This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder Than Expected

Rosalie couldn't believe her eyes. There, standing casually in front of her, unperturbed as always, hand resting on Rosalie's shoulder, was no one but Lucinda Everhart. The Sentinel of the Sable Spear. A seventh-advancement wayfarer, a woman with a reputation nearly as towering as Rosalie's own father, who could likely wipe half this city from existence should she feel slightly inclined to try.

But more importantly—Rosalie's mentor. A High Officer of the Deepshunters Guild. And undoubtedly, sent here on a mission by Enzo d'Celestin himself to retrieve Rosalie and return her to safety.

"Good to see you're in one piece," Lucinda continued, not bothering with any polite frivolities. Lucinda had never been that kind of woman. "Never a guarantee in our profession, regardless who you are. So good job, making it through your first few shards." She nodded approvingly. "I'll admit, though. This isn't especially where I expected to find you, Rosalie." Her eyes flicked around the store, then paused at what was in Rosalie's hands, before going back up to meet Rosalie's wide eyes.

Wait.

In her hands?

What was in her hands, again?

The … sex toy.

The 'stamina enhancing unit'.

Oh, no.

Oh no, no, no.

Lucinda Everhart, her father's right-hand enforcer, Rosalie's own weapon master, had tracked her down to a sex shop. And undoubtedly heard the conversation she'd had with the clerk. Not only had her plans been completely demolished with Lucinda's arrival, and her future thrown into disarray, but the woman Rosalie held, perhaps, in highest regard in the entire world, the woman who had taught her the spear as much as her father or sisters had, was right there, looking at Rosalie hold a pocket pussy.

A lewd toy meant for pleasuring herself.

Her brain broke.

"I— I— no, no, no, you don't— this is a misunderstanding, Lucinda," Rosalie said, the words tumbling from her in a disjointed mess. "You don't—It's not—I can explain!" She thrust the toy at the clerk, who took it, watching the interaction with confusion. "This isn't what it looks like! And, and, I have reasons for delaying my return." The last part came out desperately, trying to turn the conversation to, somehow, the less awful part of this interaction. Rosalie's absence.

"Reasons?" Lucinda asked, pointedly looking around the room. "Yeah. I can tell. You got distracted."

"Real reasons!" Rosalie squeaked—which only made Lucinda's eyebrows raise further. Even Rosalie didn't think she'd ever squeaked something before, much less to Lucinda. Rosalie took a deep, calming breath. It didn't help. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"I'll leave you two alone, then," Ash said slowly. "Come and let me know if you have any other questions, dear." She squeezed Rosalie's elbow, eyes searching Rosalie for signs of distress—in the sense that she was in danger. Rosalie shook her head, since that wasn't the source of her panic, then stuttered out in response, "T-Thank you. I'll do that."

Ash nodded, then, studying her a second longer, left.

"How did I find you?" Lucinda asked. "Come, Rosalie. Your father has his means. You can't be that surprised. Tracking a new arrival around the Fractures is difficult, but not impossible—especially when it's his own daughter."

That was fair. Rosalie was more shocked by the speed in which it had happened—and that her father had felt it necessary. Rosalie had been operating under the assumption that a few week's delay after entry into the Fractures wasn't something that would cause much concern. Both her sisters hadn't rushed to Mantle either. Though admittedly, Rosalie was delaying longer than both of them, by this point. Even Elodie, the wild spirit of their family, had made a somewhat hasty return, for sheer practicality; it was dangerous for a d'Celestin to wander around the Fractures, even when taking steps to maintain their anonymity.

For Lucinda to have found her already, the search had to have started at least a week ago, maybe more, because Lucinda would have needed to employ subtlety. Even Lucinda Everhart wouldn't flout her name and strength this deep into enemy territory. Guild relations might be tolerable to the lower advancements thanks to the disorganized nature of the Fractures, but a High Officer of the Deepshunters being present in Treyhull, a capital of Striders territory? That could be disastrous. Even more so, perhaps, than Rosalie herself being caught.

"But why?" Rosalie asked. "Why come and find me at all?"

"Your father gave me an order, and I followed it," Lucinda said, though she sounded more annoyed than the words would suggest. "I don't question my Guildmaster."

That wasn't true. Lucinda was her father's old wayfaring teammate. Their relationship went far beyond Guildmaster and High Officer. Rosalie wasn't sure a man like Enzo d'Celestin had friends, exactly, but certainly, Lucinda was as close as it got.

"Besides," Lucinda said. "You are late. Beyond reasonable bounds."

That was … somewhat fair.

How did Rosalie explain?

"I haven't delayed excessively," Rosalie disagreed, though she doubted it changed anything. Lucinda had already tracked her down; protests were pointless. Reality was reality. "I only intended to stay a few more days, then I would be returning. And, as I said, I do have excellent reasons for—all of this."

Lucinda's amusement—mixed with an undertone of incredulity—suggested she didn't fully believe Rosalie. Undoubtedly because of the, well, sex shop she'd found Rosalie in. Rosalie's face burned even hotter, remembering that. Lucinda's arrival was already a worst-case scenario, and yet, it had happened like this?

The gods had it out for her. There was no other explanation.

"Relax," Lucinda said, rolling her eyes and squeezing Rosalie's shoulder. "You don't have to explain. It's probably for the best that you're getting it out of your system. Always did find it strange how little of a rebellious streak you had, for one of Enzo's kids."

"Rebellious streak?" Rosalie stammered out. "That's—that's what you think this is? Don't be ridiculous. I told you, I have good reasons for what I'm doing here;"

"That you had a few itches to scratch?"

"M-Master Lucinda!"

The older woman snorted. "Seriously, I get it. Everyone gets carried away with their first taste of freedom. You're twice as justified for it, too. I'd have gone insane from the training regiments Enzo and I put you under." Rosalie tried to protest several parts of that, but Lucinda just laughed at her. "Seriously, kid, doesn't matter. I say good for you—honest. But, Enzo asked me to bring you back, so that's what's happening. Vacation's over. Have anything you need to take care of, first?" She smirked and looked around. "Any last second purchases you wanna make?" She gestured at something on the shelf, which Rosalie didn't have the mental capacity to acknowledge. "That one looks fun. Hell, maybe I'll get it."

"Lucinda. Please. Be serious." If she wasn't, Rosalie might actually die from overheating.

Lucinda just laughed at Rosalie for a second time. "Okay. Then, sure." She sobered up. "I've already taken longer than he'd prefer. So we've got to get moving. Now. You know how Enzo is."

Oh, gods. Now?

Rosalie wasn't prepared for this. There were so many loose ends. Not just collecting her teammates—and explaining her teammates to Lucinda—but also Sabina, Fe, and Adrienne. While Zoey and Delta might be ready to leave right away, those three were trickier. And Maddy.

Rosalie placed a hand on her forehead, feeling faint. "There's … complications."

"I'll uncomplicate them for you."

"Not the kind you can," Rosalie said. "I have—teammates. At a very minimum, we'll need to collect them. They'll be accompanying me back to Mantle. And I also have … other business."

At that, Lucinda's amusement dried up. The ridiculousness of having found Rosalie in a sex store, handling a pocket pussy, had already colored the interaction with a strange, absurd hue, but Rosalie's claims to having found teammates was … well, a monumental matter.

"Really," Lucinda said flatly. "You found teammates. Ones you mean to keep? Who? How? Why?"

The concept was immediately ludicrous because Rosalie's father obviously intended to arrange her wayfaring team—from a collection of the best the world had to offer.

"Just … two women I met," Rosalie said. She winced. "Three, actually. We've almost a full squad."

Lucinda stared at her. Eventually, though, she shrugged. "Okay. Then it sounds like you better track them down. Because we are leaving by tonight."

Rosalie was glad she'd taken the announcement in stride, but there were more problems. "Tonight? That's— well, you see, I think we might have to—"

"Your father sent me for a reason," Lucinda said. "I don't know what that reason is, but he wants you back. We're not dallying."

Rosalie took a breath. A part of her considered trying to assert her authority, to take control of the situation, but the idea was laughable even after brief consideration. Not only did Lucinda Everhart outrank her in every figurative sense—even if Rosalie was the future heiress to the guild—she might literally have more authority than Rosalie, too. Plus, it was her father himself giving Lucinda the order to bring her back. She had no argument, there.

So, she had to reason with Lucinda.

And how in the world was she supposed to do that? Rosalie hadn't even fully organized her explanations to herself, yet. She was wildly unprepared to explain Zoey's importance—and whether she wanted to at all. Much less to Lucinda. Her father might have to know, considering the bigger-picture implications of a goddess's champion being her teammate, but only him. Zoey's class was too delicate—and admittedly, embarrassing—for Rosalie to tell anyone who didn't strictly need to know. Even Lucinda, whom Rosalie trusted to all reasonable extents.

She steeled herself. She couldn't overrule Lucinda, especially with Father's vague, unspecified 'reason' for insisting she be brought back hanging over both of their heads, but that didn't mean Rosalie couldn't make an argument for why a delay was necessary.

But, first, this was probably not the best place to have such a conversation.

"We'll talk elsewhere," Rosalie said, finally getting some control over herself. "I assure you, you don't have the smallest context as to what's happened to me these past few weeks. Father has his reasons, yes, but so do I. And if he believes me capable of one day taking his mantle, then he'll have to accept my judgment, won't he?"

Lucinda raised her eyebrows.

"And besides," Rosalie continued. "You're here. So I'm clearly safe, if he for some reason is concerned about that." The only explanation Rosalie could imagine for her father's insistence to fetch her was that he had reason to believe an enemy faction was seeking her out. But with Lucinda there to guard her … well, there was a very, very small number of wayfarers who could even dream of touching the Sentinel of the Sable Spear.

Lucinda considered her for a moment, then grunted. "Alright, we'll talk about it. But I'll need more than that, to go against Enzo's explicit wishes." She headed for the exit, waving over her shoulder for Rosalie to follow. Rosalie did so. Lucinda was one of the few people in the entire world who could—or would dare to—so easily order her around. "Start with the teammates. What's the story?"