EA Chapter 8 - Freshly Recruited

Luna opened her eyes to find herself not in her alcove, but rather in the semi-familiar surroundings of Tulpa's office. She sighed, annoyed, as she scanned the area.

As before, a rush of embers converged to recreate Tulpa's visage, the woman floating a few paces away from her. "Heeeeey!" she greeted, giving Luna a cheery wave.

Luna glared up at her. "No contact for over a decade, and now you're pestering me in my dreams?"

The floating figure chuckled, floating on her side perfectly parallel to the ground. "What? You didn't miss me?" she asked.

"Like a hole in my head."

"Nice to know your years in a new life haven't made you any less bitter or unpleasant," she said, smiling coyly as she stared down at the girl. "Well, I suppose that's not too surprising for me. I knew you'd be headstrong when I first chose you."

"Yes, and I'm sure you chose to reincarnate me as a lowly peasant girl to teach me a lesson in 'humility' or some other such nonsense." Luna snorted, settling her hands on her hips.

The mysterious entity managed a tiny smirk. "No, your body wasn't some preplanned thing. Just a body in need of a soul, and that one was available when your soul was ready yo be shifted. But I'll admit, it would have been nice if your change of circumstances made you more pleasant."

"Nothing has changed. Nothing. I still have every intention of getting my empire back." If anything, she was somewhat thrilled at the concept of reenacting her former conquest. It had gotten too easy, toward the end. To start from a blank slate and bring every land to heel all over again... Yes, she already had big plans in mind to make the experience more enjoyable.

And that bumpkin, and everyone close to him, would live a very long, agonising existence under her thumb.

Though, for her own sake, she'd need to devise a counter to antimagic before making a move against him.

She sighed, glaring up at Tulpa. "Why have you summoned me here?"

"Merely touching base. I've been watching over you, from time to time whenever my other obligations don’t get in the way, just to make sure you haven't croaked. Fighting a giant lobster, though? Never expected that," Tulpa admitted, smiling and shrugging.

"Crayfish. Though I didn’t expect to face such a thing either, in fairness." The monsters of this world certainly were odd, compared to what she was used to. Nothing she couldn't handle, all the same. She let out a small breath. “Actually, after taking the strain of a real battle... I already feel marginally stronger.”

“That tends to be the case with arcanists,” said Tulpa. They evolve through combat. But, by how much? That all depends on the individual.”

Luna grinned, flashing a pair of sharp incisors. Well, surely her potential was far greater than any lowly fool in these parts. She’d evolve rapidly, she just knew it.

Tulpa leaned forward, looking Luna in the eyes. "It's an interesting world, wouldn't you agree? Poor old Elthreme, flanked on either side by different breeds of horrible monsters."

Tulpa's smile faded. "Through misfortune and tragedy. Elthreme has had a... turbulent history. What you see are the remnants of a war. A great war in the heavens themselves, where the consequences still linger. Where great heroes gave their lives to prevent Elthreme’s total destruction. But the ensuing chaos of that war has sentenced the remaining kingdoms to a gnawing, slow destruction."

"And so you summoned someone of my... capabilities to put a stop to it, hm?"

"Partially," Tulpa admitted with a shrug. She still sensed no malicious intent from the spirit.

"I..." Tulpa actually looked uncomfortable, her eyes briefly darting from the shorter figure. "I can't get into those specifics. Not yet, at least. But, for now, you should focus on getting stronger. There are trials and hardships on the way that you'll need to be prepared for."

An annoyed scoff rose in her throat. "Who do you think you're talking to? Do you assume some lowly monsters can halt me?"

"You may be adept at fighting in the world of mortals. But, come the end of all this..." Their eyes met, sending an involuntary chill down the length of Luna's spine. "You may well be facing into the realm of the gods."

Luna opened her mouth to respond. But before she could even form a single syllable, she felt her eyelids fluttering open to reveal the familiar sloped ceiling of her alcove.

Anger twitched in the back of her mind. Woken before she could get any real answers. Luna stirred, clenching her teeth, and found herself rolling to her side on the bed. And she looked out to see her parents deep in conversation with an old man, adorned in an Elthremian surcoat.

"But... you can't just take her," Luna's mother said in a hushed, urgent tone. "She's just a child!"

"Come her next naming day, she would be old enough to enrol in the Citadel. And the higher-ups can be lenient on enrolment procedures for those with significant promise." The old man leaned in, his scarred visage illuminated by the quartz lantern on the table. "She killed a dire crayfish singlehandedly, with no professional training. We need her."

Her father looked grim, struggling to hide his inner disdain. "I... well... She has often said she wanted to follow after her brother. But he only does wall duty. You'll have her fighting ashborn and the like!"

"Not right out of the gate," the older man said, trying his best to sound reassuring. "She has a great deal of potential, and we want to properly nurture it. You know how dangerous the world is these days. People like her can really turn the tide."

"And what about us, here?" her father asked warily. "If another of those things comes ashore, we're all dead."

"We're already in the process of building a watchtower and garrison nearby. It's unlikely you'll face another attack, it's been decades since drowned men attacked Strafford's Harbour, from my understanding," the scarred-stranger said. "Your village, and your daughter, will be safe."

"Fine," Luna grunted from where the lay, drawing all eyes toward her. "So when do we leave?"

“Wh-” Marrah blinked repeatedly at her daughter, and seemed briefly uncertain if she was more shocked to see her awake, or that she had casually agreed to leave her hometown. “Luna, you can’t just-”

Luna slowly moved from the alcove, fighting her way through the pain that made her muscles feel dull and leaden. “I know you’re worried, Mother. But the simple face of the matter is... what’s going to happen next has already been decided for us.”