6 years ago...
It has been a little over a moon's cycle since Aster's first visit to Aria's house in the woods. Since then Aster has found himself unable to make another trip to the magical place. The small grace period his mother granted him that let Aster go in the first place hasn't occurred since. Certainly not being aided by the fact that a few days ago a bird blasted straight through the outer panes of glass of the tower. Having to temporarily plug the hole with a not so see-through tarp, was not ideal but it was all they could do until the order for a new panel could be fulfilled.
Aster was the one to find the shattered glass and bird laying on the floor, limping about, bleeding, and clearly deeply pained. Its plumage was a vibrant shade of blues and greys which were speckled with blood and shards of glass. Seeing that the poor thing was still alive Aster gently picked up the creature and secretly carried it to his room hoping to powers beyond it might be able to recover. The bird fluttered in protest as he swept the bird into a firm but soft grip. He was lucky to have an empty box stashed away in his closet, padding it out with a spare blanket Aster lowered the panicking bird into the box and stroked it in an attempt to calm it. The bird produced a small wail as Aster stepped away. Riffling through his things for any potential spare snacks he might have stashed away long ago, he managed to produce a few stale crackers that he assumed would probably be edible for the bird. He placed the crackers into the box with the bird, and to his delight the bird began to peck at the crackers instinctively breaking off a few crumbs. Leaving the bird to its box and crackers Aster left his room to inform his dad about the incident in the tower, careful to leave out that the bird that caused it was being tended to in his room.
In those few days after the glass broke the bird's condition, while not necessarily getting worse, was not looking good either. While it was thankfully no longer bleeding its left wing was still broken and it could barely move it, and it was barely eating anything that Aster provided. Aster had also taken to removing the bird from the box whenever he could to allow it at least the chance to walk about his cramped room, whether or not the bird was happy about this Aster couldn't tell but he hoped it was. The one positive thing was the bird seemed to grow more comfortable being handled by the boy with each day.
"Hmm, I think I'll call you Yari," Aster mused quietly, glancing over at the bird which was struggling to hop around the room. "Yeah that sounds nice I think, what do you think, do you like Yari?" Aster approached the bird inquisitively, getting a small little chirp out of it, the most un-pained sound Aster had heard it make thus far. "I'll take that as a yes," the boy responded, scratching the head of Yari gently, to which the bird seemed to lean into the best it could.
The name itself had already been bouncing around Aster's mind for a while, it had a certain ring to it that he quite enjoyed but couldn't quite place. Of course there were other names as well he could have used, for a while now Aster had been keeping a now rather long list of names, strangely almost all girl names. And for some reason he couldn't quite place, he was a little more possessive of those, not wanting to relinquish them to someone, or something else.
Not wanting to linger much longer on why he had such a lengthy list of girl's names, the boy quickly began pacing his room, moving his attention back to trying to figure out when he might be able to continue his magic lessons.
The biggest concern, in Aster's mind, was not necessarily getting caught leaving the home, but rather his parents finding out who he would be visiting and why. From the little amount of information he had been able to pry out of his parents regarding magic their words hadn't held the most reverie. What if he said he got a job? No, that'd be ridiculous, why would he need another job elsewhere in the city, something else. What about really lengthy midnight walks? That had more or less been his excuse last time, a simple excursion into the city, how would they know anything different. Or perhaps, and most ideally he could try to convince his father to give him proper time off from helping every now and then. Sure everything Aster was doing was nothing more than glorified tidying, but still the fact it was non-stop was beginning to have some serious effects towards his sanity. And at least with that third option there had at least been a small precedent thanks to his mothers efforts.
Lost in the uncertainty of what to do Aster sat on the side of his bed, staring back down towards Yari who was waddling about, trying its best to spread its wings out. Maybe he could ask Marta? Would she even be someone safe to tell? They had always had a pretty good relationship, probably the best of his family, but Aster was unaware of her thoughts on magic. On the off chance that she would help him brainstorm.
Before he could wander about his thoughts any further there was a heavy knock at his door. Aster's heart instantly begins racing as he dashes over to the quickly opening door to block the view of the injured bird.
"Oh," Gallan was abruptly cut off by the rapid appearance of Aster who was standing beside the one hand firmly stopping the door from opening any further. "The replacement glass just got dropped off, we need to go install it now," his father told him before turning back down towards the stairs, beckoning him to follow.
***
The Lighthouse tower's glass, having been replaced successfully and to the creation of only a few cuts on his hands, Aster found himself lost to the passage of time as more days flew by and he had still yet to return to Aria's. He was starting to have doubts about going back all together, perhaps he shouldn't go back anyway, what good was he at it anyhow. Sure it may have been nice once, but just like everything else Aster's ever tried it was likely that he soon grow dispassionate towards this too. Maybe he just wasn't meant to enjoy things, did anyone truly? The deciding factor however was not one in Aster's control.
Aster was not familiar with how illness struck birds, but as far as he could tell Yari had grown terribly ill incredibly quickly. While he had only known the bird a short time he had grown incessantly attached to it, and seeing its health begin to decline so rapidly scared Aster. Not wanting the bird to suffer the tragedy of death, Aster seemed to be left with only one option. He pushed aside his fears of getting caught, right now Yari was more important than himself.
Putting on an oversized jacket, definitely not meant for such warm weather Aster gently picked up the injured bird and carefully hid it within the jacket. He had just about made it to the door when his mother spotted him.
"Where are you off to?" she stared at him, cocking her head to the side incredulously. "Isn't it a bit warm for a coat like that?". With his brain shutting down Aster ran something to say, anything that could vaguely be believable.
"Not at all, and besides, it's all the fashion these days. And I'm only going for a quick walk," Aster immediately started screaming internally, FASHION? He's never talked or shown interest in such things before. Of all the things to have said that may well have been the worst possible one aside from just flat out saying, oh I'm just taking this injured bird that broke our window to a magic lady in the woods. Thankfully instead of pressing further his mother just frowned slightly.
"Well then, um enjoy your walk. Does your father know you're heading out?" She asked him moving her attention back towards a stack of papers on the table in front of her.
"Yes," he lied.
His adrenaline spiked all the way to the highest degree Aster flew out the door and made his way as fast as he could to Aria's. Deciding to take a more direct route then he previously had, he got there in practically no time at all. But to his shock Aria wasn't alone. Aria stood in her doorway and an older lady was in front of her holding some sort of parcel.
"Now Mrs. Florenns, just remember take half tonight and the other half in a few days time, the potion is a slower release, works best over multiple days. And if, after you take the other half you still feel groggy, come back and I'll get you more." The older lady, Mrs. Florenns, kindly thanked the younger woman and began to walk back towards the city, but turned around after a second.
"It's good thing we have you, much better than that doctor or whatever he calls himself in the city, 'Doctor, Lord Harbash' or something." Mrs. Florenns grumbled, barely audible to Aster. "Claims he studied with the best on the mainland but he can't treat a fungus or an ache."
"What can I say, some people have a gift and well... other don't" Aria chirped clearly proud of herself that the "actual" doctor was not nearly as proficient in medicine as she was. "If you think so highly of my talents, perhaps you wouldn't mind spreading that to the populace. My reputation isn't exactly thought of too fondly in most parts." She quickly added with a smirk. "Know if you'll excuse me it would seem I have another client," Aria pivoted to face Aster who was somewhat suspiciously still lurking in a bush, not wanting to be seen by the older women.
Mrs. Florenns turned back around and spotted Aster causing both to jump slightly. Aster sheepishly nodded gently towards the older woman to which she kindly responded in kind. Taking her leave Mrs. Florenns carefully traced her way towards the trees.
"You know young lady, you really should make a proper path out here. My knees are not as good as they used to be and having to climb through all this brush is quite a pain." She was chuckling slightly as she said it but there was a hint of seriousness in her voice. Not too shortly after however she vanished back into the forest.
"Aster, it's been a minute. Please come in," Aria waved Aster out from the bush and into her cozy home. "I was almost beginning to worry I'd scared you off. Never had a student before, and I certainly wasn't expecting to have one so soon if I'm being honest." She paused for a moment upon glancing down at the jacket he was wearing and his arm that was not so cleverly concealed within. "What do you have in your jacket there? If your goal was to be inconspicuous I'm afraid you're being anything but." Aster, beginning to blush slightly, removed his hand from inside his jacket, procuring with it the injured blue-grey bird.
"This bird, Yari, needs help!" Aster cradled the bird, calming it as best he could with slow pets. "It crashed through our window and got badly injured. I've tried my best to help it along, but I hardly know how to help myself, let alone a bird." He was panicking now, and his breaths were fast and shallow.
"Hey, it's okay, take a deep breath and I'll take a look," Aria leaned down to be able to look Aster clearly in the eyes. After a few deep breaths Aria gently scooped up the bird from Aster, causing Yari to begin squeaking in pain, and trying to jump out of her grip. "Shhh... shhh, calm down it's okay, I'm just going to take a look," Aria carefully took the bird over to a table and set it down. Sprawling out the wings as best she could to examine the injuries. "I must admit Aster avian medicine is not exactly something I'm all too familiar with," Yari's yelps were getting louder and more strained as Aria continued to scan its feathered body. "Hmmm... alright," Aria placed two of her fingers on the top of the bird's head and whispered an unintelligible incantation, causing her necklace to glow a faint red. The red appeared along the bird as Aria traced her fingers down its spine, causing the bird to go limp.
"What did you do!? I brought it here so you could help it, not kill it!" Aster yelled at Aria, completely dejected.
"I didn't kill it, I just put it to sleep. It has multiple fractures throughout its body that could puncture its organs. The more it squirms around the more at risk it is." Aria tried as best she could to explain her thought process to the boy but even she was not entirely sure of the best way to proceed. "I'll need to do some research, hopefully there's a spell or treatment I can find that can help it." Aria began scanning through her vast library searching for what Aster presumed would be some form of avian text. "Would you mind looking through those shelves over there, anything that mentions medical concoctions; potions and the like," she pointed towards the other side of her house without taking her attention away from the many, many spines of books that were before her.
Aster found himself paralyzed, unable to fully process the whirlwind of emotions going through him. Barely able to shake himself out of the stupor, Aster slowly walked his way over to one of the shelves Aria had pointed towards, and began perusing through the collection.
Agricultural Variance, no... Gallivanting Beasts: A Modern Bestiary, probably mentions birds but… Poking and Prodding: A Beginners Guide To Surgery, better.
"Ahh, here we go," Aster muttered, pulling from the shelves a hefty tome labeled, Alchemical Health.
"Perfect! bring it over here," Aria waved Aster back over to where she was already skimming through a few books scrolled out in front of her. "I really need to get around to properly organizing all these, It's a mess trying to find anything," She said, thanking Aster with a nod as he handed over the book.
After an eternity of filtering the concepts of the many books, Aria trying her best to explain the process as she goes, makes her way over to her shelves of ingredients. Having to have cross referenced and scaled the potion to properly suit the bird's different body, she believes she has devised a potion that should mend the bone in Yari's wing.
Drawing from the shelves about a dozen different things, that according to Aria when put through a simple magical filtration with some of Yari's body, feathers would do, the bone mending decoction could be made.
The brewing of the decoction would take the remainder of the day. Aster watched the cauldron in which it was boiling away with an eagle's precision, Aria on the other hand seemed much more calm regarding the situation.
"Don't worry Aster, it'll be fine... most likely, assuming I've made the proper adjustments," Aria calmly told Aster, trying her best to ease the child's worries.
"But how can you be sure?" Aster wasn't able to keep himself still and kept pacing about.
"I'm a professional, this is what I was trained to do; well it was partly what I was trained to do," Aria trailed off at the end.
"Wait, what exactly are you?" Aster looked over at Aria as he asked it, still pacing about the home. Aria's face soured at the phrasing.
"That's a loaded question," Aria shot back strongly. Her words softened a little as she went on. "...Don't think it was intentional but I'm not too fond of being likened to a thing".
"Oh! I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that," Aster hurriedly said, trying his best to think of a better way to have phrased his thought. "I mean, I know you do... this," Aster gestured vaguely towards the various magical books and artifacts littered through the home. "But what exactly do you do? You only really touched on it briefly, something about speaking?"
"That makes way more sense!" Aria's frown faded into a light smile as she laughed gently. "Sorry, I'm a bit defensive about my identity," Aria relaxed and moved over to a chair sitting in the corner beneath a table.
"Like I said last time, I am a speaker. Most cities have them in some form, especially cities like ours that revolve around the relationship with a Leviathan," Aria mused over the simplest phrasing and continued. "I as well as many others have the ability to speak to spirits, entities with vast knowledge. We use this gift to bring an order to the world around us. They also allow us certain other... quirks," Aria smirked as she produced a puff of smoke around her hand.
"But I can't speak to anything, I'm not wasting my time am I?" Aster taking to the distraction moves his attention fully from the brew and towards Aria.
"No not at all, It's true that some people have more of a natural affinity towards such things but it is not a prerequisite. Magic is as much a skill as it is a relationship, you need to nurture both over a long period of time. The original speakers built their relationship with the dragons through worship, and the dragons in turn gifted us with the ability of magic. Before then no one had magic yet they learned anyway," Aria thought back to the old history books she liked to read from time to time.
"Dragons are real?" Aster said, making a face.
"You live on a giant magical turtle but you draw the line at dragons?" Aria smirked at Aster.
"I don't know, dragons just always seemed a little bit more… larger than life," Aster's voice grew quiet at his naivety.
"You're a really sheltered kid aren't you?" Aria asked rhetorically.
"So you've met a dragon before?" Aster asked a little more brightly than his previous words.
"Well..." Aria droned a note as she thought. "Not exactly".
"So if you've never seen a dragon maybe they are just stories," Aster shot back.
"Maybe, I suppose," Aria relented.
The evening continued until eventually the decoction was ready. It was an unsightly sludge, purple tinged with black and green. Aria scraped the cauldron collecting as much of the ooze as possible, which wasn't all that much to begin with. Yari needed to be awake to swallow the potion, so Aria woke Yari back up who began to panic almost immediately until Aster managed to calm the bird. Aria stuffed most of the sludge into the bird's mouth and another smaller amount was spread onto the damaged wing like an ointment.
"Now even with this it won't immediately fix its injuries, it will still need some more time to recover," Aria told Aster, gently scratching the bird, seemingly much to its enjoyment. "Now I can continue to watch its recovery or you can take Yari back home. I'm sure Yari is more fond of the second choice, Isn't that right?" Aria looked over at the bird who let out a small chirp.
Aster took Yari up in a gentle hold. Thanking Aria for her help. When he arrived home he was thankful no one seemed to be around. His luck that day had been incredible but it surely wouldn't last much longer given his record. Setting Yari back into the cushioned box Aster began to think back slightly to the strange day that he'd just had.
Aria said he didn’t need any talent, and Aster prayed that that was true. With that simple sentiment Aster was able even if only for a minute to temper his fears and think he might just be able to learn this whole Speaker thing.
But of all of the chaos of the day one thing kept popping into his mind, when he asked Aria what she was. Aster had thought it a perfectly innocent question but Aria seemed to take great offence to it. He should ask what that's about next time he's over there, might be insightful.
