Elegy for a Star

“I don’t know how this could have happened,” Kofi, Tess’ handler, explained in the briefing room. She’d been the one to assign Tess to the remedial class to try as a last ditch effort to get her a gift. It’d been her that put her in Madame Pava’s clutches, where she lost two months of her life to the Yysh cultist’s experimentation. They don’t even know what she actually did, yet. Scirocca has been working with another Yysh to try and decipher the ledger that Pava left behind.

“I hope that you understand I take full responsibility for this, and I will make it up to you,” Captain Maupoissant explained, “I had no idea about Pava, and I ate up everything she said about you having to take an extra week of the therapy.”

“It’s okay,” Tess replied to her Captain. She was sore about it, but she tried to not blame Kofi. It was Pava that did the terrible things. Kofi was just doing her job.

“No, it isn’t,” Kofi said with a frown, “It absolutely isn’t, but I do have something that I hope will be a good first step in making things right.”

That caught Tess’ attention. She tilted her head to the side a bit, “What is it, Captain?”

“He’ll be here soon,” she replied, “In the meantime, let’s talk about what the next few weeks are going to look like for you, alright?”

“Okay,” Tess agreed, sitting up a little straighter.

“Though the team got a lot of points toward getting some of the good assignments, we are still in a deficit compared to other groups because of the probation you were put under,” Kofi explained with a small sigh, “Which, if you ask me, was entirely bullshit.”

Tess smiled at that. She agreed, even if she did enjoy most of her time on probation. She wondered how the drakes were doing for a brief moment.

“So, in the upcoming weeks, I have a thought on your next class…” Maupoissant said, “Each of your teammates elected to continue to the advanced form of their current classes. Since Dame Gwendolyn is learning more about a component of combat, Joyona is learning more about the foes you’ll face—though I’m worried about her; She only barely passed the last class—and Mairaela is learning about freeing the pockets from the Black Sun, we need to pick something for you that complements all of that.

“That seems like a pretty thorough list. What could we add to that?”

“Void Pocket Classification,” Kofi replied with a nod of her head.

Tess raised an eyebrow, “What’s that?”

Kofi seemed prepared for that exact question, “No void pocket is the same. Depending on the god of that pocket, it will have a different aesthetic. A different theme, I suppose.”

“Oh,” Tess said, “I thought they were all like the one in the exercise. Barren, ruined, dismal.”

Maupoissant shook her head, “No. And that one was only that way because it’d been separated from the Black Sun for so long. When we first cut it away, it was a thriving cityscape, but it seemed to deteriorate over time.”

“So what are the ‘classifications?’”

“Suppose you’ll be learning all about that, won’t you?” Kofi replied.

“Can I request a class? It’s a night class, from what I saw,” Tess explained, “It’s one that I’m particularly interested in.”

“You want two classes?”

“Yes, Captain,” Tess replied, “I can handle it.”

“You’ll have training on top of it,” Kofi reminded her with a worried frown, “That won’t leave you with much time.”

“It’s only six weeks, right?” Tess responded.

“Six weeks of hardly any sleep,” the Captain explained, “Six weeks of being exhausted from training but still having to go to a night class and avoid falling asleep.” She sighed, “And don’t get me started on final exams.”

Tess understood the concern, but in her mind the main problem was that she wasn’t going to have much time with her party. Maybe Kofi was right.

“I know that Void Classification is important,” Tess replied, “But maybe I could take Sorcery and Ritualism instead, for now?”

Kofi looked worried still, “I don’t think any of that would help you in the Void, Tess.”

She couldn’t tell the Captain about her ability to cast spells in the Void, so with the knowledge that Kofi had, Tess wasn’t surprised that this was the answer. Still, it would be the most helpful, and with her special attunement to the Wyrd—according to Scirocca—she should be good at it.

“I, uh,” Tess started, her mind racing for an excuse, “In case something happens, like with Pava? I want to be prepared. Maybe if I had a protection ritual placed on me before visiting her, that could’ve all been avoided.”

Kofi frowned. Guilt wouldn’t let her argue against it, so she nodded and replied, “Okay, Tess. Let’s do that, then. I can’t guarantee you’ll be casting spells by the end of the class, but anyone can perform rituals with the right components and know-how. You’re right that it could have helped, and I imagine having a protection ritual on yourself at all times may help you to heal after such an ordeal.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Tess replied with a soft smile, “I really appreciate it.”

“Of course, Tess,” Kofi replied, “Now, about training.”

Tess nodded her head, sitting back for the next part of the discussion.

“Unfortunately due to those same events, you weren’t able to participate in training over the last seven weeks, while your teammates have,” she explained, “And there’s nothing that I can do to fix that. Command won’t let anyone skip levels of training, and it wouldn’t be right or safe to have you skip the basics.”

“So I’m going to be in a different class than the others?” Tess asked. The idea disappointed her greatly. She was looking forward to sparring with the others, even if she knew she would stand no chance. She couldn’t imagine herself against any of them, and while it might be fun to spend time with them, maybe it would be more embarrassing than anything. So maybe it was a good thing?

Kofi nodded her head, “I’m sorry, but yes. I don’t want to hold the others back. But this will give you a chance to meet others, however. Maybe you’ll feel more comfortable at Kravana when you know more about the pop-...”

The door to the briefing room cracked open and in walked a tall, hairy man with a barrel chest. The red hair on his head was shaved just slightly along the sides, the rest of it spilling over his shoulders. His beard was full and neatly trimmed. A tattoo of a scorpion’s tail curled around the outside of one of his blue eyes. He was dressed in plainclothes with a pair of brown, leather suspenders over a blue shirt and tan trousers. He looked like he was constantly sneering.

“Oh, perfect timing, Sergeant,” the Captain spoke to the tall man. She then turned to Tess, extending a hand toward the man, “Tess, this is Sergeant Varon Howlcrag.”

Tess only just realized that her eyes were widened and her lips were parted. She must’ve looked terrified by this man’s natural state of anger. What was this guy here for?!

Howlcrag looked Tess over and then turned to Kofi, “This is the one, Captain?”

“She is.”

Varon turned back to Tess and crossed his arms, “Alright.”

Kofi turned to Tess and explained, “Since you’re already a week behind on training, Sergeant Howlcrag is going to take over as your personal teacher. Instead of group training, you’ll be doing independent study.”

“I thought I was going to meet new people?” Tess asked, avoiding Howlcrags scrutinizing gaze.

Kofi nodded her head, “You will.”

“You’ll mingle enough with the others for spars,” Howlcrag explained, “But I’m here to make sure you don’t get your ass kicked too badly, despite being behind.” He grunted, “Way behind.”

Tess directed her attention to the Captain, staring at her with a face that relayed “help me.” Kofi waved away Tess’ concern and spoke, “The Sergeant is our best trainer. You’ll be brought up to speed in no time.”

What was the Captain doing?! First Tess is sent to Pava for what was essentially a kidnapping and torture and now she’s “rewarded” with this monster of a trainer? An independent study? She can’t even hide from his wrath behind others. Did the Captain hate her? Was it because she was giftless? A thought crossed her mind that maybe the Captain was trying to make her situation so miserable that Tess would leave, opening up a spot in the squad for someone with a gift.

Tess’ brow furrowed. She’ll show the Captain her determination; her grit. She looked back to Howlcrag, who was glaring at her. Suddenly all of that thought of determination and grit dissipated and the only thing going through Tess’ mind was, “I am absolutely fucked.”