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Aethyrra held her arms out for Yatzli and Giatta, her brow creased as she pushed up the undershirt to her shoulders. “They showed up after Naku Kubel.”
Rings - thin and evenly spaced - ran up her arms, covering her once bare skin in the color of her freckles that she had on her face and shoulders. The bands carried their own sheen, similar to the magic that came with her Godlike powers and abilities.
“And you’ve never had anything like this happen before? No other markings aside from your growths?”
“No.” She turned her arm for Giatta to have another look. “The night before we went in there was nothing. The night after - they were there, right as I was washing up.”
“Do they hurt?”
“Not at all.” Aethyrra shook her head, lowering her other arm for Yatzli. They stared at the strangeness of it, and she felt helpless as she offered them a pathetic shrug.
“Do you think it’s because of your…”
“-- the fact Sapadal continues to grant you these powers, and you accept them every time without consideration?” Yatzli motioned for her to offer her other arm to inspect.
“I…” Aethyrra sighed, shaking her head and letting them poke at them and take their measurements, with Yatzli having a greater fascination compared to Giatta. “It’s possible. I’ve even had my fungal growths turning over at an increased rate every time I use the damn things. That’s my only sustainable theory I have at the moment.”
“I assume that’s not a regular occurrence with Godlikes.”
“Well, I knew a Godlike of Galawain that had tusks he had to trim, but that’s not the point--” She waved her hand briefly. “This has never happened before. I can heal, I can create a thorn from my hand, I can send the spikes out like a volley of arrows, and now I keep getting rings like a tree.”
Yatzli took a step back, tapping her chin. “Perhaps it’s a deepening connection between the two of you - a God and their Godlike. You’ve mentioned before that Sapadal has been locked in the Adra here; what if this is a culmination of years apart?”
Aethyrra shook her arms and put her hands on her hips, a flustered heat rushing over her head and down her spine. “You make them sound like they’re lovesick.”
“Lovesick-- I would say lonely, dear.”
She looked away, her ears going hot. She was thinking emotionally and not rationally - not finding a solution to a problem she had brought up in the first place. “You get what I mean.”
She saw Yatzli shoot Giatta a look, and the Orlan pat her arm. Her tone was softer - the one she would use when trying to let her down gently. “We’re concerned because you’re concerned - that’s all.”
“I know.” She rolled the sleeves down to her shirt. “If they burn or itch or turn me into a stump you have to roll to the Garden, I’ll let you know.”
“We’ll have Marius and Kai carry you around.”
“Thanks.”
She waved them off and moved to go wash up, taking off her shirt and looking at all of the rings that covered her arms. Maybe in their own way Sapadal was lonely and lovesick - and this was the aftermath of deepening that bond. Her lips quirked as she dipped into the water, flexing her powers beneath the surface to watch the rings glow.
Even if the rings were harmless it was still something she would have to be mindful about if she continued to take Sapadal’s gifts - and affections. And that was something she would not be able to ignore.