Monster Six - Chant
For the first ti ever, I went outside.
I kinda doubted it was actually the first ti ever. Id probably been outside plenty, but I couldnt rember any of it, so really, I figured it counted as a cause for celebration.
Celebrations were best done indoors, of course. When I pointed this out to Luciana, she just stared at expressionless.
I paused by the doors. Luciana had decided, halfway into our walk, to turn and bring us to a courtyard. She walked right past the doors and out into the open air while I hesitated by the threshold and looked out.
It wasnt so bad. There were walls all around, and... and the sky was very high up.
Are you coming, child? You wont learn any magic just by trembling like a rabbit that has seen a hawk.
Right! I said. It wasnt a squeak.
With a bounce I ran over to Luciana, eyes focused on her and nothing else. That made it easier.
Good. Sit.
I hesitated, then looked back.
The courtyard had a small garden in it. A rock garden, with areas filled with raked pebbled and delicate stones stacked atop one another. So shaped rocks served as benches which were across from each other. It was almost strange seeing the Dark Goddess sitting down on sothing that wasnt a throne.
We will start with the more academic side of things. I want you to understand before you try to use the art.
I nodded. When Id asked Milpis for a notebook, the big old softie had scuttled around for a while until he found an empty notebook for . They didnt have pens though, just long, narrow sticks of charcoal in tal tubes with a screw in the side to hold it in place. It worked well enough.
Ready, I said as I set my notebook on my lap. If I pretended that the wind ca from an open window, then it was easy to forget that the light beating down on ca from the sun sitting in the open sky.
I probably didnt need to worry. Luciana was with .
Hmph. Very well. I wont bore you with the philosophical questions and implications. You can read into those on your own. Magic is, at its base, the application of your soul towards a specific action. In laymans terms, it ans feeling so strongly about sothing that you turn that raw emotion into sothing tangible.
I wrote that down as quickly as I could. It was hard, because she used a few words with i in them and it was hard to draw little hearts for each dot. Okay, I said before re-reading what Id written. That helped grasp it a lot more. Fortunately, Luciana was really patient with . Does that an that you just need to want sothing to happen for it to happen? I asked.
One of her eyebrows rose. There are two answers here. Essentially, yes, you only need to feel so way for you to be able to use magic. Want, the desire for sothing, is a good example to start with. The emotion associated with it would be anticipation. Youre familiar with that feeling?
I nodded. I really wanted to go back to the library, so that was anticipation.
Good. Anticipation, if you allow it to build in your core, can be used to fuel so magics. Particularly magics associated with earth and stone and the shaping thereof.
So cool, I said. Can you use that kind of magic?
Luciana looked at , then raised a hand before her. With a flick of her wrist a small bump appeared in the ground and tossed up a rock which she caught out of the air. Most who focus on learning about magic itself will know how to tap into every emotion, using each one in the way best suited for it. That kind of person is rare though.
Why? I asked.
Because in humans the use of a particular kind of emotion reinforces that emotion. They beco more adept at using it, and at feeling it. Those who use fire magics fed by anger and rage will often beco little more than beasts. Mages who thrive with the healing arts need to fuel their work with sadness and grief. Often it overwhelms them, and they fade away or take their own lives.
Thats... thats awful, I said.
Magic isnt awful child, it has a price. Few are unaware of it, or the consequences of using magic. Do you understand?
I nodded, then looked at my notes. Um. Sadness is healing, anger is fire, right?
Luciana made that little laughing noise she made. Not quite. Sadness is used to fuel nature magic. Often called wood magic. Anger and rage feed fire. Joy brings about great winds and trust creates light. Fear is as deep as the deepest waters, and surprise is a spark that can turn to lightning. Anticipation is of the earth, as I have said. And disgust is the dark elent.
I scribbled that down, then paused over the last. Wait, dark, and youre the Dark Goddess?
She nodded. Yes. Disgust is part of my domain. Though, unlike any other part of my domain, there is a god that infringes upon my control there. The God of Magics. Its domain overlaps with my own, though only narrowly.
Oh, okay. Whats dark magic good for? I asked.
It's magic powered by disgust and loathing. What do you think those emotions would do, if given power? she asked instead of answering directly.
I kind of liked these monts. Luciana was really nice, and super cool, but she seed a bit lonely, but when she got to teaching like this it made her look happier. Hmm, I dont know. I guess it would help hurt the thing that disgusts you?
Thats part of it. Dark magic excels at hurting a single opponent. Unfortunately, Dark magic isnt an offensive magic, insofar as any magic can be placed into one of two boxes.
Oh? I asked. In that case... does being disgusted by sothing protect you from it?
The disgust itself does not, but the magic does. Dark magic allows you to avoid the attention of others onto whom its applied. It allows you to better resist attacks from things which disgust you, and it allows you to shield your mind from the impacts of other magics.
That sounds important, I said.
She nodded. It is. All magics have more extre forms as well. Spark magic becos lightning, fearful water becos terrifying ice. When the disgust you feel turns to loathing, you obtain void magic. Powerful, and dangerous, though of limited utility.
I nodded and made more notes. Id need to reorganize everything. This was a lot to take in all at once, and I was pretty sure Id forget most of it soon enough. Oh well, I was sure using magic would help rember all the bits and bobs of it. So, should soone only learn one kind of magic? I feel a bunch of things all the ti, I think it would suck to only feel one thing.
I suppose, Luciana said. A balanced approach isnt terrible. It allows those who take it to live a more comfortable life. Temper your disgust with trust, your joy with sadness, your anger with the rationality of fear, and your surprise with anticipation.
Cool, I said, noting that down. I definitely wanted to try dark magic. Luciana had to be the best at it, so I would learn a whole bunch. But the other sorts sounded cool too! Angry fireballs and scary water stuff! So, do I just need to feel really hard at things now?
Hardly, Luciana said. She stood, then idly wiped her hands against each other to wash them off. Stand.
I fumbled my notebook down, then jumped to my feet before coming closer to Luciana. Looking up to her, frad by the sky and castle walls, made it very obvious that she was a whole bunch taller than .
I realized that Id kinda forgotten to be scared of the sky for a bit. Neat!
Every person can open their soul to its full breadth of emotions. It requires work and diligent study. Hours of ditation and years of contemplating your own feelings. Theres little doubt that those who open themselves to their feelings naturally have an advantage.
Whats the advantage? I asked.
A better, untainted understanding of your own emotions, Luciana said. Perhaps not the full spectrum of emotions though. So people naturally gravitate strongly towards one or another. So are destined to be sad, others have anger in their blood, still others are joyful without cause.
Oh, I said.
Was I like that? I didnt think so. I was a perfectly balanced and reasonable sort of girl.
There is one advantage to having your soul opened by another, Luciana said. The ti saved notwithstanding. You gain, in a small way, a part of their own understanding. When two souls touch, it is only natural that sothing of each will remain in the other. She looked down at , her face almost blank.
Almost. There was sothing there. I thought it was her being afraid, but that was silly.
Would you allow to open your soul, Valeria? To allow you to unlock your full potential? Know that refusing is fine. The act carries so small risk, and it would forever mark you as soone touched by the God of Darkness.
I smiled up at her.
Maybe soone else wouldnt have trusted her. She was a lady that lived all on her own, with only monsters for company, in a big scary castle. She didnt shy away from admitting that she wasnt always the nicest person... but she had never been anything but helpful and nice to .
I would love that, I said.
Luciana stared, then her eyes looked away. For a mont, I imagined that her cheeks darkened, but it must have been the light, a passing cloud or sothing.
Very well, she said.
She placed a hand onto my head, pressing back my hair until her thumb ca to rest on my forehead. Her other hand lowered and she knelt. Two fingers touched my chest, right on my sternum where my heart beat loudest.
I looked into her eyes, which suddenly seed so very deep.
I stared, mouth falling open. My heart thump-thumps, louder and louder, until theres only the rushing of blood in my ears and the drum-beat of my heart. The dark of Lucianas eyes swallows .
My heart stops.
We are the will of the world. Disgusted by travesty and lies, we stride forth towards a future darker, but of our own making. By our will we shape the world. Infinite in potential and unbound by fleeting humanity, I liberate your soul, and by my hand, I give you freedom.
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