cinaed

Session 160: Day 22 of Saedan (2/21)

Around them there are people who are simultaneously going about their lives as well as trying to see Hava’s return. It sinks in for everyone that while Hava has said that her mother is the High Priestess of Alu’daar in the past, no one outside the island had understood the significance. It’s obvious the importance of that now as people try to get a peek at her.

Hava is anxious but knows that there will be a ceremony tonight, a blessing for the big hunt. She turns and asks everyone to be cool about this.

Galowen asks if she’s cool and she says that she’s absolutely fine as Audacity’s eyebrows rise.

Velik says that Hava’s mother is stressed. These rituals are very important and if anything goes wrong it will be on her. Hava says she knows and then squirms and protests as Velik ruffles her hair.

Before them, Luna has followed after their mother towards their home. It’s a communal gathering space as well as a hut, close to the shoreline simultaneously because of her mother’s status as High Priestess and also symbolic of a faith the family has had that they can speak to the twin goddesses. The goddesses control the tides and the shore; it has always been a mark of faith that the High Priestess has no fear of putting her family down by the water.

Her mother is the head of the Tel'alu clan, and her would-be fiance is the son of the other clan head, Nelath Clan. This would have been a political marriage, since while the clans get along they can always be closer.

The house is large and proud and old. Velik steers them towards it, Hava’s mother and Luna having already disappeared inside.

Her ex-fiance, Junius, stands next to the door. As soon as she gets close to him, he offers a hand to her to take. Hava takes it and pulls him into a hug. They’re childhood friends.

Junius pulls her tight against his chest, offering up the feeling of comfort and home. He’s always been stalwart and steady, in her corner. He says, just loudly enough that her dad can hear, that it’s wonderful to have her home again. Much quieter, under his breath, he whispers that they should talk while she’s here.

Hava agrees as he cups her head and kisses her forehead and tells her she’s as beautiful as the day she left. She tells him that he’s wonderful too.

Junius says it’s good that she’ll be here for the blessing of the hunting, especially since he was part of the hunting party that brought in the catch. When she introduces him to her friends, he crushes everyone’s hands in friendly handshakes.

Inside the home, it’s spacious and open. There is a pool of seawater in the direct entryway, a small, thin patch of sand and shells in the water, with pillows and seating around it. From there are three hallways into the rest of the home.

Hava’s mother has taken her place at the circular pool. To her immediate left is an empty seat and one seat down from there is Luna, sitting with her legs tucked underneath. The place has the scent of driftwood and sea salt and sand, old and sun-warmed scents that seep into everyone’s bones, as well the humidity that feels good to Hava.

The High Priestess Fala extends a hand and invites everyone to sit down.

Hava points out where her friends should sit and then sits in her spot next to her mother as her father moves to sit Fala’s right. There is an empty seat between him and the other guests. This seat has been empty as long as Maeve has been gone. Their movements clearly show this is all according to tradition.

The pillows are comfortable and soft. In front of them is this glossy, unmoving pool of water. There are no fish within, but chunks of coral.

Fala folds her hands in front of herself to say it is good though unexpected to have Hava home and to bring so many colorful friends with her. When Hava apologizes for the inconvenience, Fala says it’s hardly an inconvenience to have her beloved daughter home.

The pool ripples and a wave of water rises up and solidifies into an almost water glass table. It’s something Hava has seen her mother do countless times as house staff bring out seafood and seaweed and island fruits for everyone.

It’s a very nice breakfast spread, though Fala doesn’t touch the food immediately. Instead she asks about Hava’s time away, since Hava hasn’t sent much information home. It’s like she disappeared into the night.

Hava says that a lot has been happening. Probably the most prominent thing is that they’re all trying to stop the end of the world. Her mother remarks that it sounds like a harrowing thing. Hava says there’s a guy who wants to end the world.

Fala asks for an explanation and Hava looks at Yolov, who summarizes Elathias and his quest to assist with bringing the Sunken Ones back and ending the world, information they’ve learned from stopping his people.

Fala’s expression remains bored and aloof as she thanks him for being succinct.

Yolov says he can give her more information if she wishes, he simply wanted to summarize.

Fala says that she has heard of some of this from strange things occurring under the waves. The twin goddesses have told her much of what they told Hava. When Hava expresses surprise that her conversations with the goddesses weren't private, Fala tersely reminds her that of course the goddesses would keep her, the High Priestess, informed, as they are part of the souls of everyone lost.

Audacity asks if he can ask a question.

Hava looks pale and nervous as her mother grants him permission. He asks about the goddesses being the souls of those lost when waves drowned many of their people.

Fala explains that to speak with the goddesses is to speak with those lost as well as the goddesses themselves. She remarks that it is unfortunate that they do not teach of the twin goddesses on the mainland.

When Audacity says that to speak with the goddesses and all the dead at once sounds like it would be overwhelming, Fala gives him a level look and says that it is, but it is necessary.

This is news to Hava. When she wonders out loud that she was never told this, Fala tells her that she had told her sister about this. It was not something the healer needed to know, at least not until now.

Hava says that they need to talk about something important.

Fala says that this is important.

Hava says that it’s more important. When she pauses, Fala tells her to tell her the mainland issues. Hava says that they’re not mainland issues. She found Maeve.

Velik, who had been drinking a heavily caffeinated blue-teal island fruit juice, chokes on his drink. Luna, who has been silent, begins to cough.

Fala looks between Luna and Hava before she says yes.

Hava explains that Maeve is alive and she found her.

Fala says this is a private family matter and Hava says her friends are staying. Her mother accuses her of trying to embarrass the family and Hava says that she’s not trying to embarrass anyone but she’s gone through a lot with her friends. They will also see Maeve after all of this.

Luna smiles faintly and speaks up, an outpouring of questions about the sister she’s never met. Hava tells her that Maeve has her own ship, before their mother slams her hand down onto the table and tells Luna to be quiet.

Hava repeats that Maeve is alive.

Fala says she knows.

Hava asks how she knows, and Fala says that she and her father knew that Maeve is alive. When she repeats if she really wants to have this conversation in front of her friends, Hava says she does before she asks how long they have known Maeve was alive.

Fala looks at Velik and says his name.

Velik looks at Hava and says that when Maeve first disappeared, they sent scouting parties to the mainland. She’d already boarded a ship but they knew where she was and where she was going. There are people that report once or twice a year on her location.

Hava says slowly that they let her believe that Maeve was dead or missing.

Velik looks down in apologetic shame.

Fala stares straight ahead, stalwart, as she says that Maeve was never coming home. Whatever Hava needed to tell herself– but Hava interrupts and says she didn’t need to tell herself anything. They should have told her.

Fala says Maeve had a responsibility to her family, to her people, to Hava. Just because she didn’t want to fulfill those responsibilities doesn’t mean she didn’t have them. What would have knowing Maeve was out there have done?

Hava says she would have known.

Fala says that they knew how close Hava was with Maeve. They needed one of them. Her sister wanted to leave so badly that she abandoned everyone. There was no point in dragging her back when she would leave again. She didn’t want to make Maeve a prisoner but she couldn’t risk Hava too.

Hava says she let her suffer instead. Her mother has no idea how much it has hurt, how empty she has felt. Maeve was gone and she had no answers and that was like a wound. That can’t be better than knowing she decided to leave. It didn’t make Hava a better or stronger person. It only made her sad.

Fala looks past Hava. “Sad? It makes you sad. It made you sad. Your sister left you, Havasaul. My daughter left me. She turned her back on all of us. We were trying to protect you. I know you do not feel thankful for what we’ve done. It was important.”

Az reaches over and takes one of Hava’s hands and he looks at Fala as he says she kept Hava around like a spare wagon wheel and she expects her to feel grateful.

Fala says she doesn’t expect her to feel grateful. She expects her to understand what they had to do.

Speechless, Az just shakes his head. He can’t imagine his own father doing this.

Quietly, Audacity says a second betrayal doesn’t fix the first one.

Fala says she’s aware. There are ways that her people work and customs that are foreign to them. But she will not apologize for putting her people above the risk of wounding one person’s feelings. It’s not a decision she took lightly or one she made without thought or without care. But Hava could survive. She’s the daughter of the high priestesses and the daughter of one of the strongest warriors of the Tel’lalu clan. She is made stronger.

Hava says that’s true. Hava says forgive her for not understanding. She supposes she just didn’t think of it that way.

Fala pushes herself up and adjusts the lay of her clothing. She says she must go prepare the items for the evening’s blessings. She will see Hava that evening before she goes down another hallway to a ritual space.

The moment she turns away, Audacity hugs Hava, who flinches at the embrace, and glares at Velik.

Hava asks Velik if he really has nothing to say.

Velik says if it were up to him, he isn’t sure what he would have done. But he is sorry. Neither he nor her mother want to see her in pain or saddened. He watched her mourn Maeve and he mourned her too.

Hava says they must have known she had her reasons.

Velik says he does. But to her mother, there was no point in assuring her that Maeve was alive when choosing to break herself away from the clan was as final as death. In a way, Maeve died to her. Maeve is gone and never coming back.

Hava agrees that she is never coming back and Hava doesn’t blame her.

Velik says that in a way it was important to her mother that she be given space to mourn. They were all mourning. It was complicated.

Hava says everything is always complicated. She doesn’t need to hear anything else.

Velik says he’ll leave her to her friends. He adds that there’s something that might help her. He tells her to come to the training ground tonight once she’s had some time. When she agrees, he compliments her hair and leaves.

Hava looks and startles that Junius is here. He says he wasn’t sure when was the appropriate time to say anything and Hava says there probably wasn’t any. Then Hava looks at Luna and asks if she’s okay.

Luna says that she’s okay. She apologizes about what they all just heard and starts to offer them more food, before Hava interrupts and says that some of her friends have died in front of her, they don’t need apologies.

Luna says she wanted to make a good first impression and Audacity says she was fine.

Hava says that she’s the one who made a bad first impression.

Luna says she shouldn’t have been so excited about Maeve, especially since Maeve isn’t coming back. When Hava says she left Luna behind as well, Luna says she didn’t, they knew she was leaving. Luna didn’t expect her to be gone so long.

Hava says she didn’t expect to be away so long.

She reintroduces her sister to the group.

Audacity bows and teaches Luna how to bow in the Kastvarian style. She is graceful and clearly well trained before she describes all the food to the group before she begins to tell Hava about her training. A lot of it is stuff Hava recognizes from her own training, everything she learned how to do.

It strikes her as her sister describes spending six hours with their mom making ointment bandages to counteract poisons from nearby creatures that Maeve wasn’t with Hava when they did these things. Maeve didn’t have to learn these things since she was becoming the high priestess and Hava was becoming the healer. Her mother is teaching Luna Hava’s job.

Luna says that she got to use one of the bandages on a boy from the other clan, who had a swordfish draped across his shoulders and dropped it after something stung his foot. She was able to help him with all of his injuries.

Hava asks why she’s learning so much healing magic.

Luna says that it’s what she’s supposed to be learning.

Hava says that she’s supposed to be learning how to be the high priestess.

Luna looks confused and says not anymore. Their mother said that the plans have changed and that they’ve accelerated the plans and that someone needs to serve as a healer to the clan and that responsibility falls to Luna. She apologizes, saying she thought Hava knew.

Hava goes to get Junius then stops as she realizes that he is busy trying to get Galowen into an arm wrestling contest or a shark capturing contest. When Junius finally gets Galowen to wrestle, Galowen puts up a fight but Junius wins and winks at him, telling him that they could start him on a medium sized shark.

When he asks how far Galowen thinks he can throw his friends, Az says not to encourage him, Galowen has already thrown Az into the ocean. Junius starts to wheedle the group into letting him throw them off the docks.

He also offers them clothing for when their outfits get wet, though in Alu’daar fashion it would bare a lot of skin.

As this conversation happens, Hava leaves in search of her mother. She enters without knocking, finding her mom looking over ceremonial items on a table, a band of pearls, incense, a knife, and a piece of driftwood. She tells her to come and sit.

Hava calls her infuriating and asks if she knows what she could have done, but no, she has to keep secrets. It makes it difficult to talk to her.

Fala tells her to sit down and hands her the pearls and instructs her on how to hold them, cradling some in her palm. She tells her that her feelings are comprehensible. She is not so selfish that she would leave them too. Fala doesn’t worry about Hava. She has worried about Maeve since Maeve was born.

Even as Hava waves incense over the blade, Fala says that having twins was a surprise. She had been expecting only one child. She never knew which one was her surprise.

Hava says that she chose to be the healer, and she has to know why Maeve left.

Fala says she did. But Maeve chose to leave. Maeve chose to follow the path of high priestess and then to leave it. Fala is not so much of a navel gazer that she doesn’t recognize the issues of having children choose paths that may not suit them. She pushes a candle to Hava to heat the blade of the dagger.

Hava follows the instructions as Fala says that Maeve was always something untamable. She ran before she walked, she would climb things, she would run off into the darkness. She was like the waves themselves, or at least Fala thought the waves. After all the waves pull away from the shores but they come back. She always thought Maeve would be a good high priestess because she is as consistently wild and untamed as the tidal patterns.

Then one day Maeve pulled back and left and never came back. Fala is not so obtuse as to understand why Maeve will never come back. But the heartbreak that she feels could not be so consuming that it renders her incapable of protecting the people who rely on her. Were Fala to permit herself to feel pain, she doesn’t know what she would ever stop.

Hava says that’s what her mother did to her. By keeping the knowledge of Maeve’s safety, she broke Hava’s heart. Maeve was the other half of Hava.

Fala asks if she’s ever wondered why Hava has been trained by lesser healers and not the healer. The twin goddesses were the moon and the tide, constantly beckoning to each other, strength in pairs. It is said that only those who reflect the tide and the moon are capable of accessing the souls of those lost of Alu’daar. The legends go that when the waves came, the first high priestess Tsav'aya and the first healer was Tsav'ana. They died protecting their people and so clung to the lives and souls of their people. They became the keepers of their people’s souls.

Only twins born to Alu’daar could fill their shoes again.

Fala pushes a driftwood piece to Hava and tells her to burn it with the blade.

As Hava does, Fala tells her that her brother’s ship crashed when they were very young. He died on a fishing expedition despite the storm having been predicted by their mother, the high priestess, months earlier. They thought he would return home. He was a sea elf, after all, he would come home. Then months turned to years. The remnants of her brother’s ship were found five or six years after the storm. No one had survived.

Fala continued her training as high priestess but they would not have a dedicated healer until another generation was found.

Hava echoes that she had a brother. Fala says they were twins and Hava curses. Fala says she doesn’t talk about him. Hava asks why not. She tells her mother that this is ridiculous, because she has a secret twin brother who died and left a hole in her heart.

Fala says there is no hole in her heart. She mourned him. She was able to mourn him and she has a scar but it is not a wound that bleeds forever.

Hava asks why Luna is learning how to be the healer. Fala says because she was born an only child, or at least not a twin. Hava says it’s over then. Fala explains that Luna is a healer and then congratulates Hava as completing her first blessing.

Hava realizes that her mother expects her to be high priestess and Luna to be a healer though not a true replacement.

Fala says that Hava is stronger than any of the previous high priestesses in both strength and emotional willpower. The strength of her soul and spirit is commendable.

Hava says that Fala always made her feel useless. Fala says her friend was right, to listen to the moon and wide is difficult. Someone must suffer and learn how to rule as a fair and just priestess. There is no need for two children to suffer the need of this education. She did not shut Hava out because she didn’t believe in her, but because it was difficult and wished to spare her the pain.

Hava says she doesn’t care about that. Fala was cold. She spent a long time wondering if Fala cared about her at all.

Fala looks sharply at that and says she has always cared about her.

Hava says she believes her.

Fala says she loves her children with a depth that cannot be rivaled even by the deepest sea. She asks to see Hava’s bracelet, and Hava shows it to her. Fala takes her arm and hand and moves her bracelet before she says that this was a gift from her aunt a long, long time ago. It was supposed to be passed on from healer to healer.

Fala says she’s a very proud woman. There’s very little in her life that she has been more proud of than the woman Hava has become. She knows that it is not her who made her like this. It is despite all of the things Fala is.

Hava lets out a hard breath. She says overall this isn’t the best way to ease her into it. When Fala says that the ritual is the easiest one, Hava says the whole thing in general. She adds that she’s not engaged to Junius anymore.

Fala says she knows, though Junius is not aware that she knows. He is having an affair with one of his hunting party, which is amusing to watch.

Hava says there are other things to discuss but they can wait. She has to leave in the morning.

Fala says she has to save the world.

Hava says a little bit. She adds that she respects Fala’s position and that she has to do the things she has to do. She understands that the safety of her home is paramount and that her mother has made sacrifices she didn’t want to make.

Fala says that she’s sorry these responsibilities have to be hers.

Hava says that there’s still a little part of her that wishes Fala had put her first.

Fala bows her head by the ritual table and says that it is her hope that Hava will be able to find a better balance to strike between ruler and mother than Fala ever did.

Hava says all right. She knows that her mother is not a person who says she is sorry for things. This is regret at its deepest form. Hava pulls her mother close and kisses her forehead, and Fala kisses her forehead in return.

Hava says she’s going to set her friends loose on the beach. Her mother asks if they can keep away from the northern shore where the hunting party is celebrating. Hava asks about the library and her mother directs her to the healer’s hut where there’s a book shelf of books.

Hava says she’ll see her tonight.

When she returns, she finds Luna and Yolov exchanging stories about Hava being cool and Galowen wrapping up another couple rounds of arm wrestling against Junius. The second and third ones Galowen beats him soundly. For the final one, they tie up and it’s neck and neck, Junius running his mouth before Galowen wins.

Junius says he cannot wait to see how far Galowen can throw him into the water. Junius asks how many people he can throw at once.

Hava asks what’s going on and learns they’re about to toss each other into the water. She tells Yolov about the library, making Yolov brighten and Luna offer to show him the library. It is in the healer’s hut, a small two-shelf bookshelf that is mostly romance, fishing laws and rights, and a few religious texts when Yolov asks what the subjects focus on.

Yolov expresses interest in the religious texts. Luna says one is a children’s story about the goddesses talking to the rest of the pantheon, another of a high priestess talking to the goddesses, and then a third that Yolov immediately recognizes as a V.R.T. book.

Yolov pulls out The Twins in the Tower and offers it to Luna, who lights up and says that the V.R.T. book actually came in recently with a bunch of other things, one of the books on fishing rights but also a book that was inside an enormous metal cage that none of them could open. Her mother took the last one away and gave the metal cage book to the Nelath clan to figure out how to open it.

Yolov asks if he could ask her mother if she wants assistance. He knows the author well and might know ways to open up the cage to access the book. Luna says she doesn’t know but he could ask and then gets into an animated discussion of books she would want to read if she had access to them. Yolov promises to get her romance books and Kastvarian Jones books, as well as a hat like Kastvarian Jones.

At the beach, the rest of the Hooligans join Junius and the other hunters. As Galowen picks up Audacity, another triton hugs Hava from behind and says they hear that Hava is an adventurer now.

This is Coa-nai, a bookish triton that Hava is startled to see among the hunters. They were in Hava’s same age bracket, raised by their sister. They tell Hava that they have a bunch of stuff, opening up a bag that holds a bunch of odds and ends. Some of them look a lot like the fork tine twisted with a bit of shell into an earring in Junius’ fin.

Galowen throws Audacity with a tremendous crash as Junius tosses Hava after him. Audacity goes twice the distance as everyone on the beach goes wild and Galowen gives Hava a thumb’s up.

Hava sighs.

Junius says that was fantastic and asks Galowen for his technique.

Galowen says he just threw.

Junius says that’s amazing, not thinking, just using instinct, and picks up Coa-nai as Galowen picks up Az.

Galowen throws Az effortlessly. He’s done this before. Meanwhile Coa-nai leans in and whispers something in Junius’ ear that makes him flush purple and drop them over the edge of the docks instead of throwing them.

Az Misty Steps back to the dock before he can hit the water, not wanting to get his clothes wet.

Junius points at Az back on the dock and Coa-nai in the water and claims that they tied.

Galowen says skill issue before there is the sound of footsteps as a wall of muscle slams into Galowen’s back and Junius throws them both into the water with a whoop of joy.

By the time they both surface, Junius is cheering in Primordial.

Everything is being done out of fun and joy. It is different from the tense time within Hava’s house, and everyone can see where Hava got her joy and sense of fun. There are playful hands that tug at Audacity’s tail and an overall sense of playfulness.

Hava and Yolov, separated by sand and a small distance from the docks and the healer’s hut, have heard natural sounds of the island.

Yolov holds V.R.T.’s book and flips to the front, where there is a freshly inked line of “Hope you have fun. -E.” His heart drops immediately.

Hava knows every sound of her island and she knows when the sounds of the island are wrong. Across the whooping of the hunting parties and chattering of craftspeople, the rippling joy of children, both Hava and Yolov hear the grind of metal on metal.

Then, like lightning before thunder, there is a blinding flash of golden white light before a long, grinding shrieking cry from a half-mile down the island where Hava knows the start of the Nelath clan territory.

After the sound are screams.