Elegy for a Star

“It’s, um.. It’s not just about remembering the constellations, uh.. Alright?” Dorn explained, drawing out a constellation in the air. Tess carefully watched them, following the movements. The Wanderer. The Wanderer. The Devil. She was surprised to see two of the same constellations in the same spell. “I didn’t even know that was allowed,” Tess thought to herself. No one else seemed surprised in the classroom, so she hid her reaction as best she could.

Dorn’s voice began to sound from all directions and Tess looked around to find copies of the Professor standing on all four sides of the classroom. They moved and spoke in unison, “It’s, um… well, it’s about articulation of the movements; pliability of the hand. Control, control, control.”

The images faded, leading only one, but it wasn’t the one that Dorn started at. That seems like a useful spell. Wanderer, wanderer, devil. Wanderer, wanderer, devil.

Of course, Tess could form it differently. Of course it worked so long as her constellations made sense to her; however the constellations were applicable to her. As long as those conditions were met, she could cast it.

Dorn returned where they were originally standing. “Now, um… watch closely,” they said. Dorn gestured constellations with their hand. The Archer. The… wait, they didn’t do another constellation.

Regardless of that fact, the professor’s eyes began to glow. Tess didn’t know what that meant, but it was definitely an effect of sorcery. Dorn asked, “Did anyone notice how I did that?”

The class was silent. If anyone knew, they weren’t willing to speak up.

Tess leaned forward in her seat. This was important. This is what she wanted to learn about.

Dorn’s eyes returned to normal and they said, “I’ll do it again. Umm.. very slowly, okay? Just watch my movements.”

Once again, they performed the movements. Slowly, this time. The Archer again. One constellation. The professor’s eyes began to glow again. “Um.. did anyone see this time?” Dorn asked.

“I saw it,” Tess thought, “I saw it! Oh my gods, that was incredible!”

Tess raised her hand.

“Yes, miss?” Dorn asked, pointing a finger to Tess.

“As your arm made the Archer, with your fingers you made the Keepers. With your free hand, you signed the Wanderer,” Tess did her best to not gush too much over how amazing she found that to be.

Dorn’s eyes sparkled with amusement, the light fading from their eyes, “Absolutely correct, Tess.” Dorn looked at the rest of the class, “We always sign with one arm, um.. but what is special about your arm? Uh.. nothing, I think. You just need to make the signs to cast the spell.”

It was about control of the body and mind. Articulation of the hand. Pliability of the fingers.

After class, Tess rushed to her room, excited to test her new knowledge. She quickly found that gesturing with her fingers, two or three at once, was extremely difficult. Still, she practiced. She practiced and practiced until she lost track of time and her fingers were cramping. Her hand was sore, and she’d only been working with her dominant, right hand. It would be a nightmare to practice with the left. Gods, how did Dorn do it?

There was a knock on the dormitory door, so Tess got up to open the door. Scirocca was there, looking ambivalent as always. “May I come inside?”

Tess internally chuckled at the phrasing. “Ugh, when did I become such a pervert?” She thought.

“Of course, come in,” Tess replied, standing aside.

Scirocca moved inside, looking around the room, “They haven’t taken any of Gwendolyn’s belongings?”

“No, not yet,” Tess replied, souring at the thought that this is why Scirocca came over. She really didn’t want to talk about Gwen right now. It was just too much to bear.

Tess took a seat while Scirocca looked around the room. Tess felt like she was under scrutiny for a moment. There wasn’t much that the woman missed. She only hoped that she didn’t leave any underwear on the floor for her to see. “Why?” Tess thought, “We’ve had sex, so what’s the big deal?”

She shrugged the thought aside just as Scirocca asked, “How are you and Miri doing?”

Miri appeared, floating just above Scirocca. Tess looked up at her and Scirocca asked, “She’s floating above me, isn’t she?”

“Yes, Tess replied, “You can’t see her right now?”

Scirocca shook her head and Miri chuckled aloud, “I could do so many naughty things to her right now!”

Tess whispered, “Don’t you dare.”

Scirocca sighed a moment and asked, “About my question?”

“Which was?”

“How are you two doing?”

“Oh,” Tess mumbled, “Well, we’re alright. I think.”

She looked up at Miri and the demoness replied, “I’m good!”

Tess nodded to Scirocca, confirming her answer. Scirocca continued, asking, “Could you tell me more about how you two were combined together, and how you arrived? I would like to look into methods of separating you.”

“Ugh,” Miri complained, “More experiments? Like we haven’t had enough from snake-hair.”

“Well,” Tess started, giving Miri a sharp look, “Gwendolyn said that there was some dark lady. Black hair, black clothes, black nails, black eyes.”

“Sounds like your typical Dark Wyrden. So dramatic,” Scirocca said, shaking her head.

Tess continued, “They fought and Gwen was about to die, but she swiped a hand through the ritual circle, and then I appeared.”

“We appeared,” Miri corrected.

Tess conveyed the correction to Scirocca, giving Miri an apologetic look.

“And you don’t remember anything before that?” Scirocca asked.

“No,” Tess said, shaking her head, “I mean, I remembered some things about the world, but not anything about myself. Except that I was different. My dick, I mean.” Tess looked up to the ceiling with a sigh. So awkward!

“Right,” Scirocca nodded, “What about Miri? Does she remember anything?”

“What? No!” Miri replied.

“She says no.”

Scirocca nodded her head once more. She looked like a doctor, questioning her patient’s symptoms, “Nothing at all?”

Tess looked up at MIri. Miri scowled, “Tell her to buzz off. I’m sick of this inquisition.”

“She wants you to leave,” Tess replied.

“Ah,” Scirocca said, nodding, “I’ll go.”

“Oh, hey, before you do,” Tess interrupted, opening a drawer beside her bed, “I found these.” She pulled out the amulet and the gloves, showing them to Scirocca, “Or, well… a fox showed them to me, actually.”

“A fox led you to them?” Scirocca asked, looking a little surprised for once in Tess’ experience.

“Yes,” Tess replied, “It stood around me until I followed it and then dug into the ground. The key to the box they were in was in its mouth.”

“I see,” Scirocca responded thoughtfully, nodding, “Have you worn them?”

“No, Miri said not to,” Tess replied.

Scirocca raised her eyebrows, “I think that you should. They look like Artifacts to me. It is very likely that it will help you. Make you stronger. Make you more useful.”

Tess took in a deep breath, letting it out a bit shakily. That is exactly what she wanted; to be useful to her team. Had Scirocca known? Was this a ploy? Gods, was she playing Tess like a lute right now? Tess shook the thought from her mind. She had no reason to distrust Scirocca. It was because of her that she was saved from Pava. It was because of her that the ledger was being translated. It is because of her that she entered the Void and was assigned to her team. She has helped so much.

“Fuuuuck no,” Miri said, unknown to Scirocca, “Don’t trust this little-winged idiot. Something is real fishy!”

Scirocca added, “Trust any fox that you see. They are a lucky sign.”

“Like a foxpaw flower?” Tess asked. Scirocca nodded.

“Thank you, Scirocca,” Tess said, smiling. She was excited to try them on, but she wondered if Miri would intervene somehow. Maybe she needed to wait until they were in the Void, or wait until Miri wasn’t paying attention. Could she even bring these items into the Void? Tess was unsure.

“Is that all you needed?” Tess asked.

“That’s it. I just wanted to check up on you,” Scirocca said, “I’m going to look into Gwen’s state, too. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Have a good night.”

Tess held the gloves tightly in her hand, running her fingers over the fox-engraved coins strung up in their palms. Artifacts. How amazing was that? She couldn’t keep from smiling. For once she had some good fortune.

“Don’t even think about it, Tess,” Miri chided.

Tess nodded her head, “Why not, Miri?”

“Random items from a random fucking hole in the ground from some random gods-damned fox? Don’t you think it sounds suspicious?” Miri asked, “It could be a trap. It could teleport you somewhere dangerous. It could kill you.”

“But Scirocca said…”

“You want to trust her, or trust me?” Miri replied, “I am sharing this fuckin’ body, Tess. Don’t you think that if I thought they’d make us stronger, I’d want to use them? I don’t want to die, so I’m telling you not to.”

Tess saw the logic in that, but she was so curious. She placed the gloves and the amulet back into the drawer for now, but they were on her mind all night long.