By the time she was five, the grove had become more than a Territory. It was a living archive of her actions, a map of her growing abilities, and the constant hum of Avalon's oversight kept her latent succubine instincts dormant, precise, and disciplined.
Vivian, Queen of the Lake, remained at the edge of the grove, her presence steady and diffuse, anchoring. She did not teach in the conventional sense. She did not speak. She communicated in patterns: shifting light, subtle ripples in the water, wind currents that bent toward or away from the child. These were the lessons, and the child learned them instinctively, as naturally as breathing.
Early Experiments (Ages 5–8)
The first years were cautious. Small manipulations: a leaf twirling through the air, a ripple forming before a stone dropped. She began to test future-perception instinctively, noticing slight anomalies in the forest before they could manifest fully.
She extended Dreamlike Charisma to the fae around her, small clusters at first. She did not charm in a human sense. She did not evoke desire. Instead, she learned how attention bent subtly to her gestures: a tilt of the head, a movement of the staff, a shift in posture. The fae observed, bending attention without feeding, without desire, their distributed awareness guiding her understanding of control.
By seven, Succubus' Vicinity began to stir. A glance could shift minor energies, subtly influencing the forest and fae attention. Avalon intervened constantly, preventing hunger, preventing misuse, but she could sense the latent power. The child tested it experimentally, learning the boundary between influence and consumption, control and indulgence.
Territory Creation was introduced around age six. A grove of small saplings, water channels, and moss-covered stones became her first controlled domain. She learned that she could shape space, influence flows, and create environments conducive to her experiments. Imperfect at first, the Territory taught her patience, constraint, and the limits of her attention.
Expanding Skills (Ages 8–12)
By eight, her abilities began combining. Future-perception and Dreamlike Charisma together allowed her to anticipate movements of fae and subtly guide them. She noticed patterns before they manifested, nudging the environment and attention threads to achieve precise outcomes.
By ten, Succubus' Vicinity expanded. She could influence energy flows, subtly align perceptions, and probe the latent awareness of the forest. She learned to extend her influence while remaining within Avalon's containment, measuring results without hunger, adjusting outcomes without indulgence.
Item Construction followed naturally. Her staff became a conduit for creation. She built small constructs: floating orbs of water, spirals of wind, shards of hardened ice. Each could be integrated into her experiments, manipulated, and tested. By twelve, she combined these with High-Speed Incantation, compressing her Fairy-language chants into fast, precise sequences that wove elements, attention, and energy together.
Language was woven into her training. Fae speech, Old English, and symbolic scripts became tools, not culture. She memorized, internalized, and practiced, preparing herself for Albion. She did not speak for conversation. She spoke for precision, for control, for understanding the mechanics of influence and manipulation.
Adolescence (Ages 12–16)
By twelve, her ruthlessness—Beatrice's inheritance—began to manifest clearly. She no longer hesitated in experiments. Minor disturbances in her Territory were corrected instantly, without thought or emotion. A falling leaf might be allowed to spiral, only to be redirected midair, precise and intentional. A rogue gust of wind was allowed to strike, then countered exactly where it threatened imbalance.
Experiments became increasingly complex. She tested multiple variables simultaneously: manipulating water, wind, light, and fae attention at once. Her staff coordinated constructs across zones, her chants synchronized flows, and her gaze projected subtle influence throughout her Territory. Avalon ensured no excess. Hunger, desire, and succubine impulses remained dormant. Precision ruled.
By fourteen, Dreamlike Charisma, future-perception, and Succubus' Vicinity were fully integrated. She could anticipate reactions, influence attention, and shape energy flows concurrently. Minor mistakes were corrected instantly. Her ruthlessness was disciplined, her calculation absolute.
Territory Creation evolved. The grove became layered zones: concentric rings, overlapping energy circuits, controlled pathways for experiments. Each zone allowed a different focus: elemental manipulation, perception tracking, attention influence, or succubine energy calibration.
By sixteen, she began multi-zone experiments: controlling multiple elements, bending fae attention, and testing her influence across overlapping zones simultaneously. High-Speed Incantation allowed rapid execution, and Item Construction provided tools mid-experiment. Every action was precise, every outcome controlled.
Late Adolescence (Ages 16–20)
By eighteen, she could manipulate all her core abilities together:
Future-perception to anticipate every movement, ripple, and shift.
Dreamlike Charisma to bend attention across the Territory without inducing desire.
Succubus' Vicinity to influence energy and perception at a subtle, controlled level.
Her staff allowed instantaneous creation of tools and constructs. Her chants were melodic, compressed, and precise. Zones of her Territory interacted seamlessly. No element, fae, or construct acted outside her intended outcome.
She tested ruthlessness deliberately. Minor disturbances—leaves, wind, water—were left uncorrected just long enough to measure responses, then precisely aligned again. She did not flinch. She did not hesitate. Every correction was calculation. Every adjustment was exact. Avalon's containment ensured no feeding, no instinctual indulgence.
She continued language studies relentlessly, integrating Fae speech and Old English into chants and commands. By twenty, she could construct incantations in both languages, shaping elemental flows, energy currents, and attention threads simultaneously.
Her Territory had evolved into a complex, layered workshop: overlapping circuits of influence, control zones, and mini-constructs. Her ruthlessness, refined by years of experimentation, allowed her to control outcomes, influence attention, and manipulate energy with precision. She was patient, exacting, and disciplined.
Vivian approached the lake, calm, diffuse, anchoring. She did not speak. She projected pattern:
"You have mastered attention, influence, and perception. You have tested ruthlessness without desire. You have aligned presence, power, and precision. You are ready."
The child—now twenty, fully trained, fully disciplined—stood in the center of her Territory. She did not smile. She did not speak. She cataloged. She measured. She prepared.
She was ready.
Avalon had sculpted her. Vivian had anchored her. Beatrice's ruthlessness and Merlin's latent genius were fused into one disciplined, controlled, and precise force.
The forest held its breath. The fae observed, attention braided and diffuse. And outside Avalon, the world awaited—a world of humans, sharp emotions, and unrestrained attention.
She would step into it, prepared in every way Avalon allowed.
And she would bend it to her will.