Saving Grace

[Palladium]

"Do not think negative thoughts," Palladium urged. "You must believe; it is the only way." Internally however, Palladium sighed; his words felt, and most likely sounded, so very trite. But what could he say to her? Cheer up? At least you only lost your vision and not your life? This will all be better soon?

The thing was, he couldn't make that kind of promise to her. Although he had great faith in Cora and her abilities . . . well, sometimes not even the most talented succeed. And then what? What good would he have done Flora? Yes, Palladium decided, it was best to avoid empty promises.

[Demeter]

"I'm trying, but it's so very hard. Especially when you know you've messed up so very badly. I know that if the other girls found out, I'd be laughed at for being so utterly foolish. I know Tecna would say that's what I get for thinking with my heart and not my head." She knew it was wrong of her to say that - but she wasn't thinking too clearly. The pain of being robbed of her vision and being so very helpless was making her more then a tad bitter.

[Palladium]

"The other girls," Palladium replied gently, "are clearly your inferior if they did happen to decide to behave in such a manner - especially since I see no shame in following one's heart."

As Palladium spoke these words, he reddened; he felt like quite the hypocrite. Who was he to lecture on the beauty of following one's heart? Certainly, he was not one to do that himself - no, he was much more inclined to listen to his head. So then, why were these words coming out of his mouth? And what would Flora think? Probably that he was an incredible hypocrite. What else could he expect?

[Demeter]

Flora didn't call him on that, the only sign that she had commented on what he said was a wry smile that graced her tanned features. She decided to save him the embarrassment he was causing himself by returning to the earlier subject - Cora's aid.

"In your homeworld... where would I find her?" she asked, trying to get a sense. "I can't see, you know, so giving me visual clues will be, well, rather pointless."

[Palladium]

Palladium smiled faintly, "There is a hill that faces west, overlooking vast fields, which is where the home to my realm's famous roses lies. However, on this hill, there is one sole cherry blossom tree. It's glorious, really. You see, unlike other cherry blossom trees, this particular one is always in bloom. Yes, even in the winter. It has been said that this tree is under the influence of magic. According to Athryellian tales, there once was a poor man who wished to make his wife happy. He could buy her no material goods - no fancy gowns or furs or jewels. No rouge for her cheeks or coal for her eyes. However, he knew magic. One day, he climbed the hill in the dead of winter and saw the beautiful viewpoint and decided that that place could bring happiness to his wife. It was a beautiful place as it was, but he wanted to make it even more special for her; so, legend has it, he put the naked cherry blossom tree under a spell and it bloomed right then and there in the dead of winter. And supposedly, that tree has been that way ever since. Now, apparently those who sit beneath that tree will find happiness."

Clearing his throat, Palladium smiled, "Forgive me; it has been a long time since I have visited my home realm and I hadn't realized how much I miss it until just now." Rubbing his neck, he continued, "Anyhow, my point: the best place to look for Cora is beneath that tree. She loves it there - she has since she was a young girl and I doubt that that has changed in my absence."

"However, because you cannot see, I suggest you either bring your mother with you or - follow the smell of the cherry blossom tree. It is a distinct smell - trust me when I say, when you smell it, you will know." Palladium chuckled, "Or you could always ask a local to bring you to the hill; do not worry, most Athryellians are friendly."

[Demeter]

OOC: I was about to "snark" LOL

"I'll take my mother with me. The last time I went exploring the flower fields by myself, I ended up getting seperated from my mother and had to have two of the natives of Athryell help me get back to her."

[Palladium]

"Ah, so you have visited Athryell before? Besides from being separated from your mother, did you enjoy it there?" Palladium asked, an interested smile lighting his face, not once realizing that he was one of the Athryellians Flora was referring to. Indeed, the encounter between them had occurred so many years back and in truth, had been insignificant to him in comparison to his studies that Palladium had long ago forgotten her.

[Demeter]

Flora nodded slightly. "From what I can remember, I did. The flowers were so lovely, and the native wildlife so friendly. I remember chasing after a fawn and that's what caused me to get seperated. It was a female elf that brought me back to my mother. We met the male one later - and he mentioned that we could go to his house for dinner since it was late and my mother and I hadn't eaten." She paused a moment and gave a soft laugh. "I remember giving him a rather mangled flower and he said it was a lovely gift..."

[Palladium]

Palladium laughed softly, forgetting for the moment that he was trapped in a mirror, "Well, that sounds like pure Athryellian hospitality to me. That has always been one of my favorite things about my home realm - the people, generally speaking, of course, are quite caring and generous. But they also happen to be sticklers for tradition." Shaking his head, he smiled in amusement, "I remember Cora and I used to have arguments on that very subject. She always believed that the majority of traditions were outdated - but she followed them nonetheless. I suppose to some people that would make her a coward or a hypocrite, but I disagree. She was loyal. Always loyal - to her family, that is. She loved them too much to humiliate them. I, on the other hand, was rather apathetic to it all. I cared about my studies and more often than not, I said to hell with everything else." Coughing, Palladium colored, "Pardon, my language, of course."

[Demeter]

"Forgiven," she said. "In case you've forgotten, I've sworn as well. I seem to recall it was after I discovered you in the mirror and was feeling quite vexed about not knowing how to help you. I think my exact words were Damn it all to hell."

She sighed quietly. "I wonder what became of him..."

[Palladium]

"Well then, I have nothing to worry about." Laughing awkwardly, Palladium added, "I admit, I was afraid that I had corrupted you with my vulgar language, but since I see that that is not the case, I suppose I can relax."

As the word 'relax' slipped out of his mouth, Palladium tensed. Once again, he was reminded just exactly where he was - trapped. In a mirror, nonetheless. At once, the comfortable, serene mood that had occurred between him and Flora seemed to vanish, at least on his part.

Quietly, Palladium spoke, feeling himself grow more restless and claustrophobic with each passing moment. "Flora . . . I think it may be wise to pay a visit to Cora as soon as possible. Not only would be better for you - after all, you need your sight, but also - goodness, hopefully this doesn't sound too selfish - the sooner you visit her the sooner you can bring her back to Alfea to free me." Clearing his throat, he added, "It's just that . . . Stormy . . . well, the more time we wait, the more opportunities she has to wreak havoc. You understand, yes?"

[Demeter]

"Given my current lack of sight, and the fact that Christmas is fast approaching, I think I can sneak out of here without being caught. I'll just tell my mother that I'm coming home earlier then we thought."

She paused a moment, and tilted her head as she thought. "You're able to travel between mirrors, right? Given that, I'm sure you can access any mirror. And given that, you can hitch a ride in a compact and that way you and Cora can also discuss things... unless the spell was for just this one mirror...."

[Palladium]

"I suppose it would be worth an attempt," Palladium replied. "After all, it would be quite handy for me to speak to Cora myself . . . oh, but I hate to have to leave Alfea with that witch posing as me. I can't understand why no one has noticed this - perhaps I haven't given Stormy enough credit; perhaps she really is fooling everyone." Smiling almost sadly, Palladium added, his voice slightly downcast, "I suppose I am not much help now, so it wouldn't matter if I left."

[Demeter]

"You're keeping me from going stark raving mad from losing my vision, so you are helping," Flora hastily pointed out, hoping to keep him from sinking down into a depression. She decided to ask him a few questions about his home - she was curious. "Besides the lovely flowers, what else is your home known for?"

[Palladium]

Palladium smiled, "Athryell is known for many things. Our environment, of course, is most widely recognized. In addition, our crime rate is the lowest of all the realms. That may not seem so significant, but Athryellians tend to read much into it. For instance, because the crime rate is low, this must mean our citizens are decent, honorable people. Thus, we can take pride in our people."

Waving his hand dismissively, he continued, "As for more interesting things, we Athryellians, as I mentioned, are known for our people. Our beautiful people. As we are elves, we go through a process of evolution. We begin as awkward looking things, but as we age, we grow into ourselves, per se. However, although we grow every day as everyone else does, we are different in that we also have a major evolution - in one day we turn into an almost different looking person. It's rather interesting, actually. Female Athryellians normally evolve somewhere between their sixteenth and eighteenth birthday, whereas the males have a much broader spectrum - somewhere between their fifteenth and thirtieth birthdays." Chuckling to himself, "I happened to be one of the more unfortunate males - I only evolved this past summer, if that gives you a clue as to how old I am."

"Anyhow, I think as you can see that we Athryellians have things about us that are different, which I suppose is good. But we're not all that different from other realms - although, many of my fellow natives would probably murder me for speaking so casually about my people - I suppose it's a matter of pride."