ORIGIN

Giggle led the way to the bone pit quietly. She intended to do readings for all her children; it just so happened that Grishia was first. The child was learning quickly--language and magic both--but even "learning quickly," in context, meant "barely able to comprehend sentences." The staff seemed to have imparted some magical knowledge, and Grishia grasped the magic the Bonebound shared already.

But this was a little different, and she too lapsed into silence as they walked--in her case purely because she was trying to plan ahead in terms of how to explain it all.

By the time they reached her bone pit, she had a vague plan in mind.

The pit was, at first glance, a broad circle thick with bones. If one waded in, they'd find it to be a deeper hole, filled with the things. A ring of fungus--much of it glowing blue, but others giving off malodorous spores or the like--stood sentry around it; a narrow footpath led up one side, to a ledge that overlooked it.

Giggle stopped before the mushrooms, and looked at Grishia. She didn't mention the bone creature that no longer followed her daughter; the golem, without a new power source, had collapsed at some point in the night. It hadn't "woken up" with Grishia, and Giggle had explained that old bones needed rest. Now they were here, with a lot more bones in the pile, and the hyena began to explain. "Grishia, do you see these mushrooms? Don't touch them, okay? Not everyone in the caves are friendly. So I grew these here. Some of them are dangerous. You could maybe try to learn their magic. They can protect us, or grow light. I'll explain later why light can be important, but I'll start by explaining this: mushrooms are my magic. Yours is a little different, but that doesn't mean you can't learn mine, too. I know yours." She dropped to her haunches, studying her daughter closely, trying to gauge if she was going too complicated or not.

"Everything in this world is connected. If I step on a spore, and it sticks to my foot, it might fall off and grow somewhere else, and I've changed its life. And there's magic that runs through everything. Now-... This part might be harder to understand. So just remember it, okay? The future--what lies ahead?--comes from the present. And normally it's impossible to look at everything, and just know what will happen. But magic runs through everything. Whether it's my mushrooms, or your fungus--or just the bones--we can... touch that magic, and try to get an idea of how all those links work. It's a lot. But if you practice, you can learn to see the future from the now. That's what I do. With the same magic you use, and with the bones." Giggle nodded off toward the pit. "...Got it so far?" She had a note of playful challenge in her tone; she didn't want to be too serious, and this kid was a determined sort. She had a feeling Grishia would respond best to just a little bit of that.

Giggle started to nod, then shook her head. "I don't see it in the mushrooms, but others might. I see the past through them, sometimes--that's another story. But the point is, I don't think it's limited to any one magic. Since everything is connected."

She glanced down, noting the shake of spores, and tilted her head a little. A smile curved black lips upward. "I think you've got it. Just a little practice," she encouraged. "But for now, let me see what the future holds for you--okay?"

She eyed Grishia. "I'm going to ask the bones what your future will be like. If there's anything else you want to ask, I can..?"

Giggle grinned back. "Good job. You're gonna be a good bone-witch, too, kiddo." She gave it a moment, heading over to nuzzle her child's head with gentle affection. When the moment of celebration had passed, she nodded and returned to a more serious demeanor.

The hyena padded to her bone pit again, studying the bones, and then waded in up to her chest. She always selected a bone best-fit to whoever she was doing a reading for. For Grishia? Something... not enormous. Something tough, though. And something... unique. Something with a past, she thought. The child was a fresh hatch, yes. A newborn, really. But she'd come from an alien magic, from an alien place, from an alien ally: and the bone Giggle eventually picked was suited to that. It was a gnarled spike, polished in an almost ivory way, but with one end stained deep gray. That was fitting, and so she lifted it in her teeth, and turned to trot up to her ledge.

Okay, bones. It's been a bit. She tried not to think about any doubts she held. About the way Aza'zel's bones had stayed here, thrown again and again into the pit... yet how he was alive again, with no memory of any guidance. She tried not to think about that, but she did, hesitating for a moment. She held the bone until her thoughts had cleared. Until they'd returned completely to her daughter. Show me Grishia's future. Show me what lays ahead for her. On her behalf. Thanks.
Was there even a point to any of this? Was this specific pinprick point in time of any importance, really, with everything else Giggle had seen? All the knowledge, all the history; they were only a speck, a flicker--enough. She told herself this firmly, and lobbed the bone, focusing on it as it tumbled, as it fell, and as it hit the pit below.

The way it hit, the way it bounced--itself--and clattered away without scattering other bones... the way another fell atop it and rolled away. The way it tumbled further, and fell, and lodged in between some others... None of it, to Giggle's eyes, boded well. She considered them for a time, patiently summarizing it all in her head as Grishia watched. She could feel the child's pale eyes switch--nervously?--between the bones and her mother, and at length (regardless of the sinking in her gut) she offered Grishia a smile.

"Here is what the bones say," Giggle told her. "They say you're on a journey, Grishia. That you might be having trouble working together with yourself--that two parts of you might be struggling to cooperate. Or maybe with someone else." But you haven't really met anyone else aside from me, and there's no conflict there that I can see. Maybe her siblings-? Giggle moved on. "I see lessons for you. They'll come to you as dangers and as hurdles. Delays. Things that might seem scary or hard, or sad. But you'll learn from them. But--you have to be careful, okay? Don't jump into fights you don't need to. Don't try to deal by giving things up. Do what you think is right. Fight to overcome your challenges, and you'll be okay. -Okay?"

She was tempering the worst of it. The idea that those challenges and dangers might be misery, might be sacrifices--and, if the child was incautious, it would all be for nothing. No. That would be cruel for a child. And even so, it was Giggle's hope that warning her of what she saw could help her to prepare; to forge a better, safer path.

Giggle nodded, grinning back as she made her way down. She didn't feel that grin. She offered it for Grishia, but her mind lingered, with a deep sense of unease, on the message of the bones: one of trials and tribulations. Yes, lessons to be learned, but that was a silver lining she'd brought to the forefront in the interest of... being kind.

But the Visitor wouldn't bring her something like this--a gift, a relief from her own trials--only to cause pain. She had to trust in that, at least.

So Giggle trotted to Grishia, gave her a lick on the head, and nodded back toward the den. "Okay, kiddo. Let's go find some food, and then head back, okay? Unless you had anything else to ask?"