4 The Heavenly Water Elemental I

The Heavenly Alliance is an apolitical independent organization composed of Spiritually trained humans that protect Fiore from demonic threats. The Alliance, which is led by the Council of 11 Saints, mainly rose to prominence in the last century due to the increased frequency of demonic attacks worldwide.

Saints are humans that have Ascended to immortality. Each Saint is denoted by a unique Title corresponding to their talents or achievements.

The Saints are responsible for recruiting and training spiritually gifted humans, known as Apprentices. Becoming an Apprentice is considered an honour for Furians and comes with many benefits like power, wealth and prestige. It is the dream of every 12-16-year-old to be scouted and recruited by a Saint, and Eshijan is no different. He had heard so many stories about the members of the Heavenly Alliance from his late mother.

The older omega had been a bit of a Heavenly Alliance fanboy. He had a Netscreen filled with data sheets that profiled all the Saints and famous Apprentices.

His mother claimed to love all of them equally, but it was obvious that he had a soft spot a mile wide for Saint Yuliang, the Heavenly Healer. The first and only omega Saint to Ascend.

Eshijan had seen all of his mother's recordings and holo-posters of Saint Yuliang. Still, he didn't see what the big deal was, considering that Saint Yuliang's face and body were always covered up and how Healing seemed to be his only ability.

Not that Healing people was a bad ability, but it was pretty useless in solo combat.

Eshijan had gotten slapped when he pointed it out to his mother. Apparently, Saint Yuliang's attraction was the mystery.

Was the omega beautiful or ugly?

Was he strong or weak?

Was Healing truly his only ability, or was it the only ability he bothered to show?

Eshijan still didn't get it, so his mother started showing him all the data, recordings, and articles he had collected, which proved Saint Yuliang was actually the dark horse of the Heavenly Alliance. Eshijan's mother just kept doing this until Eshijan finally saw the light and accepted how absolutely amazing their lord and saviour Saint Yuliang was.

So much for loving everyone equally...

Anyway, let me tell you the reason we started with all this.

The Heavenly Water Elemental, Saint Quinn, is coming to Mist Valley this evening!

And you know what's even more exciting?

She's going to be stopping by at the Forester Estate!

This, boys and girls, is what we have been waiting for!

About damn time too!

My dear Eshijan's been rotting in this damn town for far too long!

Let's get back to business.

Lot's to say; lot's to do.

So, Eshijan knew that today was the day that the Saint would be arriving, but instead of taking the time to get ready, our favourite idiot thought that it was a good idea to spend the entire morning hunting.

Honestly, he should have known better than to do that on such an important day!

It was around one in the afternoon when he came back, and at that time, the entire estate was in an uproar trying to finish the last-minute cleaning, cooking and gardening.

Eshijan was highly amused by it all because the last time he had seen the estate so busy had been at his mother's funeral.

Eshijan didn't want to track dirt all over their hard work, so he took a detour and entered through one of the manor's side entrances. He had only managed to get a few steps in before his arm was taken hostage and dragged down the hall in a hurry.

"Where in the heavens have you been, brat! I've been looking for you all morning!" It was Anshu, one of the estate's senior servants. She turned over her shoulder to get a good look at him before turning back with a huff, "You were playing in the forest again, weren't you? Oh, heaven's above, I think we must have dropped you on your head one too many times! Why else would you decide that it was a good idea to play in the dirt! You idiot!"

Eshijan could only try to keep up and not trip as he was dragged down the halls towards the western wing, where his rooms were. When they reached it, the doors were swung open, and he was practically tossed inside. For a normal human woman in her mid-fifties, Anshu was pretty damn strong.

"Now go take a goddamn proper shower! And I'm warning you, if you don't come out smelling like roses, I swear I'll drag you inside and scrub you from head to toe, myself!"

Eshijan responded with a short laugh and a cheeky, "Yes ma'am" before he scrambled to close the bathroom door behind him. A wise decision, considering the loud bang on the other side of the door.

While Eshijan was busy in the shower, Anshu was just as busy trying to find an outfit that the child wouldn't look completely ridiculous in. It was a difficult task when she had to take that shiny bald head of his into account.

"What was that omega thinking! Who the hell just decided to randomly shave their head at 12? Is this another one of those ridiculous teenage fads? Ridiculous, truly ridiculous!"

Eshijan Forester was the bane of Anshu Sharma's existence since he arrived at the Forster Estate. She knew there was something wrong with the omega since the first she held him. No normal baby ever smiled that much, and no normal teenager ever smiled that much either! Especially not when everyone around you treated you like shit all your life!

It was probably all that Nordish blood in him. Anshu always thought those northerners were a weird bunch.

If only the omega's mother were here to see him, Anshu was sure the man would be able to smack some sense into him.

The older woman's thoughts came to a screeching halt.

Right.

The boy's mother was dead.

Anshu had been a part of the estate for about 35 years now, and as all servants of aristocrats usually did, she too had one too many sordid tales to tell.

If the Lord and Lady Forester were apostles: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, these were their creeds.

In the deadly game of cat and mouse, the Forester family had taken to playing, one innocent life was already lost, and now the reaper awaited the second.

Anshu was probably just as bad for accommodating this twisted game, but what choice did she have? She had a family; five children and a sick husband, whose lives depended on her paycheque. For someone as small and insignificant as her, she could do nothing but watch from the sidelines and regret.

With a shake of her head and a sigh, Anshu got back to the task at hand. There was no point in thinking about this now.

Not when the boy was still alive and well.

Maybe, if he were lucky, Lady Forester would have mercy and just let him live.

Well, that was kind of sad.

A new perspective to consider.

Maybe not all the people in the estate wish to see the young omega dead?

Well, who knows.

For all Anshu thought herself insignificant, she was still the only servant Lord Forester trusted with the care of his only omega son. That had to count for something.

Anyway, let's move on.

So, Eshijan eventually comes out of the shower, in his shining bald glory and dresses in the purple robes that Anshu had left out for him before she had to leave to attend her other duties.

Eshijan couldn't help but scrutinize his reflection in the massive floor-length mirror on the wall opposite his closet.

He had never really regretted shaving his head before, but looking at himself now, he couldn't help but reconsider it.

He looked more ready to preach sermons than defeat demons.

Hopefully, Saint Quinn wasn't the judgemental type.

Eshijan brought his hands up and smacked his cheeks a couple of times.

"Think positive," he ordered himself.

Self-doubts and negative thoughts were what lead his own mother to his death; he would not fall into that same trap!

He was okay.

How he looked didn't matter. As long as he was Spiritually gifted, there was no reason for Saint Quinn to reject him.