Close thy gates,
conceal the heresy within."
Felix shivered as the purple flame washed over him, pushing everything else out until only the voice was left. Even the call faded to nothing as the wisps of violet fire held his mind to attention.
"Train to hear the hunter's steps.
Find the others neath the wool.
Band together. Flee the hunt.
By the Call, the Tremor, and the Sight,
In the darkness find the fool."
Then Felix felt something heavy lay itself upon his chest. The voice disappeared and the call returned as a whisper. The fire in his blood was dampened and suppressed. He struggled to breathe and keep the flame alive. Yet he also was being pushed out of the void.
Then for a blessed moment, he was free and could breathe easily once again, before something far worse came down upon him.
The breath was driven from his body and the fire within his blood guttered and struggled to stay alight. He felt himself be ripped violently out of the void. He could feel a bed beneath him and his eyes flew open to see the doctor's ceiling up above. He started to tremble as his body convulsed under the great pressure upon him.
"You're killing him!" His mother cried out as Felix felt something get ripped from his neck and Felix saw a flash of something pale and white as it was hurriedly taken away. The weight lifted from his chest and the guttered flame began to spread through his blood once more. Then Felix was smothered a different way as his mother wrapped him in a hug and told him he would be ok. All of the tension and fear of the day caught up to him then and he cried into his mother's arms.
But even his cries betrayed the fire in his soul.
"He's... wordsmithing his sobs? What, how can he even?" Felix heard his aunt Roxanne, the queen, sputtered in disbelief.
"Get that other amulet back on him, he responded well to that one." Uncle Ferron commanded.
"Maybe then we can find out what happened to the poor boy." Aunt Tabitha said.
"E-Everyone's here?" Felix said.
"Of course they are. We were all worried about you." his mother said as she took an amulet from a servant Felix didn't recognize. "Can you wear this for me?"
Felix looked at the strange amulet, its cord was cracked and hardened leather, but more interesting was the centerpiece of the amulet. Pale white tendrils of wood wound over itself in a vaguely circular pattern with a small orb in the middle. Felix peered closer at the small orb. It wasn't perfectly round, but the strange thing looked a bit like a rock. Yet there were patterns engraved in it, patterns that looked very much like a...
Felix flinched back, "Is that an eye?"
"Yeah, it is. Now put it on." Ferron commanded and Felix did as he was told. As the thing slipped over his neck Felix felt the vaguely suffocating feeling settled over him again. Both the fire in his blood and the call subsided as though suppressed by the strange necklace.
Felix hated the feeling, but he kept it on, "What is it?" his words felt strangled as they emerged from his throat and only the barest wisps of flame escaped his lips. Yet no one answered him. Confused he looked around and found himself surrounded by shocked and bewildered faces.
Uncle Ferron, as usual, was the first to break the silence, "By the great arse of the mother boy, how are you doing that?"
"Doing what?"
His mother laid a hand on his shoulder even as she shot a glare at Ferron, "Amulets like that are often used to stop prisoners from using the noble professions. It's supposed to suppress the use of noble magic altogether."
"Yes, " Roxanne's eyes were cold and Felix shivered as she looked at Felix like he was a puzzle "When Ferron had the doctors put that on you, you started to come out of whatever fit you had. So we tried the strongest one we had, one that should stop you from using magic completely. It did wake you up, but it was also killing you. They aren't supposed to hurt you like that."
"Felix, " She continued, "What happened?"
At some prodding from his mother, Felix told the story of how he had gone to Colton's to learn about wordsmithing and how he had gone home to practice it. He told them of the fire and the heat that had built up in him and ignited his blood into a raging torrent. When he got to the part of the story where the call had dragged him under, Felix flinched. Something deep within him was rebelling at the idea of telling them. Felix fought to speak anyways, but the words of the thing he had heard in the void blazed in his mind. He didn't know why, but they desperately didn't want him to tell his family of what had transpired in the void.
[] But Felix pushed through the pain and told them of everything he had experienced.
[] No, he trusted his gut and the warnings given. He passed out, nothing more.
The queen stayed quiet as Felix finished his tale, even as the others discussed what he had revealed. They celebrated his apparent talent and wondered and worried at what that might mean. Ferron was excited and eager to investigate the limits of what Felix could do, while Tabitha was more interested as to why she hadn't heard of anything like it before. Yet even she admitted some excitement at what it meant Felix might become. Mother, on the contrary, was defensive, proclaiming that she would not let her son be bound by his talent. If Felix wanted to explore wordsmithing then that was fine, but she didn't want him to be forced into it.
It was only after that proclamation that Roxanne made her own, "Felix."
"Yes, Auntie Roxanne?"
"Are you able to speak without wordsmithing?"
Felix had no idea how he could stop that, "I don't think so?"
"Then from hereon, you are forbidden to speak in the prescence of anyone outside of our family without my express permission." She commanded.
The face of his mother darkened, "That's unreasonable. You can't possibly expect a child to do something like that."
"I can and I do."
"Roxanne, please."
"I am not Roxanne in this Katalina. I am your queen." She stood up from her chair.
"Why?"
"Because while you were busy saving Felix, I was dealing with the chaos he caused. The staff is terrified Katalina. They think an assassin ran through the castle and attacked the minds of the staff. They-"
"Then tell them the truth." Katalina's arms tightened around Felix.
"What?! That your son can't help but assault the minds of everyone around him? That it's instinctual for him to try and enslave others? People were HURT Katalina. Things were broken, and people were injured as your son wreaked havoc across the castle. One maid fell down a flight of stone stairs because of him. We do not even know if she will survive the night. They will be terrified of him Katalina."
She paused as she was interrupted again. For a moment she was angry, but the tension quickly bled out of her and she just looked tired. She stepped closer to the crying boy, "Felix." she said and when he didn't respond she laid a hand on his shoulder, "Felix, I'm sorry. I should have spoken to the others in private."
"Am I a monster?" He sobbed into his mother's shoulder.
"That's up to you Felix," Roxanne said and Felix's crying eased to sniffling as he looked at her in confusion.
"What's that mean?"
"It means that you have a choice. You have a very powerful gift. But if you don't use it properly you can hurt those around you like you did tonight."
"I don't understand."
Roxanne sighed in frustration, but his mother was quick to understand what she was going for. She spun for him the tale of a knight who was blessed by the gods with a holy sword so powerful he could defeat anyone. But there was a problem, it was too powerful and so long as he couldn't control it he would hurt those around him as well as his target. Felix was like that made-up hero and so he couldn't use his gift until he could control it. Because if he did then people might come and hurt him because they were scared.
Felix didn't think it was a very good story, but it did get the message across to him. Everyone tried to make Felix feel better about it, but they weren't the ones being told they couldn't talk anymore.
"But what about my friends? Will I be able to talk to them?"
And they told him no. They would give him a special friend. One who could be trained to withstand his gift and be his loyal companion. One that he could lean on and trust. Who could translate for him in public when sign language wouldn't suffice. And when he asked what that was they told him that he would have to learn to speak with his hands, but that it would be ok.
Felix felt like he was drowning in the ocean as the tide pulled him under. More and more they painted his life in front of him. One where he couldn't speak to anyone but his family, this mysterious 'companion', and his wordsmith instructors. A world where he was bound to silence and would have to lie to others that he had suffered a terrible accident and could only speak by using magic. One where he would have to use a veil or cloth to hide his face or neck to sell the lie.
No longer would he be able to say hello to his friends or to ask visitors about foreign lands. He wasn't supposed to shout or yell to get the attention of others. Silently he was consigned to the life of a mute and every time he tried to protest, the words of the thing in the void would return to his mind and would make him think twice. And by then the moment was lost.
When they started to talk about how they should send him away to some place for the talented called Dreamweaver academy before he went to serve on the seas Felix couldn't take it anymore.
"Will I ever be able to talk again?"
And the conversation halted as they all heard the pain in the young boys' voice. They were quick to comfort him and Felix tried to tell if their words were true. To separate their words from the truth within. To let him know if this was all he had to look forward to. The pendant on his chest grew hot underneath his shirt, but he heard it. He heard the concern in their voices. He heard the greed and the thirst for power tinged by uneasiness and fear. He heard their doubt. He heard their lies.
But Felix smiled.
His mother believed.
And that was enough.
Felix was in the void once again. As before, he was stuck, Unable to perceive anything besides the call. It held him in its grip as it forced itself upon him. The longer he suffered it, the deeper the changes were. What had started as a want to answer had burrowed down until it became a need and deeper still did the vile magics squirm like maggots upon a carcass. Yet, the deeper it burrowed the easier the burden was for him to bear. Its hold did not weaken on young Felix, but the more the call possessed him, the less wrong it felt. It rooted deeper and deeper within the child and like a parasite, it did make its nest.
And like a parasite it changed its host to its liking.
Yet despite the aggressiveness with which it had invaded the poor boy, the changes it made were minor, but ironclad in their simplicity. Felix would answer the call. He could not right now, because he did not know how to. But as soon as he learned how, he would. With this promise came peace. No longer did the call pull at his mind like a child with a toy. It did not grate at his will with its endless petition to his very being.
Now the call rang within the child's mind like a prayer. Its repetition a gentle reminder of the oath at his core. No longer grating at his mind, the call faded as the boy tuned it out. Still present, but no longer as forceful as before. With his mind no longer overwhelmed Felix began to pick out other sounds from within that senseless void.
He heard voices speaking in the void then. Felix could hear the murmur of people speaking nearby, but it was faint and the language unfamiliar. He couldn't parse their words, but he could understand their tone. They were amused as they spoke to each other. It was the idle chatter of friends speaking about the latest gossip. Some of them spoke haughtily in their strange tongue and others with disdain. Felix tried to look around in that darkness for the voices so nearby, but he saw no person. Rather he saw tiny little puffs of red flame-like sparks that flickered and faded in the void around him as the strange voice spoke.
Felix didn't know who these voices belonged to, but he did know that they might be able to help them. He tried to speak, but once more his voice failed him. Yet, he did feel something within him stir. For a moment he was able to feel the first that ran through his body and for the first time he no longer felt bodiless in the void. Seeing a way forward he stoked that fire quickly and fiercely. The fire swelled in his blood and once more the boy tried to speak.
This time a little blue spark of his own sailed forth into the void and the voices hushed, before bursting in a clamor. Encouraged, Felix tried to capture that feeling again as he set once more to stoke the fire within his blood. The more the fire built, the more real his body felt in that darkness and the more power he felt. It was a heady feeling and it drove Felix to push even harder. The flame within his breast swelled and burned as it grew in size and heat. Felix saw something change in the void then. A faint blue glow lit the void as the fire within his chest seemed to burn its way into existence. Felix heard shocked gasps as the fire grew steadily brighter.
Felix was almost ready to do something when a tired chuckle lit the void around him with wisps of purple flame. The other voices shouted in alarm and fled. Felix hesitated, his blue flame crackling as it steadily beat the darkness back. Then a voice, both sleepy and musical voice rang out.
"Still thy tongue." The voice commanded and everything dimmed. No longer could Felix hear the voices fleeing in fear and even the ever-present call was beaten into the faintest murmur by the tide of violet flame that lit the void around him. It snuffed out Felix's meager flame as it lit the void in its eerie light. Thus illuminated, Felix could see the faint outline of something staring at him from the darkness and Felix felt a headache spring up as a terrible pressure built behind his eyes. He instinctually 'shut' them and the headache faded. Nervous and more than a little bit afraid Felix heard the thing stalk closer,
"Ah, young wild-blood so lost and fragile,
Take heed. Run, hide and grow.
Take shelter with the sheep and wear their skin.
Hunters stalk the Wild, not the pen."
Every word the strange' voice uttered was accompanied by slivers of purple flame so close that Felix could see the glow behind closed eyes.
"Hold fast to your words.
Each a testament of sin.
Close thy gates,
conceal the heresy within."
Felix shivered as the purple flame washed over him, pushing everything else out until only the voice was left. Even the call faded to nothing as the wisps of violet fire held his mind to attention.
"Train to hear the hunter's steps.
Find the others neath the wool.
Band together. Flee the hunt.
By the Call, the Tremor, and the Sight,
In the darkness find the fool."
Then Felix felt something heavy lay itself upon his chest. The voice disappeared and the call returned as a whisper. The fire in his blood was dampened and suppressed. He struggled to breathe and keep the flame alive. Yet he also was being pushed out of the void.
Then for a blessed moment, he was free and could breathe easily once again, before something far worse came down upon him.
The breath was driven from his body and the fire within his blood guttered and struggled to stay alight. He felt himself be ripped violently out of the void. He could feel a bed beneath him and his eyes flew open to see the doctor's ceiling up above. He started to tremble as his body convulsed under the great pressure upon him.
"You're killing him!" His mother cried out as Felix felt something get ripped from his neck and Felix saw a flash of something pale and white as it was hurriedly taken away. The weight lifted from his chest and the guttered flame began to spread through his blood once more. Then Felix was smothered a different way as his mother wrapped him in a hug and told him he would be ok. All of the tension and fear of the day caught up to him then and he cried into his mother's arms.
But even his cries betrayed the fire in his soul.
"He's... wordsmithing his sobs? What, how can he even?" Felix heard his aunt Roxanne, the queen, sputtered in disbelief.
"Get that other amulet back on him, he responded well to that one." Uncle Ferron commanded.
"Maybe then we can find out what happened to the poor boy." Aunt Tabitha said.
"E-Everyone's here?" Felix said.
"Of course they are. We were all worried about you." his mother said as she took an amulet from a servant Felix didn't recognize. "Can you wear this for me?"
Felix looked at the strange amulet, its cord was cracked and hardened leather, but more interesting was the centerpiece of the amulet. Pale white tendrils of wood wound over itself in a vaguely circular pattern with a small orb in the middle. Felix peered closer at the small orb. It wasn't perfectly round, but the strange thing looked a bit like a rock. Yet there were patterns engraved in it, patterns that looked very much like a...
Felix flinched back, "Is that an eye?"
"Yeah, it is. Now put it on." Ferron commanded and Felix did as he was told. As the thing slipped over his neck Felix felt the vaguely suffocating feeling settled over him again. Both the fire in his blood and the call subsided as though suppressed by the strange necklace.
Felix hated the feeling, but he kept it on, "What is it?" his words felt strangled as they emerged from his throat and only the barest wisps of flame escaped his lips. Yet no one answered him. Confused he looked around and found himself surrounded by shocked and bewildered faces.
Uncle Ferron, as usual, was the first to break the silence, "By the great arse of the mother boy, how are you doing that?"
"Doing what?"
His mother laid a hand on his shoulder even as she shot a glare at Ferron, "Amulets like that are often used to stop prisoners from using the noble professions. It's supposed to suppress the use of noble magic altogether."
"Yes, " Roxanne's eyes were cold and Felix shivered as she looked at Felix like he was a puzzle "When Ferron had the doctors put that on you, you started to come out of whatever fit you had. So we tried the strongest one we had, one that should stop you from using magic completely. It did wake you up, but it was also killing you. They aren't supposed to hurt you like that."
"Felix, " She continued, "What happened?"
At some prodding from his mother, Felix told the story of how he had gone to Colton's to learn about wordsmithing and how he had gone home to practice it. He told them of the fire and the heat that had built up in him and ignited his blood into a raging torrent. When he got to the part of the story where the call had dragged him under, Felix flinched. Something deep within him was rebelling at the idea of telling them. Felix fought to speak anyways, but the words of the thing he had heard in the void blazed in his mind. He didn't know why, but they desperately didn't want him to tell his family of what had transpired in the void.
[] But Felix pushed through the pain and told them of everything he had experienced.
[] No, he trusted his gut and the warnings given. He passed out, nothing more.
The queen stayed quiet as Felix finished his tale, even as the others discussed what he had revealed. They celebrated his apparent talent and wondered and worried at what that might mean. Ferron was excited and eager to investigate the limits of what Felix could do, while Tabitha was more interested as to why she hadn't heard of anything like it before. Yet even she admitted some excitement at what it meant Felix might become. Mother, on the contrary, was defensive, proclaiming that she would not let her son be bound by his talent. If Felix wanted to explore wordsmithing then that was fine, but she didn't want him to be forced into it.
It was only after that proclamation that Roxanne made her own, "Felix."
"Yes, Auntie Roxanne?"
"Are you able to speak without wordsmithing?"
Felix had no idea how he could stop that, "I don't think so?"
"Then from hereon, you are forbidden to speak in the prescence of anyone outside of our family without my express permission." She commanded.
The face of his mother darkened, "That's unreasonable. You can't possibly expect a child to do something like that."
"I can and I do."
"Roxanne, please."
"I am not Roxanne in this Katalina. I am your queen." She stood up from her chair.
"Why?"
"Because while you were busy saving Felix, I was dealing with the chaos he caused. The staff is terrified Katalina. They think an assassin ran through the castle and attacked the minds of the staff. They-"
"Then tell them the truth." Katalina's arms tightened around Felix.
"What?! That your son can't help but assault the minds of everyone around him? That it's instinctual for him to try and enslave others? People were HURT Katalina. Things were broken, and people were injured as your son wreaked havoc across the castle. One maid fell down a flight of stone stairs because of him. We do not even know if she will survive the night. They will be terrified of him Katalina."
She paused as she was interrupted again. For a moment she was angry, but the tension quickly bled out of her and she just looked tired. She stepped closer to the crying boy, "Felix." she said and when he didn't respond she laid a hand on his shoulder, "Felix, I'm sorry. I should have spoken to the others in private."
"Am I a monster?" He sobbed into his mother's shoulder.
"That's up to you Felix," Roxanne said and Felix's crying eased to sniffling as he looked at her in confusion.
"What's that mean?"
"It means that you have a choice. You have a very powerful gift. But if you don't use it properly you can hurt those around you like you did tonight."
"I don't understand."
Roxanne sighed in frustration, but his mother was quick to understand what she was going for. She spun for him the tale of a knight who was blessed by the gods with a holy sword so powerful he could defeat anyone. But there was a problem, it was too powerful and so long as he couldn't control it he would hurt those around him as well as his target. Felix was like that made-up hero and so he couldn't use his gift until he could control it. Because if he did then people might come and hurt him because they were scared.
Felix didn't think it was a very good story, but it did get the message across to him. Everyone tried to make Felix feel better about it, but they weren't the ones being told they couldn't talk anymore.
"But what about my friends? Will I be able to talk to them?"
And they told him no. They would give him a special friend. One who could be trained to withstand his gift and be his loyal companion. One that he could lean on and trust. Who could translate for him in public when sign language wouldn't suffice. And when he asked what that was they told him that he would have to learn to speak with his hands, but that it would be ok.
Felix felt like he was drowning in the ocean as the tide pulled him under. More and more they painted his life in front of him. One where he couldn't speak to anyone but his family, this mysterious 'companion', and his wordsmith instructors. A world where he was bound to silence and would have to lie to others that he had suffered a terrible accident and could only speak by using magic. One where he would have to use a veil or cloth to hide his face or neck to sell the lie.
No longer would he be able to say hello to his friends or to ask visitors about foreign lands. He wasn't supposed to shout or yell to get the attention of others. Silently he was consigned to the life of a mute and every time he tried to protest, the words of the thing in the void would return to his mind and would make him think twice. And by then the moment was lost.
When they started to talk about how they should send him away to some place for the talented called Dreamweaver academy before he went to serve on the seas Felix couldn't take it anymore.
"Will I ever be able to talk again?"
And the conversation halted as they all heard the pain in the young boys' voice. They were quick to comfort him and Felix tried to tell if their words were true. To separate their words from the truth within. To let him know if this was all he had to look forward to. The pendant on his chest grew hot underneath his shirt, but he heard it. He heard the concern in their voices. He heard the greed and the thirst for power tinged by uneasiness and fear. He heard their doubt. He heard their lies.
But Felix smiled.
His mother believed.
And that was enough.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Next update will be y'all meeting and picking your companions and what skills Felix will train in over the next few in game years. This was a difficult update to write, but I hope it came out okay.
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[X] But Felix pushed through the pain and told them of everything he had experienced.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] But Felix pushed through the pain and told them of everything he had experienced.
On a purely practical level, both have things to recommend them, but this one is much more interesting and makes Felix a better person, I think.
On a purely practical level, both have things to recommend them, but this one is much more interesting and makes Felix a better person, I think.
DangerKitty
shoddy writter
- Location
- lala land
Apologies for not quite delivering on that "more chill promise". Thought id have meeting the retainer companions in this chapter, but i ended up decided that i want to flesh that out more and turn it into a full scene. So it got pushed into its own chapter.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] But Felix pushed through the pain and told them of everything he had experienced.
Not sure I trust the instincts of a five year old tbh
Not sure I trust the instincts of a five year old tbh
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- Location
- Australia
[x] No, he trusted his gut and the warnings given. He passed out, nothing more.
Really unsure about this one. Thanks for the great update though.
Really unsure about this one. Thanks for the great update though.
TimEd
Meteor maker
this isn't just from a five year old though
but the voice from the void that helped us from burning up. This is made more apparent when you read back and realize the amulet thing that supposedly stops Wordsmithing caused the void voice to disappear, but made the whispers come back albeit quieter.