It was already late morning by the time Melanie and her new-found friends finished breakfast at The Quicksand. After a couple of drinks the group decided they would meet there again later that evening once they'd visited their prospective guilds. Since Holskwyb, Johna and Suyaya would have to travel overseas they opted to return to Ul'dah the next day. In order to stay in touch Reubemont handed everyone a linkpearl before they all went their separate ways.
"How do I use one of these?" Melanie asked as she looked at the tiny pearl in her hands.
"Here, let me show you" Reubemont picked up the pearl and clasped onto one of her ears. "All you need do is think of who you want to speak to and touch the pearl like this." Reubemont gently took one of her hands and held it up to where he placed the linkpearl and pinched her fingers against it. "Since they all share the same frequency we should be able to hear each other so long as you touch the linkpearl this way."
"Thank you" Melanie looked up towards him. Still holding her hand he looked down at her with a smile that sent goosebumps all over her body and the way he touched her hand almost felt like he was caressing it. Wait, is he hitting on me? Melanie quickly dropped her hand from her ear and averted her gaze away from him as her cheeks started to burn bright red.
Reubemont was taken aback by Melanie retracting her hand so quickly and looked at her worriedly. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked.
"Oh, no not at all!" Melanie said feeling flustered, butterflies fluttering around in her stomach and her cheeks burning so hot that she thought they were going to ignite. "I just, err, I, um... I realised I'm late for class!" Melanie quickly grabbed her satchel and began to scurry across the room to the nearest exit as quickly as she could without looking behind her.
Once outside of The Quicksand Melanie slammed her back against a wall and began to fan herself down with her hands. Holy crap what was that all about? She began to have second thoughts about whether joining in Reubemont's team was a good idea. What if he was some kind of pervert and that all this nice and gentlemanly behaviour was just a mask for his sordid schemes? Or maybe he was interested in her and didn't intentionally mean to creep her out? Or maybe he was just completely clueless in how to act appropriately around women.
After fanning herself down for a few moments she took a look up and down the streets. There was no sign of Reubemont so he must still be in The Quicksand. She was just ready to leave when she heard a familiar voice that startled her. "I know that kind of look when I see it. Lemme guess, Reubemont made a move that made you feel uncomfortable?"
Melanie didn't even notice Holskwyb leaning back in the shadows behind her. "Hoskwyb, I thought you were enroute to Limsa Lominsa?" Melanie exclaimed.
"I thought I'd stick around for a little while and keep an eye on things" Holskwyb pushed herself from her hiding place into the sunlight. "Reubemont's like that with all new women he meets, but he doesn't mean anything wrong. He just doesn't know how to approach women without making every move look like he's flirting with them."
Melanie breathed a sigh of relief. "I honestly thought back then he was making advances on me" she said as she felt her nerves settle down.
"It's his personality. He's very charismatic almost to a fault. Even I almost fell for it the first time I met him. Though if you were to take it that way I'm very certain he wouldn't object." Holskwyb leaned back agaisnt the wall next to Melanie and rolled her eyes a little. "I think deep down he relishes the idea of having women fawn over him which is why he took up becoming a gladiator, so he could become their hero."
"I see" Melanie replied as she also leaned back. "I'm not actually thinking of starting a relationship with anyone right now though, especially someone I only just met. And besides... I already have someone waiting for me back at home."
"Oh, you're going to be returning back to your tribe some day?" Holskwyb asked curiously.
"Not exactly" Melanie replied. "It's rather complicated. He's very long distance and...there's a possibility that I might never see him again. So right now I'm not wanting to get involved that way with anyone in case I one day return to him."
"You're right, that does sound complicated" Holskwyb said slightly bemused. "Well listen, Reubemont likely doesn't realise he's done anything wrong and wouldn't want to scare you off, but if he makes you feel too uncomfortable I could have a few words with him and tell him to be a little more hands-free if you'd like?"
Melanie shook her head greatfully at the proposal. "No it's alright, I can take care of myself" she replied with a smile.
"Well, have it your way" Holskwyb pushed herself away from the wall. "If you need my help at any time to get him to back off just ask. Us sisters need to look out for each other" she said with a wink. She then picked up a heavy looking satchel nearby and hoisted it onto her shoulders. "I need to get going so I don't miss the next flight out to Limsa. See you tomorrow Brovola." Holskwyb flicked a hand up in a farewell gesture as she walked away down one of the streets and disappeared into the shadows. Melanie felt so much better now having bumped into her and being reassured she wasn't about to be molested by a lustful creep.
The Thaumaturges' guild was at the other end of the city and took some time for Melanie to reach it. A double set of stone stairs surrounded a large fountain that led up to a marbled walkway where 2 large and heavy looking doors led into the guild itself. Nearby was a large aetheryte crystal sat inside a large brass setting. The crystal gave off a gentle sparkling blue light which illuminated the corners of the walls.
Melanie looked upwards at the entrance to the thaumaturges' guild up ahead of her. "So this is where I finally get to learn how to use magic" she thought to herself. Her body started to tremble with both nerves and anticipation as she began climbing up the stone stairway. From behind the door she could hear what sounded like chanting as well as sounds of explosions. Putting her full weight against the doors she parted them and stepped inside.
To no surprise most of the people inside the thaumaturges' guild were of lalafel race. It seemed more like a cathedral than a place of magic practice as people in robes were kneeling offering prayers in front of a tall and dark stone statue of a man holding a large and wavy blade. There was also a very strong scent of incense in the air. Several wall alcoves contained rows of ancient looking books and manuscripts and there were a few chairs and tables where people were quietly studying. At the back of the large hall she could hear people talking followed by the sounds of small explosions.
"Ah a new visitor, welcome!" a female lalafel in dark grey robes accompanied by a male hyur in a hooded robe poised behind a large mahogany counter motioned her over. "Mayhap you're here to study the ancient magics of thaumaturgy, or are you here to offer your prayers to Thal?"
"I'm here to study" Melanie replied as she stood before the counter.
"Excellent! Let us introduce you to our order and what it is we do here. I'm Yayake and this is Erasmus. He'll explain to you the ins and outs of our establishment." The hyur nodded and was about to offer her a welcoming greeting with his arms.
"Thank you, I'll take it from here" a voice spoke up from behind Melanie. Yayake and Erasmus looked down surprised at a male lalafel in a black hooded robe wearing white wrappings that covered one of his opaque red eyes. "D'brovola I take it?" he asked looking up at Melanie. Melanie turned to face him and nodded.
"But we're still in the process of..." Yayake protested.
"We can deal with the formalities later" the lalafel in black interrupted her with a stern look on her face. Yakake let out a light sigh. "Of course Cocobuki" she replied sounding a little deflated.
"Come, you must follow me where it's more private" Cocobuki motioned Melanie to one of the sealed doors at the back of the hall with a "No Entry" sign written in Eorzean.
Once they were out of sight Cocobuki locked the door behind them then turned to face Melanie. "Krile has already informed me about the situation in discretion, however I'll continue to address you by your alternate persona and keep other conversations about your past to a minimum in case word somehow gets around to who you really are. From what I understand you are experiencing for the first time how to use magic, am I correct?"
"Yes" Melanie nodded.
"Very well. Have you currently tried using any kind of magic since your arrival?"
"No, I haven't" Melanie replied shaking her head.
"Then I think the first order of business is to see whether you're capable of casting magic and we can take it from there." Cocobuki started to pace a little in front of her. "Thaumaturgy is a practice which manipulates the latent aether that's within us and augmenting it with the ambient aether that's around us in order to create powerful magics used in combat. As thaumaturges we do this through the practice of introspection, incantations, and a medium in the form of a staff or sceptre."
Cocobuki stopped his pacing and began to look around the back of the room. "Now, what shall we use to test with..." He pulled at a heavy looking clay jar sat at a back corner and rolled it into the middle of the room then took a few steps backwards and handed Melanie a small scroll. "I want you to read that outloud whilst focusing on your aether and try and cast a fire spell onto that. You'll also be needing this."
Cocobuki handed Melanie a small wooden sceptre with a small red stone embedded at the top. Cocobuki stepped back further behind Melanie and watched with his arms folded. Melanie unfolded the scroll which had a single word written in Eorzean but couldn't make out what it said. "I can't read this."
"It says "burn." You can either say it outloud or quietly to yourself." Melanie slowly raised her eyes from the scroll then turned around glaring at Cocobuki with narrow eyes. "Seriously, you gave me a scroll for just a single word?" She closed up the scroll and handed it back over to Cocobuki who was now grinning ear to ear, then posed with the sceptre in front of her and stared at the clay pot. ok, let's do this! Melanie started to calm her mind and pictured a fireball in front of her whilst quietly whispering the word "burn", but nothing seemed to happen. She tried more harder, squinting and glaring hard at the pot and biting down on the inside of her bottom lip to the point that her head and lip started to hurt. Melanie lowered her arms and let out an exhasperated sigh.
"Let's take a breather and explain to me exactly what you tried to do just now" Cocobuki asked calmly.
"I was trying to clear my thoughts of distractions and imagine creating a fireball" Melanie replied as she tried to relax.
Cocobuki shook his head whilst closing his eyes. "No no, that's not going to work. You don't just imagine a fireball. You need to meditate on the aether that's within you and draw upon it whilst tapping into the aether that's around you."
"That doesn't really make any sense to me" Melanie replied confused.
Ccocobuki stopped pacing and pondered a little. "How do I explain this... try to imagine a voice that's inside you and you're focussing hard trying to listen to what it's saying, whilst at the same time you're trying to find the right element to attune to. It's a little difficult to explain it but you'll know it when you feel it. Now, let's give it another try."
"Alright" Melanie took in a few breaths and readied herself. Cocobuki stepped back behind her with his arms folded once more and watched her closely. Melanie looked straight at the pot with determination in her eyes as if in a staring contest hoping to feel something within her whilst holding the sceptre in front of her. Again nothing seemed to be happening and after what felt like an eternity she finally lowered her arms and held her head down in shame and started to giggle.
"I'm such a fool" she said despondently. "To think I could master magic in just a single day. I don't even know what the hell I'm doing. I tried to believe. I wanted to believe." A single teardrop formed in her eyes and gently rolled down her face. "I wanted to believe so badly that I was willing to put aside all doubts I had and listen to everyone telling me I could do this. But this is proof that I'm a failure and their faith in me was misguided. I'm no saviour or hero. I'm as useless to this world as I am to my own."
"You shouldn't beat yourself up over this one failure" Cocobuki tried to comfort her. "Just because you failed this once doesn't mean you should give up. A lot of the guilds' students took months of practice to get as far as even lighting a candle, but you're at an even greater disadvantage because you were not born Eorzean. You never had the opportunity we had to grow up, live with and apply the use of aether in our daily lives so it's only natural that you're struggling to learn how to use it. At present you're like a child in its infancy, not only barely grasping at how to use aether but to even recognise its existence."
Cocobuki then had an eureka moment. "I'm going to have to teach you how to recognise aether before we can even proceed on how to use it. When you attuned to an aetheryte you felt something within you, did you not?" Melanie slowly nodded in response whilst still keeping her head down. "Then this is what we'll work with. You may find sitting down will be more comfortable."
Melanie wiped the tear from her face with a sniffle and lowered herself down to the ground.
"Excellent. Now in order to recognise aether you'll need to spend some time meditating. I suggest doing this every day as using aether in any form requires a small amount of meditation, even teleportation. I want you to close your eyes, take in some deep breaths and try to find the aether inside of you."
Melanie closed her eyes and began to meditate, clearing her mind and tuning out everything around her. For a long time it felt like nothing was happening and a few times she almost fell asleep. A number of times she felt like giving up but Cocobuki would not take no for an answer. Frustrated she resumed her meditation practice convinced it was all a waste of time. Hours seemed to go by until she finally accepted that she was not going to leave the room until she found the aether within herself. She took in a deep breath and started over. As she placed all her energy into a deep concentration she felt a powerful surge begin to resonate within herself.
"I think I can feel it, it's like an electrical energy that's running all through me" she said without opening her eyes.
"Yes, that is the aether inside you" Cocobuki said happily. Melanie opened her eyes and was surprised it was still daylight outside. She could've sworn she'd been meditating for much longer. "You've done well. Most students take days of meditation before they're ready to start practicing magic. I would normally stop there and say to continue with the meditation practice but I'm now very curious what else you're capable of. Please stand" Cocobuki ushered Melanie to her feet.
Melanie pushed herself from the ground and brushed her robes down with her hands. Cocobuki took the sceptre from her robes and placed it in her right hand and pushed her hand up in front of her and raised her other hand and adjusted her fingers into a claw-like position. He then backed away from her. "Now I want you to meditate like before until you feel the aether within you again."
Melanie nodded and closed her eyes and began to go into a deep meditation. It took a little while until she felt the familiar flow of energy start to build up within her. "I feel it" she said.
"Continue to focus on that energy, only use the other hand to try to feel the aether around you."
Melanie continued to meditate, the flow of energy coursed throughout her body with a buzz. She then shifted her concentration slightly to her other hand until she felt an energy within the air. "I can feel it. It's indescribable but I can tell it's there, it's all around me. I feel I can almost touch it." Melanie's fingers started to wiggle slightly as she could feel different sensations in the air.
"Keep on feeling around until you've located the fire aspect, then use the sceptre to draw in the aether inside of you and speak out the incantation" Cocobuki spoke from behind her. Melanie began moving her fingers around lightly feeling the different energies in the air until she touched one that felt warm. The energy within her was intensifying by the second that she began to pull in the sceptre towards her as if gathering it all together and channeling it into the sceptre. The crystal focus within the sceptre began to respond by glowing a deep purple and the ground beneath her as well as the air surrounding her started to glow like she was standing inside an inferno. She breathed deeply then opened her eyes, thrust forward the scepter towards the pot and uttered under her breath.
"Burn."
