Lady Laurel rapped upon the door frame of the Luminary’s chambers softly.
“Luminary?” She called. Then, hearing no reply, “Constance?”
“Here, My Lady,” was the response heard from within. “You have the voice of a Faerie.”
“‘Tis simply my Aptitude, Luminary.”
“What brings you here? I am surprised, after - “
“After your disagreement with my husband? I cannot say I fully agree with either side, but I feel we need more answers. I think we should explore further this spark that you have felt.”
“As you are an Acoustic, we will take an auditory approach. I will additionally chant the spell, drawing on my Lexicality, and as you sing it, I will perform the other necessary measures.”
Constance gathered various bottles and substances from the cupboards against the far wall of the room. Organizing the swirling purples and icy crystals, she poured them into a deep basin and pulled out her wand from the folds of her feather light robes. Pushing her sleeves up to her elbows and taking a deep breath, she began her chant. After one round, she motioned for Lady Laurel to join her, stirring the contents of the basin and adding the final herbs and concoctions.
The combination of their voices, with Lady Laurel’s musical dance of the scales to enhance the spoken word, created a beautifully eerie atmosphere. The room felt void of any connection to the outside world
Constance gestured emphatically with her wand, pausing to dip it once into a shallow bowl of blue-clear water. The wand tip lit up with the luminescence of the water against the Divine light created by the harmony of the voices. Continuing the ritual, Constance added additional herbs in a circular motion onto the floor between the two of them.
Slowly, a portal began to form, as if she had opened a sheer curtain separating the Realms. The image before Lady Laurel and Luminary was milky at first, but then became clear.
“Now, let us see what we have here,” Lady Laurel peered into the image before them.
“When I felt the spark, I have not sensed specifically from where it came. Other Fae have also reported a shift, though some have attributed it to the flux in the Aptitudes due to the actions of the Chimera. I am certain though that it was a positive thing...and also from beyond our Realm.”
Lady Laurel did not speak aloud the thought they both shared, that was already hashed so thoroughly in the Council gathering, that it was impossible for the Destitute to demonstrate Aptitude mastery, or even to be in tune with their gift at a level that would trigger the senses of the Faerie leader.
Instead, she gave a wan smile, and pointed to a figure in the vision.
“This man, he must be a father. Look at the way in which he places his hand upon the smaller girl’s shoulders. I wonder what that colorful substance is she is eating. There is nothing like it in nature,” Lady Laurel observed.
“They appear to be enjoying the green space and natural setting of their surroundings. Let us try something else.” Constance gave another wave of her wand.
“This one is noisy. Such loud, pulsing sounds,” Lady Laurel complained. “How horrid.”
“It rumbles, like thunder,” Constance pointed, “that great mechanism. A created beast for travel.”
“And there are so many of them, rolling down that stone pathway.”
“They do seem in a hurry,” Constance agreed. “But if we look a little closer, the people become visible. See there, an establishment. The colors are warm and vibrant. The people seem so comfortable gathered there. Groups of them - an intellectual discussion perhaps? Sipping that drink, the steam rising gently from the tipped rim. Even the individuals seem engrossed in something in front of them, completely at ease there. It looks as if they purchase their food and drink and then simply commune together.”
“How...mercantile,” Lady Laurel said.
Constance laughed. “Oh my Lady, while we may live in our terra palaces, you know not even all in Eirenne have such luxuries. What I think is more important in this scene is that they seem happy, intelligent creatures. Let us try one more.”
Again, Constance waved her wand and peered into the vision portal.
“Ah, now this is a demonstration of intellect, or rather the pursuit of it,” Lady Laurel smiled.
They both watched as various groups of students travelled the hallways of the school. Elder humans directed groups of youth within the classrooms.
“It does appear to be like our Academy,” The Luminary agreed. “Is their intellect, their desire for knowledge akin enough to a spark of potential to connect with an Aptitude? I fail to see the connection, especially if the knowledge they seek is not the same as truth.”
“There is something there...I feel it again. Do you sense it?” Constance’s voice was wistful, brimming with hope.
“I’m afraid it is not my Aptitude, nor my human nature to sense such things. If you say it is there, we shall rely on your leadership Luminary.”
“They are an interesting people,” Constance noted. “When I was in my youth, we studied the customs of the humans of the Earth Realm. It looked nothing like the images I see here now.”
“Have you never, in your time as Luminary, sought to observe them?”
“I only looked into the Modern Era early on in my appointment as Luminary, to understand what had been sacrificed. Since then, no portals, image or transport, of course, have been opened, even at the Academy, in the hopes of preserving our limited power,” Constance responded.
Lady Laurel murmured a noncommittal sound of understanding.
“I wonder in what ways their path of life has changed since the Divide. In what ways would their world have been different?” Constance questioned.
“The true question that we must ask,” Lady Laurel injected “is, if we set aside the fact that breaking down the Divide ourselves would release the full evil of the Chimera, possibly sending harm to these people whose lives, unbeknownst to them, we have already meddled with, and undoing the binding spell by our predecessors, it would also allow the Fae to cross Realms once again and perhaps reach out to the Destitute: are they worthy of the Fae alliance? Of the alliance of all of Eirenne?”
“All creatures deserve our alliance, or at least our respect. Though we may have placed a boundary between our peoples, it was meant as a kindness. If you remember, the Destitute are human, just like you. Be not xenophobic, for you share the same blood Lady Laurel. In a sense, the Destitute of Earth’s Modern Era are more your people than the Fae of the Perpetual Realm,” Constance smiled.
“I do not mean to be shallow-minded. I am simply wondering if it is in the best interest of the people Lord Roche and I rule here in Eirenne. The other humans. As a people, our customs are more of the Fae than the Earth humans. I want to preserve what we hold dear,” Lady Laurel explained.
“And that is the Aptitudes, is it not?” Constance probed.
“Yes,” Lady Laurel sighed, “ Of course that is true. But what - “
“There!” Constance suddenly cried, pointing to the portal image, “There, I sense it now! The Spark, the power! How it shines. It is a power of goodness.” The image showed a group of humans, most likely a family, sitting in some sort of transportation device. A young girl sat, physically with them, but seemingly emotionally and thoughtfully apart.
“I sense Lexicaility...though something else is there as well. She is not of the Destitute. Her connection to the Aptitude is in tact!” Constance cried gleefully.
“There is a book in her hand. It would make sense,” Lady Laurel observed.
“Our predecessors knew that the Aptitudes were dying out on Earth, being stifled, but the texts do say that there was a possibility for reflective retention in a few gifted individuals. They would not know what their gift was of course, but it was possible, if passed down from generation to generation, for hints to survive. Their abilities would be raw, however, untrained, and existing, by this time, with some many years passed, only a sliver of what they could have been.”
“It seems so sad, when you phrase it thus,” Lady Laurel murmured. “To be only part of the person you could have been, if only they had the ability to open their minds.”
“Of course, it was only a theory, that even those minuscule few would have hints of a connection to their Aptitude,”Constance mused.
“Then what of this girl?” Lady Laurel gestured back to the portal image. “She is proof that we have hope, is she not?”
“Perhaps,” Constance consented. “I fervently hope it to be so.”
She stared silently again at the image, then reached out, as if to brush the hair from the girl’s eyes. Though she could not pass through the portal image, at that moment, the girl looked up and seemingly straight at Constance, her head cocked slightly to the side. Constance gasped and pulled her hand back. Had the girl sensed her presence?
“Did you see that?” Constance asked.
Lady Laurel nodded slowly, “that was peculiar. It was as if she were listening to our conversation.”
Constance was not aware if any of those with the Histrionic were able to hear across dimensions. It was becoming more and more of a puzzle. This girl, who held the spark of the power of an Aptitude, now seemed to demonstrate more than one ability.
“More than one Aptitude. Surviving through the ages. My ability to locate this spark more than once. A clear demonstration of power.” Constance mentally ticked off the elements of the quandary before them.
“I’m thinking of another tale,” Lady Laurel cut through. “The tale most believe to be but rumor, to offer hope in time of desperation of the former council.”
Constance stiffened. “The tale of the Transcendent child. A myth, of course. Even when the Aptitudes were strong, hearty, and pure, it was rare to have such one born. Besides that honor has always belonged to the Fae.”
“Your race is blessed with the strongest of the gifts of the Aptitudes,” Lady Laurel acknowledged.
“In the elder days of the Modern Era, they believed us to have magic,” Constance smiled.
“They believed you to not really exist. You were a fairy-tale. What they called magic, we simply claim as inborn ability,” Lady Laurel smiled back.
“This human girl represents a responsibility to use to reach out to the Modern Era and once again bridge boundaries, consequences or no. And even if we had not found the spark of this child here, we created the state of rest of the Destitute in blind hope. Though I do not fault them, it was ignorant, if not erroneous, of our predecessors. I hate to admit it as she is so imperitent, but perhaps the Sorceress was right,” Constance said.
“Then let us break through. Let us make contact. I will inform the rest of the Council of our findings and we will proceed as previously discussed.”