[The Stone Gardens] Summer after Summer (Eris)

[Jilitse]

Summer after Summer
17th of Summer 510 AV
The Stone Gardens
See it for what it is

The Stone Gardens was a memorial garden for the departed. It had its own power over its visitors, the path of cobble stones that speak of stories and memories of dead relatives and friends. The Garden was a testimony to the sacrifice of those who have done great things during their life, a form of salute, of recognition, and of memorabilia, to the great Knights and the honorable men and women who have offered their life and heart and soul to create Syliras.

The Nuit had just arrived in the City, and she was somewhat unnerved by the swift pace of events that greeted her. Finding Clarissa, meeting Stitch, gaining a place in the Welcome Home. She wasn't sure she would consider everything to be good fortune. Everything was so surreal. As a Nuit the road she traversed was totally unlike her last hundred years in Sahova. Everything from the jounrey out of Sahova to Zeltiva to Syliras was evocative. Her mind was filled with worry and useless thoughts. The journey unnerved her - true, she had traveled before, but not on a mission like the one she had on her shoulders right now. She allowed herself to dread ever leaving Sahova. At least it was with great reason that she did; she had wrapped herself around a different purpose now. Jil felt some sort of kinship with the commemorated dead, especially the ones whose names went unrecognized, if not forgotten completely.

Jil stood alone on a corner, mind wondering and planning about how to go about her stay in Syliras. She went out the Welcome Home really early, at a time when everyone had retired to bed. Jil found Stitch to be too kind and too polite, he probably wouldn't mind that she wandered without any notice. She remembered Clarissa, the girl whose mother's body she happened to have occupied. Stitch told her Clarissa's mother, presumed dead and reanimated now, was a Syliran Knight. The Nuit swept a look across the garden. All these dead people, did they ever have daughters or sons like Clarissa whom they have left behind? Logic dictated they may even have relatives or friends or enemies.

They were remembered.

Alone, she tried to clear her mind blank. She needed to gather herself together, the trip to Syliras shook her. Leaving Sahova brought her to the zenith of her sanity. She pushed away everything from her mind and basked in the stillness of the twilight. It was a new life ahead of her now, she was totally transformed. Well, maybe transformed was not the word for it. Maybe the word was... transmuted. Yep, she was something else now.

This was the change she had asked for, a big ball of chaos on her lap. A lot happened to her this season, and how many days into Summer was she? Jil predicted it was going to be an active year ahead. Dawn was breaking through in a bell or two. She could barely feel the chill of the summer morn.

And then she was no longer alone.

[Eris]

Eris entered the Stone Garden with her hands hanging limply by her sides, for once not itching to be near the dagger at her belt. This was her only refuge within the bustling city - the only place where she felt safe enough to let her thoughts wander into a state of near tranquility. Eris had long since come to view the garden as the only place of true peace – devoid of the tense currents of antagonism that seemed to follow her wherever she walked. For once, those currents have been left behind. An unknown emotion tugged at Eris as she walked along a familiar path, her head slightly bowed and her eyes staring blankly at the ground before her. It was a strange emotion – one she could not recognize and therefore was weary of. It could have been regret or a sense of loss… But coupled with that was a twinge of happiness that she rarely glimpsed in herself. It was not bitter, nor prideful. More wistful than anything else. Yes, she decided, a sense of wistful regret.

She walked, lost in her thoughts, her hand occasionally brushing against the satchel hanging from her shoulder. She had been intending to find her usual spot in the garden and curl up there to sketch. It was to be a parting gesture of sorts. After all, she did not know if she would ever return to Syliras again and there was no better way to say goodbye than in the beautiful, ancient garden she had come to love. She realized with a start that she would miss the city – another emotion that was largely foreign to her. But no matter how much she would miss Syliras, she knew she would have to leave some day. And why not make today that day? Her horse, Rhine, was ready. She was ready. There was no reason to stay – no reason that she could logically explain.

She did not have to look up from the path under her feet to know of the graves around her. Memorials to the dead - some nameless, others recognized and remembered in print forever. Funny, how someone could simply disappear off the face of this earth, surrendering even their name to death. To Eris the prospect did not seem as bad as it might have. Death was not an issue as long as she managed to finish what she started before she died. If she didn’t finish, she would have to fight… Death was the only thing she did not want to fight in the end.

Eris let her feet carry her to the same place she had occupied in the garden every time she came here. In fact, she was so consumed by her thoughts that she did not fully register it when she drew to a halt. As the world around her slowly came into focus again, a lump of panic rose in her throat. Foolish girl. Have you learned nothing? Have you not learned to stay alert at all times? For once, the voice of her old teacher ringing in her mind was right. She had let herself become immersed in her thoughts . Dangerous. Dangerous and stupid.

As soon as she emerged from her daze, Eris noticed another presence next to her. Her head swiveled to face the stranger, quickly assessing the threat level. Fortunately, the woman before her did not appear to present a danger at the moment and Eris relaxed fractionally. Only then did she begin to wonder how long she had been mutely standing there. Clearing her throat, she looked at the other woman and offered a greeting, “Good morning.” Then, it came to her that the woman was occupying her usual spot within the garden. It was a childish thing to grow angry over and Eris suppressed the desire to snap at the stranger. Instead, she continued in the same civil, if slightly cooler tone, “I apologize for intruding. I must have been too engaged in my thoughts.”

[Jilitse]

As if she never heard the other person, Jilitse continued on mulling on her own thoughts. How long has it been since she ran away from Sahova? What would she do now? Most disconcerting was the fact that she now had to live with a blind man who practiced auristics and fours kids, one of them the daughter of the current body she inhabited. It was not her desire to get involved with humans, but after being openly ridiculed out in the streets, Stitch was the best thing that happened her way. Quite lucky, she thought to herself, that a generous man would be in Syliras to offer her a roof to keep above her head. He had accepted a payment or a favor in return, though quite unwillingly. The children were a little wary of her, but otherwise friendly.

Well, the change, although not in general desirable, was welcome. It was somewhat better than having to research all day and all night. That was another thing of course, it would only be a matter of time before she starts to realize the things that she needed to get done were looming above her. The Nuit's reason for leaving Sahova was quite a big mission, and she needed to get started.

Where to? There's the watchtower. Jil considered the possibility of looking for Priskil and her Order of Radiance. But the Nuit felt that she was not good enough to present herself with the goddess. Yes, logic tells her that she needed to prepare for that, too. There was a temple somewhere in Syliras that she could probably visit, ask the priest or priestess for guidance and counsel. The Nuit considered talking to people - something that she would otherwise not do on her own will. But, if she asked around for human insight about their own deities, perhaps she will be enlightened about the higher beings whose existence have been insignificant to her unlife. Some of the humans could be quite religious.

After a long while, Jilitse moved in her seat. Dawn was breaking. Her eyes flew to the skies. Another day, just another boring day. The only difference was that she was free from Sahova. Was she, really?

[Eris]

Eris blinked, a little put off by the woman’s lack of response or even acknowledgement of her presence. She wasn’t exactly an expert on the civilities of small talk herself, but surely the woman should have at least responded. Her brows furrowed in irritation. Not only was this stranger taking up her favorite space in the garden, she was also being extremely rude. Eris had a temper – one she usually tried to keep under control. However, she didn’t feel up to restraining herself today. This was her last morning in Syliras. She might never see this city or this garden again. She wasn’t about to let anyone ruin her last few moments here.

Eris tapped her foot on the ground, waiting for the woman to acknowledge her. It occurred to Eris that the woman might be deaf. But surely she wasn’t blind as well. There was no way she couldn’t see Eris standing right in front of her.

Eris cleared her throat again, more forcefully this time. “I believe the polite thing to do would be to acknowledge me in some way, don’t you think?” Her voice felt like ice in her own throat. The woman could be mute, too. Eris almost laughed at that idea as it flitted through her mind. If she turned out to be deaf, blind, and mute, Eris would gladly apologize, but she wasn’t about to let someone behave themselves in such a cavalier way around her.

[Jilitse]

Jilitse raised her brows, "I am inclined to disagree, Miss." She eyed the human curiously, as if weighing if she should talk more. When she did, she said, "I am not obligated to not ignore you, as you can see, I am thinking deeply of something." She placed a thoughtful finger on her lips, "I have no business with you."

The Nuit locked her gaze with the human, never blinking her eyes even once. She opened her mouth as if to reply, and then smiled thinly. She looked away, out to the horizon, where the sun would peek anytime soon. "I only have business with the dead. They are really good companions for they are silent. Quiet, just as I need them to be."

She gave Eris another analyzing look, "What brings you here, Miss? Come to visit a loved one perhaps?" She swept a hand at the garden, "There is a vast amount of space, why do you choose to trouble me?"

"I am a Nuit. An undead. A reanimated corpse." Her hallowed voice hung in the air, cold as death. "I find it curious," she let the word linger, "that a human would ever want to talk to me. And at this hour, too. May I ask, then, what business do you have with the dead?"

Jilitse retreated to herself, never really expecting Eris to answer her rhetorical questions. Eris would start to notice her lifeless eyes, her frail frame, her uncanny posture. Jilitse was not a normal person, but it did not change the fact that she was sitting on Eris' favorite spot. To add insult to injury, Jilitse had just insinuated that Eris was a nuisance. How very rude! Even the undead must know manners, right?

[Eris]

The woman’s gaze was unnerving – steady and hallow to a point that was almost frightening. Eris rarely conversed with strangers – for safety reasons as much as a lack of desire to socialize. As such, she tended not to care what said strangers thought of her. However, she resented the implication that she was too chatty or too loud. She also resented the implication that she may have loved ones in this garden - or loved ones at all, for that matter. Eris felt a twitch in the corner of her eye, but managed to suppress it.

It was only when the woman announced herself to be a reanimated corpse that Eris began to realize who she was looking at. Eris’s eyes grew wider as she began to notice the woman’s frail frame and the black bags under her eyes. She had never met a Nuit before, which might explain why she had not recognized the woman as belonging to that particular race right away. Still, she quickly wiped the surprised look off her face, determined not to be fazed by the fact that she was essentially talking to a walking corpse. “I care very little whether you are dead, undead, or something else entirely.” Eris replied in a clipped tone. “I have no business with the dead nor with you. I do happen to have business with this particular spot in the garden,” Eris said, gesturing with her hand to encompass the area around them. “I could hardly have anticipated that you would be busy thinking deeply of something here.”

She glared at the Nuit for a moment, weighting her options. The sensible thing would be to turn away and find some other place to sketch. The not-so sensible thing would be to sit down stubbornly across from the Nuit and proceed as she has planned. Frankly, Eris was tired of being sensible.

She turned around abruptly and walked a few paces directly away from Jilitse and slightly to the left. She sat down so that a quarter of her face was facing Jilitse, but so that her gaze would not fall on the Nuit unless she were to deliberately turn her head. This way, Eris could at least attempt to return herself to the peaceful atmosphere of a few chimes’ ago, but still keep the other woman in sight. Always keep an eye on a potential threat.

Eris was determined to execute her initial plan whether someone else was there or not. If that rude, melancholy ‘reanimated corpse’ wanted quiet, so be it. But Eris was not about to back down and run away so the Nuit could get what she wanted. She began to rummage in her satchel for her sketchpad and pencil.

[Jilitse]

Jilitse gave Eris a faint smile. She was not exactly receptive of Eris' presence, merely counting it as a nuisance. The memorial garden was not exactly a conducive place to meet and greet other people. The shock was obvious in Eris' face. Maybe it did help that they were in a memorial garden. Somehow a dead person in a place full of dead people was not intimidating, although it might be a little uncomfortable in a spooky kind of way. The Nuit noticed the fast transition of emotions in Eris' face. As a Nuit she had lived through years and years that receptivity to emotions had slowly faded into the background. By the sound of it, Jilitse was occupying a spot that Eris meant to visit or stay in. So, she worked it out in hear head, perhaps she, not the human, was the nuisance after all. She sniffed, inhaling air without releasing it. Why of course, a Nuit has no place in the land of the living. And not without good reason - such as needing a replacement body.

Jilitse had to think about that, too. Leaving Sahova meant living in a place were there were no readily available vessels for her to transfer to. Granted, people constantly died, and there was always another body waiting to be embalmed and inhabited. But it wasn't just that easy anymore. The shock of meeting somebody who recognized the person who owned the body she switched into, together with all the drama that went along with it, was too much for Jilitse to bear. Stitch was really nice enough to provide her lodging. Jilitse had the intuition that the man was a very trustworthy person.

The Nuit momentarily turned her head and inclined it towards Eris, observing the girl. The human was keeping to herself and her bag. Jilitse eyed her with an unbreakable gaze, gaining the opportunity of catching Eris' eyes even with the shortest fleeting look.

"What makes someone an intruder?" She called out to the human staying a few paces away from her. Jilitse adjusted her cloak and posture, elegantly swaying to her side to pose at her companion. "Is it one's presence or voice?"

"Is it the bad timing or the sudden circumstance?"

Jil paused to think, paused as if for effect. She observed Eris, and waited for the actualization of the human's intention. Did she come here to... draw? Jilitse hummed to herself. Should Eris feel a little bit more sociable, Jilitse would most likely introduce herself, ask the other person's name, and, under a favorable and affable tête-à-tête, inquire about why Eris was in the memorial garden. Wasn't it a bit too early to be awake? Didn't humans sleep until late in the morning? Even more theoretical, Jilitse would ask Eris the inevitable meaningful question of "What are you here for?"

[Eris]

Eris had successfully pulled out a small sketchbook and a short pencil from her bag. Now, she sat with her legs tucked under her and the pad propped up on her lap. Her eyes searched the space in front of her, looking for something deserving of being drawn. It was then that the Nuit’s voice cut through her thoughts, causing Eris’s lips to contract into a thin line.

“Both,” she replied without looking at the other woman.

Her eyes finally settling on an old, gnarled tree, Eris began the process of sketching the trunk’s outline on the yellowish paper. She stayed silent for a few chimes, stewing in her own irritation. She didn’t want Jilitse here. Then again, Jilitse probably didn’t want her here either. Realizing that allowing her irritation to show through was a sign of weakness, she let out a breath and added, “The sudden circumstance does add to the level of the intrusion, I suppose.”

Her eyes never leaving the tree, Eris grudgingly posed a question, “Were you not expecting intrusion here? It is a public garden, after all.” What Eris actually wanted to know was what a Nuit was doing in the garden in the first place. But she couldn't very well ask that outright.

[Jilitse]

"Considering what time it is, I suppose so." Jilitse and Eris had the whole memorial garden to themselves. What kind of people visited the gardens before dawn breaks? Jilitse had the faintest sense of dread since leaving Sahova, but it wasn't enough to say that she was being melancholy. Truth is, she just really needed to go someplace cool and quiet, were she can reassess the mission goals and the plans she had to accomplish them.

So far Syliras had been filled with countless nuisances. But her experience with Stitch, who saved her from the angry stones of passersby who hated Nuits, cause her to think that maybe, some people had it in them. Compassion. How long since she knew the meaning of the word?

"Well then, chance as chance it is, it was nice meeting you." Her whisper came out as if she meant to ask the other person her name.

"How long have you been around Syliras?" But it wasn't exactly a question for Eris, as she continued with, "How much do you know about the Stone Gardens?" She was actually talking to herself. "How long do you intend to stay?" More and more existentialist questions rippled in the air, and Jilitse smiled at Eris, should there was an opportunity for their eyes to meet. She left her seat now, and walked to where Eris was standing, choosing to stay a step or two behind her.

Jilitse peered at her sketchpad and then stared up in the sky. Golden threads and ray of lights were now trailing in the bright cloudless sky. Pulling her cloak around her, Jil wheeled and slowly inched her way around the gardens, walking over one cobble stone after another. A lonely lullaby filled the air - Jil was humming a very very old tune.

[Eris]

Nice. Could there meeting really be called nice? Eris jerked her right hand across the paper, creating a decisive line to indicate the placement of a tree branch. Working from there, she began to make smaller strokes, her pencil never stopping in its erratic movement.

When Jilitse posed her first question, Eris opened her mouth to answer. Most definitely, the answer would have been something short and sarcastic. However, she closed it just as promptly as the Nuit continued to pose questions…apparently, to herself. Eris wondered briefly if the woman was actually insane or only appearing to be? She was smiling now, when a moment before she seemed annoyed. She was seemingly speaking to herself. When Jilitse stood behind Eris to look at her sketchpad, Eris almost tilted it away from her protectively, but realized how childish it would be just in time.

Her gaze drifted away from the paper to follow the strange woman, who was now pacing around and humming. She was humming! Of all things! Eris had the urge to inquire about the woman’s mental state. “Why are you here?” she asked bluntly, pitching her voice to carry to where the woman was walking. “Why in this garden of all the places in Syliras and why now?” it wasn’t clear whether Eris was simply letting out her frustration at the woman’s presence or whether she was actually curious.