Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world),
Hi! I'm here to leave a quick review!!
First Impression: I really liked the ending to this chapter. We started it by getting to know Aleveri a bit better and now we get what I think is certainly a pretty accurate reaction by her to this whole plan and Ilami's shocking news. And there's just a hint of a interesting bit of information at that very last line.
Anyway let's get right to it,
After the ceremony was over, Ilami grabbed Aleveri’s hand. ‘There’s something I need to tell you,’ she said, rising. ‘It’s important.’
As Aleveri stood up, she patted Ilami’s hand. ‘I have to meet with the natron first. Mrs. Venaria told me I should do that after the event.’ She tilted her head, smiling. ‘But I think you can come with me.’
Ilami groaned. ‘I don’t want to meet Mother, and I definitely don’t want to meet the priest. Oh well.’
Okay...well, it looks like that didn't take long. One line into this and Ilami already wants to drag Aleveri off to tell her although not it does appear as if they're going to have to wait for just a little bit longer before getting back around to that conversation.
Both of them walked towards the stage. Students started to exit the place. Most teachers went out as well, accompanying the priests. Mrs. Venaria and Natron Kestari were the only ones who made no effort to move, waiting at their place for the arrival of Aleveri and Ilami.
Once Aleveri and Ilami reached them, Mrs. Venaria spoke. She gestured to Ilami. ‘Here is the student I have been talking about. Aleveri Uora.’ She smiled, then focused at Ilami. ‘And that is my daughter, Ilami.’
Hmm, well for all the suspicious and dislike that Aleveri showed earlier, she seems to be pretty good at hiding that here as she goes in and acts like everything is totally normal. Only Ilami seems to be making an effort to send a subtle message of dislike to either of the two there.
Aleveri bowed. Ilami followed, though Aleveri could sense the subtle force she put into the posture. ‘It’s my honor to meet you, Natron Kestari,’ Aleveri said. ‘To be honest, I’m not sure why you need to meet someone like me, an average student.’
Natron Kestari chuckled. ‘You’re too humble, child. I have heard from Mrs. Venaria about your profound healing skill. It has been a while since an Uora studied in the academy. I’m sure we will have a genius in the healing department soon.’
‘May the Naturals permit,’ Aleveri replied.
Hmm, well that's a bit too specific with the flattery there, I could just be influenced by the thoughts that Ilami had earlier but if I had to guess it looks like this Natron fellow is trying to make a case for eventually recruiting her for something specifically requesting her and doing praising her like that.
‘Ah, I can see why Serra blessed you with remarkable healing ability,’ Natron Kestari said, nodding. ‘There is kindness in your words; intelligence indeed glimmers in your eyes. I hope we will meet again, Ms. Aleveri. There will be a time when I myself are in need of your skill.’ He turned to Mrs. Venaria. ‘It slips my mind, but I think some of my priests have come up with an idea to fasten the progress of our project. You have to hear it immediately.’
‘Very well. We will meet again, Ms. Aleveri.’ With that, both of them left Aleveri and Ilami.
‘So rude,’ Ilami said.
‘Hmm?’
‘They didn’t even speak of me once!’ Ilami frowned. ‘I thought Mother would do more than introduce me to the Natron. It was like I didn’t exist.’
Oh, the priest definitely detected something and wanted to get out of there, you could see that very well in the sort of getaway that they made, if that wasn't a rushed excuse to run out of a place quickly, I don't know what is.
‘They’re pressed for time,’ Aleveri said. Grabbing Ilami’s arm, they went out of the hall. ‘Didn’t you say you don’t like priests? We’ll meet him again, anyway.’ I don’t intend to spend time with him alone.
Maybe she read the Natron wrong, but after the conversation with him, Aleveri could see how his eyes reflected truer than his gestures or voice. There was a mystery in there, one she didn’t dare to know. And what about him needing her skills? Surely a few Serra-blessed joined the church. Naturals didn’t interfere with humans’ activities regularly. In fact, they usually connected with their people through their priests. Because of their rare intervention, some people chose to worship the god who didn’t give them the blessing.
Okay...yeah well apparently she's having second thoughts after that...interesting, I for one only had those thoughts strengthened by the way he acted there. Also Ilami being annoyed there at being ignored is such a fun moment there, cause of how she at first hated having to go but then later still wanted to be noticed. It fits her personality nicely and its also a lovely touch of humor.
As per her insistence, they went to Ilami’s room, passing the dorm which was magically-enhanced to be brighter and warmer than the rest. Ilami’s roommate was out as she usually did at the end of weekdays. Ilami’s bed was neat as usual. The white blanket and brown pillows were arranged at the corner of it, and the writing equipment were put inside a cylindrical case on the study stable. Aleveri inhaled deeply, smelling a hint of jasmine fragrance Ilami had sprayed around the room. It wasn’t strong, but its difference with Aleveri’s lavender made it refreshing.
‘What is it you want to talk to me about?’ Aleveri asked, sitting beside Ilami on the bed. She gasped. ‘Is it something to do with Haka? Did you find his dark secret?’
Okayy...well, it looks like we get our first look at Ilami's rooom? I feel like we haven't seen that one yet, we've only seen Aleveri's and Gael's so that's a good addition. And I love that little almost inside joke of sorts there between the two friends suggesting they are pretty good friends here. Well let's hope it stays that way after what is to come next.
‘I - no, of course not,’ Ilami said. She adjusted the robe on her lap. ‘It’s something else. It’s about me.’
Taking a deep breath, she told Aleveri her past. How Mrs. Venaria’s servant, Jaxin, had been training her. At the end of her lessons, Mrs. Venaria gave her a final task. She was to beat a stranger. The twist was she didn’t know when and where it would happen, but suffice to say, when it happened, she wasn’t prepared. She ended up running away from the man, and when she managed to catch him off-guard instead and used the element of surprise to beat him, he revealed a horrible truth to her. Beating him wouldn’t give her the victory.
Well, so the story is being told for the third time, and I like how you make it much more of a summary for this. The previous one was a good reminder but because of how close that chapter was it it got repeated in this one, it would've ended up being a little boring. This is a nice way of bringing it across instead of that.
She had to kill him.
Aleveri’s eyes went wide hearing that, her hand covering her mouth. Ilami looked guilty when she talked about murdering the man - it was clear. And yet... she did it. Regretful or not, she killed the man. She was so young and she succeeded in ending one’s life. Even if she was forced, she shouldn’t have the capacity to kill.
‘How could you do it?’ she asked.
‘I didn’t have other choice,’ Ilami said. ‘It was either me or him.’
‘You killed him. You could choose to spare him and fail the test. You didn’t need to take someone’s life just to pass it.’
Well, I don't think Aleveri's logic there works, but I love to see the clash in the ideas there, how Ilami immediately thought only of the victory and never about potentially losing out on anything and then of course later there is the whole family in danger thing, but Aleveri immediately thinking of the non killing approach there shows just what sort of person she is.
‘I -’ Ilami bit her lips. ‘I didn’t think of that. But in my defense, the man asked for it. To save his family who were in Mother’s grasp.’
Aleveri shook her head. Ilami didn’t think failure was a choice? In a situation where the man couldn’t harm her but she could him, she didn’t think it wasn’t worth it to taint her hands with blood just for Mrs. Venaria’s approval? If Mrs. Venaria was capable to hold the information about the true nature of the test back from her, how could she be certain the man’s family would be safe once he died? The way Ilami saw it, his death allowed Mrs. Venaria to do whatever she wanted with them.
I think Aleveri is just a little shaken with the news there cause she doesn't seem to be thinking of this from Ilami's point of view. In the state of mind she was in and considering her age, she definitely did what she thought was the best option and I think she made the right choice.
Looking down, she forced her trembling hands to stay still.
‘His name is Zivil Ayesis.’
Aleveri’s head snapped up to the name. ‘Ayesis... Father to Dayel Ayesis, the dead student?’
Ilami nodded slowly.
Well, here we goo..now that connection also happens, so well, it should be very interesting to see Aleveri's reaction here. The good news is it looks like Aleveri is not going to immediately denounce her friendship, although she might just be too scared to say something like that, considering we see her thoughts, I don't think the latter is the case. So that part of things went well, but the reaction to what comes next is definitely the one to watch out for.
Aleveri rubbed her face and massage her temples. Her head started to ache. This is all too much, she thought. I’m supposed to be a healer. How can I concentrate on treating people when I have to deal with this?
Ilami grabbed her hand, forcing her to look at Ilami. Ilami’ eyes were glassy. ‘I know I’ve done something wrong, Aleveri, and I’d never forgive myself for it. I’ll remember it until the end of my life, but doing that won’t solve the issue here. Mother instructed me to kill. She silenced the others affected by Dayel’s death. Rumors had it Alyosha was the cause of Arafel’s death, which Mother hushed down. There was something wrong with the Restricted Area both students entered, and I along with Gael and Haka needed your help to find out what was it.’
Well, I like how Ilami holds nothing back despite Aleveri's reactions and just gone on telling her the whole truth, now at least Aleveri will know exactly what's going on and be able to make a proper decision there with all the facts.
The last part shook Aleveri’s away from her dwelling of Ilami’s killing. ‘It’s insane to enter the Restricted Area when you know both students died because of that. And you want my help... to heal?’
Ilami nodded.
‘Then that means you’re not confident with your plan. You suspect there’s a high chance one of you is going to get hurt, and I can heal whoever that would be without alerting the school. So many risks and so flawed is the plan.’
I do like how she focuses immediately on the danger of the Restricted Area there and tries to talk about that to get her mind off of the whole killing thing which does seem to be bothering her quite a bit so far despite her not being disgusted with Ilami at it.
Ilami’s face reddened. ‘We haven’t finished planning yet. I assure you we’re going to consider everything about it.’
Aleveri kept her silence, thinking. Not about the part of her involvement because it was as clear as the sky she wouldn’t help. She wasn’t a risk taker, and she certainly wouldn’t want to venture into something that was potentially fatal. But this was Ilami, and she so much wanted Ilami to be her friend. It wasn’t that she didn’t have ones; it was just that Ilami was the only one who was honest with her and paid attention to what she said. The rest, they wanted her to help them in their school works.
Aww...well that's a nice little moment to bring up, its a good little moment to perhaps show why these two became such fast friends despite mixed initial reactions and all in all, it makes for a really neat moment there as she considers all of this.
What would I get out of this if I accept? she thought. What would Ilami give that I want so much?
Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for her to find the answers.
‘I’ll help you,’ she said, prompting a weak smile to creep to Ilami’s face, ‘but with one condition.’
‘What is it? I’ll do anything you want,’ Ilami said, earnest vibrating in her voice.
Oooh, an ultimatum, did not expect Aleveri to come out with something like that, she doesn't seem the kind of person to do that sort of thing but considering what Ilami is asking of her, it would make sense for her to do this.
Aleveri squeezed Ilami’s hands hard. ‘Promise me you will never kill again, no matter who demands you to do so. Especially not when you want to do so. If you have to kill to save someone’s life, then find another way that doesn’t involve that. Continue to do so until you find one. If you have to kill to defense yourself from someone, find a way to stop her from killing you. Knock her out or threat her. I don’t care. As long as you do not kill.’
Ilami stared at Aleveri, her mouth stayed still. Then, she squeezed Aleveri’s hands. ‘I promise you I will never kill again,’ she whispered.
Aleveri nodded, assured with Ilami’s guarantee. She didn’t want Ilami to be like Alyosha.
Well this is quite a moment here, I feel like this is maybe going to test some boundaries in the times to come for these two in their friendship. At any rate, it also ends with a very interesting thought there by Aleveri...so let's to think about at the end of this piece here.
Aaaaand that's it for this one.
Overall: Overall, a pretty good ending to this chapter. It seems like there's going to be an excursion of some kind into the Restricted Area very soon with Aleveri also tentatively agreeing. Anyway, that's about all I have to say about this one.
As always remember to take what you think was helpful and forget the rest.
Stay Safe
Harry
Points: 253913
Reviews: 4100
Donate