Eldora took Steele’s arm as they walked down the corridors. She peaked around the manor looking at all of the fixings that Kirika and Bryar had done. “It looks comfy.” She mused as she tugged him along down the stairs and out the front doors. “We’re going to the castle,” she pointed to the glistening white structure towards the center of Sularia. She held him close as others looked up at him. She peeked around and watched the odd stares she was getting. Was it really that odd that she, Eldora, would have someone?

Her face frowned a bit as she looked up at Steele. “It is too crowded here.” She mused again as they got to the courtyard of the castle. The flowers were in full bloom and she tilted her head as she seen Hazel, a small child, near the tree. She was hugging an odd plush to her chest. “Is your mother here?” Eldora startled Hazel and from her shadows sprung little tentacles. “I didn’t mean to scare you… Are you well?”

Mercury eyes stared at them for a moment before nodding. “Mama is down in the vault. She says I can’t go down there.” The plushie was moving and growling towards Eldora. The seer nodded and pulled Steele away from her.

“Bryony’s daughter Hazel. She’s possessed by an Eldritch being. They’ve been trying to figure out how to get rid of it past making it stay put in that stuffed animal she has.” Eldora informed Steele. There was a set of doors that led deep underground and Eldora opened them up and took him down. She hated this place and it showed on her face as they traveled down.

Bryony was seated at a desk in front of the vault doors. She looked like she was filling out a book. “That’s three in two months.” Bryony groaned as a sheeted body was carried past her on a stretched going up another set of stairs. “Greetings Eldora and Steele,” Bryony waved at them as she crossed out a name in the book she had.

“They are dropping like flies,” Eldora watched the body. “Did something happen?”

“No, it’s just their time I am afraid. Young and dumb is what I call them. If only they could learn like Holly has… Well before you take the dive into Eshari.” Bryony groaned a bit and smiled at Steele. “Eshari is a ceremony that Rosenites go through if they can’t handle our life. Luckily it only appears to work on the females of our race. So no need to be so worried about Colden Eldora. It is basically suicide without the death. Eternal dreaming until the host dies. We’ve had three die in two months. It doesn’t sound like a lot but normally it is a lot less than that.”

Bryony pushed herself up and came over. She was as tall as Steele and she was dressed like Eldora was. “It is good to meet you. Eldora stays in contact via telepathy. She’s told me a lot about you.” She took Steele’s free hand without asking and smiled. “You can just say I am her mother, the one that matters anyways.” Eldora chuckled a bit. “You’re overdue for your bath.” She took the book she had and slammed it on top of Eldora’s head. The little seer cowarded behind Steele.

“I don’t like it!” Eldora yelled as she peeked at Bryony.

“If you think some young kid is gonna stop me from teaching you a lesson… You have another thing to learn Eldora.” It was a motherly scolding. “If you don’t get your baths you get sick. Every ten years is not going to kill you. I’ll drag you here myself next time.” Eldora shivered and nodded as she came back out from behind Steele. “It’s going to be dangerous giving you a bath after this long. Damnit Eldora,” Bryony raised the book again and Eldora put her hands over her head. Sighing the elder oracle put the book down. “Didn’t rip you from your mother’s arms so you could skip out on the most important thing I’ve ever asked you to do. Do you understand?” Eldora nodded softly and pouted at her. She was childlike maybe because the only person she actually feared was Bryony.

“Does Steele get to come?”

“Get to come? He has to take you into the damn water because it's been so long. I can’t do it neither can any of the other girls.” Eldora went to open her mouth. “Or Vadimas. Come on stop being a smart ass.” Eldora smiled just a bit. “Next time you are coming on time.” She pointed a finger at Eldora and sighed up at Steele. “Now that my scolding is done. When you are ready we can head down into the vault. It’s slightly disturbing the first few times you see it.”

The boy needed some breathing room, that much was known of Steele from how he was behaving. Hopefully he wouldn’t stay in his little funk and actually be productive. He had no qualm about smacking him around until he did, no matter how long it took. He followed Eldora through the mansion and outside. He felt the eyes of others onto the two of them before he lowered his gaze to Eldora. It didn’t seem like a big deal to him, but perhaps it was her reputation of being emotionally disheveled. Either way, he would have punched out anyone that would disapprove of the couple.

“Crowded people wise, or because of the spirits?”, he asked softly as they made their way to the castle’s grounds. The girl that they met, Hazel as she would call her, seemed to have something strange about her. He was unsure where or why those tentacles came or why the little toy she carried was making all those sounds and whatnot. Well, save for one thing he could think of.

Possession.

She confirmed his suspicions and couldn’t help but to look back at the girl before they were off for this vault. It didn’t take much to notice that she didn’t like this place nor was she looking forward to bathing thing. Was it merely just a bath in water, or was there something much deeper than that? The demon could hardly fathom what she would fear, other than the woman they approached and how she handled herself in front of her. He watched from the corner of his eye of how child-like she was behaving, something that seemed taboo for her in any other situation. It was sort of cute in a way, though he didn’t voice his opinion for she’d probably wouldn’t like it.

Steele looked to Bryony and nodded as she kept his hand. “Charmed. At least now I know how you knew my name, among other things. I’d like to hear at some point of what she shared about me.” He turned his head slightly to glance at Eldora. The bit about him being a young kid made him look at her with a blank look for a moment; he wasn’t sure as to whether to take it as a insult or not. But considering their race, he would have to think that she was far older than him. It was something he wasn't used to that. The bath thing kept getting brought up and somehow he landed squarely in the middle of it. He was the lucky guy that was to bring her into the waters for whatever reason and he folded his arms against his chest. “Wait now. What is it with this bath thing? Why does she have to do this and how come I was volunteered? I’ll feel better about going through this if I know what to expect?”

When he learned of what all the fuss was about, he would agree to escort Eldora. It seemed like she needed it whether she liked it or not. And he would have no problem carrying her all the way to do this.

Eldora stared up at him and nodded her head. “Actually people wise. Around where we are going the market isn’t too far from there so it tends to get overly crowded.” She shivered just a bit and laughed. “The spirits are concentrated here but they do get worse where we are going.”

Once down at the entrance to the vault, Bryony was chuckling at Eldora. “We shall have to have a discussion on it. She has told me plenty of things but I assure you nothing embarrassing, I am her adopted mother so I don’t want to hear too much.” Eldora snerked just a bit and Bryony flashed her a glare. The blank look he gave her when she referred to him as Kid made her laugh. “I’m about three thousand years old… probably older but I’ve lost count at this point. Most people are kids compared to me. My lover Sebastian tends to call me a cradle robber.” She laughed a bit about it.

“Hazel looks like you both,” Eldora mused softly as she smiled. “She looks good though all things considering.”

“She does and we’re glad. She’s been playing with Angela’s Rohan a lot now… It makes me feel better about her being here. Most children won’t go near her but Rohan gives her confidence and a friend.” Bryony crossed her arms when the question about the bath got up. “You brought him here and you didn’t tell him anything?” Eldora shook her head and Bryony brought a hand up to scratch at her head. “It’s very bad that Eldora hasn’t been here. Arriese Oracles are on borrowed time so every ten years we have to bathe in the waters that brought us life or well… We start to get sick, go mad, and there have been extreme cases where possession from the spirits became a thing. Eldora was already starting to go mad but she’s been doing better since she started to live in the Cradle but that’s no excuse for not coming here.” Bryony snapped at Eldora again. “Even if you hurt you should have just come here and let me bathe you and then I would have sent you back wherever you come from. You make me worry.”

Eldora felt a bit of shame towards that last part as a deep frown appeared on her face. “I don’t mean to worry you Bryony. I just don’t like the feeling it causes.” The younger oracle clung to Steele’s arm as she thought about it. “But I’ll do it… from now on… on time.” She struggled to say it but Eldora wasn’t a liar and Bryony knew that.

“Good,” Bryony reached out and patted the woman on the head. “The bath that happens in the water is… rather odd to explain. Spirits can corrupt over time and that’s the main reason for why things happen. The water takes out the ones that have been corrupted and exchanges them for spirits that are anew. I suspect the reason why Eldora doesn’t like it is because it feels like pulling teeth to her. Losing something when she really isn’t losing anything at all but the feeling is still there. It might be because she has a stronger connection than the rest of us.”

Turning around Bryony moved to open the vault’s door. From the looks of it, there were more stairs going down. “We don’t have the entrance where the vault is because outsiders would be able to see. Not all outsiders are welcome and it is rare for when we do let them in. Steele is one of the exceptions we make.” Grabbing a torch she led them down the long spiraling staircase until they came into catacombs.

Eldora looked around and shivered. The rooms were well lit but it was more so the bodies that were lined up in small bed sized holes along the walls. The beds were carved into the thick stone of the underground. They were all women and all sleeping. There were oracles all over taking care of them. Brushing their hair, feeding them, and other things. “These girls committed Eshari and here is where they will wait for the person they chose to cure them to bring the antidote.” She mused softly. “Every antidote is different so it is hard to say just how they did it. Not even Angela can make the correct guess. In most cases, the cure never comes. They will end up dying here but we do try to make sure they stay healthy… at least as much as we can. There have been situations in the past where ancestors of the antidote holder have come and woken the girl it was for up. We hold hope for that.”

Eldora tilted her head more and watched. “I knew some of these girls,” the younger oracle mused up to Steele. “They were having problems with life and just quit. They didn’t have the willpower to make it through but instead of suicide, this was what they choose. I don’t know if it is much better.” She had to think long and hard about it some day. Bryony led them through the catacombs and it seemed like they went on forever in some directions. “This place is all underneath Arri. It runs deep. The lake is even deeper yet.”

Bryony nodded and finally got them to another set of stairs. “Down here is the lake actually.” It wasn’t far down the stairs but the glow from the lake was what greeted them. “Don’t be overly alarmed.” The spirits that Eldora talked about were condensed to the point of being able to see the orbs of light from them frantically flying around the water and the shore.

There were hundreds of them possibly thousands as they flew all around the two oracles and Steele. Eldora felt dizzy as she leaned into Steele. “This place is too loud.” Eldora reminded Bryony as they got to the edge of the water.

“I know and I’m sorry.” Bryony frowned a bit at Eldora and seemed apologetic. “This is also where the cave of trials is…” She pointed to a cave not too far. There were noises and voices coming from the cave. “And our treasury is the small door not far from that. We hide things there that are valuable.” She didn’t mind telling people that because the likely hood of getting down to the vault alive was… well not good at all if uninvited. “I was afraid she would get dizzy before even getting in the water. Steele, I need you both to get undressed and go in. Hold her steadily so she doesn’t drown but tight enough for what is going to happen… You should be able to gauge your strength when it happens and you will notice.” She didn’t know how to describe something that she had barely witnessed. “It’s not often we get oracles who refuse to come home for this.”

Eldora frowned just a bit. “My head is killing me.” She repeated as she put her head into Steele’s shoulder. “Hurry please.”

He had minded his manners for two reasons; the first being how much he knew Eldora respected Bryony and like she said, she practically raise the woman and did the job Cyprus was too incompetent to do. The second reason was that she was far older than even him, and he didn’t feel like testing out her power or capabilities. “I couldn’t imagine how much since we…only been familiar with one another for a short time”, he spoke with a raised brow as he looked to Eldora as well. Apparently she’s been having some loose lips, or a looser mind more so. Not that he minded it of course.

They spoke about her daughter for a bit before the subject of the bath came back up. Steele didn’t know what they were talking about up to now, but he was filled in. He frowned in realizing how deep in trouble she was from not bathing for so long. From the sounds of it, she only had madness and eventually death to look forward to if she didn’t. “She will. Even if I have to dunk her into it myself”, he spoke sternly. If he only knew what was in store for him…

Despite his tone, his face grew softer as he looked to Eldora with concern before they would press on into the vault. His growing curiosity found itself peaking when he noticed the women that were lined up in the walls. It was a bit disturbing to witness, that much was for sure. “You said that they commit this because they can’t stand the life of a Rosenite. What struggles do they face that they feel the need to bring such a fate upon themselves?” Steele could fathom a good enough excuse, but then again, he knew next to nothing about their lives.

The lake was the next thing to captivate his attention but soon Eldora would have that as he caught her as the orbs seemed too much for her. They were a little eerie for his taste, but besides that, they didn’t really bother him. When she recovered he looked to Bryony, a bit puzzled at her request but Eldora needed to get to the waters and get this done and over with. Steele nodded as he helped her draw closer to the lake before he started to undress himself and waited for her to get done as well. Slowly he approached the water and helped her descend into it. He kept a firm hold on her and would make sure she didn’t get too out of it. Besides that, he had no idea of what was to come from this.

“You have to understand that a lot of Eldora may be only a few words,” Bryony gave Steele a sympathetic look. “She’s told me enough anyways. Mainly your looks and personality… and that she stabbed you with a sword.” Eldora shied away for a moment at the words and Bryony laughed a bit more.

Eldora looked up at Steele and nodded as she gripped his hand a bit tighter now. “Thank you, Steele,” she said as she realized he was worried about her. He was also taking care of her which got a nod from Bryony. The face that Steele had made her blush just a little as she reached up and kissed the lower end of his cheek to comfort him.

Bryony frowned a bit as she thought. “Being in Arri is lonely as you might have guessed. Men are few and far, it stands to say that some of them can’t fathom being alone their whole lives. That is a mortal mindset for many sadly. Some of them had their hearts broken to bits… Others might have lost their whole family or even just had a child who died. There are lots of things that would push a person’s grief this far. Losing a child in Sularia is one of the hardest things to deal with. After birth, there is no chance to have your child back… If your child dies at birth they become ascended as an oracle and they do come back.”

Eldora clung to Steele as they got to the lake. The request was weird but it would all make sense soon as Bryony took a deep step back from the water. Upon entered the water the spirits began a frenzy around them and Eldora’s eyes got large as she began to struggle against Steele to get away. “Hold her!” Bryony yelled and she knew that Eldora had figured out just how much this would hurt.

It was more like watching a group of bees going after the person who poked the nest as they went after Eldora and entered her body ignoring Steele entirely. A scream left her lips as she convulsed under Steele. Bryony was about to move but she had to stop herself as she realized she couldn’t enter the water without completely inferring. “Come on Eldora,” Bryony had said it loud enough in her concern.

The orbs began to leave and it looked more like they were ripping out tainted sections as Eldora tried to reach and grab onto it. “Keep her from doing that,” Bryony yelled again from the edge. It was over in a matter of minutes as the corrupted pieces were dumped into the water and Eldora’s body lit up like the water they were in. The tainted pieces sank all the way to the bottom as if they were weighted. There was a pained groan that left Eldora’s lips as she went limp.

Her heart had stopped and Bryony was now pacing at the edge. “Don’t panic,” Bryony was speaking to Steele but she sounded unsure. “And do not leave the water.” It took several minutes for the glow to leave as if pouring into the oracle’s closed eyes. Soon Eldora flung herself as if waking up from drowning and she was throwing lake water up even though she hadn’t consumed any of it.

Bryony rushed to the side and grabbed some blankets. “Bring her up here now… It’s over.” She got a blanket to cover them up with and the room began to go back to normal. “I knew it would be bad but that was a lost worse than I anticipated… She had been that corrupted… I’ve never seen them do that.” Bryony moved some of Eldora’s wet hair away. “It might have been the recent visions from Cyprus.”

Eldora opened her eyes which were more lively and glowing much more like Bryony’s were. “I hurt everywhere,” she groaned at both of them.

“And your magic and life force?” Bryony tilted her head and Eldora groaned more at her.

“Better… I hate it when you are right.”

Strange request, that’s all it seemed to be in Steele’s mind, but he did what he was told. He didn’t want Eldora in any more danger than what she was already in, and he didn’t wish to go against Bryony given how important she was to her. Honestly he would have likely dumped her into the lake himself if he had to, but at least it sounded like he wouldn’t, for now. As they entered, he noticed that she wasn’t taking to it as well as he was. In fact, it seemed almost like normal water to him, but it had an adverse effect on her and he felt her squirming against him to get free. It wasn’t long before he realized why Bryony had him be the one to do this. She knew that her adopted daughter would try and flee from this.

“Eldora, you have to”, he spoke as he kept her in the water with his strength. Fortunately he was stronger than she was and he made her stay put as the orbs gathered. He couldn’t stand to see her in pain like that, but he had to as he held onto her to keep her from falling limb into it.

As instructed, he wrapped his arms against hers to keep her from touching the orbs as they worked. Whatever they were pulling out of her, he wouldn’t let her take it back. It might have been the bad spirits the seer had mentioned to him. Once it was completed, he looked to see her coughing up water and he looked to Bryony before pulling her away to the edge. He was clearly frustrated by the turn of events as he watched her unconscious and still. “Will she be okay now?”, he spoke softly, waiting for her to awaken. Eldora eventually did and he signed in relief.

“Dammit Eldora. You can’t put this sort of thing off like that again. What am I supposed to tell our children if something like that happens?” There was a growl that came from him, more so out of annoyance than an actual threat.

Eldora felt lonely when the spirits were pulled from her that was the only way to describe exactly how she felt. She had passed out shortly after and Bryony nodded to Steele. “Yes, for now. Every ten years from this day forward she needs to be here in this water. It’s not so bad if she keeps up with it but… I can’t remember the last time she was here… It’s been decades at least. I try to let her do whatever she wants and sometimes she hides from me where I can’t find her… I see her in passing but never long enough to grab her and bring her home. She is sneaky like that.”

She stirred and stared at him. “It’s never mattered before now,” it was soft as it left her lips. “I’ve never had anyone other than Bryony that worried about me…” She looked more ashamed as she buried herself in Steele’s chest and Bryony reached over to pet her head softly. “Why did you make us strip?”

“Spirits being ripped out of the body can destroy clothes… Wasn’t sure what would happen to Steele’s other for that fact. I’ve never seen it that bad. Please don’t worry us about that anymore… and children? I’m taking it that you are going to help her avoid punishment?” There was a laugh for a minute.

“Children… but we were only told to have one?” Eldora mused up at Steele with a smile before nuzzled his neck softly.

Bryony put her hands on her hips and sighed. “You are more than welcome at the Oracle Manor if you want to avoid your siblings. You do have two homes here. I’m not sure how long either of you want to stay in Sularia.” Eldora looked tired but she stared over at Bryony and nodded.

“One night won’t kill me,” it had to be the exhausted over everything else as the words left her lips.

Had he not been so concerned right now, Steele would have been livid with her. “Well, I’d like to think that you do have another person that cares that much now.” She felt very much like a different Eldora to him, another side that was hardly ever seen normally. He knew how it must have felt to kept one’s feelings in place. His arms circled around her as she came into his chest and listened well to Bryony as she explained the concept of them having been naked at the time of the dip. ”I’d rather pay her heed and not tempt fate.” Certainly something could have got astray since it had been so long since she had this sort of bath. But it wouldn’t happen again, not if he had anything to say about it.

Steele nodded at Bryony’s assumption before he knew it and his face really grew bright red once Eldora questioned him on his choice of words. “Eh…it could be more. Some have twins, and other triplets and…” He was trying to cover his tracks but was failing miserably. “I mean that it could be more than one I meant. Of course we…are going to have a children, I mean child.” He groaned inwardly before he hugged her tighter.

“I don’t know how long we will be here. I thought that Eldora couldn’t stay in Arri for long periods of time. Does this bath thing help with her problem to that regard?”

He slowly helped her up to her feet, “Obviously if you are going to stay here, then I’ll come to make sure you are alright and get through this.” He did feel bad about having to fight her in the water, but it was a necessary evil. But still, it weighed heavily on his heart.  

Eldora kept herself close to him and she smiled up at Bryony. She was glad that Steele cared that much about her. It was new and odd but she didn’t mind it. He had let her know that it wasn’t because she was weak that he cared but because of his feelings, he had done that the night before they left. It served as a reminder that to be cared for didn’t mean you were weak but that you were loved. “I know… I won’t miss it anymore.” She reassured the wolf.

Eldora watched his face turn colors and Bryony laughed a bit as Eldora tilted her head trying to figure him out. The younger oracle hugged him back. “There, there.” She patted him on the top of his head. “I would like that… The more than one.” With him. She didn’t need to say it to him and she gave him a reassuring smile as much as she could.

Bryony tilted her head now and thought about it. “No, normally it doesn’t but the doll that was given to her should help if she has it on her. It should block out the voices that scream at her unless she wants to hear it. That gives her some time, maybe not a lot but enough. Eldora has a cousin being married soon she should stay and attend the wedding.” Bryony smiled at Eldora who was groaning.

Eldora got up with Steele and nodded up at him. “I’m glad you are staying with me… It would be weird to not have you with me,” it wasn’t that she was clingy but it was just odd not to have Steele with her with how she felt. It was loneliness she was dreading but she just didn’t know the word for it.

Eldora dressed and helped Steele before leading him back up and to the oracle mansion. It was made with dark stone and decorated with lapis. There were girls picking out at Eldora and she glared up at them. A single glare from her made the girls run away. “Nosey.” She hissed up as she took Steele up into the house.

It felt weird and Eldora stopped herself in the main hall. Where was she going? Did she remember? Well… How could she forget? She only stood there a few minutes before pulling him up the stairs and down the main hallways. She opened the door to a room almost exactly like the one back at the Cradle. “Home…” She went in and looked at everything. Nothing had been touched but to dust. Everything was exactly the way she left it. Even the toys…

“Bryony didn’t change it…”

Eldora seemed to get what he was saying, which made Steele all the more relieved about her and her baths for now on. It seemed as though she wouldn’t be missing any more, especially if he was going to get involved in this. Heaven knows the last thing they needed was to worry about her falling into madness once more because she didn’t like the dip.

Steele’s words had slipped from him, but he was unsure if it was because he was panicking or because he thought about having more than one child with her, but she seemed alright with the idea.and he kept his arms around her fiercely. He couldn’t promise her it would be easy though, but he would be there to help her raise them and not use them as tools like his father would do.

The doll that his father had given to her was helpful if not important in straying off the spirits from her as she wished. Though as Bryony had said, it wasn’t a fail-safe plan and sooner or later they would have to return to the Cradle for her livelihood. But in the meantime, he figured that they should go on ahead and attend this wedding. “Well, I’m thinking that she is insisting you should, Eldora.” She might have not wanted to, but he guess that it would do her some good to get to know her family. Lord knows that Steele could detest his own, but it was something that was beat into his head countless times.

“For the family.”


Looking at the Rosenite, Steele fell silent for a moment or two, thinking about the situation between them before nodding. “I am happy as well. It’s strange though, but I understand how you feel about it.” Before he had met her, he was a big ball of pure rage that could explode at any given moment. Much of it was still there but he was softer around her. She was likely his one weakness, the kink in his armor. They approached the oracle mansion and sure enough there were plenty of women there and they seemed to have their eyes wandering about Steele. He felt immediately uncomfortable but it left him as Eldora hissed at them in the same fashion she had to her own sister. “I gather that they don’t get much company these days.” He spoke the words as they hurried deeper into the building. At one point, he looked at her strangely as she stopped in the middle of her walking. “What’s the matt…”, he was able to say before she pulled him towards the stairs and they came into a room of familiar sight. Only it was much more dustier. Steele looked around and then back to Eldora. “You really haven’t been home much, have you? I guess that she figured that sooner or later you would return. That could be the reason I suppose.”