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“Ooooh, isn’t it so exciting?”
No.
“It’s only one month away!”
Would that it were longer.
“Soon we’ll go to see the stars!”
Aurelia could hardly look her sister in the eyes. What Aureliette said was true. They would turn 14 next month and would finally be allowed to ascend to see the stars. Oh, how she wished that was the whole story.
Aurelia smiled sweetly. “Of course, little sister. It will such fun to see the stars. I’ll finally get to show you the constellations that Magus Alcibiades has been teaching me.”
Aureliette pouted at the descriptor “little.” “I’m only younger by 1 minute!”
Ordinarily, Aurelia would have issued a correction. She was technically older by 1 minute and 16 seconds. Now, though, she didn’t have the heart to correct her dear, sweet sister.
Aureliette continued her tirade. “It’s completely unfair that you get to start training a whole year before me! Now how am I supposed to catch up to you? You have an impossible head start!”
Aurelia rested her hand on the Glintstone that served as the focus of her astrologer’s staff. “You know, you don’t have to be a mage. You could train to be a swordstress. You’ve always been so much quicker than me.”
Ignore that there wouldn’t be time for any of that. Keep the conversation moving. Don’t let her see the truth behind your eyes.
Aureliette narrowed her eyes. “That’s besides the point! The point is that everyone babies me just because I’m a little younger. If I’m to be a swordstress, I still should’ve been allowed to start that when you started training with Old Alcibiades!”
Dear child, you have no idea how much has been withheld from you.
Aurelia held up her hands. “Don’t worry, Liette, I’m certain you’ll grow up to be far stronger than little old me, no matter what you decide to be!”
Aureliette nodded her head, her confidence boosted by the perceived victory. “You’re right, of course. Well, to make it up to me, can you take me to the observatory?”
Aurelia extended her hand, which Aureliette happily accepted. “Of course. Come on!”
***
The facility was not an observatory in the truest sense. One would need a sky to observe for that to be the case, and the denizens of Nokstella had not seen the night sky since the Great Starfall. Instead, the dome was maintained with powerful sorceries, creating a believable facsimile of the night sky. Young astrologers would train with this approximation before their graduation, when they would finally be permitted to travel to the surface.
One such apprentice astrologer was Aurelia, training under Master Alcibiades, the architect of the observatory. He had ceased to take on apprenticeships many years ago, devoting himself instead to the observatory and its maintenance. But Aurelia had pestered him and her parents until finally he accepted on her 13th birthday. Besides, the circumstances warranted a bit of leniency towards the young girl.
Though long hours of studying had dulled it’s luster for Aurelia, the observatory was an exciting occasion for her sister. Ordinarily, visitors were strictly forbidden from visiting the observatory, lest the spell be tampered with and their source of knowledge be lost forever.
Though they exchanged correspondence with colonies on the mountaintops to the north and Sellia to the east, the Nox were a secretive people. They dared not move fully to the surface, lest their secrets be stolen by those less worthy. For just as some would do anything for gold or for power, the sorcerers of the Nox will cross any line in the pursuit of knowledge.
Aureliette squealed, barely able to contain her excitement. “Ooooooohhhhhh! Could there truly be so many stars in the sky? And each of them so powerful?”
Aurelia nodded. “I am told there are far more on the surface,” though we will never see them .
Aureliette took her sister’s hand and rushed towards the largest cluster. “What’s that? They’re all so close together!”
Aurelia looked to where her sister pointed. “That, dear sister, is known as the Primeval Current. It is the source of all knowledge, Glintstone, and magic. It is said the very first sorcerers beheld the Primeval Current and instantly understood the greatest secrets of magic.”
Aureliette looked to her sister, puzzlement crossing her face. “But if you can figure out magic just from looking at stars, how come everyone isn’t a sorcerer?”
Aurelia smiled at her sister’s innocent expression. “Ah, would that it were so easy. It is also said that the first astrologers went mad from the knowledge they gained. Therefore, we, their descendants, spend our entire lives studying and preparing ourselves to look into the tiniest portion of the Current.”
Aureliette cocked her head, still confused. Her sister sighed in response. “Suffice it to say that some knowledge isn’t meant for us to have.”
The confusion faded, but Aurelia wasn’t sure whether her sister understood or merely lost interest. Once again, Aureliette took her sister’s hand and led her to a point in the observatory. This time she pointed to a star that shone with a crimson light. “What’s that one? It looks scary, and also angry!”
Aurelia cocked her head. “I don’t rightly know. That may be a question for Master Alcibiades. Though he has told me that there are some stars with a Will of their own that they exert on the stars around them.”
This time, Aureliette nodded in understanding. “Like how the Black Moon guides the stars’ travels?”
Aurelia nodded her affirmation. “Precisely. Of course, that’s just a theory, for now.”
Aureliette squeezed her sister’s hand. “Well, we’ll know for sure soon! After all, as great as this is, I’m sure it pales in comparison to seeing the stars for real!”
Aurelia looked to the ground. She had almost managed to forget. “Yes, of course. One day, we’ll go to see the stars for real. Run home now, I have to study!”
As her sister left the observatory, Aurelia collapsed to the floor, her knees finally giving way. Tears began to flow that she had held back for too long. Why did it have to be her? Why was she the one cursed with foreknowledge of what was to come? But she knew she had only herself to blame. Had she not interfered, she might’ve enjoyed her sister’s blissful ignorance.
***
When you’re underground, there is nowhere you can run. Hide, certainly, but it’s only a matter of time before you are found out. So it was that Aurelia could but wait for the appointed day to come. By day she studied and put on a strong face for her sister, but by night she cried herself to sleep, powerless to stop what was coming.
Finally, the day had arrived. She and her sister donned their ceremonial robes and waved goodbye to their parents. She was thankful that, in her excitement, Aureliette could not see the sadness hidden so plainly behind their eyes.
They ascended the lift alongside Master Alcibiades and a group of his former students. They were going to the mountaintop colony. They would finally get to see the stars for real! Yet there was not a glimmer of mirth among the astrologers. Alcibiades’s jaw was set in a decided frown. At the very least, Aurelia took solace that they were not looking forward to the ceremony. She had been instructed to leave her staff at home. It would only cause complications.
***
The journey was a long one, at least from the twins’ perspective. Though they had left Nokstella at dawn on their birthday, they did not arrive at the mountaintop until the sun was beginning to peak below the horizon.
Aureliette looked around excitedly. “Oh, we’re getting here right in time! Only, where is their observatory?”
Before Aurelia could respond, her sister corrected herself. “Ah, what am I saying? They live among the stars! They wouldn’t need an observatory to see them! And neither will we, right, Lia?”
Aurelia only nodded, for she did not trust herself to speak. Without a word, Alcibiades led them to a set of two stone tables which had been erected in the village square. He motioned for them to lay down.
Aureliette smiled. “My, they’ve thought of everything! These beds will give us a perfect vantage point to see the first stars!”
Aurelia could no longer hold back, and tears began to trickle down her cheeks. As they lay down, a pair of silver tears approached each altar, restraining their hands and feet to the stone with bonds of quicksilver.
For Aureliette, the mirage was swiftly fading away. “Lia, why are they chaining us down?”
Aurelia remained silent, her voice choked out by sobs.
Alcibiades retrieved a dagger carved of pure Glintstone from his belt. Raising it to the sky, he began to recite an incantation. “Oh Primeval Current, source of all knowledge and wonders! Accept this offering, twinned souls born at the mingling of day and night! Deliver unto us your insight, that we may shape this world in your image!”
Aureliette began to panic. “What does he mean, Lia? Is he talking about us? Where are the stars?”
Aurelia could only wail.
I’m sorry, Liette. I’m sorry I never got to watch you grow up. I’m sorry you’ll never get to outgrow me. I’m sorry I broke my promise. We will never see the stars.
As the last of the sun dipped below the horizon, Alcibiades approached Aureliette’s alter.
Aureliette began to scream. “Lia, help me! Why does he have a knife? What’s he going to-“
Aureliette’s desperate pleadings were cut short as he raised the dagger and plunged it into her heart. Aurelia wailed even louder. “Liette, Im sorry Liette! Im sorry I couldn’t save you!”
Alcibiades walked over to Aurelia’s alter. Bending down, he whispered to her. “I truly am sorry, child. You don’t deserve this fate.”
Aurelia spat in his face. “Parasite! She would still be alive, were it not for you and your accursed search for knowledge!”
Wordlessly, Alcibiades withdrew his face and similarly plunged the dagger into Aurelia’s heart. Taking the dagger, he affixed it to the tip of his staff. Plunging it into the ground, gleaming Glintstone stars swirled around him. His face was totally enraptured, the children’s bodies forgotten.
Aurelia looked down to where her and her sister’s bodies lay. Were their robes not torn and stained with blood, she could almost believe they were merely sleeping. Looking to the sky, she was taken with wonder.
Though it was barely sunset, she could perceived a sky painted with countless stars, swirling in a constant dance. This, then, was that what Alcibiades had sought. This was the knowledge that had signed their death warrants.
Well then. She couldn’t save herself. She couldn’t save her sister. At the very least, she would deny the monster his revelation. Her spirit form was unfamiliar, yet she moved as though she had always inhabited it. Aiming carefully, she loosed a stream of caustic poison at the astrologer’s eyes.
Interrupted from his reverie, Alcibiades cried out in pain. As realization dawned on him, his cries turned to shrieks of rage. “Insolent child! I would have delivered Nokstella unto heights far exceeding its former glory! We would have once more commanded the respect and reverence of all! For such a boon…”
Alcibiades let out a sinister chuckle. “For such a boon, I would gladly pay any price! But instead, with your thoughtless act of petty revenge, you have rendered your sacrifices as worthless! You have died for nothing!”
The astrologer attacked in a rage, loosing comet after comet at Aurelia. But blinded as he was, not one met it’s mark. Seeing his plight, Alcibiades’s disciples joined his assault, their sorceries tearing into Aurelia’s spirit form. At first, she felt a sense of satisfaction. Alcibiades would surely face a reckoning for slaughtering two young girls without cause.
Her contentment crumbled to ashes as Aurelia faded away. Above the rage of the astrologers, the gleam of their attacks, a quiet voice reached her dying ears.
“Sister? Where did you go? You promised me, once we were fourteen, we’d go to see the stars.”