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The moment both creatures had laid their tickets on the counter, a hand shot out to capture them, two claws nailing the tickets into the wood. And then her body followed, slowly leaning over the counter as if she were pulling herself by the two fingers.
The man-elf and the dragon eventually gave their verbal agreements, but the tickets were already shimmering with some kind of magic. Whether they had spoken or not, the act of placing the tickets on the counter had sealed some sort of deal. In turn, the same shimmering effect had trapped them where they stood—and sat—swirling around them like a gentle light prison. They could move freely within it, but they could not leave her booth.
"Verrrry good," she whispered, her eyes darting between her two customers.
She slid the two tickets toward herself and retreated back behind the counter. The tickets were impaled by her claws, and as she lifted her hand from the counter, she wiggled them in the air as she turned to gather some things—and they dissipated in a glimmering snowfall of glitter. Her guests, however, were still bound by their own swirling light.
The fox rummaged through various silks and stones before she seemed satisfied by two gem chunks: a crystal, quartz-like one, and a shimmering blue one with reflections of other colors. She turned back to the counter and placed the gems there—they were as big as fists!
Her eyes focused on Attikias.
"Elf-man," she began, tapping the crystal-like gem. "Though it is hidden, your gem is like this, is it not?" Her eyes narrowed at his shoulder and she tapped her temple. "The Starless sees it. The Starless hears it." Her head swung to view Carja and she gestured to the other stone. "Yours, visible. Strong, in the open. Jaw bone tip," she cooed, reaching up to drum her fingers on her chin. "A skull's hidden tooth."
Her attention returned to Attikias. "Shoulder, mmm," she hummed, waving a hand side-to-side. "Can be a curse, sometimes. But you do not smell of a being that is cursed," she said, although her tone sounded accusatory, like somehow he had cheated some kind of fate. She shrugged though, and covered the stones with her hands, gripping them and drawing them back to herself.
For a moment, her eyes left them to scan the area behind them, as if she might be on the lookout for some kind of danger; but when she deemed it clear, her focus returned to them, and she grinned.
"Behold, for I am Benya, the Starless; the Cold-Born; She Who Dodges Fate,", she announced, her head lifting slightly. The yellow of her eyes seemed to burn with embers. "I have seen the End and I have Returned; I have been Complete and I have been Torn Apart; I am the dark patch in the reaches of space, the Empty, the Lightless, the Void."
She was none of these things, but they sure sounded cool.
"And I will show you how to be more."
Benya shrugged off her robes and held out her arms, lifting them at her sides with her palms held up. Jutting out from her breastbone was her own gem, a rhombus of cloudy blue benitoite. It started to glow, and the same glow began to raise from her arms like heat waves.
She pulled them in and made her hands into fists, stretching her arms out toward the elf and the dragon so that they could see what was happening; her arms had started to bleed, and from the tissue of her forearms rose jagged spikes of benitoite. Benya seemed exhausted, short of breath, but she was proud. When the stones on her arms were done growing, she moved to trace a tiara on her forehead, and soon blood began to seep from her skin there; it was thinner skin and cracked unevenly. With no fat to pad the growth of the gems, her face was soon a curtain of her own blood. But still, burning through the red, her yellow eyes were locked onto her guests.
And a tiara of benitoite grew where she had intended.
"You are beautiful creatures," she began to say, wiping blood from her eyes. "We are beautiful. We will be beautiful, and we will continue to outshine those who would use us as tools." She looked like she was about to faint. Her eyes were vacant now, and her voice was growing weaker. "I am the STARLESS," she declared, shaking a fist at them. "I will SHINE ANYWAY!"
By this point, the surge of her magic had caught the attention of other carnies. Someone started to approach, and her eyes flashed to them for a moment before she slammed her hand on the counter.
"You will shine," she told them, her grin broken by the lines of blood that stained her face. "Show them what it is to be beautiful." With that, she snapped her bloody fingers and released the magical hold on her guests. "THE CONTRACT IS COMPLETE, GOODBYE," she yelled, gathering a few things before diving into the pond and disappearing.
As the other carny approach, he seemed disgruntled. Someone behind him was also hurrying over, jingling with a mess of bells. Benya's things began to dissipate in the same glittering snowfall that the tickets had, suggesting perhaps that it had all been an illusion.
The carny looked to the elf and the dragon and sighed.
"Sorry if you... had to see that," he said quietly.
The other that approached (with a tinkling that was deafening) hissed at the ripples in the pond.
"WAS THAT FUCKIN' BEANY??" he hollered, kicking the water. "I'M GONNA CATCH THAT SLY FOX ONE DAY, HUH!" He leaned over with his hands on his hips, screaming directly at the water. "COME BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!!"
The quieter carny was grimacing at this point.
"Her name is Benya," he corrected, although it meant nothing to his upset companion. His eyes rested apologetically on Attikias and Carja. "Anyway, I hope this does not ruin your opinion of our carnival," he said with a frown, and dug into his pocket for something.
He held out two shimmering tickets, gold and enticing, just like the ones Benya had. "If it pleases you, have a round of any game on us, hmm?" He held out the tickets and raised a brow, the smirk on his face hard to read. Was this another trick?
@Attikias and
@Carja are free to go! They have also received:
Spell unlocked!
Copygem
Low Intensity Transformation. This spell copies the user's gemstone to anywhere on their body in any shape they desire, although it can be a painful process. The more copies or the larger copies that one has will leave them feeling drained, as the growth and upkeep are sustained by the user's magic. All copies disappear when the user enters chrysalis and must be regrown. The copies cannot be used for Give Stone and disappear when removed from the user. This spell is purely aesthetic in nature.
Copygem is available for ʡ150 in the Non-Elemental section of the Magicka Shop.