Private Tales Light At the End of the Tunnel

[Ciana]

Ciana watched her father from the coach window as they pulled away, and couldn't help but glance back to see him standing in the road as they turned the corner. The moment he was out of view, Ciana clasped her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes, loosing the tears that'd been building. It took her a moment to compose herself and she cleared her throat meekly, blotting at the tears with her kerchief.

"I'm sorry." she said quietly and lifted her chin.

"If I hadn't lost my temper..." she cut herself off and sighed. There was little point dwelling on what was already done. "I.. I promise I'll do my best to learn.. The last thing I want to be is a burden to anyone else." she frowned and looked down at her hands.

 

[Maric]

"You are not a burden, Ciana." Maric said calmly. He had never been the...best with this sort of thing. There were those in Althhaven who did much better with assuring others. Maric himself was a researcher, a...well a lab rat according to many of his fellows.

Yet he couldn't help the heartstrings that were plucked as he looked at his apprentice.

"You were...you were born into a difficult circumstances." He said with a smile. "That is no fault of your own."

In Vel Anir she would have been made into a weapon. In Elbion she might have been taught properly. In Molthal she might have been turned to a Warlord.

Ciana could not help where she had been born. "We will make sure you learn together, and overcome what has been set before you."

 

[Ciana]

Her lips curled into a faint smile at his assurances and she nodded quietly, though she found them difficult to accept right now. She had been a burden, but this had not seemed the case for the Professor, and she couldn't help but wonder why he had put his life on hold to focus entirely on helping her. She was too grateful of that fact to ask the question and risk offending him..

She cleared her throat and tucked her kerchief into her sleeve, drawing a deep breath and accepting her newfound freedom. She would see her father again, when she was better. When she understood the power she held and could control it enough to hide it away forever. But right now was her time and she would try not to waste any of that journey wallowing in what she'd left behind.

"I have never been to Alliria.." she commented, believing that to be where they were going. "Nor to a college.. Are there, others like me there?"

 

[Maric]

He cringed for just half a second, frowning for a moment and shaking his head. "We're not...going to Alliria."

Maric didn't want to lie to Ciana. It seemed a step too far.

They were going to be traveling together for weeks, he was supposed to be teaching her. There was no doing that without her trust. The Professor understood that, knew it...so best to be honest now and reveal his reasoning.

"I only said that in case word got out..." He said with a frown. "So if anyone follows..."

Maric shook his head. "So you're safe."

He clarified, offering a reassuring smile.

"Where we're actually going you'll be meeting many like you, or close to it." Maric assured her. "It is where I am from, or, where I live now anyway. It is called Althhaven."

Most had heard tales of the school, though only few understood the truth of the place. It was a school, like Elbion, though one far more remote.

 

[Ciana]

Ciana stared at him for a moment, her brow furrowing in disbelief as he explained. Her father wouldn't know where she was, and if he wrote to her, she wouldn't know. She swallowed an ache in her throat that made her eyes water once more..

"Oh.." she frowned. "I see.." she nodded quickly and cleared her throat as she turned her head to look out of the window into the darkness. She listened to him explain a little about where they were actually going and she turned to look back at him with piqued interest.

"Althhaven.." she repeated quietly. She hadn't even asked him where he'd been from. "And, its safe there for people like me?" she asked.

 

[Maric]

"It is, completely." Maric sounded as confident as he could. Althhaven was as safe a place as he could take Ciana. The School did not just tolerate magic, but utterly encouraged it. That was the reason it existed.

There was no stifling of talent like in Elbion, there was no forcing of study like in Vel Anir.

"You will be protected." The Professor assured her, though did not elaborate on how. "Surrounded by people like yourself. Students, and other teachers too."

He said with a smile. "It's a school. A place for learning, understanding. No one will lock you away there, or expect you to hide."

Not for a second.

Though by the time they reached Althhanve Maric intended for Ciana to never have to do such a thing no matter where she was.

 

[Ciana]

Ciana's eyes narrowed in a soft smile as Maric assured her of her protection and she nodded silently. In all honesty, it sounded terrifying and intriguing all at once. People with such abilities had always been the subject of stories that mothers told their children to make them behave. They were witches and monsters and they were supposed to be frightening. She knew nothing of this world, and already her fingers fidgeted as she worried about her ability to fit in more than anything else.

"I shall try my best to learn quickly." she said with a reassuring smile, more to herself than to Maric. She let silence fall for a while as the carriage trundled onward, leaving the city she'd grown up in behind them. She wouldn't dwell on it. This was her chance to live, her second chance, and she'd commit to it.

"So.. What is it specifically that you teach, Professor? I'd like to hear more about Althhaven.."

 

[Maric]

He smiled, it was a good topic at least. Hopefully taking Ciana's mind off of what they still faced ahead, and what she was leaving behind. "All sorts of things really."

Maric was not the longest reigning professor at Althhaven, but he was knowledgeable. The academy knew that, and thus had inserted him into a variable host of classes. He had scaled them down of course for his research, but he still maintained a few.

"Alchemy, theories of magic, allomancy, enchanting." He said with a smile. "Most of my classes focus on what I can do now."

Maric explained. "There are others which are more...active in teaching magic itself."

As he spoke the carriage began to cut through the streets, the sun still a long way off from rising.

 

[Ciana]

Ciana's eyes widened slightly as the professor listed off various subjects and areas of magic. "Oh.." she answered with a breath. She couldn't help but feel a little out of her depth.

"I suppose I have a lot more to learn than I realised.." she forced a nervous smile. Her head tilted as she considered what he'd said. "You don't.. use magic yourself?"

 

[Maric]

He smiled. "Magic is...extensive. You won't need to learn everything. Just want you want."

Just what she needed to survive. That was his own goal. Maric did not intend to keep Ciana in a proverbial cage like her father had. Once she understood her powers, once she could walk in the sun he would give her the coin in the bag besides him and offer her the world she had been denied.

It was only fair, just.

"No." Maric said in a rueful soft answer. "Not anymore."

He took in a slow breath. "I could once, but...I overestimated myself. Magic you see, has it's limits, and I tried to go beyond them. The consequence should have been my death, but instead."

Maric shrugged. "I was lucky."

 

[Ciana]

“Oh..” Ciana answered quietly. “I’m sorry.. I didn’t realise that was possible.. Can’t you get it back?..” she asked a little awkwardly, unsure of how it all worked.

From what she could gather, the magic she’d built up within her over the years would have eventually killed her had she not found an outlet, and his had almost killed him for using too much. It seemed a delicate balance to master.

 

[Maric]

Maric smiled for a moment at the innocence in her tones. "Maybe, I'm not sure."

The Professor said honestly.

"My magic wasn't like yours." He explained. "It did not come innately. Instead my body was simply a conduit...I had the ability to channel magic, not produce it."

These lessons were far beyond what she should have been learning at this stage, but Maric had never been one to deny his students a lesson. "When I burnt myself out, the conduit...my body, was burnt out. Whatever in my body channeled that magic is now gone...or perhaps simply in ruins."

He shrugged.

"It would be a lie to say I have not been trying to repair them, but it is easier said than done." Maric smiled. "But, even still, I can pass what knowledge I do have onto people like you."

Something that he found more than fulfilling.

 

[Ciana]

Ciana's gaze fixed on him as she took in every word with a look of intrigue. "I didn't realise people could learn to channel magic, without producing it themselves." she frowned, though she supposed it wouldn't exactly be something that was encouraged amongst her community. "I suppose that's not surprising since I really don't know anything at all.." she laughed under her breath. "You have your work cut out, professor." she mused.

"It's noble of you to continue teaching students when you lost your own abilities. I imagine that would make many men quite bitter. I hope you can repair whatever damage was done." she sighed with a soft smile. "In the meantime, I'm grateful for all you are doing for me."

 

[Maric]

"I was angry at first, bitter even...but I found my way. Besides I still have my own methods." The Professor told Ciana with a slight smile, and then suddenly got a face of surprise.

"Oh." He said. "That reminds me. In the haste of all this I nearly forgot."

Now was a good a time at any.

Reaching over Maric pulled his bag into his lap, quickly digging through it's contents. Clothes and such were pushed to the side, and eventually he dog out the strange contraption he'd been working on. It was a glove, or it looked like it.

Strange metal seemed to lace around the fingers and the wrist. "It isn't finished quite yet, but I'm sure I can complete it on the journey."

He said with a smile.

 

[Ciana]

Ciana nodded gently in understanding. She didn't really understand exactly how it must have felt, but she thought of how angry and bitter she had felt at losing her mother and she knew those emotions well.

Her brow rose and she watched as he rummaged, her curiosity piquing as she caught a glimpse of it.

"Ohh..May I?" she asked as she reached out to take it. It was an unusual but strangely beautiful thing, and her head shook slowly in marvel at his talents.

"You are quite remarkable, Professor." she sighed. "How will it work?" she asked, lifting her gaze to his with a spark of excitement.

 

[Maric]

"The how is...well the how is yet to be determined." Not every magic was the same, and Ciana's was quite unique as it was.

He had fashioned the device after a similar one that he had created months back, but he'd never had much of a chance to test it. "But in theory."

Maric said with a smile.

"This will allow you to channel and release your magic more safely." The Professor said with a smile. "You would place the gem here."

He pointed to the slot on the back of the glove. "And the magic will then be drawn through that, into the glove, and...out at a gesture."

Instead of exploding...everything around her, Ciana would hopefully be able to direct the energy using her hand.

 

[Ciana]

She studied the glove as he pointed out how he believed it should work, her smile growing as she subconsciously shook her head slowly in amazement.

"Remarkable." she repeated with a soft sigh. "I'm unsure how I'll ever repay you for all of this." she frowned softly. He'd done so much already and it seemed there was far, far more ahead of them.

She sat back again and shrugged. "So, how long will our journey be?" she asked a little anxiously.

 

[Maric]

Maric only smiled. "I do not do this to get rich."

There were plenty of magically inclined folk who did. Though most eventually found out that coin and riches lacked for a true place in a world such as theirs. It was a fact that Maric had made long ago. "There is a...satisfaction, in seeing talent grow."

He said with a smile.

"That is it's own reward for me." With Ciana, he suspected it would be all the more. She was powerful, but more than that, her place in this world had been...compromised. She deserved more, better, and he would see that she got it.

"Well..." He began in answer to her question. "Two Weeks, ordinarily, but I think it will take us a little more."

 

[Ciana]

"Well.. Then I greatly admire your kindness. It is not a common thing in this world." she said with a soft smile.

She looked back out of the window with a short nod in understanding as to why their journey would take longer and she sighed. She couldn't travel during the daylight hours, at least not yet. "I look forward to seeing the sun and blue skies again.." she said wistfully and turned to offer an apologetic smile.

"I am sorry to turn your world into darkness, too. I hope it will only be for a short time. Can we, work.. as we travel?" she asked, wishing to improve her condition as quickly as possible to allay any further burden.

 

[Maric]

Maric considered for a brief moment. There was a slight danger to it of course, they were in an enclosed space, the road wasn't the best, but...well the more Ciana learned the better it would be.

"Yes." The Professor answered finally.

A part of him wondered if this was a good idea, if a more controlled environment wouldn't have been better. But without risk, there was no reward. That was a lesson that Maric had learned both sides of. "We'll have to be careful."

He told her.

"But I believe we can make it work." As long as they took the right steps. "Perhaps some rest now, and we'll start tomorrow."

The night had been exciting enough as it was. He didn't want Ciana to overwork herself, particularly with what had already happened.

 

[Ciana]

Ciana nodded silently and sighed as she turned her attention to the darkness outside. The night had turned dreary, and there was little moonlight allowed through the blanket of clouds above. She settled back and pulled her feet up beside her, but she wouldn't sleep. She had too much on her mind to let it rest right now despite how weak she still felt.

When there was little to be seen outside, she turned her attention to her hands, as though she might have seen some tell of the power that lay beneath her skin. They were just normal hands, pale and dainty, and yet capable of terrible things. She wasn't frightened any more, though. The Professor had given her confidence that she'd learn to manage it, and was taking her somewhere where the people would understand and perhaps even share the same capabilities. Perhaps she should have been afraid of them, but at the moment she couldn't bring herself to be. No doubt her nerves would grow the closer she got to Althhaven.

 

[Maric]

The second day, no, the second night they came to a slow stop inside of a clearing.

Maric had instructed the driver to find them an open place, somewhere they would be alone to practice. It was a small clearing in the forest, an area that most would have forgotten about and secluded enough that no one would come looking.

As they came to a stop the Professor smiled. "I think it's time we stretch out legs."

Two days in the little carriage was enough.

"You need to practice your magic." Maric told her confidently. "That gauntlet will help, and...hopefully you'll get to express some frustration."

He wasn't entirely ignorant of other problems that were plaguing Ciana.

Quickly he reached over, pushing open the carriage door and egging her out into the open forest.

 

[Ciana]

Ciana was used to being confined, albeit to a room much larger than this carriage but it was confinement all the same. It didn't bother her too much, but mention of stretching her legs sparked some excitement in her eyes as she smiled at him with a firm nod.

The moment the carriage door opened, the cool air wafted in the scent of petrichor and pine and she filled her lungs with it in as she stepped out. Her head tilted back as she looked up at the tall trees and their budding canopies, through which the stars glittered far more brightly than they did from her gardens. Ciana admired them for a moment before turning back to Maric whilst pulling on the gauntlet that he'd built.

"Alright.." she sighed a little anxiously. There certainly was a lot of said frustration, and she could only hope it wouldn't come pouring out of her and do any harm. She stretched and rolled her shoulders as she paced, feeling the weakness in her legs lessen a little.

She held up her gloved hand and studied it as she drew a few long breaths and focused. It was a warm sensation that simmered just under the surface of her skin, and she tried her best to calmly will it to her palm, her brow furrowed in concentration.

 

[Maric]

Maric left the carriage a few seconds after Ciana did.

He motioned to the driver, whispering in the mans ear that it might be best for him to set up some sort of camp so they could make food. The other man nodded in quick agreement, but said nothing as the Professor bade him to stay quiet.

A few moments later he came up behind Ciana, watching her.

"Take it easy." Maric instructed softly. "It won't happen in an instant."

Magic was developed in steps, not leaps and bounds. "Just find that...core within yourself, and go from there."

He said quietly, watching Ciana carefully.

 

[Ciana]

“Easy.. Right.” She answered with a nod, shaking out her hands and holding them out once more.

“It’s like.. Sort of when your foot falls asleep? But, warmer..And, everywhere. Under my skin. I just don’t know how to get it all where I need it to go.” She huffed quietly. “How can I do something when I’m angry or frightened that I don’t know how to do when I’m not?”