Chapter 32: Purity Test
The aftermath of the battle and negotiations left the party exhausted. Lord Fergus had agreed to everything. The best part was Georgina had contracts drawn up to make it official. The land west of the river (including Barnacle’s rock) was now officially property of Lady Auriana. As she was currently the only one with a human form, she was the one with whom the treaty was signed. Lord Fergus, his men and anyone in his employ were barred from the woods under penalty of death.
With the help of Georgina, Auri had made it very clear that all creatures within the forest were under her protection as well.
That night Andy kept reliving breaking his bond with Veronica over and over:
After Veronica had been separated from the group and Gustave and Auri began their song and dance to distract Lord Fergus, Andy had been busy kidnapping the ranger. He used his vines to tie her up, and took her away from the group out past Gustave’s thunderstorm. He had five minutes. Five minutes to get Veronica to hurt him, and get back to Auri and Gustave to execute operation The Floor Is Lava.
He set Veronica down, and he could feel her heart beating in time with his. Her emotions ran through him. She was scared. He steeled his nerves and allowed the vines to untie themselves.
As soon as she was ungagged and untied she reached for him, for his horn, “Andy, I can explain.” His truth sense confirmed she was being honest.
“Listen, I am a ranger, I take care of the forest, I took care of you!”
He pulled away before her fingertips could brush against him. “How dare you. You are not worthy of my horn, of me. You’re not worthy of nature, this forest or the animals you took care of.”
“Andy, that’s not fair.”
“You know what isn’t fair? Taking away someone’s choice.”
“You don’t understand. I am obligated to follow Lord Fergus’ orders. I live on his land. My family lives on his land. Our land is poor and when the opportunity for additional money came along I had to take it. I never expected to find you.”
She was telling the truth. Maybe she did care. Maybe, Lord Fergus was the bad guy here, and she was really at his mercy. “Okay, then tell me do you care about me?”
“Of course I care about you.” Truth. “You are the most unique and special creature I’ve ever encountered.” Truth. “I never meant to hurt you.” Truth.
Andy’s heart skipped a beat and his horn pulsed brighter.
“Then why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped you.”
“I didn’t think you’d understand.” Lie.
“Veronica… just tell me the truth.”
“I am telling you the truth.” Lie.
His horn dimmed with each lie. “What is it? What are you not telling me? Is it me?”
“No.” Lie.
“It is me. Why? I loved you Veronica, I would have given you anything.”
“You loved… me? You’re a beast. A funny weird beast. You can’t even know what love is. I’m sorry Andy, but you don't." Truth
“After everything. You truly believe that. After you brought me apples and touched my horn, I thought…”
“Oh, Andy. You thought what? I am a ranger, a beastmaster. Taming and capturing beasts is my job. You were one of the easiest beasts I’ve ever tamed. And when I found out about the magic…” Truth. “I thought I could take some of it for myself.” Truth. “I didn’t know it would hurt you.” Lie
Andy backed up. Tears in his eyes, “Yes you did. You knew it would hurt me. You’re no better than Fergus. ”
Anger flared up in Veronica. This wasn’t going how she’d anticipated. Well if the carrot wasn’t going to work… “Get out of my head you disgusting opinionated beast.
“If anyone here is disgusting, it’s you Veronica.”
“Well, we will both just have to live with that, now that we’re bonded I own you. Me. You’ll learn to accept it. In time, maybe you’ll even like it again.” Truth.
Bile crept into Andy’s mouth.
She added in with a smirk. “Now come along dear, I will be giving you a new name Andy is so ridiculous. How did you come up with it anyway?”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“I think you’ll find that you are. You see, unicorn. We are bonded, and that means I am your master.”
“You are vile. You are nothing like Megan. I wish I’d never met you. Do not speak to me, human.” He spit out the word as if it were synonymous with garbage.
“You will obey me!” A slap rang out loudly as her open palm connected with his jaw. All of his breath was pulled from his lungs as their bond was severed. Veronica fell to the ground gasping.
“What? Andy. Andy no, I’m sorry.” Lie.
“I never want to see you again.”
[SOCIAL BOND: SEVERED (HUMANOID, RANGER-TYPE)]
Andy was being shaken awake by Auri. “Andy. Andy.”
“Huhhhhwhat?”
“Ponyboy.”
“Yeah, what is it?” Andy asked groggily.
“Shut up. You’re talking in your sleep.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Yeah, you should be, you have your purity test tomorrow and I need my rest so I can watch and find out just how virginal you are.”
“Auriii.”
“Both of you shut up. You’re bothering Barnacle.” Gustave chastised the branch he’d taken up sleeping on the tree hanging over the river where Barnacle’s rock was.. None of them had felt particularly comfortable sleeping in the clearing so they’d set up a new camp over by Barnacle where Georgina had agreed to meet them the next day.
Barnacle filtered.
“Sorry, Barnacle.” Andy said, drooping his ears.
Barnacle filtered. A single bubble worked its way to the surface and popped.
Georgina returned promptly at dawn.
“Andrew.”
“It’s Andy.”
“So, you’ve said. Ahn-dee,” She said, over-emphasizing the sounds.
with an eye roll. “Today we will be discussing whether or not you will pass the purity test.”
“First, can we talk about what exactly the purity test entails?”
She nodded, “Of course. There are two paths to becoming a unicorn. Unicorns are one of the twenty mythic tier Sophonts. The first path is genetics. A unicorn’s offspring is born as a low tier hornheir. The unicornling is given a path forward and in most cases will result in a full fledged unicorn.
“Most cases?”
“There are other paths a hornheir may take, and everyone must follow their own calling. Now, speaking of, the first unicorn obviously could not have come from genetics. The oldest of our ancestors began as something else. They were beasts of great purity, and potential. They became first generation unicorns. My grandmother was one such unicorn. We have not seen a new first generation unicorn since Madam Tempest drained magic from the world. We had all but given up hope on new reincarnators.”
“Okay, I think I understand. But why do you need to test me?”
“Our herds are small. Fewer hornheirs are born each generation and of those not all choose to continue down this path. It is tradition that an elder welcomes and helps a hornheir into the herd. When rumors of your existence reached our borders I was sent to find out if you would become a unicorn or if your path lay elsewhere.”
“My intention is to become a unicorn.”
“Good, intention is the first piece of the puzzle. If you are committed to this path it is easier to walk it.”
“And the second piece?”
“Only one pure of heart can become a unicorn.”
“Okay, that’s what the System told me.”
“Then you are prepared. Now I will test your heart. Try not to talk.”
Andy stood opposite Georgina. His horn had his usual emerald glow while hers was more prismatic shimmer. A sound resonated between them: a light melodic hum reminiscent of rubbing a wet finger around the lip of a crystal glass. As he stood there he noticed his horn was, naturally, bigger and he was doing his best to push that far far out of his mind.
It was quiet for the exception of the river running and Andy fell into almost a meditative state while he stood there quietly. He waited, and waited, and waited. Auri sent an impression of curiosity. Gustave sent nothing as he’d gotten bored shortly after it started and decided to patrol their land.
When he could stand it no longer he asked, “Is this the test? Has it started yet?”
“Patience.” Was all she said back in return.
Andy went back to impatiently being patient, occupying himself by tuning his inner monologue to a nature documentary. The young horned horse has met an older female unicorn. Let’s observe them… She is staring intently at the male horse, judging him, deciding if his genetics would fit well in her herd. The matron unicorn must measure the purity of a fledgling's heart, the shine of his hooves, and the length… of his horn.
Georgina’s mouth twitched almost imperceptively. “Next, we will measure your magic output.”
Andy was instructed to channel his magic on a nearby tree. He directed a focused, sustained beam of life magic through his horn toward the tree’s root system. He had been instructed to continue until she asked him to stop. The longer he focused staring intently at the tree the more he became convinced the tree was getting larger.
When she told him to stop his reserves were at forty two percent and he was feeling a little cross-eyed. The tree had in fact grown. The tree was now twice as big around as it had been, and four times as tall.
[ABILITY ENHANCED: LIFE MAGIC: GROWTH ENHANCEMENT (MINOR) -> GROWTH ENHANCEMENT (IMPROVED)]
“Why do you want to become a unicorn?”
“I have been drawn to it since I was a cell.”
“What does that mean? At first, I wanted a bipedal form. But then, it’s like my heart resonated with the choices, I enjoyed being fast, and when I grew, I enjoyed being large, and ever since I was a cell I knew that this horn was a part of me, that we belonged together. Becoming peak horny has been my goal ever since.”
“...peak horny?”
“Yeah… that’s just… I want to become the ultimate horned mythical beast. To protect my friends, to [EXIST] in each moment and to be better today than I was yesterday.”
“Why does your horn make such unusual songs?”
“I have an ability called Horn Song. I’m not the best at controlling it, but it usually broadcasts songs and my emotions at… inopportune or emotionally elevated moments. What is an unprecedented Horn Morphology?”
She blinked at him. “Horn Morphology is the ability that the strongest unicorns and nightmares acquire. It is an indication of an uncommon or rare ability. I have seen a unique tier horn morphology. What does it say exactly?”
He pulled up his menu: [HORN (MEGAFAUNA): TIER 6 OF 6. TRAIT CHAIN: UNPRECEDENTED. SPIRALING. LIFE LUMINESCENCE. SINGING. GROWING.]
“That is interesting. I am unsure. I will ask the counsel if they are familiar with that trait. For now, know that I have looked into your core and found you worthy of completing your Catalyst Event.”
“Georgina,” Andy stopped her. “Before you go, I have one last question.”
“Andy, I will be back, but yes of course, what is your question?”
“What is a catalyst event?”
[XP: 3987/?]
[SPECIES: HORSE (MAGICAL BEAST)]
[PURITY AFFINITY: ACTIVE]
[GALLOP EFFICIENCY: 73%]