[FIDELIA] Great Hunts

“OFF TO DO SOMETHING foolish, are we now, Evander?”

Evander, second oldest to the Claudius family, had come to speak to his elder sister. To ask for her opinion- what ever good that would do him. The Diviner stands in her doorway, head tilted his way but not truly looking at him. Those damned eyes that circle her head flicker this way and that before finally settling on him. Despite knowing they offer her no sight, it still feels as if she is staring right through him. They crinkle in what could only be described as displeasure. It’s an uncanny feeling, coming from something that shouldn’t be able to convey true emotion.

“When am I not, Fidelia?”

Fidelia hums in thought. A fair point. They wouldn’t describe their brother as the smartest of types. Certainly not the brightest mind in the family. Much like the fire he wielded, his anger spread without much control. Even their dear mother could do little to cool him down once he got starter.

“Then why stop to see me. I sense that you are set on your actions, are you not?” It’s always questions with her. She’s always picking and probing for something. There’s a small, barely noticeable tilt of her head, this time facing him fully as if she’s suddenly regained her eye sight. The halo of eyes flicker one more time, down to the swords at his waist, back up to his face before moving away all together. Even those blasted things can’t stand to look at him for very long.

Evander has made no real moves to get closer to her. He stands at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at her in contemplation. Why did he stop to see her? In all honesty, he didn’t have a real answer to that. If he hadn’t stopped to tell his own mother and father goodbye, why stop to see his sibling that would surely cause him grief over his decision. With how much grief she exuded for herself, it was easy for such feelings to reach out and latch onto anyone in her vicinity.

“You have not seen what I’ve seen.” He accuses. “You rarely leave this ‘home’ of yours.”

Fidelia cackles, her head craning back with a deep bellow. The sound shakes her whole body, grinning down at him with an amused twitch of her lips.  “Of course I have seen it. You are a fool to think I have not.”

“If you truly did see, why did you not say something.” Evander grits his teeth, now pacing this way and that in front of the Diviner. Of course, she would say that. It’s his turn to laugh now, pointing an accusing finger her way. Despite being blind, she saw all. She knew all. It was a point of discontent between the two as children, now seeping into their adult life. The way she spoke as if she knew what was to come made his skin crawl. She was no better than him.

Fidelia hasn’t moved an inch from her original spot, keeping her hands folded in front of her, fingers laced together in quiet contemplation. The Diviner merely snorts under her breath, rolling her shoulders back in a nonchalant shrug. For someone who claimed to only want to help, she seems rather unphased in the moment. Perhaps if the creature was knocking down her very door she might have cared a little more. But for now, as long as those things stayed far far away from her, she could live with whatever accusations her brother wanted to hurl at her.

“Answer this then- would you have believed me? Or would you have called me mad as you always do?” She questions. This time it is truly more of a question than her mocking him. Clenching her jaw, her lips curl back into a scowl, flashing her teeth his way. “If you did not believe The Order’s warnings then why would you believe mine? You believe it’s just my mind playing tricks on me, do you not? You have never believed my words.”

Fidelia knows he wouldn’t have. He’s never once believed in her divination. She could have spoken of monster and death and he would have chalked it up to hallucinations. The Diviner had learned a long long time ago to no longer discuss such things with him. It was a battle she knew she would not win in this life, and most likely not even in the next. At her age, she could care less what he chose to believe him. If her words felt like sickly sweet musings of what ifs then he could choose to believe just that.

Staring at him, she can only thing back to those faint flickers of him running off. Claiming that if he didn’t do anything to stop them then who would? In those visions, Fidelia had only bickered back that there would be other mages that could tend to it. For him to run off into the fray was just a fool’s errand. In the present, she hoped that if she bit her tongue for long enough and didn’t let such phrases spring from her mouth that he might not let such anger consume him.

Maybe a day would come where he wouldn’t let such feelings get the better of him. Yet as he scream profanities at her, as he called her every name he could possibly think of, before turning and disappearing towards where those creatures had last been spotted, she wondered if she was the only fool here.

“One…One of use should go with him, right?” Athamus finally speaks up from behind her, having watched his two eldest siblings bicker with one another. Fidelia merely tilts her head to glance back over her shoulder, not really looking as him as she does with everyone else.

“If he wants to go let him. It is not our place stop or encourage him.”

“That’s not right. I should go with him.” Athamus retorts. In the shadow of his sister, he finds it difficult to speak up against her. He finds it hard to really say what’s on his mind when around her. Yet if Evander went off and got himself killed then that guilt would weigh on their shoulders, would it not? “If you won’t go with him then I will. He might die out-”

“Silence!” She commands. With a harsh jerk of her head, the gold that adorns her clinks together at the sudden moving, spinning to face Athamus. Despite her eyes being bound, he can tell her brows are pulled down in frustration, her eyes wide in anger. Even if he couldn’t, the sharp down pull of her lips says more than enough for him to understand.

The Diviner straightens up quickly, smoothing out her robes in attempt to make herself look a little more put together. Anger was unlike her. Such feelings were much more like Evander. That fool let such things control him. Yes- it was much more like him and not like her. Cool and collected suite her far better than such primitive feelings. So she does well to compose herself quickly, clearing her throat with a soft cough.

“I cannot allow you to run off too. Mother wouldn’t forgive me.” She mutters, turning to face away from him once again. Despite that, her halo of eyes are still locked onto him. Athamus watches as their gaze softens, relaxing from the harsh way they had just been eyeing him down. “If Evander wishes to go off and get himself killed then so be it. There is nothing to be done about it. He will not listen to me- he never has.”

Athamus feels himself deflate, his shoulders slumping in a dramatic fashion. Perhaps she was right. If there was anyone Evander might have humored that would have been Fidelia. (Despite their differences, Fidelia was the eldest and thus more experience than the rest of them.) Yet he had left in such a fury that Athamus knew no one could have convinced him otherwise.

“But, if you so wish, I will see what I can divine for you. Perhaps there is something out there that will ease your worries.” Fidelia reaches a hand out for her brother, gently resting it on his shoulder. With a soft pat, she goes to herd him back inside, gaze forward, nose tilted into the air. 

Divination. That was all she knew to do. Without magic that could render a monster harmless, she could only provide some type of solace to those left distraught, starting with Athamus.