The Mother of Monsters

Teyva stared at the prompt for a few seconds, trying to comprehend what it was telling her. It didn’t make any sense! She frowned and dismissed the notification, moving to pull up her own stats. As she did so, the others turned and looked at her in confusion. The window appeared and she poured over it, hesitating when she saw her attributes. That was impossible! How in the world? What did it mean by locked?

All of her attributes were awakened! That of course meant that she had to have activated six aspects, but she was certain she only had five. What? Did she use one in her sleep? She scratched her head and pulled up her skills for a moment and flipped through the lengthy list, checking and rechecking. She had her [Inherited] abilities but those didn’t count as an aspect, right? Otherwise, she would have been given the option to awaken an attribute as soon as she arrived in Orum.

“What is it Teyva?” Azrael asked, starting to look alarmed.

“Uh…” Teyva looked through her skills one more time, “It says I have six aspects, and that’s the maximum. It also says that my sixth aspect is locked, what does that even mean?”

Paraklytus sat forward, “Very strange, you said you only had four before I gave you the Siren stone. I have no explanation for you, Majesty.”

“I know,” Teyva said, confusion rising, “I’m looking through all my abilities right now. There’s nothing here that suggests another Aspect,” She said, finally closing the window in frustration. “I don’t get it. What, am I being punished or something?” 

She wondered if resiting the call of the Cycle had ruffled some mighty feathers. Still, that wasn’t fair! She had otherwise been playing by the rules of the system this entire time. Sure she was abusing them a little bit here and there but nothing serious! She scratched her chin and looked up at Paraklytus who was staring at her intently. She shrugged and let out a sigh. “I’ve got nothing, just another mystery for you and I to look into I guess old man.”

The lich chuckled, “An endless source of intrigue you are, Teyva Akura.”

Teyva shook her head and slumped in her seat, “I need a drink now.”

“That sounds good,” Azrael agreed, “Lady Yaga?” 

“I could go for it,” Yaga agreed, “Same place as usual?” She paused and then turned to Teyva, “Why not ask his Majesty? He knows a great deal more than anyone I have ever met about Aspects.”

“Pardon me,” A voice came from behind Yaga just as Teyva was about to respond, causing the woman to jump a bit and spin around. The others looked on in surprise as Abba came out of nowhere. How long had she been there? What had she heard? Not that it really mattered, most people in the Pinnacle knew about Teyva’s unusual abilities. Still, it was kinda creepy. “I have a message from his Majesty,” The maid said, inclining her head to those present. 

Azrael sat back down next to Teyva and crossed her arms, “What does father want, Abba?”

The Maid dipped her head a bit lower, “His Majesty bid me remind you that the nobles of the Cardinal Clans will begin arriving this evening and that you all will be expected at Court tomorrow to greet them.”

“Nobles?” Teyva asked, turning to Azrael.

Azrael let out a groan and held her head, “Right, I completely lost track of time,” She turned to Teyva, “The Nobles are wealthy or influential Azar that live in the homelands of the four Azar clans. Master Yftha is a member of one of those houses,” Azrael said, gesturing to Yaga who had been lecturing Abba about startling her when she turned around and nodded.

“The clans gather once a year in Osan to celebrate our culture and as of the past few years, the rise of our King. The Unification Festival is very important to us,” Yaga sighed, “Though that means I will have to endure my brother’s presence.”

“You have a brother?” Teyva asked, “You never mentioned him.”

Yaga scratched her neck, “He’s not my favorite person, he is roughly my equal in strength but I was chosen to lead our clan because of my seniority and experience as the head of the Wardens. He resents it a great deal so we have our differences. Not to mention he has a…” She cleared her throat, “Fixation.”

“Fixation?” Teyva pressed.

“He’s obsessed with her,” Azrael whispered.

“Yikes,” Teyva winced.

Yaga shrugged, “I have my ways of dealing with him. It’s nothing to worry about,” She said, “More importantly, we need to get you ready for tomorrow. We don’t have a lot of time, I’m honestly surprised I forgot given the competition.”

“A competition?” Nephral asked, suddenly engaged in the conversation. Teyva looked at the feline who had a bit of a glint in his eyes. What was he up to?

“Well, of course, we are a competitive people. So it goes without saying that when a large number of strong Azar gather in one place, there will be friction. To alleviate this, the festival includes a competition that takes place over the course of the festival that usually involves a mixture of demonstrations of martial skill as well as athletic events,” Yaga explained.

Teyva glanced again at Nephral who was looking at her with a literal shine in his eyes. She sighed and turned to Yaga, “So who can enter this thing?”

“The King will be announcing that all who are present may enter, so you’re welcome to try your hand,” She said with a grin, “But I will be entering as well, I do so every year. You should enter as well, Azrael,” Yaga said, “You’re ready for it now.”

Azrael blinked, “Are you serious?”

Yaga gave her a scornful look, “Am I ever not serious?”

Azrael shrank a little, “R-right.”

“Now! We can talk more about that later! Abba, Teyva, Paraklytus, and Batel need to be made ready for tomorrow and we have little time to waste,” She said, “Can you handle it?”

“Woah, what do you mean made ready?” Teyva asked.

“You are going to be at court with all of the nobles of the clans present, as an adoptive daughter of the King. You need to look the part,” Yaga said firmly, “And your vassals will have to be equally presentable.”

“You mean you’re putting me in a dress,” Teyva grumbled.

Yaga’s smile was almost sinister, “I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“Tell me Azrael has to put up with it too!” Teyva complained, pointing at her friend.

Azrael turned to Teyva with a look of shock, “Teyva!”

“Azrael is a warden, she has a dress uniform for such occasions,” Yaga said playfully and winked, “I need to make my own last-minute preparations,” She turned and made her way to the doors to the lift. “Good luck Teyva! I’m looking forward to seeing you clean up!”

Azrael punched Teyva in the arm, “Bitch.”

“Punk,” Teyva grunted back, nudging her leg.

They were about to start tussling when Paraklytus cleared his throat and pointed towards Abba who was waiting patiently at the side of the couch. The woman’s face was as pretty as a picture and as calm as ever, but the two young women couldn’t help but feel like she was angry. Something about her presence made the both of them shrink a little and separate from one another. The dark cloud hovering over Abba immediately faded and she clapped her hands together.

“Lady Azrael, would you be so kind as to leave Teyva to me? I have much work to do and you must consider your wardrobe, correct?” She said with strained cheeriness.

Azrael immediately got to her feet and almost mechanically walked away, glancing over her shoulder at Teyva who looked on mournfully with a ‘don’t leave me’ expression. Azrael waved and disappeared into her room, leaving Teyva at the mercy of the tyrannical maid. 

“Knight my ass,” Teyva pouted, “Do we have to do this?”

“Yes, My lady, it is important that you are presentable when you meet the elder nobles tomorrow. You must make a good impression as a new member of the Royal Family,” She said and paused, “As do your advisor and the captain of your guard!” She bit out, turning to Paraklytus and Batel who had also tried to slip away while Abba was lecturing Teyva.

Teyva crossed her arms and glared at the two men who shrugged, defeated. 

Abba set to work quickly, calling in a small army of maids and attendants from across the Pinnacle to assist her in assembling a proper wardrobe for Teyva, Paraklytus, and Batel. Batel was insistent on wearing something that was somewhat similar to his uniform as a guardsman while Paraklytus, besides wanting Robes, proved to be less than picky when it came to what he wanted to wear. Teyva, on the other hand, hated the idea of wearing a dress and made her want to drag the process out as much as possible. 

“Why can’t I just wear pants?” Teyva complained at one point.

“Your ladyship,” One of the maids urged her, “Your beauty is suited for a gown, do you not want to impress the noblemen of the court?” 

Teyva tilted her head in the maid’s direction as she wrapped a length of measuring tape around Teyva’s chest. She looked the poor girl in the eyes and said, “I’d prefer to impress the women.”

The maid jumped, her face flushing immediately. Teyva was rewarded with the sudden looming presence of Abba who smiled at her sweetly with that same eerie dark cloud hanging around her. “Lady Teyva, please do not tease my maids.”

“R-right,” Teyva mumbled, subjecting herself to the rest of the process. Though it appeared her words had caused quite a stir among some of the maids in the room. The stir only got worse when They removed Teyva’s top and exposed her arms and abdomen. The Aspect Stone of the Titan had done her quite a favor in the looks department and the many eyes on her figure were starting to become distracting. Teyva held her arms out on either side, “Ladies? Can we get this over with?”

“Y-yes highness!” Came a squeaky chorus followed by a dozen pairs of hands working their way over her figure to quickly get the necessary measurements.

Teyva grinned, maybe this wasn’t so bad.