It wasn’t usual for Arianna to actually take a break from working. Despite being very sleepy most of the time, just aching for the chance to take a nap at any moment, she rarely made good on those impulses: there was always something to do in the Saint Loretto Chapel. Be it taking care of the rambunctious girls, cleaning around, making copies of Father Enrico’s log; on and on the chores piled up for the young nun! So having a morning to sit down, take a breath and actually enjoy nature was a real luxury.
With Alejandra being in charge of keeping an eye on the Church, Arianna was simply sitting under the shade of a big elm tree to doze without a care in the world. Of course, the anxieties were still very close to her heart: a message in the middle of the night had warned the Sister of the High Chamber’s decision to face Enrico with full force, a lot of planning was in order and Arianna needed to wait for Giovanni’s insights on the situation before making a proper list of steps for the fateful day the Genesis arrived.
They’d probably need to find a way to help the children escape, and pray for Genesis to decide not to pursue them.
Arianna bit her lower lip at the mere thought of that chaotic night. Honestly, she knew that if she wanted to enjoy this rare rest she needed to cleanse her mind of all these thoughts!
But how!? There’s so much to do and I am expected to just sit down and twiddle my thumbs!?
This break was rather tortuous, in all honesty. Despite her best efforts to simply doze and relax, the workaholic nun was struggling to even stay put while her anxieties accosted her. For the first time in a long while she felt completely awake.
Maybe that’s why she could see Gabrielle running right past her, deeper into the forest. Arianna sat up and blinked a few times, looking around herself for a bit to make sure no one was following around.
Did she get into a fight again? So soon? Ugh, Gabi…
Shaking her head Arianna clung to the chance without even doubting a second, cleaning her habit of dust and old leaves and then trotting after the red-haired girl. She couldn’t rest now anyways, there was much to do! Busy, busy, busy! No time for dozing or waiting while twiddling her thumbs at all.
Ari simply moved after Gabrielle, waving her hand and trying to quietly call her to stop… to no avail, really. Gabrielle walked like a horse with blinds on her sides, staring straight out without turning around once! Well, at least when she was focusing.
“Gabi! Gabi, wait up!” Called the nun, snapping Gabrielle back to reality and making her stop so suddenly that Arianna almost crashed with her. “Oof!!”
“Hello, sister.” The little girl sniffled, turning on her heel to look at her. Some snot was still running down from her nose. “What happened? Do you need something?”
The sister in question sighed, taking a deep breath to try and recover a bit of her composure. “Me? Why are you asking me? You’re the one going out to the forest in the middle of the morning! Are you going to see Bari?”
Gabrielle frowned for a moment, not really sure how to answer. Was she going there? No, it certainly didn’t feel like it.
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“You were here as well, sister”, Gabi started, “And… no, I don’t think so.”
“What happened, then?”, Arianna frowned, ”tell me everything.”
Everything? Gabrielle frowned slightly and cleaned some more snot from her face with a sleeve. How much was everything? Where should she even start?
“Well, the other girls told me to go into Father’s room.”
“Oh sweet Saints please tell me you didn’t do it.”
“Do you want me to say it, Sister?”
“Did you do it?”
“Yes I did.”
“Blazing hell…”, the sister grumbled while rubbing her temples. “Why did you even do it?”
“They promised to never pick on me again if I managed to get in there”, Gabrielle tried to excuse herself but even she knew this wasn’t much of a defense.
“And you believed them?”
Gabrielle felt those words hit her like a frozen hammer, straight to the head. “Well… they have fulfilled their promise so far.”
Now Arianna was the one shook, she even took a little step back to steady herself from that. “Really? Well, that’s amazing actually! Well done, Gabrielle!”
Despite the sister’s smile, Gabrielle only felt herself sink deeper into that strange feeling of unease that was taking over everything. Even Arianna was happy about it, then why wasn’t her!? Frustration made the little girl pout and look away for a moment. Arianna took this as a sign that Gabrielle was tired of being nagged.
But she couldn’t simply relent. This was a lesson she had to drill down in Gabi’s mind.
“You must never enter that room again. In fact, keep away from the Father at all. Things are dangerous enough as they are!” Arianna crossed her arms and stomped, trying to give the words some extra weight. “You’d never know what you could find in there!”
“I found a shiny book.” Said Gabrielle, suddenly remembering her discovery and the questions pressing her about it. “It was shiny and written in gibberish… But it had pictures!”
Shiny?, Ari asked herself for a moment. It can’t be, could this man really have a Miracle of his own…?
“What do you mean shiny, Gabi? Did the book have shiny golden things on its cover?”
“No, the words were shiny and bright when I opened the book!”
Arianna gulped, her eyes opening a little more upon the realization. Not only did the man have actual magic in his power, but also Gabrielle had found her way into witnessing it. If she fell with the infection, and the people started noticing…
Ari had to deviate from the subject. But the curiosity simply got the best out of her.
“What pictures did it have?”
Gabrielle frowned and once again rubbed her cheeks, thinking for a second. The images were still fresh and clear in her mind, like paintings on a wall! But she needed to find the proper words to describe them. The tree, the roots, the strange lines drawn on the bark… the runes.
Okay, not the runes. Those were a secret, she made a promise to Baraqiel!
“A big tree, the biggest tree I’ve ever seen!” Gabrielle opened both arms to try and convey the size of that tree. “With so many people under it, like, living in the roots of it. And lines of light coming right out from the base like rivers.”
Arianna took a deep breath. Concerning, incredibly concerning…
“He has a copy of Damaya.”, she mumbled, louder than she meant. It had to be it! Of course! Why wouldn’t that insane man have a copy of one of the most heretical tomes in circulation? As if the situation wasn’t pressing enough.
“What is a Damaya.”
The nun could feel Gabrielle’s intense, knowledge-thirsty gaze. Without a way of running from the questions, she decided to just confess.
“It’s the name of a book. A forbidden book, that talks of lies and nonsense.” Gabrielle was NOT ready for magic. No one was, that was kind of the point to keep it all away from the hands of the populus. “The tree that you saw, it’s an old legend that people used to tell before the Saints arrived. It’s the tale of a magical Tree that gives those who find it the power to become… angels.” She had to correct herself there. “A Tree that has all the knowledge of the world on its bark. A place that gave birth to all ideas in the world.”
Gabrielle’s eyes were brimming with emotion by then. “Is it true?”
“No one has ever seen it.” Arianna answered, feeling her heartache when feeling Gabrielle’s disappointment. So, against all logic, she added. “But we can feel its influence all around us. It gifts everyone with magic and life… so it must be real.”
“Everyone? Even me?”
Once again, Arianna couldn’t bring herself to lie there.
“Yes. Even you, Gabi. Everyone is born with the gift of the tree.”
“How is it called?”
“It’s the place where all ideas are born, the fountain of magic that even now continues to run, hidden from all who want to use it for evil…”
The nun took a pause there. This was wrong, she couldn’t simply let all of this lore out for Gabrielle to listen, especially if she was infected! But the hope in the girl’s eyes… she couldn’t simply lie to her. Not about this.
“It’s the Tree of Origin.”