29 Aumtumn, 513 AV
There were muffled voices from the room opposing her. Some softer than others, a few louder and aggravated. 'Come on, Arysana.' She thought to herself, 'You've got a day's worth of work ahead of you, studying is now or never.' Her eyes scanned the delicate lettering, and averting the tarnishes and stains that often came with library books. She found a familiar symbol, the glyph's design boasting a circular centre, several curved arms spiralling out from its edges. 'Nice and simple. The circle will be difficult to draw free-hand, however. I suppose I could use one of my journals for practise.' She read more about the qualities if the symbol, the ways in which it best used, a scroll in this case. As she always did, her eyes dwelt a little too long on the dangers of its misuse, and she felt a lump in her throat. “Everything is so dangerous…” she mumbled, “it’d be nice if I could do some form of magic without risking death or serious injury.”
“Well, that’s just not the way these things work. Here, carry these and follow me. No questions.”
Arysana stood bolt upright, Armitican towering over her, before compliantly taking the heavy load of paper work. “What are-” she cut herself off when she was sent a hard look, and her gaze lingered on the kinder professors who were making their own timely exits from the room; some gave her a teasing look, others offered their sympathies. She sighed and pressed forward, finding it slightly difficult to keep up with the fast tracked pace that Armitican walked with, the weight of the paperwork, and the awkwardness of the book winged under her arm making carrying the items an interesting task. Luckily enough, she found, Armitican seemed to be heading for his large office/study, which meant that there was only a single turn before they were to arrive. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, turn corner, 4, 3, 2, arrived.
Armitican jammed his key into the lock, before pushing the heavy door open, and allowing Arysana to enter first. “What…” she said, a frown creasing her forehead. The setup had changed dramatically since the last time she’d seen it. There was no longer a quaint coffee table and couch that awaited those that entered, which furnishings of large bookshelves and potted plants divided the room, with Armitican’s own desk and personal belonging tucked away from immediate view. Instead there was a smaller, thick desk, angle a little to the left of the room. Rich in colour and design, it was quite a sight, a rather comfortable looking green chair standing tall behind it. Standing immediately behind it was a large, tall cupboard, with plants and candle stands occupying corners and giving light.
“Set the paper work down there, if you will, and sort through the profiles.”
Arysana’s face dropped, but she bit her lip as she set the pile down. “Is there anything in particular I’m looking for?” She asked, taking seat. At least she’d be comfortable.
“They’re the profiles of those currently working with the Dawn Tower, be it as students or staff.”
‘Why is Armitican set with such work? Wouldn’t thing kind of thing normally be the duti-’
“Make sure the name, age, and residence are all filled in, along with their association with the Tower. It is vital for safety that these checks are done at least twice annually, and that you ensure that all are filled in correctly.”
Arysana nodded twice, beginning with the first sheet. “Right, got it.”
He paused for a moment more, shifting the weight of his head from side to side, before breaking the silence by setting the door in an opened position. "I'll be at my desk, should any ask for me, ask their name and business, before reporting to me and acting as I ask."
Once more, Arysana nodded absently, eyes already tearing across the first paper, "Understood."
He gave a short, tempered sigh, before slipping beyond the cupboards and bookshelves, completing whatever grand task he was set.
The first one seemed to be a fellow student, name somewhat exotic, age young, and residence in the other side of the city. Good, right? Easy. Nothing so difficult. The next was one of the lesser known staff, she guessed, the woman old in her years and working as a maid. She lived quite nearby, Arysana found, and had no problem recalling the street and landmarks of the little region. She yawned, already tired of the work, but still with a stack of forms to sort and wade through. Next came a few students, followed by a professor, with a large number of cleaning and reception staff, before more students’s names graced the list. Quickly she came to her own name, and felt an odd shiver creep up her spine. It was weird, seeing her name in these official records, but she couldn’t shake the guilt that crept up her spine upon reading of her own occupation – student [reimancy, glyphing], personal assistant [Professor H.M. Armitican]. She tried to push out the worry of not actually spending much time studying thus far in the season, with events such as climbing and working entrapping most of her attention.
She quickly shook herself from her stupor, and brought her mind back to the remedial work she’d been set. She placed her own file into those who she’d personally gone off and approved, before trolling through another several profiles. Finally, she came to one that was slightly odd. It was some older gentlemen, who apparently worked in some minor renovation a little while back. His name seemed true enough, but the residence that he had listed quite simply didn’t add up – he claimed to live in a lot nearby the woman’s own family home – one that quite simply didn’t exist. Arysana bit her lip and sorted the draw’s desk for a quill and ink, upon finding which she quickly made a note on the paperwork, and set it aside.
As she worked on, she let her gaze become sharper, now strangely aware of all the little slip ups and falsities that could be present in the texts, and vaguely wondered if she’d had missed any. She made a mental note of the number that she’d already gone through, and pondered on going back and double checking them once she’d completed the remainder of the large pile. The next ones where examined sharply, several professors and a student, all of which she looked over with a harsh eye, going through her own memory and knowledge of students and staff to aid her in the picking up of errors. Thankfully, none of the next several had any errors that seemed purposeful, with one, she found, to have failed to complete writing her address down – having specified that she lived on a certain floor number and door within Tower’s Respite, but not which wing.
Arysana gave her the benefit of the doubt, and instead wrote in ‘Eastern Wing’ by the side of her scrawled address, and leaving the now-completed form in the checked pile. She supposed that the addition of that little detail may have not been required, but from what she knew of some of the staff, she doubted that should any letters be posted, that the one doing the handwriting will take the care to add in the missing information. She sighed and stretched her back, rather pleased by her own progress. She’d finished three quarters of the pile, so there was only several dozen remaining. As she went on with her work, she found it odd that Sousa Dawn’s own profile was within the list, having expected the matriarch to be far above such a requirement. She eventually found Armitican’s profile, and was rather stunned to see that his place of home was within one of the more pretentious regions of the city.
But then again, she supposed, she always thought him to be a bit of a pompous prick – so she shouldn’t have been all too surprised of her little discovery. By then, there was only a few profiles left, all of which were those of fellow students, a few of which also resided within Tower’s Respite, but only two of which she could really say she knew – one of which being Elsie, especially.
Once all filing was done and dusted, she drummed her fingers upon the table, debating whether or not she wished to waste time enough that Midnight rest was on its verge, and she was warranted to go home and rest. “Done yet?” quickly came a voice, and Arysana smothered her sigh.
“Yes, sir. There were a couple with problems, they’ve been set here aside.”
He gave two short nods as he examined the piles, collecting them both in the one hand – index finger preventing them from merging.
“I’ll need to bring these to Sousa Dawn,” He said, tone with an unneeded finality. “I had to move a great deal of furniture to accommodate for your desk,” there was a bitter twist to his words, like he changed his mind as to the amount of trouble he was going to far too late to change his mind, and held Arysana personally accountable. “-so the cupboard behind you is empty and in need of refilling.” He gestured around his nook, motion direct. “There is a pile of log books, journals, and general information. Those with red leaflets require you to take home and thoroughly read through, and entail general answers to any enquiries you may gain. Organise those with no notes behind you, you’ll most likely need to refer to them in the future, so it will serve you well if you ensured that at least knew what was within them. You may leave once ready and what I have asked has been sorted.”
Arysana ordered her demands in her mind, nodding absently towards the cupboard, bitter at the thought of losing yet another night that could otherwise be better spent. ‘First I’m a maid, and then I’m an administrator, and now I’m a maid and then an administrator. I wonder what further thrilling job opportunities I have to look forward too.’ She tried her best not to let her words of poison seep into her expression, only letting out her groan of frustration until he was well and truly out of the doors. “Not like I have sleeping needs, or anything,” she began, complaining as she sought and collected the piles of books she’d been advised to – three large stacks they were. Some bound by leather, others wood. A few were ornately decorated, for whatever the reason, others far plainer.
All were heavy, none the less, and as Arysana took one pile after another she quickly questioned her own physical fitness and well being. She’d been getting stronger, slowly but surely, but with her climbs and slips and inability to lift even the lighter of the pots within the kitchen when filled with water, she quickly found herself making the personal promise to up her ante and increase her strength and physical aptitude.
“Beyond sleeping, it really doesn’t matter to me that I have very well wasted the season thus far in terms of how little I managed to study and practise.” Her voice was the only sound heard within the room, and she only then realised how odd a thing it was. She took the time to hum a tune, a little children’s rhyme she’d learned in Wind Reach, singing a word or two and glad there was none to hear her pitch and tone, nor coarse pronunciation. The three piles then became two, with Arysana finding to her dismay four of the larger books being those that she was to read, the other dozen to be skimmed and put away.
She took in a heavy breath, deciding that she could simply figure out which tome held what knowledge when it was required, throwing them onto shelves in accordance to what the title seemed to hint at in terms of genre. Her eyes them fell heavily on the four hefty books, testing ways to carry and hold the load before setting off on the journey home, feet taking her off quickly down the hallways, partly because she felt that she would drop the load shortly, partly because she had no desire to run into Armitican.
Midnight Rest ranked as high as Arysana's favourite. It was the one which reminded her most of Wind Reach, and the only that allowed her the pleasure of a moment of stargazing both before and after her short sleep. She was still on her way to Tower’s Respite when her eyes sought the sky, and allowed herself to be guided by the flow of people. She’d managed to find a current that lead her right in the direction of home, and tightened her grip on her pile of books as she let her eyes adjust to the night sky.
She’d never been able to understand why so few people took the time to look up every now and then, nor did she understand why people never marvelled at how the stars and constellations were the same, if not similar, in many places. She couldn’t help but give a thought to the Star Lady and Leth, finding herself far more appreciative of their world than she was of Syna’s, though her respect of any didn’t falter. She hummed her usual tunes as she went on, eyes raking the skies as she dissolved into her own little world in bliss.
There was the slightest amount of light pollution, but it was nothing too blinding. Her view was far more often obstructed by the walkways, rooves, and tree tops, her gaze seeking any tell or sign of a shinya on patrol in such times. In all her years in Lhavit, she’d never seen one unless it was on purpose, and she quickly found herself searching for them wherever she went. Whether it was a lack of keen eye, or a large amount of talent on their part, she didn’t quite know. All she could truly tell was that she could never turn her eyes to the stars without being hit by a wall of thoughts and inspirations, and she’d spend the bells following even the shortest amount of stargazing in a state of wonder and bewilderment.
It was one of the few key things that kept her going and learning. The thought of how many millions of lights that shone in the sky, the wonder to their mysteries, and those of the world she herself walked on, thoughts of secrets and truths and stories engulfed her mind. It never quite lasted long enough, however. When she was young she had all the time in the world, home schooled by Aunt Lyanne and free of caring for her younger siblings duties early on, but she spent it in a daze that she, as a young woman, could not quite comprehend.
In the little time that the sky was exposed and Arysana could aptly search for constellations and figures, she found that only one stood out – a maiden that she saw far too often on her journey from Wind Reach to Lhavit. It was a large, hulking figure, whose out stretched arms made her always seem to be a guide. Whether or not that was truly the case, however, Arysana didn’t know. Stories from the Inarta and those of Lhavit, as well as the many dozen she learned on her travel in between were muddled in her mind.
A shallow sigh escaped her as she saw the spires of Tower’s Respite loom in the very near distance, and she broke from her daze and hurried herself forward, the thinning crowds and dimming of the lanterns and lights hinting that had Midnight rest not begun, it was only chimes away from doing so.
