6 years ago..
It had been only a little over a week since Aster had been rescued from his panic in the streets of the city. And since then only one thought has been coursing through his mind, he's going to learn magic! The thought was electrifying, it managed to push out any of the pre-existing thoughts of dread and exhaustion, a rare joy that Aster clung to compulsively.
The biggest obstacle that currently lay in front of him is finding an opening to slip away from his home without drawing suspicions or even better yet any attention at all. Aster had been kept busy around the lighthouse, between helping his father make repairs and joining him on work trips into the city Aster's schedule was jam packed full of monotony and tedium. Aster was starting to be able to complete tasks without aid, his father had begun to take great pride in him because of it, it was a strange feeling that should have made him quite happy, but instead it just made him feel gross and incomplete.
Aster watched as his father fiddled with the layers of glass panels that made up the lens carefully ensuring that everything was clean for maximum brightness.
"It is crucial that all of this glass is cleaned thoroughly every evening, especially on nights like these" a thick fog had been carpeting the mighty turtle for the past few days, it was likely that Chelenki had been extra hot as of late and its body heat producing a thick steam. His father slid his hand back out and grabbed a flint sparker that was resting beside him. The sparker found its way into the pool of oil that rested at the center of the large lamp. His father clicked the tool together producing a series of sparks that blanketed the oil. The lamp burst forth into a blinding glow, he quickly retracted his hand from the lamp.
"And with that we are all done for tonight." His father wiped his hands thoroughly with a cloth cleaning the various stains that had collected from that day's work. "Your mother should have food ready if I'm not mistaken, so let's not keep her waiting".
They quickly found themselves at the bottom of the tower's steps and slipped into the dining room which was just around the corner. Marta sat at the table with her legs curled beneath her sketching an incoherent blur in her book. Eris looking like she was on the verge of collapse, having spent much of the past few nights studying yet again. Aster was confused at how she never seemed to stop reading, he didn't think there could possibly be that much information on urban design.
"Ah, look who finally stopped by to say hello. Gallan, dear you really don't need to spend so much time working. And I'm sure Aster would certainly enjoy having a reprieve from all that busy work you get him up to" his mother made her way over to Gallan and placed her hands on his shoulders, trying to ease his stress if only by a little.
"Perhaps you're right, ideally all that needs to be done tomorrow is just keep an eye on the lantern which I suppose I can handle myself" Gallan grumbled through a strained face that looked lost in thought. "You can go do whatever it is you do. Do you even have any hobbies? Maybe you should try to find something simple or silly, like what Marta does" Marta shot over a sharp look at their father at the remark of her art being silly, before returning her attention back to her sketch.
It was true that Aster didn't really have any hobbies, whether that was because his father never let him have the freedom to do anything else or that any hobby he had attempted to pick up never really interested him. He'd tried art once, borrowing some materials from Marta but the inspiration never properly struck. There was also the time he found a fencing foil in a trunk, and upon trying to swing it around a few times quickly realized it was not meant for a child and probably should put it back before either of his parents saw. The most recent foray into a hobby Aster had attempted was that of sewing. While it had been interesting, he didn't derive any real satisfaction from it, he did however learn how to fix any holes that may form in his clothes, so it did at least provide some purpose. Regardless of the failures of any previous hobbies, the freedom that tomorrow will provide him could be what he needs to slip away and meet the mysterious women again and thus find the thing he's always needed.
Aster suddenly realizing he was still standing by his father moved to sit beside Marta. At the re-ignition of energy in the room Aster's mother moved around the table placing down large platters of food piled high with potatoes cooked in various forms: baked, au gratin, shredded. There was another which held a mountain of vegetables most grilled but some steamed. It was a miracle his mother was capable of cooking such a spread in such a short period of time all by herself. She was the pinnacle of efficiency. The last tray that was set down was carrying a large slab of roast duck, one of the few animals that was farmed here on Chelenki. Meat was expensive and hard to come by; very little space was allocated to grazing land and as such only the wealthy could typically afford the commodity. Thankfully the lightkeepers were lucky enough to consider themselves to be of the higher class.
The meal was satisfactory, although its flavors a bit plain. Aster's mother was certainly an impressive cook in the volume she could prepare, but her flavors were sometimes unfortunately on the mediocre end of things. Excusing himself, Aster collected his dishes and gently deposited them inside of the wash basin, careful not to accidentally put the dishes in the clothes' basin which for some reason was resting next to the one for the dishes. It was a mistake Aster had accidentally made several times before, much to the chagrin of his mother.
Looping his way to the other stairwell that was not for the tower, Aster quickly climbed the steps and made his way into his room. He looked out his window, the sun hadn't quite set yet, and its light burned through the sky filling the normally blue and grey void furious shades of red and orange. Aster cracked his window open letting in a wave of the warm ocean breeze. Not satisfied with only a hit of the outside he slid the window fully open and stepped out onto the roof. He sat as close to the edge as he could, his feet mere inches from dangling off. Without the restrictions of the walls the view opened up considerably, Aster could now take in the many clouds that floated wistfully in the air, the faint sound of waves lapping against the enormous shell of Chelenki. He always enjoyed being able to see the face of the creature they lived on and there it was, so close yet further than anyone could ever hope to reach without a boat. There was a certain level of curiosity that he had towards Chelenki, what thoughts it might have? Does it have aspirations of its own? Is it aware of the thousands of people that live on and rely on it for their own survival? Aster hoped that one day he might be able to answer these questions, but likely they would remain elusive, and perhaps that's a good thing. After all, what fun is there in life without any questions.
There was a faint squeaking sound as the window belonging to Marta's room slid open, the slightly older girl stepping out onto the roof sketchbook in hand. She carefully waddled over and sat beside her brother, curling up her legs to rest her sketchbook on as she began to transcribe the beauty of the sunset into her pages.
"Don't normally see you out here" Aster looked over at his sister who was still engrossed in her work.
"Am I not allowed to enjoy the beauty of nature? I see you out here all the time but as soon as I do it it's weird?" Marta smirked at Aster, her eyebrows raised slightly. "Besides I have ulterior motives anyway, it's been a while since we've just talked, a good 'ol sibling chat. I've missed them, especially with Eris getting ready to up and leave for school. Soon it will just be us against our parents". Marta put her sketchbook down but kept the pencil in her hand, twirling it about.
"Well I mean what is there to talk about, things are moving along and nothing interesting of note has happened" Aster shifted about on the roof trying to reposition himself into a more of a ball, tucking his knees beneath his chin.
"Are you serious? Aster you ran away, I've never seen you act like that before. You get a little wet and all of a sudden you just shut down and run off." Marta gazed at her brother with a gentle look trying to peel away at his sudden reclusivity.
"It wasn't the flooding, I mean sure that certainly didn't help but, I don't know it's just been a lot recently" Aster pulled himself in tighter trying to formulate the words in his mind. There were many reasons he could think of for why he shut down, but yet at the same time he couldn't quite discern them, they remained elusive and abstract, a chaotic swirl of emotions stomping through his mind. "I've just been noticing a lot about myself recently, and it's all so new and uncomfortable. I can feel my body shifting and contorting itself in strange ways. Mom and dad both say it's all normal, and I know it is, but I can't help feel that something about it isn't right". Aster turned away from Marta as he spoke, not wanting to look at her, hoping that if he couldn't see her perhaps she wouldn't see him. His face was red and arms tightly wound around him. "And the way people look at me is changing too, and I don't like that, I don't want to be looked at like *this*" he began to mutter the last few words, as he shrunk away somehow even further.
There was a moment of pause as Marta thought about how to respond to this, this brief insight to how her brother had been feeling which was completely foreign to her. "If it helps you look fine, the spitting image of dad" Marta moved slightly to be able to rest a hand on his shoulder to comfort the boy. "I don't really understand it, but I mean when I first started noticing I was getting older I was a little freaked out too, but that feeling passed after a while, and I'm sure it will for you too. You just need to be patient, I suppose."
"Yea you're probably right" Aster sniffed a little as he released his tight grip on his body, turning to look back at the horizon. There were still a few flecks of gold that lingered in the sky even though the sun was no longer visible.
"Aster, just know you can talk to me, I'm your sister, my lips are sealed any secrets told will die with me, I promise" With that Marta pulled Aster into a tight hug and stood up sketchbook in hand. "G'night".
"Good night Marta" and Marta climbed back through her window closing it behind her leaving Aster alone on the roof. His mind still a whirlwind of emotions he tried to carefully sift through them for some hint of positivity. That positivity he realized would come tomorrow when he would make his way into the city to finally learn about possibly the only thing he's ever really cared about.
***
The daylight pierced Aster's eyes, compelling him awake as it warmed his face slightly. His best shot at getting out of the house as now while everyone was still lost in the morning malaise. He had come up with a reasonable excuse for why he would be gone for what Aster presumed would be many hours. Wanting to get a better understanding of the city he was just going to wander the streets and just explore a little, as to prevent the little incident of last week from happening again. There was of course the obvious problem with this excuse that Aster was still quite young, and there was the chance that his parents, his mother specifically, would not want her baby boy to wander the vast streets by himself. But Aster tried not to dwell on that, leaning for once towards the position of optimism.
Aster grabbed the parchment Aria had given him and quickly slipped on some clothes and headed downstairs towards the kitchen to grab some food before leaving. When he stepped into the kitchen he was lucky to find nobody else seemed to be out and about yet. Lucky as it was, it was also equally strange, his father was quite the early bird and was almost always the first one awake. It was most likely due to the talk from his mother last night and the realization that he should slow down a bit, which Aster would now abuse relentlessly.
While sitting munching on some pieces of bread and some scraps from last night Aster pulled out the map that he had been given a week ago. Aster quickly realized the quite detailed map was slightly magical as the waves that marked the water moved ever so slightly, as did the large fins of Chelenki which swayed back and forth. Scanning the city he found two points were marked out; one that seemed to mark almost exactly where he was standing and another point on the far other side of the city deep in the forest, next to the point was the name, Aria. Aster watched the point in the forest watching as it moved around slightly but never moving too far away from what must have been her home. The map must have been enchanted to update in real time the location of the two of them to make it easier for Aster to find her. He thought back to how easily and quickly Aria had made the map and thought, will I be able to make do this one day?
Finishing his meager breakfast Aster stood up still mesmerized slightly by the motion of the map. He didn't make it too far when he heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen area. Still a little groggy himself he didn't have the mental capacity to stash the map away, luckily it still wasn't either of his parents, instead it was Eris.
"What are you doing up so early?" she squinted at him clearly still trying to fully wake up. "And what's that, is that a map?" she squinted a little harder in the direction of the map.
"I'm just going out exploring, that's what the map is for actually. Don't want to get lost" not a lie all of that was technically true which made it easier for Aster to say. He flashed the map a little bit to try to sell the point a bit forgetting for a brief moment that the map was enchanted and was actively moving.
"Di- did that map just move? Aster, where did you find that?" Eris, strangely less shocked by a magic map than Aster thought she would be, finally decided to tuck it away to try to prevent further questioning.
"Yea I found outside a while ago" Aster quickly lied slowly shuffling his way closer to the front door.
"Whatever". Eris moved past Aster and fully into the kitchen and waved back at him, "It's too early to be dealing with this. Just don't be an idiot I guess, I don't want to be the one dealing with our parents if you up and vanish". Eris, deciding it was too early to be responsible, began to gather food and sat down to eat.
"I will!" Aster assured her quickly. "Of and just let our parents know I'll likely be out all day". Aster stood awkwardly for a moment before interjecting on himself, "looking about and stuff”. “Well bye!" Aster pulled open the door and heard a grumble of farewell depart his sister as he set out on a hopefully fast journey into the forest.
For quite a while Aster's gaze was stuck on the map, mesmerized by the way the dot moved with him. There were stretches where he didn't even look up, using the map as his eyes instead. Aster kept to the outskirts of the city, walking along the edge of the shell. The air still had that morning sharpness to it, the sun was fresh, and its heat hadn't yet had the time to warm those in its reach.
He had been on the trek for quite a while by the time Aster reached the edge of the forest the sun was directly overhead. Ideally he would have gotten there much faster but about halfway through he realized that he probably should do at least a little of what he told his sister he was going to do, and so quickly decided to traverse some of the outer streets, familiarizing himself with them to a minor degree.
The forest was easy to walk through at first, these outer areas closer to the city had trails carved into them from repeated use over the years. Aster found himself making his way around a curve when he noticed he would need to take a sharp left off of the path and into unknown territory. There was a pause as Aster's thoughts were flooded with terrible ideas, all the rumors and stories that surrounded those of the mystical persuasion pulsed about. He barely even knew who this woman was, she was a complete stranger to him. What if this was all some elaborate trap that he was being lured into? For all he knew she did this all the time; went into the city looking for lost children and whisking them away to kill and eat them, siphoning their energy to feed their lust for power.
Aster was about to turn around and leave when he noticed Aria's dot on the map was moving towards him quite rapidly, he didn't even realize she was moving, but she must have been for a while. How long had he been frozen in place? There was a faint rustling in the plants off the path that grew louder with every second. The noise grew before resolving itself when the woman he met a little over a week ago stepped out from the bushes and onto the path.
Aria jumped back a little at the sight of the frozen boy, as did the boy "Ah! Oh, it's you". Aria pointed at him, her face moving back and forth clearly trying to think of something, "Aster wasn't it?". Aster calmed himself standing up a little straighter.
"Yea, that's right Ma'am, you scared me a little" Aster shifted between keeping himself open towards Aria and trying to close himself off, still unsure about whether he should have trusted this woman.
"I scared you, my apologies I didn't know you were here, although given you are here I assume that means you wanted to take up that deal we made?" An eyebrow lifted on Aria as she gazed down at Aster. She towered over him, he didn't remember her being so tall last time, but that was probably due to the unusual circumstances around their meeting. Not a lot of room was left for heavy analysis on Aster's part. Even now when he should have been trying to discern Aria's intentions he just stood dumbfounded. "Well as you can probably tell I'm not currently home. I'm on my way to the docks. I should be getting a shipment today of exotic plants. You're welcome to join me, and then I can show you to my home where we can get started?".
"I don't think that's an entirely good idea. What if someone recognizes me with you? My parents won't like me doing this" Aster fidgeted about with his hands. Aria frowned a little, crossing her arms as she stood there thinking.
"That's a good point, kinda forgot about that for a second", Aria bounced her weight around between her feet for a moment before exhaling a little and twirling her hand. "Alright well if you cut straight through here-", Aria pointed towards the direction she appeared from moments ago. "—You'll eventually reach a small creek. It's small but very noticeable, impossible to miss. Follow the water, and eventually you should be able to spot my home off the right bank. Just hang about there, and I'll be back as quick as I can. Sound good?"
"I think I can do that," Aster said, turning to stare into the depths of the woods. He hoped that past that initial brush it opened up a bit.
"Well, good luck!" Aria told him before continuing on the path towards the direction of the docks.
Carefully pressing aside the jagged branches and vines that coated the unclear path, Aster forged forward hopefully in the direction of a creek... Wait a minute, a creek? Aster had never heard of a creek before, the way Aria had talked about it made it seem like it was a body of water of some sort. But that didn't make any sense, there weren't any bodies of water pooled anywhere on Chelenki as far as Aster was aware. Aster stopped for a moment, trying to figure out what in the world a creek was, before relenting and hoping that like Aria said it would be obvious when he saw it.
A short walk later and Aster came upon what had to have been the creek. A thin line of water that seemed to snake through the shell of Chelenki. The water was moving in a direction that would take Aster deeper, much deeper into the forest, likely even farther than where children would comfortably wander and play. Aster was left again with a choice, turn back and return to the safety of the city, or delve deeper and sequester himself with a potential mad-woman. But she couldn't be that crazy when they had spoken on the path. She seemed just as polite as before if a bit in a hurry. There was genuine kindness in her voice, she wanted to teach Aster. Hopefully Aster wasn't not deluding himself further in the hopes of finding something that may finally bring him joy.
Aster followed the creek further into the thickened unpruned grove, where it eventually opened up into a quaint clearing that in the center stood a quite unorthodox yet cozy looking hovel. Aria's home was at first glance a cobbled together menagerie of wood haphazardly arranged into the concept of a house. But upon closer inspection the genius revealed itself. The corners of the structure were held by the large thick trunks of living trees, wild grasses spread across the slightly pyramidal roof, while branches and vines grew intertwined, forming the walls of the home. It was a living wooden tapestry that had to have been carefully woven together by magic. The sight astonished Aster.
He paced around the house marveling at all it had to offer, noting several small plots of land that had been carved to form gardens. The gardens grew strange plants completely unfamiliar to Aster, and judging how Aria was on her way to pick up exotic plants these were likely not even from Chelenki. He remained lost in awe for a while before he once again heard the sound of plants and leaves crunching beneath the steady walk of someone. Aria came into focus carrying with her a medium sized parcel that must have held her plants.
"You made it! good, good. I was worried for a minute I'd have to spend the rest of my day tracking you down". Aria walked towards the door to her house and flicked it open. "Come on, Won't learn much outside, all my books are in here", Aria said inviting Aster into the hovel. Aster hoped it was just as cozy inside as it appeared from the outside.
Inside it was as cozy as it was eccentric; Scutes mined from the back of Chelenki lined the base of walls, wooden posts were erected erratically. There was only one large room with a small loft tucked away in a corner which seemed to hold Aria's bed. Rows and rows of shelves lined almost every wall brimming with books and jars, filled with oddities. Vines bearing flowers and fruits wrapped themselves around almost everything. And strings were strung between the columns, bearing various drying herbs, flowers, and spices. All of this, warmed by a fire pit dug in the center of the space, more scutes lined the fire pit to ensure the flames didn't spread to unwanted places.
"Welcome to my humble abode", Aria spun around motioning around to collage of things around her. "Now I am sure you want to get right down to business but first I would like to know why. So we're, if you don't mind, going to play a little game". Aria walked around collecting various ingredients before kneeling before the empty fire pit, inhaling deeply. "*Efra*" she snapped her fingers directly over the fire pit, her wooden necklace glowed faintly. Sparks descended down from her fingers, igniting the fireplace with a brilliant torrent of flames. Aria slowly spread the herbs across the now tempered flames. A sickly aroma filled the air, and Aria gently wafted the fumes towards her, inhaling them. Aria tilts her head back before gently driving the smoke from her lungs. "Please have a seat. Here's how this is going to go. I am going to ask some questions and you just need to say, yes or no. Easy no?" Aria motioned towards the other side of the fire encouraging Aster to sit down.
"Um, is this a test?" Aster cautiously sits down, crossing his legs before the fire.
"Not exactly, it's more of a demonstration, as well as an insight." Aria twirled her arms through the air dramatically, accidently curling the smoke around her. "So… make sense?".
"I guess". Aster re-positioned slightly preparing himself for the series of questions, still confused about what was happening.
"Wonderful, first question, you are the third child and currently only son to the lightkeepers?" Aria's eyes seemed to glow ever so slightly as she asked the first question.
"Yes, how did you know that? Have you been stalking me?" Aster sat up straight glaring over at the woman who seemed to be gazing idly at him.
"No, I haven't been stalking you", Aria let out a small sigh before breathing in more smoke. "You currently have been finding yourself lost in the world around you, scared of the imminent future".
"Ye- yes, how are you doing, stop that". Aster pulled back from the fire pit slowly starting to stand up, unnerved by the words of the woman.
"Really? You're joking right, you know who I am right? Hold on give me a second" Aria seemed to gaze through Aster as they both locked eyes for a moment. "My gods, you don't even fully realize what's going on. A complete waste of my talents. I assumed you knew who I was when you asked me to teach you. You just gambled, luckily it's a winning bet but wow, ok". The faint glow of Aria's eyes faded as she stood up and pulled over 2 chairs gesturing Aster to sit in the one opposite her. "Alright, I believe a proper introduction is in order. Name's Aria. I'm the resident speaker, a translator of sorts". Aster reluctantly sat down at the offered chair.
"Yea, ok but how did you do all that mind stuff?" Aster, seemingly completely oblivious to the quite obvious answer, sat on the chair absolutely bewildered.
"It wa- hm, it was magic. Well at least that last part was, first two were easy enough to just read off of you. First one I met your mother and I'm familiar with your family. Second one, everyone is a little scared of the future so it was kind of a gimme." Aria kept moving back and forward in her seat both confused and intrigued at the obliviousness of the boy.
"Wait I'm confused, so can magic let you mind read or not?" Aster said trying desperately to figure out what just went on. "Because I didn't think you could do that with magic and then you just said you didn't but did".
"I was messing with you, partially, I foolishly assumed you knew who I was and what my job here was and thought it would be funny, clearly the humor was lost. Before you ask any more silly questions, yes I do know magic, and yes I will teach you what I know, which is a lot. Satisfied?" Aria stretched a hand over to Aster.
"I think so?" Aster gently grabbed Aria's hand and was promptly pulled up from his seat, deciding to just ignore his confusion in favor of the more obvious reality.
"Perfect! In that case let's do something useful and actually get you informed, what do you know about magic. Given the brief glimpse into your mind a minute ago I don't believe it's much." Aria walked strategically around the room towards one of the many bookshelves and plucked from it an old book.
"Well I know a lot of people don't really care for it, but it can do some pretty incredible things. Although I thought it was just for creating things. Didn't know you could read minds". Aster looked about the room again thinking about what magical things could be done with all the things Aria has stashed about her home.
"The utility for magic is almost limitless, magic can solve almost any problem, given you have the knowledge and understanding to execute it. This is a very standard magical text, the *Atlas codex* very easy to understand. This was one of the first things I read when I first started. Invaluable information. To give an extremely layman's explanation of it, basically there exists a place of pure ether, us magic folk call the ephemeral flux. The flux likes to spill over into our world where we can use it to make fancy effects. The book explains it better I promise. From what few ideas I've been able to think of over the past week I want to help you work through that text as well as branching off slightly every now and then if it's important". Aria's words jumped right over Aster's head. It was a lot to drop on him all at once but he did understand one thing quite clearly. He didn't understand magic, ether, or whatever it's called now, but he would.
The next few hours were spent toiling away at the book, Aster, trying his best to keep up with the rapid onslaught of rants and terms that Aria threw at him. When Aster was finally exhausted from what would become a regular occurrence he kindly departed, thanking Aria profusely for agreeing to this whole scheme. The sun was just beginning to burn the sky, a rainbow of colors as Aster slipped his way past his parents' attention and up into his room to collapse.
