This story takes place in year 1992 of the 12th Age of Utraeus

On the world of Emphyralis, was a continent called Silubra. On the continent of Silubra was the  capital city called Silvermoon. There was a magnificent Keep in Silvermoon called Silvermoon Keep. Britiana Silvermoon was not in the Keep on this rather drizzly day. It was the fourth month of the year, Arbuna. Arbuna was in the mid-spring month, so they saw a lot of rain this time of year. 

Silubra was the central continent, and Silvermoon was approximately in the middle of it, so the climate was very temperate. They were backed by the Eternal Mountains, which also kept the temperatures from getting too warm. With the rain, it could actually be a little chilly for some people.

In regards to the weather, Britiana wore a plush, waterproof coat with a hood over her silver blond hair as she walked down the street. She didn't walk far before entering the open gate of a large, stately inn. Once overgrown gardens were now neatly growing with lovely spring flowers. She took a moment to admire the flowers, getting her mood under control.

It was late in the day; nearly 5 afternoon. She'd spent most of the day testifying in front of the Upper Parliament.

She frowned. It was ridiculous. It had been a month. A month! 

Britiana and her older twin brother both had to testify today. After testifying, Darius sent for one of his guard friends and went to spar with him. Britiana wanted to walk to clear her head.

What were they testifying about? 

The witchborn. 

They had a plan in place to go to Thale after they rested. It was supposed to take no longer than a week to get started. After staying in Thale to paint the transfer spell array, which they'd finally decided to give a proper name to. They decided to call it the Bridging Array. Right now it functionally bridged two points in time-space, allowing for instantaneous travel as long as there was enough power.

They'd already created a point in Silvermoon. All that was left was traveling to Thale. From Thale they would go to New Bienskurr, the Earthborne settlement in the Eternal Mountains and start the next phase.

But, noooo. That's not what happened. For some reason, Ministers in all Lower Parliaments and Upper Parliament around the world began voicing their "concerns" about allowing refugees into Emphyralis again.

It took a month for the Dracosenati to organize meetings and hold hearings about this matter. All the arguments inevitably circled back to the Dragon Hunters. Conservatives were pointing out their open trade policies from before the Hunter Wars is what led to the tragedy that followed.

Progressives point to the latest group of refugees, the Earthborne, as signs that their fears are overrated. They brought up thousands of years worth of precedent of trade between worlds.

Conservatives then suggested not only not allowing them to learn Emphyrallian magic, but also suggesting they bind their powers. This caused outrage, not only among progressives, but citizens. When they passed a proposal for this, Chrystianna immediately used her power of Grand Duchess to convene the Upper Parliament for an emergency session. As Grand Duchess, she couldn't directly testify, but the Prime Minister was on her side and immediately built a case to refute this ridiculous proposal in an open hearing.

Not only were precedents read into record, but testimonials from the Crowleys and other witchborn were given for the public to hear about their situation. Raven Darovan and Shoshanna Daratranzanoff Morningstorme also testified. They were Mages and instrumental members of the witchborn operation. 

Darius and Britiana gave testimony that day. It was the last day.

With a sigh, Britiana walked through the door of Crowley House and into the lobby. She gave a friendly smile to the person behind the front desk. Crowley House wasn't open for guests to stay in rooms, but the taproom was open to the public because the witchborn were selling their native foods from Terranthea.

It was well after lunch, but it wasn't quite lunchtime yet. The person behind the front desk recognized her. There were certain people that were always welcome in the taproom. Britiana was one of them. "Lady Britiana," she greeted. She was a witchborn, but she'd adopted the local custom of calling "lord" and "lady" when it was proper.

Britiana took a minute to take off her coat and put it away. She brushed her hair back behind her shoulders. She made a consternated face when she had to detangle a strand of hair from an earring in her long pointed ear.

The witchborn watched with a neutral face, but she always thought Lady Britiana was cute sometimes. At first glance she seemed elegant and ethereal with her silvery-blond hair, warm peachy skin, and violet eyes. She was usually attired in dresses with a Skirt of Many Folds. But then she had moments like that. Not clumsy. Just cute sometimes.

Once sorted out, she walked into the tapproom with a flounce of her skirt. The taproom was already starting to get busy. She scanned the room, not seeing many familiar faces. She went to the bar and smiled at the person manning it. She ordered what she wanted and told them she'd be in the library.

The library was across the lobby from the taproom. It was where the guards, staff, Crowleys, and a few other people usually stayed so as not to take space from paying customers.

She crossed the lobby and entered the library. As it wasn't quite time for shift change yet, some guards and staff were already eating. She didn't see any of her friends, but she grinned slightly and went and sat down in front of two Silvermoon guards.

They were nearly identical with pale gray skin, solid black eyes with no whites, and long black hair. They had multi-pointed ears and no discernible gender. "My lady," Noxie One and Noxie Two intoned together.

"Hope you don't mind if I join you," she said with a smile.

The Noxies shook their heads. If her ladyship could stand to eat with them, they wouldn't chase her away. She was one of the few whom they did not unnerve. Noxies were Dark Elementals. They were created from the forces of nature during the formation of Emphyralis. There was something that put most people off around forces of Darkness.

They also tended to eat all their food raw. Fruits, vegetables, and animal meat. Not bloody and with skin still attached or anything. Just raw. Lately, they switched to eating raw fish dishes that some witchborn had introduced to them. Since other people also ate these, they didn't stand out so much, and the variety of preparations really appealed to the Noxies. Their birthplace was near a river and they loved fish.

Noxie Two liked the fish, rice, and seaweed with spicy green sauce. Noxie One liked the thinly sliced whole fish. They also liked the chopsticks to eat them with.

They noticed her watching them with her cheeks propped in her hand. "Is there something, my lady?" they asked.

"Are you siblings?" she asked. Her education was extensive, but her experience was limited.

They nodded. "We were born of the same parents," they answered in unisom once again.

"No need for names among your own kind?" she asked.

They shook their heads. "No need for verbalization."

"No need for identity. What about self?" she asked curiously.

"We have self," Noxie One said.

"We are individuals," Noxie Two added.

She tilted her head. "Then we should give you names," she stated. "Noxie One and Noxie Two seem impersonal and rude," she said.

They paused and glanced at each other. They'd realized this long ago that some said these names without respect. "Although we have self and are individual, Elementals rarely leave on their own unless they have fate with another," Noxie One started.

"When they have fate, they are given a name and become what they prefer," Noxie Two explained.

She was surprised. "You mean male or female?" she asked. "I never thought about that part. I wasn't trying to pry. Your reproduction practice is your own," she said, assuring them she wasn't being nosy about that.

The Noxies smiled slightly. "It's no secret. We become what they prefer and when it's time," Noxie One started.

"We give a bit of ourselves to nourish offspring either in our own bodies or the others," Noxie Two added.

"Elementals do the same amongst each other."

"We are made with the essence of each parent."

"Nourished in each of their bodies."

Britiana was fascinated. "So no Elemental picks their own name, even when they have to travel?" she asked. She knew that Elementals weren't completely insular. They had dealings with other races. They had representatives in Parliament.

"Perhaps others, but no Noxie that we know," they said in unison again.

"If someone gives you a name it's not like a marriage proposal or anything, right?" she asked.

They shook their heads. "Nothing so serious," they said. "We would be honored if Lady Britiana wished to bestow names upon us," they added.

Britiana smiled. "Then I'll think about it. I know you said you become what another prefers, but it's fate, right? Fate wouldn't put you with someone who would make you something you don't want to be. Do you have your own preferences?" she asked. "At least names wise," she added.

The Noxies feel silent contemplatively. "We will also think about it," they said.

"Then it's a deal. I'll give you names before we go to Thale, that way it'll be on your identity tokens," she declared.

Feeling touched, they thanked her. The conversation came to a halt when a server brought her food for her.

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