[Pumpkin Festival] When Bubbles Start to Boil (Trista pls)

[Alice]

Not surprised in the least, Rhine observed how Trista was coping with that information. The Konti had had enough time to get used to similar reactions, but still she couldn’t avoid keeping a somewhat distorted smile on her face. Hope … that kind of hope was gone, perhaps it hadn’t even existed.

While Trista told the story of her kin, Rhine started to walk again, wanting to move, move, move and leave the past behind. She needed to believe that she had gotten stronger. If nothing had changed at all … Anyway, that was unlikely.

The Akvatari were without purpose? Oh, Trista very much looked like it at that moment, but Rhine held her tongue. Not only an interesting, but also a dangerous topic, considering the Konti’s plan. When she spoke, she carefully chose each word. “You could see it as a tragedy … but also as a chance for a new beginning. If your ancestors aren’t able to answer your questions, you have to seek answers yourself. Seize the day. You are what you make of yourself, don’t you think so?”

The more she spoke the more she believed in those words herself. Then an idea struck her, but still she hesitated. A fresh breeze was playing with her pale locks and raising the hem of her thin dress a bit. She shot a quick glance to the west. As if she could sense the voice of the sea, waves and seagulls, in that direction.

Suddenly she turned around with fluid movement and an inviting gesture. “I want to show you something. It might help you a great deal, really. Of course, the decision is left to you.” Lowering her gaze in a somewhat embarrassed way, she added: “I will take care of you and I won’t force you into anything, don’t worry. Trust me.”

[Trista]

Trista didn't answer the question about being what one made oneself. She was proud of what she had achieved, of her art and music, of her writing and language skills. But that in and of itself didn't somehow erase her sense of existential loneliness.

At the Konti's second question, Trista stopped moving forward. Was there any reason that she should trust this strange woman? The Akvatari couldn't think of any off the top of her head. From her initial overly friendly greeting to her declaration of love for one of the most unpopular gods in Mizahar, Rhine was steadily growing creepier and creepier.

But one of Trista's characteristics that was both a great strength and an abiding weakness was her intense curiosity. What on earth did this Konti want to show her? She had no idea, and the invitation was tantalizing. Surely, in a city of seers, a cult involving, say, ritual sacrifice wouldn't last long, would it? Her physical safety wouldn't be at issue, would it?

She fixed her blue eyes on Rhine. "Trust is something that has to be earned, no? But I'm curious, and so I'll see whatever it is you want me to see." It wasn't exactly a resounding "yes," but nonetheless, she was willing to go wherever it was that Rhine would lead.

[Alice]

Rhine’s smile vanished when she saw Trista hesitating. Of course she was well aware of the fact that her behavior could be called a bit … fast? Too optimistic? Perhaps it was difficult for the Akvatari to understand how she, a Konti with an insignificant gift, saw and thought of the world around them. But Rhine was determined to show her companion … to show her what it meant to live in the world Rhine had chosen for herself.

She hoped that she could help the other girl a bit on her own way – after all, Konti were exactly like that, advisors to more important people than themselves. Trista could say what she wanted, but Rhine believed that Konti would always remain the figures behind the curtain, supporters of the real heroes. Well, she couldn’t change that fact, but she wanted to fulfill her task as well as possible.

Without any further explanations she started to lead the way out of town. Soon they followed a small path to the East, right into the heart of Konti Isle. They were wandering through empty fields and meadows with different fruit trees. While the remaining fruits and crops were already decaying, that fact didn’t affect the beauty of the landscape. Although autumn was slowly fading, the temperatures were rather mild and the weather perfect for a festival … or a walk.

After about twenty minutes, they had to climb a small hill to reach a half-round building made of white stone, but painted with beautiful as well as mysterious ornaments in blue, turquoise and light green – the flowing patterns and colors of the sea.

Rhine seemed to hesitate a bit, her pace suddenly slowed down. “This is … our headquarter. Please, don’t be afraid or suspicious, I just want to show you how much this mission means to me.”

[Trista]

Trista followed silently. She had spent little time in the interior of Konti Isle, and so most of what she was seeing was new to her. Her wings fluttered as she moved through the soft breeze.

The Akvatari stopped at the top of the hill. She hadn't expected to see a building here, and she paused to take a good look at it. It was beautiful, though it was true that most Konti architecture was pleasing to the eye.

Trista turned so that she was three-quarters facing Rhine. A rueful smile crossed her lips. "Fear is part of what it is to be alive, no? But...I'm very interested in what it is that's important enough to you to bring someone you've only barely met to see it."

The girl was perfectly capable of barbed sarcasm when she felt like it, but her words to Rhine were delivered simply and honestly. She was afraid of the world, though it didn't always show, but by this point, she was no more nor less frightened of Rhine than of anyone else. Something mattered very much to this Konti, and Trista wanted to see what it was.

[Alice]

The longer Trista inspected the building that was lying in front of her, the more she noticed that there was some unique quality to it. The half-round shape didn’t only include architecture, it rather depicted a whole lifestyle that she might not have noticed at the city before. This time, however, the building was the only extraordinary landmark that could be seen. On the one hand, that fact added a lot of power to it and, literally, size, but on the other hand it seemed to blend into the environment, existing in the middle of nature and somehow belonging to it.

Rhine had spent quite some time pondering over why the Mural buildings looked like that, so she turned around when Trista answered. She hadn’t really expected an answer, but then, the Akvatari seemed to have knowledge about many things. Things of the mind, to be specific. That fact intrigued Rhine above all else – how could someone sightless know as much of the mind as an average Konti? Because of the tourist business she had grown up with, she knew that foreigners often possessed different mindsets and opinions about the world. She had learned to tolerate that, but Trista was someone she could understand – to a degree that was much more than usual.

So she nodded with a small smile. “True, I’ve barely met you, but still I feel that I know you longer than I actually do. Perhaps this is some kind of Konti thing. You seem to understand why people are doing things and to what degree Konti are different from humans … or Akvatari. After all, both of our races call the sea part of their home. Anyway, you’re not a stranger to me. I know that I can trust you.”

For a few seconds, her intensely colored eyes were staring into Trista’s. Perhaps it would feel like being looked through, as if her body had suddenly been transformed into glass … Rhine knew something, but what detail of Trista’s mind that was nobody but the Konti could tell.

Then they lost eye contact and Rhine turned around to walk the last few steps and open the door. With every step the building seemed to increase in size – the double doors would even enable Trista to enter the building without touching the ground if they both stood open. After passing a short corridor framed by slim pools of clear, fresh water at both sides, they entered a huge hall, the heart of the headquarter. Rhine was visibly delighted to return ‘home’, her steps becoming lighter and her behavior more cheerful.

While approaching the middle of the hall, Rhine explained: “This building is younger than the community itself. The elders told me that they were raising funds over a long period of time to build a center for our operations. It is for us what is the Taviasa for Mura.” She seemed to consider further actions for a while, tilting her head. “I guess I’ll show you what we exactly do first. Please follow me?“

Rhine, although still a bit hesitant about the visitor’s motivation, started approaching one of the doors at the right. Because of the circular ground plan of the hall, doors were arranged with equal spaces between them, and the young Konti led Trista to the one that was situated just left to the front wall.

[Trista]

The Konti did indeed have the sight, although its applications varied, and so Trista could imagine a way in which Rhine might feel like she knew her better than the length of their acquaintance might indicate.

This still didn't prepare her for the feeling of being looked through that came over her next. Trista put her heart into her art, but that was her primary outlet for communicating her internal workings; she almost felt violated by being examined in this way. However, the sight was Avalis' gift to the Konti, and seeing as how Trista followed Avalis, she had to trust in some way that the gift would be used well.

She followed Rhine into the building. It was grander on the inside than she had expected, and the pools especially were a nice touch. Rhine certainly seemed happy to be here; it certainly wasn't the fire-spouting inferno of destruction that Trista might have expected from a group of Ivakians.

The Akvatari almost asked who the elders were that Rhine meant, but instead, just nodded. "All right then." She was grateful that the building gave her space to move -- many of the interiors away from Abura were almost impossible for her to move around in. She moved to follow Rhine to appropriate door, wondering what was inside.

[Alice]

While walking, Rhine wondered what Trista was thinking. Some of her friends would be able to tell her, but Rhine didn’t particularly like that type of gift. Instead, she was content with guessing and observing. The Akvatari was hard to read though, as if some kind of mental barrier was preventing her thoughts from turning into facial expressions. That fact seemed a bit eerie to Rhine, if she was honest, but maybe Trista expressed her feelings in other ways that weren’t for the Konti to know.

Anyway, the door opened and revealed … another corridor with openings in the walls and another pool of fresh, clear water. Climbing plants were growing at a fence at the same wall, dipping their roots in the water and stretching their leaves towards the light of Syna that fell through the glass ceiling. In fact, the headquarter was built in a completely round fashion, the hall being the center and the corridor running circling it with small individual offices and workrooms attached to it. Trista could throw quick glances in some of them and see highly individual furniture and decoration. Although most had desks, some did not, and there was a high probability of water, plants and strange metal objects that looked very scientific.

Eventually Rhine entered one of the offices and greeted the person sitting behind the desk. “Hello, Mistress Komna, I’ve brought a visitor with me. Please don’t be angry … I just sensed that she would be important to us.” The mistress was one of those Konti whose age was very hard to tell. Although her eyes were framed with tiny wrinkles, she still carried an air of energy and natural curiosity with her. Upon Rhine’s and Trista’s entry, she raised and smiled at the ‘visitor’. “Welcome to the Suviak Headquarter then.”

Turning back to Rhine, she asked: “So what exactly did you sense? This must be very important, since I already told you not to reveal your secret to any random stranger.” Her voice was calm, yet it did carry a certain edge that indicated that Mistress Komna by no means appreciated her student’s behavior.

Rhine seemed to shrink under her mistress’ gaze, her eyes were seeking help from Trista, but she didn’t address her. “You know how vague my visions are. I can’t describe the details, but I can show you if you insist …”

Sighing, Komna circled the desk that was covered with some kind of indecipherable maps and took Rhine’s hand. For a few moments silence filled the room, then Komna’s pale eyes lit up. Again, she gave Trista a friendly smile. “To some degree, I know how you must feel about Ivak and his followers, but the world isn’t only black and white as you might already know. Followers of Ivak can still do something good – as much as followers of Avalis can do something bad.”

She eyed Trista suspiciously, then laughed and made an apologetic gesture: “You learn to be careful after some time. So, what do you think that we do?”

[Trista]

Since Trista had a limited idea of what was going on, she wasn’t able to offer Rhine any immediate help. It seemed that her arrival was a surprise, and not entirely a welcome one, though Rhine and the new woman, Komna, seemed to get over it fairly quickly. Their apparent communication in some unspecified Konti way no doubt helped.

There was half a smile on Trista’s face as she tried to answer Komna’s question. ”To be honest, I don’t really know what it is you do, and any guess I could make would probably be inaccurate. Rhine mentioned protecting the island and the mainland from storms, but she didn’t go into more detail than that. “ Indeed, Trista mused, she still wasn’t sure precisely what was going on here.

”And...the world, in many senses, has little black or white in it at all. I have reservations, certainly, but I know even less of you than you do of me, and any judgments I make at this point say more about me than about you.” This was one of the things she had taken most to heart from her artistic training – each vision was individual, each person could only see the world from the place where he or she was standing, and the same thing could be interpreted radically differently by two different people.

She felt that perhaps she should say something more, but as she had no idea what that something more would be, she elected to fall silent and wait to see what Komna and Rhine would say or do next.

[Alice]

Both Konti listened carefully to Trista’s words, as if there was some hidden meaning they wanted to decipher. Perhaps she was right and they did try to find out something about her through taking in her thoughts.

Komna was the first to give a smile. Having travelled the mainland for more than one time, she knew how it was to be lost, a stranger in a foreign region. On the mainland, people acted differently – or the Konti had their own, different culture on their small island, isolated in some way as it was. “Well, that was to be expected … I’m sorry. Rhine brought you here with only good intentions, but she sometimes forgets to provide people with the necessary information to make the right decision.” Rhine flinched under her stern glance, but then their attention quickly returned to Trista.

Gesturing, the Konti explained: “We are a religious organization as much as we are a charitable one, called the Suviak … with permission from the mothers’ circle we observe the sea and the underwater volcanoes close to Konti Isle. Most of us are marked by Ivak and can sense any changes or movements in the ocean, thus we are able to protect the island from catastrophes like sea quakes or cyclones. Those who know of our existence also know that our work is very important for preserving peace and good weather at the island.” She grinned.

Rhine added: “So, we are really protecting the citizens. There are other groups of the Suviak along the east coast and each of them does the same thing. Of course, we also worship Ivak, perform rituals and so on – and in turn he gives us the gift to protect us from the sea. Nice, isn’t it?”

Judging from her expression, Komna seemed to have a slightly different opinion, but she didn’t correct her pupil, but rather raised her eyebrows. “So, what did you want to show her?”

The girl’s face lit up. “Yes! The most exciting part is still to be revealed.” She smiled at Trista, casually took her hand and quickly left the office without any further explanations. After a few steps she slowed down a bit again, but still more or less dragging Trista with her. “I’m sure you will be thrilled!”

[Trista]

Trista nodded slightly as Komna spoke. It made sense, she supposed, although she would have thought that Laviku would be at least somewhat willing to help keep the Konti safe from the sea as well. But, given what Ivak had inflicted on the world before, it was probably a good idea to be apprised of what he and his domain were doing.

Besides, Trista doubted that the Mothers would be willing to give their blessing to something that wasn't necessary -- or at least helpful -- when it came to religious matters.

Then, it seemed that Rhine was swept up in a wave of her own enthusiasm again. It occurred to Trista that Komna must be something like an exceptionally patient big sister to the other Konti. The Akvatari smiled at Komna, and then allowed Rhine to pull her off to wherever it was they were going.

"The most exciting part, eh?" There was something vaguely sardonic in Trista's tone, though it was more a reaction to the sheer force of Rhine's excitement than to anything she was saying. Her face softened quickly, however. "All right then, show me!" she said -- although nothing she could have said could probably have prevented it...