While Svelt spoke, Dominic noticed that the room he’d been led into had a circle on the floor with what he assumed was decoration, though it just looked like a lot of blurry colors. Father Abraham led him towards a curtained off area, and gave Svelt a look when he made to follow.

“Svelt, stay here. That is not up for discussion!” Father Abraham ordered, and then pulled the curtain back and ushered Dominic into the room. “The chamber we were just in is used for a variety of purposes, but it is also used for Awakenings. Children come back here to prepare their minds and bodies, while the rest gather around the circle in the main room. You need to wash yourself clean, and try to calm your mind. Would you like me to help you?”

Dominic shook his head “No”, and Father Abraham smiled as he walked back through the curtain.

Dominic squinted and could see a round, barrel shaped bath with a spigot on the wall. He walked over and pumped the handle, sticking his hand under the streaming water. To his shock, the water was a comfortable temperature, neither too hot nor too cold. He filled up the tub, stripped of the rough brown robe, and climbed into the bath. He spotted a soap next to him that smelt of Lavender, and cleaned himself for the first time since he’d come to this place.

“Alright,” he thought, “time to take stock of what’s been happening. In a new world, with magic and Gods, different fantasy races, and now this ceremony could heal or kill me.” He snorted, rinsed the soap off his body, and lay back in the tub. “Now, just need to calm my thoughts, and try to stay calm…”

“Huh, so you’re pink all over then. Good to know!” Svelt’s voice came from next to Dominic’s head as he sat up quickly with a mental yelp and covering himself. “Don’t be afraid Pinky, nothing there that interests me beyond a general curiosity. Just wanted to tell you not to worry, I’ve got a good feeling about all this.”

Svelt smiled and Dominic gave him a puzzled look. He spread his hands in a “what are you talking about” gesture, and Svelt continued. “Listen, I know that Ducky hasn’t heard much, but I shot an inquiry to Sakura, and all I got back was good vibes. So this should be a piece of cake!”

Dominic just blinked at the little man, and Svelt spoke again, “Now, I’m gonna go, so finish up, dry off, and just in case Father didn’t tell you, all you get to wear is this towel. See ya out there!” And with that, he disappeared from Dominic’s blurry sight.

“Well, isn’t this just punch you in the face fantastic?” Dominic thought to himself, trying to center his emotions while he dried himself off with one of the towels next to the tub. He grabbed a dry one and wrapped it around his body. “Great, almost as bad as a hospital gown. So close to flashing the world ass or junk.” he mentally grumbled, parting the curtain and entering the center room.

“There you are my little chickadee! Hopefully you enjoyed your bath, because I know my nose enjoys the change” Ducky chortled as she grabbed him by the elbow, dragging him to the center of the circle.

“I know you have questions, but it’s really simple. You lay in the center of the Council Circle, and the Nine of us sit in a circle around you. The Awakening ceremony normally begins with an Anointing, and then everyone meditates on what the Nine mean to them, the lessons we’ve all learned as a child. For you...”, she quickly glanced at him, up and down, then smiled. “Just think about what means the most to you in life, and I’m sure that will work. Or it won’t and you’ll die. Either way, no more suffering!”

“Everyone, please take your places around the circle. Men face into the circle, and Women face out.” Ducky ordered the eight adults in the room, moving a few around to where she wanted. “Alrighty my little chickadee, lose the towel and lay down!”

Dominic’s face began to burn and he knew he was turning bright red, but he did as Ducky asked.

“OOooo! So he can get red as well! Duly noted!” Dominic heard Svelt chuckle, before Ducky’s head whipped around and he assumed she glared at the small man.

Dominic lay on the pallet, naked as the day he was born, and just wishing it would be over and done with already, or that he would die. Being naked in front of all these new people was his worst nightmare. He made eye contact with Ducky as she lifted a brush and started to paint on his face.

“Okay Dominic, the time for jokes has gone. Once I'm finished with the Anointing, there is no going back. Are you sure you want to do this?” After a nod of his head, she continued painting, carrying down to his neck and collarbone.

“I’m drawing the symbol of the Nine onto your head and shoulders, which normally signals to the Nine Gods of the Major Pantheon that you are ready to take the step into adulthood and Awaken the gifts you are meant to receive.” She narrated as she added flourishes to the design. “It is rare for anyone in our World to fail their Awakening, but it has been known to happen. Remember to focus on what is important to you, and we will hope for the best.”

With one last flick of her wrist, she finished painting the design on his face, Ducky’s face disappeared from view. His skin started to tingle, then burn, finally going numb, starting from his toes and working it’s way up. He could heard a gentle tone ringing through his ears, and tried to calm his breathing.

“Shit… what’s important to me!?!?” Dominic thought to himself, trying to not panic with his body going numb. Was there a time limit and if he went completely numb, he failed? “Umm… family sucked, horrible job, so what’s good… Well there’s my cat, my books, music… oh yes! Music! Singing, listening to great music, performing… music, books, cats… music, books, cats…. Music, books, cats…..”

His thoughts seemed to slow down, growing quieter as the top of his head finished burning and went numb. All of a sudden he felt like his body was soaring up into the air, and he felt like he’d plunged into a pool face first (minus the pain). His body came to a stop, feeling floaty and comfortably warm. He opened his voice to find his vision clear, and he looked around.

He looked to be standing on a stone floor, with shifting patterns and colors. Gazing around, he saw pillars of gray stone that reached into infinite space circling the flooring. Beyond the pillars was darkness speckled with tiny lights, and he realized he was in space.

“Welcome Dominic, do not be afraid. You are safe here with the Nine, and though we are not visible to you, we are here.”

Dominic couldn’t help jerking his head around trying to find the body that went with the voice speaking to him, and when his ears caught up to his body, he stopped, and waited.

“There are many reasons you cannot see us child, but we are here to help fix this mess you’ve been thrust into.” the voice said again. “I am Gaia, Mother Goddess of Aldiri, the World below us. I know you have questions, and fears, but We of the Nine have a question for you first. What is the most important thing to you?”

Dominic needed no time to think about his reply, and thought towards the Nine as loud as he could “MUSIC”

Gaia and the rest of the Nine all chuckled, and a new voice spoke. “‘Would you be willing to give up Music to live a normal life?”

Dominic shook his head and thought loudly again, “MUSIC IS MY REASON FOR LIVING. I WANT, NO NEED IT IN MY LIFE”

Gaia spoke again, “ there is your answer Aequus. Will you see Justice is served for the poor child? Will all of you take hand in this matter? We will need the full Nine to help this child Awaken, and he has chosen a path full of difficulty. ”

The rest of the Nine spoke out.

“I, Aequus, the Deity of Equality and Justice shall see both served today.”

“I, Benris, Goddess of Autumn and Harvest shall help this child.”

“I, Luzrasil, God of Winter and Death, shall help this child and not take him early.”

“I Ozdum, God of Beauty, Love, and Marriage shall help this child so he may meet his fated Love”

“I, Phelara, Goddess of Spring and Fertility, shall help this child.”

“I, Qharis, Goddess of Blessings and Luck, shall help this child who so far has been plagued by bad luck.”

“I, Zuesis, God of Summer, Sunlight, and Rain, shall help this child see many more days of Light.”

“I, Bruddione, Goddess of Souls and Rebirth, shall help this child, whose soul has been ripped from his own World.”

“And I, Gaia, Mother Goddess, shall help this child”

After Gaia spoke out, a flash of light winked through the Pantheon, and when Dominic opened his eyes, he was surrounded by Nine ethereal. Celestial beings. Before he could get a good look, a Motherly looking one stepped forward and placed her hands on his head, the rest of the Nine following suit until he had nine sets of hands on his body. The Nine began to glow, and Gaia spoke.

“The Universe gives and the Universe takes, and we of the Nine help keep the balance. Let the Universe come and Awaken this child of Earth to grow and protect himself from what is to come.”

Dominic closed his eyes as the light brightened up, and he heard the voice of Bruddione in his head. “Dominic, be still and know that there will be changes to your body when you wake up. Do not be afraid, but understand this must happen for us to Awaken you properly and allow the Universe to embrace you fully. It will hopefully mitigate and damage from… the incident in the cave.”

Her voice faded from his ears, and all thoughts vanished from his mind. He felt disconnected from his body, and began to float back down towards the world below. Before his mind went completely blank, he saw text in his mind.

“Assimilation into Universe…. Successful! Welcome to Aldiri, child of Earth. Grow and nourish the Gifts you have been given, for the road may be treacherous.”

“Body is in flux, body will enter sleep until equilibrium is reached.

The text disappeared, and a grid appeared before Dominic’s eyes. He had barely any time for more than a cursory glance before he lost consciousness, but his last thought was “Beast-kin? What the hell is that?”

Status

Name: Dominic

HP: 10

Race: Beast-kin (Feline)

MP: 10

Class: none

STA: 10

Level: 0

XP: 0

Attributes

Strength: 1

Intelligence: 1

Constitution: 1

Wisdom: 1

Dexterity: 1

Charisma: 1

Agility: 1

Luck: 1

-----------------------------------------*------------------------------------------------------

Dominic woke up, slightly disoriented, but feeling better than he had in ages. He opened his eyes, and saw a thatched roof over his head.

“Woah!” He thought to himself. “I can see!”

He reached up to his face, but there were no glasses on his face. As he pulled his hand away, he thought it looked subtly different. He inspected it further, and as he followed up his arms, he realized he was smaller, somehow. He sat up quickly, then stood up and as he did so, the sheet fell away and he saw that he was naked. But that took a back seat to what he found as he inspected his body. It was slimmer than he’d been in forever, with just a slight pudge around the middle. Just like when he was a teenager.

A knock sounded at the door, and he quickly grabbed the sheet off the bed, wrapping it around his body as he said “Come in!”, while thinking to himself, “I can talk again!”

The door opened, and Ducky walked through holding a tray of food in her hands. She say him standing and chuckled as she crossed the room to the small table that Dominic had ignored in favor of inspecting his newish body.

“Come Dominic,” she motioned after setting the tray onto the table and sitting at one of the chairs. “Come eat, and I will answer some of those questions I see burning inside.”

He walked over to the table, still wrapped in his bedsheet toga, and sat in front of the tray, taking a cover off and seeing a simple soup with an apple and a hunk of bread. He picked up the spoon, taking a sip of the broth as Ducky began to talk again.

“Ooo, but you are a tricky case my little chickadee! The Nine worked their magics to the bone helping you out, which you definitely deserved considering all that has happened to you.” She smiled, “Now, what are some of your questions?”

“What happened up there?” he said, swallowing more soup, eyeing the apple and bread. “Why is my body different? How do I see my status? What is a Beast-Kin?”

“All good questions boy. Let’s start at the beginning. The Nine saw a few ways to fix what has happened to you, but most of them would leave you mute, or at least unable to sing. Gaia can see into our souls, finding our greatest desires, and she knew that those options would not serve you. If you had answered differently, then any one of the Nine could have helped cure you of your ailments from the cultists, but having you choose to pursue your love of music made things much more difficult.” Ducky took a moment to sip from a cup that had appeared in her hand, then continued.

“Luckily, the most stubborn of the Nine were on your side from the beginning. Too much has happened to tip the balance, and so they saw it as their duty to help you, and Gaia helped them see it would be best to get your input. Once you chose, the Nine combined their powers to turn back the hands of time for your physical body, returning you to your 16 year old body, while leaving your mind as it is. They are not sure of what all of the side effects will be, so hopefully it is just the intense hormones of puberty and, well….” Ducky paused, and looked nervous.

Dominic motioned for her to continue as he bit into the freshly baked bread, stifling a groan.

“Well, your stats are all, for lack of a better word, basic. Normally, when children go through their Awakening, they have skills, abilities, and some experience built up to rocket them to at least level 3, though most have enough out here to reach level 5. You, on the other hand, are… “ Ducky paused, taking a sip of her tea, and she gave Dominic a look. “Well, just open your display and look for yourself.”

Dominic swallowed, then thought to himself “Display”, and it popped up.

Status

Name: Dominic

HP: 10

Race: Beast-kin (Feline)

MP: 10

Class: none

STA: 10

Level: 0

XP: 0

Attributes

Strength: 1

Intelligence: 1

Constitution: 1

Wisdom: 1

Dexterity: 1

Charisma: 1

Agility: 1

Luck: 1

Abilities

Shapeshift – Can shift from Human form to demi-feline and feline form. Cost: 5 MP. Duration: Unlimited.

Skills

His mouth gaped open, as his Display box flashed in front of his eyes, and he saw his new status. “Well shit… That’s a lot of one’s” he thought to himself, and then glanced at his abilities and skills list, seeing them empty except for one thing, Shapeshift.

“So, just a guess, but I think one of the drawbacks is that I am Level 0, with no skills and only one ability” He said.

“Got it in one my little chickadee.” Ducky said, almost sounding proud. “On to your next question, a Beast-Kin is someone who has the Blood of Beast intertwined through their physical body as well as their Spirit! Our village is a famous refuge for the Beast-Kin of this world as there are those who look down on us as unclean and abominations. Hence, the need for those Adventurers to swear to secrecy.”

Ducky stood up, smoothed out her smock, and motioned for Dominic to follow her. “Our Awakening Circle is very special, as it is one of the best places for those with Beast Blood to unlock their Beastly side and potential. Some families are strongly connected to a certain Beast line, but others have some surprises pop out every now and then.” She lightly cackled. “Why, my family is full of Ursine Beast-Kin, so when I Awoke as an Owl, there were some tense moments between my parents. Father accused Mother of cheating, which pissed her off and she went into a full shift and beat the crap out of him. Luckily my Seer powers kicked in and Gaia spoke through me to calm her down”

By this time, they had walked out of the small room that Dominic was resting in, coming out into Ducky’s modest living room. She motioned for him to sit on the eccentric lime green and fuscia settee as she poured herself more tea.

“Anyways, I digress! You have awoken into the Feline Beast-Kin line, which is fortuitous as it will provide you with some extra Abilities and Skills once you unlock them and learn how to use them.” She spooned a massive dollop of tea into another cup, and handed it to Dominic “The downside is that right now, you’re fresher than a newborn babe. You have access to Shapeshift, but will need a lot of training on how to use the skill, as well as how to do many others things in this world.”

Dominic blew on the tea to cool it off, and tried to process all of the information he’d been given. When the tea was cool enough to drink, he sipped and thought. Ducky gave him the time he needed, and when he was finally ready to speak, he set the cup down on the coffee table next to him.

“I’m assuming that most newly Awakened have stats higher than what mine are. What are the average stats for a newly Awakened?”

“You are correct! Newly Awakened in Tyeth generally have two of their Physical stats at 5, and the other two at 3 or 4. Mental stats usually depends on the specific Awakened, though I wouldn’t be amiss to say that most have them at least at 3.”

“Ah, beans,” Dominic said, for once censoring himself. It just felt… off to curse right now, especially with how kind Ducky was being by explaining everything to him. “Well, all of mine are at 1, and it says I’m level 0 with 0 experience, so I am guessing that I have a lot to learn.”

“Right you are kitten!”