Chapter Eighty-Nine: Making a Name + Event Announcement

Note: The Event Announcement is at the bottom of the chapter. Please read the chapter before looking!

Chapter Eighty-Nine: Making a Name

Shimmering sunlight dances and plays in my mist as I sit in soft golden grass outside the tunnel entrance. The serene beauty of the area contrasts with the still dark emotions warring in my heart, and yet… I still find myself able to enjoy it. Despite everything, I can still appreciate the beauty of this golden forest.

The golden grass is soft and slightly damp from morning dew as I allow the blades to slip between my fingers. Trees far larger than they have any right to be sway and creak gently in a breeze that runs invisible fingers through my hair. Each and every plant, golden and bright, calls out to me with seeds of power echoing my own.

Akari was worried that these trees might have died after I claimed the point of power, as the roots stretching down to it did. However, like the ants, the beauty of the forest is preserved. Each tiny plant contains just a hint of my power, but they are drops of water in an ocean. Nothing to miss, and when withdrawing it would destroy something so beautiful, I just can't bring myself to do so.  

Besides, as it turns out, the trees make a wonderful barrier to stop the Volcora from entering this place. They aren’t impassible by any means, but the defenses are strong and the price now non-existent. I’m confident that whatever Volcora invasions might occur, they will quickly retreat once more.

To the side, Akari is speaking with Hina, Asumi, and Troy in quiet tones. She’s obviously taking pains not to disturb me, even though I can hear her clearly. The same as I know that there aren’t any volcora currently in the forest, I also simply know what is being said near my plants. It’s as if… as if my mind is slowly opening up after becoming the Dawnseeker. I can feel them… the ants, the trees, and every blade of grass, even the birds singing in the trees. And now that I am the source of their power, their identities have been bent to my own. It’s not necessarily that I can mind control them, but more that their own personalities have been subtly shifted to fit the ideal I whispered when taking up this power. Like me, they want to make people happy.

I lie back in the grass, uncaring as the dew makes my shirt and fanned out hair slightly wet. Letting out a soft sigh, I lift up my arm and trail my finger through the air. With each motion, I draw out meaningless symbols in trailing mist. I don’t bother to maintain the shining substance, allowing the breeze to take it away.

“It feels hard to fully appreciate this,” I say, soft enough that only my large, looming shadow can overhear.

As ever, Lucas is beside me. Although he sits and keeps his eyes constantly scanning, looking for anything that might be a threat.

At my words, he glances toward me. “I understand that, Miss Serena. You have been through a lot.”

“Maybe,” I say, forcing my mist to remain in clean lines now as I sketched a portrait of the trees stretching up to the pale blue sky. “That can be said of us all, I think.”

Lucas remains silent, continuing to watch our surroundings. As ever, his hard eyes search the forest for anything that might harm me.

“Why do you do it, Lucas?” I ask, brushing away my sketch and starting on another of a golden squirrel I can see up in one of the trees.

“Do what, Miss Serena?” he asks, calm as ever.

“Stay with me… You never left. Not when I was sick, not when I cried, or when you stayed up all night to be with me when Akari was looking for Candice. You’re with me so constantly that I sometimes forget that you’re even there.”

Again, Lucas remains silent, although his eyes stop moving. He remains that way for long enough that I’ve long since stopped expecting an answer, and yet eventually, he speaks.

“I had a younger sister once,” Lucas says, still staring out into nothing. “She died in a Volcora attack when the front moved south. Before then, though, we spent almost all our time together. There weren’t many other kids in town, and we would invent games and silly stories to keep ourselves occupied when we finished lessons.”

The large man’s throat works, and he still refuses to meet my eyes. “My dad taught me to shoot a rifle… told me I’d need it one day. Mira, though? She found guns too violent and unseemly — never wanted to practice. She just said that I would save her if the worst happened…”

Lucas shakes his head, obviously not wanting to say more.

I sit up, scooting over to him to lay a hand on his hard body armor. Finally, he turns to me, his eyes reddened.

“So, you protect me… because you couldn’t protect her?” I ask softly. So many people have lost someone to the Volcora. I’m willing to bet that if I went among the common soldiers of the GDF, I would find hundreds of similar stories.

Lucas snorts, “Silly, isn’t it? It’s not that simple, of course. It never is. But… you remind me of her sometimes. You’re both insufferably good people. I just wish I could do more, if I were a sentinel like you…” he heaves out a breath. “But… I suppose sentinels have the exact same problems, huh?”

It’s a common sentiment, wanting to become a sentinel. Just as Audrey told me when I first considered bonding with Celeste, the choice to become a sentinel is choosing to have control. Sentinels may live through extraordinarily hard times, but they also have the power to shape their own lives. To be a shield, a weapon, or a healing light.

“Maybe you could do more,” I say, allowing my eyes to drift to the plants and animals around me. Each one is more than they ever could have been naturally. “I… I think I can infuse my power into things now. The plants, the animals, and the ants underground, each of them contains a seed of the power I now hold.”

The soldier beside me gives me an amused look, “Maybe once we know more about what you can do, kid. I’ve learned from watching you that it’s generally best to leave well enough alone when it comes to putting strange magic into a person.”

I laugh, “Yeah… I suppose that’s fair.”

I’m relatively confident that what I’m planning will work, but I should definitely do some experimentation before I do anything so drastic.

Before I can say more to Lucas, however, our impromptu heart-to-heart is brought to an end by Akari and the others moving back over.

“What’s the plan?” I ask my girlfriend, taking her offered hand and letting her help me to my feet.

Akari wraps a protective arm around me, watching the forest just as actively as Lucas does. Silly people, there’s nothing in here that would want to hurt me.

“Well,” she says, giving me a gentle squeeze. “Any transport the GDF could send for us would arrive after the one that Audrey and our team are arriving in, so the plan is just to ride back with them.”

I nod, “And… my dad?”

Akari told me about how beside himself my poor father has been. I’m determined to make sure he knows that I’m alright, and that he doesn’t need to worry anymore. Now that I’m healthy and not intending to fight any longer, I should be a good deal safer. Maybe things will be able to start going back to how they used to be.

“He’ll be waiting for us back in the city,” Akari says with a smile. “He wanted to come with, but I convinced him that staying behind is for the best. It’s dangerous out here, after all. He knows that you’re alive and safe, though. You should expect a lot of family time once we get back.”

“We need to get back to the edge of the forest,” Troy said, cutting in. “These trees are too tall for a transport to get close to the ground.”

I smile sadly. I’ll miss this golden forest, although I’ll hopefully have opportunities to come back here from time to time. However, maybe I could try to make something similar in Shinara. I’m really not sure how far my new power can extend, and I’m excited to try it out and help as many people as I can.

“Let’s go,” I say as we all gear up and begin the trek out of the forest.

***

Nerves churn in my stomach at the thought of reuniting with my team again. On one hand, I really, really want to see them, and yet… they left me dying in that bed to go fight. I… understand why they needed to go. That doesn’t make the fact that, other than Asumi and my father, I more or less faced the future of my death alone.

It isn’t fair to blame them for that. They aren’t healers, and I’m certain they helped a great many people by going out into the world and fighting. So why does my heart ache with betrayal? I feel… abandoned. I count every single member of my team among those I trust most in the world, even the mysterious Haruto, and they still left me to die. Left me in the hands of doctors and sentinels I didn’t know.

I shake my head, trying to force away the thoughts and focus on the beauty of my surroundings. Automatic negative thoughts… I’m viewing people’s actions through a negative lens. Even though those actions are neutral or positive. Another sign of depression…

Hugging myself, I squeeze my eyes shut and lean into Akari beside me. It’s odd… I know the signs. And yet… yet I still can’t push it away.

Leaning against my now much larger girlfriend, I find myself feeling incredibly small. I’m the shortest in the group by a fair margin, and a part of me wonders why the magic of my soul never changed my body to make me taller. It did so for the others.

I tilt my head back to look up at Troy and Akari. Perhaps… I should be small. Perhaps it’s my place, as I am so much less than they are. Yes… that’s why-

[Serena?] A soft nose pokes into my cheek as Celeste nudges me. [You shouldn’t think like that.]

I blink, surprised as I realize that Celeste has been riding on my shoulder for a good few minutes now. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to project that. Please ignore it.”

[You are not lesser, Serena,] Celeste says, ignoring my request to ignore the thoughts. [We are not lesser. You deserve love and support just as much as anyone else. Stars, we really need to infect you with some arrogance!]

“Stars?” I ask, a light smile crossing my lips. “I’m not sure if I’ve heard you use one of our curses before. You’ve gone native, Celeste.”

The familiar huffs. [Yes, well. I’m going to be spending a very long time here with you. Might as well fit in. Now, try to get yourself together. We have an amazing reunion to have!]

From the corner of my eye, I notice a flare of pink light making its way through the thick canopy of golden leaves. “Yes… I suppose we do.”

A moment later, a pink-clad sentinel with brilliant wings of light zips down from overhead at a speed that is frankly ridiculous. She crashes into the forest floor, creating a crater in the soil that burns slightly with incandescent power.

As always, I feel a wave of invisible pressure coming off of Audrey in her assault state. The amount of power packed into one person is so ridiculous that it feels like a mouse standing before a skyscraper. Despite knowing that my old mentor would never harm me, the pressure of her presence pushes down on my very being and-

My soul pulses, blue-gold light burning and swirling beneath my skin as my presence rises to clash with Audrey’s. For a moment, we just stare at one another. Blue and gold clash against pink, and the power of our souls weighs down on those around us. In fact, poor Lucas looks about to collapse. His soul is unsupported by any kind of magic, leaving him particularly vulnerable to this clash of spiritual pressure.

Closing my eyes, I force the massive well of power within myself down. This is not making anyone happy. Stop it. I order my power, my… self. My very soul is what reacted to Audrey’s presence. I feel within me an absolute refusal to bend, to let myself be shoved down magically ever again.

“Damn kid,” Audrey says, her assault state bleeding away in motes of light. “Maybe I ought to get myself a point of power, too. Then I could stand up to that pretentious ass tree.”

I grin, pulling away from Akari to dart forward and seize Audrey in a massive hug.

“It’s so good to see you,” I whisper, squeezing the older woman for all I’m worth.

Audrey returns my hug, her hard features turning gentle. “You too, kid. I’m sorry it took me so long. I got here as fast as I could.”

“T-Thank you for coming at all,” I murmur, wetness gathering in my eyes.

For a long, silent moment, Audrey just holds me. My throat works, and I can feel tears tracing burning streaks down my face. There is something about being hugged by Audrey… a feeling of absolute safety that can’t be matched by anything else. My mentor is indomitable', after all. She can’t be defeated by anyone or anything.

Eventually, Audrey shifts to hold me at arm’s length. Her eyes flick to the rest of the group, eventually landing on Akari. The A-Ranker shakes her head, her eyes wide with amazement.

“You fucking did it, kid… I cannot believe that you fucking did it!” Audrey exclaims, before her eyes fall.

For a moment, the sentinel’s throat works as her hand rests on her necklace. The blue gem glitters dully under the morning light streaming through the trees.

“Do… do you think-” Audrey starts, before clearing her throat. “Do you think it would work? This… process of yours. Could it save her?”

Still crying, I nod my head. “I-I think so. We will have to try it, but… I think it will work.”

Audrey surges forward, clutching me to her chest so tightly that I can’t breathe. I let out a pathetic squeaking sound.

“A-Audrey… you're… b-breaking me…” I manage through crushed lungs. Stars, Audrey is strong; even in her rest state she could snap me in half like a twig.

The A-Ranker’s bone-crushing hug loosens just a little, but she still holds me like her life depends on it.

“I know you said… but I never… I never actually thought…” she mutters, tears of her own falling. “Fucking hell, girl. Are you some prodigy healer or something?”

“Someone would have figured it out eventually,” I say gently, returning Audrey’s embrace. “We haven’t even been looking for the solution for that long in the grand scheme of things. Besides, I had help.”

Finally, Audrey releases me and steps back, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Still, kid,” she says, voice a touch raw. “They’re going to make you a named sentinel for this. A fucking D-Rank named sentinel!”

I frown, confused. “Named… what do you mean?”

Plenty of powerful sentinels have nicknames. Stardust Angel, Voidfire Warden, Nightsong, Dancer, and many more.

Audrey smiles, clapping me on the shoulder with enough strength to make me stumble. “Being a named sentinel means you’re one of the best. The names are given out by the leader of the A-Rank Council, the most powerful human on the planet, and it means you have his backing. Think of it like a badge of honor, a sign that you did something significant enough to deserve the alias. It’s also like your ID card when interacting in the big leagues of the GDF. Shows that you can’t be fucked with. Touch a named sentinel, and the entire fucking A-Rank Council falls on your head.”

I blink… so that’s why the Alias field in my status never got filled out. Another surge of nerves twists my gut. I… I’m not sure I want that kind of fame. Although, having concrete backing from the A-Rank Council could prove to be a big deal.

“Well,” I say lamely, “I hope I end up with something good.”

“Oh, I’m sure you will,” Akari says, slipping up to stand beside me again. “You’ll never live it down if you end up with something stupid. Come on, let’s go find our team.”

Event Announcement

Hi Everyone!

Well, we're finally here at long last. Serena is about to receive her name as a sentinel, but hmm, what should it be? Perhaps you all can help me decide!

For a long time, I've been on the fence about what sentinel alias to give Serena. It's her ticket to the big leagues and the top of the GDF hierarchy, and is thus a very big deal. I have a lot of ideas for names, and I'm certain that you all do to. So, let's get into how this is going to work.

There will be two rounds of voting — or just one if we are happy with the suggestions I provided to start.

The first round will start today and will end next Friday one week from now. In this round, you should all vote for one of the options I provided. You can use either the poll here on Patreon or the poll that will be posted on Discord shortly (Please only use one or the other so you don't get two votes!). If neither of those work, feel free to DM me, comment your vote, or share it in any other way you would like.

During the first round of voting, you may also send me any name suggestions you might have via any means you like (Please limit to one or two name suggestions per person, just in-case we get a lot).

The second round, starting next Friday, will include the top contenders from this weeks poll as well as the options that you requested. If there are no custom name requests, we will simply take the highest voted option of week one and roll with that. If there are custom name requests, this second poll will narrow us down to the top name everyone likes the best.

The highest result will be Serena's sentinel name, so make it a good one! I hope you all have fun with this event, and please let me know if you have any questions! ❤️

Round One Options: