Forged Tamahagane

Posted on Tue Jul 24th, 2018 @ 2:01am by Aewia Larani & Staff Warrant Officer Nexi

Mission: Holographic Horrors
Location: Granweh - Elven Forges

Danu had wasted no time getting Nexi's ship upgraded with a few 'godly' tweaks from Vulcan's forge and even a new power core from Nidavellir, the same dwarves that made all the weapons and tech for the Asgardians. It had cost her the last of her favors with them, but she counted it as worthwhile investment in this case. The only things now remaining were to talk the Elven forgemasters on her own world to craft nexi a new pike that could withstand her lightning, and get an implant for her.

Eir from Asgard had sent a care package with an implant so that shouldn't be an issue at least. She just had to get Nexi to... Swallow this... Golden egg? The instructions were unclear... Maybe it would make more sense to her. Either way, she'd have to see them off and give her this implant. Thus she faded from where she was in her gardens to inside the Wandering Star, as she was wont to do when no one was looking.

Without looking up from the crate she was digging around in, Aewia called out. "Nexi, Danu is here to see you about eggs!"

"Ah, yes, not about eggs specifically, but about an egg shaped implant that came for you." Danu explained, barely a step away from Nexi.

"Fucking hells, woman! Have you seriously never heard of knocking?!" Nexi said as she nearly jumped out of her own skin in surprise. Getting her racing heart under control, Nexi glanced at the small golden egg in Danu's hand. "Is that the implant thing you told me about? It'll let me draw power from the ship so I don't kill myself throwing lightening?" Nexi asked, then put away the inventory list she had been working on.

"Sorry... Anyway, I'll leave you to figure out the instructions. Eir didn't make them simple enough for me to understand." Danu handed the egg and a pamphlet over to Nexi before continuing. "As for the Fae, They should be expecting you, but they aren't always the friendliest at first so please bear with them."

Nexi took the pamphlet, but her expression soured when she realized she couldn't read it. "What the hell? I don't recognize any of these symbols," she remarked as she turned the pamphlet over in her hands in the hopes of finding something written in Ferengi or even Basic English. "Okay, so what am I supposed to do with this thing?" she asked, picking up the little egg to look at it with bemusement. The answer would become abundantly clear when the little egg started wiggling in her hand and then started to burrow into the flesh of her palm.

"THE FUCK!" Nexi exclaimed as she tried to pull the little egg out; it was odd, it felt like it should have hurt, but it didn't, even though she could feel it moving through her skin, leaving no trace of a scar or any blood behind. Then came the even stranger feeling as it moved up her arm, and Nexi looked aghast as she tried to grab it as though to stop it. Again, it didn't hurt even though she knew it should have, it was just really unsettling to feel it moving around in her. "Oh, this just feels wrong," Nexi said with a sick expression as she clutched her chest, now feeling the little egg moving to where it needed to be. "Your friend Eir has a fucked up sense of humor to do this to anyone," she stated bluntly, waiting for the egg to stop moving so she could finally breath again.

"Oooohhh.... That makes sense now..." was all Danu said as she watched Nexi squirming while the implant figured out it's optimum location. "I think once it's done, you need to sync it to your power supply." Taking back the pamphlet, she flipped through it. "Which I think means putting your hand on it? In it? Asgardian is such a pain..."

"Noted," Nexi replied with a wheeze, but at least she could breathe, sort of. "Aewia, move that crate so I can get to the power supply," she said, standing still for a moment longer; the egg wasn't moving, but it was still doing something, and it felt so bizarre! Once Aewia had moved the crate and opened the floor panel to reveal the new power source attached the Star's warp drive, Nexi knelt down to peer at it. It looked like pure light nestled against the warp drive, with a strange little egg creature with spider-like legs tending to it; when Aewia first saw the little guy, she had called it BOB, short for 'battery operated buddy', and it seemed to acknowledge this designation when it started working on Nexi's ship.

"Hey BOB," Nexi said, shooing the little guy away from the power source. So she had to put her hand in it? BOB seemed to be at least partially telepathically connect to Aewia and Nexi, and it understood what needed to be done, 'opening' the power source and causing more light to spill out. "Thanks, little guy," Nexi said, then with a deep breath she reached into the light.

It only took a moment and a flash as a crackle of energy seemed to connect and flow into Nexi from her ship. It wasn't much, but that was all it took as everything seemed to settle down.

"Cool..." Aewia whispered, peeking over Nexi's shoulder at what was going on.

"Well that was anti-climatic," Nexi remarked as she drew her hand back. "After what the egg-thing did to me, I expected something a bit more... flashy?" But she could feel it, the implant had stopped moving and there was this ever-present energy inside her waiting to be utilized. She watched BOB secure the power source, then Nexi closed up the floor panel so they could get underway. "Alright, kiddo, what's the verdict; are we ready to shove off?"

With a crisp salute, Aewia smiled with satisfaction. "Aye, Captain! We have all the ice cream and hot sauce we could dream of so we're ready!"

Nexi rolled her eyes. "Well at least you have your priorities squared away," she replied with a chuckle, reaching over to ruffle her sister's hair. Then she stood up to address Danu. "Well... Thanks for all the help, I guess? Um, we have the coordinates to the Tamahagane, we'll send word once we get there," she said to Danu. "And once we succeed, we'll be ready to accept our first task as your champions."

Danu placed a hand on Nexi's shoulder. "Thank you. It may be sooner than both of us expects though. The wind tells me that Hera is back as well and is starting to cause trouble for the children of Pan. Once I have more information, I may ask you to help them."

Turning and heading for the docking ramp, Danu headed out of the ship on foot for once. "But for now worry about the forges and your trip. There's plenty of time for your first quest later. Safe journeys, and may the wind be at your backs."

Nexi squared her shoulders and nodded to Danu. This was it, their course was set and there was no turning back! "Lock it down and get ready to depart; we're gonna go get ourselves some shiny weapons!" Nexi said to her sister with a grin, then headed for the cockpit to get this party started!

Pressing the ramp controls, Aewia smiled and waved to Danu as it closed. "We'll be back before you know it."


The flight from Danu's temple to the Fae temples in the south was a short one and thankfully they also had a landing pad set up for them. There was even a delegation of eight foot tall gold skinned beings that they had never seen waiting to greet them. They resembled elves from old mythology, but taller and more slender. They also lived in what appeared to be some sort of crazy mish-mash of stone and living tree architecture.

Nexi studied the people and their dwellings for a moment to help her get a sense of these people while she put her ship on standby; they were an interesting sort, and Danu said they could be a bit difficult to work with. So how to approach them? She could show respect, but they might think she was pandering, although she suspecting that being bold aggressive might be as equally off-putting to them; so, she would just be herself, whoever that was anymore...

As Nexi lowered the ramp, she made no attempt to hide the fact that she was armed; it seemed rude to hide her weaponry, so her daggers were on display, as were the two hand-cannons, the replica Desert Eagles she got from who-knows-where, and a pike with a plasma mono-filament blade edge was nestled in the small of her back, it's origin as equally blank to her. She popped the collar on her leather jacket and strode out to meet the tall golden individuals waiting for her.

"I'm here to discuss the acquisition of your tamahagane weaponry," she said simply to the entourage.

Aewia was similarly nonchalant about her interactions as she stood next to her sister and waved politely to the tall Fae.

The tall golden beings were a bit taken aback however, by the casual and honest nature of their guest. Their brows raised even higher as they glanced between each other before the leader bowed so he could offer a hand in greeting to Nexi. "Yes, we were told of your coming. Your ah... Open demeanor is refreshing, though your abundance of weaponry is slightly disturbing. Many of our kind are pacifists and regardless of your intentions, will judge you based on them alone. If your intentions are pure, however... I believe we may be able to work together..."

Nexi tilted her head in thought, then reached down to unbuckle some of her weapon holsters, hanging most of her daggers and one of her guns just inside the ramp bay. "Better?" she asked as she strode down the ramp to meet her guides.

Several of them nodded amongst themselves before the leader spoke again. "Yes, I believe as a Champion a few weapons would be expected. Besides, if we are to craft one for you, it would be best to have a preference of yours to work from. Shall we discuss terms and... Ahem... Attunement... With the tamahagane in question. It is no simple matter to craft anything from such a metal, but for a weapon... You understand if there are certain rituals and procedures that must be adhered to, yes?"

"I wouldn't expect you to cut corners on this weapon, so just tell me what you need from me," Nexi replied with a nod. "My sister and I will both cooperate for whatever you need us to do."

"If you will please follow us, we will take you to the shrine where the rw tamahagane is stored. If a pot resonates with you, then we are able to begin the process. If not, then you must leave." He was rather blunt, but there was no room in his words for misinterpretation. Turning almost as one, the delegation led the two into the city.

Amidst the brickwork and tree based structures, glowing yellow eyes could be seen peering out at the strangers. They passed several open shops but there seemed to be no shoppers and the shopkeepers stared with emotionless eyes as the strangers passed.

It wasn't long before they arrived at an overly ornate and well trimmed golden bricked version of the local structures that led underground. Their delegation bowed before entering and after a short flight of stairs down, stopped at a large set of doors. "Are you both prepared?" asked the leader of the delegation.

Nexi looked to her sister for mutual resolve before nodding to their guide. "We are prepared," Nexi said with confidence.

Turning back to the door, the leader unlatched it and pushed it open. What seemed to be a flood of dark energies rushed past them, then almost sucked them all in, closing the giant doors behind them. Arrayed around the cavern were hundreds of clay urns set into divots in the walls, each one sealed with ribbons and black ink and labelled in some indecipherable manner. The air was cold and a blue light filtered from somewhere up above.

"Welcome to the shrine of Tamahagane." said the leader of the Fae. "Now you must see if any of these pots resonate with you. After that, you and the forgemaster must purify it."

"I understand," Nexi replied with a nod, then looked to her sister, gesturing for her to start searching as well. Nexi wandered down into the dark, holding her hand out over the jars as she passed them by. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for with this whole 'resonation' thing, and she ended up walking quite deep before something finally happened. A collection of jars began to rattle, shaking ever more violently as she grew closer, and when she found the one that was meant for her, the seal script began to glow. Pealing this seal away carefully, she opened the lid and there was the raw ore waiting to be put through the forge; it glowed a bright blue, and then oddity of oddities, her hands began to spark. Testing this reaction, she released a current into the ore and it hummed its approval.

"Found one!" Nexi called out to her guides as she replaced the lid on the urn with a grin.

One of the Fae quickly took it and replaced the seal, nodding his approval and whispering to her. "You should try to find one more, just in case."

Aewia, on the other hand, had wandered down another part of the shrine, her eyes wide as she looked around at all the clay urns. She saw them differently than the others as her mind had been so drastically damaged and changed. they all glowed differently and some of them even seemed to whisper to her.

She saw a set of them that stood out from the rest though. Even through the stone walls, she could see the glow and it spurred her forward, deeper into the shrine. Two of the delegation followed her to make sure she was safe until she ducked under a rope barrier made of vines and they gasped in protest. She didn't even notice as she waded through ankle deep water past some of the most vicious looking pots in the entire shrine towards the prettiest pink glowing pots in the whole place to her senses.

As soon as she touched the pots, she knew why they called to her. They could help ease her mind and soothe her. Popping each of them open, she smiled. She had found her tamahagane. Carrying them back to the rope barrier, she handed them to the Fae who were as pale as if they had seen a ghost. She was as innocent and sweet as ever though, her smile seemingly lighting up the darkest parts of the shrine.

As instructed, Nexi ventured deeper into the darkness, the blue light above dimming as a mist swirled around her and her guides. She could hear them shifting uncomfortably, but they did not bid her to stop, though the unease was growing within Nexi. Even still, she carried on until the lights were snuffed out completely.

You would think to purify the tamahagane?

The sound resonated all around them, causing Nexi and her guides to look around for the source of the sound, but the resulted in a menacing laugh to echo around them.

You who are so impure, untamed of herself, cannot hope to tame the souls trapped within!

"You don't know me!" Nexi dared to shout back in defiance, standing her ground even as her guides began to shrink back. "I may be lost, but I can still find my way!"

Again, the spirits of the tamahagane roared with laughter, and to cast doubt on Nexi, all the jars around them began to rattle as a glow seeped from under the lids, each trying to draw Nexi in.

Find your way now! came back their chilling taunt.

Rising to the challenge, Nexi began to glow blue as sparks arced off of her; she wasn't even going to tap into the power source on the ship, she would do this on her own strength! She released a burst of current from her body and into the jars, knocking the breath from herself and the fight from the rattling jars, leaving one jar still rattling.

"That is the one," Nexi gasped out, pointing out the right jar to the guides. Then she slumped to her knees, breathing hard to catch her breath.

As one of the Fae gathered up the jar, the other helped Nexi back to her feet so they could withdraw. "We must return to the light quickly," he whispered as he helped her back towards the large doors.

Soon they were there and joined by Aewia and the two that had followed her. They marked the jars with wax for each of them and placed them in satchels, then nodding to each other again, the leader once more threw the doors open, letting them out.

As the doors wooshed shut behind them, it seemed the world was once again a bright and cheerful place filled with sunshine and birds and golden leaves upon trees. Their task had yet only begun though. Turning to the two shorter aliens, the lead Fae bowed his head. "You have far exceeded my expectations. You have my apologies for doubting you. I just hope that your strength remains true throughout the purification rituals."

"Thanks?" Nexi replied simply, her capacity for a more lengthy response seemingly tapped out for the moment; perhaps she should have used her new power source for that burst in the shrine... "So what exactly is the next step?" she asked after summoning the energy for that much curiosity.

The tall Fae motioned towards one of the worn paths leading deeper into the city. "Next we proceed to the forges and begin the purification rituals and attunement. After that we may forge your weapons. But perhaps... refreshments first? Once we reach the forges, we will bring drinks."

Without waiting for a response, they set off, passing yet more of the complex tree and stone structures. With the delegation carrying what was obviously five urns of tamahagane, the citizenry looked on with either fear or awe at the pair of strangers. This was obviously not a common occurrence for them.

Aewia paid it no mind and even ooh'd and aah'd at much of the more ornate wares that they passed.

After a lengthy walk though, they finally arrived at a completely stone building filled with the smell of smoke and cinders and the sound of clanging. Entering a lean-to on the side, they stowed the urns and sat at a bench while one of their number ran to a nearby shop for refreshments. It wasn't long before he returned with what appeared to be bio-organic pouches of a honeyed liquid that he passed out to everyone, whom twisted off the stem at the top and drank through it like a straw.

"Oh! It's like a Capri Sun!" Aewia remarked as she did so as well, all but purring at the taste.

Nexi shook her head with a chuckle as she watched Aewia with her child-like innocence and the way she sipped her drink. Nexi took a pull from her own pouch and her eyes went wide; it was like all the fatigue she felt from the shrine had just been punched out of her!

"Wow, that has got a kick to it!" she said approvingly. "Anyway I could negotiate for a case of these to take back to my ship? Or maybe a replicator pattern if you're willing to part with it?"

The Fae chuckled softly like cymbals softly tinkling over water. "We grow them from the boughs of our trees. If you want to take some with you, you may, but we don't know what a replicate pattern is. We may be more advanced than you in many areas, but in many others, you would consider us primitive. For example, we use nanotech gene splicing as well as extraplanar //untranslatable gibberish// in everyday life for our crafting and agriculture, but your ship's engines are something that we abandoned almost a millenia ago now for a simpler way of life."

Nexi blinked in frustration as her translator threw out a slew of unintelligible gibberish for a moment, and she was forced to stick a finger in her ear to turn it off just to make the gibberish stop. And from the sound of things, it seemed like she was simply free to take some of the drink without compensation, and her Ferengi upbringing was itching to take advantage of this, but then something stopped her; maybe it was the influences of the friends she couldn't remember, or maybe there was something about her recent experiences that had changed her, but she knew shouldn't be taking advantage of these people.

"Well once we're done with the weapons, maybe we can discuss some trade options? Don't know if I got anything that you would value other than possibly my services, but I'm sure there's something we could arrange," Nexi replied smoothly, unable to suppress that much of her Ferengi upbringing.

The Fae nodded to each other before speaking again. "I will speak with a few of the shopkeepers and see if they will trade labor in exchange for goods. You surprise us again with your honesty and ethics. We agreed to the forge process for Danu's sake so you owe us nothing for that, but perhaps you are a paladin rather than a champion?"

That got an earnest chuckle from Nexi. "I don't know about all that," she said, rubbing the back of her head. "I don't remember much about who I used to be, and Danu gave me some information and I guess I didn't like this person I once was; memories or not, I know there's gonna be some habits that'll be hard to shake, but I'm tryin' my best to be a better me, and part of that is not treating you guys bad. Maybe you're doing this as a favor to Danu, but you didn't have to, and I don't wanna leave here with you guys thinking I'm a piece of shit or something..."

"You're leaving an impressive impression so far," one of the lower ranking delegation whispered, leaning in momentarily so he could be heard.

Clearing his throat, the leader bowed again. "Please excuse him. Our people are psychic between ourselves so speech is rare among us. I may be the only one left that actively trains to use it."

"If you're capable of using this form of communication with other species, my sister and I are telepathic, so if that's easier for you then we can give it a try," Nexi said, then finished off her juice pouch. She was definitely feeling a lot better, but this definitely served as a reminder that she needed more practice with this new level of her abilities.

"We may need to discuss that with the elders..." Then the leader tilted his head forward in a meaningful manner, sending a booming voice into Nexi's head. But we will first see how the forging proceeds.

I can hear you. You're a bit loud, but it's bearable, Nexi replied to confirm the test, then rose to her feet and pocketed her drink bag so she wasn't leaving it lying around, glancing at Aewia as she did so. "You ready to get going? Have any idea what kind of weapon your tamahagane will become?" she asked Aewia.

"It wants to be a rocket propelled sledgehammer!" Aewia exclaimed, throwing her fist in the air, her other hand still with the drink pouch. Finishing it off, she made sure she got every last drop left in it before poking it away in her pocket.

"Well I'm sure that ain't never been done before," Nexi said with amusement, and she couldn't deny that it did indeed sound interesting, even finding herself excited to see it come together and how Aewia would handle such a weapon. "Alright, we're ready to continue," Nexi said to the lead Fae. "By the way, you got names we can use?" she asked as they walked, then quickly offered, "I'm Nexi and my sister is Aewia, if you were at all curious."

The delegation blinked at each other for a few moments before the leader bowed out of respect. "My apologies. We do not have names like you would know. At best, we have titles for use around your kind. Hng... Mortals... I am Delegation Leader. These are the Delegation. Soon you will meet the Forge Master. Those under her are the Forge Maidens."

After a few more steps they arrived inside the actual forge where a deep golden woman was looking around forcefully, seemingly directing dozens of scantily clad and sweat covered Forge Maidens around the glowing mix of early blacksmithing and industrial era forge equipment. The sounds of hammering and smashing metal was much more pronounced now.

Suddenly one of the Forge Maidens raised a piece of white hot glowing metal above her head in a pair of tongs and a pair of giant hammers came smashing together, flattening the piece she was working on almost wafer thin in one seismic smash. She then returned to her work at another station as the Forge Master looked on satisfied.

At the approach of the delegation and their guests, the Forge Master turned to glower at the two strangers before inspecting the urns of tamahagane. Nodding, she looked over Nexi and Aewia one more time and waved to two of her Forge Maidens who handed off what they were doing to others and headed over to the delegation. These two are assigned to you. Now go away. With that, she returned to directing the rest of the bustling forge.

Nexi couldn't help but scoff at the rather brisk response, but the Master was already gone; now it was time to focus on the matter at hand, and Nexi looked at the Maidens. "We're in your hands, show us what we need to do," Nexi said simply, ready for this next step.

"Now we must leave you for a time," the leader said, bowing again politely. "You must purify the tamahagane with your assigned Forge Maiden alone inside a shrine. We know little of this other than that visions and temptations may haunt you. We trust that you will both stay strong in this though."

Nexi nodded. "Thanks for taking us this far," she said, then to the Maidens, "We're ready."

The two Forge Maidens bowed politely before taking the respective urns of tamahagane and leading each of the visitors away to what amounted to a small purification shrine. Alone inside the small forge was nothing more than a sand pit with an anvil in the middle, incense burners already burning, two benches across from each other, a fire pit on one side, a water pit on the other, and some basic smithing tools.

As the Forge Maiden motioned for Nexi to be seated at one bench, she sat at the other and set the first urn on the anvil, waiting for Nexi to indicate she was ready.

The smell of incense was overpowering, and it gave Nexi a rush to the head; she suspected that this sensation was the beginning of this purification. Taking a seat, she stared at the Maiden with a solemn resolve; no words were necessary, Nexi was ready to begin.

With her own resolve, the golden skinned Fae smashed the first urn and clamped some tongs to the raw tamahagane within before burying it in the coals. As soon as it had started glowing, she pulled it out and started working it with a hammer, starting the purification process and expelling the demonic energies. It was now up to Nexi.

Nexi wasn't certain what she was supposed to be doing, but for the moment, she watched as the Maiden hammered at the glowing metal. The more incense she breathed in, the more it felt like that each stroke of the hammer grew louder until she could feel it reverberating through her body, throughout her very being. It was a strange sensation, like the Maiden was forging her very soul, assuming she believed in that kind of thing. What did she believe in?

Suddenly, Nexi realized she must have been drifting off because her eyes were closed. Upon opening them, she noticed that the Maiden was absent and the Forge cold. Wary of this strange development, Nexi rose and stalked around cautiously as she searched for where her Maiden had gone; without realizing she had done it, Nexi drew her pike and snapped the staff out.

"Hello?" Nexi said in the hopes that someone was there who knew what was going on, but it seemed that no one, not even the other Forge Maidens or the Master, was present. This really put her on edge and she gripped the staff of her pike tightly.

"Do you really think you're going to hurt anyone with that useless stick?" came a voice from behind her. Nexi spun around, only to come face to face with the Master, but not the Forge Master, rather the bastard that had infected her sister's mind and body. Seeing Aewia's face, yet not Aewia's face, was so completely unnerving, and she now understood, at least partially, why she had tried to attack her own sister when they had first awoken after their healing.

"You!" Nexi said with a scowl as she leveled her pike at the Master. "How are you here? We defeated you! Didn't we?" she said in a desperate tone.

"Maybe in body, but my work is far from done," the Master replied with a thick laugh.

"I'm not letting you hurt anyone else!" Nexi said as she launched herself at the Master, only for her attack to fall through him, sending her tumbling to the floor. "What the hell?" Nexi said as she scrambled to her feet, utterly confused. "You're not really here?" she observed as they continued to stare each other down. Nexi's hands began to shake as true fear began to take hold.

"I'm here," the Master replied, stepping closer, but s/he made no attempt to raise a hand in aggression to Nexi, which somehow made the Master's presence all the more unsettling to her. "I may just be a ghost of a memory, but I am here, and I have no intentions of going anywhere."

"What do you want from me?" Nexi demanded with a growl in her throat. "You've already taken so much, what more could you want?!" The Black Blood has resurrected the madness that danced at the edge of Nexi's awareness, it had driven her to the brink and stolen her memories and her very identity; Nexi had nothing left to give!

"Nothing left to give?" The Master echoed from her very thoughts. "Oh, I intent to take so much more," s/he said as s/he outstretched hir hand. Nexi tried to raise her pike to defend herself, only to find that her hands were empty, and looking around she could see that she was surrounded by a viscous darkness. Her feet were already entrenched, and no amount of struggling could free them.

"First, I will take your sleep," the Master said as s/he drew closer to Nexi, the black pool rising to consume the terrified Brekkian. "Then, I'll take your smile. I won't let you feel safe with anyone, so I'll take your sister, because I will transform you so that your sister won't recognize you anymore."

"You can't!" Nexi said desperately, struggling against the tar-like substance that had now engulfed her up to her neck, and it seemed like the more she struggled, the faster she was drawn into the abyss. "I won't let you," she added with defiance.

"You already are," the Master pointed out. "Think about the way you attacked your sister, your own flesh and blood, and the rage and madness that consumed you; you've pushed that down, but it's still there waiting for you to let your guard down. You will try to resist, but I will be there, watching as you burn yourself from the inside out, or you will give in and wither and fade over the corpse of your sister. Either way, I win."

Nexi was all but consumed by the darkness swirling around her, her face barely visible through it; but she was still there, and she was not giving in.

"No," she said with a tremor in her voice.

"No?" The Master repeated, curious to this response.

"No," Nexi said softly; What the Master had said may have been true, but it wasn't the only truth, and Nexi realized that she couldn't do it on her own anymore, she had to rely on others around to help her, she had to trust more, and that started with Aewia. "Just... no," she said once more to the Master.

The darkness swirled around her violently and she squeezed her eyes shut, but when she opened them again, she was once again seated in the shrine with her Forge Maiden hammering away. Nexi was breathing heavily as her eyes fell upon the Maiden and the tamahagane on the anvil; that had been one hell of a rush, and something she never wanted to do again, EVER!

The Forge Maiden nodded as she set the first now purified tamahagane ingot aside and set the second urn on the anvil. Without hesitating, she unsealed it, shattered the urn, and began the purification process for it as well.

Fuck, she had to do this again?! Nexi felt like she had survived through a meat grinder! No wonder the Fae were concerned, this purification thing was no joke! Nexi tried to relax, to let the incense do it's thing again, she even tried to close her eyes to help things along, but nothing happened. It was actually starting to worry her. So after a while, she simply watched the Maiden hammer away at the tamahagane, watching it glow and change shape. A while later and still nothing happened, and she was beginning to wonder if something was wrong, like she had missed a step or maybe she failed her last one?

Nexi was just about to give up hope when someone came up behind the Forge Maiden and slit her throat before Nexi had a chance to react. Even dripping with Black Blood, Nexi could recognize that face as her own. Then the apparition launched herself at Nexi.

"Okay, we're doing this!" Nexi blurted out as she tumbled out of the way. Black Blood Nexi gave her very little time to react as she unleashed an onslaught of fierce attacks; those movements were impossibly fast, Nexi had no hope of keeping up! She tried to draw her gun, but her doppelganger easily swatted it from her hand, same with the knife, and when Nexi went for her pike, the Black Blood apparition went for the tackle, knocking Nexi to the ground and began choking the life from her. Then something very strange happened; suddenly Nexi was the one covered in Black Blood and strangling a normal looking duplicate. No! No, this was so wrong!

As the life faded from the duplicate, Nexi was plunged into darkness. In that darkness, Nexi could see herself as a child standing at her dying mother's bedside as a giant-eared troll took her away; it was a memory she couldn't remember, but she still knew this had happened, that this was one of the defining events in her life that brought her to where she was today. She saw her treatment in Grek's service, watched as the light faded from her young eyes, but neither the Young Nexi or the Nexi watching everything unfold could do anything to stop it. She watched as Merrit took advantage of her even as he stoked the fires within her and taught her to be a mercenary, saw the purchase and repair of the Wandering Star, and she saw the bitter loneliness that her life had left her with. But then she saw the Hera and her sister, and all the people who had come into her life, and how she had changed for the better because of them.

And then she saw a dog; actually, there was a pair of them!

"Hey, I remember you two," Nexi said as she knelt before the two hellhounds approaching her, giving them both an affectionate pat. Somehow, she could still feel them inside her, like maybe... "You're still with me, aren't you?" she asked her horrifying companions. The hellhounds had not been a direct side-effect of the Black Blood, but rather whatever the Master had taken from the other dimension where Demon-Enalia had originated, modifying this aspect into Black Blood, which was passed on to Nexi, and though the Black Blood had been cured, this element remained in Nexi.

"Is it weird that I actually miss you guys?" Nexi asked her companions, giving them another rub. "But I don't know how to 'call' you again, I don't think I can anymore." It was then that she realized that this was what the vision was warning her about; there may come a day when she could summon her beasts again, but to do so would court mayhem as this demonic essence could overwhelm her.

"I get it, I get it," Nexi said as she hugged Mister Pickles, all while Sunny tried to nose his way into the hug like the doofus he was, causing Nexi to chuckle. "But don't worry, I still feel you, and if I am strong enough to bring you back out without tempting fate, then I will. Until then, you guys gotta stay put. Got it?"

Nexi's hellhounds nodded, then disappeared, but Nexi was still stuck in the darkness.

"Okay, I get it, I can't dwell on the past or fight it; what's done is done, all I can do now is move forward," she said into nothingness. Then Nexi saw herself once again, an adult, but not from a recent point in her life.

"Can you really do it?" her facsimile asked. "Can you let the past go and move forward?"

"I can try," Nexi answered honestly, knowing it wasn't as simple as letting it go with one simple statement, that this task would be a long hard road, maybe even a constant companion. "And I know I won't be alone if I slip up."

Once again, the darkness faded and she was again sitting on the bench in the shrine with the Forge Maiden still hammering away. Only this time, Nexi felt so fatigued, more than she had ever felt before in her life, and that was saying something considering how many times she had been near death! She gripped the edge of her bench tightly with her arms locked, forcing herself to remain upright until the Maiden was complete with her task.

With one last whack of the hammer, the Forge Maiden was done and she looked up at Nexi. Nodding, she dunked the second folded ingot of tamahagane into the water and let it finish cooling before setting it back on the anvil. She then collected up the other folded ingot and handed both of them to Nexi. Now we forge your weapon. What do you want?

Nexi's hands shook as she held the ingots, then she transferred them to a single hand so she could reach behind her to draw her pike. She barely had the strength in her arm to snap the staff open, but it extended to its full length and she showed it to the Maiden.

Something like this, but I will leave the particulars of the design in the hands of the Forge.

Nexi wondered if they were going straight to the Forge to get started or if she would have a chance to rest before continuing, because she didn't know if she would survive anymore visions.

The Forge Maiden took the pike and looked it over carefully, going over the actuation several times before returning it back to Nexi. Nodding, she reached out and physically picked up Nexi like a baby, cradling her in her arms. You are weak. I will carry you. With that, she unsealed the door and headed out.

As they passed the purification forge where Aewia was, muffled blood curdling screams could barely be heard. She is doing well. You must rest. Without stopping, the Forge Maiden headed to what appeared to be some sort of rest area where Nexi was laid on a bed of straw and leaves, handed another of the juice pods and motioned to drink. Once you have your strength we will work the hammers.

Nexi was far too tired to complain about being carried as she was, and she relaxed back onto the straw and sipped at her drink when bidden to do so; the juice was helping immensely, but she suspected that once this was all done she was going to sleep for like a week. She knew she could probably tap into the power source on her ship, but her use of that was untested, and she didn't want to feel like she had cheated to get this weapon. Well, at least she knew the Forging was unlikely to kill her given her new regenerative capabilities, so there was some comfort in that.

Nexi finished off her juice and pocketed the empty pouch. She glanced around to see if her Maiden was still there; Nexi could still hear the faint screams from Aewia's purification forge, and she was curious as to what was going on over there. With a grin, she closed her eyes and reached out her mind to see if she could catch a glimpse of what Aewia was going through.

And catch a glimpse she did. It was a crazy mixed up conglomeration of one Aewia playing whack-a-mole with laughing clown demons like some demented joker and another hugging alabaster pillars of herself so hard they shatter while she cried and a third version of herself bleeding black from every orifice while screaming at the top of her lungs.

The Forge Maiden then thumped Nexi on the forehead, breaking her connection. That is not for you to see. Rest now.

Nexi snickered as she rubbed her forehead. "Yeah, but it was nothing less than I expected from her. Honestly, I kinda feel sorry for her demons, because that girl is weird," she said with an affectionate grin.

The Forge Maiden frowned and leaned in closer to Nexi, studying her closely. Both strange. Few find one, let alone more. Fewer survive a week of purification. Easy part is forging. Very strange mortals.

"A week?!" Nexi exclaimed with surprise. "Damn, I was told this process was exhausting, but... It sure didn't feel like a week in those visions..." Nexi thought about it for a moment, going through everything she had seen, and it definitely didn't feel like a week had passed. But that did explain why she felt so tired. "Also, me and Aewia ain't exactly 'mortals' no more," she pointed out with a grin, then closed her eyes to rest.

Mortal enough. The Forge Maiden shuffled around and sat down as well, sipping from her own juice pouch and resting. Delegation confirms you as Champion. You have strength and gifts. I see them with eyes open. I will forge a mighty weapon for you but you will temper it with your power. We are of one mind of this, yes?

Temper it? How? Nexi asked as she started to drift off towards sleep. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she suspected she would discover what the Maiden meant once they got working, just as she had done so far. Nexi wouldn't get to sleep for long because they really couldn't afford to lose too much momentum in between steps, but a short power nap was just what Nexi needed.

The Forge Maiden tried to send a complex series of thoughts and imagery to Nexi, but gave it up when she saw that her charge was falling asleep. You will soon see.

After a few hours the other Forge Maiden came in carrying Aewia and laid her down to rest as well. She barely got her juice pod in her before she passed out from exhaustion. The two Maidens nodded to each other and Nexi's stood and moved to awaken her, gently shaking her. It is time.

Nexi awoke with out much fuss; in the back of her mind she had expected that she would not have long to rest, so with a yawn and a stretch, she pulled herself back to her feet to follow the Maiden; she still felt bone tired, but she was ready to get this done!

As they left the rest area, they headed past the purification shrines again and headed deeper into the forges. The air grew hot and thick. Soon they came out into a similar setup to what was upstairs, but much finer and intricate than anything the others were using. Everything looked brand new and higher tech and made of some silvered metal that almost glowed with an inner light. Motioning to one of the nearest anvils, the Forge Maiden picked up a pair of tongs and a hammer and waited for Nexi to place both pieces of tamahagane on the anvil.

Nexi set her purified tamahagane on the anvil and watched as the Maiden placed them into the Forge. "You said that I will need to temper them with my power?" Nexi asked as they waited for the ingots to be red hot.

As the Forge Maiden rolled the tamahagane in the Forge, she sent the concept thoughts to Nexi again, trying to explain it like it's explained to every Forge Maiden. She wasn't sure it would be understood though so she tried breaking it down and explaining it simply. Before the big smash, use your power. You will know when."

Nexi nodded and watched the Maiden work. "Big smash? Okay..." She recalled that when they came in, they saw a pair of hammers smash together to form the metal, so she wondered if this is what the Maiden meant, and what, if any, cues Nexi would get when this was ready to happen. Erring on the side of caution even though it might fatigue her further, sparks began to form around Nexi as she drew on her power so that she was ready whenever this happened.

As the Forge Maiden hammered away for some time, it almost became repetitious until finally she thrust the now fused pieces of tamahagane into water and held them over her head. Nodding to Nexi, she slammed her foot on a hidden switch in the floor, causing the two giant hammers above them to begin their journey towards the comparatively tiny piece of tamahagane.

Nexi saw the nod and drew on her power until there was a furious storm of blue lightning in her hands. Then she saw the hammers moving as if in slow motion, and she channeled this storm into the tamahagane. When the hammers struck, there was an explosion of blue sparks showering over them; it was actually quite the sight to see!

The Forge Maiden smiled for the first time as she set herself back to the anvil, hammering the now paper thin tamahagane a bit more and shifting her hold with the tongs as the giant hammers reset. After a bit more she raised the tamahagane over her head again and nodded to Nexi, triggering the hammers again.

Nexi breathed hard as she built up her power again; she didn't know how many times she was going to have to do this, so she was going to have to pace herself, meaning that when the hammers struck, the explosive display was not nearly as impressive as the first, but it had been executed with better aim and control.

This time when the Forge Maiden brought the tamahagane down, it was a rather large, flat plate that had a blue sheen to it. She then began hammering it on the edge of the anvil, folding it so she had a perfect edge. Once she had that, she did that again for each of the edges. Before long she had a perfect square and rather than holding it above her head, tossed it into the air with a fast spin, her eyes locked on Nexi's. She then released the hammers once more.

Nexi was sweating with exertion as she released another torrent of energy into the tamahagane, and she began to worry since this piece of metal wasn't looking like it was any closer to being a weapon, but she chose to trust that the Maiden knew what she was doing.

With that shower of sparks and lightning, the square of tamahgane was now wafer thin and harder than any mortal metal. Catching it with the tongs, the Forge Maiden inspected it with a critical eye, tapping it carefully in several places before nodding and moving to another station.

Waving to Nexi and motioning for her to sit across from her on the other side of some sort of cutting, shaping, and welding apparatus, the Forge Maiden sat down on her side and donned a pair of protective glasses before laying the metal into the machine. She then started manually calibrating the cutters to start forming the first of the collapsable sections.

Nexi found a pair of safety glasses for herself and put them on; this part of of the process, she felt like she understood! She didn't remember working at her workbench, but she knew she had one on the Wandering Star and assisting the Maiden felt very familiar.

How she was able to calculate the circumference needed for each of the collapsible sections, along with create the inner workings of the mechanism slowly became clear over the next several hours as she used the single machine to craft four tubes that somehow fit inside each other, yet when snapped open, seamlessly became one solid piece almost as tall as Nexi herself. Yet having only used half of the tamahagane, she was able to do this and create a comfortable grip on the outermost piece that felt almost warm to the touch.

Finally satisfied with her work, the Forge Maiden nodded and handed it to Nexi for her inspection.

Nexi didn't know how the Maiden had accomplished this, but the staff looked utterly seamless! And along the staff, the Maiden had sanded in a texture that Nexi swore felt like leather wrapping to improve the grip! This is amazing," Nexi said approvingly. "It feels really good in my hands," she added with a nod.

With another smile and nod, the Forge Maiden took off her eye protection, grabbed the rest of the tamahagane sheet, and headed to the next station in the line. Next is the head and foot.

As they sat down at a smaller machining station, there was a sudden flash and the loud crash of the giant ceiling hammers. The sudden disturbance didn't even phase the Forge Maiden, but she studied Nexi to make sure she was ok.

The suddenness of it did make Nexi flinch, but she grinned with ease as she joined the Maiden at this new machining station. "Do I need to temper this one as well?"

The Forge Maiden just nodded as she put on another pair of safety glasses and set to work, cutting first a set of pike blades from the tamahagane. After the formed the edges of the first blade, she handed it off to Nexi, using a second one to pantomime running her fingers near the blade to temper it. Now you must temper the blade.

Nexi wasn't entirely certain what the Maiden wanted her to do, but she watched the pantomime motion, then did the motion herself, apply a hint of blue current to it. Seeing the Maiden nod, she continued doing this, over and over until she entered a trance-like state.

While Nexi was doing that, the Forge Maiden got to work on the second, larger blade. By the time she was done, Nexi was almost done herself, though she probably didn't know it. She let Nexi finish up before tapping her hand and having her swap out the blades and continue. She then got to work on the central spike and mount for the blades while keeping an eye on Nexi to make sure she would be ok. This part of the work was the most critical and if Nexi wavered they would have to start over.

Nexi was definitely straining, it was getting harder and harder to generate a current without giving in to the temptation to use outside power, but she remained resolute to see this to completion. By the time the Maiden took this piece from her, her hands were shaking again. "Are we almost done?" Nexi asked wearily.

The Forge Maiden nodded without looking up from her work. You are. Last to temper. The Tamahagane was almost used up, but there was just enough for the central spike and a counterweight at the foot and she was already focused on the spike.

Nexi was beyond conscious thought as she took this last piece and began tempering it as she had done the other pieces. She had no idea what she was drawing on to be able to continue like this, but there was no stopping her at this point.

As they both worked, the Forge Maiden kept an eye on Nexi to make sure she didn't overextend herself too far. She didn't skimp on the details of the final pieces though. By the time she was finished with the central spike and had the initial shape of the foot, she saw that Nexi was both finished and at her limit so she tapped her hand and carefully removed the blade from her grip.

Setting the blade aside for now, she pulled a juice pouch from a pocket and handed it to Nexi. Rest. Drink. Watch.

As Nexi shakily drank from the pouch, the Forge Maiden skillfully set the blades and erased the seams. She then set the finished head aside and finished her work on the foot and counterbalance to the whole weapon, inlaying an ornate pattern of vine and stone work into it as she went. This used the last of the tamahagane and though it was blunt, was still pointey enough to do some damage if used as a weapon.

Looking over the three individual pieces, she nodded in satisfaction. It was time to assemble the weapon.

She gathered the pieces and moved them one by one to the next station where she first sealed the counterweight to the pole with a nano-welding torch, easily erasing the seam as Nexi watched. She then repeated the process with the head, paying special care to the alignment of the patterns to make sure there weren't even the slightest of imperfections in the details.

Once that was done, she took the assembled weapon to yet another station and waved Nexi over, having her once again sit across from her. There the Forge Maiden began the process of detailing. All of the fine details that she had inlaid into the tamahagane already was now being blued and burnished using some form of hand done anodization. From tip to tip, she detailed every micrometer of it, excluding the blade edges themselves, which had been tempered to nearly a monofilament edge by Nexi herself.

After several hours of this, the Forge Maiden finally leaned back, put the last tool aside, and let out a sigh - the first verbalization Nexi had heard from her. It is complete.

Standing, the Forge Maiden took the weapon and moved towards a rack of seemingly out of place steel rods. With a flick of her wrist, she sliced through several of them with ease. She then turned back to Nexi, collapsed the pike, which somehow collapsed the blades together as well so they wouldn't cut anything, and offered it to the exhausted woman.

Even after drinking her juice, Nexi felt ready to fall over, but she accepted the collapsed weapon and studied it carefully; it was unlike any pike she had ever wielded before, but it was stunning in the uniqueness of its design, and the way it could cut was impressive as well! And there was something else about this weapon she couldn't quite put her finger on, like an energy radiating from the edges...

Nexi was sure she would learn what this special something was in all due time, but for now she was exhausted and she needed to sleep, and then probably a good meal... She held the weapon out in front of her and dipped her head in a slight bow to the Forge Maiden.

Thank you

With a smile, the Forge Maiden picked Nexi up and carried her from the Forge to a recovery room with soft beds of leaves and cotton and a freshwater spring. Now rest. The other will be finished soon as well. When you wake you decide your next path.

Nexi didn't have to be told twice; within seconds of her head hitting the bed, she was fast asleep.