However much sleep Nerluce ended up getting that night hadn't been enough.

Throughout the morning meal, Nerluce fought back yawns and struggled to keep up with the conversation, not that there was much, to begin with. The disciples were... quiet around Nerluce. They only let themselves relax enough to joke and laugh when they thought he wasn't watching.

While the disciples' quietness usually caused Nerluce's heart to ache, today he was thankful for it. None of them mentioned his twilight disappearance. Whether that was because the disciples hadn't noticed he was missing or if they were simply choosing to not bring it up out of that same respect that caused them to dull their laughter, Nerluce was thankful all the same.

Eventually, Nerluce gave up hope of paying attention to the conversation and focused on picking at his breakfast. Rice, baked salmon, miso soup, and cucumbers. Nerluce liked all of those things. They were just... a bit milder than he was used to. Not bland, just lacking the vibrant taste of Hebikoti spices.

He picked up a cucumber slice and nibbled on it. At least he knew he'd be able to sleep tonight. Maybe. Hopefully. They were going to be put into permanent rooms today, organized by their Affinity. Nerluce continued to chew on the cucumber as he glanced at the disciples. He knew his Affinity was for fire - just like every other Hebikoti - but what were theirs?

They'd be separated no matter what. Loyalties to anything other than the Temple itself were discouraged. It was probably the reason they were sorted by their Affinities. Not that Nerluce would complain. To the disciples of the Hebikoti Clan, he would never be anything other than the son of Lord Prathesh Hebikoti and the younger brother of General Juncoam Hebikoti. But there had to be someone in Ethera who had never heard of those names before, right?

Nerluce stirred his soup around and started chewing on his cheek in absence of anything else.

The boy from last night - Nerluce had taken to calling him Angel in absence of a proper name - hadn't seemed to know who Nerluce was. He certainly didn't treat Nerluce like he was the son or younger brother of anyone.

Even if it was unlikely Angel had never heard of the Hebikoti Clan considering his usage of the border dialect. Even if he was from the Tilican side - as his dark skin and short curls seemed to indicate - there wasn't a soul on either side who wasn't very well aware of the existence of Itoroh's most powerful border clan.

Still, Nerluce's interaction with Angel ought to make him optimistic. There were people here who wouldn't recognize him. Who would... who would form opinions of him based on their interactions with him alone. Nerluce could make friends.

Nerluce had... never had a proper friend before.

"Young Lord Hebikoti," one of the disciples said, jolting Nerluce from his thoughts. "We would like to get our room placements. Is that acceptable?"

"Do as you please," Nerluce said. "We're in Ethera now. I am no longer of any higher rank than you all."

Despite his words, the disciple still bowed before she rose with the eleven others and left the dining hall. Alone, Nerluce ate as much as he could of his morning meal and slipped the leftover cucumber slices into his pocket for Eden. He didn't want to waste them when the Greater Stallion would appreciate the gift.

Nerluce deposited his dirty dishes at a small window where the servants took and washed them for him, looking rather displeased the entire time. Nerluce pursed his lips but didn't say anything. It was rude to comment on the customs of other clans - or temples. Perhaps servants here were treated differently here than in Hebikoti Castle.

With that out of the way, Nerluce made his way over to the courtyard where a line of people was forming. It wasn't very long but it was moving at a slow pace. Nerluce stood for about half a candlemark before the line shifted forward and the next person entered the temple. It seemed Ethera's testing of Magickal Affinity was much more in-depth than the standard test. Nerluce yawned. He was exhausted. Could he take a nap and come back later?

However, just as he was about to get out of line, he noticed something odd about the person in front of him. He hadn't really been paying that much attention to her. She was a short, stocky girl with thick dark hair pulled into two braids, each of which rested on either side of her neck. What made her so odd was her metal legs.

Prosthetics, Nerluce realized. Small gears worked furiously inside of the metal casing, engraved with fiery birds midflight. The line shifted forward again and the girl moved with it as easily as if her metal legs were the ones she was born with.

"How do they work?" Nerluce mumbled to himself.

However, Nerluce had never really been good at the whole mumbling to oneself thing. The girl turned around, with a bright smile. "What was that?" she asked in Dumorian.

Nerluce felt his face heat. He opened his mouth to make up some excuse but... his curiosity outweighed his shame. "Sorry, just wondering at how your legs... work," Nerluce said, now in Dumorian as well.

"I don't really know," the girl said. "This fancy blacksmith from Prienill came all the way across the continent to Ethera to make these for me."

"A blacksmith? Really?" Nerluce asked, eyes widening. "I thought they were Magick..."

"That's what I thought when I first saw it too!" the girl said. "But it's just technology, no Magick required, though I probably should make metal my secondary study just in case they like... break or something."

"Do you already know your primary?" Nerluce asked.

"You could say that." The girl gave a crooked, toothy grin. Between her thick southwestern accent and her features, she was from Riedith. People really had come from all over the world just for the chance to gain a bit of favor from the ugly baby that was apparently Chosen Light. "My name's Lyana, it's a pleasure to meet you."

She stuck out her hand. Nerluce stared at it for a moment, uncertain what to do, before he extended his hand in return. The girl, Lyana clutched their palms together and violently thrust Nerluce's hand up and down a couple of times. Nerluce was so shocked by this interaction he was only able to stare, helpless, and wide-eyed at Lyana.

She snorted. "You're supposed to say your name now," Lyana said, taking pity on him and explaining how the gesture was supposed to work.

"Oh! My name's Nerluce," Nerluce said. "Do I need to thrust your hand around now?"

"No, we just need to shake hands once. Now we're acquaintances." Lyana shrugged. "Is it really that different from how things are done where you're from?"

"Well, I mean, kind of," Nerluce said, glancing down. "Every region is different but where I'm from we usually bow our heads. It's respectful, particularly when you're meeting someone of higher standing than you."

"How do you know if they're higher standing or not?" Lyana asked.

"Well if they're older or from a better family-"

"How are you supposed to know if they're from a better family than you just by looking at them?" Lyana asked.

Nerluce paused and then frowned. "Well, usually their robes are nicer."

Not that Nerluce could particularly tell which of the commoners had nicer clothing. He generally assumed that everyone he met was of lower rank and therefore would dip their heads to him upon first meeting and sometimes afterward if they ever met in public again.

Lyana hummed and nodded. "What happens if both of y'all bow? Or if neither of y'all bow?"

"Well- when both people bow it's like... it's a sign they respect one another very much. If a person of higher standing bows back that means they see you as an equal." Nerluce frowned, thinking about her second question for a moment before he decided, "If neither of you bows you both walk away thinking the other is rude."

"Seems necessarily complicated," Lyana said.

"Well, how do you show respect with your... handshake?" Nerluce asked. "Surely you wouldn't handshake someone of higher standing, would you?"

Lyana giggled. "Handshake's a noun. You give someone a handshake." Nerluce wrinkled his nose before unwrinkling it. It was rude to mock other's cultures no matter how foreign and crude they seemed to him. "And you can give anyone a handshake."

"What about the Empress?" Nerluce asked, shocked.

"In Riedith there isn't an Empress, but we do have a king and I'd shake his damn hand," Lyana said. "I'd probably spit on his boot while I was at it."

"How is that respectful?"

"It isn't!" Lyana said, grinning from ear to ear. "The king's a nasty bastard."

Nerluce, who had been taught to respect the Empress his entire life stared in a mix of shock and horror at the girl in front of him. He tried to recompose himself but before he could one of the temple's disciples called for the next in line. Nerluce had hardly noticed it but during the duration of their conversation, they'd actually inched to the front of the line.

"That's me," Lyana said, shoving her hands into her pockets. "See you around, Nerluce!"

And with that, she entered the temple. Nerluce couldn't stop staring at the place she'd disappeared into. He knew that each of the seven kingdoms had a different way of doing things but... this was a lot like being dunked in a lake during winter. Sure, Nerluce was vaguely familiar with some Tilican culture - the Hebikoti Clan was a border clan, after all - but for the most part, he'd grown up in a largely homogenous community.

Nerluce started to chew on the inside of his cheek however and found that despite everything, a small smile had worked its way onto his lips.

That smile ultimately fell from his when half the temple lit up with flames. Nerluce jumped back as the fire disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared. Nerluce stared at the building, trying to figure out if he was hallucinating due to his exhaustion. However, upon turning to the other people in the line, Nerluce saw the same terror on their faces as well.

Nerluce turned back to the temple just in time to watch as water gushed out from inside. It wasn't deep but considering how much there was and how quickly it had come, Nerluce thought someone had drained the lilypad pond. But just like the fire, the water returned in a matter of moments.

But it wasn't over then. The ground shook. The ground around the building seemed to snap, breaking free as a gust of wind more powerful than anything Nerluce had ever felt started to lift the entire temple into the air. It only got a couple of inches up but that was more than enough to terrify Nerluce for a lifetime.

These were feats of magic. Powerful magic from someone infinitely more gifted than him.

"Shit," one of the guards said as the temple crashed back to the ground. "What the hell is the High Priestess doing in there?"

"That's not the High Priestess," the other guard said with a grimace. "It's that legless girl... the High Priestess has finally brought her to Ethera... she's the most powerful magician in a century."

"Really?"

Nerluce couldn't help but feel the same. Did that... did that magic seriously belong to a girl who was no older than Nerluce? What would she be like once she was trained? Nerluce's heartbeat began to pick up. There were some people out there with magical abilities far beyond comprehension but... but Nerluce had never thought he'd stumble upon one.

"Oh, um, they're finished in there," one of the guards said. "Next person please enter."

Shit. That was fast. Lyana hadn't even been in there for half the amount of time as the rest. Nerluce hadn't taken the time to mentally prepare himself. He did a sloppy job of swallowing it back now. He started to chew on the inside of his cheek as he walked up the steps of the temple and passed the guards into the darkened innards.

The scent of incense was thick and curtains had been pulled to block out the sun as Nerluce entered a large room with the High Priestess sitting on a large golden chair in the center of the room. Several disciples of the clan were moving around, frantically mopping up water and trying to clean the scorch stains. However, the person Nerluce's eyes were most drawn to was none other than Angel, with little baby Kierli gently resting in his arms.

Angel recognized him too. His eyes narrowed and he leaned over to the High Priestess, whispering something in her ear. In response, she chucked a bit and took the baby from Angel's arms.

"So you're the one who got Ari so worked up," the High Priestess said.

Nerluce dipped his head. "I apologize!" he said a bit too desperately. But he hadn't realized that Angel had such close ties to the High Priestess or else he might've watched his mouth a little bit more. Or maybe tried to explain himself. Which he decided to do now. "But when I heard the baby crying I- I couldn't help but make sure it was okay."

"See Ari," the High Priestess said, turning to Angel. "Nothing sinister. The servant who was meant to be taking care of Kierli... neglected her responsibilities and is being punished accordingly." The High Priestess crossed her legs. "Aristide is one of the head disciples. Upon detecting an intruder in the nursery he assumed the worst. Such a paranoid little boy."

"Lady High Priestess," Angel... or perhaps Aristide said, using the formal dialect this time. "Your daughter's life could have been in danger. We still don't know if he's telling the truth."

"Oh nonsense, Ari," the High Priestess said.

However, that gave Nerluce a jolt. He... he hadn't realized that Kierli... he hadn't thought that ugly little infant might be the Chosen Light. It did explain why it was so ugly, though. The poor girl was the reincarnation of a crusty old king.

"Regardless, let's get to business," the High Priestess said, handing Kierli off to a nearby servant. She stood up and with a wave of her hand the disciples who'd been drying the floor got up and brought in a large golden basin filled with a liquid that looked like oil. So that was why everything was taking so long. They were performing oil divination.

It made sense. The High Priestess was a Seer - a magician who could use divination - and oil divination while taking longer than stone or glass divination was the most reliable method to determine a person's affinity for each type of magic. It could tell the affinity the person was best suited for but also their secondary and tertiary affinities.

Both stones and glass had been used on Nerluce before - along with many non-divination methods for telling affinity - but never oil. He sat, obediently in front of the basin, looking up at the High Priestess for further instruction. In doing so, he also caught Angel- Aristide's eye. The boy was scowling rather ferociously at Nerluce and for some sick reason, Nerluce felt extremely delighted by this. He winked at Aristide and turned back to the High Priestess.

"Put your hand in the basin and let your mind go blank," the High Priestess said.

Nerluce did as he was told. The oil felt cold and slimy on his hand but for some reason, it was easier to let himself be lost in the darkness behind his eyelids than ever before. One could blame his exhaustion or the divination properties in the oil but almost as if flipping a lever, Nerluce's mind was blank and filled with delightful things.

Small fires, dancing in the sky like stars. A forest of pleasure. Apples growing, always within arms reach. People were there too. All were willing to laugh and joke and talk and kiss and do all things people do. Nerluce smiled but no sooner had the vision come into existence than was he shaken out of it by one of the Seraphs in the room.

He blinked and the world spun a bit but things had definitely changed. The atmosphere had gone deathly quiet. Nerluce felt his skin begin to prickle.

"Did I... did I mess it up?" he asked. "I'm- I'm sorry."

The High Priestess smiled at him. "No you did it right," she said, bright as always. "You probably already knew this being from the Hebikoti clan but your primary magickal affinity is fire. Following that is... earth." She cleared her throat. "You'll sleep with the other fire disciples from now on. Go out back and someone will get you some new robes and show you to your rooms shortly."

"Thank you," Nerluce said, bowing his head again. Yet as he left the room he felt an odd sensation prickle down his spine as if something dark had settled over the room while he had been unconscious.

And whatever it was... Nerluce was certain it had to do with what the High Priestess had seen in his oil divination.