sparkindarkness (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sparkindarkness) wrote2004-07-04 02:44 am
sparkindarkness) wrote2004-07-04 02:44 am
Weird fic update. Kind of a prequel
I go on record saying I don't like this one and I had to maul it to fit the requirements, but it may give some insight into the inner workings of Clan Camaalis at least. I think I'll rewrite it later, because it really doesn't flow for me.
This is in response to Ephemera's challenge that can be found here
Edit # 1
A quest. Katherine had hardly slept a wink all night, she‘d walked around in a daze all morning. They were going on a quest! Ok, she knew she shouldn't be this giddy. This was serious. A Rite of Passage. Her first quest!
All members of Clan Camaalis had to go through at least nine quests before they were considered adults, nine quests to test their skills, their magic, their will, their intelligence and their creativity. Nine quests before they could be considered capable of the autonomy most members of the family enjoyed. And she was finally deemed ready to go on a quest.
“Kat?” The voice was quiet, but it managed to catch her attention even through her haze of excitement. She always kept an ear open for her little brother. Someone had to. She stared down into those extremely large, serious deep blue eyes - eyes a mirror of hers. Stunning dark sapphires, midnight pools in deep caves in which dark and beautiful things lurked. Generations of careful breeding and selective inbreeding had given the Camaalis family extremely powerful magic, and some truly exotic features. Kat and her little brother had many of them, the incredible eyes, the alabaster pale skin, and deep, midnight black hair.
“What’s the matter, little bro?” She smiled down at him, he was extremely short for his age - even for a Camaalis, and gods knew they weren’t usually a tall people. He reached out a small hand to touch the shoulder bag Katherine was carrying. Katherine felt herself draw back, caught herself just in time, furious with herself. There really was no need. She wasn’t going to become one of those people who wouldn’t even look at him, she wasn’t!
“Are you going away, Kat?” His voice was heavy with hidden emotion.
“Just for a little while. I’m going on a quest.” He nodded silently, but she could feel his worry. “Tell you what, when I get back we can go on a trip, just you and me. Camping or something. OK?” She grinned at him. He nodded, much more enthusiastically this time; anything to get away from the family for a time. He even gave her a smile. She loved his smiles; they were so rare.
“Kat! Kat, are you coming?” She turned to see her cousin running towards her. Rhiannon was going with her on the quest. Traditionally it was always three. Kat noticed vaguely that her brother had disappeared at the presence of another relative. She forced that out of her mind. Focus on the quest. The thought brought all the excitement back and she ran excitedly to join her cousin.
“Where are we meeting Liam?” Liam was another cousin, their third on the quest. It would be an interesting team, that was for certain.
“At Grandma Prisa’s. He said he had some things to work out.” Rhiannon’s tone warred between irritation and respect.
Katherine frowned. Liam was a bit weird, very vague and spaced. But he was a Seer. Seers were allowed to be a bit spaced. Even if Liam did take it a little too far.
“There he is!” Rhiannon pointed to the gangly teenager strolling towards them. He was staring into space again, clearly not seeing where he was going. Everyone said he wasn't as useless as he looked. Kat had her doubts... but then, even though he wasn’t looking, he didn’t run into anything or anyone.
They met up with him outside of old Grandmother Prisa’s house, Liam running to join them at the entrance giving them both a nod and a distracted smile. They paused long enough for a deep breath before crossing the threshold.
Inside was amazingly dark despite the sunlight streaming through the bank of eastern windows. Smoke billowed round the top of the room, seeming to cling to the old lady and blur her outline. There was a suggestion of a smile on her aged face as they entered. “Come, come my children. Come and listen to the task I set before you.”
All three of them shuffled forwards eagerly.
“A quest I set out for you. But not a quest that you will expect, no, in many ways it will be a surprise for you.” Liam’s ever present smile widened slightly. “Including you, young Seer. For the first surprise in this quest is that you, none of you, will be able to use magic.” She held up her hand to silence their protests. “Too many of Camaalis are utterly dependent on the skills of the arcane. No, we must hone the mundane skills as well.”
Kat blinked. She didn’t think she would be denied her magic. “I am giving you these three airline tickets. They will take you to Edinburgh. Once in the city you must capture the crow with the begemmed eyes. From there you must follow the message to find the object of your quest.” She paused, dramatically. “A cup. A cup of great importance.”
A cup! Through Kat’s mind ran the hundreds of possibilities, legends of holy grails, magical cauldrons, mystical goblets.
She practically ran out of the house, the other two following eagerly in her wake. The airport. “The flight leaves in a couple of hours! We need to be there now!” Rhiannon groaned behind her. Kat wasted no time, making a bee line for one of the passing Camaalis. He was tall, extremely so for a Camaalis, well over six feet. His hair was long, just past his shoulders but was a raging, flaming red. No human hair should be that colour, like flame carved into hair and beard. He grinned fiercely at her running towards him, his sapphire eyes lightening up.
“Kat, daughter, how goes your quest?” His voice roared, like joyous thunder.
“Dad! I need a lift to the airport!” The three didn't wait for him to agree, each grabbing a hold on him and pushing him towards his car like little tugs towing a liner.
They managed to reach the flight with seconds to spare. They left Kat’s father being sternly lectured by the airport staff for their tardiness as they hurried to the plane, trying to decipher the prophecy before the plane had even left the ground. They certainly got some strange looks from the other passengers, and it wasn't just for their hair and eyes. Not that they actually achieved anything, except slowly growing more irritated, especially since Liam and Rhiannon were not happy about loosing the extra senses their magic granted them. Truth be told, Kat was finding it hard as well, she was used to being able to change the world, just a little to her will. It was amazing how much she missed it.
They dragged themselves off the plane when it finally arrived, still bickering fiercely. “Of course it’s not literal!” Liam growled, still trying to extract a tortured metaphor from the quest. Kat blamed it on his Seer mind.
“Not literal, but maybe a statue or something - a piece of jewellery?’ Rhiannon shot back acidly.
“Or it could be a real crow flying around with jewelled eyes.” Kat said absently. Both turned with scorn in their eyes. Kat pointed to a bird just beyond the airport. A bird with glossy black feathers and extremely reflective eyes. Both turned their disgusted gazes to the bird. Kat had to agree, you expected more subtlety than a magically altered bird.
They got through airport security quick and easy, there weren’t many planes that flew within the British Isles; Common Travel Area passengers never got any hassle. In no time they way running through the city chasing the bird like mad people, which was doubtlessly what the locals thought they were. Kat was sure the wretched creature was laughing at her. It stopped in a park only when they'd run across half the city, staring down at their hot, dirty, tired forms. Multifaceted jewelled eyes that shifted colours with every movement stared down mockingly at three pairs of hostile sapphire eyes.
“Ok. Ideas people?” Kat asked, still glaring at the bird, thinking of all the unpleasant illusions she could ruin its life with.
“How about we set up some kind of trap?” Rhiannon growled, sparing some of the growl for Liam who was wandering off into the woods, before returning her glare to the bird.
“What kind?” the two girls were matching the bird eye to eye, as if eye contact alone could kill the creature.
“Um... I don’t know. I aren’t good at this wilderness survival thing. Trapping small feathered creatures wasn‘t really part of my education.”
Kat glared at the bird. “We’ll have to complain and have it added. I can certainly see the use.”
“How about...” the bird squawked and plummeted to the ground. Liam strolled back towards them, bouncing a rock in his hand.
“I’m getting a theme here. Don’t use magic. Don’t overcomplicate things. Stop looking for the subtle options.” Liam grinned.
“Theme?” Kat decided her glare was too good to loose and turned it on her cousin. “We’ve been here five minutes and you see a theme?”
“Yes. We got here by plane. Simple, easy, straightforward. We got to the airport by getting a lift. Simple, easy, straightforward. The bird isn’t a metaphor. Catching the bird involves throwing a rock. Theme.”
Rhiannon shrugged, “Must be his warped Seer brain.” She bent to examine the crow. “There’s a message tied round its leg.”
“’Follow the message,’” the Seer intoned smugly. “Simple, easy, straightforward.”
“OK,” Rhiannon unrolled the paper. “’The cup can be found at..’ there’s an address. A simple street address. ‘In he who walks the cleared path?’”
“Don’t speculate, wait until we get there. There’s bound to be a,” she glared at the insufferably smug Liam, “simple, easy and straightforward solution.”
Three buses, a taxi, getting lost three times and much recriminations at every turn they managed to reach their destination. And no serious injuries, which Kat was beginning to think was a small miracle. Though if Liam didn’t stop looking smug and Rhiannon didn’t stop bitching, that might change.
“An ice rink... with a curling room? What’s a curling room?” Kat had some strange impression of twisted architecture.
“Curling’s a sport, played on ice.” Rhiannon gave Kat a superior look. “The REAL question is how we get in to look around, I doubt they’ll just let us nosy. Is there a way to sneak in?”
“Simple, easy and straightforward. We hire the court and equipment to go curling. Honestly, why make life so difficult?” Liam gave Rhiannon his patented smug look which was returned full force with Rhiannon’s acid. Kat merely tried to remind herself that they were family. It took a while, but then it took a long time for Rhiannon to admit that Liam’s idea was a good one.
Which made her all the more eager to rant furiously at him when it was revealed none of them could actually skate. Let alone skate and throw weights around or sweep the ice. An activity that all three were willing to declare ridiculous by the time they’d all got an interesting collection of bruises from falling on the ice. Or fake ice.
“Just get the bloody cup,” Liam growled, staggering to his feet for what must have been the eighth time. “It should be in the...”
“The weight you throw, I know. I’m not stupid.” Rhiannon snarled, throwing them both a look that suggested they probably were.
The handle on the weight pulled out easily under Rhiannon’s deft fingers, pulling out a plug of a secret compartment. Within it was... a crudely made clay mug. The wonky words ‘Grandma’ were shakily written in a childish hand on the side. There was a long tense moment while all three regarded the object of their quest.
“Maybe it has hidden powers? Special qualities?” Kat suggested tentively...
“Yes... it must have.” Rhiannon nodded emphatically. Liam opened his mouth but was silenced by a dagger like glare from the Telepath. “One word about themes and I’m throwing it at your head!” He glowered sulkily but kept his silence, showing he had more intelligence than Kat gave him credit for.
Of course, it should have been easy going from there, just getting a plane back and returning home, right? And it was. Kind of. Except for the thunderstorm. And the rain full awning over the entrance to a grocers shop deciding to spill its entire load on the three. And the plane being delayed. Then diverted to the wrong airport due to bad weather. And loosing their luggage, including their changes of clothes, trapping them in their filthy, soggy outfits. Then being crammed on bus for several hours and multiple traffic jams to reach the airport they should have gone to. Accompanied by several drunken Scottish football fans, three people who suffered from travel sickness a preacher who sat next Rhiannon the whole way and tried to convert her, an elderly woman who sat next to Liam and entertained him with exceedingly long tales about her grandchildren of which she seemed to have an inordinate number and a greasy guy with extreme halitosis who sat next to Kat and tried to chat her up. What he lacked in charm he made up for in persistence despite her repeatedly informing him she was under sixteen.
And their lift from the airport to the Camaalis estate was late, just to finish their trip.
Needless to say, they did not great Grandma Prisa with warm smiles and cheerful faces. Kat was wondering whether it would be that wrong to throw the wretched cup at the old hag.
“Well done children. You have returned to me something of vital importance,” Prisa took the cup with simple joy. “My first grandchild baked this cup from clay when he was but a child. The first present I ever received from a grandchild.” She smiled in misty recollection before realising her charges were less than thrilled at this turn of events. She regarded them with a sharp eye. “No doubt you’re all wondering why I sent you on this quest? What this quest taught you?” Actually, Kat was wondering how long it would take to dismember the old woman and hide her body parts in the walls.
“You learned a great deal, but allow me to clarify.” Prisa held up one bony finger. “First, you have learned how wonderful the gift of magic is, how difficult it is to live without it and how important and integral it is in our lives.” All three shifted in unpleasant realisation. Prisa ignored them and held up a second finger. “Second, you have learned the importance of the mundane. Not everything is complicated. Not everything is mystical or magical. Truly vital tools and ideas stem from quite mundane activities, people, places and objects. Do not neglect the natural for the supernatural.” A third finger joined the other two. “Thirdly, you have learned what is truly valuable, or you have seen, even if the lesson hasn't sunk home yet. This cup has no magical properties, but to me it is worth more than any mystical grail you can name. Family has more value than gold. Love is greater than any enchantment.” She paused to let her words sink in.
“You have also been shown an important insight into Clan Camaalis. Namely, why we, despite being the oldest, most powerful and perhaps, largest magical institution in the world, work alone more often than we work together. Why personal autonomy is so important to us. Why we live in separate houses on the estates around the country rather than all in the grand manors and why even partners who are deeply in love spend so much time apart. Why family politics is so deep and divisive. The reason is?”
Kat avoided the old woman’s gaze. The only thing she’d learned from questing with her fellow Camaalis is how easy it must be to throttle your own family. No sooner had the thought passed through her mind than the old woman blushed.
“Exactly. We do not co-operate well. Few powerful magical folk do, usually it takes a powerful bond of love, affection or simply a constant distraction and overarching goal to allow us to spend any great length of time together. Ego, children, ego. We’re all extremely powerful and know it. We’re a collection of bantam roosters or tom cats, eager to prove who is best and defeat any potential challenger. We hate interference, we hate being beaten, we hate that anyone can be as good as us, let alone better.” She grinned toothily at the shocked kids. “So we stay out of each other’s way, don’t interfere in other’s business and have a back stabbing, bitchy political status network so any combat between us uses acid words rather than fireballs.”
There was another long, stunned silence.
“Well now children, no doubt you’ve got a lot of thinking to do. I’ll call you again when I next have a quest for you.”
This is in response to Ephemera's challenge that can be found here
Edit # 1
A quest. Katherine had hardly slept a wink all night, she‘d walked around in a daze all morning. They were going on a quest! Ok, she knew she shouldn't be this giddy. This was serious. A Rite of Passage. Her first quest!
All members of Clan Camaalis had to go through at least nine quests before they were considered adults, nine quests to test their skills, their magic, their will, their intelligence and their creativity. Nine quests before they could be considered capable of the autonomy most members of the family enjoyed. And she was finally deemed ready to go on a quest.
“Kat?” The voice was quiet, but it managed to catch her attention even through her haze of excitement. She always kept an ear open for her little brother. Someone had to. She stared down into those extremely large, serious deep blue eyes - eyes a mirror of hers. Stunning dark sapphires, midnight pools in deep caves in which dark and beautiful things lurked. Generations of careful breeding and selective inbreeding had given the Camaalis family extremely powerful magic, and some truly exotic features. Kat and her little brother had many of them, the incredible eyes, the alabaster pale skin, and deep, midnight black hair.
“What’s the matter, little bro?” She smiled down at him, he was extremely short for his age - even for a Camaalis, and gods knew they weren’t usually a tall people. He reached out a small hand to touch the shoulder bag Katherine was carrying. Katherine felt herself draw back, caught herself just in time, furious with herself. There really was no need. She wasn’t going to become one of those people who wouldn’t even look at him, she wasn’t!
“Are you going away, Kat?” His voice was heavy with hidden emotion.
“Just for a little while. I’m going on a quest.” He nodded silently, but she could feel his worry. “Tell you what, when I get back we can go on a trip, just you and me. Camping or something. OK?” She grinned at him. He nodded, much more enthusiastically this time; anything to get away from the family for a time. He even gave her a smile. She loved his smiles; they were so rare.
“Kat! Kat, are you coming?” She turned to see her cousin running towards her. Rhiannon was going with her on the quest. Traditionally it was always three. Kat noticed vaguely that her brother had disappeared at the presence of another relative. She forced that out of her mind. Focus on the quest. The thought brought all the excitement back and she ran excitedly to join her cousin.
“Where are we meeting Liam?” Liam was another cousin, their third on the quest. It would be an interesting team, that was for certain.
“At Grandma Prisa’s. He said he had some things to work out.” Rhiannon’s tone warred between irritation and respect.
Katherine frowned. Liam was a bit weird, very vague and spaced. But he was a Seer. Seers were allowed to be a bit spaced. Even if Liam did take it a little too far.
“There he is!” Rhiannon pointed to the gangly teenager strolling towards them. He was staring into space again, clearly not seeing where he was going. Everyone said he wasn't as useless as he looked. Kat had her doubts... but then, even though he wasn’t looking, he didn’t run into anything or anyone.
They met up with him outside of old Grandmother Prisa’s house, Liam running to join them at the entrance giving them both a nod and a distracted smile. They paused long enough for a deep breath before crossing the threshold.
Inside was amazingly dark despite the sunlight streaming through the bank of eastern windows. Smoke billowed round the top of the room, seeming to cling to the old lady and blur her outline. There was a suggestion of a smile on her aged face as they entered. “Come, come my children. Come and listen to the task I set before you.”
All three of them shuffled forwards eagerly.
“A quest I set out for you. But not a quest that you will expect, no, in many ways it will be a surprise for you.” Liam’s ever present smile widened slightly. “Including you, young Seer. For the first surprise in this quest is that you, none of you, will be able to use magic.” She held up her hand to silence their protests. “Too many of Camaalis are utterly dependent on the skills of the arcane. No, we must hone the mundane skills as well.”
Kat blinked. She didn’t think she would be denied her magic. “I am giving you these three airline tickets. They will take you to Edinburgh. Once in the city you must capture the crow with the begemmed eyes. From there you must follow the message to find the object of your quest.” She paused, dramatically. “A cup. A cup of great importance.”
A cup! Through Kat’s mind ran the hundreds of possibilities, legends of holy grails, magical cauldrons, mystical goblets.
She practically ran out of the house, the other two following eagerly in her wake. The airport. “The flight leaves in a couple of hours! We need to be there now!” Rhiannon groaned behind her. Kat wasted no time, making a bee line for one of the passing Camaalis. He was tall, extremely so for a Camaalis, well over six feet. His hair was long, just past his shoulders but was a raging, flaming red. No human hair should be that colour, like flame carved into hair and beard. He grinned fiercely at her running towards him, his sapphire eyes lightening up.
“Kat, daughter, how goes your quest?” His voice roared, like joyous thunder.
“Dad! I need a lift to the airport!” The three didn't wait for him to agree, each grabbing a hold on him and pushing him towards his car like little tugs towing a liner.
They managed to reach the flight with seconds to spare. They left Kat’s father being sternly lectured by the airport staff for their tardiness as they hurried to the plane, trying to decipher the prophecy before the plane had even left the ground. They certainly got some strange looks from the other passengers, and it wasn't just for their hair and eyes. Not that they actually achieved anything, except slowly growing more irritated, especially since Liam and Rhiannon were not happy about loosing the extra senses their magic granted them. Truth be told, Kat was finding it hard as well, she was used to being able to change the world, just a little to her will. It was amazing how much she missed it.
They dragged themselves off the plane when it finally arrived, still bickering fiercely. “Of course it’s not literal!” Liam growled, still trying to extract a tortured metaphor from the quest. Kat blamed it on his Seer mind.
“Not literal, but maybe a statue or something - a piece of jewellery?’ Rhiannon shot back acidly.
“Or it could be a real crow flying around with jewelled eyes.” Kat said absently. Both turned with scorn in their eyes. Kat pointed to a bird just beyond the airport. A bird with glossy black feathers and extremely reflective eyes. Both turned their disgusted gazes to the bird. Kat had to agree, you expected more subtlety than a magically altered bird.
They got through airport security quick and easy, there weren’t many planes that flew within the British Isles; Common Travel Area passengers never got any hassle. In no time they way running through the city chasing the bird like mad people, which was doubtlessly what the locals thought they were. Kat was sure the wretched creature was laughing at her. It stopped in a park only when they'd run across half the city, staring down at their hot, dirty, tired forms. Multifaceted jewelled eyes that shifted colours with every movement stared down mockingly at three pairs of hostile sapphire eyes.
“Ok. Ideas people?” Kat asked, still glaring at the bird, thinking of all the unpleasant illusions she could ruin its life with.
“How about we set up some kind of trap?” Rhiannon growled, sparing some of the growl for Liam who was wandering off into the woods, before returning her glare to the bird.
“What kind?” the two girls were matching the bird eye to eye, as if eye contact alone could kill the creature.
“Um... I don’t know. I aren’t good at this wilderness survival thing. Trapping small feathered creatures wasn‘t really part of my education.”
Kat glared at the bird. “We’ll have to complain and have it added. I can certainly see the use.”
“How about...” the bird squawked and plummeted to the ground. Liam strolled back towards them, bouncing a rock in his hand.
“I’m getting a theme here. Don’t use magic. Don’t overcomplicate things. Stop looking for the subtle options.” Liam grinned.
“Theme?” Kat decided her glare was too good to loose and turned it on her cousin. “We’ve been here five minutes and you see a theme?”
“Yes. We got here by plane. Simple, easy, straightforward. We got to the airport by getting a lift. Simple, easy, straightforward. The bird isn’t a metaphor. Catching the bird involves throwing a rock. Theme.”
Rhiannon shrugged, “Must be his warped Seer brain.” She bent to examine the crow. “There’s a message tied round its leg.”
“’Follow the message,’” the Seer intoned smugly. “Simple, easy, straightforward.”
“OK,” Rhiannon unrolled the paper. “’The cup can be found at..’ there’s an address. A simple street address. ‘In he who walks the cleared path?’”
“Don’t speculate, wait until we get there. There’s bound to be a,” she glared at the insufferably smug Liam, “simple, easy and straightforward solution.”
Three buses, a taxi, getting lost three times and much recriminations at every turn they managed to reach their destination. And no serious injuries, which Kat was beginning to think was a small miracle. Though if Liam didn’t stop looking smug and Rhiannon didn’t stop bitching, that might change.
“An ice rink... with a curling room? What’s a curling room?” Kat had some strange impression of twisted architecture.
“Curling’s a sport, played on ice.” Rhiannon gave Kat a superior look. “The REAL question is how we get in to look around, I doubt they’ll just let us nosy. Is there a way to sneak in?”
“Simple, easy and straightforward. We hire the court and equipment to go curling. Honestly, why make life so difficult?” Liam gave Rhiannon his patented smug look which was returned full force with Rhiannon’s acid. Kat merely tried to remind herself that they were family. It took a while, but then it took a long time for Rhiannon to admit that Liam’s idea was a good one.
Which made her all the more eager to rant furiously at him when it was revealed none of them could actually skate. Let alone skate and throw weights around or sweep the ice. An activity that all three were willing to declare ridiculous by the time they’d all got an interesting collection of bruises from falling on the ice. Or fake ice.
“Just get the bloody cup,” Liam growled, staggering to his feet for what must have been the eighth time. “It should be in the...”
“The weight you throw, I know. I’m not stupid.” Rhiannon snarled, throwing them both a look that suggested they probably were.
The handle on the weight pulled out easily under Rhiannon’s deft fingers, pulling out a plug of a secret compartment. Within it was... a crudely made clay mug. The wonky words ‘Grandma’ were shakily written in a childish hand on the side. There was a long tense moment while all three regarded the object of their quest.
“Maybe it has hidden powers? Special qualities?” Kat suggested tentively...
“Yes... it must have.” Rhiannon nodded emphatically. Liam opened his mouth but was silenced by a dagger like glare from the Telepath. “One word about themes and I’m throwing it at your head!” He glowered sulkily but kept his silence, showing he had more intelligence than Kat gave him credit for.
Of course, it should have been easy going from there, just getting a plane back and returning home, right? And it was. Kind of. Except for the thunderstorm. And the rain full awning over the entrance to a grocers shop deciding to spill its entire load on the three. And the plane being delayed. Then diverted to the wrong airport due to bad weather. And loosing their luggage, including their changes of clothes, trapping them in their filthy, soggy outfits. Then being crammed on bus for several hours and multiple traffic jams to reach the airport they should have gone to. Accompanied by several drunken Scottish football fans, three people who suffered from travel sickness a preacher who sat next Rhiannon the whole way and tried to convert her, an elderly woman who sat next to Liam and entertained him with exceedingly long tales about her grandchildren of which she seemed to have an inordinate number and a greasy guy with extreme halitosis who sat next to Kat and tried to chat her up. What he lacked in charm he made up for in persistence despite her repeatedly informing him she was under sixteen.
And their lift from the airport to the Camaalis estate was late, just to finish their trip.
Needless to say, they did not great Grandma Prisa with warm smiles and cheerful faces. Kat was wondering whether it would be that wrong to throw the wretched cup at the old hag.
“Well done children. You have returned to me something of vital importance,” Prisa took the cup with simple joy. “My first grandchild baked this cup from clay when he was but a child. The first present I ever received from a grandchild.” She smiled in misty recollection before realising her charges were less than thrilled at this turn of events. She regarded them with a sharp eye. “No doubt you’re all wondering why I sent you on this quest? What this quest taught you?” Actually, Kat was wondering how long it would take to dismember the old woman and hide her body parts in the walls.
“You learned a great deal, but allow me to clarify.” Prisa held up one bony finger. “First, you have learned how wonderful the gift of magic is, how difficult it is to live without it and how important and integral it is in our lives.” All three shifted in unpleasant realisation. Prisa ignored them and held up a second finger. “Second, you have learned the importance of the mundane. Not everything is complicated. Not everything is mystical or magical. Truly vital tools and ideas stem from quite mundane activities, people, places and objects. Do not neglect the natural for the supernatural.” A third finger joined the other two. “Thirdly, you have learned what is truly valuable, or you have seen, even if the lesson hasn't sunk home yet. This cup has no magical properties, but to me it is worth more than any mystical grail you can name. Family has more value than gold. Love is greater than any enchantment.” She paused to let her words sink in.
“You have also been shown an important insight into Clan Camaalis. Namely, why we, despite being the oldest, most powerful and perhaps, largest magical institution in the world, work alone more often than we work together. Why personal autonomy is so important to us. Why we live in separate houses on the estates around the country rather than all in the grand manors and why even partners who are deeply in love spend so much time apart. Why family politics is so deep and divisive. The reason is?”
Kat avoided the old woman’s gaze. The only thing she’d learned from questing with her fellow Camaalis is how easy it must be to throttle your own family. No sooner had the thought passed through her mind than the old woman blushed.
“Exactly. We do not co-operate well. Few powerful magical folk do, usually it takes a powerful bond of love, affection or simply a constant distraction and overarching goal to allow us to spend any great length of time together. Ego, children, ego. We’re all extremely powerful and know it. We’re a collection of bantam roosters or tom cats, eager to prove who is best and defeat any potential challenger. We hate interference, we hate being beaten, we hate that anyone can be as good as us, let alone better.” She grinned toothily at the shocked kids. “So we stay out of each other’s way, don’t interfere in other’s business and have a back stabbing, bitchy political status network so any combat between us uses acid words rather than fireballs.”
There was another long, stunned silence.
“Well now children, no doubt you’ve got a lot of thinking to do. I’ll call you again when I next have a quest for you.”
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Prisa has been there, done that, got the T shirt and already hocked it. Makes her a good, if slightly unsympathetic, teacher.
Poor Kat... of course, from the other's POV, I suspect we would equally be ready to throttle her.
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Aye, it does look disjointed *puts it on fix list* I cut it out originally because it was like 300 words of completely unnecessary description and introduction and now it's like a sudden cut.