literature

SHM 302 Assignment 1

Deviation Actions

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Natia lay in the summoning circle on the floor of her dorm room, her body trembling from a combination of exhaustion and illness from experimenting with the Half Man potion that Professor Kazu provided her with for the last assignment.  She could feel herself starting to succumb to fatigue as she murmured an invocation and watched as few spirits began to appear before her.  She had been possessed before by Taclor, her now guardian, and the experience left her with two gifts; spirit sight and a bond with Taclor.  The possession did not worry her, but she was a bit concerned about forming another bond with a spirit, which Taclor said may be a risk but he would come to her aid to prevent a bond from forming if spirit inhabiting her attempted such a thing.  And, even now, as the spirits began to advance on the circle to inspect the form of the girl collapsed upon the floor, Taclor stood beside her, arms crossed as he took stock of the other spirits.
Natia had set up a few charms about the room to keep malicious spirits at bay, so as only to attract more curious or lonely spirits.  Feebly peering up at the translucent faces around her, Natia felt relieved to see that her charms had performed their tasks.  Most of the spirits, though none were human, seemed to be elderly men and women. A few spoke greetings and others merely watched her, but none advanced beyond the chalk marking of her summoning circle.  Instead the crowd of spirits parted slightly, allowing a young girl with greenish skin and a faded, ragged dress tentatively approach.  The wide eyed child spirit glanced at the other faces of the spirits questioningly as they began to back off and fade away.  The dark haired child looked up at Taclor with more than a hint of trepidation until Natia weakly whispered to her.
"He won't harm you," she said softly as the child spirit looked at Natia with concern.
"Are-are you dying, too?" Tears rimmed the child's eyes as she watched Natia.
"Not dying," she said, her consciousness ebbing quickly now. "Just sick."  She tried to hold on just a bit longer to speak with the child spirit, understanding that the other spirits had chosen among themselves for Natia to be inhabited by this child's spirit. "Are you OK?"
The child spirit began to cry softly.  "I miss my mother," she whimpered, wrapping her arms around herself.  "I died and I miss her." Tears rolled down her face, falling and fading away.  "Please don't die.  I'll be sad if you die, too."
Natia tried to smile, but everything around her was growing dim and her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton.  "If you want to see you mother, just for a visit, you can use my body," she said thickly.  "I don't mind.  But I..." her head was too heavy to hold up any longer and Natia was forced to rest her head on her arm and her last words sounded miles away as she spoke them.  "I must... sleep now..."
With that Natia fainted away in a heavy slumber.
......
Natia awoke curled up on her bed, more than a little baffled.  It is unnerving to recall falling asleep in one spot and yet waking up in another.  Still, she was greatly relieved to find she had been returned to her room rather than being left to find herself in a stranger location.  She sat up, feeling much better than she had before, although still a little tired.  Taclor was there, but the girl child was gone.  He looked grim.
"Aw, shit.  Did she bond with me?" she groaned.
"No," Taclor declared.  "But she remain a long while to remind me of how lonely it can be to be a spirit, with as many tears as she could possibly muster.  She only recently departed.  I was beginning to worry you had bonded." He frowned.  "I know she misses her mother, but I told her she must leave as you might not wish to see her upon waking."
Natia felt a little badly for the child.  "She seemed so sad," she whispered softly.
"Few spirits here are happy, Ignatia, and those who are have gone quite mad."  Taclor frowned.  "Happier spirits have ascended, this is not a place for them."
Natia nodded, understanding his words.  She got up and began dressing for her day, not wanting to wear the same outfit two days running, and so she donned a fresh pair of jeans, this pair with studded pockets, and an oversized off white cowl necked sweater.  She spoke a bit more with Taclor about the matter as she pulled on a pair of chocolate colored boots and brushed out her hair before setting it in a loose twist of a braid.  Taclor seemed a bit torn about his feelings for the child spirit, Natia sensed this even though Taclor could not say so directly, but she did not know what else to do about the matter.  At last she suggested it was time for her to complete the second part of the assignment, and set out for a stroll about the campus and Moonseed Lane to see if she felt anything new.
......
Taclor was with her, Natia knew this because they were bonded, but again had faded off to somewhere on the astral plane.  Natia had come to understand that she could only see spirits while they wandered on this plane, but could not see into the astral plane.  Taclor explained that most spirits that appeared on the physical plane could only travel on the most basic level of the astral plane, but those that achieved ascension rarely chose to return to the physical plane, although they could still keep watch over their loved ones on the physical plane.  It seemed that they had an understanding of the value of the struggles the living, as well as the remaining spirits, endured on the physical plane.  It was apparently a thing in which they did not wish to interfere.
Natia reflected in this at great depth as she wandered the academy grounds, but felt no new sensations or sense of longing toward and of the people or buildings there, not even in the dungeon.  Natia still roamed without her wards and charms as part of the assignments, but was surprised when the spirits about the campus seemed to give her some space rather than approach her.  Granted the dungeon spirits were their twisted selves, but Natia only peered in and then left.  It was as she was leaving the dungeon that she spied the child spirit following her at a distance.  She was not close enough to speak with unless Natia felt like shouting, and the child seemed to hope she remained unseen, so Natia pretended not to have noticed.
Natia continued on, feeling a little silly having a child spirit tagging along fifty yards behind her.  Some early rising students, gifted with spirit sight, would suddenly grin upon seeing the girl following, a few occasionally remarking with an "aw" or similar reaction to the spirit's adorable nature.  This only made Natia blush as she tried to act like she still had no idea she was being followed.
After a bit more of the uncomfortable attention, Natia turned toward Moonseed Lane, glad that there was not a lot of activity there at this hour as it was still early for students to have set out to shop as most were still sleeping or meeting with friends for the morning meal.  She peered through the windows of shops, dismayed at still not feeling much of anything, when she caught a whiff of freshly made tea cakes coming from further down the lane.  Natia suddenly had a strong craving for milky tea, not a the way she normally drank her tea, but all the same she really wanted some now.
Natia made her way to the tea shop, feeling an odd sense of familiarity when she pushed open the door and was greeted by the scent of lemon and cream as she peered about the shop.  She wandered over to the counter and looked at the freshly made lemon cakes, reaching out to take one before catching herself.  The shopkeeper, a plump woman with greyish skin and chestnut hair, watched her with a frown, but spoke no rebuke.
"They are hot, dear," she stated, "Do take care."
"Perhaps I should pay first," Natia mumbled, reaching in to her pocket for some coins.  Her eyes began to brim with tears. "I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to take without asking..." Natia began to babble like a child, tears streaming down her face as she bowed her head.  She wanted the shopkeeper to forgive her in the worst way, and she didn't know why. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be a bad girl..."
The shopkeeper came out from behind the counter and wrapped Natia in a reassuring, motherly hug, shushing her and smoothing her hair. "Now, now, no need for tears, dear," she cooed softly as Natia felt herself slipping into a comfortable state, everything feeling right, and yet Natia did not know why.  She had been in this shop before to buy teas and never behaved like this. "Come, dear, have a seat and tell me all about it." The shopkeeper lead Natia to the back room and sat her at a humble wooden table, setting out a piece of lemon cake before her.  "What kind of tea would you like?"
"Milky tea, please!" she said brightly with a happy smile.
The shopkeeper looked shocked, then smiled.  "Of course, dear."
Natia blushed fiercely. "I...I am so sorry.  I don't normally act like this, please forgive my intrusion."  She stood, again reaching in her pocket for her money.  "I will pay, of course, and I thank-"
"Sit down," the shopkeeper said in a firm voice, although not unkindly.  Natia quickly obliged as the woman place a cup of hot milky tea before her. "This is a social call now, so put your money away and drink your tea, dear.  And perhaps be so kind to tell me why you were poking about my windows last night."
"I was here?" Natia asked, dumbfounded.
"You most certainly were, but when I told you I was closed, you burst into tears and took off down the lane." She smiled. "I supposed if you wanted a lemon cake so badly, I bet see to it you get one."
Natia sipped her tea and took a bite of the delightful lemon cake as she understood that the child spirit who now stood bashfully in the corner had brought her hear last night. "I apologize for my unusual behavior.  I was possessed last night, and I believe that the spirit that possessed me felt an important connection to this place.  Natia briefly explained the nature of the assignment to the shopkeeper, telling her about the child spirit. "Could this spirit have been your daughter, ma'am?"
The shopkeeper smiled and nodded as she wiped a tear from her eye. "She died a short time ago, she fell ill one particularly harsh winter, and I lost her."  She gestured toward Natia's cup of tea. "She loved milky tea.  Her name was Arozi, my sweet Arozi."
"Arozi," Natia said softly, looking at the girl in the corner who shyly nodded.  Natia gestured for the child to come closer.  The girl spirit slowly obliged. "Is this your home?"
The girl nodded tearfully.  "I miss my mother, and she can't hear me talk to her anymore."
"She is here?" The shopkeeper looked frantically about, trying o see her daughter. "I can't see her," she said sorrowfully.  
"She is here.  I can see spirits," Natia dutifully explained. "She is sad because she can't speak to you anymore."
"Will you tell my mother I miss her?" The child spirit begged.  "Please.  Tell her I love her."
Natia nodded, fighting back tears. "She said she misses you and she loves you."
The spirit child's mother began to weep.  "I love you too, Arozi," she said.  "I miss my sweet child so much."
Natia spent the next few hours as a spirit translator, relaying Arozi's words to her mother as the disjointed conversation continued.  The child spirit grew happier as the hours passed, but all too soon Natia found a problem with the scenario, she would have to leave.  The shopkeeper noticed a change in Natia's mood and asked her about it.  When Natia explained her concern, the spirit child began to weep softly, and the shopkeeper looked crestfallen.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot stay here forever," Natia said gently and the shopkeeper nodded.
"May I ask a favor of you, Natia?" The shopkeeper watched her, desperation in her eyes as she leaned closer to Natia.
"Of course," Natia responded with a short nod.
"Please watch over Arozi, if you can.  I can no longer see or hear my child, how can I continue to act as a mother should for her?  Will you take my place, and keep her safe?"
Natia half expected this, but she also knew that the only way she could truly do so would be to bond with the child.  She was not sure how she felt about having the spirit of a small child constantly following her.  Then Natia realized Arozi probably would follow her even if they were not bonded now that Natia had let her speak to her mother, so the only difference would be that Natia could better keep the child protected from malicious spirits if they were bonded.  But to be a mother, of sorts, to a spirit child would be challenging at its simplest.
"I know I ask a lot of you, and I am little more than a stranger to you.  You owe me nothing, but I beg of you as a mother, please do not leave my daughter to wander this place alone." The tearful shopkeeper took Natia's hand in hers. "I love my daughter, and this is the only thing I can do for her now.  Please, she is just a child, and you were so kind to let me have her back again, even if for just a while.  Please, Natia, you can see her, won't you watch over her for me?"
Natia glanced from child to mother and back again.  She closed her eyes and sighed.
"I shall do it."
......
Back in her room, after a long discourse with a less than pleased Taclor, Natia sat on her bed being reprimanded.  She had intentionally lied to him, saying the bond had already been made.  And now Taclor angrily scolded her for being irresponsible and not considering how it impacted him in having to assist in watching over Arozi because he too was bonded with Natia. Somewhere in the tirade, Taclor slipped and said how displeased he was that Natia would be making the bond, and Natia realized he knew that bond had not been made yet but that it soon would be, Natia could not help but gasp in surprise.  
"You know."
Taclor groaned. "Fine, Ignatia, I know you have not made the bond yet.  I am still not happy about this."
"Why did you go along with my lie?" She asked, her guilt edging her voice. "Which I apologize for."
"For the same reason you lied," he said with a sigh. "I cannot forbid the past, I can only disapprove."
"But know you know the truth," she said heavily. She looked away in shame, and saw Arozi beginning to cry. "Please do not forbid this now.  I know you don't like it, but this is important."
"I shall not forbid the bond," Taclor sighed, frowning at Natia. "But after the bond is done, you and I shall further discuss this lie, Ignatia."
"Alright, Taclor, I understand." She said, bowing her head, understanding the lecture was far from over.  Taclor simply nodded and faded back to the astral plane.  Thankful for the reprieve, Natia turned toward the spirit child that had become her ward. "Well, Arozi, if we are to be come bonded, I suppose we should get to know each other a bit, first." Natia knelt by the girl, smiling and speaking as gently as possible as she told her a bit about herself and listening to the child's rambling tale with great patience before carefully explaining how they would be bonded by joining memories.
Natia continued the explanation as she began preparing herself to be briefly possessed once more by the child, drawing a magic circle around the two of them, blessing and sealing it.  She smiled at the Arozi.  "It is time.  Just sort of walk into me, and think about your life with your mother.  When you are done sharing your memories, you can just step out of me, like you did last time."
The child nodded, not taking her eyes off Natia's face.
"Don't worry," Natia said, closing her eyes. "When this is done we will be bonded and I will always be here for you."
The child nodded again, more certainty shining in her eyes, but Natia did not see.  Arozi stepped forward, melding into Natia's form.  A moment later Natia's mind was flooded with cheerful images of Arozi playing with her mother, picking flowers, telling stories, helping make and eat tea cakes, even a few embarrassing scoldings when she misbehaved.  Then great fear and sadness when Arozi fell ill and understood she was dying.  Images of her mother, worried and sorrowful by her bedside. Tears, so many tears.  Then nothing.
Arozi slowly stepped out of Natia's form and Natia's eye flew open, tears streaming down her face.  Natia weakly fell to her knees, crying.  Arozi look frightened and backed away a few hesitant steps.  Natia stood, a bit shakily, wiping the still falling tears from her cheeks and forcing herself to smile.  "All is well, we are bonded, Arozi."
"I don't have to leave," the child said timidly.  "I don't have to be alone?"
"Not unless you want to," Natia promised.  "We are family now."
Another story for :iconotherworlde:.

Word Count: 3,028
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