The Ascension

"Oh wow." Ava said as the chair was escorted to the edge of the forest, and guided within. "I didn't realize that she actually lived in the forest! I thought she might live on the edge!" Ava looked left and right, seeing all she could as it was the first time she was outside of the palace in her life.

"We were scared the first time she brought us out here." Ellie said with a small grin on her lips. "There were howls everywhere, but Master just pointed her hand, and poof." Ava looked at her.

"Poof?" Ava asked. Ellie grinned.

"Watch." Ellie pointed her hand out to the side, and Ava could see a stream of water shoot from her palm. It hit a tree, which blew the sapling to pieces. Ava's eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you do that? I've never seen anyone be capable of using elemental essence like that!" Ava said, her eyes sparkling in admiration. Ellie smirked a little.

"Master taught us how to use it properly." Ellie said, and moved her hand so that her palm faced upward. A blob of water formed above her palm, and she sucked it into her hand. "For me, water elements are everywhere, except for in the wasteland. I get more of it from the Ancient Spring, but I can get it out of the air, if necessary." She sighed a bit.

"Before Master bought us, we were on our way to Imera." Ellie said softly. "The clan poisoned us, beat us, starved and whipped us. They treated the dogs inside those walls much better than us." Ava looked at her, and reached out her hand.

"I haven't been starved, but I know what it's like to be treated like air. Like I'm only a commoner in my mother's eyes." Ava said quietly. Ellie took her hand, and gently squeezed it.

"You won't be air with us." Ellie said. "Once we get you home, my sister will fix this poison of yours." Ellie said. She felt Ava's palm, and frowned. "How odd. You have the same kind of feel that my sister does, but like you are soggy with water." Ava frowned.

"Soggy?" Ava's nose scrunched up.

'Ellie, her poison has made her body sodden with poisoned water. Her elementary channels are not water based.' Aila/Aconia's voice said within her mind. 'Just bring her home. We can help her only when she's close to us.'

"I understand, Master." Ellie said, while Ava looked at her, and looked around.

"Was that her again? Her voice is so gentle, and soothing." Ava said, and felt a soft hand gently stroke her cheek. The fingers that trailed on her cheek were cold, and as hard as iron, but Ava felt that touch as though her fingers wore silk gloves.

'We are waiting for you, Ava.' Hulda said softly. Again the voice felt gentle, but with a slightly different tone.

Each aspect of Aila had affection for all her people, but stronger emotions for the ones who possessed their elemental affinity. They expressed that affection in much the same way Aila would.

The aspects were Aila, even if they were split off from the whole while she slept. They were not avatars she created. Each was a living being, but without Aila as their center, they would not exist.

Hulda was Aila, so she expressed Aila's affection for Ava, even though they just met.

* * *

"Ellie, you will need to help me." Nuri said. She touched Ava's legs and grimaced. "You'll need to draw the excess water element out, while I purge her poison." She gestured to Elena. "Get me a bucket, Elena. This water within her tastes foul."

Elena picked up a heavy stone pot, and put it near Nuri's side. She immediately spit a blob of water that smelled moldy, and filled with mildew. She gestured to Ellie, and watched her cute face scrunch up.

"It's like swamp water. This poison is insidious, and malicious." Ellie said. After she touched Ava's skin, she ran to the outside and could be heard vomiting outside. She came back inside, and drank a glass of spring water.

"What is happening?" Ava asked, and bounced a little to look around after Ellie ran outside. Ava immediately frowned. "My legs? They don't hurt as much as before." She sounded surprised, but at the same time, also calm.

Her channels were filled with poisoned water element, and as the two drained it off, Hulda began to inject metal elements into her body. This calmed and soothed her, and started to strengthen her body.

"As our Master instructed us, we are removing the poison in your body. Considering how they used it, that poison feels like it was meant to slowly hurt you, and hurt someone else while they did so." Nuri said, her face grimaced at the foul taste in her mouth as she spit another blob of poisoned water into the pot.

"Does it matter why they did it?" Elena asked. Normally, she would be calm, and only a bit aggressive when the time called for it. However, she seemed to take this personally.

"What do you mean, sis?" Ellie asked as she touched Ava's skin again, and her hand trembled for a few seconds before she ran out again to vomit.

"This is what I mean! It's hurting both of you due to how it was made!" Elena said angrily. "Not only did it hurt Ava for a long time, but it's also hurting both of you!" Ellie pursed her lips, but laid her hand on Ava's arm again.

"I have to help her, Elena." Ellie said softly. "Master helped both of us, but who helped her when she was in so much pain?"

"I'm not talking about that!" Elena said, her eyes tearing up, but not in sadness. She was so angry, she wanted to cry in frustration. She ran for her ax and ran out the door. Ellie was surprised by her actions until she ran outside to vomit once again.

She soon heard the howl of a flame wolf, followed by a few others. She cleared her mouth by spraying out with pure water element, and watched the treeline over the wall. Trees fell, and she heard her precious sister roar so loud, it made her feel a small shockwave of energy after she heard it.

"Wow. Elena is so mad." Ellie said softly. Ellie felt a cool hand touch her cheek.

'Not just angry, little one.' The soft familiar voice said at her ear. 'She is enraged, just like a stone bear would be. Remember, she shares the same elemental nature as a stone bear. She would be calm, attack relentlessly, but become so angry, she would lose that calm and become as temperamental as a beast.'

"Will she be alright, Master?" Ellie asked.

'Just watch her. If it seems like she is moving away, go calm her down. Get her to dig up some metal for Ava. She will need it to heal properly.' Ellie felt her Master's touch on her cheek once again.

'You have to work hard, Ellie. The Ancient Spring is meant to make you stronger, not just be used to wash with. Sit within the spring at least an hour a day.' Again, another stroke, this time down the back of her neck. Ellie murmured at the touch.

"Okay, Master. I will focus on it more." Ellie said, and moaned softly as she felt an infusion of water elements enter her body. It swept through her body, washing away the poison she wasn't able to purge, and surged through her middle. Her channels pulsed as she filled her with her elemental essence, and in such an intimate way, her body felt the warmth of desire light her inner fire.

'Work hard, Ellie. When I sleep, I remain in the void. You can not visit me until you are stronger.' Her voice receded, while Ellie was left speechless for several seconds. When she realized what Aila/Naha said, she blushed brightly.

"Doesn't that mean I can join her in the void later?" She grinned, for that voice had a small promise attached.

Aila wanted to see her little wife for more than just a hug.