Born in Fire

Monday 17th October, Thulia's Workroom, Plane of Fire

A lot of potent magical items being used for all this, weren't kidding when they said how risky it is. Worrying that Morgana wouldn't accept such a bond with her, Thulia, you are worrying over nothing, she loves you.

May need assistance in this, interesting.

"Hang on, you aren't suggesting to marry her or something, are you!?"

Thulia froze, mouth open in shock at that blunt statement, while Morgana looked at her with wide eyes. It was only Bruce's gravel tones that brought some sanity back to the conversation.

"Nah, it's not like that. Or even an engagement. It's an arrangement, which you can reverse later if you want to."

Caitlin sure has a way of getting straight to the big hanging question, doesn't she. Hehe, I knew that would be Morgana's response, Thulia and her are so cute together.

Thulia, Morgana is a teenage girl in a society where nudity is a taboo subject plus she is attracted to you. Of course, she is going to enjoy seeing you naked. Bwahaha, says one thing then gives Morgana a show when taking off her clothes. This ritual was the simple option, eep. So intense, from Thulia's reaction to their emotions and magic intermingling it isn't something to be done lightly.

*eyes bug out* All that to get the psychofágos out of Morgana so she can fight it in spirit form, scary and impressive.

Only able to watch the cord connecting her spirit to her body, how her body is responding, and not being able to do much else for Morgana right now, it must feel like torture to Thulia. *eyes near pop out* No wonder Morgana is in such rough shape after all this, damage to her spirit reflected in her body, if she wasn't so sturdy this would have killed her. Replacing spent power that quickly, starting to see why Ms. Grimes and Circe have so many lessons with warnings in their classes on magic.

She kneeled next to her love, cradling her head in her hands as she bent forward over her. She winced inside as she saw the lines burnt into her arms and the charred and bleeding hands, the lesions covering her body.

A fight for her life and she won, but yikes, the damage, comics almost always gloss over how long something like this takes to recover from, so glad that isn't the case here. Crud, internal damage, etc. much worse than anticipated, sounds like without Thulia's healing Morgana wouldn't have survived this.

Listen to Bruce, from the look of Thulia she almost started burning her own lifeforce to heal Morgana more.

"It's not perfect, but, I wasn't far from finishing, she's well enough now her body can cope with healing the rest herself if need be."

Bruce patted her on the shoulder. "Yeah, you build them to take a beating."

So no longer in danger, thank you.

Ceridwen waiting when they come back through the portal, Thulia tells her everything went well, Morgana just needs a few weeks to finish healing. Grimes, I see what you are doing, getting everyone else to go to Doyle while you chat with Thulia in private. Ah, Mrs. Horton is there and concerned about how fatigued Thulia looks.

Yay, Thulia gets to stay until Morgana wakes up and chat with her a little before having to leave, Mrs. Horton could be a great diplomat. Wishing to take Morgana how to take care of her, Thulia, you have it bad, but leave it to the professionals for now. Ceridwen wakes up Thulia to tell her Morgana is awake, I wonder how long she slept. Hug and long kiss, too cute. The long battle is over and Thulia has to leave, aww.

That exhausted still to stumble like that, Thulia is going to need to rest a lot to recover her strength.

Bruce squinted as he examined her face closely. "I don't like how faint your hair is, and you need rest. Lots of rest. I'm going to put you to bed, and no arguments!"

Hehe, it is like Bruce is the stern, yet fatherly figure having to get Thulia to take care of herself better.

Tuesday 18th October, Thulia's Home, Plane of Fire

Middle of the next day and still in that rough of shape, no damage, but a day or two till back to full strength. It could have been a lot worse. Jedrorog steak, just how big is this steak?

Oh good, Bruce told Tanau how everything went. Tanau is here, yay. The mark for the leman bond, Tanau left some things out in her explanation of them, figures.

Tanau just smiled. "Tell me, when you were forming the bond - how intimate did it feel?"

Thulia looked down and coughed, trying to play for time. It didn't work.

"Be honest with me, child; don't worry, I won't tell about it."

"Well... grandmother, when our auras' touched, I felt... I don't know exactly what I felt, it was like I was touching her, all over at once?" She frowned... "I'm sorry, I can't quite put it into words." She blushed again. "And it felt...well, exciting. And arousing. I was so sorry it had to end."

So the way the mark looks shows how deep the bond is, interesting.

"Leman bonds are all different, of course, depending on who makes them, the circumstances, how deeply they feel for each other, all sorts of factors. What you experienced was the sign of a deep bond, and while they can be broken, in your case that's something you shouldn't consider casually. That is if you want to dissolve it now you've saved her?"

Strong feelings from both of them, I hope they are together forever.

She waited for a moment for Thulia to smile shyly, then dropped the other shoe."Now, when were the two of you thinking of announcing a formal engagement?"

"GRANDMOTHER!!!"

Tanau merely smiled innocently as she watched Thulia splutter helplessly and rather incoherently. Well, time would tell, but she had a suspicion her joke might not turn out to be a joke at all.

Bwahaha, I like Tanau, she's silly.

Thulia's Parents Home, Plane of Fire

Mirdaz being visited by someone who represents someone important, I wonder why. Interest in certain quarters about Thulia's actions, concern about the interest in her from unsavory parties.

"It seems that her actions on Earth have upset a group of mages. Given their reputation, frankly, we see anything that upsets them as a good thing. She did arrange an initial contract with them through the Intermediaries, and they have assured us that any actions she took were not in breach of that, so as far as we are concerned she's done nothing wrong."

Great, that means the Cult is still around.

"I'm afraid that isn't the case. This cult is quite powerful and has contacts on other planes, including this one. So if they identify or locate your daughter, simply forbidding her from visiting Earth wouldn't resolve the issue."

Oh crud, the way Abraxus acted I thought it was a lesser cult that somehow came into funding for the project, this is bad. Concern about indirect action against Thulia, and things just got a lot more complicated.

"Unusual... are you referring to her interest in this human girl she's been in contact with?"

"That is certainly part of it, yes. It's very rare for such a pairing to occur, and the circumstances are highly unusual. We would like to discuss some of the ideas we have in mind with you, to come to an agreement on what the best course of action is to safeguard your daughter."

Don't tell me one of their ideas is to send Thulia to Whateley Academy since she is part human to keep her safe and hidden?

Saturday 22nd October, Thulia's Home, Plane of Fire

Aww, that short visit and the planning of how to arrange visits with Morgana including the limiter.

Bruce shrugged. "They seem to think you'll do all sort of evil mind-controllery things to her if you get her here on her own!"

Thulia thought for a moment, a smile slowly forming. "Oh, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind..."

Bruce looked at her and sighed. Teenagers.

Hehehe, just wait until Morgana and Thulia can finally find some time alone.

"She was... interesting. Really not what I was expecting. Her magic is odd, I've never seen anyone cast so much like a machine."

Bruce frowned. "But aren't Artificers supposed to be sort of machines?"

"I think so. But apart from when she was making the amulet, she acted just like a person. Or at least she was doing a really good impersonation of one, and Morgana thinks of her as a person."

So they don't know the truth about Artificers on the Plane of Fire either. Bruce, trust Thulia when she says Whateley is weird, even alumni agree on that detail.

A secret meeting room, somewhere on the Plane of Fire.

This bunch chatting about Thulia and Morgana in academic terms, interested in the transformation done on Morgana, wish for a deep bond between them, I don't like their interest in the girls.

"Yes, but their relationship is likely to distract Thulia from any other considerations, at least for a while. Currently, she seems to be planning short visits, which would indicate little time for considerations other than her lover. That will make it more difficult to steer her to get the information we would like to have for our studies."

"I agree, however, I believe that our current plan can cope with that problem."

Okay, I really don't like this group now. Use Thulia in some experiment, but get her agreement, they are sounding shadier by the moment.

They know about her helping Morgana save herself, call her a possible candidate, is this some group trying to overturn the overly conservative society and advance things, but working from the shadows for now?

And not as well-informed as I thought, don't realize the psychofágos is connected to the cult Thulia was contracted to. Improving their knowledge on humans or just human threats is part of their experiment?

"I think we can assume, subject to further information coming to light, that the possible threats are likely minimal, and in any case, the experiment itself would not make them worse. A certain level of risk cannot be separated from the experiment, given its aims. An attack by the cult on her lover is not directly our concern, but we should allow for any effect it would have on Thulia."

Grrrr, really do not like this group right now.

Friday 21st October, A penthouse in New York

A being from another dimension living on Earth a long time anonymously, interesting.

Faryngagrax

There is a name straight from the Plane of Fire if not some lower plane. Information on Whateley Academy beyond where it is, oh boy, they are digging themselves a very deep hole.

"We'd like to know more about what actually goes on there, and how they handle things, what sort of a place it is. There's a list in there of the things we'd like to know, although we do realise you might not be able to get them all in the time we have available."

And Faryn has contacts who can handle this, this isn't good.

Afternoon, 31st October, St. Ninian's School for Ladies, Britain.

A celebration, visitation from Fire, as in the Plane of Fire, for it, and mention of ceremonies.

"I suppose I should make sure the girls realise that they are not to set fire to anything they aren't supposed to just so they can watch things burn, even if it is supposed to be a fire celebration. We don't need our insurance increased again!"

Okay, just what kind of school is this? Mention of Horned God, are they all Wicca, Witches, or some other form of magic practitioners?

Evening (GMT), Academy, Plane of Fire

So the Fire Festival is celebrated at various places and this St. Ninian's School is the one that Thulia got picked for. Manifestations based on where they sent, Vexy only a fire spirit, fire dragon if Hong Kong ever did the festival, cool. The snarking between Thulia and Vexy, they could teach lessons on.

St Ninians

Samhain Ritual, so that is what this is all about. Improvise when a ritual summoning is involved, you would have to be suicidally stupid or arrogant to do that.

Plane of Fire

The academy uses the students for this so the staff can get out of work, so that kind of stuff happens even in other dimensions and not just on Earth. So far, so good, nothing went wrong with the summoning. All that trouble to summon an entity and ask for their blessing, but nothing to offer them, just plain rude.

Thulia's parent's home, Plane of Fire

Visit with her parents and no issues this time, just a quiet visit. Until her mom brings up the leman bond, Tanau told them about it, not mad about it, good.

Her father grunted in amusement. "I suspected as much. Well, you're old enough to start having relationships, and while the circumstances of this one aren't exactly normal, it's not like you've committed to anything irrevocable yet."

He looked at her again, more closely. "However... if you wish us to approve of the situation, we want to know all about this girl, Morgana, to see if she is an acceptable leman for you."

Why do I get the feeling Morgana is going to meet Thulia's parents sooner rather than later at this rate?

Gushing about Morgana and everything, how many hours did that take?

Her parents had sat silently while she stumbled through her story and explanation, before exchanging a look. Finally, her mother smiled. "Well, dear, I didn't realise your courtship would be quite so unconventional, but then you've never been a conventional girl. Morgana does sound as if she has many good qualities, but of course, we can't just take your word for that, can we?"

Thulia was trying to recover from her terminal embarrassment of having to be so forthcoming with her parents, as she lookup up, confused. "I don't understand...?"

Her father gave a deep chuckle at the look on her face. "Why, girl, we'd like to meet her and see her for ourselves."

Dum, dum, dum. A visit once it is practical, with how chaotic Whateley can be that might take some time.

Tanau's home, Plane of Fire

Things have quieted down for Thulia after removing that nasty demon from Morgana, good.

"Oh yes. Fascinating reading, she seems to have been living an adventure novel."

Bruce scowled. "More like a bloody soap opera!"

He isn't wrong. Bruce, Morgana being a girl now won't make much difference for them in that matter. Now Tanau wishes to know about Morgana better, she is going to be swamped with questions when she finally visits the Plane of Fire.

"Morgana is more careful than Thulia - OK, that isn't a high standard to pass! - but I think in general at least she won't help Thulia get out of her depth. I'd like to find a way of warning her that Thulia can, well, get a bit enthusiastic about her ideas, but I can't see an easy way of doing that, and with them seeing so little of each other, it's not a good time to try it anyway."

Just have Bianca spend some time around Thulia, she will tease her until she learns to rein herself in better.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt. Just..." he thought carefully, trying to put things into words. "try not to be too...blunt... about certain aspects of their relationship?"

Tanau's laugh was a chime of bells. "Oh Bruce, do you think I would do that?"

He just glowered.

"Oh all right, do you think I would be that blunt?"

"Better, Lady."

Quick, someone give Morgana some anti-embarrassment charms!

Sunday 6th November (Earth time), Thulia's Home, Plane of Fire

Thulia, a lot of entertainment is fictional, exaggerated, and not close to how real life is. You need a better source of what life on Earth is really like.

And then there was the difficult problem of co-ordinating makeup and accessories with weapons, they'd never really covered that in her classes.

Worrying about her outfit for a date, but also this, someone needs to help Thulia get out of her own head before she starts spiraling about all the choices.

*reads the description of the dress Thulia chose* Morgana might have steam coming off the top of her head when she first sees Thulia in that. Red flag day and sticking to human form. Thulia doesn't have to worry if the outfit will work for Morgana, she might have to worry about any meatheaded guys who see them together and try to do anything Morgana or Thulia won't like.

This was a fun story from start to finish. Thulia's frustrations with her society, being creative in a place where it is discouraged for the most part and having to find her own way to get her project done. Her mentor seems to be very sneaky, manipulating things so Thulia will learn a lesson even if she doesn't wish to, but also covertly encouraging her.

Her parents, at first, seem like the kind of smothering parents who force their kids to do things their way or else. I'm so glad Tanau was able to chat with them and sort things out. Of course now that comes with the complication of Thulia's parents wishing to meet Morgana, that will be interesting when it finally happens.

The cult, was viler, especially Abraxus, than I remembered from Morgana's origin story. I had hoped we had seen the last of them, but finding out this group was just a small piece of a much larger, more powerful organization is scary. We can only hope the defenses of Thulia's family and of Whateley Academy can keep Thulia and Morgana safe from them.

Tanau, is like the grandmother you wish to have because of how fun she can be, how supportive, and understanding. But also the kind you don't want because of how easily she can embarrass you. I hope we see more of her in the future.

Seeing all the details from Morgana's stories from a different perspective was definitely eye-opening. And I can't wait for Where There's Smoke There's Fire 4.