Closed Familiar Faces

[Celeste Arumen]

6th Day of Winter, 513 AV

It’d been a long, long walk from the Testing Grounds. Normally, it took nearly a day to travel by foot, but Celeste usually ran in her animal seeming, cutting the time in half. This time however, she opted to walk instead. There had been a lot on the girl’s mind and she often found herself brooding over it all. So Celeste walked, arcane robes billowing around her otherwise delicate frame. By the time it was done, she could scarcely feel her hands. But such was Winter. It hadn’t been so different in Alvadas, after all.

As she crossed over into the Vestibule, she caught the eye of what had to be Annalisa. She caught her at a glance and by reflex, raised her hand in greeting, but soon found herself frozen, puzzling over what obviously resembled her friend but clearly, was not. The woman had long, dark hair and alluring, pendulous eyelids but her face was shaped differently. Her eyes were not so lost in the throes of madness. And above all, she wasn’t tall enough.

Talk about an awkward situation. Having already begun to execute the action, she was forced to see it through. She waved, smiling weakly before tucking a stray lock of gold behind one ear. Celeste bore tawny, waving hair and hazel eyes. Her face was sweet and broad and her expression, somewhat sheepish. It was obvious that she was experiencing guilt of some kind over the whole thing.

Were the woman to approach, she’d shift her weight to one side and tuck her frozen hands under her armpits.

Who on Mizahar was she? There were almost no humans in the Citadel. Celeste knew of almost each and every one of them. Stranger still, this woman looked almost identical to another she knew. Was it possible? There was a horrible suspicion nagging at the back of her mind.

”Hail,” she said called softly.

[Elsa Marin]

Separated from her sister, Elsa decided to spend the evening wandering the Citadel, familiarizing herself with her new home. At least, until her Judgement, but Elsa was a person who crossed bridges as she came to them. Her current bridge was the way she was entirely ignored. The few people she met out and about rarely even bothered to glance her way, and it was always with frustration or disdain or sheer disgust. The looks seemed to cling to her, and she felt like she was covered in grime.

Acknowledgement was like a cup of clean water, and Elsa took to it happily. "Hi there!" She said cheerfully, bouncing towards the girl with a broad smile. "You're the first person here to even notice me. What's your name?"

[Celeste Arumen]

She blinked. The woman’s carefree attitude only served to confuse her further. ”I’m Celeste Arumen,” she replied softly. ”Apprentice and Initiate to Riyanna Sterder, Warden of the Prairie.” As she introduced herself, she extended a hand as if to shake, though there was trepidation in her eyes. If was as if she was afraid to even touch the girl.

”And who might you be? I haven’t seen you around here before.” Her eyes darted around the room, as if scanning for eavesdroppers. ”Perhaps we should walk and talk. I imagine you’re staying in the Quarters, yes?” She gestured toward the exit. ”We could always take a short stroll through the Courtyard. The Mistress there won’t disturb us.”

Her request might seem ominous, if it wasn’t for the fact that Celeste was quite obviously, a little girl.

[Elsa Marin]

Elsa took the girl's hand eagerly, bending gracefully at the waist with a flourish of her cloak, and kissed the back of Celeste's hand. She never broke eye contact, and she never broke her smile. She realized what she was doing, and straightened, suppressing a blush. That had been her dancer greeting, made to captivate a room. A day out of civilization and she was already trying to charm a child.

Ah well. "I'm Elsa," she said, following Celeste's lead. "I got here just yesterday. I'm here to be a wizard like my- like you, I guess." Elsa had already messed up in the Gug Adjak by hugging her sister in public earlier that day. Publicly swearing off the sister that she'd come to Sahova to see was going to be hard.