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| Location: Aelios Temple / Hot Springs | Time: 9pm |
It was odd being back at the Sun Temple - it wasn’t quite home, but it was familiar still. The faint scent of incense and oils filled the air, and Tia couldn’t help but breathe in once the men - the prince, Orion, and Willis - had finally left after dropping off her and Eris at the temple. It had been decided that both women had been through an ordeal, and that the best thing for the both of them would be a wash (Tia was still absolutely covered in dried blood) and a long soak in the hot springs. She was too exhausted to try denying it.
Tia turned over her shoulder to look back at Eris. She gave the other woman - the other magic-user, the other trauma patient, the other caretaker - a small smile. She held up the bread Orion had given her in a silent offer.
Eris returned Tia’s smile and broke off a small piece of bread. She gently tapped it against the larger loaf, mimicking a toast, before popping it into her mouth. As she chewed, Eris surveyed the temple, taking in her surroundings. Compared to the grand Sunfire Citadel in Aurelia, this temple was tiny, but it would suffice. Her gaze then landed on the eternal flame at the center of the temple. She approached it, feeling its warmth intensify with each step. Standing before the flame, Eris paused, bowing at a 45-degree angle and closing her eyes. Silently, she gave thanks to Aelios for allowing her and Tia to survive the ordeal with Willis.
Opening her eyes, Eris turned towards Tia.
"Are you feeling any better?" she asked, her soft voice echoing through the empty temple.
"I’ve never experienced anything like that." she added, recalling how her disrupted magic had rebounded on her like a weapon, impossible to absorb. She had been exhausted before, after pushing her magic too hard during her research studies, but this was entirely new. To Eris, it was more fascinating than concerning. Something new to be studied. Looking at her hands, she saw her fingers tremble, her body still suffering the consequences of trying to protect the Priestess.
Tia took a bite of her bread, a dirty hand held under it to catch the crumbs. She considered Eris’ words, remembering the way Willis had
punched through her shield. Swallowing, she paused. Then she held out the bread for Eris to take with an embarrassed bow.
Both hands free, she took out the notebook and charcoal again and wrote a short message before holding it out to show Eris.
I can only heal. Most don’t try to resist that.
Tia looked down the hall to where the bathing chambers were - she’d spent some time exploring the temple before venturing out into Dawnhaven. She held out an open palm towards the hallway, looking back to Eris.
Eris smiled at the note that Tia wrote, though her eyes were drawn to the notebook itself. Was that… Pleiades's? She could’ve sworn she'd seen it before. But why would the Priestess have anything of his? Shaking off the thought, Eris’s gaze followed the direction in which Tia had gestured to. Having been to the temple before, she knew exactly what the Priestess was suggesting.
“We do need a bath, don’t we?” she said with a smile, following Tia down the hallway. Suddenly aware of the dried blood on her face, she felt a pang of embarrassment—especially in front of a Priestess of Aelios. Then again, the Priestess herself was also covered in blood. As Eris looked at Tia’s hands, her smile faltered slightly.
“I swear, Dawnhaven isn’t always like this…”Tia wrote out another note.
At least I know I’ll be of use here.
If her first day was anything to go by, healers would be
very necessary for the survival of Dawnhaven. Tia began walking down the hall. She looked down at the notebook to see her page nearly filled with her own handwriting. She turned the page - only to stop in her tracks.
There were
drawings. They were intricate and precise, done with a delicate hand. Notes were scrawled beside each diagram, descriptions of color, texture, size…
Pleiades’ face flashed in Tia’s mind. This wasn’t just a notebook - it was
his. Tia’s eyes widened. Her cheeks began to burn as blood rushed to them and Tia was filled with a stunning and complete
mortification. He had been offering to
loan her the book for their
conversation, and she’d
presumed to steal it. She could only stare down at it, frozen in place.
Eris stopped a few steps ahead when she noticed Tia had paused.
“Everything okay?” She asked, her eyes scanning Tia before settling on the notebook she held. Closing the gap between them, Eris peered at what had caught the Priestess's attention. Drawings? She glanced back up at Tia, who looked shocked, and then back at the drawings. A memory flashed in her mind of Pleiades sitting on the roof of the Alchemy Chamber, sketching not too long ago.
“Where did you find this?” She asked, assuming Pleiades must have lost it.
Tia jumped when she heard Eris’ voice suddenly so close. She blinked at her. Then back down at the notebook again. Her face was burning.
She flipped back to the previous page filled with her notes - she wouldn’t dream of writing on a page he’d been working on. She found a space to the side that was free, her writing small and slanted.
Pleiades let me borrow it. I should return it soon.
Eris raised an eyebrow at Tia’s note.
"Hm… I didn’t know Pleiades could be kind…" she said, beginning to walk down the hallway with Tia once more. Truthfully, she had never given Pleiades much of a chance to show kindness. Whenever he was around, Eris froze up under his gaze and she tried to avoid him as much as she could. Clearly, the Priestess was much braver than she was.
Tia smiled softly. Under the embarrassment, there was warmth - Pleiades had been both the first blight-born and the first kind face she’d encountered in Dawnhaven.
Exiting the interior of the temple, they were greeted by warm steam blanketing the air and the soothing sounds of the waterfall flowing into the larger public bath area. From above, Eris could make out a few figures in the public area, though the steam obscured their identities.
"Seems we're not the only ones with this idea." she remarked, her eyes shifting to the private and gender-separated hot springs situated at the top of the cliffs. Turning her gaze back to Tia, she waited to see which direction the Priestess preferred to go.
Tia hesitated. She was used to the expectation that she lead by example, but it never rested comfortably on her shoulders. She dipped her head, the motion more habit than anything else, and began walking towards the secluded pool. She didn’t have the energy to deal with any more people today.
Tia wound her way over the stones, until she found a small pool out of sight of the temple’s back entrance. Steam rose off the water’s surface, billowing into the night air. After a quick look to Eris for approval, Tia turned and made swift, neat work of her robes. She was careful to wrap the notebook deep in the layers of fabric, lest it get exposed to any water before she had the chance to return it. It was already going to be enough of an embarrassing ordeal, she couldn’t also give it back
ruined.
Free of her robes, Tia paused when she looked down at her skin. She was positively
covered in bruises, rosy marks along her thighs, her waist, her ribs… marks that would only grow deeper and more mottled as the days went on, evidence of the chaos of her first day in Dawnhaven. Tia pressed her lips together. She didn’t have the nerve to look back up at Eris, and see what expression the other woman might have. It was bad enough she’d seen the mass of scars at her throat. She would think… well, Tia didn’t know what. But the marks on her skin seemed like another failure, all the same.
Eris grimaced at the sight of Tia’s body covered in bruises and quickly averted her gaze, focusing on undoing her belt. Guilt washed over her—she should have been able to heal the Priestess more. She wished Tia’s first day here hadn’t been so terrible and longed to change it, even though she had nothing to do with the cause.
Tia stepped a foot into the spring. She gave a short inhale, body adjusting to the change in temperature. Then she gingerly lowered herself until she was submerged up to her collarbones, feeling every ache and bruise as she moved. A long, shaking sigh escaped her as the water’s warmth seeped into her skin.
Much less gracefully, Eris tossed her clothes aside haphazardly and quickly entered the hot spring to shield her bare skin from the brisk air. Lowering herself up to her neck, she closed her eyes, savoring the moment.
"This is nice." she mused, opening her eyes and focusing on Tia again as she raised herself so the water level was just above chest.
"I'm glad you're here." Tia, who had taken to leaning back against the edge of the spring, head tilted up and eyes closed, opened a dark eye to look at Eris. She offered a small smile, cheeks slightly warming.
Slowly, Eris waded over to the edge of the pool, looking down toward the public bath.
"I'm sorry about what happened…" she said, crossing her arms on the edge of the hot spring and leaning on them, trying to figure out who was at the lower level. Upon inspection, she noticed one of the figures had wings.
Not wanting to grab Pleiades attention, Eris turned back toward Tia and leaned against the edge of the pool.
"So..." she began, about to ask Tia in-depth questions about herself, but then realized that she would be forcing the Priestess to try to answer without her notebook. Instead, she opted for yes or no questions that Tia could nod to.
"Did you train at the Sunfire Citadel?"The priestess gave a small nod. She paused, before wading over towards the edge beside Eris. The snow, pale and feather-light as it fell, had formed small piles all around the edge of the spring. Tia reached out a hand and with a finger drew out a loose rectangle, with two large dots in opposite corners - the capitals of Aurelia and Lunaris. She dotted a small grouping outside the bottom left corner, and tapped it twice, looking over her shoulder at Eris. Then she dragged a smooth line through the snow to the Aurelian capital.
“I was there for a few months, training with a healer. It’s a magnificent place.” Eris said, watching as Tia drew something in the snow. She studied it for a moment, trying to decipher what Tia was communicating with her.
“The Ember Isles?” She asked, looking to Tia for confirmation.
“Is that where you’re from?”Tia nodded, still looking down at her makeshift map. The look in her eyes was distant, as she smiled sadly down at the small dots that had been home - for a short time, at least. Few Aurelians knew much about the Ember Isles. Most had baseline assumptions: they were impoverished, isolated, with a vastly different culture from the mainland. She hadn’t been there since she was a child.
Blinking away the memories, Tia looked back up to Eris. She held an open palm up to her, and then back down to the map, head tilted in a question.
Looking at the makeshift map in the snow, Eris pointed to the large dot that Tia had drawn a line to from the Ember Isles.
"I’m from the capital," she confirmed, turning her blue eyes back to the Priestess.
"I’ve never been to the Isles... I’d love to hear ab—" She hesitated, suddenly realizing the difficulty of what she was asking. The Priestess couldn't easily share information about the Ember Isles, especially without a notebook. Tia couldn’t help but flinch.
"Er— I’m sorry. They sound extraordinary from what I’ve read." she offered with a smile, sinking a little lower in the water, unsure if it was from embarrassment or from the cold nipping at her shoulders.
As Eris sank, so did Tia’s spirits. She looked back down at the thin layer of snow, her slender hand resting beside it. There was still a fine line of blood under her nails. Heavy emotions weighed her down like ballast in the shallow pool - a thick mix of guilt, shame,
grief, even though she couldn’t put a name to what exactly she’d lost. She felt Eris’ own emotions filling the space beside her, threatening to drag her down like the current of a sinking ship.
A hand went up to trace the scars of her ruined throat.
Then Tia’s other hand began tapping a slow, steady rhythm against the stone. She whistled, high and bird like over a lilting melody - an old folk song from the Ember Isles. If Tia concentrated, she could just make out the memory of her mother’s voice singing to her, even if she couldn’t make out the words. It was a light tune, drifting like the wind, if a bit melancholic. It filled the air just as the snow did, falling around them before the flakes melted away to nothing in the clouds of steam.
Shifting towards the center of the pool and sinking deeper until the water came up just above her nose, Eris watched and listened as Tia began to whistle. She closed her eyes, relishing the warmth enveloping her aching body and the melody of Tia’s song bouncing off the surrounding forest trees. She had never heard whatever it was that Tia was whistling, but it was comforting.
As the Priestess continued her tune, Eris submerged herself completely for a few seconds before resurfacing to shoulder level. She pushed wet strands of hair out of her face and began to scrub the dried blood from her hands and then her face, memories of the day flashing in her mind's eye.
As Tia’s song came to an end, Eris looked up at the Priestess and smiled.
“That was beautiful,” she said, glancing at the map Tia had drawn.
“Is it from home? It doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard in the capital.”The corner of Tia’s mouth quirked up, though she still didn't look up to Eris. She listened to the light waves she made, the water lapping gently against the stone. She nodded. Words seemed to catch in her throat. She could’ve said them, she knew. Her voice was weak, but not completely gone.
I was young. I miss them. But Tia couldn’t seem to make the words real, couldn’t give them to Dawnhaven.
She wiped away the map in the snow with a sweep of her hand. Tia pulled the long needles from her hair so it fell in a pail river down her back, floating across the surface of the spring. Then she took a deep breath and dipped herself underwater. Emerging, she took Eris’ lead and started cleaning the day off of her body.
“I’m Eris, by the way.” the brunette said softly, suddenly realizing that she had never even introduced herself to the Priestess.
“I lead the research operations.”Tia looked up at her as things clicked into place. A
researcher. She remembered her earlier assumption that Eris worked with the prince - that would explain it. Dawnhaven wasn't just a settlement, it was a
laboratory as the prince searched for a way to defy his fate — the one that ended with Tia driving a ceremonial dagger
into his heart — and find another way to stop the blight. And Eris was heading that search.
She must’ve been brilliant.
Tia’s lips parted. Her mind was suddenly spinning with warring thoughts. Her orders from the Queen, her duties to the High Priest, the dread and overwhelming thought of carrying them out or worse,
failing them — Seek the violet flow…“Willis.” She couldn’t stop the word if she’d tried. Above her mess of thoughts, the words she’d dreamt floated to the top like bubbles on the surface of roiling water.
Tia pulled back, like she could retreat in on herself, lips pressed closed. Her eyes darted around as she tried to get control of her thoughts. She looked back up to Eris, her dark eyes suddenly clear and direct, where before they’d been distant. There was urgency in her gaze. Tia swallowed, focusing on her throat, on controlling the sound.
“His blood.”“His blood?” Eris questioned, furrowing her brows in confusion as she sensed the immediate shift in Tia’s demeanor. Her mind flashed back to their earlier encounter with Willis, but she didn’t recall seeing any blood on him. It was Tia and Eris who had been covered in it.
“What about it?”Frustration buzzed under Tia’s skin - in her throat, in place of words. She darted her eyes around, looking for some way to communicate. Her skin was too wet for paper, the snow drift had melted away, and –
Tia looked back to Eris, an idea forming. She took a step forward.Reaching for her hand, slowly so she could understand what was happening, Tia held Eris’s palm up between them and traced out letters on her skin.
S T U D Y I T.Tia’s dark eyes met Eris’ blue ones, urgency thrumming through her. Tia didn’t know
why Willis’ blood was important, but clearly Aelios did, and now she was with the one person in town who might be smart enough to figure it out. It couldn’t be a coincidence.
Eris watched carefully as Tia traced the letters on her palm, trying her best to focus despite her hands still trembling from exhaustion.
“Study…” she murmured, glancing up at Tia inquisitively. She was puzzled as to why Tia wanted her to investigate the blood of this new blight-born.
“Um… Okay, I will see what I can do.” She nodded, trusting that there had to be a reason. The Priestess wouldn’t ask her to do something without purpose… right?
Though she did not wish to see Willis again any time soon, it seemed Tia had other plans for her.
“Maybe he’s… willing to make a donation?” She cringed at the thought of asking the blight-born man for a sample of his blood and how he might react. She’d have to talk to Flynn and Orion about it first. The idea of doing this alone with Willis was terrifying.
“Have you seen his blood?” she asked, wondering why Tia would even bring it up. Perhaps she had noticed something during their first encounter?
Tia hesitated, before nodding. Suddenly, she felt self-conscious about this. It wasn’t exactly widely known that she had the capacity for prophecies. The High Priest knew of course, and the Queen, but when she’d been training under him he’d instructed her not to tell anyone else. He’d said the attention would overwhelm her, and until her ability could be properly relied upon it would be best to not give anyone the false impression that her visions were to be trusted. He was right, of course - the vision of Willis was only the second prophecy she had ever been shown, and could she even tell if it was
real? Two instances was not a reliable pattern, and who knew if this wasn’t just a nightmare fueled by stress and overexertion? But still…
...Tin…
She felt the weight of those golden eyes…
...Ga…
...Even now.
...Ra…
Tia’s eyebrows pulled together as she looked at Eris. She couldn’t give her
nothing to go off of, especially if Tia was asking her to go face Willis again. And… the High Priest would understand, wouldn’t he? This wasn’t
Tia, this was the
goddess demanding action. She forced a long breath in, like it would steady her. Looking down at Eris’ palm, she traced out another word.
P U R P L E.She didn’t have it in her to defy the High Priest, nerves holding her back. Fear was vice-like around her heart at the thought of disappointing him yet again. When she was sure Eris had the word, she wrote again.
L I K E B L I G H T.Eris locked eyes with Tia, searching for the truth as if she could pull it out with a mere look. From what she could tell, Tia was being honest. She didn’t know the Priestess well, but what reason would she have to lie?
Purple blood was intriguing, though it wasn’t the strangest transformation Eris had seen. Still, it seemed odd enough to warrant investigation.
“Interesting…” Eris said aloud, her mind racing.
“I’ll look into it,” she affirmed, taking the hand Tia had been drawing in and gently squeezing Tia’s hand reassuringly.
“Thank you for letting me know.” She wasn’t sure if Willis’s blood would lead to any breakthroughs, but it was more of a lead than they had come across in the last two months. So far, nothing new had emerged.
A sudden splash in the water below made Eris jump, and she squeezed Tia’s hand a bit harder for a moment, clearly skittish from the day’s events. Releasing Tia’s hand, she looked over the edge of their pool at the public bath beneath.
“Seems Pleiades is having fun…” she remarked, relieved that the Priestess hadn’t chosen to subject their naked bodies to the likes of him.
Tia looked down at her now empty hands. There was a chill in the absence of Eris’ warmth. She didn’t believe her, not fully. The Priestess could tell. But she’d been
kind.
Tia clenched and unclenched her fingers, guilt and nerves swirling in her - she should’ve told her the truth. She shouldn’t have said
anything at all. Why should Eris believe her? Tia wasn’t even sure she believed
herself, but something had to be done, right? She glanced up at the back of Eris’ head, her hair inky and dark from the water. Pleiades’ name sent another wave of anxiety through her body - she’d
stolen from him because she was an idiot who couldn’t tell when someone was just being polite and she was a liar and she’d been sent to spy on the town and she
couldn’t be trusted with anything, she was a disappointment, she was a failure, she was going to be sent away again –
The splash of water was gentle against the stone as Tia emerged from the spring, reaching down to grab her robes. Her fingers were too quick as they fumbled to keep the hard shape of the notebook wrapped in her dirty outer robe, separating out the relatively clean inner layer. The winter air was a shock against her body that immediately had her shaking - at least, she told herself it was because of the cold. It took too long before her arms were through the holes, and she couldn’t even stop to bother tying it shut. Her long, sodden hair stuck to her back, soaking through the cloth. She clenched the two sides closed together, the silken bundle held in front of her.
Tia spun on her heel to face the spring again. She couldn’t even manage to look at Eris before bowing deeply. Shame and fear and guilt were a frenetic mix in her blood as she squeezed her eyes shut.
Then Tia straightened and walked as quickly as she could away from the pool, fighting with her own quick, short breaths that rattled in her lungs.
Eris frowned as Tia swiftly took her leave, a weight of anxiety suddenly pressing upon her chest. Had she said something wrong
again? The Priestess had left without warning, just as Sunni had earlier that day. Eris was starting to notice a pattern of her own terrible social skills. Clearly, it was her problem, so she didn’t try to object when Tia left.
Spotting something glinting in the moonlight, she noticed that Tia had left her hairpins on the ground next to where her robes had been. Picking them up, Eris twirled them around in her fingers, watching how the moon's light reflected off of them. Sighing, she glanced up at the moon, listening to the distant chatter in the public bath area. It was so much easier for others to make friends, even Pleiades, it seemed. Why was she so inept at simple human interaction yet so skilled in almost everything else she put her mind to?
Reaching outside of the hot spring, Eris tucked the hairpins safely into her skirt pocket. She’d make sure to return them to the Priestess at some point, though it seemed that Tia had reached her limit with Eris for the night. Feeling defeated, Eris sank further into the pool. She figured she should leave as well, but the comfort of the water felt more needed for now. She’d go home... in due time.
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