Road of the Heavenly Light

4-2: Celestial Grace

Eleanor decided to look around the school for inspiration, as there were many unique and colorful places to take inspiration from. One huge designer secret was that nature is the best example, so Eleanor went into the gardens. Sadly, as it was Autumn and approaching Winter, there weren't many things left in bloom. Most trees had lost their leafs as well. Eleanor went towards the hedge maze, but saw Laura looking at a small flower bed in the corner.
"Laura!"
"Oh, hey, Eleanor. What brings you here?"
"I'm just looking around for some inspiration for the Winter collection, but it seems that there isn't much to find in nature in this time of the year..."
"Yes, most flowers are already out of bloom again, but look!" Laura pointed to the flowers in front of her, all in full bloom, "they're Marigolds! They're my favorite flowers, because they bloom in a time when no other flower can, the darkest time of the year. It reminds me that there is always something beautiful in the darkest of things, always a small spark of hope..."
"That's wonderful, Laura... That might be a good theme for the collection, light in the darkest of times... But then again, that's probably been done a lot, given what our continent has been through."
"It might be a good start, though," Laura tried to comfort Eleanor.
"You're right! I'll just have to keep looking elsewhere, see you around!"
"Good luck, I'm sure you'll find something." Eleanor left the gardens again and tried to think of other places in the school that could help her find inspiration. There were a few places on her mind, like the art gallery, the library, the ballroom... Sadly, Eleanor didn't have enough time to check them all, so she decided to visit the art gallery, hoping it would be able to get her the inspiration she needed.

Eleanor entered the art gallery through a large door in the main hall, and she was greeted by a long and empty hallway. The ceiling was high, and there weren't many windows, as most of the walls were filled with paintings. Depicted here were many of the continent's most important people since it was founded up until present time. All of Divinia's rulers and the church's archbishops had paintings here, as did a lot of the rulers from the other countries, but also people who were just famous. Renowned knights, legendary blacksmiths, even mythical creatures like dragons. As the art gallery was nothing but just paintings, most students never came here. Eleanor walked on the white and gold carpet, which were Divinia's national colors, looking at the paintings.
"Eleanor, what are you doing here?" someone suddenly asked. Eleanor looked to the right and saw Audrey walking towards her.
"Oh, I'm just looking around to find some inspiration for the Winter collection, I'm struggling a bit at the moment. What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for a portrait of Lanford, the founder of Brightwald, it's for some silly history project."
"And did you find a portrait?"
"Nope. I'm just going to ask someone to help me, because I really can't be bothered to look through this whole hall on my own... Good luck with the inspiration thing, I'm sure it'll work out! Bye!"
"See you..." Eleanor said, but Audrey was already gone. That girl was a fast one. Eleanor continued looking at the portraits, studying everyone's clothes carefully to see what she could take inspiration from. She was particularly fascinated by a portrait of a woman staring at the night sky. Her attire seemed to suggest she was Divinian royalty.
"I see Queen Meissa has taken your interest," Principal Abigail suddenly said, walking towards Eleanor.
"Yes, I was looking at her dress, the pattern on it is very complex and detailed..."
"Queen Meissa was the queen of Divinia roughly two hundred years ago, and she was known for her passion for astrology. It earned her the title of Star Queen, hence the pattern on her dress and the starry sky in the background," the principal explained.
"Really? Do you know who made the dress?"
"I do. It was made by the famous designer Victoria, she made many clothes for most royal families at the time. Many have tried to replicate her patterns like the star one here, but none have succeeded, and her methods have remained a secret to this day."
"I see... That's unfortunate, I was hoping to make something with a pattern like that myself..."
"Don't give up that quickly, I'm sure you'll figure out something. No one has ever accomplished anything by giving up."
"You're right. Thank you, Principal Abigail," Eleanor said, and she left the art gallery again. She only had enough time left to visit one more location at school, so she decided to stop by the library. Eleanor hated reading with a passion, but if she wanted to make the Winter collection a success, she had no choice.

Eleanor looked around in the library, hoping to find some books on historic fashion. When she found the dedicated shelf, she also found Isabella looking at it.
"Isabella, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was just looking at some books. I heard Elizabeth talking about her first ball when she was a child in the cafeteria earlier, and it seemed to magical, so I read up on it. Turns out they hold these balls where people wear masks called masquerades in Theros! This book is all about the clothing styles at these balls throughout the years."
An idea suddenly hit Eleanor, "could I borrow that book? I think it might be helpful for the Winter collection."
"Of course! Here you go!" Isabella said, handing Eleanor the book. Eleanor quickly thanked her friend and ran off to her room. She looked at the pages and found the perfect style to take inspiration from. She also quickly borrowed some marigolds from Laura and a telescope from the principal. Once it was night, Eleanor went onto her balcony and looked through the telescope at the sky, seeing the beautiful star-filled night sky. She immediately spotted a constellation most people called 'the maiden', as it looked like a young girl plucking a flower. She also saw the Great Dragon constellation, as well as the constellation called 'the war'. While looking for the warrior constellation, Eleanor saw a shooting star pass by, and she quickly wished for the Winter collection to be a success. Finally feeling inspired, Eleanor grabbed her sketchbook and pencil and started designing the Winter collection. Hours later, she'd fallen asleep on her desk after finishing the final sketch with a content smile on her face. On the paper beneath her was the collection design, titled 'Midnight Shooting Star.'