The New Trinkets and Kirasiel's Doubts

With so many different projects and tasks that he was focused on, Ahsch was always somewhat surprised when he actually finished one. Especially considering the veritable (ever-growing) pile of spells he was meaning to work on and never got around to. To some extent, ever since his reincarnation and its immediate aftermath, he had forced himself to focus, dedicating the most time to his responsibilities as a royal, his own personal training, and to a few key projects - namely the ‘world-creation’ magic for either the soul-realm or the accelerated-time world, the additional-bodies idea, or ‘fixing’ Transformative Trinket.

Of those projects, one split his attention in two directions, as time and souls were rather different; the other he had no real basis to work from and was mostly doing research; and the final was a bit of a minefield of trial-and-error. It should have been no surprise that, after the bad luck of dying, his luck would be looking up somewhat for a while, as he suddenly had a success. He almost missed it, accustomed to needing to reabsorb the trinkets he created and try again, and out of habit, almost discarded the one he held - which was a relatively harmless, if also rather bland, thin chain necklace. He caught himself at the last second and simply stared at the trinket, examining it with a somewhat dumbfound expression.

“Huh,” hu grunted, still staring at it, before meticulously deconstructing it, focusing on how it was different from the standard trinket. Then he recreated it. Success again. He destroyed and remade it a third time.

A slow smile grew across his face. Then he stopped, thinking. Elui had already begged him for a trinket. He also knew that Ariin would kill him if she didn’t get one. Avery was, unfortunately, past the point that it would be useful - she was 24, and her magic had stabilized a few months before they had ever met. Kirasiel was another option, and Ahsch was willing to force her to take one, though he’d have to explore more of what her capabilities were - it, oddly, hadn’t really come up since they truly allied with each other. Wen and Maera were also options, though the former was reserved enough that Ahsch doubted giving the boy a trinket would accomplish much; Maera could go either way. Naemui, however, was likely to get one, but Ahsch wanted to make sure that she really wanted to be bound to him as closely as she thought she did - he hadn’t had much time prior to his death to get to know her, and had been too busy post-reincarnation to spend much time with her.

Still, Ariin, Elui, Kirasiel, and potentially Naemui. That was four candidates. Depending on how long he had to rest to recover the Magnitude he spent to make the trinkets, he could see giving them anywhere from one to three Magnitude. In fact, though he hated to ‘rate’ any of them, he automatically determined that 3 Magnitude for Ariin, two for Elui and Kirasiel each, and one for Naemui - whenever that happened - would be an acceptable hit to his Magnitude. Though dropping down 7 Magnitude at once was going to hurt, but still, if he could get either of his ‘grow faster’ concepts into action, that loss might not hurt so hard in the not-too-distant-future.

And who knew, perhaps by the time Naemui was truly ready to join his little circle - though perhaps not the inner circle - he’d have recovered enough to give her more.

Taking a deep breath, he focused on his first giftee: his sister. After experimenting some, he’d figured out a few things about the trinkets. The first was that he could easily reshape them into pretty much anything - a ring, a chalice, a hairpin; pretty much any piece of jewelry, or ornamental item could be the base form of the trinket. Secondly, he could infuse a ‘theme’ into the trinket, such as ‘fire’ or ‘water’ or ‘speed’ or ‘space.’ Since he hadn’t actually given a trinket to anyone, he wasn’t sure exactly what effect it would have - probably aesthetic, as well as some degree of determination on what sort of Innate Magics the wielder would receive.

So the question was, with three Magnitude and intended for Ariin, what theme was appropriate?

He thought hard about it for a minute before snorting and almost slapping himself. The trinket was going to _bind _itself to Ariin. As such, he could possibly use his bond magic to determine the theme! Actually _doing _that, he found, was a more difficult proposition. ‘What theme for this trinket I’m going to make would be appropriate for my sister,’ was not the usual use of bond magic, and he overall lacked any basis from which to work from. He didn’t want to form an _actual _bond between the trinket and Ariin - it would do that itself - but figuring out what theme would mesh the best with his sister was a different question.

Perhaps I’m going about this backwards, he considered after a few minutes. With little more than a thought, Ahsch examined his sister’s bonds. After as much practice as his lessons from Rwnil demanded, Ahsch had learned how to inspect the bonds that mattered the most to him (and were therefore _bound _closest to him) with ease, regardless of where they were. After all, as one of his mentor’s earliest lessons taught him, physical distance mattered little when it came to bonds. At least, the metaphysical bonds that she was teaching him about.

After examining the bonds that were strongest to his sister, he almost laughed at himself. The highest bond, without a doubt, was him. And all but completely enveloped in that bond was Enochiel - and from there, Enochiel’s four domains. Not too far off, however, was her bond to the role of the Divine Submissive. And that’s what Ahsch laughed at. As a Vassal of Divinity, it would only make sense for her trinket to match. What sort of magic the theme of ‘Divine Submissive’ would give her, Ahsch wasn’t certain. But it was what made the most sense.

As for the shape of the trinket itself, he had to think about that the normal way. Collars or chains or the like made sense at first glance, but Ariin already had enough of those, and they had enough significance that Ahsch didn’t want to mess around with them. But then a thought occurred to him: Ariin had recently taken to tying her hair into a small bun, holding it in place with a stick, and having her pony-tail or braids extrude from there. And she didn’t have a specific stick that she used.

Smiling, Ahsch committed 3 of his Magnitude, focused on the theme and shape of the trinket, and within moments, a hair pin, about 8 inches long, rested in his hand. It seemed to be made of mirrorion, tapered to a fine point at one end, and the other was decorated with the seal of Enochiel, only it appeared to be made of chain. A small, thin chain hung from the end of the seal, a tiny hrafthi feather hanging from it.

Nodding, Ahsch set it aside, and thought about Elui. At first, the theme seemed easy - pregnancy, or ‘milk,’ fertility, something in that vein. But then he recalled how eager she was to suborn herself completely to him, and how he had to encourage her to live her own life. Giving her a trinket designed only to suit his desires from her was… contrary to that insistence.

Elui has unofficially become the groundskeeper for the Temple, Mahat suggested. She enjoys exploring the changes wrought by the Ley Spring, documenting the plants and animals that have appeared, and even started trying to garden the former and tame the latter. She seems to be quite at peace doing it.

Ahsch smiled. Thank you, Mahat.

A pleasure, Master.

With the theme of ‘groundskeeper,’ a couple ideas suggested themselves for the shape. A wide-brimmed sunhat, a parasole, some sort of implement. Ahsch discarded them all - the trinket was supposed to be ornamental, decorative. Making it a tool or functional piece of clothing defeated that purpose. Instead, he thought about some ear clips he’d seen other rabbit-girls wearing, and the few simple, if fine ones he’d noticed in her room at the temple the few times he’d been there.

Shortly after, he was down two more Magnitude and held a small piece of jewelry in his hand, depicting the black-petaled, blue-veined flower that had first appeared in the Temple after Ahshc and Ariin had created the Ley Spring. Smiling at the appropriateness, Ahsch set that aside as well, then thought about the final trinket.

Kirasiel was in a weird place in his mind. On the one hand, she had been extremely loyal and obedient recently, which wasn’t surprising given how much of a submissive masochist (or masochistic submissive) she was. And she was oddly lacking in brattiness these days, which surprised Ahsch, but Avery had shrugged when he’d brought it up, suggesting that her former attitude was probably some combination of her upbringing mixed with how badly she needed to get laid and topped. Something Ahsch was tempted to discard out-of-hand, but still, it did seem to fit.

Her behavior aside, Ahsch wasn’t terribly familiar with her magic and capabilities. In a way, he was still wary of overextending his influence with her. Domming her and scratching her submissive and masochistic itches, he was happy to do. And the whole marriage business still seemed somewhat like a wild story someone had told him. But digging into her personal life, her personality and talents… it felt almost invasive.

Master… Ahsch jumped at Kirasiel’s tentative mental touch. Mistress Mahat… said that you had questions for this cunt?

Shaking his head at his familiar’s antics, Ahsch was about to reply, but paused. Kirasiel, I want to make something clear. This isn’t… I’m Ahsch for the moment. You’re not ‘cunt.’

There was a long moment of silence. …Okay… came her hesitant reply.

I… want to give you something, Ahsch explained. It’s a trinket that will empower you - and me, by extension - and I can give it a theme, make it suitable for you. But I… He felt himself blushing. We haven’t… really talked much since I reincarnated.

…We haven’t, she agreed. And I… admit I may have been trying to avoid it…

The hrafthi frowned. Why?

Shame, her reply was quick. Humiliation of the unsexy-kind. A bit of self-loathing. Fear. I was… I’m a terrible person, Ahsch. I think I’ve always known that, but I tried to tell myself otherwise. I don’t… I think Byrdrek started in early on me, he used to be that ‘nice uncle’ who always gave me just what I wanted, but he also encouraged me to… well, frankly, abuse my position. It’s what made me lose all my childhood friends. And that made me bitter and spiteful. She chuckled humorlessly. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, since you… yeah.

But why avoid talking with me?

Because I’m scared, Ahsch, she admitted, her mental voice cracking slightly. You’re… you’re a good person. You’re amazing. You’ve helped me so much, and all I ever did for you was drag you away from your home, threaten and coerce and denigrate you… and as much as I want to be better, I know, at some point, I’ll fuck up. I’ll slip into old habits and become… ‘the royal cunt.’ It’s why I… why I’m always so eager to be your cunt. Your stupid little fucktoy. I can just… turn myself off, obey. She paused for a second. Be a good girl for the owner of my body, mind, and soul.

Ahsch didn’t have a response for that. What could possibly be an appropriate response? I… want to know you, Kirasiel, he eventually said. The real you, not the fucktoy, nor the bitch that Byrdrek led you into becoming.

I don’t think she exists anymore.

I think she just got lost. And I think we can find her again.

There was almost a minute of silence, and Ahsch could feel the emotions that leaked through the shared daydream. Eventually, Kirasiel pulled herself together enough to ask, Can I… be cunt for You? I need… I need to…

Eventually, we’ll need to work through all this, Kirasiel, Ahsch said. But yes. As long as you’ll be honest and forthright, you can be my good girl cunt.

There was a shuddering breath. This cunt is thankful, Master. What do You want to know?

I want to figure out what theme would fit best for you. Not for my fucktoy, nor for the Head of House Celes, but for you. What kind of magic do you have, what do you like, those sorts of things.

She thought about it for a while. I was born with an Innate Magic that allowed me to sense when people were… concealing the truth from me. It doesn’t work in all cases - if something’s important but not relevant to what’s being discussed, and the other person doesn’t bring it up, I won’t know, because they’re not concealing the truth of the matter at hand from me. Besides that, House Celes has always focused on the magic of the stars, and I’ve also taken up magic that would empower my swordsmanship.

Okay, but what do you like? he insisted.

I… Ahsch waited for almost a minute. This cunt enjoys being your good set of fuckholes, Master, she finally replied in a tiny voice.

The hrafthi had to close his eyes and lean back for a minute as that settled. She had basically nothing in life that she actually enjoyed. That explained so much. And was also incredibly sad.

I’ll… see what I can figure out for a theme, he eventually said, feeling lame.

This cunt is sorry she cannot be more helpful, Master.

Don’t be. You did just fine. But… try to find something to enjoy for yourself… Kirasiel.

There was a tense moment of quiet. This… I will… Master.

Ahsch sat in silence for a few minutes before deciding not to proceed with Kirasiel’s trinket. She didn’t need anything that further cemented their unequal dynamic. At least, not if Ahsch couldn’t give her something that was meaningful for her as well.

Still, having two of them figured out was better than none, and he was already planning how to make a ceremony of gifting them to Ariin and Elui.