History Lesson
The Tuesday after Sweeventide.
Professor pays a visit to Edomie at her cottage.
DresdenG - Professor Grinstead jordan.nova - Edomie
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DresdenG The noon sun shone its rays down on a cozy cottage, settled in among fields filled with flowers. Smoke curled from the chimney, and dozens of good-luck-pumpkins dotted the landscape. Two such pumpkins sat on either side of the dwelling's front door, framing the space with their cheery, orange warmth.
Inside the house, the Professor sat back from the table, relaxing against the carved wooden seat and lacing her fingers over her stomach. She let out a satisfied sigh, her eyes drifting first to her empty plate, and then up to her lunch companion.
"Thank you very much, Edomie. That was excellent, as usual," she murmured, a smile teasing its way around her expression. "At next year's Sweeventide, you should consider hosting a dinner. You're certainly talented enough."
jordan.nova Edomie beamed at the compliment, then ducked her head so her bangs fell messily in her face. Maybe it hid her cheeks turning slightly red. "That's - wow, you're really sweet, Professor."
She leaned back from the table as well, her eyes drifting elsewhere in the room. She pulled a curl from behind her ear and twirled it thoughtfully around her finger. "That does sound really fun, though. It'd be amazing to have everyone over."
She certainly didn't have the space for everyone in her home at once. Especially not as their little community continued expanding with new acquaintances. But, maybe if she had a bigger space... like a castle...
Edomie's gaze flicked back to the Professor sheepishly. "I'll think about it," she promised. "I really like cooking for people."
DresdenG The Professor's lips curved into a full smile seeing the way the girl flushed slightly at the praise; she could think of no one more deserving. "I only speak the truth. And, I know you do. It is quite clear how much the people in your life mean to you."
A comfortable silence rested between them for a moment, and the Professor's eyes wandered around the homey little space. She and Edomie had begun their Tuesday visits some eight weeks ago. Before things with the Prologue intensified. Before the meeting led by an unhinged child-witch at the Wayhouse. Before they realized just how much danger threatened their world.
During the ordeal with that particular threat, Dresden became aware of the depth of her attachment to Edomie. What began as a pain in her heart at the memory of someone else blossomed, becoming a wholly separate entity. She examined her emotions in regards to Edomie on a regular basis, turning them over like a multifaceted gem in her cool hands.
She never expected to connect with anyone on this journey. A singular goal drove her to voyage across several oceans with a travel partner she hated. To find Kalor's Elicitation; to prove its existence, if to no one but herself. That goal propelled her forward constantly. She did not have time for distractions, and yet...
And yet this little, blue-haired beam of light fell into her heart, and she didn't quite know what to make of that.
"Who drew your name, for the exchange?" the Professor questioned, tilting her head to one side. She reached up and tucked a stray strand of hair back where it belonged and crossed one leg over the other, lacing her fingers together over her knee. "Gift-giving is an essential Sweeventide tradition, so I hope they took it seriously."
jordan.nova Edomie bounced a little and kicked her feet under the table. "Sweev brought me a gift!" she said excitedly. "They brought me some materials from the nether - this beautiful blue wood, and shiny blackstone, and glowstone! Oh, I love glowstone so much! I've never seen it in person before, it's the prettiest thing in the world."
She hesitated, cutting off her babbling, and her eyes went down to the table, her chin resting in her hands. "It's such pretty stuff for a castle..." she said. "I'm really excited to build with it."
DresdenG The Professor’s eyes widened, momentary embarrassment creeping in a hot wave up the back of her neck. The fact that she’d even accidentally implied Sweev wouldn’t take their own holiday seriously made her want to sink into the floor. She cleared her throat, quietly, blinking a few times before focusing intently on Edomie’s response.
She spoke so casually of the All-Parent. It made sense, Dresden supposed. Most of the builders she’d met in this region had little to no concept of Sweev before the the deity appeared in shimmering, misty form to walk among them. Well, float, anyway.
The Professor found herself unable to shake the deep, ingrained reverence she had for Sweev. All her life she’d believed in them, and seen evidence of their Blessings...to meet them had been utterly surreal.
“It’s a great honor to receive gifts from the All-Parent. That’s absolutely wonderful, Edomie,” she murmured, her eyes glinting with happiness at the excitement the girl displayed. She uncrossed her legs, leaning forward and continuing in conspiratorial tones. “I’ve never seen glowstone in person, either,” she admitted. “Show me, won’t you?”
jordan.nova Edomie's eyes brightened and an eager grin spread across her face. Without a word, she stood from the table and dashed out of the room. Up the stairs and up a tall ladder, her storage chests sat in neat, labeled rows in the cramped attic.
Edomie sifted through the treasure trove labeled "CASTLE STASH" for her prize, then bolted back to the professor, somehow even more excited.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Edomie said as she collapsed back into her seat. "I've never seen something so pretty."
She rested her cupped hands on the table, allowing the Professor a better look at the faintly glowing gold dust she held. Edomie shifted her fingers, momentarily entranced by the flickering amber glow the movement caused.
"I think it's for potions. But, I love it for light." She demonstrated by cupping her hands together, pressing the dust with the heels of her palms - almost like she would knead bread - until it stuck together in a little ball of brighter light. "It holds its shape, like redstone. But it's always glowing. You can use it to make bright lamps, or just set it around like this for light."
Edomie turned her hand over, the glittering and glowing shape pinched between her fingers, and offered it to the Professor to hold.
DresdenG The Professor watched Edomie zoom away to the stairs, and she couldn't help but let out a low chuckle.
When the girl returned, Dresden peered curiously at what she held, leaning in to get a closer look. The glittering dust caught her interest immediately, and the way Edomie molded it in her hand fascinated the Professor.
She reached out and accepted the glowstone from Edomie, bringing it in closer to her face. A faint warmth emanated from the material. Curious... Dresden reached into the inside pocket of her cardigan, pulling out a tiny maginfiying glass. She held it and the glowstone close to her eye, pinching it slowly as she stared at the little particle movements through the lens.
"Beautiful..." she breathed, brows knit close together in concentration. "You mentioned a castle...is that what you're saving it for?"
jordan.nova Edomie nodded and drummed all her fingers thoughtfully on the table. "I've always wanted a castle," she admitted in a dreamy tone. "I've got big plans for one. I just have to..." She paused, and laughed awkwardly. "...uh, find the time to build it. I guess."
And actually stay in one world long enough to build it.
Edomie's eyes shifted, and she took a sharp breath to push that stray thought aside. "Who gave you a gift, Professor? Did they give you something great?"
DresdenG “That would be grand, I’m sure,” Dresden murmured in response to talk of a castle. Edomie’s castle. “An admirable goal. Don’t wait too long, and don’t let anyone hold you back. I look forward to seeing it.”
When Edomie asked her next question, the Professor sat back a little and tucked her magnifying glass away.
“The Plum Witch,” she responded, reaching across the table to hand the glowstone back to Edomie.
“I must admit I wasn’t sure what to expect. The girl seems a bit of a loose cannon, to say the least. But,” she smirked, “She did gather a large amount of dark oak saplings for the Academy grounds, which I needed and greatly appreciate.” She paused, debating for a moment before continuing. “She also gave me a rather...curious, book. I still have it with me, actually—“ she stood and strode to where she’d left her satchel near the door, reaching in and plucking the shimmering tome from within.
Returning to the table, Dresden slid into the bench seat beside Edomie rather than across from her. She offered the book to the girl.
“It’s in an old dialect I’ll have to translate, but the title roughly equates to ‘Pan Demonium.’” The foreign letters engraved into the leather cover shimmered in different shades than the rest of the book.
“As amusing as the wordplay is, it actually refers to subspecies and types of demons. I’m intrigued at what the rest of it might hold, and to be frank—“ she leaned close to Edomie’s ear and whispered, “I’m simply dying to know where she got hold of such a thing.”
jordan.nova Edomie giggled at the ticklish sensation of the Professor's soft voice against her ear, and bumped her shoulder against Dresden's as they slid closer.
She accepted the book from Dresden, her curious eyes drawn magnetically to the shimmering iridescence of the title letters, and how the colors shifted when she tilted the book in the light.
"I haven't heard of demons before," Edomie admitted. She set the book down on the table and began to idly flip through the worn pages, her eyes scanning the indiscernible words and characters. "Are they... creatures? What are they like?"
DresdenG The Professor watched as her lunchtime companion admired the book. Her eyebrows raised at hearing the girl didn't know what demons were. Silly of me to assume she would...there are certainly things in other worlds I've never heard of.
"They are creatures, in one way. Spirits in another," she replied, her cadence falling easily into the role of teacher. "The creatures you call Ghasts and Blazes would fall in that category. Some even consider the Endermen to be demons, but I am not sure about that myself. The classification varies a bit depending on who you talk to." She leaned forward, looping her arm beneath Edomie's and gently flipping to a page further in the back. "The ones I've just mentioned are more on the creature side, of course. But there are other, more sinister demons said to exist. Beings with designs and plots all their own."
The place she turned to held a full page illustration of a twisted face. Cast in shadow, it's eyes shone red, glimmering with the same light as the letters on the cover. An odd, unnerving intelligence lived in those eyes. Too many jagged, knifelike teeth jutted from the mouth, but there didn't appear to be any sort of body in the illustration. Nothing more than shifting shadows sat below the sharp jawline.
The Professor pursed her lips, a faraway sheen clouding her gaze for a long moment.
Finally, she let out a quiet sigh. "But, they're only theories, of course." She sat back, giving Edomie free reign of the book again, should she choose to continue looking through it. "You've heard me mention I'm looking for Kalor's Elicitation, a storied underground city most believe to be myth? Another name for it is the City of Demons. At least, that's what Kalor called it in his writing."
jordan.nova Edomie settled comfortably against the Professor where their arms linked together, resting her head against Dresden's shoulder. She certainly wasn't afraid of a book, and never had been. But the mention of Endermen twisted anxiety into her chest that made her want to cling onto Dresden somehow.
She stared down at the illustration on the pages. The bright eyes and sharp teeth. It did look an awful lot like an ender. Like the last one she'd seen up close. The one from the cliffside cave in Anfaulk, that had pounced on her, all teeth and claws and bright, bright, bright eyes.
A shiver went down Edomie's spine, starling her from her own wandering thoughts.
Edomie turned the page almost the instant Dresden let go of it, eager to look at anything else. She frowned at the haunting illustrations. "What do you wanna find a place like that for?" she asked, forcing down the timidness in her voice. "The enders are bad enough here. I read there's more in The End if you're looking for more."
DresdenG "I'm not looking for Endermen, specifically," she reassured, shifting to allow Edomie to settle more easily against her side. "It's not a city filled with demons, that's a common misconception. It is more that the people who lived there had strong ties to such creatures. It's been said that an old magic, once wielded by those inhabitants, has been lost to time since the City sank below the earth. I need to find it because--well..." she trailed off, her brows knitting together. Her heart skipped a beat and thudded firmly against her ribs as she watched Edomie turn the pages. She mulled over the girl's question for a moment before pressing on.
"A historian who lived approximately...oh, I think 120 years ago, now? His name was Matthew Kalor, and he wrote a series of research papers positing that the City of Demons actually existed." She let out a tight chuckle and shook her head with a sigh.
"It had been just a story for as long as anyone could remember, no one put any real stock in it. When Kalor published his papers, people laughed him out of his position at the University. They shunned him, ridiculed him, and he lost all credibility with his contemporaries." She twirled a lock of Edomie's hair around her finger, absently. Her mind wandered far away to another, similar conversation. She lost her train of thought and quieted, her lips tugging into a frown.
jordan.nova Edomie listened intently, her eyes trailing over the pages distantly. Her gaze hopped from illustration to illustration more than she paid any mind to the written passages. Like most of the books she found sitting on village shelves, the letters were entirely foreign to her, and she could not even begin to decipher them.
As Dresden gently twirled a stray blue curl, Edomie became aware that her lecture had trailed to silence. Edomie glanced up at her, to indicate she was still paying attention.
Dresden's lips creased in a tight frown, her eyes distant and no longer focused on the book.
"Professor?" Edomie gently prompted, nudging Dresden with her elbow. "I'm listening. You said it's just a city from a story, but... Kalor thinks it's real?"
Edomie's nose crinkled and her eyebrows pushed together thoughtfully. It had made more sense, somehow, when the Professor spoke. She felt like she was confusing herself. "Wait. Is it... is it a story city? Or a real one? You're digging for a real city, right, Professor?"
DresdenG 'Professor...?' the voice echoed in Dresden's mind, shifting and overlapping with a voice from many months prior.
'Kalor thinks it's real, you know.' The playfully indignant turn of a page. 'I'm digging for a real city, Professor.' Dresden's breath quickened and she shook her head, blinking rapidly as she attempted to wrench her mind back to the present. Back to the warm little cottage in the middle of a flower field, with Edomie.
Edomie... As Dresden's eyes focused in once again, she stared silently at the girl. This precious, innocent child didn't deserve to get wrapped up in...whatever it was she thought she was doing. She couldn't let that happen.
She sat up a little, eyes darting toward the book again. Why had she brought it out? Why had she opened herself up for all these questions? Why couldn't she had just lied and said her gift consisted of just the wood and saplings? Her gaze shifted to that freckled face again and her frown deepened.
She didn't want to lie to Edomie.
"I...believe it to be real," she muttered, her voice stilted and tense.
jordan.nova As Dresden's gaze slowly shifted, her posture cafefully changed and tensed, Edomie watched with and edge of concern. Something felt wrong about the whole thing. About the creepy book, and the drawings in it, and the Professor's tight frown, and the strange look in her eyes Edomie hadn't seen before.
She thought carefully before she responded, rolling Dresden's statement around in her head. Like she thought the Professor was testing her.
"But... no one else does," Edomie recalled, glancing uncertainly between Dresden and the book. That felt like a correct answer. But Edomie couldn't think of anything the Professor believed in that she didn't have a sample of in her study. "How do you know it's real?"
DresdenG Edomie’s wavering gaze twinged the Professor’s heart. She didn’t want to worry the girl...she didn’t deserve that.
“Well,” Dresden began, swallowing and reaching over to tuck a bit of Edomie’s hair behind her ear in what she hoped was a comforting fashion. “Someone I knew—er, someone I know, they were studying it. Studying it in depth. I didn’t take them seriously, and... now they’ve disappeared.” She sighed again and shook her head. “I need to find them. So, to that end, I’m...looking for a city that shouldn’t exist.”
jordan.nova Edomie leaned into Dresden's touch for a moment, her eyes widening curiously. "Oh. Professor, I'm... I'm so sorry."
She knew that feeling - the hopeless search for someone that had vanished. At least Dresden seemed to have some idea of where to start looking for her missing person.
Well. That was a thought.
Edomie's eyes drifted back to the pages of the book, an intrigued glint sparking in them. "What... makes you want to find the city?" she pressed carefully. "Do you think that's where they are? Did they go there - or, is there a - why do you think finding... finding the city would help find them?"
DresdenG The spark of intrigue in Edomie's expression earned another skipped heartbeat, and the Professor swallowed again. To not answer Edomie's questions would be unkind, but answering them was likely to create even further curiosity.
What would such a curiosity result in? Certainly nothing good.
Dresden drew her arm back from Edomie, folding her hands in her lap and looking down at her intertwined fingers. "I believe they were transported there. Whether they meant to go or not, I'm not sure. All I know is they didn't pack up and leave like a normal trip. They were just--gone. As if removed from the world entirely." She took a deep breath in. Why was she still talking?
"Kalor's Elicitation is the one lead I have. The magic of that city, if indeed there is an Old Magic at all, has been said to have a certain cosmic draw to it. Magnetic, in a way." She needed to stop. The more information she gave, the worse this might turn out and she could not let anything bad happen to Edomie.
So she halted mid-speech, and clamped her mouth shut. She wouldn't say anything else about it, to do so would be to recklessly endanger the one person here that she truly cared about.
jordan.nova Edomie's eyes snapped back to Dresden when her arms drew back. She stared at the Professor with ravenous curiosity.
They just disappeared? Just plucked out of the world? With no cause, no evidence, no reason? That sounded an awful lot like Edomie jumping worlds.
She wondered, not for the first time, if Alastair had jumped. And just not made it here.
"How did they get to the city?" Edomie breathed, all in a rush. She turned on the bench seat to angle herself more towards the Professor. "Does it - you said it's a magnet. Would it pull other people there? Do you think - when people disappear, is that just where they go?"
Edomie grabbed onto Dresden's wrist eagerly. "How does it work? Do you know? We all left somewhere and came here but how would someone leave and get there?"
DresdenG Dresden flinched at Edomie's sudden barrage of questions.
It's too late...
She startled with a small gasp as Edomie touched her, immediately trying to pull her hand away from the girl's grip. The pressure of her grasp made it a difficult endeavor.
Don't say anything else, don't say anything else, she willed herself as she brought her other hand over to forcibly pry Edomie's fingers away from her wrist. Once she wrested her hand back she stood up, blood pounding in her ears and sweat beading the back of her neck. She began to pace back and forth in front of Edomie's fireplace.
This is my fault. If I wasn't so close with her, this never would've happened. She couldn't allow Edomie's questions about the City to be answered. That palpable, hungry curiosity--which would be an asset in any other situation--would no doubt lead her to an unfortunate end.
Only one person on this landmass could answer those questions.
Dresden stopped and looked at the door, hidden tears pricking at the back of her eyes. She knew what she had to do. How foolish she'd been to believe that her friendship with Edomie could last. All I do is hurt those around me...it will be better for her if she never sees me again.
With long, quick strides Dresden crossed to the table, retrieving her book and snapping it closed. She tucked it under one arm and turned on her heel, making a beeline for the door. As much as it hurt, she knew it would be for the best to cut ties now rather than let this go any further. She slipped her satchel over her shoulders and opened the door, pausing with one foot over the threshold.
She didn't look back. She couldn't. But she had to say something.
"Thank you for lunch, Miss Edomie. Goodbye."
And then she left, letting the door swing shut behind her as she sprinted across the flower field, past the pumpkins, and out of sight.
jordan.nova Edomie sat still, stunned, as Dresden pried out of her grasp and walked away from her. Her eyes tracked the Professor's movement with a growing knot of anxiety in her stomach.
She felt relief for a split second as Dresden stepped back to the table - dashed just as quickly as the Professor snatched the book off the table and strode towards the door. "Professor?" Edomie called hesitantly, standing up as well.
Dresden's goodbye was a curt dismissal. It sounded sharp, and cold, and final.
"Professor?!" Edomie called again, her voice pitching a little louder. A little closer to upset.
Edomie tripped on the bench corner in her haste to chase Dresden, giving the door enough time to slam shut behind the Professor. "Professor! Dresden, wait!" she called, and her voice broke.
She fumbled with the door latch a little too long, and by the time she stumbled out onto the porch, Dresden had already disappeared. Edomie anxiously scanned the flower fields for a glimpse of Dresden's tall silhouette. "DRESDEN!" Edomie called again, loud enough for her voice to carry across the low swamp hills.
No answer came back to her. Edomie whined anxiously, biting into the back of her knuckle.
Reluctantly, she turned back to her house. She shouldn't go chasing the Professor down. If Edomie had upset her, she'd probably only make things worse.