Amelia, Princess of Healing and the Dead sat in the reception area of the London contribution assessment centre. She was as regal and esoteric as she was out of place amongst the mostly human potential contributions waiting to be allowed through for assessment.
Amelia was dressed very casual - for her, in a black mini dress of lace and silk with a cream faux fur collar, flat black ballet shoes on her feet. It was her jewellery that gave away her heritage - a widow peaked crown with matching choker and finger protectors for her hand of the Dead - each made of antique gold with a large garnet in the centre. That and the glowing dark blue shot with white eyes and her waist length copper and gold hair that actually rippled as though there was wind blowing through the waiting area.
Amelia was also in a meditative state as she pushed her senses out to evaluate the centre for alien nature and the state of all individuals near to her and as far away from her as the fourth floor. The way she sensed individuals was through the health levels of their bodies as well as their proximity to death. She was also able to get a general sense of their state of emotion through her gift although that was far more subjective and required her to make a considerable effort to crystallise.
Health was indicated by shades of green, yellow, orange or red pulsing aura surrounding the individual. Death was a slender ring around the aura that was visible to Amelia as a sliding scale from glowing gold to black as night. Babies were almost always green and gold.
She could identify those she could heal by a simple touch by her view of their lightly silvered eyes. Those she could heal, but required more than simple touch, had darker silvered eyes. Those that could possibly taint her soul by changing her balance between healing and death goddess had blackened silvered eyes.
She did not come across many of the later but these were usually older humans or the very ill. She gave these a wide berth to avoid temptation - she could 'heal' them but in effect she was giving them extra years of life beyond what they aught to have which in turn removed a similar number of years off her own life. There was also the simple fact that human life spans were meant to be shorter than the Fey and it was always dangerous to meddle with nature.
'Amelia, Fey Princess,' the receptionist called. Amelia's delicate brow wrinkled in irritation and distaste. The alien female's dislike for the word 'death' annoyed her,
'That is not my name, alien female,' Amelia did not raise her voice but her words were heard by every creature in the extra large reception area and conveyed both her power as well as her annoyance. The receptionist gulped. It was not a normal experience for her to find herself in the submissive position with new member planet citizens, but all staff had been prepared for Princess Amelia's arrival as the Golden Seelie Sidhe Court's ambassador had rung the centre the day before to ensure appropriate preparations were made,
'Apologies, Amelia Sidhe Fey Princess of Healing and Death please come forward for processing,' Amelia stood and glided toward the receptionist. The receptionist, named Deva, smiled apologetically at Amelia,
'Please can you extended your healing hand for proof of identity, Princess,' an A5 sized scanner was pushed professionally across the marble ledge toward Amelia. The faint grey line on the scan pad indicated where her hand should be centred. A delicate charm bracelet on the Princess' wrist tinkled on the side of the scanning device. A positive ping indicated Amelia had been successfully identified,
'Please face the camera lenses in front so that I may take your photograph,' Amelia's facial expression was slightly quizzical as the receptionist snapped her picture. A potential contribution badge was printed off and slipped into a plastic case on a UWC lanyard. The receptionist handed the lanyard to Amelia who held the item between her pointer finger and thumb. The look on her face clearly asking 'what am I to do with this?' Deva mimed slipping the lanyard around her neck. Amelia shook her head negatively once,
'Perhaps you could unclip the badge from the lanyard and pin it to your clothing?' Deva suggested in a bid to be helpful. Amelia sighed but did as suggested, pinning the badge to the waist of her dress where she would be unable to see it herself before sliding the unused section of the lanyard back across the countertop,
'Please sign here that you've received your pass and accept the conditions of volunteering as a contribution,' the receptionist pointed the pin to the line on the registration book on the shelf where Amelia's name and pass number was already written in attractive cursive handwriting before angling the pin toward Amelia. Amelia delicately took the pin from the receptionist's fingers and signed and dated the line in the log,
'The UWC anticipate that you will be matched to at least one contribution classification. Should that occur, you will be renouncing your title of Fey Princess and Earthling association to become a citizen of the planet or fighting unit to which you are matched,' Amelia smiled patiently at the receptionist,
'Being Fey is a part of who I am, you may take the title from me for intergalactic purposes, but you cannot change who I am or my hands of power by doing so,'
'The UWC understands your power is part of who you are, merely will you be referred to as 'Amelia' rather than your full royal Fey title from the point you make your final confirmation to accept your contribution status after the assessment,' Amelia's smile only widened as she fully anticipated new faerie, possibly a new faerie mound to come into being on a new world. But she remained silent, the alien woman would never understand her potential impact on the nature of her new planet of residence,
'If you have no further questions, please report to the fourth floor assessment area, room 421 where one of my colleagues will walk you through the process for the four assessments to establish your contribution classification. You will then go through a medical and mental examination before you experience the four assessments to match you. We all hope you will be very happy in your assignment,'
'Thank you, Deva,' Amelia smiled warmly before she headed for the elevator bank.
Stepping into the elevator, Amelia tapped the button showing the number 4. When the doors opened onto the fourth floor, Amelia glided down the corridor toward room 421, allowing her senses to map out the floor for all individuals. On stopping in front of the door labelled 421, Amelia sensed an individual who was stressed, his aura was yellow orange, his life force was a dull gold grey, very odd for an alien entity. Amelia wondered whether she could provide simple touch to remedy his health issue. She knocked for permission to enter,
'Come in, Amelia, Princess of Healing and Death,' a male voice called to her. Amelia entered a small room and approached the ill man sat behind the desk in the centre of the space who was clearly her assessor. His name plate declared him to be Dr. Dece Darius.
'I am sure Deva has already informed you that I will explain the four assessment processes before checking you are mentally and physically stable enough to face the evaluations,' He looked up the unusual candidate with curiosity but also tiredness apparent. His eyes were not the lightest silver Amelia had hoped for, but they were not dark enough to require a full act of sexual intercourse to affect full healing,
'Doctor, you are aware of my hands of power. Healing and Death. Will you allow me to heal you? I sense you are not well,'
Dece was aware of the Fey Princess' alleged powers, but being a man of science, he placed no validity on the possibility Amelia could actually heal him. He was in the early stages of a new ailment for which presently there was no known cure,
'What is expected of me for your 'power' to work?' He asked Amelia warily. While he had no confidence in her ability to heal him, neither would he turn away her offer on the very slim chance she could improve his life expectancy. He also did not wish to offend a Fey Princess,
'All I ask is that you close your eyes. Otherwise I need nothing from you. Not even your belief,' her eyes sparkled at him knowingly,
'The only reason I need you to close your eyes is because I will need to access the fertility side of my Seelie Sidhe power to affect a cure as you are too ill for a simple touch,' Dece was confused by the meaning of the Princess' words but closing his eyes was a fairly simple request he was prepared to comply with,
'When I touch you, you may open your eyes,' Dr. Darius closed his eyes and counted.
After 125 seconds he could feel a sensation of warmth and pleasure coming from the Fey female through his Medivian blood.
150 seconds later he felt a hot blast of sensation like the heat of the Earth's sun hitting him after leaving an air conditioned room during a Middle Eastern summer before the light touch of her fingers on his lips registered.
A warmth flowed like water from her fingertips past his lips, into his mouth and down his throat to warm his middle before intensifying in the lower abdominal area where his illness resided. He felt an odd pop and the warmth began to dissipate. He felt... better. Uncertain of what had just occurred, Dece decided politeness demanded gratitude,
'Thank you, Princess,' Amelia smiled at him, well aware he was unsure whether gratitude was appropriate or not but he would discover soon enough that he was 100% free of his previous illness.
Dr. Darius decided to use protocol as a shield against his uncertainty and so proceeded to explain that the testing was done while contributions were unconscious as all conscious responses had been found to be skewered toward whatever the test subject thought the examiners wanted to hear and see, projected through their planet's societal norms. The responses required for the testing needed to be untainted by learned response and therefore a true reflection of the test subjects abilities and desires. When Amelia simply raised an amused eyebrow at him Dece doggedly continued on with the process,
'Ok. Let's get to the preliminaries now,' Dr. Darius pointed to the back facing door before ushering Amelia gently through the doorway. The large space was split into five designated sections - a cutting edge gym area for assessing physical fitness; a web based testing area - Amelia assumed was for testing mental fitness; the third area which was some form of a cleansing unit; the fourth area was obviously a medical treatment and assessment facility; and the fifth area contained some form of alien technology. Dece noticed Amelia's gaze flicking over the assessment sections without much concern as though simply reconciling his words about the process with the facilities to engage in the procedures. Having never tested such an individual before, he elected to forego developing any preconceived expectations as to what her test results might be. He directed her to the physical fitness section,
'The monitor will advise you of what is required of you. The equipment is all easy use so, please just follow the instructions,' Amelia raised her eyebrow before requesting to change into appropriate work out attire. Dece nodded towards section 3 as he replied,
'Of course,'
During the time Amelia was changing her clothing, a doctor and nurse entered the main area of the assessment sections. Amelia returned, eyes on the medical team,
'These two professionals will examine you in section 4 to take blood samples and conduct a thorough medical to ensure you have no medical preclusion to any of the contribution classifications; they prefer to do these examinations after you have exercised for best results.
I will return in an hour and a half. Please use Section 3 to refresh yourself if the medical concludes before I return.
There is a medical gown, robe and slippers to redress in. Place your soiled clothing in the chute provided. If for any reason you are not matched, your clothing will be returned to you, clean. Otherwise, you will no longer require those garments,' Amelia cocked her head at Dece,
'I have removed my jewellery for the physical fitness exam, but I will be taking it with me should I be tested as a fit contribution,' she wanted confirmation Dece realised that her jewellery was not seen as part of her clothing,
'Of course, Princess Amelia,' Amelia immediately turned toward the gym equipment, closed her eyes for a brief moment and then confidently began the required repetitions in the first cell of the physical fitness evaluation section.
She was efficient and powerful in her execution, Dr. Darius opened her personal profile in his hands and read what little information it contained.
She was young for a Fey at 312 years old. She was expertly skilled at fighting with swords, daggers and whips as well as the use of her hands of power. She was capable of healing almost any ailment or damage to humans. She could even add years onto the life of the elderly, though this was deemed strictly confidential as it went against her faith to change the natural order of life. She was also capable of raising the dead and directing them to use the skills they learned in life to fight in wars. There was some question over whether the dead she raised were capable of sentient thinking or if her intellect was required for their actions. She was the third born child and second daughter to the Queen of the Seelie Sidhe and her Consort. She was a complete anomaly to Dece Darius but as a scientist he found her fascinating. As a man, he was desperate to know if she had healed him.
Dece left the assessment area to hurry directly to the medical bay on the second floor. He could not wait to run a full diagnostic on himself.
He stepped into the biological/AI cubical and placed his feet and hands on the indicated areas, holding his breath for the diagnostic to finish and report.
After ten of the longest minutes of his existence, the diagnostic program finished,
'Full diagnostic completed. Subject is 100% healthy and fit.' Dece Darius sank to the floor of the cubical on his knees, his hands flat on the floor, head down as both immense relief and emotion washed over him. He was not going to die. And it was due to magic, not science. His head snapped up. Before he had become ill, he'd been considering a specialisation. Now he was determined to learn everything he could about the magic of the Fey and whether there was any possibility of incorporating it into the biological elements of known technology.
Dece took ten more minutes to get himself together before he proceeded to carry on with testing two other contributions simultaneously while waiting for Amelia to be tested physically and medically as per the process he'd explained to her.
He watched, off and on as he conducted other testing via his tablet which provided visual through the cameras around the assessment space, as Amelia made her way around the exercise equipment over the first hour. She was extraordinarily strong, her reaction times were far beyond those of humans and on par with the stronger shifters of Earth. He was shocked to realise that she was nearly on par with the strength of a Vartiin female and as fast as a Gondaen.
Princess Amelia was physically fit enough for all four contribution classifications.
Exactly an hour and a half later, Dece Darius returned to room 421. Amelia was sat waiting, refreshed and relaxed. He could see she was completely unaffected by the medical gown which he knew did not cover the full area of her back. Nudity was a comfortable state of being amongst the Fey,
'Please don't feel uncomfortable around me due to your healing,' Amelia interrupted the doctor's internal debate on whether to express his gratefulness again now that he knew for certain he was healed,
'A gift is meant to be used and you've already thanked me once. Enjoy your life, that's all I ask of you,' Dece rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortable but once again decided to bridge the awkwardness with the familiar process of contribution assessment,
'Fine, thank you, Princess. Please take a seat in front of the tablet in section 2. In a few moments the tablet will power up with the mental, personality and emotional testing required for contributions. Please follow the directions. I will return in an hour and we will discuss your responses,' Dece gratefully left the room to continue assessments elsewhere, he was still reeling at the irony of a scientist healed by magic.
When he returned, Amelia was sat quietly meditating, looking incongruous as she was wearing all of the jewellery she'd arrived with. Dece was concerned about this portion of the evaluation. He felt sure Amelia would be aware if he used his Medivian consciousness to reach out to her cerebral aura, as was required protocol for assessments. He sighed internally knowing it had to be attempted and allowed his cerebral aura to extend toward the Fey Princess,
'No.' Dr. Darius eyes opened to see a remonstrating expression on Amelia's face,
'There was no disclosure of this assessment examining my aura and I have not given you permission to do so. If you try again, I will consider it breach of contract,' Dece cringed, technically Amelia was right, by not disclosing the intention, examining the potential contributions cerebral auras was a trespass of the candidates' rights,
'Uh, understood. There will be no further attempts. Are you happy to continue?' He made note of her awareness and rejection of the cerebral invasion as well as his questioning her willingness to continue in her profile,
'Yes, I am still prepared to be assessed and classified as a contribution,' Dece quickly noted her acquiescence to continue before he read over her mental, personality and emotional testing results.
She was an introvert but only marginally. She was quite capable of mixing with others without it draining her energy. She operated under Fey societal expectations rather than human, which were much more open minded and she was not tied to an Earthly traditional view of love or family... she could match to any and possibly all of the classifications. He was anxious to begin the classification assessment,
He finished up his questions on the mental exam and immediately declared her fit to be assessed for assignment to a contribution class,
'Please follow me into Section 4 and we can begin,' Once she was laying on the examination table and restrained, Dr. Darius prepared a syringe of clear liquid. Before he injected her, he explained the liquid would only put her conscious self to sleep so that he could run a set of memories through her subconscious that he would be able to watch on a visual as the complex hybrid biological/AI program matched her against all classifications.
Amelia allowed her subconsciousness to move to the forefront as Dece injected her. While he was counting down from 10 backwards she allowed her conscious mind to drift away while peeking at the testing process through her subconscious. Dece Darius had no knowledge that his subject was cognisant and experiencing the four classification memory sequences.
The warrior classification was fun. Amelia was put through her paces using sword and gun against three different alien foes. She made mental notes on all three. Interestingly one of the foes was arachnid in nature but with an armour that was formidable. She'd only beaten that enemy by utilising her strength to make an opening in the joint of the armour to stab and drag her blessed daggers down the underbelly of the creature.
The strategic classification has been far too easy. Outflanking enemy in a battlefield situation was one of her fortes.
She'd hated the administrative assessment and flatly refused to engage in the activities of the memory.
The soulmate section had been an eye opener. Amelia was no novice to sex after 312 years of life but she'd been exposed to half a dozen different couplings including female and male individuals, triplet males, a male which was shifted into beast form and dominate twins. She wondered how she might get her hands on that section of the evaluation for her own future use before deciding that a masterbation tool was not worth losing the advantage of her unknown abilities with these aliens.
Amelia felt the effects of the drug wearing off on her conscious mind and gradually opened her eyes as though she'd been oblivious to the evaluation process.
'Dr. Darius?' Dece lifted his eyes from the electronic profile in front of him to acknowledge Amelia as she continued,
'Have I been matched to a contribution class?' He nodded and spoke in a professional manner,
'Actually you've been matched to three at a 99% overlap or better,'
'You were matched to warrior, strategic leadership and soulmate classifications,' He looked down at the name and race of her soulmates,
'You were matched to Gondae and will become a Gondaen either as a strategist or as a specialist warrior, depending on your mates. You have been mated to the Gondaen leader and his twin brother. You will be transported to them once I have their acknowledgement of your impending arrival,'
'I understand,' was all that Amelia said,
'As per protocol, I have to ask you one last time. Do you wish to rescind the agreement? You have the right to do so as a volunteer even now,'
'No, I do not wish to rescind my agreement with the UWC,' Amelia answered,
Dece began to confidently wheel her into Section 5, where there was a large container made of some form of nature blended with advanced artificial intelligence.
Amelia reached out her gift to 'touch' the nature side of the technology and was amazed to discover a sentient life pulsing in the aura. That sentience welcomed her and she felt a cool embrace like slipping into a river in the spring. The ebb and flow comforted Amelia and both she and the container glowed softly in a aqua blue green sequence together. Dece Darius was stunned. No one had ever made a cerebral connection with the biological essence of this technology before! Not even the Medivians! He made notes and indicated the exact time so that the visual feed could substantiate his perspective on what had just occurred.
'I will be injecting you twice now, Miss Amelia. One injection is to stimulate your brain in linguistics so that you will be able to understand your mate and other races speaking to you in their languages,' Amelia was grateful. She'd be able to communicate on a non linguistic level if required but being able to speak, write and understand the Gondaen language would make her future life much easier,
'The second is to send you back to a state of unconsciousness so that you can be absorbed and released to the spatial travel port closest to your mates. Although one of them is currently orbiting Earth,' Dece injected Amelia with both syringes.
Amelia was again out consciously but very much aware subconsciously as she was closed into the transport technology. She and the biological entity embraced as old friends and suddenly it wasn't as if she was slipping into a river, but as if she and the river became one. Amelia laughed and the sound was like a bubbling brook.
Dece Darius heard the bubbling noises inside the transport awaiting the coordinates to Gondae. He clicked on the monitor to view the inner chamber holding Amelia and sucked in a shocked gasp as he frantically pushed the record button. Amelia's form had become a female shaped water life form and was glowing shades of aqua with a golden shadow flowing throughout.
Dr. Darius punched in the communication codes for Gondae's capital spatial area.
***********************************************
'Commander Tryae, comms are coming to you from Earth,' Javaen Tryae lifted his head from his analytical review of the under water phenomenon that had occurred recently in Gondae's largest body of water,
'Is it my brother, Deputy Haen?' Haen shook his head, no it's a Dr. Dece Darius at the London Contribution Assessment Centre,' Javaen stood to attention and pushed the receive button to open the communication link on his monitor,
'Speak, Dr. Darius,' Javaen addressed the image of a highly flustered scientist,
'You and your twin brother's mate has been located here on Earth, Commander Tryae,' Javaen's face did not reflect the great pleasure he felt at this news,
'Why do you look out of control, Dr. Darius?' Dece's fingers flew over his tablet,
'Your mate is a Fey Princess, Commander. She has what the Earth Fey refer to as hands of power over healing and death. She is connecting to the biological entity within the hybrid technology that will transport her to you. I've sent you the visual,' Javaen's was unable to cloak the shock he felt,
'That is unheard of Doctor!'
'I am aware of that. That is why I sent you evidence. Do you wish for me to input your coordinates and send your mate to you, Commander?'
Javaen was viewing the visual feed from the inner chamber that contained his mate in awe,
'Yes, Doctor, send her to us now,' He cut the communication connection with London, Earth and punched in the direct comm link to his twin,
'Samian, our mate has been located on Earth, the Doctor said she's a Fey Princess... We both need to read her profile urgently and you need to transport home. Be prepared for a shock when you view the visual feed I am sending you of her interaction with the hybrid transport technology... Samian? Are you still on this connection?'
'Fuck! Did you say our mate has been found and she is Fey?' Samian asked his brother to clarify,
'Yes I did. Watch the feed and get home. We need to talk...'
***********************************************
That's all three contributions... Any favourites yet?
From here on out each chapter will focus on one of the contributions- next chapter will be Venetia meeting her mate and so on.
Depending on how the story is received by the readers I'll decide in the next couple of weeks if I need to continue with just one chapter a week or increasing to two like Ghost Phoenix...
So the more reader feedback I get, the more chapters the readers get.
See you Wednesday 💋