Elegy for a Star Ch. 041-050

"What-..." Tess started, before a yellow snake struck from beneath Pava's hood. Tess lurched backward, watching the serpent's jaws snap just in front of her, before she collapsed onto the ground. "What was that?!"

Pava removed her hood, displaying a tangle of yellow snakes for her hair. "These are my friends." Pava brought a hand up, caressing one of the snakes, which curled itself around her wrist affectionately. "My friends despise the gifted. Did you know that the serpent is unrepresented by any constellation? Almost every single creature has a tie to one of the constellations, but crows? Snakes? They have nothing," Pava caressed a few of the scaly ropes that slithered atop her head, "The spiders have their whole constellation in the Spinnerets. Salamanders have a fire moon. But snakes... even dragons hate them, seeing them as a lesser, unevolved form. These poor creatures have been spat out of the stars like trash, never again given a home in the heavens."

"They hate the gifted," Tess repeated, "And that one attacked me." Tess' eyes widened, "Does that mean?"

"That you came too close?" Pava asked, "Yes."

Tess gave Pava an incredulous look that turned quite sour. Hadn't she been the one to approach Tess? She rose to her feet and brushed herself off, coming up to be face to face with the Madame. She avoided being too face-to-face, however. "If you don't mind," Pava said, stepping past Tess to press a key into the door she'd been waiting at. With a turn of the key, the heavy door slowly began to swing open.

Within was a rocky cave that bore no similarity to the rest of the castle. She wondered if she had traveled within the mountain now. She knew that the castle was built on the mountain, but did it have its roots within it? It was difficult to see, to keep up with Madame Pava, especially once the door shut behind them. Her eyes were slow to adjust, and all she could hear was Madame Pava stepping away from her.

"Madame?" Tess spoke aloud, hearing no response. Ahead of her, a flame was lit, illuminating her destination just a few paces ahead.

When Tess came to it, she saw a small desk with an assortment of powders and herbs. Mushrooms were growing along the walls and a spiderweb was forming in one of the rocky crevices above. All-in-all, Tess felt overdressed and wondered if she should've brought leathers, rather than common clothes.

On the far end of the room was a tunnel that led off into darkness.

"What is echoshaping?" Tess asked.

Madame Pava seemed busy with a red ledger, but responded, "An echoshaper looks back through the ripples of your soul."

Tess raised an eyebrow. That made no sense. She hoped Pava knew that made no sense. She decided not to voice her concern, however. "What are the ripples that a soul makes?" She asked.

"Lives once lived. Lives yet to be lived." Pava replied, closing the ledger and turning around to face Tess, "Your soul goes through a journey much longer than yours. We're going to look through it to find if a gift has, or ever will, exist in your soul."

"And then what?" Tess asked, "You 'shape' it?"

"We fold it, yes," Pava replied.

Tess scratched behind her ear, "And that means?"

"Nothing, to you," Pava responded, letting out a bit of a sigh, "Listen, you do understand that this isn't a class, right? I have no obligation to teach you anything."

"What do you mean?" Tess asked. Captain Maupoissant had said she was signing them all up for classes.

"This is a therapy," Pava replied, "If it were a class, it would be beyond remedial. You are behind on even the basic requirements for the Corps, and yet you are here. This is a therapy for the giftless, one last attempt at being useful."

"We don't need this uptight Yysh cultist," Miri groaned, "They're all fucking crazy." She could feel Miri throwing a tantrum in her mind, "She wouldn't know 'useful' if 'useful' shaved those disgusting noodles off her head!" Tess could recall enough about the Yysh. Believers of a secretive Snake-God. They adopt serpentlike traits, but generally keep their beliefs to themselves.

"Alright, then when does the therapy start?" Tess asked, trying to not hiss like one of the Madame's snakes, "As far as I can tell, I'm no closer to getting a gift."

Pava must've heard the vitriol in Tess' voice. Her eyes narrowed and she gestured to the side, guiding Tess toward that dark tunnel. "Let's go see the echoshaper, then."

"You aren't the echoshaper?" Tess asked, feeling a sudden anxiety.

She followed Pava's direction and stepped into the dark tunnel, hearing the woman approach behind her. As her eyes adjusted, she saw a dank passage, with water dripping through webs atop the cave ceiling. There were a few areas in the tunnel that Tess had to crouch, climb or squeeze through in order to make it to the point where the cave opened up wide. A large chamber came to greet Tess, lit by a few luminescent crystals jutting out of the walls. The cave turned into carved stone steps that carried Tess and Pava down to a hexagonal platform. At the center was a stone slab, raised to waist height.

"Lie down," Pava instructed, and Tess followed the order. The stone was chilling to the touch and it took Tess some time to adjust to the temperature before she could lie down comfortably, even through her clothing.

Lying there on the stone, Tess looked at the ceiling and only saw shadows. None of them moved, though she constantly checked, expecting to find something horrible up there.

"Yeah," Miri hummed, "This was a bad idea."

There was a sting in Tess' neck, and she twisted to see Pava with a needle; a small droplet of blood on the end of it.

"Relax," Pava said, and by the time the word was over, Tess realized she couldn't move a muscle. Pava reached out and adjusted Tess' head to look directly upward, "The first time is always the worst."

"This was a really fucking bad idea," Miri snapped, her voice growing dim and muted. "Tess? Tess! Fuck, oh fuck," her voice began to fade to complete silence, "Fuck, Tess, stay with m-... don't-..."

Her mind was empty, her body numb. She could barely breathe. Tess couldn't tell how much time passed in that state, but eventually something came into her field of vision.

Atop the ceiling, crawling upside down, was the largest spider Tess had ever seen. It was larger than her dormitory room by a considerable amount. Suspended on a thick line of web, it began to slide down toward Tess, closer and closer. As it approached, Tess noticed its face: an eyeless human, with eight red jewels spanning its brow and forehead.

Tess couldn't hear a thing, but she could feel Miri slamming at the barriers of her mind, trying to break through.

It didn't happen. Tess tried to scream, but not a sound escaped her lips.

Chapter 50 - Catching Up

Gwendolyn turned the spoon through the mix of dry sausage and potatoes. She got to sit with the regulars of the Corps during meals now, and wasn't forced to sit at the guest table, or eat down in the barracks like she'd been forced to during probation. What a miserable time that was. She still awaited the letter from her father about her probationary status on her first few days at Kravana Hall.

She hadn't seen Tess in an entire day now. After that night together, Tess was gone in the morning and didn't come back the next night. Gwendolyn did what she could to not think too deeply into what might keep her from coming back to the room. The more she tried to push them down, the more the thoughts kept cropping up, "She wasn't ashamed, was she? Was I gross? I'm not all that feminine and-... well, like Mairaela. Maybe I did something wrong."

Maybe her class was keeping her busy. Gwendolyn couldn't imagine that a class called "Late Gift Development" would be that intense. It sounded like information she'd learned when she was a child. Not that Tess didn't need it, or that she had no excuse for not knowing it, but Gwendolyn thought that Tess would catch onto the information easily. She hadn't heard of Madame Pava, though. Gwen wondered what she was like.

"Hey," Gwendolyn turned to see Mairaela taking a seat behind her. The auburn haired Fey was placing down a plate of fruits, berries and sausage. She had two chunks of bread on her plate. Mairaela must've noticed her staring at her food and said, "Here, I snagged this for you." The Fey passed her a piece of hard bread.

Gwendolyn took it, smiling in thanks, only to see Joyona stand across from them. The Evigkin had two plates, one full of potatoes and sausage and the other... also full of potatoes and sausage. She placed the plates down and murmured something about beer before walking off again.

"Tess busy with class again?" Mairaela asked. She didn't show up to dinner yesterday either, after all.

Gwendolyn nodded silently, choosing to not bring voice to her growing concerns. "How's 'Advancement Theory' coming along? Did Scirocca slap your knuckles again?"

"I managed to avoid her wrath this time," Mairaela jested, "And despite what I said yesterday, I like her. She knows her stuff. Like.. fuck, Gwen. She really knows her stuff."

Gwendolyn was getting used to having her name shortened. She stopped fighting it. It wasn't a big deal to her, personally, but her father would wring her neck for it. The knight smiled softly at Mairaela and took a bite of the bread she'd been given.

"For instance," Mairaela begins, "Did you know that Maeros the Mad was the first recipient of a divine's boon?" Mairaela's face crinkled up and she shook her head, "Well, basically. It was from the Dragon Queen, but before she became a goddess. Back when she was just... you know, a dragon queen."

"What would Maeros need from Her?" Gwen asked between bites. Maeros was a part of a group of adventurers known as the Heroic Divine. They were more the former than the latter; not having any divine blood between any of them.

"Power to kill Arlen," Mairaela replied, "She gave him access to her Blood Wyrd. He had magic like dragons do." The Fey was really into all of this, though she had a bit of a disappointed tone when she added, "Much good that did him."

Gwendolyn found it interesting, but she preferred what she'd been learning in her class, "I learned about aura control today. Can't wait till we get an assignment and I can put all of this theory into practice."

"You'll have to teach me," Mairaela said with a smile, "And I'll teach you what I learn."

Joyona returned then, setting down two mugs of some sort of foaming drink.

"How was your class, Joyona?" Mairaela asked.

Joyona shoved a spoonful of potatoes into her mouth and replied around the food, "Stab a tomb guardian in its eye before you get fried." Joyona shoveled more food into her mouth. She'd been a lot hungrier lately, Gwendolyn noticed.

"That's what you said yesterday," Mairaela replied.

"Mm. It's still true."

"You doing alright?" Gwen asked.

"Mm," Joyona nodded, taking a big swig from her mug.

Gwendolyn looked to Mairaela, who seemed to have a similar look of concern on her face, but the pair moved on. "What else did you learn?" Mairaela asked, nudging Gwen on the arm.

"Well, that glow that forms around us in the Void--the aura, I mean--it comes from Thyr. The Black Sun is constantly eating away at our star, but that light doesn't go away. It's just trapped in the Void," Gwendolyn explained, pushing the bread through her food, "So sometimes that light flocks to us. We don't exactly know why, but we can use it. It's empowering."

"Miri was able to rip mine away from me," Mairaela said, picking up a couple of berries and popping them into her mouth one at a time. "What do you think that means?"

"Not sure. Maybe it's a demon thing," Gwendolyn replied, looking over to Joyona who was already done with one plate and beginning on the other.

Mairaela and Gwendolyn exchanged a look again. Gwen didn't think that Mairaela would say anything, so she spoke up, "Joyona, why are you eating so much? I mean, no shame if you're just hungry, but it's just unusual for you."

"I skipped class," Joyona grunted past a mouthful of food, "Did something else."

Mairaela nearly spat out her food, "What?!" She chewed, swallowed and followed-up with a harsh whisper under her breath, "Joyona, we depend on passing these classes!"

"If you fail out, you're gone from the team. You're out of Kravana and the Corps, everything," Gwendolyn added, "You heard the Captain."

Joyona nodded her head, "I'm alright."

Gwen took a deep breath and let it out slowly, nodding her head. She knew not to press Joyona, but the woman was so difficult to read at times like these. She was confident even when she was acting strange. She had never let them down though, so maybe they should just stop being suspicious of her habits.

"Where are you from, Joyona?" Gwendolyn asked, "I know you're giantblooded, but did you grow up in a Cairn?"

"I did," Joyona replies, licking two fingers, "West of the Summer Branch."

"You were near Rotherham?" Mairaela asked.

"About two days' walk from it," Joyona nodded.

"Good cheese?" Mairaela followed up. Gwendolyn couldn't help but laugh. Rotherham was known best for its cheeses, despite all of its other massive economic and diplomatic successes.

Joyona nodded her head.

"What about you, Mairaela?" Gwendolyn asked.

"Shathlenora," Mairaela replied with a bit of pride in her voice. The woods of Shathlenora were known to produce some of the best Glade Wardens in the Summer Court.

Gwendolyn's brow raised, "You know how to use a glaive?"

"A spear, in my case. And yes," Mairaela nodded, "Admittedly, I was a little disappointed when my gift wasn't something pertaining to that."

Gwendolyn nodded her head. This new information about her cohort was interesting. Having spent so much time becoming trusting and comfortable through battle, it only just occurred to her that she didn't really know much about them.

"And what about-..."

"Whoa, there, you haven't told us about where you're from, Dame Gwendolyn Mirabenise," Mairaela said, holding up a hand to pause Gwen.

Gwendolyn rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Alright. I'm from Lannercost. Armskirk before that. My father is a landed knight and a-..." She paused, redirecting, "Uh-.. My mother is a Valkyrie of Morro."

"Let me guess, she's the First Valkyrie, or something?" Mairaela asked with a smirk.

Gwendolyn chuckled and shook her head, "No, that's Harkroth. Mum is rank and file."

"You still talk to them much?" Mairaela asked.

"Last heard from my father in the post when I was passing through Testament. It's been weeks, but I'm sure I'll get mail soon," Gwendolyn elected to not mention her estranged mother's lack of communication.

The trio sat in silence for a bit of time, enjoying their food, Joyona enjoying her drink. Eventually, the silence grew anxious.

"So," Joyona started, immediately grabbing the attention of Gwen and Mairaela, "When are we going to start worrying about Tess?"