Nobody had seen Medea leave. At the time nobody had wanted to, but now Arcane wondered whether it would have given some form of closure.
That night Merari had moved to be in the same room as her. She'd squeezed into bed beside Arcane. Neither of them had slept a wink. Eventually, they'd given up on trying to and had voiced their restless thoughts.
'I always thought it would be one of us that solved it. I never thought we'd just get told...' admitted Merari.
Arcane knew exactly what she meant. 'But... Do you think what Emilee said could be true? About the sixth spirit?'
'I doubt it. It makes no sense for people to have gone on for so long without knowing.'
She supposed it made sense, but she didn't exactly have that much faith in people. After all, magical powers had been destroyed for years and barely anybody seemed to have questioned it.
'I remember Medea taking me to see the vendor... I guess she was gloating about it...'
'Well... What if she is possessed by this destruction spirit and the real Medea came through for a minute? She couldn't tell you about the spirit because... I guess the spirits can't either, so there must be some kind of divine contract. But anyway, maybe she was trying to get you to look into the murder and find it was her?' Merari thought out loud.
'A great lot of good that did.'
The more Arcane thought about it, the more plausible, but confusing everything became. Each answer made Medea's behaviour stranger and stranger.
'We should try to get answers as to whether or not there genuinely is a sixth spirit at the end of the pilgrimage,' said Merari.
'I wonder what people will think. Tiresias keeps saying we'll reintroduce Leere after the pilgrimage, but if we announce the existence of another spirit to...? I wonder if they'll start thinking we're the ones that are possessed.'
'I wouldn't mind being possessed. I bet you just get to have loads of crazy dreams while someone steers your body.'
Arcane snorted. 'If you ask Sorita, I'm sure she'd be happy to oblige.'
Merari wrinkled her nose. 'Urgh.'
In spite of the circumstances, it was nice being alone with Merari again. Arcane wasn't exactly enjoying the pilgrimage, even if Emilee seemed to think so. Being sat in a carriage for hours wasn't exactly fun. It reminded Arcane of her childhood. She used to travel all over the place. Before her other siblings had been born, she had once traveled to Theste with both her mother and father. While her father had met with business partners, her mother had taken her to elven gardens and fairy tale museums.
Eight years with her mother hadn't been enough. Sat alone in the carriage, Arcane would find her mind drifting to Lydia Bay. Ever since her near death experience and the start of her relationship with the Chèr, Arcane began identifying with her mother more and more. She'd often wondered why Lydia had ever married Cassian, but whenever she was with the Chèr, she wondered whether that warm, fuzzy sensation had something to do with it.
Arcane didn't doubt that Gadeden was in part to blame for her sudden increased interest in her mother. While the others had more harmless visions, Arcane kept getting flashes of the past and the future. Neither were particularly pleasant. The past reminded her of her mother's death. Even before her mother had been pregnant with Lilith, her health had suffered. She'd locked herself up in her room. Arcane supposed it had been advantageous. It had meant Arcane had already been forced to learn how to look after herself and her brother.
Every red sunrise in the pilgrimage reminded her of the red stains on the bedsheets. The pale sun was like her mother's skin, lifeless. When a pilgrim cried out, sometimes she thought it was baby Lilith, laying by her mother's side.
The Chèr had promised Arcane the chance to see her siblings, but with all these visions, she wasn't sure she wanted to. She couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't break into tears and that wouldn't satisfy her pride.
♤ ♤ ♤
The Chèr's estate was late Ergruen in style. It was built from light brown bricks that made way for black windows with intricate frames. The roof was flat, but it's edges were ornately decorated. It was surrounded by a neat garden with designated areas of flower beds, trees and bushes. It's bleak design somewhat reminded Arcane of a prison.
The staff had gathered outside the door to greet their returning master. Arcane scanned the two rows for Nancy, but couldn't find the dark haired girl. She supposed she must be inside, probably making sure the Bay children didn't get into any trouble. That sounded about right.
'Welcome back, sir. I hope you're content with our implementation of your orders,' said the butler.
'I'm sure I will be,' responded the Chèr. 'Did you implement the changes for Miss Bay?'
Once all was settled, a servant came over to push Arcane, but Arcane waved her away. 'I can do it.'
The Eseterrians followed the Chèr inside. The entrance hall was tall, filled with sculptures and paintings. He frowned at the crowded decorations. She supposed he'd try to fix it in the short stay.
Since Tiresias offered her a chance to immediately see her siblings, Arcane followed a member of staff to the nursery. To her surprise, each staircase now had a ramp up the side. She couldn't quite believe he'd done that much for her. While she admired his generosity, it felt over the top and made her slightly uncomfortable.
The servant pushed her up the staircase and brought her to a room with a brown paneled door. She knocked, then stepped aside.
Nancy opened the door, her hair escaping her bun. 'Oh, Arcane, it's uh... Not the best time. Then again, I assume you already know that finding a good time with those kids is impossible.'
'I hope they've not been giving you too much trouble.'
'I'm afraid my beliefs leave me unable to lie to an Eseterrian, but it's just life, I suppose. Good practice, since I assume you know of my condition?'
'Congratulations,' said Arcane.
She peered around at the nursery. It reminded her of her childhood, full of dollhouses and rocking chairs. Yet Lilith and Emrys were nowhere to be seen.
'Where are the kids? I've never known them be this quiet before.'
'They're...' Nancy pressed her mouth into her palm, struggling to meet Arcane's eyes.
'Are they hurt? Ill? Is something wrong?'
Nancy swallowed. 'They're hiding.'
Arcane let out a laugh. 'Did you lose them in a game of hide and seek?'
'No, they're... I told them about your... you know, and the moment they saw the pilgrims approaching in the distance, they hid.'
Arcane stared as realisation set in. She clenched her hand so tightly that her fingernails dug into her hand. 'They... They're scared of... me?'
Deep down, she supposed she should have seen it coming. Emrys had never been especially tactful, often making fun of people that looked in anyway different. Lilith was still young enough to idolise her older brother and hence took everything he said to heart.
'If it's any consolation, it will pass. They used to hide from me because of my vitiligo. I had to find another servant to lure them out.'
Arcane couldn't wait for them to grow out of it. Unlike Nancy, she only had a day here, perhaps another on the journey back. She refused to leave knowing her brother and sister were terrified of her.
'Emrys, Lilith. Father sent me treats for you.'
Emrys' slender face appeared from outside a box. He froze when he saw her. His uncertainty shattered her heart.
'Emrys... It's still me.'
He sniffed, 'Your chair is creepy.'
'What, are you such a wimp you're going to cower over a chair now?' she challenged him, struggling to conceal her hurt.
'Pfft, no. I'm not a coward. Unlike Lilith.'
That summoned the dark haired kid from under a pile of dresses. 'I'm not a coward!' She trembled when she saw the chair.
Most of Arcane wanted to leave. Being looked at like a monster gave her no pleasure. It's a problem with them, not you, she tried to tell herself. Then why did she feel like the villain?
'Was there a lot of blood when you were stabbed?' Emrys eagerly asked.
Lilith grew paler.
'Yes.'
'Cool!'
Gradually, her self-deprecating thoughts vanished. The issue was definitely with Emrys, not with her.
'Now, have you guys been continuing with your studies?'
'Yes,' grumbled Emrys.
'Lilith has taken up poetry, haven't you, Lilith?' said Nancy.
The pale girl gave a small nod, still petrified.
'Do you want to recite some?'
Lilith shook her head insistently. Arcane couldn't help but be glad. She didn't want to hear a kid's terrible poetry, chance had it it would be about unicorns and pegasi.
They'd been so close. Sure, they'd annoyed her a lot of the time, but now there was a wedge between them. How had things changed so quickly?
'Nancy... Can you leave us?'
'Of course.' She lifted her thick skirts and left. Arcane couldn't miss the trickle of fear in Lilith's expression.
'Right, you've never had any trouble talking before, so spit it out. What's the problem?' Arcane crossed her arms over her chest.
The kids were petrified. Emrys shot Lilith a nervous glance. She was pale as a ghost and not about to say anything. Emrys decided to follow her lead, crushing Arcane in the process.
'Emrys, please... Talk to me. I can't fix it if you won't tell me,' Arcane pleaded.
His brows furrowed as he examined her. After ten seconds, his face relaxed slightly. 'You sent us away. We... We thought you were tired of us... like... Dad.'
A shaky breath escaped Arcane's lips. She lifted a hand to her chest, trying to calm down her thumping heart. They'd thought she was turning into their father. They'd thought she didn't want them.
Clumsily, she wheeled over to them. Lilith grew more uncomfortable the closer she came. The young girl flinched when Arcane grabbed her hand. Emrys shifted anxiously when she grabbed his.
'You think I sent you away because I didn't care? I sent you away precisely because I care. You have magic, beautiful powers and you deserve to keep them.'
'But we had the potion...?' Lilith commented.
'And yet the Leere could still sense you in the Minkas' rooms. Trust me, if you hadn't left, they would have discovered you.'
'I would rather have lost my power than been sent away,' stated Emrys.
Arcane's eyes widened. She hadn't considered that her siblings might see the power she treasured as a curse. She'd thought they treasured it as a little miracle.
'I... I'm sorry, but what's done is done. You won't have to stay here much longer, but wait until Tiresias and I... the Chèr and I have reintroduced powers. Can you do that for me?'
Lilith shyly nodded, causing Arcane's heart to flutter. She'd already managed to regain some small fragment of trust. She hoped it wouldn't take long to return to where they'd been.
♤ ♤ ♤
After dinner, the group separated. Emilee took a look through the religious documents in the library and Kaya joined her in hope of a volume on history or lizards. Sabrina went outside to admire the flowers and Merari locked herself in the bathroom with three buckets of boiling water.
As they'd hoped, this presented a chance for Tiresias and Arcane to steal away. He pushed her through the corridors until he unlocked a little door, revealing a spiralling staircase.
'I'm afraid you're going to have to fly up the last bit.'
Arcane didn't hesitate. She closed her eyes and felt the feathers break through her skin. Within seconds, she'd flown up. The crescent moon greeted her through the exit. She returned to her normal form and sat on the hard brick roof, staring at the mountain in the distance. It caved in the middle, almost as if it were a hand holding the moon. More mountains gathered in the distance, their peaks forming the border between Cines and Caelos.
The Chèr dropped by her side. 'The exit was made specially so that you could see the moon through it at the precise time it's hovering over the mountain. I don't praise much about this building, but that was a stroke of genius in my humble opinion.'
'That's our final destination, right?' checked Arcane.
'Yes. That's where she laid down her life.'
'She? You mean the purple pilgrim. Wasn't she called Zara or something?'
'Yes... A mere child, but incredibly gifted.'
'How so?' Arcane probed.
'She could make people see the world differently. She had the power to topple nations and old regimes and reshape the world.'
'Is she who created the spirit of destruction?'
The corner of Tiresias' mouth twitched in amusement. 'The spirits weren't created by the pilgrims. They were simply... Released.'
'Urgh, enough spirit talk,' groaned Arcane. 'Let's talk about... Caelos. Have you ever been there?'
'No, but I'd like to visit. It's supposed to be as beautiful as Theste. Not that I've been there.' A faint blush climbed up his neck.
'I went to Theste once. With my mother... Did you ever know your mother?'
'I...' He turned his face away. 'She died. I never met her.'
Arcane's brow wrinkled in pensiveness. 'Don't you ever find it surreal how much we have in common? It's almost as if we were fated to meet...'
He laughed. 'Now who's being kitschy?'
'Too much time with you does that to a person.' She stuck her tongue out at him.
'Hey! I am not kitschy!'
'Sure you aren't, Mr. A-Rose-By-Any-Other-Name-Would-Smell-As-Sweet.'
He buried his face in his hands to hide the blush. 'Oh boy, it's that bad, is it?'
'I'll have to address a letter to all the women of the court ordering them to refrain from conversing with you in future, lest they should corrupt you further. If they do, I will be breaking up with you. The pain of that can't compare to the pain of listening to you spout quotes from Venietta Laurie novels.'
He peered through his eyes, a cocky smirk playing his lips. 'O-ho-ho, it would hurt if I left you.'
'Oh Sorita, I take it back.'
'Too late.' How could a grin that large anatomically fit onto a face? Arcane was certain she'd discovered the greatest mystery in all of Lypera.
His eyes flashed green again, but quickly returned to brown. 'Oh no you don't.'
'Wow, you talk to your eyes. You're not just kitschy, you're weird too,' she teased him.
'I thought you already knew that.' He's eyes fixed with hers, causing her heart to melt.
'You're kitschy, weird, sappy, annoying...' Her voice trailed off. A vision of her mother appeared in the corner of her eye. She gulped.
The Chèr entwined his fingers with hers while she waited for it to disappear. It didn't, in fact, the visions grew worse. The mountain looked like a volcano, spewing purple lava that would consume them all. My wife said to return this money with the request that you do what the purple goddess asks. For all our sakes. Arcane wondered if there was more to it. If there was a sixth spirit, her respective colour must be purple.
'Tiresias... Have you ever heard the word Archakuse?'
Surprised flickered on his face. 'What?'
'Remember the Baba Mair I told you about? She called me Archakuse once... I never found out what it means.' She'd tried, she really had. Language after language, but with no success.
'It's... It's a word from a dead language... That's probably why.'
'Do you know what it means?' Something told her he did.
He reluctantly nodded, but didn't tell her. Instinctively, she decided it must be something bad, yet there was a brightness to his eyes and he was struggling to suppress a grin.
'Can you, uh, tell me like a normal person?'
'Arcane... I can't. Not yet.'
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'If I tell you, I... Do you trust me?'
She frowned. 'Yes, but you're getting sketchier by the moment. Please, can't you just tell me?'
He took a shaky breath and clasped her hand. He was fighting with himself, she realised. She considered pestering him further, but she wasn't sure whether that would be advantageous to her.
He fixed his dark eyes on hers. 'I'll tell you tomorrow, after the pilgrimage. I promise.'
As disappointed as she was, she was sure he had some reasons, so she nodded. 'Okay.'
♤ ♤ ♤
A/N: It's our last Arcane chapter of the book, yee yee.
Any feedback on how I handled her character and/or character arc? Feel free to leave complaints too!