Over the next few hours, Eos struggled to get the spell. Long after the sunset, and before they went to the cafeteria, all Eos managed to do was get a few of the first hand movements correct, but her chanting was still off and, despite Amulree’s tutoring, no lines of magic appeared between her hand movements.
As they arrived back at the dorms, Amulree made a few last comments. “By the way, I’m not sure if you noticed, but I’d look at the last page of the spell- it should show you the way spells are normally written down- the sigil for that spell. Second of all, remember the cost of my help!”
“Huh? Oh yeah, the church right?” Eos murmured.
“Yeah, it's tomorrow!”
“Okay.” Eos confirmed before Amulree shot up on a mound of the earth past the window, and Eos took the scenic route back to her room, locking the door and sleeping the moment she hit her bed.
She woke up before dawn the next morning, surprising herself that she didn’t wake up to Amulree’s yelling. She looked around the dark room, and decided to rouse out of bed before the light shined into the room. She pulled the chair out from under her desk and looked at the book once more.
“‘Child’s Magic’” She gently whispered, before remembering what Amulree said the night before. She flipped to the last page of the spell she had been practicing, and saw runes on the page. She could clearly make out what was written on it despite the lighting, when suddenly she saw the same green lines as before appear and focus in on the written runes, and they seemed to jump off the page.
A long sequence of unreadable runes were written down, but the green lines seemed to clearly identify them as the ‘Balls of Light’ spell. She tried to focus on the first glyph. A pronunciation appeared for it in her head; it was the first sound in the spell she was trying to practice, enunciated clearly.
“This spell is even more well known than I thought…” She again murmured to herself. She closed the book, keeping the green line’s glyphs in her head, and focused on reading that instead. Each glyph’s pronunciation was clear, but Eos couldn’t guarantee her pronunciation was correct.
After some amount of time, with the mere suggestion of daylight poking through the window, she heard a knock at her door. She opened it and saw Amulree. Yet the Amulree she saw shocked her- Amulree was well dressed when Eos had seen her previously, but her outfit now put the previous one to shame. It was a simple dress, but it fit her perfectly. At the base of her ears- the left, to Eos- there was a floral hairpiece.
“Are you ready to go?” Amulree bashfully asked, refusing to look Eos in the eyes.
“Let me get dressed,” Eos said, “I think I have something that looks good enough.”
“You don’t have church clothes?” Amulree questioned, passively.
“I’ve not been to church before.” Eos responded simply, wanting to avoid discussing how she managed to get here.
Eos rummaged through her closet, looking for the nicest clothes Varen had gotten for her. Amulree walked up behind her, helping Eos look through the wardrobe. Eos only had school clothing, so they just picked one and Eos changed into it.
They left the dorm room, Eos locking it behind her and, much to her surprise, Amulree led them down the normal staircase. As they entered the foyer, Eos was surprised to see Tarvie behind the desk.
“Do you ever sleep?” Eos asked, looking up at Tarvie.
“Nope, she does not.” Amulree responded Tarvie even could.
Tarvie simply smiled at both of them, “Heading to church?”
Amulree simply nodded, and they headed out of the foyer.
Eos followed Amulree out of the quad, out of the school, and down a small street to end up at a mid-sized church. She was dazed by the unforeseen change in Amulree’s shyness.
I thought we’d end up at the Cathedral. Eos thought. They entered the small church to see many empty pews. However, in one of the seats, a small girl resembling Amulree sat. She too wore a simple dress, with a similar light brown hair and wolf ears protruding from her head. Amulree leaped at her, taking the girl off guard as Amulree lifted her into the air.
“Beira! How have you been!” Amulree’s question was disguised as a shout, and the attention of the scant people in the nave was drawn to the siblings.
Beira quickly slammed her fist sharply onto Amulree’s head, causing Amulree to drop her. Gracefully as a snowflake, she landed on the ground and began to berate Amulree as Amulree rubbed her head. “You can’t just pick me up like that! There’s other people here! And who knows what would have happened if you hurt me! Or what if I resisted, it would have looked like a kidnapping! What is wrong with you! Do you want the guards called on you again! Do you remember how many strings father had to pull for that! What even goes through that empty head of yours! Do you even th-”
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Amulree squished Beira’s face up next to her own, petting Beira as she started to quiet down. Eos noticed that Beira’s tail began to swish, just barely not out of sight.
“I brought you a friend!” Amulree said, pulling Eos over. Eos braced to be picked up, but the occasion never came.
Beira sized Eos up before immediately apologizing, clasping Eos’s hands. “I’m sorry for whatever my sister has done to bring you here. I promise we can make it up to you.” She bowed formally at Eos, apologizing profusely. Even more attention was drawn to the three of them as Beira let go of Eos’s hands and bowed, and Eos could hear people talking. Beira’s tail seemed to droop, and her ears likewise.
“S-s-s-st-Amulree did nothing!” Eos managed to stammer out, “Stop bowing!”
“Huh?” Beira said, caught off guard. She stood straight up, and quickly her eyes flicked between Eos and Amulree. Suddenly, as if she just grew aware of all of the eyes on her, her eyes scanned the rest of the room, and her face grew a bright red. She locked eyes with Eos, and before Eos could react, Beira grabbed her wrist and dashed out of the church and into a nearby alleyway.
“What did she do to you?” Beira demanded.
“N-nothing!” Eos replied, “She just promised to help me with magic, that's it!”
“She doesn’t have any blackmail or dirt on you?”
“I don’t even know of information that could be used against me!”
“That hasn’t stopped her before, are you sure?”
“Huh?!” Eos exclaimed, Beira quickly covering her mouth and pushing her against the wall. Eos felt her heart rapidly beating.
“Shhh, she might find us if you're loud.”
Eos pried Beira’s hand off of her. “Calm down!”
Beira took a step back, fully letting go of Eos. “She’s evil…”
“I won’t disagree with that,” Eos began, “but she’s good hearted… I think?”
Beira thought for a moment. “How long have you known her?” Beira looked down at Eos with her slight height advantage.
“A few days?”
“And you think you know her better than me?”
“What? No!” Eos said, “I just think that she’s not… the worst person ever? She’s definitely not the worst person I’ve met in the last few days.”
Beira approved of that response, and stuck out her hand. “My name’s Beira Agonweld, youngest daughter of the Agonweld’s.”
Eos shook her hand, “My name’s Eos!”
Beira looked at her quizzically, “Eos?”
Eos hesitated for a moment, “Eos.” Anything more would be annoying.
Beira’s ears flicked, and her head tilted slightly. Beira righted her posture, then clasped Eos’s hands between hers, “Eos! Let's be best friends!” Her eyes were glittering with childlike glee.
Eos responded in the same childish manner, “Okay!”
Suddenly, from the street attached to the alleyway, Amulree slid into the alleyway. “There you two are!” She smiled sinisterly. “Ceremonies are about to start!”
Amulree approached the two, and instinctively Beira began to cower away from her- Eos followed suit. Unfortunately for them, Amulree picked them up by the collar of their outfits, and began dragging them into the church. Eos was kicking and fighting the arrest, but Beira seemingly went along with it with little resistance. They sat next to each other, three in a row, in the sparsely populated nave.
Eos and Beira focused on chatting to each other in hushed tones the entire sermon, and much of time at the church and sermon was lost in a blur. Eos did, however, understand the general idea behind the sermon however: Ayailla, goddess of light and healing, had a chosen one- Baldr- and was responsible for all miracle healings. Much of the sermon was covering recent healings, and other miracles done by Baldr. There was, however, a portion describing the work of the Adventurer’s Guild- destroying goblin nests near towns and destroying “darkness” in the world.
I guess I’ll find out more later. Eos thought, I wonder about how they see the start of the world or the afterlife. I’ll have many more church visits though- there’s no reason to rush.
The pastor was silent for a moment, grasping both the attention of Beira and Eos. “Now, let us conclude this sermon with the New Prayer, for the glory of Ayailla, preservation of Baldr, and blessings of the Nightingale.”
“In the name of the Light, and their infallible will,
Baldr, her chosen guide,
shall ascend into the light,
And take my sullied soul with.
The lady of light,
By the power of light,
With angels,
Who are your fists,
And clergy,
Who are your arms,
Save us from the Dark,
And thrust thy evil into dark."
Eos’s eyes, despite looking down, were darting across the room as the prayer was said. She saw the light of the stained glass window, colorfully pouring into the church, brighten and solidify in color as the prayer began, and fade out into the same dull light it began at when the prayer reached its conclusion. What was that? Eos pondered, Maybe I should have listened more.
People began to stand up, and the atmosphere shifted towards casual chatter or people leaving the church.
“We have to goto father,” Amulree began, facing both Eos and Beira, “He’s expecting us shortly.”
Beira looked up at Amulree, pleading, “Can we take Eos with us?”
Amulree, for once, shook her head, “No.”
Beira began to hit Amulree, and Amulree simply picked her up by her collar and threw Beira onto her shoulders, giving her a piggyback ride. As Beira hit the top of Amulree’s head, Amulree nodded towards Eos.
“You can make it back to the school on your own?” She asked.
Eos nodded, and Amulree turned towards the exit. Beira, a full three times Eos’s height now, turned back towards Eos- not stopping hitting Amulree on the head. “Bye Eos! See you soon! Make sure to take the main roads!”
“Ya, see ya!” Eos said, waiting for them to leave the church before moving to exit herself.
After a few deadends, and asking for help from several kind-looking individuals, Eos managed to make it back to the school. Upon entering her room, she looked flipped through the book a bit more. She realized that she could easily turn the sigils of the various magic spells in the book clearer when described by the green lines in her head, compared to the book. Being able to recall spells is great, but only so great until I learn how to cast them. She thought.
She spent the next while practicing the spells, before returning the book near the end of the afternoon, and recalling the green lines- which appeared with ease- to practice more before retiring to bed at sunset, fatigue overwhelming her.