Earth Annual Convention events of significance.

  This year's convention is over. It was, as usual, a short event, focusing almost entirely on the announcements and changes that had occurred since the last. More detailed discussions will likely follow between Holdings.

  Holding Syl's disruption of the order of announcements, allowing themselves to be delayed despite their precedence, is being viewed as an attempt to curry favour with the more established Holding Lys. Their three compounding announcements mark them as a potential powerhouse, should they manage to continue their growth or expand beyond their apparent minimal presence.

  Their immediate approach of Holding Lys as they left the stage, as well as an alleged invitation to lunch with the Keepers of Deep Earth puts them under a spotlight they may not have expected.

  ~ * ~

  When Anya came into the office looking for the coffee pot, Seb and Fay were sitting in comfortable silence. Briana followed on her heels and set the remaining plate of bacon on Fay's desk before circling around to give her a brief kiss.

  "I have to get to work Fay, they'll be wondering if you kidnapped me."

  "I- They-" Fay began.

  "Fay," Anya said, drawing her name out as far as she could. "Briana told me about how ticklish you are. Between your shoulder blades?"

  She saw Fay freeze, mouth half open in her attempts to correct Briana before whispering. "You told her?"

  "She told me how cute you were," Anya continued, letting the words hang before dropping the act. "Fay. She told me about the ticklish spot because it was cute, she told me how good a time you both had, but no details. Well none other than that she thinks you're cute."

  "That's not what you said earl-" Fay's gulp as she cut herself off mid sentence almost echoed as her cheeks went crimson. "Anya!"

  "I really need to get going Fay," Briana said, her own cheeks showing a hint of red as well. "I'll see you later?"

  "Yes, soon?"

  "Soon," Briana said before all but rushing from the room.

  Anya filled her mug before sitting down. "Have a good talk?"

  "She explained the six months of Weregild," Seb said.

  "Seer stuff?"

  "Arbiter it turns out."

  "Anya, you!" Fay said.

  "I had to, you know I did."

  "I'll get you back."

  "Fay will get me back. It's time for Seer Phelann," Anya said before sticking out her tongue.

  "Seb?" Fay said.

  That was a little mean, he sent.

  "You'll get her back later. You know we have questions."

  I missed her, she sent.

  "Fine," Fay said before draining her mug and straightening at her desk.

  "You've passed the wall," she continued. "I know you both have questions but I'll start by telling you a few things. First, you might have noticed that you could tell when you were near people who hadn't passed the wall. It isn't restricted to the wall, you'll be able to recognize if an Awakened has had less Path Selection opportunities than you have. Not how many less, just that it is less."

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  "So the feeling from the staff, from my sister?" Anya asked.

  "Yes. To go with that, you cannot take action against those you can feel are weaker unless they act first."

  "The guards when Clyde?" Seb asked. "You told them they couldn't touch her."

  "Yes."

  Anya glanced at Seb, remembering the day, remembering her anger at the moment. She was glad he'd asked, she still didn't trust herself not to snap when thinking of what had almost happened.

  "What is the wall, the change in Energy." Seb said.

  "Affinity." Fay said, staring at Anya and waiting.

  Anya frowned, she wasn't about to ask the obvious question, she wasn't going to let Fay bait her into reacting. She'd gotten the best of her, she'd made her blush and squirm. But Fay wasn't explaining, she was just waiting, Seb wasn't asking, she could feel he was trying to decipher the meaning, to connect it to what he'd seen, what he'd shown her of the changes in Energy patterns.

  All she'd done was tease Fay about being ticklish, about how cute the spot was, how cute Briana's description of it was. It was cute, it was a silly spot and Briana clearly liked her a lot. They'd gossiped about cluelessness for only a minute or two before Briana had all but gushed about Fay, about what she liked about her, about how happy she was that they were finally past the awkward moments where she'd been afraid Fay just didn't feel that way.

  "Fay…" she said when the silence keep stretching out.

  "Affinity is how your Energy aligns to you. You'll have to learn how to leverage it, how to shape your techniques to benefit from the change. It doesn't define who you are, a Fire affinity doesn't suddenly make you burn things all the time, an Ice affinity doesn't make you freeze things."

  "It does make it easier to make your combat techniques burn or freeze, to leave those hindrances. A regeneration or life affinity might make you heal faster, or be a better healer."

  "What about Currents?" Seb asked.

  "Currents?" Fay answered. "A water affinity?"

  "No? At least I don't think so. I see the patterns in Energy, but I also see how they flow, how they shape and move through the world, how Awakened influence the area near them. I see how it all interacts."

  "That would be the second type. First type being more elemental or clearly defined in what they touch on. The second tends to relate more to a concept, to a personality trait, to a way of seeing the world. Less common in combat Paths, while the more elemental types are more rare in non-combat."

  Challenge, like the goblin that made us fight, he sent.

  Or the one that kept trying to pull attention.

  Anya thought about it for a moment, thought about who she was. She pushed, she teased, she had challenged Fay from the moment she walked into the office, the same as she had challenged everything leading up to the moment. If she could challenge her opponents, pull their attention, make them face her. If she could make them realize they had no chance of winning.

  "So it has to do with shaping, " she said. "With the intent and the meaning? To make the technique follow the Affinity, to make my Energy follow the Affinity?"

  "Yes, or the Affinity might guide you. A healing-adjacent affinity might guide a Healer in how best to fix an injury, while also making their healing more efficient. Something fire based might help hint at what would burn best. Seb's Currents might point him to the smoothest path."

  "Wouldn't knowing this help?" Seb asked.

  "Affinities are strongest when you find them for yourself. When you connect with them on your own. Or, when with a partner, two as one through the bond."

  "But how it works, what to look for."

  "Knowing to look for what makes you you, for who you are, that points you in the direction," Fay answered. "At least that is what tests and experiments have shown over the years."

  "So how do we use this benefit?" Anya asked.

  "Practice. Focus on how your Affinity relates to your techniques, how it could apply."

  "If that's all it does, then why is the wall such a big deal?" she asked.

  "Your Energy changes, it becomes yours, it reflects you. But also when you reach your Path Selection level there is a significant increase in power. It simply isn't comparable to the level before."

  "So the reason it isn't safe to fight level 10s before you reach level 10 has nothing to do with Affinity, and will be the same problem at 20?" Seb asked.

  "Exactly."

  So have to be careful if we get there, he sent.

  When we get there, unless you want to give up.

  Do you want to?

  I want to be with you, but I want to push, to see, to keep going.

  Then we'll keep going love, he sent.

  She smiled, her eyes drifting down to the ring once more even as Fay cleared her throat.

  "This does mean you have to do your next Path Selections."

  "So more shocking notes to make you panic?" Anya said.

  "I did not panic, I simply did not expect them." Fay answered.

  "You seemed like you were panicking when mine showed up."

  "Anya," Fay answered, her tone coldly professional despite her wide grin. "I am a Senior Seer. We do not panic simply because of an unexpected event."

  "You panicked."

  "Did not."

  "Did too."

  Anya, Seb sent. Focus.

  She glanced at him then offered the plate of bacon to Fay. "Bacon?"

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