Seventeen Muses

Chapter 1

She looked like a drowned cat. That was the first thing to come to mind when she looked into the reflective surface of the storefront. Her flower and star crown looked more like bramble, snagging in her hair. Her midnight sky blue dress, which only hours ago had danced with stars, now dragged around her feet. The waterlogged fabric immeasurably heavy.

She places a hand up onto the fogging window, looking into her own eyes that even now have begun to dim. The lack of art pulling at her soul. Never hand she gone so long without a food source at her fingertips.

Her hands clench in rage. She had gotten too comfortable. Left herself open to the ill-fate she was named for. Her many times great grandmothers had warned her that the bloodline of tragedy was strong in her lines of fate. Closing her eyes, the tears flow, mixing with the rain. One would have to look closely to see that the face of "pure peace" was actually one of immense sorrow.

Her own family. Her own sister. Cast out for trivial reasons. Excuses flowing from their lips meant only to ease their own conscious, not to actually help. No. None would want to help an "ill-fated tragedy waiting to happen". It was poisoned honey. Meant to draw her in and kill if she dared to indulge. Her sobs turn to laughter as the reality of her situation.

Turning towards the end of the street, she can feel her soul reach out towards a particular building. A sign of fire letters she couldn't read blazing across the front. She wades forward, cutting layers out of her dress as they tangled with her legs. A trail of fabric following her path like a snake shedding its skin.

Her walk is short, hands falling against the window as she stares at the symbol hung there. A honing beacon for her. She may not die on this street tonight.

Pushing the door open, she walks cautiously inside, noticing the lobby is filled with people regardless of the late hour. Ignoring the gazes that all turn to her, she moves towards the sigil in the window, picking it up between her two fingers. She brings it up to her face, staring at the cluster of stars shaped like Lyra. A constellation she used to gaze at every night, dreaming of finding her own path in the future.

Gasps come from behind her and a man approaches, bowing quickly and beginning to speak in a language that she has no hope of understanding. Tilting her head, she stares at the man, before handing him the constellation. "I come to make a deal." she declares.

The man's mouth falls open, turning to look at a man behind him who begins to whisper in his ear. They both nod and she is ushered through the lobby. The crowd parting on either side of her. Faces range from shocked to scared, most of their mouths hang open.

She steps carefully, never one to give up on the elegance she was born into. Her head held high. Allowing these two men to escort her into an elevator and then into a large office. The man behind the desk raising quickly as one of the two accompanying her harshly whispers to him.

The man stares at her, eyes widening as he bows, "Thank you for coming. We didn't believe someone would actually answer our call. I thought the woman who sold me that was lying, but we were out of options."

She nods at his greeting, only half listening as her soul searches out the rest of the building. Yes, the sigil had energy in it, but not enough to actually grab her attention. There was something in this building that actually called to her. "I have come to make a deal" she states again.

The man nods, "Of course. That's what we hoped would happen. We have a group already prepared that we hoped you would bond with."

She shakes her head, "No. I am not her to create a contract with a group. I wish to make one with you."

"What?" He questions softly. The shock obvious in his tone.

She walks to look out the window in his office, the city lights shining through the rain as it streaks down the glass, "I know many of my siblings have made contracts before. I'm sure that's what you thought this was." She turns to look back at him, "But that was never my path. I have come here searching for a chance. I did not come here to follow the same easy strings of fate so many before me have. I come to forge my own. For that I ask to be given a chance to make my own group. Choose my own bonded."

"But..." He sputters, "You'll starve. An unestablished group will never be able to sustain you fully."

She turns back to the window, "Leave those worries to me. All I'm asking for is the resources to make my something completely my own." She looks back at him, "You will get the profits, the praise, the glory." She looks back at her reflection, her eyes have lost all the stars that used to cloud her vision as the men behind her argue in the language she still cannot understand.

One of them clears their throat and she turns fully to face them, a delicate eyebrow arched as she waits for their answer. "We will, accept these terms."

"Excellent." She murmurs, a sharp smile gracing her lips as she steps forward to clasp hands with the man from before.

She takes the sigil, pulling it apart until it's a glittering strand of silk, wrapping it around their clasped hands. Its ends fuse together leaving no way to remove the intricate wrapping. "Tell me." He says, pulling her eyes up to his, "What is your name, muse?"

She stares at him, watching out of the corner of her eye as the golden threads melt into their skin, forming an intricate pattern of ink along her forearm, "Desdemona." She pulls her hand back, "And our deal is sparked."