(Due to the sheer quantity & density of her aether, a lot of semi-sentient elementals mistakenly "see" Morgana as one of them - a giant, multifaceted elemental. Because of this, they'll occasionally seek her out and essentially swarm her.
This has happened many times all throughout her life, so she's completely unfazed😆.)
WoL! WHM: sorry we kept this hidden from you, guildmaster.
E-Sumi-Yan: Worry not, I absolve you of all guilt; I’m sure you didn’t mean to do it, and I forgive you. In fact, it’s my fault, and I should apologize to you.
VS
Sylphie: sorry we kept this hidden from you, guildmaster
E-Sumi-Yan: So not only are you grounded, you’re banned from the guild— matter fact give me your stuff you are banned from Gridania and it is on sight if I see you.
Admittedly calling K'rhid Tia and Silvarre trainers is a bit of a stretch, but I had the space so I thought I'd give y'all the chance to punch them anyway.
E-Sumi had known that she was not padjali, and young, but nothing could have prepared him for this. He had been bracing himself to check the ambitions of a precocious prodigy coming into their own, as was typical for talented young mages, not some lalafellin child of 10 or so. She looked to be younger than even his youngest student, and trembling in her boots—E-Sumi looked up at Madelle, who was leading her into Stillglade Fane by the hand, for some kind of answer, but she wore the same unease on her face that E-Sumi felt in his heart.
"Cocoda, this is Brother E-Sumi-Yan. As head of the Conjurer's Guild, he will be your teacher and master. Brother E-Sumi, this is Cocoda, your newest pupil."
The little girl looked up at him. In her wide green eyes, E-Sumi saw the echoes of high desert winds and open blue skies. And the words, aching to be said: I want to go home. He bent down on one knee and met her gaze.
"It is nice to meet you, my young friend," he said softly. "Do you know why you have been brought here?"
She was slow to reply, her hands white against the tree branch of a staff she clutched in her hands. "Because… the crystal chose me." Her voice went up at the end, as if unsure. "And because I could do bad things with it."
E-Sumi exchanged a questioning glance with Madelle, but she simply shook her head, so he turned back to the child. "Everybody does bad things, sooner or later. Even me. Goodness lies not in only doing good things, but in striving to be better than you currently are," he told her gently. "You are here precisely for that purpose. To learn to use the power you have been given for good. And as your master, it is my solemnly sworn duty to guide and teach you, every step of the way."
She nodded, then looked down at her shoes and did not lift her gaze.
He cleared his throat. "Cocoda, do you have the crystal on you right now?"
The little girl rustled around in her roughspun tunic and gingerly produced a crystal that E-Sumi had only seen a few fleeting times in his life—a pure white gem of such great gravity as to draw the attention of the Seedseers themselves from a city-state away, housing the singular soul of a legendary mage. E-Sumi could count the number of these that were known to be in the world on one hand.
"Do you know what this is?"
"It's magic," Cocoda said, again with that uncertain inflection. "It's kind of pretty."
A-Towa-Cant, if only I could know of what you're thinking right now…
After a long look into the stone's opaque surface as if he could somehow divine answers from within, E-Sumi sighed and folded her fingers back over the crystal. "The one who bears that soul crystal is to walk the path of a white mage. I know not why it chose to reveal itself to you, but from the moment it appeared, the nature of your destiny was made clear. Do not give or show it to others lightly, and keep it with you always, even when you sleep. Understand?"
But, his heart whispered as he saw the growing terror in her eyes, I don't know if either of us are ready for this.
—
Cocoda was given a room in Stillglade Fane along with the other novice conjurers. Over the next month, E-Sumi patiently guided her through the basics of conjury, but more than her magic, he soon grew more concerned for her well-being than anything else. E-Sumi observed that the girl was, in a word, quiet, even if treated well by his other students—there had been some awe at first, but her youth quickly found her "adopted" by the more boisterous pupils. It was the other children her age and the people of Gridania that E-Sumi worried about. Everybody in Gridania had heard of the white-haired lalafell child that had inherited their legacy.
It did not help with the problem of her isolation.
At times, E-Sumi was certain that he was not the right person for this. But if not him, then who? Certainly not Kan-E-Senna, with her responsibilities. Raya-O and A-Ruhn were much too young, and Master A-Pitat much too old. E-Sumi was no stranger to children, but to personally raise one that had been ripped from her family and friends to live for the sake of others…
He could not say that it had been the wrong choice, if only for her own protection, but somehow he could not feel right about it.
"I hear that you refuse to touch the training wands," E-Sumi remarked one sunny day, as Cocoda was working through some basic elemental manipulation exercises. "You still use the staff you carried on the day you were brought to me. Why is that, pray tell?"
She paused, her staff—it was more like a long stick, really—hovering over the deep waters of the Jadeite Flood. Novice conjurers first learned to manipulate water aether by pushing and pulling on the various lakes and rivers of the Black Shroud, mimicking the natural currents. "Is that… wrong?"
"No, not wrong. Not wrong at all," he said. "Humor this old man's curiosity, would you? A birch branch like that could not possibly have come from Ul'dah."
She smiled a little at that, warming E-Sumi's heart. "I found it at the same time I found the white mage crystal. I know there's nothing special about it… but it's mine."
"It will make for a good staff. See how the wood is still green and living, despite having been separated from its tree for many months now? We will need to get you a focus at some point, but over time, your magic shall imbue the wood, creating an artifact completely unique to you." He thought for a moment. "What about your soul crystal? That is undoubtedly yours as well."
The girl shook her head as she focused back on her task. "That belongs to A-Towa-Cant."
That brought him pause—she had previously dodged questions about how exactly she'd come across A-Towa-Cant's crystal and what her relationship with the spirit within was, and E-Sumi was not inclined to push. Switching the topic, he coughed and said, "Well, I am of the mind that that staff you've chosen is a good portent. This branch is not unlike you, Cocoda—a piece of raw material, waiting to be worked into a masterpiece!"
"I suppose."
"…" E-Sumi sighed and ran his hands through his hair. It seemed like that was all he did, as of late. "Cocoda… are you not excited to learn magic?"
She looked back at him, brow furrowed. "Why do you ask, Master E-Sumi?"
"To feel the aether of the land, to speak with the earth and water, to heal the ailing… yes, they are great responsibilities, but they are also some of the most fulfilling pursuits I know. As a white mage, you will be master of all these, and more. But you do not seem to take a shine to conjury, as my other students do."
"Is that… something I should do too?"
E-Sumi sighed again as she trailed off into silence.
She's just a child, he suddenly thought, a thought he'd never had about his younger padjali peers. No, of course she wasn't the same. Why should she be?
—
Cocoda gulped for breath, clutching at her staff to stay upright. Raya-O knelt over her, powerful magic knitting Cocoda's wounds together. They sat on the banks of the shallow pond surrounding the Elder Guardian, most sacred out of any arbor in the Black Shroud; its reaching branches seemed to darken the sky around them.
"This is the little mage they brought over from Ul'dah? So it's true: dress a conjurer in white, and she becomes a white mage."
"A-Ruhn! Don't speak to her like that, she's just a kid!" Raya-O-Senna hissed. "Her calling is the same as ours, well and true—neither she nor A-Towa-Cant need to explain themselves to you. You're just mad she was chosen by him and you weren't."
"What are you doing here, little mage?" A-Ruhn said, ignoring his sister. "You shouldn't be here, even if E-Sumi lets you have the run of the place."
"Master E-Sumi had nothing to do with my coming here," she gasped out. "I was… I didn't think…"
"You didn't think," A-Ruhn said flatly. "In case your minder didn't make it clear enough: the Black Shroud is not a garden for strolling, let alone the Everschade. Maybe you'd be better suited to joining the Adventurer's Guild and learning to sling rocks first before you go venturing out into the wilderness."
"A-Ruhn!" Raya-O cried, whipping around and brandishing her staff at her brother. "You shut your mouth! Do you think E-Sumi and Kan-E would be happy with you speaking like this?!"
"I just wanted to speak to the elementals," Cocoda said petulantly.
That made A-Ruhn pause. Under Raya-O's watchful glare, he neutrally asked, "… And what have they said to you?"
Cocoda hung her head. "They haven't said anything to me yet… I can't hear them."
His mouth fell open in a moment of genuine surprise, but he quickly shut it. "As expected," he muttered, and turned away.
"You really can't hear them?" Raya-O questioned. "That's strange… all padjali have been able to at least hear their voices from birth, even if I myself can't make out their words with the clarity of my brother. But you're not a padjal, so perhaps it's more of a learned skill? In any case, I'm sure you'll be able to hear them one day." She glanced at her brother, who was now standing a distance away, rubbing his temples. "I'm really sorry about A-Ruhn, Cocoda. Sometimes it seems like he spends more time talking to the elementals than he does talking to the people he protects."
"Raya-O… " Cocoda curled into herself and hugged her knees. "Is it really ok for me to be a white mage?"
"Goodness! Whatever makes you think you're not already one of us? You have the soul of the white mage, don't you? A-Towa-Cant's blessing is all the evidence you need."
"So if he says I'm one, then that means I'm one?"
Raya-O tilted her head, an eyebrow lifting. "Yes? Well, I… don't understand what you mean. It's not like it's 'have to' this or 'have to' that, it's simply what you are. You are a white mage as much as I am a padjal."
"'What if my being chosen was a fluke?'" A-Ruhn said calmly, returning. "That's what the kid's asking. I've been wondering the same, myself—a lalafell from Ul'dah? Not even a skilled conjurer, but a child? One who cannot even hear the elementals? You must acknowlege that it doesn't make any sense, at least. If the tradition inherited by our people for generations is to be broken, why now? For what reason?"
Raya-O glared at him. "A-Towa-Cant was never one for traditions and rituals, and he was one of the greatest white mages in our history. You know that."
"A-Towa-Cant was born for the calling," he replied quietly. "If you ask me, it is too cruel to take a child at such a young age away from her loved ones, just because the soul crystal shone for her. If it truly did, as she claims."
"You speak blasphemy, A-Ruhn—"
"I didn't lie!" Cocoda insisted. "Why would I lie? It's not like I made the choice to come here—!"
Cocoda could not see his eyes, but she felt the weight of his gaze upon her all the same. "What happens to you is certainly not of your choosing. But that a child like you continues to stay here, under Gridania's auspices—that is by your own choice. A choice that you continue to make every day."
—
"Master E-Sumi. You wished to speak with me."
E-Sumi turned away from the fireworks to look at his apprentice, a twinkle of good humor in his eye. "How many summers has it been, since you came to us?"
"Five, Master."
"Now another Greenbliss comes and goes."
Cocoda came to stand beside him at the balcony overlooking the night sky above Gridania. Her face was hidden beneath the Monoa mask, marking her as the Greenbliss Emissary. She was still in her ceremonial regalia, shimmering, gossamer-fine robes accented with blood-red fabric.
"I must confess that I have never so keenly felt the passage of time, though I have had so much of it," he said. "How was the ceremony?"
"It went well."
"Good, good… Have you been having fun?"
"As much as I can. Everybody keeps trying to give me things," was the monotone reply. "I don't even like the taste of Mun-Tuy…"
Over the years, the shaking fear of the child that had been brought before E-Sumi had grown into an even tranquility, a blankness that even E-Sumi could not decipher. It was the same serenity that came over padjals as they grew in wisdom and experience, but on someone so young…
E-Sumi looked at the small figure of his apprentice, her expression hidden by the mask, and took a deep breath.
"Cocoda, listen well. I know that… at times, you may struggle to feel that you are worthy. I know that you have been taken far from everything you have ever known. I know that there has never been another white mage quite like you."
"Of course. I'm not a padjal."
"That is part of it, but not the whole," he refuted gently. "For us padjali, it is an honor to fulfill our chosen fates as keepers of the Twelveswood. But I am beginning to see that to have this path chosen for you… perhaps it is not such a blessing as I once thought. Cocoda, I have been filled with such joy and pride to see your potential as a mage grow—matched only by my sorrow to realize the consequences that have been your sole burden to bear. And I would understand, if you grew to resent me because of it."
Cocoda's head swiftly turned to him, her hands falling to her sides. "Master, what are you saying? Are you—are you expelling me?"
"Of course not. I am telling you all this because I wonder if… if we have been going about this in the wrong way, because… because we are failing you. I'm sorry, Cocoda. I should never have made you feel like this path was the only one you could ever take."
"…" She folded her hands into her sleeves. "There was no way you could have known. But I still think that, perhaps, this path is worth walking."
"And full glad am I to hear that. But for all the reasons I've listed, I would now like to give you the chance to choose your future."
"Then speak, Master."
"The first option: continue as you have been under my tutelage, these past years. If you say you are content with this way of life, with meditating on the elements and communing with the spirits of the great wood, if you say that Gridania is a home to you as it is to me, I shall not presume otherwise.
"The second: as I am sure you're well aware, your exalted forebear was not a conventional white mage in most any sense of the word. He was wont to do as he saw fit, and he used his long life to wander the world. There is much to be learned outside of our cloistered life at Stillglade Fane; sometimes I wonder if perhaps A-Towa-Cant's life would serve you better—to listen, to wander, to entrust…"
"So I would leave the Black Shroud to go… explore? Like an adventurer?" Cocoda asked dubiously. "Whacking ladybugs and fetching supplies?"
"Protecting the common people from harm and granting succor to those in need," E-Sumi corrected with a smile. "I would accompany you, of course. You are yet young."
Cocoda raised a hand to her chin. "I… I'd never even thought of that. To travel the world…"
He suddenly grew serious, pale eyes boring straight through her. "And lastly, the third option: relinquish the soul of the white mage and remain a conjurer for the rest of your days. I should have asked you this long ago. It is only your right to decide if this is something you want—but I cannot allow white magic into the world unchecked by a padjali. It will be your choice as to whether you stay in Gridania or leave, though I will always and forever remain your mentor."
Cocoda was quiet for a long while after he said this.
A wind drifted up from below, bringing with it distant laughter from the Greenbliss festivities. E-Sumi stayed silent, though his hands remained tightly clasped behind his back.
It was not unheard of for youths gifted in conjury to find the rigidity of the Conjurer's Guild stifling, and for them to switch to another discipline. It was just that nothing could have prepared E-Sumi for that to be a possibility for this child that he had—admittedly, raised for some time now…
And there yet remained Cocoda's baffling inability to hear the voices of the spirits.
At last came the whisper: "You would really leave your station at Stillglade Fane to continue watching over me? Are there not skilled conjurers that could do the job just as easily?"
E-Sumi laughed then, a weight on his shoulders of five years beginning to lift. "The same skilled conjurers are more than suited to replace me for a few years, but only a white mage is suited to teach a white mage. It is certainly not without precedent. Even your fellow student of mine, Kan-E-Senna, once left her political position to commune with the elementals. What manner of stewards would we be if we did not cultivate a society capable of taking care of itself after we are gone?"
"And would we not face great danger?" she fretted. "What if something happens to us?"
"Then, I can only pray that you master conjury soon enough to protect me from the evils of the world, Cocoda."
