The clans were gone in disapora,

Broken without divine guidance

And they were set out into the world

To find the gods within their creation.

-The Book of the Abandonement 1;13-16

Celeste awoke to the faint glow of starlight. She was still being carried in Vallerian‘s arms. The gentle rocking very nearly lulling her back to slumber. She had felt badly about relying on Vallerian like this, so she knew she had to wake. She couldn't have been asleep for long, recognizing the familiar streets passing by at a glance. With bleary eyes she looked up to the count.

She hadn't been sure what to think of him at first. He intrigued her, and being Valleresa's brother had definitely lent favor to him. But seeing him with that little girl in the market earlier, that spoke volumes on his soul. She had been that girl once, long ago, a hungry child just trying to survive. Those children had no one, save perhaps the occasional adult that would share food now and then. Celeste had been more than lucky, and she knew that. She had been lifted up from these streets and been placed back down in luxury. Did these children not deserve that as well? It seemed Vallerian had at least some similar thoughts, as he had slipped the girl coin as well as food.

"My Lord, I do believe I have recovered sufficient strength to walk." She spoke, her voice still quivering slightly. Vallerian looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Is that so?" He slowly put her down, maneuvering her with ease so she could stand. "And I thought I told you to quit with the titles."

She had enjoyed the feeling, being held with such security.

"I apologize, Vallerian." She smiled at him. "Though I must thank you as well, I do not recall you agreeing to be both my guardian and my palanquin today."

"It was my pleasure. I have some experience carrying small unconcious girls." He stopped as he finished the sentence. What had he just said? "That sounded bad, I have a baby sister." he quickly explained. "maybe a year or two younger than you." Vallerian looked at her nervously as she laughed.

They walked for a short time after that in silence, just enjoying one another's company. The sun had long since set, and Celeste nearly panicked when she realized Gardinal would surely be home by now. He would not be happy about this. It seemed her first secret excursion into Southshore would also be her last. She felt a pang of sadness at that, there was so much more she had wished to do. But at least she had gotten to help one person. Scripture did say, 'As one petal from the smallest flower might ripple waves across the ocean, so too can one soul change the fate of a kingdom.' Celeste said a prayer of thanks to Ethinia, for giving her the opportunity to make that woman's life better.

"P... Please help me." A voice from a nearby alley called out. It sounded like a little girl. Celeste moved towards the sound, but was pulled back by Vallerian.

"It could be a trap." Vallerian warned. "Just leave it."

Celeste looked to him in shock. No, she would not just leave it. "Lord Vallerian, I would climb into the lion's maw only to pluck the thorn from its tongue." She had always loved that parable, even if her Father always said she missed the point of it. She brushed off his hand and moved into the dark alley. Vallerian groaned, but followed. He was a good man.

Not far into the alley Celeste found the girl, huddled up in a corner against a rotting old wooden box. She seemed to be sniffling. It was a cold night and she looked cold.

"Why do you weep dear sister?" Celeste asked, approaching the huddled form and lowering down to her side. She could hear Vallerian behind her, his feet shuffling. The tight alley was so dark they could hardly see anything. The girl shifted, looking up to Celeste with red eyes.

"I... I'm sorry." she whispered. "But I gotta feed my lil brother." Confused, Celeste looked up to Vallerian, and saw in horror as two towering Fereni men approached him from behind. Each with huge cudgels in their hands.

"Vallerian!" she shouted, pointing behind him as one of the men raised his weapon. Time seemed to slow for Celeste. In a terrible flash of steel Vallerian unsheathed a hidden sword, slicing the man's hand off in one fluid motion. The attacker stared in shock as the appendage fell through the air. His compatriot tackled Vallerian before he could bring his sword around to him.

The two men collided, their bodies crashing into Celeste. The second mans cudgle flew from his hand, strikeing the Jöln girl in the head with a sickening crack. Help, she needed to help, needed to stop this somehow. Celeste felt herself breathing heavy as she tried to make sense of the chaos, tried to think of something she could do.

The girl.

Celeste tried to move, stopping as she jerked with a sharp pain. Her long hair was trapped beneath Vallerian and the man with whom he wrestled. Wrapping it around her hand, Celeste pulled with every bit of strength she had. With a sharp jolt it came free as the two combatants rolled away, leaving her stumbling back hard into the near wall.

Frantically looking around, Celeste spotted the girl. She lay on the ground, obvious indent in her head from the cudgel with a cascade of blood flowing down her face.Celeste moved towards the girl, before stumbling on her own long gown. With a thud she fell to the stone ground, scratching her hands as she tried to catch herself . Looking up she faced the dismembered hand from earlier. So much blood.

She couldn't be distracted by that right now, the girl was hurt. Celeste crawled, dragging herself along the rocky ground. She could do this, she had to. If not, then what was the point of her blessings.

With a scraped knee, Celeste made it to the girl, the grunting battle of the two men echoing behind her. She would deal with that soon, for now she had a life to save. She grabbed the Jöln's head in her hands, and began to lift the floodgates within her soul.The vitality cascaded out of her, flowing through her and into...

A booted foot slammed into her face. Crashing her to the ground with a painful blow.

"I'll fucking kill you, you little whore." The attacker with the missing hand stood above her, cradling his hand.

"Please... I... I can heal you..." she begged. She was so dizzy, was the man swaying? Or was it the whole alley that spun? The girl. She still needed help. Celeste forced herself to move, trying to crawl back to the girl.

That same booted foot collided with her back, grinding her into the ground.

"Where the hell do you think you‘re going?" He growled.

"Please... She need‘s help..." she was desperate. Rough hands reached around her and flipped her over, the man looming over her with a short knife in his remaining hand.

A sword emerged out his throat.

"Don't you touch her." Vallerian growled from behind the man. The man collapsed, eyes desperate as he weezed, thick torrents of blood spurted out of the fresh hole in his neck at every attempt. He seemed to shake, but all his limbs were limp.

Celeste screamed, crawling towards the limp man. So much blood, so much pain. For what? "WHY!?" She looked to Vallerian, cradling the dying man in her arms.

He simply stared back at her, bloody sword in hand. There was a coldness to his eyes that seemed to spread into his words as he responded with a shrug. "He was a threat."

Celeste looked around, the girl still lay dying in the corner, the eyes of the man in her arms seemed to dart around in a panic. She could even hear the gurgled grunts of the second man behind her. This couldn't be. This was a nightmare. A perversion of everything the First Mother stood for.

"No more!" she cried, tearing down the dam within her soul. The light pulsed out of her, pouring every last drop of that vitality that pressed against her body. She reached out her hand, grasping the leg of the dying girl. Holding this dying man. And she helped them.

She was faintly aware of the alley brightening. Every little corner of it illuminated sharply by her glow. Her focus though was on these two souls. On saving them from passing into the First Mother‘s embrace too soon. The effort strained her, pulling on every part of her body, soul, and mind. She gave so much of herself it hurt. But she would not let them die. “Please... Don’t go… Not yet…” She whispered to them through tears.

The glow faded, and with it Celeste drifted into darkness.

***

"C'mon!" the boy yelled at her. Celeste looked at him. He was so much bigger than her, so strong. And he cared for her. "Are you gunna come?" He had that grin, that charming grin that spread all the way to those warm brown eyes. She remembered this. They were going to go steal some buns from a local cart. Celeste looked around. She was back, back in the place with the red curtains. Where the kind woman would let the two of them sleep on her floor. At least when the large scary men weren't around.

Celeste moved to follow him. Or tried to. She was stuck, her feet not moving through the muddy ground.

"Wait for me!" she shouted. It only came out as a whisper. He was walking away. Where was he going? She needed him. He was going, disapearing. Where did he go?

***

Celeste's eyes flickered open, and her whole body ached. The world spun around her. She pushed her hand out to stabalize herself, and found she was on the cold earth.

"She's awake m‘lord!" A girl's voice filled her ears. She tried to look towards the speaker, but the effort required to turn her neck proved too much.

A blurry figure crouched in front of her, grabbing Celeste by the chin and moving closer. Vallerian.

"Dammit Celeste, you gotta stop doing that." He chastised her.

"Are... they... alright?" she tried to ask about the attackers. The three desperate souls who had been driven to such terrible measures. The ones Vallerian had tried to kill. It was all so dissapointing. She had thought him better than that.

"They're fine. The two thugs ran off as soon as you healed them. This one though," Vallerian looked to someone Celeste couldn't see. "She refused to leave your side. And the Pantheon knows I tried. Bloody stubborn Jöln." Celeste breathed a sigh of relief.

"I... I'm so sorry m'lady." The female voice sounded again. The Jöln from before? Her mind still felt so muddied. "Please... Please forgive me m'lady." The Jöln cried.

"You said you a had a little brother." Celeste asked, finally working up the energy to turn to the woman. She was small, but Celeste could tell she was no child. The Jöln nodded. Celeste opened her hands, too weak to even lift her arms now. The Jöln collapsed into Celeste, weeping.

"Why did you help me?" the girl managed to croak out between thick sobs. "I tried to kill you!"

Celeste held her as tight as she could, not letting the girl go. "Because I love you." Celeste whispered.. "Because you are worth love." Celeste heard Vallerian snort from the side, and she wished she had enough energy to glare at him.

Eventually the Jöln girl finished her crying and pulled away from Celeste.

"I... I'm sorry m'lady." she whispered. "I just needed money so badly."

"But why this?" Celeste asked. She could never understand what could bring someone to such terrible actions. But Celeste neeeded to, or else she could never fix it.

Eventually the girl explained everything. She used to be a part of a local street gang, she knew it was wrong, but it kept her and her little brother fed. Another gang calling themselves the Silver Skull's apparently came and destroyed her gang. From what it sounded like, these Silver-Skulls had taken over half of Southshore. The reason she had resorted to robbery was because of her little brother. He was starving, as was she. Celeste finally smiled, this she could fix without her gift.

"What is your name my sister? " Celeste asked. The girl sniffled.

"Arabella, M'lady." She bowed her head.

"What a beautiful name. How would you like to join my retinue Arebella?" Celeste asked, and Arabella looked to her with wide eyes.

"What?" Vallerian asked in shock. Celeste silenced him with a look.

"With only Valleresa, I do not currently have adequate handmaidens." she responded to Vallerian. "I am sure my Father will more than cover any expenses accrued by this girl and her brother.

"M'lady, I don't have any skill as a handmaiden. I'd probly make a mess of it to be honest." She looked nervous, blessed thing.

"Nonsense Arabella, all it requires is a willingness to learn, and a good heart. You will do well." Celeste felt her eyelids begin to droop as she spoke. She was so exhausted, her whole body felt like leden weights. "We should be returning home. Arabella could you assist me on the walk? I am quite exhausted."

"I’ve got you Celeste." Vallerian began, and Celeste glared at him.

"Not with your bloodied hands, Count Tarnarquill." His first reaction had been to dismember and murder. What kind of man was he?

"Don't be ridiculious." he responded. "I just want to help."

"No." She repeated, feeling Arebella begin to pull her to her feet. She looked to his sword now, hanging openly from his hip. "And you will dispose of that monstrosity." She commanded him, pointing to the blade with a shaking finger. "A hammer may be used to forge, an arrow to feed a family but that thing?" She shook her head as the shivers crawled up her spine. "Get it out of my sight!" She simply could not tolerate its presence. Such things only assured more violence, and she detested it so.

Vallerian gave her a curt bow. "As my lady wishes. "

Wearily, Celeste nodded. Good. She would be wary of him from now on. His soul was far more wounded than she had initially thought. She would need to pay close attention if she were to help him.

With Arabella bracing her, they headed home.