Now this was more in line with what Erik was used to, he mused as Elrina had him tied upside down from her finger. Her other finger was wagging in front of her as she lectured him very sternly on having more tolerance of nonsense religions. Really it was kind of white noise to an extent. At the very least she wasn't stuttering. The good news was the confidence boost had worked to a degree. The bad news...

"...And that's why you can't just go around making fun of people for believing in what they believe in! Its rude and mean and very ungentlemenly of you! I thought your people were supposed to be wellspoken and nice, well you are just a big meany!" Elrina lectured, poking Erik in the head with a finger.

The homunculus prince winced from the poke as well as the blood currently rushing to his head from the treatment. Evidently this was an elven custom for dealing with minor crimes. Tying someone up upside down and slinging verbal abuse at them. How very barbaric. Erik let out a long sigh as the woman finished and nodded, trying his best to look apologetic. Necessary for the act of course.

"I understand, Princess, you have shown me the error of my ways! I will never again make fun of someone or demean them for believing in the divine!"  Erik said.

The princess looked surprised but set her hand on her hip. "Well, good! Ye-yes, good. I'm happy to see you aren't being as unreasonable as you were before." The look in her beautiful eyes was enough that told Erik she considered that a huge victory.

"So... uh... would you kindly untie me. I can feel my head starting to ache." Erik asked.

"O-oh! Sorry, yes, of course." The princess stuttered and fumbled with nimble fingers to remove the knot around his leg. Erik fell a short distance into her open palm as it was placed beneath him.

He would give this to elves, their skin was unbelievable soft. It was like laying out on a cloud. Erik almost felt like he could drift off to sleep resting upon her open palm but he managed to resist the urge. He instead sat up and met the gaze of the princess. She was certainly a cute one, she was also a woman that he wanted to help find some kind of stride. Erik didn't agree with her religion but he believed that if someone believed in something they should defend it. If he left today and she felt more comfortable doing that, he considered it a win.

Elrina started walking over to a little shrine that was in the corner of her room and Erik blinked as she was. "Uhhh... what are you doing?"

"Well, its custom for suitors to be baptized in the eyes of the Goddess, otherwise they are unfit to touch the skin of royalty. S-so..."

It was only then that Erik saw that there was a basin filled with water right next to the shrine. His eyes widened. "I don't think that's really necessary- hey, wait stop!" He protested as Elrina's fingers came in and started tugging at his clothes.

She said nothing, her pretty face a mask of concentration, tongue in her cheek as she started removing the clothes of the little prince. Erik protested rather loudly but as ever even the hands of a meek princess were possessed of strength beyond anything he could ever hope to manage. One finger was stronger than his whole body. She dexterously removed every article of clothing he had, stripping him bare as she stood over the basin beside the shrine. Erik shivered from the cold air from so high up and moved to cover himself.

"Now then, be cleansed in the eyes of the Goddess." The elven princess said as she pinched her fingers into either side of Erik carefully but firmly and dunked him below the water of the basin.

The homunculus felt the cold shock as the water hit his bare body. He squirmed and writhed and tried to escape but it was to no avail. He was trapped below the surface of the water and he could feel his lungs starting to strain. Elrina had to know he wouldn't be able to last much longer. Yet still she kept him under the water. His squirms grew more and more frantic as he felt his lungs screaming. Was this it then? Was the shy and meek one going to kill him? What a way for good intentions to be punished.

Finally the strain was too much and he opened his mouth, forced to inhale the water. Yet... there was no pain. The water filled his lungs and he could feel it but there was no pain or agony from it. Instead, when he opened his eyes he could see... something incredible.

He was no longer in a basin. He was in a vast hall beneath the water. All around him were ivory colored walls and marble floors, the water basically taken in as though it were air. However that was nothing compared to what was before him. Seated upon a throne more magnificent than he had ever seen was a woman that had such beauty that almost brought tears to the eyes. Her long dark hair flowed through the water as though alive and her pale flesh was utterly without flaw. She looked to have been sculpted from marble. The pointed ears named her as an elf but she felt like so much more.

Erik found his body moving without him intending it, almost mechanically, like he was an occupant while someone else drove. Soon enough he was before the sandal clad feet of the woman and he found himself getting down on his knees and pressing his lips to the surface of the sandal. Indeed it felt insinctively like putting his lips upon her bare flesh would have been a crime. Like it would have spoiled her in some way.

"Before your journey is over, Erik Lostrem, you will give up that which matters most to you and have gained that which will become your world." The woman's words rang with the clarity of a bell. "You will become less than you are and yet greater than any prince has ever become."

He opened his mouth, perhaps to ask for clarity. Perhaps to simply thank the woman for deigning to speak to him. However when he did, a flood of water escaped his mouth and suddenly the sharp air of Elrina's room struck his skin. He coughed and sputtered into her palm, the water dripping from his bare form made colder for the elevation. The prince was like that for a good few minutes before looking up at Elrina. There wasn't anger on his face, just confusion as he looked at her.

"What... what was that? I saw-" He was cut off by a raised hand, a surprisingly forward thing for the shy princess.

"What you saw was for you alone to see." The princess said, sounding as though she was repeating something told to her. She lifted a handkerchief up and draped it over Erik's body. "The holy waters show everyone something the first time they are embraced. The words of the Goddess are for the one she gives them to. So it is said."

A Goddess? Had he... no. It had to be something in the water. There was no scientific evidence of the gods. No proof that there was anything that was divine in this world. He dried himself off and spent the rest of the day enjoying a bit of polite chatter. It seemed at the least, Elrina was a bit more comfortable now that he had seen whatever he had seen. Or at least confirmed that he had seen something. Whatever that thing was though Erik had no idea. Indeed, when the next morning came and Elrina bid him a mutually polite farewell, Erik still felt like the words would haunt him for days to come.