Destiny

[wrecking_yard]

The room I was pointed to is next to the sigil covered room I woke up in. The door is unlocked, and I push it open after there's no response to a short knock. It's a smaller storage room hastily converted into a study, with an old table being used as a desk and a few mismatched chairs, a half-empty bookshelf on the back wall with a few scrolls and books rescued from the invasion.

The only person in the room is almost completely covered in white; he's bent over the table focused on a book with an open journal and pen, and doesn't seem to have noticed me. I wait a couple minutes, then clear my throat; I don't really want to disturb whatever he's doing, but I was told to speak with him before anything else.

He startles for moment, turning to look, then stands up. "Ah! You're awake sooner than I expected." He pauses. "This is the first time I've seen a mark like yours in person, so I wasn't sure how much it would impact your recovery - it seems I underestimated Asura's blessing."

I shrug, sheepish. "It didn't help much against those soldiers."

He waves a hand. "That side of it is potential; it must be cultivated with experience. The gods can give us chances, openings, and some boosts, it's our part to make the most of them."

I'm ... not even sure what to do with that right now. "I was told to come speak to you?"

"Yes. I met your companions while you were recovering, but it was rather difficult to do a proper introduction while you were unconscious. I am Minwu, White Wizard of Fynn." He folds his hands in his sleeves and bows; I return it awkwardly - he's been attending the royal family, and I haven't exactly made anything of myself yet.

"Firion, I - my parents were blacksmiths, I was doing odd jobs as an outrider when I wasn't helping at the shop."

He motions to one of the chairs, turning the ratty old wooden one he has at the desk around; I take the closest other chair, self-consciously adjusting the salvaged clothes I was handed.

"How much do you know about your mark?"

Whatever confidence I used to have in the subject is taking a vacation on me. "A little? I know it's Asura's symbol. I've been told it's a sign of her blessing and some kind of destiny, and connected to this-" I tug on a stray chunk of white hair, an easy visible mark for the rest of the occasional oddities - "And my affinity for white magic... I've meant to pursue that more but haven't hand time to pick up more than basics."

He's nodding slowly. "And that pendant - birth charm?" It sounds mostly rhetorical, and even with most of his face covered, there's something about his expression that makes that less than comforting.

"...Yes...."

"What kind of flowers did those petals come from?"

It still sounds like he already has an idea what the answer is and is just verifying. "...Wild roses."

He's definitely smiling too wide. "Of course."

I debate if I want to ask or not for all of a half second. "...Is that important?" The entire idea is that whatever is collected around that first bath is supposed to be an omen, it's just usually very abstract.

"I think," he starts, as if he's moving on from the subject already, "That our destinies are connected, and the decisions you've made so far have set you on a path worth aiding."

I am, suddenly, far less excited about finding out what Destiny is attached to carrying Asura's mark than I have ever been in my life, and apparently am not hiding that at all.

"Your mark was lauded as a gift, was it not?"

I nod.

"It is ... but it's more complicated than that. In some ways, the greatest blessing to come of it will be for those around you - I doubt you'll be able to answer if it is a blessing for you yourself until after everything is over." He pauses, folding his hands in front of him, leaning forward and staring off into the middle distance. "The future is written in sand. I was born in Salamand, studied in Mysidia, and learned to watch for omens and signs - and what I saw was concerning, to say the least; I came to Fynn because Mysidia was too isolated. I had potential, and chose to act on that 'destiny', placing myself where I would be most likely to do something - to help rewrite whatever disaster was foretold. You have potential, and you have been making the same sort of choices; Asura has given you ability to do something, and you, also, have chosen the 'destiny' of shifting the sand before it can be set into stone - and have had your first glimpse of what you are pitting yourself against by doing so."

I shift uncomfortably, trying not to be too aware of all of the lingering aches and pain, or the scars I haven't looked at since I woke up.

"This will hurt. You cannot face this alone, you will be hurt again and again, those around you will be hurt - although not as badly as if you had not been there... and if the bet Asura has placed on you pays off, perhaps we can ensure that the worst cannot happen."

He's very calm about it - and I'm getting aware of the weight of everything; it's not the first time I've heard of dark omens and signs, the werewolves sent Guy with us purely so that he could learn and be in a better position to act on whatever they were seeing omens of.

A demon-bolstered army sweeping across the world isn't what I'd been imagining at all.

"Anyway, you have a lot of growing to do, and it does no good to anyone to try to fathom everything at once. What were you intending to do from here?"

It takes a few minutes; there's so much going on, in so many places, that it's almost hard to know where to start, except .... "...Well, we'd asked to join the rebellion, but we were turned down. I don't know if that's something you can help with."

He chuckles. "Prove that you're able to survive first, I think - find something manageable to start with, and we'll see what happens."

".....There was - someone else with us. Nobody here has seen him, and he wasn't with us when we were found."

Minwu nods slowly. "Well, we also didn't find signs of a corpse, and they were only bothering to move bodies if they were in the way; I understand they were taking prisoners into Fynn proper somewhere - which is currently swarming with monsters and soldiers." He watches me, going quiet and waiting.

"...If we could just find out where he is, or what's going on in there..."

It's not like we haven't gone out tracking things we couldn't take on ourselves before.

"Well then, if you have a plan - there are agents of ours and people connected trying to get in; we have a passcode - 'wild rose' - if you need them to recognize you as allies."

He's grinning again, and it's now glaringly obvious why my birth pendant was so interesting to him.