Zenith Affinity

The evening was fairly cloudy, but the sunset colors made the clouds glow a beautiful orange and pink. The deep purples of night began to reach across the sky, chasing the sun into the horizon.

Word had gotten out that ascension rituals were going to be taking place, and a crowd had gathered in the viewing area along with the three parties.

“So, does Sky go first?” Alisha from [Pink Lotus] asked.

“I vote yes!” Kesa said, starting a whole chorus of agreement.

“I don’t mind going first, let’s do this!” Sky pulled her [Solar-Attuned Ascension Ritual Disc] before opening the door to the Ascension Chambers, finding strength in the intricately enchanted disc with a few glowing solar essence shards embedded equidistant to one another.

The Ascension Chamber is an open-air chamber with a central raised stone platform where the ritual took place. The windows were reinforced with runic enchantments to keep the effects of the rituals at bay, allowing everyone to watch.

“You got this, Sky!” Zaria yelled.

“Good luck!” Zedra said.

Sky entered the chamber and climbed up the few steps to the platform. There was a bit of soundproofing involved, muffling the chatter from those undergoing the ascension. Sky noticed Revalore Fearthe, Branch Leader of the local Adventuring Association, as well as his assistants, hoping to watch the series of ascension rituals. Several unrecognizable adventuring parties that weren’t players were also in attendance, all of them wearing doubtful expressions.

Sky took a deep breath and placed the ritual disc down in the center of the platform, where a small obelisk was. Pressing down on it, the draw of magic from her was slight, but noticeable. In a few seconds, the ritual disc lit up, followed by the greater ring around her.

Despite the diminishing evening light, the embedded circles in the platform turned into the blazing golden light of Sky’s solar affinity. Beyond the open ascension room, the viewing hall was lit with bright light from ever-burning torches, yet the light from Sky’s ritual began to eclipse that.

A column of light pierced the cloudy sky and crashed down onto the guild hall, illuminating it as if it were the only building experiencing a second dawn for the day.

Sky had been sitting cross-legged while the ritual was activated, almost entering a sort of meditative state. A few moments after the beam of light crashed down, her eyes opened, revealing burning orbs of light. She didn’t seem to be in pain as she began to glow, and massive golden luminous wings burst forth from her back. They were ethereal in nature, as if they hadn’t fully manifested in the physical; they flapped once and expanded, golden dust falling from them like motes of pure light.

Her face was passive as she raised her eyes up into the beam of sunlight that pierced the sky. The chamber grew in intensity, and light from the ritual began to illuminate all of Osten. It was enough for everyone watching to close or avert their eyes.

When the light died down, Sky was gone.

“Was that supposed to happen?” Zaria asked.

“No. Definitely not,” Zedra replied, concern filling his voice.

≪ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ≫

Sky was flying faster than a jet. Soaring across the sky and pushing into daylight. The ground was so far away she couldn't make out more than just blurring shapes. She wasn’t in control, but she could feel the wind in her wings and hair as they felt the air. She could slightly adjust her angle with her wings, but something akin to an air current was pulling her like a tractor beam into the horizon.

She was weightless, boundless, and free. Her mind wasn't concerned about where she was going or what she was supposed to be doing. It was just the wind in her wings, the sun on her face, and the feeling of weightlessness in the sky.

She was above the ocean now, a solid beam of light sparkling across the waves, guiding her further west. The magic that now permeated her being felt like a continuously growing force building up inside her. The sound of it was nearly causing a sort of ambience on her flight. Strangely enough, regardless of the speed, the wind didn’t affect her vision in the slightest, like a force field protecting her eyes, yet it still flowed around her and through her hair.

Sky flew for what felt like hours, but she was never worried or scared. She was at peace, at home even, living up to her name.

It was so comfortable that she fell asleep.

Sky woke up feeling rested. Sitting up from the strangely comfortable cloud-like white couch, she stretched. She felt both her arms and her new wings stretch out behind her. She turned to look at the new appendages, now much less ethereal, having taken on physicality. They looked like feathers dipped in the same gold that matched her eyes. She pulled them close and felt the soft but almost sharp feathers.

"Amazing..."

Stretching out, her wingspan was a good 10 feet to each side of her, yet the weight of the wings wasn’t too heavy or annoying. They felt comfortable. Light that could only be something akin to fairy dust felt from them in golden motes, gleaming in the strange ambient white light around her.

“Did you have a good rest, my daughter?” A voice rang through the room. It was grand, majestic, and filled with power. The voice rang through the room like a thousand choirs all perfectly in tune. It resonated through her chest and in the air around her.

She turned and found a huge being, the most beautiful and loving woman she had ever seen, resting on cushions a distance away. She was well over 12 feet tall, yet it didn’t seem out of place or strange. It fit her. She had swirling robes of light, and her wings were golden and ethereal like Sky’s when they were still forming.

“Hello? Who are you?” Sky let the words slip, but she, without a doubt, recognized the woman…the goddess. She just needed her to say it.

A tinkling laugh that was filled with eternal amusement echoed around her. The strange room wasn’t entirely physical, with walls drifting off into endless tapestries, the floor disappearing into clouds, and the windows leading to the heavens. At least that is what her mind could come up with, the only name that made sense. Floating islands of gold trimmed with pearlescent white stone floated around as if they had somewhere to be. Motes of golden light just existed and floated around, and Sky recognized that they looked like larger versions of what fell from her wings.

“You don’t recognize your own mother?” Her voice wasn’t accusatory, merely playful.

“S-Solaris?” Sky asked. She remembered her mother from earth, but she unfortunately passed nearly a decade ago. Her name was not Solaris, and she was not a goddess of the sun and sky. But that wasn't what the goddess was referring to.

The smile of a thousand dawns split the perfect face of the goddess in front of her, “I knew you would remember me. It has been so long, my dear Solara, and we finally have you back.”

“We?” She asked another question she already knew the answer to.

“Your other mother, of course. She is on her way here, delayed just a bit, but she will be here soon. How are you feeling? You have only been back for so little time, and yet you have already advanced to the second tier! I am so proud of you,” The Goddess of the Sun said with a proud smile.

Sky gulped, realizing the implications of what she had done. There was only one reason she could think of for that goddess to be calling her daughter. Her mind flashed back to the day before whatever mysterious force stole her and every other player away from Earth, to the last thing she requested of everyone before they went to bed the night before they arrived in Zenith World.

____________________________________________________

Flashback:

“Wait! Make sure you fill out your Lore Windows! Please, don’t forget!” Sky said.

“Already have mine filled out!” Touch(Zedra) replied.

“Ugh, why do we need to have these filled out? Aren’t they just for personal lore reasons?” Dark asked.

“Of course they are! But this is an RP server, and we have to have a reason why we are who we are in the world!”

"Touch is exactly right!" Sky said.

_____________________________________________________

Sky’s mind went to her lore story, and her blood ran cold. The backstory she had written for her character had become reality.

“Oh wow, what did I do?”

Solaria, Goddess of the Sun, laughed, “You didn’t do anything. You have been gone for 24 years, stolen at birth, and now you are back. All grown up. I have missed you dearly, my Solara.”

The Goddess changed as she was sitting there, a flash of golden sunlight obscuring her form briefly, and she reappeared at the normal height of a celestial. She still had golden glowing eyes, and her luminous white hair seemed to move in an unfelt wind. Every step she took left a ripple of golden light that moved away from her feet as if she were standing on a pond of light.

Even though she was a goddess, she seemed tense and nervous about approaching Sky, like touching her might set her off or something. Sky could also sense that her mother was holding back her emotions to some degree.

Sky heard her speak, but all she could think about was the insane ideas she had while writing her backstory on the day she created her character. Now, she found herself whisked away during an ascension ritual to one of the realms of the gods…and it just so happens that she had, in fact, written a bit about having a goddess for a mother. A goddess that she would never have imagined that she would meet.

She even named her character Solara, which is just a single letter away from Solaria, like some long-lost daughter. The part about 24 years was strange, though, because she turned 24 years old when she was pulled over to Zenith world just the other day, and she had no mention of being time-displaced.

Did Solaria, her apparent mother according to her backstory, know about Earth? Had Sky been on Zenith World before living on Earth? Was she born here, then transferred to a different body on Earth, then back to the one she designed here?

There were so many questions bouncing through her head that Sky felt like she was on the brink of madness.

Solaria seemed to recognize the stress her daughter was going through and walked over and embraced her. “It’s alright. Tell me what is bothering you?”

Sky took a few deep breaths after finding comfort in the hug. “I…I don’t even know where to begin. I thought this world was fake, a simulation.”

Solaria laughed, “A simulation? I assure you, my dear, this is quite real.”

Sky wasn’t sure why she took the word of her supposed mother at face value, “Alright…Will I be forced to go back to earth? Was it really me who was born here, or did I just imagine my backstory? I...”

“Earth, was it? No, my dear, you are home. That goes for all those who arrived here the other day. And you were definitely here. I held you in my arms, gave birth to you here in the Fourth Heaven. ”

Sky was both confused and relieved, in that she had no recollection of being a baby in either life, but at least she wouldn't have to go back to her last life.

“Oh, Neri is here. Let’s go meet her, shall we?”

Sky instantly knew who that was, the Goddess of Valor and Battle. In other words, her other celestial parent had arrived. What was she thinking when she wrote that backstory? It had just come so easily, and she thought it would be fun to role-play as some demigoddess with Valor and Sun as her parents.

They walked through strange hallways that felt more like an abstract painting than a secure location. At times, the floor seemed to be crystalline windows that opened into an endless sky below them, while other times they walked through marble stone. Eventually, they came to a courtyard, and it was just in time to receive another large figure.

Burning wings of golden fire reached out for 50 or more feet per wing. They were massive, like those on an airplane, except made from fire and feathers. The Goddess of Valor had incredibly intricate golden armor that she wore, leaving her biceps, thighs, and the lower part of her face revealed. She had brilliant golden hair, piercing blue eyes, and a huge golden spear on her back.

The first Valkyrie had arrived.

In just a second, she seemed to fly from incredibly far away, close to the horizon, and with a gust of wind and flame, she slammed into the ground in front of them. Neri shrank down to the size of a tall celestial as she stared at Sky. She seemed to make a small gesture, and her armor shifted.

Her helmet folded back, her gloves and spear disappeared, and she looked at Sky with amazed eyes.

“Solara?” Neri asked, her voice full of hope and emotion.

“Hi,” Sky said, a bit awkwardly as she tried to keep it all together.

Neri rushed forward and gave a huge hug to the solar mage. “Oh, I missed you so much, my child!”

“It is good to meet you as well?" Sky said, purposefully choosing the words as she did.

Neri’s blonde hair flowed around her, falling around Sky like a golden shroud. She had dark chocolate skin like Zaria had, except for the golden hair versus white. Sky smelled her as during the embrace, adding the scent to her memory. It was just as divine and indescribable as Solaria’s was, but it was recognizable. It pinged some distant memory, and Sky felt that the same was true with Solaria as well.

Neri pulled back and got a good look at Sky. She shook her head at the sight of her fully grown daughter, “I hear you plan to create a guild? Tell me about that.”

Solaria pulled both of them to another sitting area, and they began to talk. Almost entirely about Sky, her plans for her future guild, and how they planned to head to the Crystal City to purchase their guild hall.

Neri and Solaria exchanged glances and smiles, but didn’t comment on it. Sky seemed to find some comfort in talking about her life, both in this world and the last one. Both goddesses sat with rapt attention, listening to every word she said.

“Fascinating, and tell me about your party, you said you knew them before you came back here?”

“That’s right. We are all close friends, aside from Atticus, who we just picked up on day one, but he seems to fit right in. I think we lucked out with him. He’s also an incredible chef, and I think he has really found his niche with that. As far as Lightning Enhancer, though, he’s doing great!”

“Zedra has been my closest friend for a long time, and together we are essentially going to be running the guild. Kesa and Dark are a married couple that I adore and only want the best for. We made a fantastic party and are going to head back to Osten to recruit more players and stuff.”

Sky realized she was telling her story to people who actually cared. She felt excited to share anything about her friends and the people who would join her guild. Both Neri and Solaria sat next to her with smiles and listened intently to their returned daughter’s stories. Solaria began to braid Sky's unruly blue hair, and the young celestial began to feel love in ways she hadn't felt since her own mother was still around.

Another celestial in white robes eventually walked in with tea that looked like golden light across a deep blue sea, reminding Sky of her flight to visit her parents. It was delicious and sparkled like carbonated water, except the flavors were sunshine and morning warmth. Conceptual magical flavors were the baseline for divine tea, it seemed.

After what felt like a few hours of spending time with her parents and family, Neri brought her attention over with a small box in her hand.

“I understand that you are working your own way up through the tiers and that you wish to do so under your own power. I very much respect that, both of us do,” Neri gestured to Solaria.

“We do, but we also wish for you to have something to take with you. A gift that you can wear, hopefully replacing that disgusting bug-ring you have there.”

Sky looked down at her right hand, where the [Zaphid Queen’s Core Ring] sat. A twisting piece of acidic green lava frozen in a band that wrapped around her middle finger. It essentially added the damage over time condition unique to the Zaphid Queen, known as [Zaphid Corrosion]. It only worked with someone who used fire or adjacent affinities, which included solar, but it wasn't a great increase in damage.

“It was my first big drop…shouldn’t you be excited to see it and like…I don’t know…ask to put on your fridge or something?”

Neri laughed, “I suppose there should always be a place in your heart for your first drop, but you are more than just a normal adventurer, Sky. You have our blood coursing through you."

“I agree. So we have prepared something that you can upgrade throughout the ranks that still represents who you are,” Solaria nodded, and Neri handed the small polished wooden box to Sky.

It was an opaque crystalline box that had gold inlaid in intricate patterns. A golden sun with golden laurels surrounding it. The laurels were Neri’s symbol, and obviously, the sun was Solaria’s.

Sky looked over to her parents before opening it, “Thank you so much. This has been a surreal experience.”

“Open it!” Solaria said with a laugh.

“Alright!” Sky opened the box and found a beautiful, long ring of gold. The ring was long enough to cover a segment of her finger, from the palm to the first knuckle. It had golden laurels along either side of a sky-blue sapphire. They wound up and met with the face of a beautiful golden sun, which had golden beams of sunlight.

It was only then that Sky realized the ring was actually glowing. The sun on the ring illuminated the sapphire as if it were the middle of the day, and the entire ring reflected sunlight despite being inside.

“It’s beautiful,” Sky said. ‘“And it represents both of you! The golden laurels and the golden sun….all around a sky blue sapphire…”

The two goddesses shared a happy glance as they looked at their long-lost daughter. Neri smiled, "It represents all of us, my dear."

“Put it on,” Solaria said.

Sky did just that and equipped it on her left hand. The ring fit perfectly on her left middle finger, the luminescent ring glowing on her hand. The description popped up. What was surprising was that the name of the ring was in the metallic golden color of a legendary artifact, but the description text was the blue of a tier 2 artifact.

_____________________________________________________

[Ring of the Golden Sun]

- Adds the Divine Affinity to Solar attacks and spells.

- Increases Solar Affinity by 5%.

- [Open Slot]

_____________________________________________________

"Divine Affinity? Shouldn't that be the Holy Affinity?" Sky asked. She also noticed that, despite being tier 2, there were three slots for enchantments, something that a tier 4 base item would normally have.

"No, Sky. They are different, but don't worry about that for now. This is your ring, and it will upgrade with you as you level up."

“We left the third enchantment slot open so that you could enchant it yourself. One enchantment from each of us,” Solaria said. "At least until you upgrade it."

“I don’t know what to say…this is incredible. Thank you both so much!”

≪ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ≫

“Where did she go?” Kessa asked.

“According to our HUD, she’s still alive, but is in a different realm or in an instance or something,” Dark Hero replied.

“What does that mean?” Ashariel asked, her voice seeming more worried than Kessa’s.

Dark Hero began to explain how the party system worked with the HUD, but it seemed to just confuse the former NPCs. He also explained how they could essentially telepathically communicate at any distance as long as they remained on the same plane of existence. Pocket dimensions, dungeons, and other realms excluded.

“So when do we start worrying?” Ar’Gen asked.

“She isn’t in combat, so I assume she is safe,” Zedra said. He was surprisingly calm, all things considered, but even he was searching for a way to send a message. Each attempt so far had failed, or Sky hadn't seen it or been able to reply.

It was then that the Branch Leader, Revalore Fearthe, came up to the parties watching over Sky’s ascension. He made contact with Alisha, “What happened?”

“I don’t know, she was covered in sunlight and….”

“I saw, though I have never seen anything like it,” Revalore replied.

The rest of [Pink Lotus] was watching the response by the rest of Sky’s party. They had formed a circle and were quietly talking to each other, but judging by their body language, it was clear that they didn’t have a clue why this had happened.

Before anyone left the viewing chambers, a beam of sunlight once again crashed down on the ritual chamber, and everyone rushed back to the glass to look up.

A woman with massive golden wings floated down through the bright light. The image of Sky floating serenely through the sunlight struck something within many of the people watching. It was truly a divine sight as she gracefully stepped down from the air back onto the ritual circle. She looked fine, though it seemed her hair had been braided.

‘Solara Sky, Mage,’ hovered above her head for all the players watching. Her name was in blue, signifying that she was a Tier 2 being now. Sky smiled and waved at everyone sheepishly before heading over to the exit of the chamber.

“Sky! What happened?” Zaria asked.

“How long was I gone?”

“Like 5 minutes or so,” Zedra replied.

“Okay, cool. Who is next?”

“Sky…what happened? You fully disappeared in that column of light like a teleportation.”

“I will tell everyone later. Let’s continue with the Ascension Rituals! Who’s next?”

Glances were exchanged, but it was clear that she wasn’t going to say anything with so many people watching and listening.

“Alright, I will go next,” Kesa said while staring at Sky.

“Great! Good luck, Kesa! You got this!” Sky cheered.

Dark Hero pulled her into a hug before she went in, “Good luck, love.”

"Am I going to be teleported somewhere to get my hair braided as well?" Kesa asked.

Sky laughed, "I doubt it."

Kesa fully marched into the chamber, undeterred by the teleportation and absence of Sky for a time. She quickly set up her Ritual Disc and channeled her mana into it. The disc quickly activated, and water surged up from around the elevated platform in a swirling sphere. It almost seemed to come from the very air, as the sphere formed around her.

The water glowed as if there were bioluminescence within it. It swirled around her and formed a sphere that barely fit in the chamber. Kesa’s form was hidden within, but shapes that looked like dolphins, sharks, and fish could be seen like shadows below the surface. The final form looked like a mermaid with a huge tail and graceful length to her as she swam in a circle.

In less than 3 minutes, the ritual finished, and the waters disappeared through drains in the floor, but there was nearly a pond's worth of water.

The watching adventurers cheered this time, led by Sky and Dark Hero. “Yeahhhh!! That’s my Kesa!!” Dark cheered.

After that, people began to cycle their way through, starting with the rest of [Reality Check] and the [Flamesouls].

Dark Hero and Zedra’s time in the chamber was impossible to see, as everything was just shadows and darkness. Atticus’s time in the chamber looked like a raging storm manifested, which culminated with a consistent bolt of lightning hitting him until the ritual finished, yet he walked out unscathed.

Zaria chose the Physical Affinity first, which had her going through some sort of martial arts spear dance that kept growing faster and faster until she was blurring around the ritual circle as she glowed with magical power.

As her ritual completed, gorgeous and brilliant white wings appeared from her back, the beautiful, feathered appendages stretched out and flexed as she got used to the weight of them. They contrasted remarkably well against her beautiful dark skin, though they weren't as long as Sky's.

Asheera Flamesong was interesting since she chose the Music affinity, causing visible pink notes of magic to flow as she played an entire song during the ritual.

Mia and Tia chose Darkness instead of Shadow like Dark Hero. They were adjacent affinities, but were slightly different. The shadow didn’t make everything dark in the chamber, but rather allowed for fleeting figures to dodge around beams of light, the contrast between the light and the shadow signifying the difference.

Finally, Ar’Gen Lightfist went, and it was very similar to Sky’s performance except that the golden light didn’t come from the sky in a column of radiance, but was instead an aura that pushed out from him. His golden light didn’t contain the warmth of the sun, but instead felt like it was passively healing everyone, even through the chamber walls.

“Alright, [Pink Lotus]! You gals are up!” Sky said excitedly.

Alisha nodded gravely and turned to the rest of her party, “Alright, we have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. Let’s do this!”

“Hell yeah!” Helga Battlebjorn said.

Alisha was the first of everyone that day who chose the Arcane Affinity. Blue circles of light surrounded her like she was casting some sort of grand magic. The circles continued to grow in width and complexity until they broke apart and the magic entered her. Like everyone else, her eyes glowed to match her azure blue arcane affinity as the ritual finished. She left the chamber with a triumphant smile on her face.

Sera Cavendish, a mage like Sky, chose the Ice Affinity. It was nearly impossible to see her through the windows during the ascension ritual as they had fully frosted over. By that point, however, it was clear that her ritual was successful, and she walked out when it was done with a smile that matched Alisha's.

Helga ran into the chamber next, choosing the Physical Affinity as Zaria had, though the means was different as she seemed to defend against invisible blasts that impacted her shield nonstop.

Amara Goldtree went next, a wood elf cleric in [Pink Lotus] who had gotten along quite well with Ar’Gen on account of their shared plan to take on the Holy Affinity. Her ritual was nearly identical to the dwarf's, and her emotions seemed to continue glowing as she left the chamber.

Finally, there was Ashariel Navi, the Celestial who had been so hostile to Sky on account of her name. Now she had been on and off staring at Sky since her ritual until it was her turn to enter the chamber. Ashariel was also a Valkyrie like Zaria was, but she chose the sword and shield combination over the spear.

Ashariel had been very quiet as her team ascended to Tier 2, but even she couldn’t help but smile a little as her party cheered her on. She was choosing the light affinity first, which provided some decent abilities that could scale well as a Valkyrie. The chamber was filled with very bright white light as she activated her ritual disc, causing most people to flinch at the blinding light and look away. When the light cleared, her Celestial racial wings appeared, just as white as Zaria’s if less contrasting on her alabaster skin.

Even the surly Valkyrie couldn't help but smile as she entered the next tier of power. It was a goal that all of [Pink Lotus] had been striving for, and with only knowing the players for a week, they were able to continue on their path to power.