“I don’t think you understand the implications of both being an Aethling, and being a Servant of the Æther.” Tantalon directed at Annie, once their camp had been set up. It had been rather quite during their trek, having changed into a floating orb for their trip, only changing back into the androgynous humanoid form once the camp was ready.
“What’s hard to understand about it? Out of all the science/magic/whatever you want to call it, I have the potential to be powerful, strong enough to rival most Court Members, if their abilities are to be underestimated.” Annie said casually, focused more on the notes she was writing into another field journal, for her research into the Witches of Plutis. Besides the usual ‘Civilised’ ways of researching, as Tantalon had put it, he’d suggested exploring some of the surrounding forest areas, so she’d have some hand’s on experience with the wildlife and flora, as they were vastly different to what she’d been expecting.
She still incinerated the little frog-mosquito creatures if they came anywhere close to the camp, as she seemed to have developed quite a knack for detecting the little pests.
“There is your ignorance. You are only new to this system, and yet you’ve already drawn the attention of atleast 2 Courts, one of which you now serve, had your natural powers unlocked prematurely, and had an Aurator bind herself to your service, and spoken to both a Prince of the Courts, and dealt directly with the Ruling Clans of the Witches, one of the Æthereal’s ‘offspring’ races.” Tantalon paused, letting it’s words sink in, before continuing.
“You, not including what your team mates have done, have already done more in 3 weeks, then what most Earth Strains do in 30 years. You don’t realize the danger you are putting yourself in. May the Æthereal Curse me, I wish I had your sort of ignorance when I’d been chosen as an Heir, maybe I would’ve actually gone through with the task my Ruler had assign me……..” Tantalon trailed off, obviously lost in memory, which was a rare sight to Annie, since the Court Guide was often very quick to hide details about it’s origin.
Annie knew that being an Heir was something important to the Courts, but she couldn’t quite remember what it implied. She wished she had paid more attention during her quick briefing on the Ruling Powers of Constant.
“You were an Heir? That means you were going to be chosen for a Court position, doesn’t it?” Annie said vaguely, her notes forgotten as she tried piecing together what she remembered.
Tantalon made a sarcastic noise. “Chosen? No, I was a Member of the Court. I was a Prince, one of the few to naturally bear the Aspect of Hunger, yet not be devoured by it.”
He looked off deep into the forest.
“It’s my fault Our Ruler interfered on this planet. I was supposed to scour this sector of Corruption, so that Our Ruler’s precious offspring would full develop without needing his touch. I feasted on most of the sector’s Corruption, but I ignored Plutis, due to how its power called to me and encouraged the uncontrollable parts of me. Little did I know that the Corruption was living in the men of this world.” Tantalon continued, lost in thought.
“The Witches were originally a sexually dimorphic humanoid race?” Annie said, curiosity peaked, a fresh notebook ready to go.
“Oh yes. You know how the Æthereal loves the women of this universe? He saw something special on this world, and planted his Magical Seeds into the women. They quickly came into Dark Power, but were not controlled by it, as how the Sinners are controlled by the Primordial Dragons. The majority of the men, brutish barbarians from the long wiped out city of Hah-rul, sought to control them, torturing them at a young enough age that they’d still grow strong in their powers, yet old enough that they would learn subservience to them. This went on for two Generations, under my watch, without me knowing.” Tantalon stopped, pausing to what would be considered a tear for a normal humanoid.
“Luckily for the Witches, the shapeshifting class of males had long since escaped their brutish brethren, and were building a strong culture based on equality, where the Witches they freed became powerful, yet kind natured. Then the men of Hah-rul learned of the shapeshifters of Ter-ral, and a potentially planet shattering war started, with control/freedom of the Witches being the sole reason.”
“Despite the fact that the planet is obviously still here, why do you say it was potentially planet shattering?” Annie inquired, her hands quickly writing down enough of the information that she’d be able to write out a proper article at a later time.
“The Æthereal stepped in. Because he couldn’t just wipe them out, being one of his favourites, he did something worse. He specifically erased all the unwilling males on the planet.”
Annie stopped writing, slightly concerned, but not truly understanding the scope of what she had just been told.
“You mean wiping out all knowledge of them?” Annie asked.
“No, absolute and utter extinction of the male sex of Plutis. However, Our Ruler gave the males a choice: become female and serve your new sisters, become a shapeshifter and serve the liberated Witches, or perish. Most perished, with the sisters beyond saving quickly joining them. But the original shapeshifters, and a few of the more caring Hah-rul men, chose to serve, relinquishing the ability to form a humanoid male body. The Shapeshifters have long since become one with their sisters, with only a few small clans being of the original blood line. In fact, you’ve met a few of them on your journey, without you knowing.” Tantalon said, the old smile returning, it’s memory firmly locked back in its cage.
Annie looked guiltily at the frog-mosquitoes.
Tantalon laughed. “No, not those little blighters. The smallest a shapeshifter is willing to become is roughly the size of one of those ‘Gecko’ creatures I read about, from your Home Strain. Most typically prefer mammals, like the Wolf-esque beasts you’ve heard calling through the night, or those grazing beasts you saw at the start.”
Annie blew a sigh of relief. Then upon remembering what Tantalon had just told her, and her mind automatically picking up the dirty line of thinking, turned a deep shade of red.
“Ummm, if the Witches lost whatever the males brought genetically to the species when they were wiped out, how did they…… erm……reproduce?” Annie stammered out, her face turning a particularly deep scarlet as her mind raced at theories that were considered ‘morally disgusting’ in her culture.
“Simple: Until the travelled to Constant, they used the shapeshifters to provide genetic material. There’s a very good reason why sex is a major component of a Witch’s friendship.” Tantalon smiled knowingly, forming eyebrow-esque shapes in a suggestive pose.