Lunara's POV
Evershade's noise level exceeded Lunara's previous recollection of it.
In addition to sound, a feeling of "heaviness" was present in the way that everyday life went on with little or no interruption, thus allowing people to lose awareness of how close they lived to a vast unknown.
Lunara stood on the opposite side of the street from the school gates with both her arms crossed over a disposable coffee cup she had not used. Her coffee had already become cold several minutes ago, yet she had not realized it.
She could see them—Six separate threads, faint in all, interwoven through all the other students in the pathways leading to the school gates, like a hidden constellation.
They were unformed, unaware, and would soon awaken to life. Of the six threads, Lunara was drawn to one particular female student: Averyn, the girl who was walking with her three friends while wearing a half-zipped hoodie, and who appeared to have her mind elsewhere while sharing a hearty laugh with them.
As the echoes of their laughter penetrated Lunara's ears, she sensed that there was a fracture of light in Averyn; she was a memory that remained in existence from afar. The Codex reacted to Averyn first for a reason.
At first glance, Lunara sensed the first stirrings of the Awakening in Averyn. However, she knew it was still too soon to come to any conclusions regarding how far this particular initiation would extend to other women and hopefully for herself.
But it had begun.
She turned away before she had the chance to linger too long. It was dangerous to watch; it was more dangerous to become attached.
When she stepped through the library doors, the doors opened with a soft hiss; the smell of old books and polished wooden tables surrounded her in a familiar scent that felt like magic. This library was a mask to her role; it was a needed mask.
As she walked past the head administrator's desk, he greeted her with a loud and cheerful, "Good morning!" "Settling in okay?" he asked her.
"Yes," Lunara replied, with a warm human voice; she had rehearsed her reply before arriving that day. "The students have been very welcoming."
This no longer was untrue.
From her position behind the circulation desk, she began to notice the patterns of a given day. Who stood by the fantasy bookshelves, who looked out the windows, who flinched when the air pressure changed ever so slightly but in a way that a person could sense it.
Averyn entered the building after lunch.
Lunara did not look over at her right away.
While she pretended to sort through some returned books, Averyn counted and steadied the soft light coming through her skin before Lunara glanced up at her.
When Lunara finally looked up, Averyn was already looking at a shelf that Lunara did not know Averyn would be allowed to go on.
"That section is a little empty," Lunara said in a lighthearted way.
"I'm Sorry," said Averyn, startled. "I didn't know."
Lunara replied, "No problem. Some stories are still waiting to be discovered."
Averyn hesitated as if she wanted to say one more thing, but she nodded and turned.
The light began to flares. Lunara's hands rested upon the edge of the Table. "Soon, but not yet" echoing through her thoughts.
That night while in the comfort of her own secret place, a hollow scrolled stone lorebook wrapped in dying memories and magic was hidden away within the great masonry that made up the city.
Lunara awoke the memory of being surrounded by the light of Aether's skys and felt the echo of being ripped asunder by the choice that took all from her in one blow.
"they do not know the way" she whispered into the silence of the cavern around her.
In reply the Codex began to pulse back at her. Somewhere far away from her in Evershade there was something watching and this time it was watching back.