VoC: B1 — 14. Divine Guidance
Added 2025-06-25 23:22:56 +0000 UTCPoV:
1. Damon (Our New 24-Year-Old MC!)
---------------------
Proceeding down the path the halfling had directed him, he stopped in front of the shrine; it really was impossible to miss.
Where everything else in the district had a wild, organic beauty, Titania’s shrine was a masterpiece of controlled chaos. It appeared to be carved from a single massive tree, with spiraling branches that formed natural arches and chambers. Flowers bloomed at random intervals along the bark, their colors shifting and changing as Damon watched.
But it was the figure tending the gardens around the shrine that truly caught his attention.
High Cleric Sorrel Nightbloom was exactly as beautiful and otherworldly as Damon remembered from the trial, but seeing her in her natural environment was something else entirely:
Her bark-brown skin seemed to blend seamlessly with the plants around her, and flowers literally bloomed in her moss-green hair as she moved. She wore flowing robes that looked like they were woven from living vines, and her every gesture seemed to encourage growth in the plants nearby.
“And so you finally make time for a visit, young prince,” she said without looking up from the flowering bush she was tending, several dryads nearby promptly vanishing into the undergrowth with one last thoughtful look his way. “And it appears you’ve made quite the advancements, bringing such an interesting companion.”
Her voice carried the same musical quality he remembered, like branches swaying in the wind. When she finally turned to look at him, her amber eyes with their emerald flecks seemed to see far more than should have been possible.
“High Cleric,” Damon said, offering a respectful bow, as seemed appropriate. “Thank you for your patience and for vouching for my allegiances.”
“But of course. Titania’s children are always welcome here. It is a part of my duty to speak on Her behalf,” Sorrel replied with a warm smile. “Though I confess, your timing is rather fortuitous. Might I say expected by the resonance within the ecosystem.”
“Expecting me?”
“Oh yes,” she said, moving with that supernatural grace to examine Copper more closely. “Nature responds to Titania’s will. Even without words, She told me you would come seeking answers about your lost one. The girl who was transformed, scattered across distance and form.”
Damon’s heart clenched as he lost all hesitation. “Sophia. You know about Sophia? Where is she? What has she become? How much longer does she have?”
The woman quieted him with a single expectant glance. “…While urgency is not uncalled for, or unexpected, there is time, Damon. As I understand it, she will only take her first breath in this world within the next few days, and there will be time to rescue her…”
Sorrel turned her gaze to a tree, running her fingers along its bark and causing silver lines to seep into its bark before kneeling to gracefully sit beside Copper, who seemed utterly fascinated by her presence.
“The question is which truths you’re prepared to hear.” Small flowers were literally blooming where her fingers touched the ground near him. “A tree which grows in the desert must do so on its own, yet its branches and shade can shelter new life… Dig your roots deep, Damon.”
Totally bypassing any lineage talk to focus on his girlfriend, he asked, “Sophia, please. Tell me everything Titania will allow. I get it: you can’t tell me everything, there’s a plan, and there’s going to be growing pains…but just give me something.”
She slowly stood, brushing dirt from her robes, though somehow no actual soil clung to the living fabric. “You love her so much that you brought her with you to an alien world. Quite the romantic… Few would have that level of loyalty. She is a lucky woman. I hope the binding roots you two have cultivated can last with the challenges ahead. Come…”
Moving toward the shrine, Damon quickly kept pace, Copper trailing behind them.
Inside the shrine, the walls seemed to pulse with gentle life, and the air carried the scent of flowers that bloomed only in dreams; at least, that was his nose’s interpretation.
Sorrel moved deeper into the living cathedral, her bare feet silent on the moss-covered floor, until she reached the heart of the ancient tree.
“I’d like to introduce you to my true body, Damon,” she offered with a small smile, resting her hand against it. “Here I have remained grounded for three hundred years.”
Her bark formed a natural spiral that climbed toward impossible heights, and from one of the lower branches hung a single flower unlike anything Damon had ever seen. It was ethereal, translucent, with petals that seemed to contain swirling galaxies of light.
“This,” Sorrel said, her voice carrying the reverence of ages, “bloomed the day you arrived in our world. Instructions that I am directed to give her chosen when they seek her guidance… Normal souls cannot consume such divinity without spiritual decay.”
She reached up with fluid grace, her fingers barely brushing the stem before the flower detached itself, floating gently down to rest in her cupped palms like a butterfly made of starlight.
Her amber eyes reflected depths of emotion that came with age. “Before the empire of order claimed these lands, before rigid laws replaced the flowing truths of nature, this is how we spoke with the divine. Now, they have their prophet and elders who interpret the Holy Emperor’s law, but nature does not conform to His will.”
Damon felt Copper press closer to his leg, the cub’s instincts recognizing something profound in the moment.
“Eat,” Sorrel instructed, offering the luminous flower. “Answers await. Let Her words bloom within you as they were meant to—not as commands carved in stone, but as whispers carried on the wind that bring gentle guidance.”
Without hesitation, he accepted it and popped it in his mouth; he’d walk through hell to get his coffee-eyed, auburn star back.
The petals dissolved on his tongue like morning mist, tasting of wildflowers and summer rain and something indefinably fey. Almost immediately, the world began to shift around him.
The shrine faded into swirling silver mists that danced with their own inner light. Trees of impossible beauty emerged from the fog—some with leaves of pure gold, others bearing fruit that sang with crystalline voices. The very air shimmered with magic so thick it was almost tangible.
“My champion,” came Titania’s voice, everywhere and nowhere at once, like laughter echoing through eternal forests. “See what was, what is, and what yet may be.”
The mists parted to reveal glimpses of truth: Sophia, form shifting through strange shapes, not her own, crawling to get to a pool. Her mind fractured between human memory and monster instincts to feed and level, each day making her more beast than girl. But beneath the confusion, her soul remained steady—waiting, fighting, holding onto fragments of who she had been.
“She fights her nature,” Titania’s voice whispered through the vision. “As do you, my chosen. The bonds you forge in this world will be your strength when the true trials come.”
The scene shifted, showing mountain passes shrouded in deadly winter storms, then the same routes months later, green with spring growth and filled with merchant caravans. A longer path, but a safe passage for those with patience.
“You will be approached by those with ulterior motives, neutral as they try to be,” the goddess continued. “Read the heart, not their creed. They will provide structure to your chaotic life and provide a way forward… Sophia resides in a dungeon near Tiristal, east of Bluerise. Be patient with yourself…and her. There is much turmoil in her heart, Damon. And not because of you. Prepare. Do not rush, or disaster will befall you both… Uplift the downtrodden, and they will support you.”
Finally, the mists revealed Copper—not as he was now, but as he would become. Massive, magnificent, wreathed in power that spoke of ancient bloodlines and harsh realms. His eyes blazed with intelligence and loyalty, a guardian worthy of legends.
“His awakening comes through trial by fire,” Titania guided, her voice growing distant as the vision began to fade. “But do not fear what he becomes. Love shaped his spirit long before power claimed his blood… Loyalty will constrain nature. Above all, trust your instincts. I am with you.”
The fae realm dissolved back into the warm reality of the shrine, leaving Damon gasping as awareness returned. Sorrel steadied him with a gentle hand, her expression knowing and kind.
“The old magic is strong,” she said softly, flowers blooming fresh in her hair as she spoke. “But worth the disorientation for true communion. What did She show you?”
The connection faded, leaving Damon with a sense of peace he hadn’t truly felt since awakening in this world—but also with purpose, with understanding of the path ahead. Beside him, Copper seemed equally calm, though the cub's eyes now held a deeper intelligence than before, as if the vision had touched him too through their bond.
“Where I can find the person who needs me the most… Now, I need to build a bridge to get to her.”
--------------------
