Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me (Sondra)

[Trista]

Trista's wings beat once involuntarily at Eunoe's voice. It was lucky that she was sitting down, and not in the air.

That appeared to be as far as her luck was going to carry her, however. Eunoe seemed bent on reading Trista's tarot, and Sondra, the only person who might have done something to save her, wasn't trying very hard. Trista, it seemed, had walked into her own doom. Maybe they would be generous and simply throw her out of the house. The Konti were a gentle people, but she also had the feeling that it might be better not to make them angry.

She glanced at Sondra, her eyes narrowing a bit. "I'm not sure what Sondra's gift is, but I think I may have seen it in action." That would explain the commotion that had resulted in their meeting.

Trista took a sip of her tea -- she didn't really care for tea, but she couldn't well turn it down -- and then set the glass beside her. She took a deep, deep breath, and then held out her hands as she had been directed.

She rather wished she had been offered a blindfold, and perhaps a last meal too, but as it was, there was nothing to do except stoically accept her fate. And hope that maybe someone would write a poem about it, even though it would probably be a didactic piece about the dangers of crime.

[Sondra]

"Look at her Grandmother, she's not enjoying this," Sondra chimed in between sips of tea.

"Anticipation, K'Sondra," Eunoe purred. "People fear the unknown and now we are going to try and distill it to three cards."

Despite Trista's passing glare, Sondra only leaned into the cushion of the sofa, putting her dirty boots on a satin ottoman. Fortune telling was an art, not a science, especially when it came to the cards. If Grandmother had unearthed her seer's crystal, tho, Sondra would have been using it like a juggling ball.

"I envy you, though, Trista. It's rare to see K'Sondra enjoy what divination Avalis has bestowed on her. Even rarer to see her read fortunes."
Eunoe's smile was liquid and warm, "But I digress."

She closed her eyes as her hand hovered over the top card. Gently she turned it and placed it in Trista's palms.

"The Chariot," she announced, "Upright."

The card was a small work of art, painted in oil. A large nautilus bearing a regal Konti was being pulled across a foamy sea by a team of white dolphins, the edges of the card were a web of bright blue coral. It was a piece appropriately feminine for the owner of the deck.

"A card has many interpretations, but the skill is sensing which applies to the one being read. Your card tells me you are going to take a long journey."

Her pale hand retreated to the deck again, doling out another card.
"The Moon, upright."
And so it was a perfect orb aloft in an indigo sky.
"For you it is a mark of deception. Of an illusion."

Intrigued by this, Eunoe turned the next card with anticipation.
"The Voice. Upright."
A depiction of mist and dark in a womanly form stretched across the face of the card. The border was thorns and distorted mirrors.
"You are on the brink of a surreal and strange experience." Eunoe's brows knit and she pressed her lips together.
"The premonition seems from far away, a distorted echo."

Eunoe reverent placed her deck on the table and removed Trista's cards from her hands. She spread them in front of the Akvatari, giving her time to absorb their omens.

[Trista]

Trista hardly breathed as the cards were revealed. As Eunoe spoke, the Akvatari had a strange feeling that the Konti woman could see right through her, regardless of how imprecise some claimed tarot readings could be.

For several moments after Eunoe laid the cards on the table, Trista simply stared at them. Journey, deception, a strange experience. The first two were painfully obvious; as for the third, she wondered what could be more surreal and strange than her meeting with Ezebel. But that, it seemed, was farther in the future, and not of immediate concern.

Finally, Trista raised her blue eyes to meet Eunoe's. "Thank you, ma'am." Then, almost in a whisper, she added, "I'm sorry."

Sorry for what, she did not clarify. It could easily have been taken as being sorry to impose, or being sorry for the trouble of her visit. But Trista had a deep feeling that, if she managed to steal this artifact of which Sondra had told her, it wouldn't be because she had managed to deceive Eunoe, but rather, because the elder Konti had let her take it. Maybe she thought it would do Sondra some good. At any rate, the time for action had come.

"Begging your pardon, but I'm afraid I need to take your leave for a moment and catch something to eat. Not that I doubt your hospitality, but Akavatari dietary needs are perhaps best met outside of a kitchen." She gave a half-joking smile, and then inclined her head formally to Eunoe.

Unless she was detained, she would now put the plan into practice, trying to slip into the tower and then into the ocean. She was still resolutely unenthusiastic about the prospect, but at this point, it seemed the only thing to do.

[Sondra]

Eunoe's face was briefly taken aback with confusion when the Akvatari apologized. She then smiled, to comfort apprehension. The Akvatari was likely nervous to take her leave, to admit her strange diet.

Konti, were perceptive, but limited in their range and depth of divination. Eunoe sensed a nervousness deeper than mere embarrassment in her guest.

"If you wish, Trista, but I hope you will rejoin us in due time," the stunning Konti replied. One couldn't tell how much she discerned, but their was a weight in her gaze.

Sondra spoke to break the spell she knew her Grandmother could weave.
"Enjoy your lunch, Trista."
She leaned in, and continued, Trista could hear her as she flew out the door.
"Now, Grandmother, I've been told you're eager to see me. What is it you are desperate to impart?"

The tower window was unlatched, letting in the seabreeze. The round room was in the same style as the rest of the house, but richer. The ceiling was painted with constellations and bordered in scrawls of runes and signs.

There were bookshelves along the wall, wooden floors and a ornate table that served as a desk. A long silver framed mirror stood were a fireplace would have been appropriate, and colored glass bowls were elevated like braziers in the rooms corners. Gem bright bottles of teas and bones were tucked in shelves, with all the tools of fortune telling.

One of the shelves held a black mirror, small enough to hold with one hand. It seemed to stare maliciously from where it was propped, radiating ill will.

On the desk, tarot cards surrounded a folded piece of paper. It was a very proper formation, radiating outward from the bit of parchment like sun rays. The cards were mesmerizing, as they hinted a strange future: An empress, a golden wheel, a tower and a flame.

[Trista]

Trista met Eunoe's gaze, and its seriousness was matched by that in Trista's own eyes. She nodded, and then, as directed by Sondra, left the room.

She wasted no time, moving immediately higher in the air, and over to the tower. Although she knew she had little time, she still took careful note of everything that was in the room. The tarot cards in particular interested her; perhaps Sondra would be able to tell her what this spread meant. Assuming that Sondra was interested in talking to her, which didn't seem to be anything like a sure thing.

The mirror didn't look like anything that Trista wanted much to do with; under normal circumstances, she would have given it a wide berth. But these weren't normal circumstances, and she'd gone much too far to back out now. With her left hand, she reached out and grasped the mirror, which she immediately dropped into her satchel, the one with all her art supplies in it.

As quickly as possible, she exited the tower, and flew to the location of the water that Sondra had mentioned. She took a deep breath, and did a graceful dive that took her beneath the surface.

As soon as she found the bottom, she looked for a place to stash the mirror. The best place that presented itself was in a narrow slot beneath the overhang of a large boulder. It was just large enough for the mirror, and once she put it in, she saw that one would have to know exactly where to look and what they were looking for in order to find it. It was well-hidden indeed.

Trista noted the shape and location of the boulder so that she herself could locate it again. Then, since she was actually hungry, she looked around for something to eat. There was some sort of flatfish on the ocean floor, and Trista flicked her tail and aimed for it. Akvatari could move with surprising speed beneath the waves, and Trista had been hunting her own food since she was old enough to know that food needed hunting. Before the creature could swim away, she had seized it by the tail.

She shot to the surface, the wriggling fish still in her hand, and flew to the nearby shore. She bit the fish immediately behind the head, after which it only twitched fitfully. Then she began the actual process of eating. It was a messy affair, and Trista's face was covered in blood by the time she had finished the flesh. She threw the bones and internal organs to the nearby gulls, and then dove in once more to wash herself up.

That done, she sped back to Eunoe's house. Assuming she was let in, she would take a position as near Sondra as possible and wait for the Konti's cue to leave.

[Sondra]

It was Veya that let Trista in, her smile was a little forced and she pulled at the tips of her hair nervously.
"Oh, welcome back, Trista."

From the inner room, the Akvatari could hear raised voices in Kontinese. Mostly Sondra's, Eunoe kept an even tone. It was unclear whether Eunoe was trying to pacify or patronize with her voice. Veya cringed when she heard Sondra swear.

Veya lingered awkwardly in the foyer, afraid to enter the lion's den.

"Who the petch made you Avalis to discern and decide?" Sondra growled.
"You are my family, my daughter's daughter. The gods gave you to me for my keeping."
"Not anymore, Eunoe," the Konti retorted, "I'm leaving this damnable island."
"I wasn't going to stop you, K'Sondra. There is much you will do yet. Gods and flames cross your path, I have seen it." There was a pause as Eunoe came close to touch her grandaughter's face.
"You will make the Kore name great," the matriarch went on softly.

At first the affectionate touch froze Sondra, part of her hungry for it, but when Eunoe mentioned the family legacy the Konti recoiled.
"Yes, just like I was going to with Gregoire. You said I would find love."
"Well didn't you?" The answer was eerily calm and certain, "You loved, will forever, I never said he would love you back."
Sondra's gasp turned into black look, but Eunoe went on.
"And it did bring us honor."

Trembling, Sondra grabbed her things and pushed past her grandmother into the foyer, almost knocking Veya down.
Eunoe's tranquil melodic voice followed her.
"You seem to think you are owed happiness, K'Sondra. Time will teach you."

Sondra almost dropped her coat at this, frustrated beyond coping.
"Let's go, Trista."
The Konti was out the door as Eunoe called after her.
"K'Sondra! Don't be foolish. You are loved here!"

The Konti was out the gate, her face set. Her pace was determined and her jaw clenched until they reached the sand. Here, the Konti simply crinkled to her knees and fell back on her haunches.
After a beat she laughed, "Didn't mean to drag you into all that."
The Konti sighed, "I bet your family is a more peaceable entity."

[Trista]

Trista seemed to have flown back into a war zone, and she was more than happy to take her leave quickly and follow Sondra away. There was history here between these people, and little of it seemed to be positive.

Sondra set herself down on the sand, and Trista followed suit. The Konti seemed to compose herself again quickly, and Trista gave a small, rueful smile.

"My family isn't an entity at all," she said quietly. "Some Akvatari take a heartmate for life, but most only pair for a limited time. I left home at fourteen, which is about average, and my parents left each other within the month. I don't usually see them except when they send something to mark my birth, or when I have an exhibit opening, though we get along fine. I have no siblings, and my grandmother is dead. Akvatari keep few people close, and it's not always one's relatives."

She shrugged. "But you didn't ask for a treatise on Akvatari culture. You asked for a mirror, which I got out without any problems." The girl folded her arms across her chest. "But I think that before I turn it over, we ought to have a bit of conversation."

Trista was smiling, but it was obvious that she was serious."If I might trouble you, I'd like to have my curiosity satisfied. Who exactly are you, Sondra? What's this cursed gift everyone keeps talking about? And what's actually going on between you and your family?"

The mirror was safely hidden away, and Trista felt like she'd done Sondra enough favors to have earned the right to ask some questions. So that was precisely what she was going to do.

[Sondra]

The Konti's expression was stuck on something between shock and pity at Trista's description of her family unit. Painful and complicated as Sondra's seemed, she was aghast over having none at all. The Akvatari pressed past the issue, fomented by curiosity.

Sondra was re-directed to the tangles in her own life. Thinking about her family made her visibly irritated, but not enough to sulk and refuse to answer. She had pulled Trista into the washroom, so it was only fair she explain the dirty laundry there. However, she did bristle at the idea of bartering information for the mirror.

The Konti wasn't fond enough of the scrying mirror to exert much more energy toward it. Part of her thought to leave it at the bottom of the ocean, but she had the unsettling suspicion she'd find it amongst her things later despite. Better to face an enemy head on than dodge arrows from behind.

"Who am I?" the Konti grinned, but there was no joy in it, "Think of me like the one depressing guest at a lovely party."
Unable to keep eye contact when talking about herself, Sondra began to stare at the hill of sand her left hand was making.
"I do a few things. Mostly I read others' sins by touch. Not all the time, but enough to sour ideas of human goodness. And that mirror is my brand of fortune telling, mirror scrying. It has its own set of characters, each a symbol, some speaking, all terrible."
She toppled the hill she had made with a quick brush of her fingers.
"Violent, weeping, seething, malicious characters just coming from somewhere in the dark. I'm still debating whether to keep the mirror or break it."

"As for my family," Sondra stood, wiping sand from her trousers, "That's a long story. One I don't even know all the parts of. You got the abridged version.: Eunoe and I don't get along."
The Konti took a deep breath.
"It's not that interesting, and if you don't have a family, I doubt you'd get it. Relations hold a powerful sway that's hard to explain."

Paired with a slim smile, Sondra tone lost some of its grayness.
"You're a bold Akvatari, doing all this just out of curiosity's sake. Are you all like this, or are you just especially intrepid?"

[Trista]

Trista listened, her hands folded in what passed for her lap. A tinge of pallor came to her face as Sondra described her "gift," however.

"You know mine then?" Frankly, Trista couldn't remember if Sondra had touched her or not, but probably she had. It wasn't as if Trista had killed anyone -- or cheated on a lover, which seemed to be the explanation for the violent scene that had resulted in her meeting Sondra -- but there were things she wasn't proud of.

Then she gave a small, rueful smile, and ruffled her hair with both hands. "Curiosity is an Akvatari trait, but...different of us express it differently. Many are able to satisfy themselves purely through their art. Me...not so much."

Now it was Trista's turn to look down at the sand. "Everything is a story, Sondra. I see parts of one and...I have to know how it ends. When I saw you in the plaza, and when Veya asked me to follow you...that was a fragment, a single paragraph from a long, long novel. But I had to follow the threads to see where they led."

She fell quiet for several seconds. Then, almost in a whisper, she spoke again. "Sometimes, Sondra, the stories are all that I have. But sometimes, it's enough. I went to Eyktol, and a woman I had never met, a woman who may or may not even have existed in the way we usually think about it, asked for my help. I visited a place where the stars were all too close, and the colors all too bright, and a nameless shade and I bartered for that woman's future. My currency was my stories, the shards of narrative crystal that I carry with me."

The girl drew a circle with her left hand. "It told me my stories were too bitter for its taste. But sorrow is often the unifying theme that holds them all together."

A flutter of a wing, and Trista was aloft. "If you give me a moment, I'll retrieve your mirror." Unless Sondra stopped her, Trista would dive beneath the waves, and then resurface quickly with the item in hand.

[Sondra]

Left with the Akvatari's beautiful yet melancholy reply, Sondra stared into the horizon line over the sea.

The water was a dark blue, shadows swirling new shades under the surface. She liked the sea, it reminded her of some bigger force or idea. It was deep and wide, hiding beauty that would never be seen, but existed for its own sake. Anemone bloomed without intent to charm and beasts killed out of need instead of pleasure.

When Trista surfaced, Sondra straightened, on guard against the mirror the Akvatari carried.
"You emerge victorious and a bit more larcenous than before."
She smiled, poorly masking a sickly pallor, "Not bad for a storyteller."

A brief pause as Sondra awaited the dreadful mirror.

"And, by the way, no." The Konti's expression was comforting, an uncommon look for Sondra these days.
"I don't know your sins. But I doubt they would give any alarm."
Her steel colored eyes softened, "You're likely nobler than you think, Trista. The kind of person who will someday make a story instead of tell one."

Sondra extended her hand for the mirror, holding it like a platter on which to set something. Her mode of interacting with others and objects minimized touch.
"I am indebted."