How it Came to This.

Moricia led Heidi to a quiet corner of the cavern. "I'm not quite sure where to start," she confessed. "So I'll just tell you my story, I suppose."

"I was born in a city called Felmoor. It's in the underground. My people have been enslaved by the Celestials for centuries and I grew up with that just being how things were. When I was young, my parents were lost. My mother was killed for resisting a Celestial order and my father... he was taken as an indentured slave. I have no idea if he's even still alive."

Moricia had a distant look on her face as she spoke about her parents. 

"I was left on the streets. I had to survive by pickpocketing and running various scams. When I was fourteen I met Violetta. She was my first love. We worked and lived together. Trying to find some way out of the slums and into a better life. One day, we tried to scam some members of a resistance cell out of their coin. They saw right through us. But they didn't get angry. Instead. they thought it was amusing. I still remember their leader turning to us and saying 'if you really want to make better lives, you should join us and fight the Celestial tyranny.' Violetta and I talked about it and we decided to do it. For a while, everything was going great. We bonded with our comrades. We raided the Celestials. We felt like we were really starting to make a difference and that we just had to persevere a little longer and others would join us." She sighed, heavily. "We were such foolish children."

"You guys got caught?" Heidi asked. 

"Not caught," Moricia corrected her. "We got slaughtered. The Celestials found our base and they came in without warning, in force. We tried to fight but it was painfully obvious that we were vastly outmatched. Captain Devlica sacrificed herself so that Violetta and I could escape. But Violetta was badly wounded and she didn't make it. For a while, I considered just giving up and dying with her but I knew that she would want me to keep going. For a while, I wandered by myself. Until I met Elaine and got brought here. At the time, there were a little over two dozen of us. Now... Now it's just the seven." She glanced at Heidi. "Eight if we count you. That's why I was sent to scout your world. We know we're in a bad position. We know the odds are against us and the option of leaving everything behind... of running away is starting to sound appealing." 

Heidi quickly and tightly hugged Moricia. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "It must have been so painful." 

Moricia moved out of Heidi's embrace. "I appreciate the sympathy, but I don't need it. What I need is power, real power on my side. And I think you can provide that." 

"Ummm..." The pair turned towards the voice. Wil and Ho'liny walked into view. "Sorry to intrude," Ho'liny continued. "But we thought we should give some extra insight." 

"Heard everything," Wil chimed in. "And we think it's only fair that Heidi should know a little more about Celestial oppression and why we're all here. I'll start. As we told you earlier, I'm the Archduchess of the Chiest house. Or at least, I was. Until the Celestials came. At first, my people were very inviting. We welcomed them as new friends. Then, they started making demands. Small things at first, nothing that isn't worth giving up for friendship. Then they started demanding bigger things. They wanted our land and they wanted our noble houses to step down. They said that we're too savage to handle the responsibility of ruling ourselves. That was when we drew the line. We fought. We showed them our courage and our spirit." Wil looked proud for a moment before deflating. "And we lost. I was able to escape with a pair of loyal retainers and we joined the cause here. And then..." Wil visibly shook. Tears were falling from her eyes. "And then they died. I... I don't know if my pack is still alive out there but I want to find out. I want to save them." 

Heidi quickly hugged the small wolf girl, not knowing how else to respond. 

"I... I suppose I should go next," Ho'liny stated. 

"You don't have to," Moricia said. 

"I know, but I want to trust her," Ho'liny said. "We goblins have been enslaved by the Celestials for a very long time. Like Mori, I grew up thinking it was perfectly normal. And I had a decent enough childhood. My family ran a small boutique. As the first born, I was being trained by my father to take over someday. But, as I grew older, I became more... aware of myself. And I quickly figured out that I was mind-spirit disconnected. Af..."

"Sorry, but what does that mean?" Heidi asked. "Mind-spirit disconnected?" 

"Is... is that not a thing for humans?" Ho'liny asked. "It means I was born with a man's body but I have a woman's spirit." 

"Oh!" Heidi exclaimed. "We call that being trans-gendered." 

"I... I think I like that term," Ho'liny stated. "In any case, I left home to find a magic user who could tailor my body to match my spirit. It cost me every coin I had but after that I was ready to start anew with a fake identity."

"Why not go back home?" Heidi asked. 

"Because my family wouldn't have accepted the real me," Ho'liny answered. "But I was able to find an apprenticeship with a kind cleric and slowly begin building my new life. Until the Celestials found out. They came in the dead of the night for me. My master distracted them while sending another apprentice to warn me and help me escape. It's only because of him that I'm still myself today." 

"What would they have done to you?" Heidi asked. 

Ho'liny hesitated. Moricia ended up answering for her. "The Celestials believe that being Mind-spirit disconnected is a grave spiritual illness. They view it as a blasphemy against their God-king, Yah'vei. When they find people like Ho'liny, they use powerful and highly invasive magic to correct the issue. Which basically involves destroying their spirits completely while leaving the bodies alive as barely functional husks."

"That's really terrible," Heidi said. She knew it was an obvious statement, but she also didn't know how else to respond. 

Ho'liny nodded. "After that, I wandered from place to place. Using my clerical and tailor skills to buy room and board before moving on. Eventually, I was found by the resistance and found a home here." 

Heidi quickly gave Ho'liny a hug. 

"Well, now you know our stories," Moricia stated. "So, tell me, will you join up with us now?" 

"I..." Heidi glanced at their faces in turn. She felt truly bad about what each of them had experienced, but could she really join such a small rebellion and hope to make any kind of difference? 

"Do you need more time to figure it out?" Ho'liny asked. 

"And what are we figuring out?" The husky but still feminine voice seemed to come out of nowhere. 

Heidi glanced in the direction. The woman was around 180 cm tall with bright crimson eyes, pointed ears, silver hair and onyx flesh. 

"Elaine, meet Heidi," Moricia said. "I need to speak with you about her, in private." 

Heidi felt more than a little apprehensive about that.