Chapter Text
It’s a fairly simple mission.
The trio was sent out to investigate a small village south of Vessa. There were rumors of people going missing without leaving anything behind. Inability to locate any objects on their person, no trace of the magic within them. The townsfolk found it concerning, and the guild responded by sending a group many dubbed “the robots and their little flesh buddy.”
Purnama didn’t particularly mind the title. Sure, it might seem demeaning to be called little, but next to Opal and Maria, she certainly looked tiny. If anything, it was a bit funny, and had become something of an inside joke between them, shared with laughter over dinner or a campfire.
Regardless of it, over the years of academy and guild work, the three had build a rapport that was nearly unbreakable. They’ve had their fair share of accidents and injuries, Maria may have broken the top off of Purnama’s cane once or twice, but they always seemed to work through it.
So much so that the warforged of the party had shared some of their struggles. Opal’s fight for humanity over the centuries, Maria’s orphaning to spawn, often shared in their most vulnerable of moments, near death and the like. But every time, Purnama was there to help. She would offer her shoulder to cry on, a hug if they wanted, and always, always, she had words of comfort and encouragement.
That was the role she had given herself. Support. In battle, in investigation, in friendship. She was a support for “her” robots. She would occasionally offer small bits of her life. Her year being bedridden, coming to RontMar from the middle island, joining the Mage’s College. But for the most part, she preferred to keep that tucked away, wrapped up in her skirts and sleeves and only slightly visible on her left hand.
She twisted the rings on her thumb as the thought crossed her mind, and she glanced down at the side of her hand. The scarring wasn’t as taught today. She was actually moving fairly well, all things considered. And a good thing, too, as the investigation had brought them down the long road out of town towards a patch of woods.
Despite her relatively good health, though, Purnama couldn’t help but feel… off. Something was nagging at her, not externally, but internally. Her gut twisted with nerves, as if urging her to move forward with more caution than she had planned. She tried to trust herself, but it wasn’t an easy feat, and eventually she gave in to simply ignoring her anxiety, no matter how much it ate at her.
The three ventured into the woods, as the townspeople had urged. Opal led the charge, insisting that if something happened, that the younger two were more important. Despite Purnama and Maria protesting, the eldest still went in front. Purnama followed behind Opal, with Maria at the flank in case something (or someone) tried to sneak up on them.
After a while of carefully traversing through the trees, the woods began to thin, and the trio came to a small clearing. It couldn’t have been much larger than the office of the guildheads, and the remnants of a camp was positioned near the center.
“This must be where other search parties have camped.” Purnama remarked.
“And recently, too.” Opal added, kneeling over the abandoned campfire. “Look, there’s still some smoke coming off of it.”
“I thought the village didn’t send out any search parties.” Maria said. Opal seemed to scowl beneath their mask. Purnama closed her eyes and began to cast, the full moon on her headpiece glowing lightly.
As she opened her eyes, the magic she was searching for was… everywhere. The entire clearing and even some of the trees beyond it practically reeked of magic. It almost felt like an illusion, but there was something wrong with it, and it stung Purnama’s eyes with how vibrant it all was. It only made her gut turn more. Still, she wasn’t about to leave her dear friends in the dark.
“It’s magic. Everything here is magic.” She said, forcing her voice to even out.
“We shouldn’t stay.” Maria responded quickly.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think we have a choice. The village needs their people, or they at least need to know what happened.” Purnama said to her.
“Where does it feel like it ends? We could camp out there for a bit and see if anyone comes by.” Opal asked.
“This way. It’s not far into the woods.” She began to walk slowly back beyond the edge of the clearing, stopping about 30 feet into the trees and turning back to face her party. “Here. It ends here.”
The warforged pair joined her, and they began to wait. And wait. It was unnerving, sitting in the woods for hours on end, not knowing what exactly they were looking for. Purnama kept her eyes on the clearing the entire time, occasionally casting again to see if there was any changes to the spell. There never was. If anything, the fact that it was so consistent was only more concerning.
A spell of this size on its own out in the woods was incredibly rare. The caster would have to stay relatively close the entire time, and even then they would have to drop it after a while to rest. Casting a spell that difficult for that long was a recipe for disaster.
“Maybe it’s not a person that’s casting the spell.” Opal said when Purnama brought up her concerns.
“Or there’s a lot of different people casting the spell.” Maria added. The half-elf could only nod and continue to observe the area.
Eventually, the sun had set, and Purnama felt herself comforted as the moon rose above their heads. It was perfectly visible in the clearing, brightly shining across the trees and grass, bathing everything in a cool blue light. Unfortunately, her comfort didn’t last long.
“There.” Maria whispered. She pointed across the clearing, where a hooded figure walked, heading towards the center of the clearing by the campfire. Silently, the figure raised their hands.
Out of the woods, more hooded figures appeared. A few nearly spotted the trio of heroes, but the darkness and bramble was enough to hide them. There must have been 25, maybe 30 people in the clearing. It looked so busy. So full.
And then they began to sing.
It had been years since Purnama heard the Song. She almost thought she had lost the ability to hear it. But here, there were so many people, all singing towards the moon, the stars, the sky, calling for Her. Purnama threw her hands over her ears, letting go of her cane and falling backwards into a tree. The noise began to swim together. It was so loud, so painfully loud.
“Stop. Stop, stop singing, stop it!” She began to plead. Her eyes went unfocused. She wasn’t processing anything around her, she was barely even being quiet anymore. Someone touched her. Who touched her? Where was she? “Don’t touch me! Stop singing, please stop, just shut UP!”
With a yell, she flung a wild bolt of magic out of her hand. She curled up in a ball, sobbing. There was no singing anymore. There wasn’t anything. The blood rushed behind her ears, muffling everything but her own cries.
She couldn’t tell how much time had passed before she ran out of tears, replaced with painful breaths and a pounding headache. She felt so tired. She opened her eyes (when had they even closed?) refocusing on the head of her cane, which must have fallen when she had. Just beyond it, her party knelt, shaking her by the shoulder.
“..nama. Purnama! Please, get up.” The crackling voice of Maria was the first thing she heard, still a bit muddled. “You have to get up, Purnama, come on. I can’t…” her sentence faded out, unfinished. Purnama could only groan a bit, forcing her head to turn and face the younger.
“…are you two okay?” She asked with a gravely voice.
“That shouldn’t matter right now. What happened to you?” Opal asked as the two helped Purnama sit up against the tree.
She took in their faces a bit. Most people would struggle to read their moods, Opal hiding beneath a mask and Maria’s face unable to properly show emotion, but the years gave Purnama an ability to see into them. And god, they were so scared.
No, not scared. Worried. A little beaten up, but they weren’t worried for themselves or each other. They were worried… for her.
There was something else, too. Or maybe Purnama was imagining it. They were curious. They didn’t need to be.
“Nothing. It was… it’s nothing.” Purnama shook her head, forcing a small smile. “You two don’t have to worry about me, alright? I think I just need to rest. Oh, the… the group. They didn’t hear me, did they?”
“We dealt with it.” Maria stated.
“You need to tell us what happened.” Opal insisted, before adding, “Please.”
“I… I’d rather not talk about it out here.” Purnama admitted quietly, turning her head away.
“We can go back to the village. Whatever you need. But you have to promise to tell us everything, okay?” Opal said as Maria nodded in agreement.
A second passed before Purnama simply replied, “Okay.”
If she had the energy, she would break down again. She had been so satisfied being the support, and she knew how much her dear party had struggled in their lives. They both lost their families, they couldn’t fully comprehend the world around them, and Purnama was happy to help them learn. She never wanted to bring them down with her past. She never told them more than she needed to. “I was injured in a magic accident,” she’d say. “I came from the middle island to RontMar a few years ago,” too. Simple things that never gave her past away. A naïve part of her wanted to believe she could go her entire life without telling the pair her past.
Opal was kind enough to carry the short woman. She may have fallen asleep in their arms if she weren’t so anxious. She didn’t know how she would even begin to explain herself. What would they think of her? How would they react when they learned she could still hear that vile language?
She would understand if they never wanted to see her again. Sometimes she felt that way, too.
They returned to their camp outside the village around midnight. They had chosen to camp out rather than stay in the inn, which Purnama was, in retrospect, thankful for, as it meant she knew no one would overhear their conversation without being spotted first. She was careful to avoid the topic for a while. She boiled some water with lemon to soothe her throat from crying, she removed her headpiece to cut down on the pressure to her head, she loosened her boots to ease the pain in her bad leg and ankle. She couldn’t avoid talking forever, though, and Maria and Opal sat intently, observing Purnama’s every move.
At last, she sighed. “I… I would like to start by apologizing. I never wanted… you never needed to find out this sort of thing.” Opal opened their mouth to argue, their mask discarded, but Purnama interrupted. “I know. I know it was stupid, or selfish, or cruel, or any number of words to describe it. I haven’t had anyone care to know my past, and I wanted to keep it private. That has shown itself to be a mistake.
“I guess I’ll start at the beginning. Before me, technically. The Joshi family —my family— is a long line of lunar sorcerers. My mother was incredibly skilled with magic, as was my grandmother, and her mother before her. I believe we’ve been around since before She even came down centuries ago.
“I don’t know when my family got involved with the Cult of the Broken Sky. Maybe it was recently, maybe it was when She first attacked. Maybe we were the first, or the newest, I really am unsure. All I know is that by the time I was born, we were well respected in the cult’s ranks.
“I can’t remember my parents. The cult always said they were killed by some hunter not long after I was born. Sometimes I doubt that. But… the alternative, that I don’t know what took them, it’s…” she trailed off, keenly observing the two across from her. She knew their families were important to them, that they both lost them in ways they could remember. Those memories were tangible for them, and she didn’t want to upset them. Opal sucked in a breath before moving their hand, urging Purnama to continue.
“I never really felt them missing, in any case. The cult camp I grew up in was small. We were a family in our own right. I was trained by a few well-practiced warlocks in the ways of magic, and once I surpassed them, I earned my spot in the camp. I must have been around… 14. When they had me call for the first time.”
“You… when you freaked out, you said they were singing.” Maria said. “What did that mean?”
Purnama’s hands tensed around her cup. “The Song. It’s the quasi-language of the cult. I… I’ve always been able to hear it. I thought I lost it, but I suppose it’s rare for people to speak an illegal language out in the capital city. Even if it’s silent to most.”
“I’m guessing it isn’t a choice to hear it or not?” Maria asked, leaning towards her friend a bit. Purnama only shook her head.
“Believe me, if I could choose to be deaf to it, I would.” She went silent again, taking a few sips of her drink.
“Could you continue, Purnama?” Opal asked.
“Yes, my apologies. I was 14 when they first has me call. My connection to the moon and my ability to hear…Her… it meant I was perfect to try to call her down. I was good at magic, and I loved it so dearly. And I wanted to see Her. I thought, ‘If I’m the one who could bring Her back to us, I’d be so happy.’ I didn’t want fame, or recognition, I just wanted to help. I suppose that’s why I let myself be so mistreated.
“Years passed, and our leaders only had me working harder. What started as a few minutes or an hour of casting became days. Became weeks. I think I once casted for 3 weeks straight with no rest. It was dangerous. Deadly. But these people, they didn’t know that. They saw that I had a great deal of magic and made me use it. They weren’t wizards or sorcerers or warlocks. They were more like… nobles. Normal people.
“I spent 11 years of my life casting for them. One day, though, it backfired. I was exhausted, and I lost focus for only a moment. It was enough. Days worth of magic, expelled, came back to me, practically exploded into my body. I was lucky to have survived with extensive magic and medical healing. But I couldn’t walk, or stand, and they didn’t know what to do with me. So they just… kept me in a bed, hoping I’d get better on my own.
“Without my magic, they had to source their callings from something else. Someone else. They-“ She swallowed back tears, taking a shaky breath. “They began to siphon the magic from people. There was a town nearby. Maybe double the size of this one, or a bit bigger. They would take people. Kidnap them. And… the warlocks would capture their magic. The lingering magic in every living being, the kind that gives them life. They put it into these crystals. They were imperfect crystals, to be sure. They certainly couldn’t hold much magic, but it was enough to fuel their spells.
“Having to watch what my friends and family were doing devastated me. I had trusted these people so much and they were just… killing. And seeing what they were doing from the outside, I became disgusted. With magic, with the cult. With myself. How had I helped these people for so long? How was I okay with this?
“I stopped using magic. I forced myself to forget. I… I did some dangerous things to destroy my memory of any spells. Some things… I’m not proud of. Honestly, I… if I had died in that bed, I would have been alright with it, then.”
Purnama was blindsided by Maria tackling her, hugging her close to her cold, metal body. Maria said nothing, only wrapping Purnama in her arms. After the second of surprise wore off, Purnama hugged her back, smiling a bit.
“Not now, Maria. I wouldn’t dare think of it now. I’m not going anywhere, my dear, I promise that.” The warforged didn’t calm down much, but loosened her grip on the woman. Even when Purnama was out of her arms, she kept a hand on Maria’s knee, hoping it could provide a bit of comfort.
“I spent over a year in that bed. I sometimes wondered if they forgot about me. One day, a group of heroes came. Four of them. I think they had been tipped off about cult activity and were sent to deal with it. Either way, their wizard found me. I begged her to bring me back to their city. To RontMar. She must have seen that I was broken, immobile, sickly, because she wrapped me in blankets and brought me back.
“The rest of my story, I’m sure I’ve told you. I spent time healing before joining the Mage’s College, spent two or so years there, then transferred over to the Academy.” She turned her head up, facing her party for the first time in her entire tale, and giving them a warm smile. “That’s when I met you two, which might have been the happiest day of my life.”
The three were all quiet for a while. Opal grimaced, deep in thought, while Maria fidgeted with Purnama’s ringless hand on her knee. She could feel herself growing exhausted, whatever remaining energy she had seeping away in the silence. Suddenly, though, Opal rose to their knees, moving to sit beside Purnama, leaving her positioned between the two as she so often was.
“I wish you had told us sooner, Purnama. Then we could’ve avoided that run-in.” Opal spoke quietly. “But… I understand why you didn’t. Cultists… aren’t well regarded in this empire. Even former ones. I suppose now I can only be glad you told us.”
Purnama nodded, leaning her head against them and taking Maria’s hand in both of hers. “Know that it wasn’t out of distrust. You both have struggled far too much, it didn’t feel fair to bring you down with my own troubles.”
“You don’t have to do that. You never, ever have to do that. If something is hurting you, let us help. That is what we are here to do.” Opal responded.
“We’re a party.” Maria added. “A… a family. We stick together.”
“Right.” Purnama smiled. “We’re a family. The best I’ve ever had.”
“You’re falling asleep, Purnama.” Opal said.
“I… I apologize.”
“No need. You’ve had a long day. Rest, now. We can figure out our next moves in the morning.” Purnama nodded again, slower, and felt her eyes slip shut. At some point in the night, the three would shift from sitting to lying down, asleep in a comfortable pile atop their sleeping bags.
Extra:
“What did you mean when you said you ‘dealt with it’ last night?”
“Oh, we beat the shit out of those guys.”
“What?!”
“They upset you. That’s intolerable.”
“…I aught to ground you both.”
“But you won’t.”
“But I won’t.”