Celestine: She keeps...neglecting us.
Elysia: *adjusts sunglasses* to LoL.
Arlin: I'm sure she'll get her act together soon and post up that sketchdump she's been working on! ^.^
Celestine: ....hopefully.
Elysia: ...eh. Maybe.
Arlin: *chides Elysia and Celestine* Be optimistic! ^.^ Now onto this week's story! ^.^!!
PREVIOUS SET (16-20)
21. Never Again
“Magic and weapons major? Both?” His expression was incredulous or amused. Celestine thought for an instant she understood why Elysia was always so annoyed with him.
“Yes. I can’t…um…decide.”
Vesper laughed. Celestine stared hard at the elemental gate floating between her hands.
“Have you tried going without one?” His voice was sympathetic and she remembered why she still talked to him.
She nodded.
“And?”
“No.”
“No?”
“I’ll not go without either. It’s…well,…it’s…”
His gaze said he understood. “You know Fiana? She majoring in healing and summoning but takes weaponry classes…. You’re fine. It’s not that crazy.”
Elysia had about three minutes before her roommates returned.
“Can’t you go any faster?” She glowered at the computer. “An Athwart 6237 Inkspool laptop wouldn’t need another speed-chip.”
“Finally. Sye’niar…sword?…here?….”
She closed the browser just as the door opened.
“….during winter break. Oh, Elysia’s already back!” Arlin danced on a invisible line towards her. “Angelic…you already got an 100% on the project….”
“On the historical events, but I’d like to read The Lady Archangel’s chronology as well. Know where I could get a copy? Online maybe?”
Arlin frowned, suspicious. “Temple archives….An attendant should know that.”
Celestine stared at her grade. Shock. Horror. Puzzlement. Disappointment. Failure.
She pushed her feelings aside as best she could…for now.
“Something’s wrong.” Arlin was at her desk once the bell rang. “The lesson was…. easy?”
“I-I’m not so sure anymore….” Hesitantly, Celestine explained. Elysia might see her as a failure…but Arlin wouldn’t….right?
“…It’ll be fine! You’ll see!”
“Hi…bad grade?” Elysia guessed instantly.
“How—?” Arlin exclaimed.
Celestine nodded miserably. “Any advice?”
“Just get every question right?” Frowns and raised eyebrows answered her. “Not joking.” Sigh. “Want to study together?”
“Right! We’ll A.C.E. this test!”
All Celestine remembered of the fortnight remainder of Fall Semester was cramming for calculus every waking moment. Finals came and went. Grades were delivered. B-. It would have to do. She had survived. Next quarter would start anew.
The dreamscape was different that night. A black haired queen lay poisoned, surrounded by mages weaving strange magics. The King entered.
“How is she?”
“Worse, sire. She won’t be able to attend the Ceremony of Rebirth at this rate.”
The King was quiet, worry and sadness layered in his face. “Lady Auiya cannot be left to wait. We must find another ancilla.”
Elysia and Arlin were away for winter break; it was just Celestine.
Her and any voices in her head.
Celestine glanced around the cafeteria from her room’s corner. The unnerving quiet wasn’t just because her roommates weren't arguing amicably.
That was it. White-haired yellowed-eyed Fiana Tallwater and crimson-haired, pink-eyed Anuna Ekrygon were seated at their usual spot, both of their pretty noses buried in spellbooks. Rhys Vesper, daughter of Chancellor Vesper, scoffed.
“You guys are freaks..”
“What—?” Fiana’s eyes teared up.
“I”m moving out.” Rhys stopped, stared at Celestine and laughed. “Find yourself another freak.”
Comment Blurbs
21. Never Again
Yes, I note that Celestine is using an elemental gate in this post, when I stated last batch that she focuses on non-elemental magic. Please think of this as a bit of general ed for magic majors. XD But I don’t really think anyone’s following this anyways lolol
I couldn’t really think of a way to answer the theme “Never Again” and having Celestine actually say “Never again” in response just seemed a bit weird so it’s more implied. No more than having a flat “No,” now that I think about it, haha.
According to Vesper, magic and weaponry are about as linked as being a math and literature major. :P He’s just too conventional lol.
22. Online
Umm I don’t actually like this very much either… the idea is building just showing Arlin’s mild suspicion of Elysia being too obsessed over her (former) history project.
Elysia’s preoccupation with getting a Athwart 6237 Inkspool laptop is actually a joke referencing to Rina from the anime “Mermaid Melody”. For most of the first seasons, Rina is preoccupied with getting a flat-screen TV. I thought it was so hilarious I had to incorporate this into ECA, which was my active project then. (This just goes to show how darned long ECA has taken…as is still not done…)
23. Failure
Celestine’s bad math grades are probably inspired from my own lack of math skills as well.
The inspiration of this post is from Mr. Crowe, my Pre-Calculus and Statistics teacher. I would ask something like,“How do I get an A/ good grade in [any class]?”
The reply was always the same and completely not sarcastic: “It’s easy. Just get every question right.”
And in a frustrating way, that makes a lot of sense.
24. Rebirth
Alright, back to weird stuff. I was debating between how low Celestine’s calculus grade would be and finally left it at B-.
Ancilla actually means “maidservant” in archaic english (derived from latin I think). It can also mean an accessory or other auxiliary object/person. In the context of my stories, it is the maidservant of the Lady Auiya, the seraphic patron of the Land of Dreams. The mortal queen is her Ancilla Suprema—literally Chief of Maids—and is a necessary part of the Land of Dreams’s Ceremony of Rebirth, which restores vitality to the dreaming world.
Some old trivia: Originally I had all the characters who became ancilla add an A to the beginning of their name. (For example, Kerra—> Akerra.) This didn’t help the already glut of characters whose name started with A that weren’t ancilla. XD
Um yea. I’m weird XD
25. Breaking Away
I think everyone saw this coming. Rhys, a little too weirded out by her roommates Fiana and Anuna, moves out of their room. I had been looking for what Rhys would say upon leaving and one person suggested “Stop living under false pretenses, you delusional old hags. The reality you perceive is fake; you would never have anything nearly as interesting in your mundane lives. Perhaps you should think of different alternatives to your lifestyle.” It’s really mean, but I think it’s worded kinda funny. XD I ended up just using the more concise version.
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