Welcome to Gaia! ::

Linnith stared at the weapon shop before him, brows knitted together and arms crossed over his chest. At fifteen, his father was becoming ever more persistent that he pick a class. And not just any class. Iseld Wechsler wanted his son to become a warrior, just like him. To carry on the family name and become a soldier. Just like him. There was a time in Linnith’s life where he had wanted to do nothing more than to please his father. That was before the abuse had started.

Linnith rubbed at his sore shoulder as he turned away from the weapon shop and moved on down the street. Now, the last thing that Linnith wanted was to be anything like his father — including the weapon he chose. He wanted nothing to do with blades or becoming a soldier. Instead, Linnith had been entertaining the idea of becoming a mage — and had even been sneaking into a shop specializing in everything magic. He had yet to find a weapon that spoke with him — that connected. He wasn’t sure how he would know when he found the right weapon but had been assured by the shopkeeper that if his imprinted weapon was in his stock, Linnith would know.

Linnith glanced around, eyes scanning the crowd for anyone he, or his father, might know. When he saw no one familiar, Lin slipped into an alleyway and made his way quickly onto another street and slipped into a building with an ornately carved, wooden door.

“Linnith, my boy, welcome back.” The voice boomed the moment Lin stepped into the store, causing him to jump in surprise.

“Hello, Atny.” Linnith gave the shopkeeper a small smile as his eyes instantly began to roam over the wares of the shop.

“Still looking for a weapon?”

“Mmm…” Linnith frowned and glanced back to the older man. “Yes. I’m beginning to think I’m not meant to be a mage.”

“Tch! Nonsense. You are meant to be whatever you want to be. I’ve some new things in, have a look around. Stay as long as you want, yes?”

Linnith’s frown turned into a smile — something that seemed unavoidable by the almost always jolly man — and he nodded in return. Even if Lin hadn’t found his weapon here, he still enjoyed being in the shop. It was as if it was a sort of escape. The older orderite didn’t seem to mind Linnith’s affinity towards all things feminine.

When he lingered at the jewelry, Atny joined him. “Pretty, hm?”

Linnith blinked and glanced up at the man. “Yes.” His gaze flicked back to the piece he’d been eying — a bracelet with a large gem in the middle, connected by three more gems, and a chain, to a gemmed ring that was made to fit onto the middle finger.

“Would you like to try it on?”

Atny’s question made Linnith’s heart lodge in his throat. Wear it? He would love nothing but to do so. The piece was beautiful and between the gold metal of the settings and the fiery purple and pink colors of the gems, it was almost impossible for Linnith to tear his gaze away from it. “But it’s...jewelry.”

“Yes, yes it is.” Atny tilted his head as he studied Linnith and the way he looked at the bracelet. “Here,” he said as he reached out and removed the piece of jewelry from it’s display. “Hold your hand out.”

Linnith blinked, following the movement of the bracelet and only looking up when Atny spoke again. Swallowing, he held his left hand out towards the man. Atny’s smile was warm as he gently placed the bracelet around Linnith’s wrist. Linnith’s brows knit together as he felt a small spark of something tingle just below where the bracelet laid. When Atny slipped the ring over Lin’s middle finger — a perfect fit, strange — the sensation intensified and traveled up his arm and through the rest of him. His eyes widened as she stumbled back away from the older orderite and stared at the piece of jewelry on his arm. “I...what’s going on…?”

Atny’s eyebrows raised as he felt the magical energy in the shop spike and grow, as if stretching to fill the void. “Mmm...well that’s a first a first for me. Looks like you’ve found your weapon, Linnith.”

“Wha…” Linnith’s eyes narrowed onto the piece of jewelry and he shook his head. “There must be a mistake...this isn’t a weapon.”

“Tch, nonsense, Linnith. Can’t you feel it? It chose you.”

“But…”

“There’s no kind of ‘mage law’ that says our weapons have to be staves or wands. As long as there is magic, there is a weapon.”

“I-it’s jewerly though…” Linnith moved to start removing the bracelet when a hand laid atop his, stopping his efforts.

“It’s yours now. It choose you. Do not throw that gift away, young man.” Atny’s smile was soft and knowing. “I know that it is not what you expected but it is what you got.” He removed his hand from Lin’s and stood back up straight. “I have a nephew like you, you know.”

“Like...me?” Lin’s fingertips brushed over the gem as he listened.

“Yes. Different. Not…” Atny paused, trying to figure out the best words to use. “Not what he seemed to be. His mother and father used to try their best to put him in dresses but he refused. Would strip out of them and run off naked.” Atny gave a knowing smile as Linnith’s eyes widened. “Yes, my nephew started out his life as a little girl. Cute little thing, too. Curly, long blond hair. And one day he decided to shave his head and demand boy clothes.” Atny shook his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Had a hell of a time convincing his mother that he wasn’t a little girl. Everyone came around, eventually, and he’s grown now.”

“I…” Linnith frowned, eyes dropping to the floor. “So you do not think I’m strange — wrong — for wanting to wear girly things?”

Atny snorted and squatted down to Lin’s height. “You’re different, that does not make you wrong or broken or anything else you may think. And if anyone ever tries to make you feel as if you are, then they are wrong. You are who you are and you should never deny yourself. You’re a lovely person, Linnith and if you ever need anyone to talk to, you know where my shop is.”

Linnith felt his eyes begin to tear up and he resisted wiping them away. Aside from Gwen, Atny was the only other person that had reached out to him in this way and made him think about who he really was. And this time the person knew someone like him. Linnith remained at the shop for a while longer, talking and and listening to Atny’s stories about his his nephew. By the time he left the shop, Lin had a name for what he was — transgender. Meaning that, though he was born male, mentally he was female. For the first time in a long time, Linnith felt as if he knew himself.