Heart-Wrought Silver
The story of a Lunar Exaltation in Heaven during the Calibration festival. My first attempt to write a bedtime story for adults. Author: Fallstavia.
There are stories of a great festival in Heaven. Once each year, during that otherwise unlucky time of Calibration, the great gate to Yu-Shan opened somewhere in Creation. During such a time, any lucky man or woman might step through and find a celebration to burn in their minds until the day they died.
This is one of those stories about one of those celebrations.
Like the other Calibration festivals over the millennia, this one was as grandiose and rare and unique as each of the others. For just this occasion, a thousand Gods had built a fabulous panoply to cross the city blocks where the party was. From the lattice of teak and oak and a very rare kind of pearl, there were decorations like no other. There were magical horses, inscrutable dragons, and little carvings of a hundred remembered heroes among a thousand forgotten legends.
There were great big braziers of incense. One breath of it could change the color of your skin! There were small fountains with intricate sculptures of Gods, carved from jade. One taste of its water could mark you as a friend of Heaven for the rest of your life! There were ribbons of silk and phoenix skin and things too soft for a mortal's experience. Wrap one around your hand and your heart became unbreakable! Wrap one around your finger and another's and the two of you would share a lifetime of love!
The Gods had arrived already. Truly, they were a magnificent sight! Can you imagine their shapes and sizes? Can you see the green and gray and gold of their robes? What of the great Elemental Dragons that served the Immaculate Dragons? Such mighty Gods could be seen in numbers just by looking around! Don't forget the Celestial Lions, those gloriously radiant protectors. With one of them near, death itself couldn't harm a hair on your head!
"What a sight!" "Have you ever seen its like?" "Truly the Dragons bless us!"
That's what any mortal might say if they saw the festivities. Wouldn't you? Imagine a farmer, a peasant, a soldier, hard working men and women who never knew a moment's luxury. Can you see how such a scene must look to ones like them? You've worked all day in the fields, in a workshop, marching in formation, but this...this was something out of a faerie-tale, as wondrous as the stories of the Fairest Folk, only safer!
Somewhere on the Blessed Isle, that greatest continent in Creation, there was one small town that could tell you first hand. They could tell you of that night *day?* at the end of 721 when the Calibration Gate opened for them. If you went there today, you could still find elders who remembered that Calibration.
But this isn't a story of farmers, peasants and soldiers.
This is a story of the young Cynis girl Sari, of how she found Heaven to be much more than she expected...and how she lived to tell the tale!
"I'm bored."
Those fateful words marked the first thing that Cynis Sari said that Calibration day. How unlucky! Most would be wise enough to hold their tongues during this inauspicious time of the year, for they know full well that strange and mysterious things happen. Did the gate come because Sari was bored? Who can say?
But it did come and it would change her life forever.
"Sari, Sari!" cried her slave. "Come see! The Gate to Heaven has come and, tonight, it's come for us!" Sari didn't really own a slave, by the way. Only a Prince of the Earth had that right. Sari desperately wanted to be a Prince, even if she would rather be a Princess. Ten year olds can be like that.
"The Gate to Heaven? Really?" Sari was so excited! It seemed just the thing to dispel the boredom of Calibration. The truth was that Sari had always wanted to go to Heaven and see the Great Gods, maybe even catch a glimpse of the Immaculate Dragons! Not that any of those wondrous beings would deign to look at a little mortal like her. Oh no, Sari knew her place. That's why she wanted to be a Prince!
She dashed to find her Mom, only to see that the entire household was preparing to go through. Mom wore something...well, the only recognizable thing about it was that it was red. Sari knew Mom wore dresses for adults but she'd never seen her in one until now, except by accident. How embarrassing!
"Can I go too?" she begged.
"Yes, you can go," Mom smiled affectionately. She was so nice sometimes. Especially when she smelled those flowers, drank those 'special' colored drinks and ate those pills. Sari wasn't allowed yet because it was for adults. How unfair!
Sari ran to her room and tore her whole wardrobe apart, looking for just the right dress. Wouldn't you, if you were going to see Heaven for the only time in your life? It took her ten minutes to button up all the fastenings but her slave helped and then she was as pretty as any Dynast could hope to be. She looked in the mirror. Yep, she was pretty!
"You wanna come?" Cynis Sari asked. Her slave (what was her name, anyway?) could only bob her head so hard Sari thought it was going to fall off! "Here," the young girl said. "Why don't you wear one of my dresses? Maybe Heaven will smile on you and you'll be born a Prince in your next life!"
"Mistress is too kind," the slave stammered. "May *the wood dragon?* see you Exalt, as you so richly deserve."
Sari was a Cynis so she was no innocent but praise made her blush. She hated blushing. So she hid it by grabbing the nearest of her fine dresses and began stuffing it onto the slave. Thankfully, they were of an age so it was easy.
"It's going to be fun!" Sari exclaimed, peeking out the window at the great golden gate. She raised her eyes to the sky, mouthed a "I love you so much" to the Immaculate Dragons, and ran all the way, just in case she got left behind.
Heaven!
Have you ever seen such a place!
Cynis Sari sure hadn't. She thought her eyes were going to fall out and roll across the ground like Father's dice, that's how hard she was staring. What spectacle! What sights!
She nibbled on trays of weird but tasty things, drank fruit bunch by the bowful, and even danced with a dozen different Gods. They weren't at all stuffy like she thought they would be. If only she didn't get patted on the head. She hated that. Would you, if all you wanted to do was be a grown up so you could do all the adult stuff too?
A great Celestial Lion, so much bigger than she was, sat majestically in the midst of the crowd. Sari felt overwhelmed by all the Gods who laughed and danced and cavorted through the square. But the lion...he looked nice. She ducked under a great serpent with wings and rainbow feathers and made her way up to the guardian of the festival.
"Hi!" she said shyly.
The Celestial Lion...had he heard her? He had, of course, but little Sari didn't know that.
"I'm sorry, I know I'm not supposed to talk to Gods but...I just wanted to say thank you!"
"For what?" the lion said gruffly, eyes roving through the crowd. He was looking for lawbreakers, of course, but little Sari didn't know that either.
"For making the world wonderful!" She beamed at him, her heart overflowing with warmth and gratitude. It was easy to be grateful in Heaven, it's true, but Cynis Sari was always a very kind girl so this was nothing new for her.
"You're welcome," the lion said. So serious!
Impulsively, Sari hugged the leg of the Celestial Lion. Can you imagine his face? Haha, he was shocked. *is any of this even remotely possible?*
"I want to tell you a secret," Sari said, cupping her hands around her mouth. All of this was so beneath the station of one like this Celestial Lion but it was Calibration. He bent his head. "After tonight, I'm gonna say a prayer and thank you for protecting all of us, okay? Please don't tell, I'm only ten and Mom would kill me if she found out!"
What Sari didn't know as she skipped away was that she had made this Celestial Lion feel very guilty. In the North, he had made cults that gave him a very healthy influx of prayers. But he was a policeman, you see, and he wasn't supposed to accept bribes like that. He had never had a problem with it because he did protect those people too and wasn't prayer the right reward for the Gods?
Yet this little mortal girl had touched him. Her sincerity reminded him of the way it used to be. That little girl's prayer, when it reached him, would be the only one truly pure he'd heard in a thousand years.
What he was doing was wrong. The Celestial Lion made up his mind to disband his cults and return their worship to the proper divinities. He had a reputation to live up to now.
"Ooooh, what's over here?" Sari asked. Since she wasn't actually asking anyone, no one answered her. That's what happens when you talk to yourself. Unless you're around a smart-aleck, like her older brother Jonis. Sometimes she hit him in the arm because that's what you do to smart-alecks, even Princes. Don't be a smart-aleck or you might get hit in the arm too.
Something shiny, like colored rain, was falling ever so slowly on one of the nearby streets. It was very pretty and Cynis Sari crept over to see what was going on. There was so much happening in Heaven and she wasn't going to miss a second of it!
Unless it was Mom doing adult things with a God.
Ewww! That was one thing Sari did not want to grow up for!
The young Cynis girl covered her eyes and ran away. It was so not her fault when she bumped into someone else.
"Hello there, little girl."
Sari opened her eyes and looked up. Someone was talking to her? Yes, that pretty lady with all those feathers in her hair *look up her description*. Wow, she was pretty! Mom didn't look anywhere near that good, even with her make up on!
"Wow, you're really pretty!" Sari said honestly. This is what you get when you take an innocent (for a Cynis) girl, surround her with heavenly treasure and also keep her up really late.
"Thank you. What's your name?" The Goddess knelt down next to her. Wasn't that forbidden? She was so gonna get in trouble...maybe they both would? Good thing the Immaculate Monk in her household hadn't come! She didn't want to be lectured and she knew the pretty lady wouldn't want to be either.
"I'm Cynis Sari," she said proudly. "I'm from *this town*. Where are you from?"
"Why, here of course," the woman laughed. "But that doesn't mean I don't know of your family. I'm very fond of them actually."
"Why?" No, Sari was ten, not two, but she was that kind of nosey girl who could ask a lot of questions. You know girls like that, I'm sure. They get hit in the arm sometimes, just like smart-alecks.
"They understand pleasure," the Goddess said sedately. Sari didn't know what 'sedate' meant but if she had, that's how she would have thought the Goddess looked. "And I embody it. At least, a kind of it. Would you like to see for yourself?"
"Sure!" Sari volunteered, eager to keep a God happy with her. "...but...no adult stuff, okay?" She knew all about adult stuff, even if it seemed pretty yucky to her. Mom told her she would like it when she grew up but she didn't think so.
"Of course not." The Goddess drifted close and, soft as a feather, she breathed on poor Cynis Sari.
You know that feeling in your tummy after you've had just a couple pieces of candy? When you have that delicious taste in your mouth but you haven't had too much yet? That's not what this felt like. But it was something just as good.
"That's very nice!" Sari said. "Thank you! You should offer some of that to Mom, once she's done with her adult stuff. She really likes things that make you feel good."
"What are you?" the Goddess asked. She was keeping a nice face for the little girl but the Goddess was actually Burning Intoxicant, the Divinity of Drugs. Her breath should have been enough to roll that little girl's eyes right back into that pretty little head and make her pass out. Only it hadn't.
Now the Goddess of Intoxication was interested.
"I'm Sari! Don't you remember?"
Burning Intoxicant looked at the young mortal and stretched out her hand.
"Of course I do. Do you like Heaven?"
Sari took the Goddess' hand and nodded eagerly. The little girl's smile got bigger but Burning Intoxicant's touch wasn't doing what it should to a mortal child. How unusual!
"I would like to show you a special part of it. Would you like to see?"
"Sure!"
"Then follow me."
The Goddess took the little Dynast to the edge of the Calibration festival and passed the guards. What Sari didn't know was that Burning Intoxicant was taking her out of bounds, which meant she could get in a whole lot of trouble because Heaven was really nice but it could also be really mean. Unfortunately for Sari, the Goddess was also really mean.
Just outside the festival was a great big hall. Inside were huge tables filled with all good things and there were Gods eating and drinking and singing and dancing. It was just like the Calibration party only this kind of party never ended. Told you Heaven was a nice place.
It was not a nice place for the handful of other 'people' people here, though.
Sari huge smile became really really small and she clung to Burning Intoxicant's hand. She was nervous, you see, because she saw her slave girl on a table wearing really gorgeous green shoes and she was dancing. Sari like dancing but the slave didn't seem to like it. That's what made her nervous. The slave looked scared and that wasn't right.
"Just over here."
In a corner of the big room were a couple of very beautiful Gods and Goddesses. They weren't at a table, though. Instead, their corner was covered with purple pillows, embroidered with pictures of the 13 Greatest Sexual Feats Ever and overstuffed with clouds. Burning Intoxicant took a spot on the pillows and sat Sari down next to her.
"Who's this?" asked Novel Prana. Novel was the God of New Sensations and he was very powerful. He had not seen a mortal in a long time and he definitely did not expect to see one with Burning Intoxicant. She didn't like them either, you see.
"This is Cynis Sari. Say hello, Sari."
"Hello," Sari said, smiling again since these Gods were being nice. She looked at one...then the other. Why were they smiling at her like that? It was nice but just a little bit scary again.
"Hello, Sari. I'm Novel Prana. That's the Lily on Water, Caroon Yeven, the Blue Sarong, and Crane Aloft Without Wings." Each God looked at her as they were announced but did not nod. Why should they? They were Gods. More to the point, they were Gods of pleasure and distraction, except for the Lily on Water. She was the Goddess of Lost Innocence so why she was here was anyone's guess.
"Hello. I'm honored to meet those so great in the eyes of the Immaculate Dragons." Cynis Sari curtseyed because that's what you did when you met important people. Because she did, though, she did not see the Gods chuckle to each other or see them shake their heads at her words. They were not really under the direction of the Dragons but Sari didn't know any better. How could she?
"Sari, I would like you to try a taste of this drink," Burning Intoxicant said, lifting a flute of horn carved from a Behemoth. Sari leaned close and giggled at the way the golden liquid inside swirled just a little more slowly than it should. Heaven was so wonderful!
Burning Intoxicant smiled with evil anticipation as Sari took the glass. The other Gods were very much interested now. Burning Intoxicant had just given the mortal a drink of a unique and special concoction, made from equal parts Ambrosia, liquid essence of Heroin, a draught from the Lavender Waters of Renewal, and just a touch of the ichors of *look up that one addictive demon*. The drink was Perfection, and those who had a single sip had to become more perfect or die. Even Gods of Yu-Shan did not idly taste something like that and there were only a handful of Sidereal who dared.
What would happen when a mortal drank it?
"It's very good," the Goddess assured Sari while she winked at her friends. "Try a big gulp, it's much better that way." Lily on Water herself was watching. What would happen when someone took a gulp? It had never been done!
"Thank you," Sari said nervously. She was very nervous, if you want to know. She had that itching feeling right at the back of your head that tells you something's wrong. But what could be wrong in Heaven? These were Gods, not rivals from her Primary School.
She was in Heaven. If she wasn't safe here, there was no safety anywhere.
Sari put the glass to her lips and inhaled its aroma. Wow! Wow, that smelled good! Imagine something like baking chocolate chip cookies together with very very fine wine. It didn't smell like that but it smelled just as good.
She took a deep drink and shivered as the slightly thick liquid rolled across her tongue and down her throat. There are no words for how good it tasted. It was so good, she downed the entire glass in a second breath!
"That's so good!" Sari exclaimed, rubbing her lips clean with the sleeve of her dress. She beamed at the Goddess of Intoxication. "Thank you!"
"I'm glad you liked it, child."
The Gods gathered close and watched the mortal very carefully. Sari looked at each of them, wondering why they were doing that. That's when her tummy started feeling hot and cold at once.
"I don't think I feel very well, sorry," she said, putting a hand on her stomach. Little bits of ice and fire were breaking off inside of her, floating around all around. "I think I had too much."
"Of course you did," the Goddess said. "You had more than I would drink in one sitting, little mortal. A Sidereal would curl up in a corner and die very loudly, I think. I wonder what you will do."
"What? Die?" Sari wiped her forehead. The hot and cold seemed to be pricking her right under her skin now and she shivered as she sweated.
"Oh yes. I call it the Final Taste and it is the most potent drink ever made, in the whole history of the world. It makes you perfect but only if you're strong enough. It was never meant for mortal lips."
"Then why did you give it to me?" Sari asked, full of fear.
"I wanted to see what would happen to someone who can ignore my touch so easily."
"Me too," Lily on Water said, leaning a bit closer. "There's no flavor of lost innocence like the one a child feels when they realize they're going to die." She smacked her lips, like she had just had candy.
"Nooooo!" Sari cried. She leaped from her cushion and fell on the floor. She couldn't walk! Why couldn't she walk? "Help me! Someone help me!"
"You're nothing here, little Sari," the Goddess said, sipping on a different glass. "Beyond the festival, you have no rights but what I give you. I've given you the right to die. Aren't you grateful? Aren't you going to thank me?"
"No, I hate you!" Sari cried as she tried to crawl across the floor. She didn't make it very far before a terrible feeling too big to fit in one little body overwhelmed her. It was much too big for her and Sari knew she was in deep trouble, though it felt sort of good. "Mom!"
"She can't help you," Novel Prana said. He was busy enjoying how Sari felt. It was both new for her and new for him, and he lived for nothing else.
"Why don't we put a Life Tap in her?" the Blue Sarong asked. Her eyes were all shiny because she was very excited in a very inappropriately adult way. Bad Blue Sarong. Don't worry. Though she works for the Cerulean Lute of Harmony, most of the Gods there are nicer than she is. Too bad Sari wasn't with one of them.
"I love your idea!" Novel Prana said. "Allow me."
"No, allow me," Burning Intoxicant said with glee. She loved being the center of attention, after all, and all the Gods watching would be praising her for the entertainment for a year to come.
"Get away from me," Sari gasped. She couldn't breathe very well, you see, because the fire and ice pieces were feeling so good that she had to remember to take in air. It was getting harder and harder to remember too. That made her even more scared which only made it harder to breathe.
Aren't you glad you aren't Sari?
Burning Intoxicant bent over the shaking, crying little girl, produced a small tube of lipstick and began applying it. This Life Tap was a powdered soulsteel base mixed with very interesting things. So when the Goddess kissed the girl on the cheek, it left a black lipstick mark that hissed smoke on her cheek!
"After you," Burning Intoxicant said to Novel Prana. It was most gracious of her. The God of New Sensations was the first to inhale a little of the smoke from the lipstick mark and he promptly swooned with delight.
"Your best creation yet!" he said, applauding. All of the other Gods in the corner clapped too and got in line to sample the Life Tap. Each took a breath and moved on to enjoy it, letting the others go. After all, the Life Tap was changing Cynis Sari's life-force into that smoke for them to breathe. When she died, so did the smoke, so they had to hurry! Until then, they marveled at the rich texture of pure innocent Sari mixed with a stiff drink of Final Taste.
"I'm bored."
No, that wasn't Sari saying that. She was on the floor of a God's alehouse, being made perfect until it killed her, remember? Nothing boring about that.
"Then do something."
The first person to speak had been Luna. Yes, that Luna. You know the Moon you see in the sky every night (when it's not cloudy)? Same Luna. The second person to speak had been the Scripture of Crimson Silver. Who was she, you might ask? Well, she's a story for another time and this is a story about one particular Calibration festival, and Sari of course.
"Do what?" Luna asked. This was a little ritual the two did, on the rare occasions they saw each other.
"There's always your precious Games of Divinity," the Scripture said sharply. She said a lot of things sharply. That was the Scripture for you.
"I'm not really in the mood," Luna sighed. "Don't get Me wrong, I love Gaia's gaming sessions but you can't game all the time, you know?"
"Oh yes," the Scripture said, with a stern mouth. "You have only been playing the same game for 4000 years."
"You're just saying that because you don't know how much fun it is to play a Garou. Seriously. The Maidens all play these Mages and it's great, except when the Sun's being that self-righteous Hunter. He always gets more game time than I do. At least I'm not the Maidens. Since They're a group, Gaia does Them all at once and Their scenes are short!"
"Then do something you want to do." The Scripture was more direct than the Sun, sometimes. Other times, she wasn't. They were both that kind of God.
"I don't know," Luna grumbled. The two of them were walking fairly close to the Calibration festival, if you want to know. They could hear the sights but Luna didn't go to them anymore. She was just too busy, usually. After all, She had a job with only 3 days a month off!
"You could always Exalt someone." The Scripture looked at the Calibration festival and sighed, just loud enough to hear. Luna's Exalts always made her sad, you see, because she had been in love with one of them for a very long time.
"Aren't you over him yet?" Luna asked, quite cross.
"You would not say such things if Gaia had ceased her relationship with you." The Scripture glared at Her because she was as quick-tempered as your Mom (yes, yours), but more obvious about it so you knew every time she got mad.
"For My sake, he's a Lunar!" Luna said, rolling Her eyes. She thought the Scripture was being silly. "He's meant for a Solar! Be glad he ditched you now and gave you a clean break before he met her! Sheesh!"
"He is a good man," the Scripture of Crimson Silver said. "A good man who made my existence...kind. I will always miss him. It is my way, Luna, do not chide me for it."
"Maybe I will Exalt someone," Luna grumbled. She was still irritated that the Scripture was fawning over one of Her weapons but what could you do? You could go make another weapon by Exalting a champion of the world, if you had the power. And when you were Luna, you really could. Would you like to be Luna? She wouldn't blame you if you did, you know.
"Then do it," the Scripture said. "Spending time with a new Exalt has always pleased You in the past."
"Fine, I will!" Luna closed Her eyes and concentrated. She had about seven Essence Shards waiting for new hosts in Lytek's cabinet, last time She'd checked. Luna didn't like the Unconquered Sun's approach, just picking a random hero doing an act of greatness right at the second an Anima became available. She was pickier, choosier. She actually looked.
If you wanted to be worthy of Luna, you had to have Her grit. Would you like to be a Lunar? Then you must be willing to survive and endure anything. It's okay if you aren't succeeding at it but you can't ever give up or stop trying. Luna might Exalt a loser but She never Exalts wimps.
"I can't find anyone," Luna said, sighing. She kicked a glass ball, a beautiful bulb of worked purple and orange glass and jade placed for illumination when it was Her turn for game time during the Games of Divinity. It flew right off the sidewalk and into a quicksilver canal. She wasn't really supposed to do that but would you tell Luna not to? I didn't think so.
"It is Calibration," the Scripture of Crimson Silver observed. "Perhaps they are too busy hiding from the demons that slip through."
"Hey, was that a jab at me? You KNOW how long it takes to realign things." Luna sniffed. She was like that sometimes. The rest of the time, She wasn't.
"It is Calibration," the Scripture repeated, sounding a little more thoughtful. She was thinking, you see. "Perhaps you could look for the Golden Dragon again."
Now, I could tell you what Luna said but I'm not going to. It would make your ears bleed, that's how profane it was. Really. No, I'm not kidding. She's an Incarna. When She really swears, ears bleed. You might think you want to know what She's saying but you really don't. ...you still want to know, don't you? Go look at the illustration of that Akuma ripping her eyes out in the Storyteller's Companion then. Yes, that's the kind of person you are and you'll have more fun with that picture than you will with this story.
Anyway!
"Colorful but not very useful," the Scripture said. Her ears weren't bleeding, by the way, because she's not like you.
"I can't believe I promised him that his successor would be chosen from Heaven. You know what My standards are. Do you know how hard it is to find a mortal in Heaven, much less one who makes the cu? There's a REASON there hasn't been another Golden Dragon since the Bureau of Fate decided it could run Creation better."
"Then look now."
Luna look...and Her eyebrows shot right up. A feral grin snuck its way into the corners of Her mouth and pushed Her lips up. She looked very, very scary.
"Gotcha!"
Sari was crying. It was really starting to hurt now. She was still lying on the floor but something was happening. The little bits of fire and ice seemed to be growing inside her. Her arms and legs burned like someone had poured liquid metal into her bones. Her insides felt like she had a dozen icicles in her guts and they were growing, cutting through her.
Needless to say, she was crying a lot.
That didn't seem to bother the Gods at all. They were still breathing her life through the soulsteel lipstick mark on her cheek and having a very merry time. Burning Intoxicant was just preening beneath all the compliments. She liked attention. What a slut.
Sari hated them. I mean she really hated them. She was in so much pain now. She could feel her bones grinding against each other, like, all of them. Can you imagine how that would feel?
And it wasn't demons that had done this. It wasn't monsters from the woods. It wasn't a hellish Anathema that would eat her soul too. It wasn't even a drunken or arrogant Dragon-Blooded who got carried away.
This was Heaven. These were the Gods that were supposed to make the world a happier place. These were the...things...that she offered prayers to, according to the calendar!
"Oh ho, I think she's getting angry!" Novel Prana chuckled. That, too, was a new experience. A mortal, under the influence of the most potent drug ever made, was feeling rage against a God of Heaven. Oh yes. He inhaled once more and shuddered rapturously.
"She's getting so pretty though," Blue Sarong giggled. "Is that the Final Taste doing that?"
"Yes it is," Burning Intoxicant said. She put Sari's head in her lap and stroked a lock of hair. The strands were turning to silver. So was her skin, for that matter. How very interesting, the Goddess thought. Was silver what perfection was supposed to be?
"She'll leave a very lovely corpse," Novel Prana said with a smile. "Praise Yu-Shan for that."
Sari was listening to all of this. How would you feel if the Gods you trusted with your life talked about you that way? I can tell you how Sari felt and what she did.
The dying little Dynast coughed, coughed again, and mumbled something. Burning Intoxicant leaned a little closer to hear. So Sari spit in her face.
"Why, you insolent...!" The audacity had actually rendered the Goddess of Intoxication speechless. Such disrespect was intolerable from a mortal, and little things like justification didn't enter her mind. She was like that.
Burning Intoxicant raised her hand to strike the mortal down. The knife-edge of her palm came down and it would have cracked Sari's head in half. It didn't.
It didn't because the Goddess stopped herself before the blow fell. She stopped herself because of the sudden burst of whites, silvers and deep purples and blues that rippled across that now-glossy skin. The clothing of the entire assembled Gods' grew a little damp and all eyes turned to see the softly majestic Anima of one of Heaven's Incarna.
A cacophony of voices followed.
"A Lunar?" "Here?" "Who is she?" "I haven't seen her before." "Like that means anything." "Look at how young she is!" "I've never seen such a new Lunar!" "Could she be...the Golden Dragon?" "Ridiculous!" "Did she just Exalt?" "Who is she?"
"She's Mine!" Luna kicked both doors off their hinges with one foot. The angry Incarna stormed into the great alehouse and all the Gods dived under the tables. Rather undignified for Gods, I know, but this was the MOON and She was pissed. Luna's battle prowess wasn't a tale in Heaven, it was public knowledge and no one wanted to be anywhere near the receiving end of it.
"Who are you?" Sari asked. She was starting to feel a little better now, though her bones still hurt a whole lot. The Gods around her had fallen back and were now kneeling on the floor, heads bowed, saying nothing.
"I'm many things and sometimes none of them," Luna answered. Okay, so that was a smart-alecky thing to say. But you don't hit the Moon in the arm for being a smart-aleck.
"Why am I glowing? Am I an Anathema?"
"Anathema?" Luna asked, puzzled. She looked like She was thinking about it, which She actually was. "Oh, that's right! The Dragon-Blooded don't like you in this Age. Huh. Oh well, guess you'll have to kick their *****."
"But I don't want to kick their...uhh...rears," Sari finished lamely. She didn't swear, you know. Yes, she was that kind of girl. "My Mom's one, you know."
"Well, they're not all bad," Luna said, sounding slightly bored and a little arrogant.
"I don't want to be a demon," Sari said, frowning despite the amazing beauty of the woman standing before her.
"You're not a demon," Luna growled. She looked offended and, given Luna's role in the Primordial War, She probably had good reason, don't you think? "You're a Lunar. You're My Lunar."
"So, you're my God now?" Sari wished she wasn't so confused. "Do you work for the Immaculate Dragons? Are you related?"
Luna's eyes bulged and She looked like She was going to have a fit. Sari backed up, feeling very scared that this woman who'd just saved her was going to kill her after all. At last, the Goddess just laughed.
"I suppose you could call them My step-children." Luna laughed again at the thought. "Or My harem. Maybe both? But that's not important right now! Don't think of Me as your God...think of Me as your instructor. I'm like a Headmistress of a school. See, you're a very special student, Sari, and I have a special class just for you. You'll be studying with a few other teachers but don't forget that I run the show. From time to time, I'll be giving you homework too."
"But I already have classes next week!" Sari protested. "Mom's going to be so mad at me if I just ditch school. Can you talk to her?"
Luna just looked at Her new Lunar.
"...how old are you, anyway?" Luna asked.
"Ten and 3/4ths!" Sari said proudly.
"You sure don't look ten to me." Luna's eyes were appraising as they looked her up and down. So Sari looked herself up and down. Boy, was she shocked.
While the Final Taste had been killing her, it had also been changing her, you see. Sari was no longer the Sari she'd always known. Her hair had grown a foot and had turned into moonsilver. Her skin was just a touch paler but it was also silvery.
Sari was also a foot taller and was now curvier than Mom was. She felt the new flare of hip that had burst out the seams of her dress. She felt the weight of a bosom she couldn't possibly develop for years. Her entire dress was starting to come apart but it didn't change the basic fact.
She was hot!
"Wow, what happened!" Sari exclaimed. "Did I grow up? It was that drink she gave me, wasn't it? It made me a grown up!"
"Uh, sure." Luna looked over Sari's shoulder at Burning Intoxicant. The God's submissive aversion of her head told Luna all She needed to know. "Well, could be worse. I hear adolescence is a *****. Of course, so am I." Luna grinned at the self-appraisal. At least She did today. Call Her a ***** a week from now, She might rip your head off. Did you notice that she came in here all mad but isn't anymore? She can go back to mad, just like that. She's that kind of Incarna.
"So here's what I want you to do," Luna said, ignoring the slowly gathering crowd of Gods. You didn't see one of the Incarna in this part of town too often, after all. She gestured dramatically and a small folder of papers appeared in Her hand. She handed it over to Sari.
"What's this?" asked the confused, no-longer-little girl.
"Oh, it's your inheritance." Luna grinned heroically, as if She had just done a tremendous deed. Sari wasn't stupid. She smiled along with the Goddess who had turned her into a demon (don't try to argue, you won't convince her right now).
"What is it?" Sari rephrased as she opened it up and grimaced at the Old Realm scrawled across every page. Luna might be an Incarna but Her handwriting was a little hard to read, even if you were fluent in Old Realm, which poor Sari wasn't.
"Fine," Luna said, rolling Her eyes. The truth was that She had to explain Her handwriting often enough that She was easily annoyed by it. You would be too. "It's the deed to a Celestial Manse, so you have a place to stay. A letter of credit so you can get yourself a decent weapon made once you've picked one. And there's an admittance letter to see the Scripture of Crimson Silver in the Forbidding Manse of Ivy, along with instructions to her. She'll get you trained up right. Can't have the Golden Dragon get herself killed when she's only ten, now can we?"
Luna seemed to think that was very funny. Sari didn't think it was very funny but she knew better than to say so. She was a Dynast and that meant she wasn't stupid.
"Can I say goodbye to Mom?"
"Ehhh...I wouldn't," Luna said. "She wouldn't understand and she wouldn't recognize you. She might try to kill you. Trust Me. You'll be fine, Sari. Sari..." Luna's mouth squirmed like She had a bad taste in Her mouth. "I don't like it. So I'm going to name you Heart-Wrought Silver. Yes, I like that. Much better than the Golden Dragon, too," Luna finished in a mumble.
"But...nnn...okay. I'm scared," Sari admitted nervously. She was nervous, because she was stuck in Heaven in a strange place, because she was a demon now, and because her one ally was taking away her name and putting her in some school and who only knew what else.
"Ah, buck up." Luna slapped her arm, the way athletes do. "You've got more nerve than all the mortals in Heaven put together! I especially liked how you spit on Burning Intoxicant's face," She added in a conspiratorial whisper. "You'll do fine, Heart-Wrought Silver. Now, I've got to get back to my game. ******* Black Spiral Dancer thinks he can throw down on me? ***** got another Klaive coming!"
Luna laughed. All the other Gods laughed with Her, desperately hoping She'd remember them fondly in the future and let them have a chance to watch the Games of Divinity. Sari didn't laugh, only looked mournful as Luna walked out the door.
Slowly the place went back to normal. The Gods went back to their drinking and dancing. The ones in the corner all silently left, not meeting her eyes. Burning Intoxicant, of all the Gods, wouldn't look at her either.
Sari stood in the middle of an alehouse, in the glorious city of Yu-Shan. She didn't look anything like she'd used to and now she was glowing like the moon. That same moon had turned her into a demon, had stripped her family from her, changed her name and stuck her in some school...and she didn't even know how to get to where it was!
A couple of tears fell from her eyes as she allowed herself to cry. She'd just lost everything, after all. She had every right to be sad. It's okay if you feel sad for her too.
Then, Heart-Wrought Silver looked back up and marched for the door. So what if her whole life had been hijacked, she thought. She was a grown-up now with a house and a school and a job. It was what she'd always wanted. So what was she waiting for?
And that is the first story of Heart-Wrought Silver, of how a Lunar Exalted in Yu-Shan, and how a Lunar came to work in (but not for) the Bureau of Secrets. But that is not her only story. You haven't seen her meet Felicity and you haven't seen her fight Fervent Dissent of the Grave's Embrace.
But you will. Maybe next Calibration.
