Venus City 1 (24 page)

After one year of being separated, Tristant told Camille he was transferring universities so that they could see each other everyday. He had no talent for art. His set of skills were better used in marketing or business administration, but he enrolled in her art school nonetheless. He claimed he could learn to do anything if he set his mind to it. So was his love for her.

Together, they lived in a fantasy for nearly three years. Camille felt like they were meant to marry, and hinted at it for Tristant whenever she got the chance. Their graduation was fast approaching, and she wanted to be eternally bound to him more than she cared for her diploma. Tristant was receptive to her hints, and hinted back at her that she might end up married soon. Camille was thrilled, happier than ever.

Everything suddenly changed, though. It was the night of their graduation. Camille knew, had this strong intuition, that Tristant would propose to her at the end of the ceremony. Another important thing you should know about Camille is that she was very infatuated with weddings, and when the time came for hers she would want every aspect of it documented in some way. So, before the graduation she arranged for one of her friends to record the proposal on a camera. Before the graduation began, when Camille went to meet her friend behind the university's stadium, she saw something half buried in the dirt.

Camille dug it up with her hands and found herself staring at the eight Sares. At that time she didn't know what they were. They looked like stemless dandelions lying in the dirt, the kind children blow on to make wishes. They glowed brighter than any light she'd ever seen, and when she touched one of them, the same golden light that emanated from the Sare seeped through her finger and shot through her arm. She panicked at that. It made her entire arm glow golden, and she could do nothing to make it return to its normal state. So Camille re-buried the Sares and ran.

She skipped her graduation and missed her proposal because of the glow in her arm. She isolated herself and refused to see anyone, afraid they would react badly to what was happening to her. As days passed she found that she could do things she'd never been able to do before. She could make things appear out of thin air, make objects float across the room. She could make trees grow taller, change the color of the grass, even change the way she looked. As an artist it thrilled her the new ways she could make art, but it also scared her. Ultimately, she could do everything but change the glow in her arm.

Camille finally chose to tell Tristant about her discovery. She decided all the power she'd found was worth nothing if she couldn't share it with the one she loved. She showed Tristant where the Sares were buried and told him it was their secret. They could do whatever they wanted with them. Tristant disagreed, and by doing so tore the two of them apart. He exposed the Sares against her wishes. He claimed it would make up for the years he'd wasted at an art school. His dark resentments he’d been secretly harboring were suddenly coming up.

He would be famous, rich, he claimed. Camille implored him, tried to explain that they could be all those things without exposing the Sares. But he would not listen to her; he was deaf to her pleas. He grew consumed by greed, by arrogance.

When news of the Sares broke out, conflict came with it. The eight greatest nations argued over what was to be done with them, and each of them seized control of the magical objects. War quickly followed, and the lesser nations that had no power were swept off the map in a matter of days. The greater nations in control of the Sares attempted peace treaties, but none were successful.

Questions abounded; where had the magical Sares come from? Why had they appeared at that time? What were their limits?

Those questions didn't prove to matter in the time of war. The nations with the Sares were targeting each other now, trying to obliterate each other's source of power. The men who attempted to control the Sares for any extended period of time always ended up dead.

Eventually all of the Sares were shattered. They split into hundreds of pieces, like the white seedheads of a dandelion when you blow them away in a wish. They scattered all over the world and a huge hunt commenced in order to collect the most power. It was no longer a war between nations, but a war between whoever could collect the most seedlings, as they started to call them.

But don’t be fooled. Not all the Sares were scattered in such a manner. There was one that remained whole, and it was the one in Camille's city.

By this time, Tristant was distraught over the destruction the Sares brought. Irrationally, he blamed Camille for it. She wanted to do something for him in order to make him forgive her. She wanted to win his love back.

With her magical golden arm, she tracked down the last Sare that her government was protecting in a chapel deep in a hidden valley. She brought Tristant with her, and told him she would take the Sare and give it to him so that he could be happy. And she obtained it without trouble. No one could stop her, not with the power she'd gained from the Sare the first time.

When they stood before the Sare, as Camille was offering it to Tristant, she realized it would not satisfy him. He was too greedy. He was a different man. She asked him if he loved her again, if they could get married, but he rejected her. Scorned her. He turned to the Sare in means to attain its powers, but Camille reacted first. Heartbroken, she lashed out in a rage. The power within her swelled and she slaughtered every man in the chapel, including Tristant. In her rampage she stole the Sare and buried the chapel under the valley that had once concealed it. Others tried to claim the Sare from her, but she was too powerful.

Camille sensed she was growing weaker the more she used the Sare, so she created a vault to keep it protected. From there, it was easier to use the power in smaller doses. It was safer. Once it was locked in the vault, she formed Venus City with the Sare and vowed to keep it forever sheltered from the terror beyond its borders.

Venus City prospered like no other city had before. Camille used the power of the Sare to recreate what the Great War had damaged and destroyed, even created more than what they'd had before. The population grew rapidly, but Camille was in a deep state of depression. She decided to have a child in order to distract herself. She hoped the child would allow her to love again. Her daughter, Cordelia, became a great source of happiness for Camille, but nothing could ever fill the void of Tristant and the memories of him that haunted her.

As she grew into her late thirties, Camille felt exceptionally weaker. She sensed she would die soon, for over exertion with the magic. She didn't know what to do with the Sare, though, didn't know who could take control over it. She tested many trustworthy women, but all of them were rejected by the Sare. All but her young daughter, Cordelia. That was when she made a powerful discovery. The Sares built loyalty into whoever used it the most, the longest. Since she'd wielded its powers for more than a decade, all through the safety of the vault it was locked in, the Sare had developed a loyalty to her, and by passing it down to her daughter the loyalty would remain intact.

In her last year of life, still tormented by the memories of Tristant, she used the Sare for one last act. She created a disease named after Tristant, a disease that she hoped would only infect males. Not all of them, but a small few. It was the only way she could get revenge on the man for crushing her heart. After she died and Cordelia took over, the disease unfortunately spread to infect females as well. While very uncommon, the disease remained uncured because of the trepidation that Cordelia had of the Sare. She never dared touch it for fear of dying early. She lived a long and healthy life, and then her daughter, Olivia, took over. Olivia, too, was fearful of the Sare and did nothing to touch it.

Ophelia ascended after Olivia, and she was the only one after Camille to brave the Sare. She was the one who invented the boosters and plugs. By isolating small fractions of the power into those tattoos, she found the power could be subdued and used for the citizens. But now, as you know, Tristant remains uncured even though Ophelia had dabbled with Venus's power.

****

Braya was aghast. How had so much of their city's history been stashed away from public knowledge? “She created that disease? Then it must be curable! She can be able to fix it!”

Leraphone looked amused. “She is dead, did I not mention that?”

Braya flushed in anger. “So what? Mother Ophelia can cure it, then! Why hasn't she done anything?” Braya was on her feet now, scattering papers from Leraphone's desk in her outrage.

“Were she inclined to, Ophelia could, yes,” Leraphone nodded, her hands lost in her long, draping sleeves.

“So that means you're going to talk to her? What was the point of telling me all of this, then?” Braya asked helplessly, breathing hard.

Leraphone tilted her head. “Isn't it better you know the truth? And no, I have no intention of telling Ophelia anything.”

Braya gaped at the woman. “Then how do you expect to get the cure? Have you been lying—”

“Calm down, child,” Leraphone said soothingly, her wispy tone brushing over Braya, meaning to console but only irritating her more. “Can't you take pause and consider why I know so much detail about what happened to Camille in her personal history? Or why any of this would be relative to your situation?”

“I don't know!” Braya said, throwing her hands up in the air. “You wanted to share your wisdom with your only willing audience?”

Leraphone sighed, her amusement still traced along the creases of her face. “Child, you must learn to look past guises and ask the right questions. If you act with patience and consider your situation from more than one angle, you'll find the answer. However, seeing as you're so upset right now, I might as well reveal myself.”

“What are you talking about? Do you have the cure here with you?”

“No, nothing of the sort. But through the family blood line, I can create the cure myself,” Leraphone stated. “I'm not sure Ophelia will be happy to see me after all this time, but no doubt she can't deny her sister a visit, right?”

Braya gasped. “You're related...you're Mother Ophelia's sister? But...” she spluttered. “Mother Ophelia doesn't have a sister.”

“She doesn't have much of anyone, does she, child?” Leraphone asked in a tone as thin as air. “I'm sure you didn't know her last name was Vacelind, either? There are many things you don't know about our dear Mother Ophelia, and many of them for good reasons.”

“Wait, if you're her older sister, how come you aren't Mother?”

Leraphone laughed loudly—louder than Braya had ever heard her laugh before—as she was picking up the papers that Braya had knocked from her desk. If Braya's eyes weren't deceiving her, some of the handwriting on those letters she was gathering from the ground looked familiar, but she wasn't paying enough attention to be sure. “I never claimed to be her older sister, Miss Vace. Are you presuming that because I look older than her?”

Braya looked away sheepishly—and as she did, she sensed that something was hovering over her shoulder, but when she glanced back, there was nothing there.

Leraphone did look older than Mother Ophelia, it was true, but they both appeared to be in the same generation as her own mother, Charlotte.

“Well, you are correct, not to worry, child,” Leraphone said, shuffling around the table to collect the tray of tea and sandwiches. “I am older than her and I was supposed to be Mother, but our dear...Mother Olivia chose Ophelia over me due to some of my...views that she did not agree with.”

“Views? Braya frowned. “What views do you mean?”

Leraphone waved her hand dismissively. “You need not concern yourself over that.”

“But why did you get stuck working in this Finch job when you should be Mother?” Braya asked hotly, the sting of being refused her rightful job rising to the surface again.

“I don't happen to mind this job,” Leraphone replied simply. “Did you know that it was Mother Cordelia who created the Bride career? Probably the only useful thing she did, if you must know. Now, I think it's time you head out, am I right? I was sure you had a cooking exam this afternoon.”

“But the cure—”

“Not to worry,” Leraphone said, ushering Braya toward the door. “It will be taken care of. I hope you studied hard.”

As Braya made her way to the door, she got the feeling again that someone was standing beside her. Could it be? No, he wouldn't follow her here, would he? Shaking off the thought that Asher had just sat in on her conversation with Leraphone, Braya went off to take her cooking exam.

“Mother said it was all right for us to visit?” Braya asked anxiously, tugging on her hair as they walked over the bridge that led to Heartland's front gates.

“Evidently,” Aspen replied levelly. “Or do you think I blackmailed the driver to come and pick us up?”

“No, not that,” Braya exhaled. They'd reached the gates now, and Braya could see their black car idling just on the other side of the round-about, half blocked by the fountain in the middle. “I'm just wondering why she suddenly says it's okay for us to go home.”

“I doubt she'll be welcoming us back. We're only allowed a short visit,” Aspen replied astutely, “So I suspect it's for a purpose.”