Chapter 5 Hidden Truths & Discoveries (Part 7/9)

Holding up the vial of glowing liquid, I couldn't help but make a comparison to that which Paladin Ekhart had offered to me in the wilds. As such, I told her "You know, I was offered something just like this recently." Victoria, who had been putting away the instruments used for the creation of the potion, paused midway with the larger beaker in her hand. Her gaze snapped to me in rapt attention. "Please explain." Her serious tone brooked no argument. I was happy to oblige, as I was still wigged out by that situation with the Paladin, and I was seeking closure and understanding to what happened. "When the Paladin and I met in the wilds by the briar patch with the Cinnamomum Proditor within it, he had made me an offer to give up on your trial and join him. In addition to that, he pulled out a potion that looked quite similar to this one." Her eyes hardened and her lips tightened but she remained silent to hear what more I had to say. Holding up the potion closer to my eyes, I took a closer look at it. "Although far more clear and whiter, this one doesn't have as bright of a glow. While the one he had was brighter, it also put off a kind of pearly glow with swirling darker shades." I tried to remember something that could compare to what I saw. Then the image of the yin/yang symbol at Gertrude's shop came to mind. "It was like that panel in front of the miracle shop where I got the translation amulet. The one with the circle of the yin and yang, except it was the lighter of the two." The beaker in her hand shattered as the swirling ice I had seen before began coalescing around her shaking body. Blind rage appeared to have suffused her, as she bore no mind to the shattered remnants of the beaker which left no cuts upon her pale hand. "He Dares!! . . . He Bloody DARES to Try and Take MY APPRENTICE Into His EVIL CULT?!?" Her teeth bared in unmistakable wrath as ice began to form in a circle on the floor around her. "He offered you a W . . . . ." Her voice got choked up and shivers began to fill the air again, this time with far more intensity as before. Victoria put more effort into speaking. "A Wi. . . " "VICTORIA!! SILENCE!!" A cry that I was familiar with, called out from the entryway to the shop. I turned to see Gertrude wielding a gnarled staff as she slammed it to the ground, with terrifying strength, dispersing the built-up energies within the apothecary shop. "You dare to break Another Taboo, so soon after the first?!" When the near invisible energies struck her, my teacher slumped to the floor as if she had been but a puppet with her strings suddenly cut. Gertrude stomped over to Victoria's form, her bare clawed feet tapping on the floor. I looked down at my teacher who for a moment seemed so small and helpless as she shivered on the ground. I gritted my teeth and stepped between her and Gertrude to bar her path to my helpless master. She stopped, looking taken aback at my show of defiance and protection. Then a look of respect and appreciation flashed through her eyes. In a far gentler tone, she spoke to me. "Please step aside, I seek only to help her. She was about to break a heavenly rule, and I had to engage some serious measures to stop her before she could complete her intent." Recalling their interactions, which I had witnessed before, I felt I had to trust Gertrude in this. Besides, I was incredibly ignorant of what was going on. Still feeling hesitant and protective, I decided to act on my trust in her and stepped back to give way. I got another look of appreciation as the wizened turtle woman slowly and gently placed her clawed hand upon Victoria's head and chanted a short cantrip. Power appeared to flow from her hand to the space around Victoria's head which then resulted in a gentle blue glow that lasted for a few seconds. *Uhuaaaa.* Victoria drew in a long breath and seemed to come back to life and awareness. Looking somewhat dazed, she rose to a sitting position on the floor. Gertrude held out her scaled arm in support to help her up the rest of the way. Setting aside the potion that I all this time still had in my hand, I pulled a chair from behind the shop counter to put it out for Victoria to sit in. With a grateful nod and a sigh, she settled herself in and appeared to take stock of the situation. Gertrude simply stared down at her like a disgruntled aunt at a disobedient child. "Would you care to explain the situation, that led to this. . . this fiasco?" In silence, Victoria reached for the affinity assessment paper that had my results, and wordlessly handed it to Gertrude. Seeing her taking but a moment to look it over, I heard a surprised and understanding "OH!" spill from her beak. Her eyes raised in surprise as she looked at me over the contents of the paper. "Oh, dear child, you are in for a world of difficulties if this is as I suspect." Concern and dismay colored her words as she addressed me. Turning back to Victoria she spoke again. "That certainly explains the breaking of the first taboo. But what about the one that you were about to break just now?" Looking to have adequately recovered, Victoria began explaining what had just occurred, including my recounting of the experience I had in the wilds with Paladin Ekhart. Gertrude listened patiently, but when she reached the part of the Paladin offering me the potion, I heard the wood on her staff creak dangerously with the pressure she was exerting to grip it. Turning her head to look at me with far more intent than I had experienced before, she spoke in a measured but serious tone. "Did. You. Partake. of the potion?" "No." I frankly replied. "When I was offered it, although a part of me seemed like it yearned for it, much like your amulet, this potion additionally gave off a weird feeling, unlike the amulet." A look passed between Gertrude and Victoria at my statement, but I wasn't finished. "I remember it felt like a parasitic existence of sorts. It was yearning for me, just as I was for it, but in a way that . . . just didn't feel right." *Ooohhaaaa* A near quiet, prolonged inhalation and then sigh, which sounded of relief, escaped from both of them. "I'm sorry Gertrude." Victoria said with a miserable face and her head bowed. "I had been meaning to ask him if he had taken the potion. But knowing how the Cult of Broam works, the very thought that I had already lost my first and only apprentice, before I even got to truly even teach him, overcame me." She raised her eyes to look at me and then Gertrude. "The rage and fear, was just too sudden that I didn't think clearly." With an understanding nod, Gertrude placed a comforting arm around my teacher. "It is understandable. Emotional control comes with age and experience. You are an amazingly brilliant prodigy that hasn't yet had enough years to build up a mentality such as mine. Although you are wise, you are yet young. At least compared to me." A smile cracked her beak. "You can be excused for the occasional outburst every couple of decades or so." Turning back to me Gertrude inquired further. "What did happen after you rejected the potion?" At her request, I told of how when returning it back to him, it had slipped from my hands and burst open upon the rocks, spilling out. She kept quiet, and so I continued to tell of the anger and subsequent words of the Paladin, before he left me to be taken care of by the incoming wolves. The last of the recounting ended with me curled up in pain just on the path side of the thick hedges filled with vegetation by the falls, having barely escaped the pursuit of the wolves. A moment of silence passed as they both appeared to process what I had told them. Gertrude was the one to speak first with an. "Oh dear. This certainly complicates things. It likely temporarily solves one thing, but makes other concerns infinitely worse." Giving a meaningful look to Victoria, Gertrude pointed at her own head and then towards her. She then spoke again. "I believe that we should temporarily take a break and revisit this topic later." "I concur." Victoria added. "Victoria, since you owe me from before, would you be so kind as to get some of that shell cream that you specially make for me. I haven't had time to take a long soak, and my scutes have been getting dry and flaky. I would count that as a return favor for services rendered." I raised an eyebrow at that. I knew that tortoises enjoy long soaks in a shallow pond or water dish, but I hadn't heard of applying solutions to their shell directly. I assumed that only a vet would do such a thing due to the risks. But, then again, Victoria could count as a vet of sorts. Still though, this was a very sudden change of topic that I felt like I almost got whiplash. My thoughts were interrupted by Gertrude as she turned to me. "When Victoria comes back, would you be willing to apply it to my shell?" Needless to say, I was startled at such a request. The hyper teenager in me grew excited and pushed the prior concerning thoughts of Paladin Ekhart and my affinity further back in my head to being only of mild concern. In this moment, I was about to check off a dream from my bucket list. "Y. . Yes!" I replied, thrilled at this opportunity. Victoria returned quickly with a fist sized canister filled with some green and brown paste which she then handed to Gertrude. In addition to the handoff, out of the corner of my gaze, the both of them pulled out a crystal and touched them to each other, before putting them away again. My eyes squinted lightly in confusion at that, but as they gave no explanation, I figured it was something personal. Gertrude opened the canister and took a deep whiff of it, her eyes dilating in satisfaction. "Yep, that's the stuff." She then handed it off to me. "You need not worry about the amount you use, so long as you work it in deep along the ridges of the scutes." She then settled herself to lay flat on the floor with the top of her shell fully bare. Neither one of them offered me gloves, and appeared to wait for me to get started. With a shrug and concealed excitement, I got started. Out of sight, both crystals that had been just been touched together began glowing. [I'm so glad that Flourana was able to fashion these crystals into allowing mental communication at close distance.] Gertrude's voice echoed in Victoria's head. [We can discuss the details a little later regarding our concerns about the Paladin. But for now, I feel it is prudent to ask your apprentice about why he compared my created amulet to the potion that was offered to him.] [I agree] Victoria mind-spoke back to Gertrude. [I too am concerned about that. He had never informed me of it prior to this, and I have never heard of such an occurrence before. You are more familiar with the use of Will stones than I, so if you wouldn't mind broaching the topic, I would appreciate it.] A mental [*Nod*] from Gertrude was returned to her. Despite her unusual position, Gertrude spoke while I worked away at her shell. "We need to go over what you said about the amulet." I was startled and my hands froze mid application to her shell. Feeling very worried that I'd lose it for good and in a panic since I didn't see any other practical options, I blurted out. "Please don't take it away!"