*Spring, Year 225, Luminous Calendar*
-Present-
It had been two days since the incident in the Grand Alter. Iris laid motionless as she heard a Sister enter her room, leave a tray on her desk and then leave, shutting the door quickly behind her. She sighed sadly and continued to lay there motionlessly.
-Past: After the incident-
Iris had walked back to her room, Rose a few steps behind her. "You don't have to follow me. I'm fine." Iris said quietly, not sure if Rose had heard her or not. "Yes I do." Rose said looking away, in a voice as quiet as her's. They continued walking, their white and golden embroidered gowns flowing around their feet as their white slippers clicking on the multi colored stone floor. Once inside Iris's room and only after Rose shut the door, did Rose dare look at her. "What happened in there Iris?" Rose whispered and Iris sat on her bed and looked at her, dumbfounded for a moment. "Iris! Don't play dumb and answer me!" Rose yelled, tears streaming down her pale face once again. "I'm not playing dumb. I don't know what happened." Iris answered in a monotone voice. Even if Rose looked at her with distrust, she really was telling the truth. She didn't know what had happened. One moment she was there, the next she was spiraling through scenes so gruesome that she couldn't even fathom where they came from. She had never read a book or heard a story that contained anything like what played through her mind at that moment. What was worse, she had unwillingly lost control of her emotions and mind linked all those horrible images to all her fellow classmates.
"Iris! Stop zoning out! I'm talking to you!" Rose yelled again. Iris snapped back to attention. "I'm not zoning out. I'm just thinking." Iris responded while looking at the stone floor underneath her feet. "If you don't tell me what's going on I can't help you! So...don't lie to me." Rose went on with a whimper, her pink lips forming a thin line as she bit them to stop her self from full out crying. "I'm not lying. Not only that but I don't even know if you can help me." She responded nervously twisting her long pale fingers between her hands. "You are lying!" Rose yelled as she looked at her with a glare, her green eyes flashing angerily.
"That's enough Lady Rose." A stern voice said from the doorway. They both look at the doorway and found Sister Bertha standing there, her chubby arms crossed over her ample bosom, a scowl painted across her face as she looked at Rose. Rose shook her head, her dark red curls bounced against her pale face before she turned to glare at Iris again and then walked out angerily.
"With friends like her you don't really need enemies, do ya' lady Iris?" Sister Bertha sighed deeply and closed the door softly. "I can't really blame her, Sister Bertha. Her or any of the other ladies at that." Iris whispered and a tear slipped down her cheek. Iris wiped it with her finger tips and looked at them as more tears began to stream down her cheek. One after the other, faster and faster they came. A strangled sob escaped her throat and she finally began to cry. Pain and shame emanated from her as she desperately wiped her eyes and continued to sob. "Now, now. It's ok Lady Iris." Sister Bertha said, her thick navy blue gown rustled as she walked over to wrapped her chubby arms around Iris. "Don't cry Lady Iris. If you cry I'm going to cry and you know I ugly cry and we don't need you witnessing that treacherous event, now do we?" Iris sniffed hard and shook her head before letting out a small laugh. "I'm sorry Sister Bertha. I'm ok now." Iris whispered and sniffed again. Sister Bertha gave her a sad smile and pulled out a soft white hankerchief from her white apron. "Ear ya' go." She said in her strong Midland accent. "Thank you." Iris said and smiled at her taking the hankerchief. She wiped her eyes and gently blew her nose before folding the soft hankerchief. "How about laying down?" Sister Bertha said as she pulled the thick pastel pink covers back and patted the bed, signaling her over. Iris nodded and slipped her white slippers off before she went to lay down. Sister Bertha then tucked her in and gave her a quick peck on her forehead before blowing out the candle contained in a large glass lamp. "Goodnight Lady Iris" she whispered. "Good night Sister Bertha and thank you." Iris whispered as she drifted off to sleep.
-Present-
Sister Bertha softly tiptoed out and gently closed the door. She walked a few steps and then leaned against the wall, a heart wrenching sob escaped her throat before she slid down and sat with her back to the wall. She covered her face with her hands and cried as quietly as she could until she had no more tears to cry. "Sister Bertha?" A soft voice asked, in a worried tone. Sister Bertha sniffed and looked up with tearful red swollen eyes. "Sister Abby. Ugh. Help meh up sweetie" Sister Bertha sniffed and tried to get up in a clumsy manner, her thick gown tangling around her feet. Sister Abby nodded her small head and stretched her petit arms out to help Sister Bertha up. "Thank you Sister Abby" she said as she dusted her gown and readjusted her white headdress around her flushed plump face. "Is everything ok Sister Bertha?" Sister Abby asked, her eyes shining with worry. "Yeah." Sister Bertha grunted as she pulled another hankerchief from her apron and blew her nose. " I was just...ah...checking up on Lady Iris." Sister Abby nodded with a sad smile. "Poor Lady Iris. Did you hear what happened?" Sister Abby asked in a whisper. "Yeah. I did. That's the whole reason I went to check up on her. 'Tis a good thing I did too, otherwise that wrench of a Lady Rose would be in there! Yelling her head off agian at my poor Lady." Sister Bertha said, her face growing an angry red as she clenched her fists. "Shush Sister Bertha! You know these walls have ears and eyes" Sister Abby whispered waving her hands in a calming motion.
They continued to walk silently, their black dress shoes clicking against the stone floor, Sister Bertha still fuming with anger. They walked past a few more stone corridors before they arrived at the Sisters' Quarters. Sister Abby knocked in a rapid succession of three knocks, paused and then three more rapid knocks. A tall, olive skinned Sister opened the door. Her large almond shaped brown eyes scanned the corridor behind them while her large build blocked the doorway before she nodded and stepped aside. "Thank you Sister Nattie" Sister Abby whispered as she slipped past her. Sister Bertha slowly walked past her and sighed when she noticed Sister Nattie looking a her with questioning raised eyebrows. "How's our girl?" A stern motherly voice was heard from the end of the room. About twenty Sisters were gathered in the middle of a long room. Old wooden bunk beds neatly lined the walls in two rows of twelve, each with a set old matching wooden nightstands in between. The sisters were all sitting on top of an old faded yellowish blanket. They would normally lay the 'meeting blanket' on the floor whenever they had their urgent meetings.
"Well, she was an emotionless mess when I went in." Sister Bertha sighed. "Also, that betch, Lady Rose" Sister Bertha almost spit the name out, "was 'ere yelling her head off at our girl teo nights ago, and 'night I saw her lingering round the corner." Sister Bertha said her face turning red with anger again. "No swearing Sister Bertha." The motherly voice said once again. "U'm sorry Sister Jesslyn" Sister Bertha said with a tired sigh. "She's right though. Lady Rose is that swear word" a young chipper voice said. Sister Jesslyn looked at the young Sister and smiled slightly. "Sister Cassie, even if that is so. We do not speak that way about our Ladies." Most of them nodded while the rest looked away. "She ain't my Lady." Sister Bertha said in a low voice as she squished between two other sisters only to have Sister Jesslyn tsk at her. One of the Sisters hugged her while the other laid her head on her shoulder.
"Does anyone really know what happened?" A petite dark skinned Sister asked. "From what I heard, Sister Shara, our Lady had an emotional breakdown! She showed the rest of the Ladies all these horrible images and then her gifts started to leak!" A chubby strawberry blonde haired Sister said in a giddy tone almost as if she was telling a new horror story. "Sister Alice! Stop that." Sister Jesslyn scolded her. "Now, from what I heard, directly from the High Priestess," She looked at Sister Alice in a pointed way, "it seems that Lady Iris created some type of emotional link with the King and his men. How it happened, she is not sure. That, mixed with the horrible news they gave the Ladies said evening, had a very negative effect on Our Lady. It caused her emotions to spiral into a mix of fear, anger and dread which were strong enough to pull many of the King's men's memories and project them for all to see or relive." Sister Jesslyn said with sadness. The Sisters gasped and then looked at each other. "So what do we do now?" Sister Cassie asked, no longer chipper.
"Now...for now all we can do is care for her and keep a watchful eye over her." Sister Jesslyn said firmly as the rest stayed silent, all thinking of ways they could maybe take extra care of and even cheer up Lady Iris. "This should have happened to someone else. Why did it have to be Lady Iris? She's the only Lady with a grain of respect and love towards us in this place." Sister Nattie said sadly while the others stared at her a bit bewildered. Sister Nattie wasn't much of a speaker so her statement made a few of them jump. "She's also the only Lady that fits what a High Priestess should be." Sister Bertha chimed in with a goofy proud smile sprawled all over her face. "Yes, the rest of them are mostly irritating snobs who turn their noses up at us" Sister Cassie said mocking the way the Ladies acted by turning her face up and crossing her arms.
The rest of the Sisters, except Sister Jesslyn, laughed and giggled. "That is exactly why it happened to our Lady. She is not only the sweetest and most respectful Lady. She is also amongst the strongest. Only someone as strong and emotionally sensitive as her could create an emotional link with complete strangers." Sister Jesslyn said thoughtfully. They all looked down, some pulled quietly on their gown skirts while others just adjusted their sitting positions. "That's enough for tonight. Until we have news or new orders from one of the High Priestess, all we will do is try to take care of Our Lady to the best of our capacities. Now, may the Goddesses bless our rest with peaceful dreams." Sister Jesslyn said and clapped her hands signaling the end of their meeting. They all stood up and said in unison, "and may the Mighty Gods allow us to wake once again" before tiredly walking to their beds and muttering a goodnight to each other.