WEAVERS: A GothamX Story

7

I aimed myself for my room because the short walk from the library made me realize how exhausted I was. There's a heaviness in my limbs and a pressure behind my eyes, leftovers of the piercing headache my Atlas gave me earlier.

"Alexa." My name is called from the bottom of the stairs just as I reach the top of them.

Aunt Rose and a handful of Matrons are heading out the door towards the garden and she waits with a large tray with a copper kettle and some cups, "Come have some tea with me." She says from below with a comforting smile.

As much as I want a nap, I will not pass up the opportunity to ask her questions. But I will be realistic; I know I'll get vague responses.

I follow her out into the garden to a cobblestone patio that has an iron table and chairs. We're surrounded by the prettiest pink roses that gift the air with a sweet scent while bumblebees and butterflies buzz and flutter around us.

"So, how are things going with Master Malakai?" Aunt Rose asks as she pours me a cup of tea.

"Today I found my Atlas." I answer as I go for a couple of sugar cubes that sit in a small dish on the tray, "I can't read it yet. Master Malakai said I will when I get stronger."

"You found your Atlas in that mess of a Library?" She comments with a snort, which makes me laugh a little.

"I was just looking around while I was waiting for him." I reply, "I found two others as well." I add before taking a sip. It's a spiced black tea. A few more sugar cubes and a little milk and it would be perfect.

"Sounds like you had a busy day, dear." She says, "I remember when your mother found her Atlas in the library. She was in tears about it until Professor Crane talked some sense into her. Once she got passed the shock of it, she was ready to take it all on. She spent hours running around the library reading Atlases and Threading, it would drive a sane person mad." Aunt Rose rambles on as I finish my tea.

I like hearing her talk about my mother and how she lived her life here. But it does hurt a little; she was my best friend and a stranger wrapped into one parental package. Why did she hide all of this from me? Did my dad know?

"Treading?" I repeat the word as I've never heard it before, even though Master Malakai said it was a connection between Weaver and the Altas Bearer.

"When you read someone's Atlas, when you take in their stories- their fates, you're forming a connection with them that will last your whole life. It's both a blessing and a curse." Aunt Rose explains, "Your first Thread is the most important because it sets the foundation for those that will follow."

"One of the Atlases I found today mentioned something about being Chosen, Master Malakai didn't give me much on that either," I reply, hoping it was enough for more information.

"Who's Atlas did you find?" She asks with sincerity.

"Elias Malakai." I sigh, watching her face twist and rearrange before returning to a gentler expression.

"Eli." She says with a small smile, "He was a brilliant student and Weaver who was Chosen by the Grand Matron."
She continues, looking beyond me into the garden as she speaks, "Being Chosen by the Grand Matron is no small accomplishment for a Weaver. For some, it can be quite intimidating."

"Your mother was Chosen." She rambles on as she pours another cup of tea for me, "Being Chosen, a lot like her response to finding her Atlas in the library, it scared her. It meant that she would have to choose between being the Weaver she wanted to be or the Weaver that the Vale needed. It was part of the reason why she left the Vale." She ends with a sigh.

"Oh, dear, my apologies. I don't think you were ready for that yet." She blushes as I observe her.

"What kind of task was she given?" I ask feeling the familiar itchiness that comes before tears, I know so much and so little about my mother and her other life.

"It's- no. You're not quite ready for all of this yet, dear." She says as she straightens herself in the seat, "Don't rush through this process. You must take your time to learn and develop your abilities. Don't burn yourself out."

I nod in agreement. The pressure behind my eyes grows and throbs. I need that nap, "I'm going to get a nap before dinner." I give in.

"Of course, go rest for a while. I'll bring you dinner a little later." She assures me, giving my hand a gentle pat.

I want that nap, I have full intent to drag myself up those stairs, down the hall, and into my bed but my feet and my mind are not in sync. I return to the library. Master Malakai is nowhere to be seen or heard with his metal cane tapping against the floor.

I find the Atlas of Elias Malakai on the top of a tower of books, I scoop it up and return to the leather chair in the light of the vitrage.

Richard Elias Malakai; was born on December 31st, 1999 to Elle and Richard "Rich" Malakai within the Vale. Elias dropped his father's name after his parents disowned him for falling in love with the wrong person, a boy, and his father would not have that in his family.

Kicked out at sixteen years old and without a single coin to his name, he went in search of his estranged uncle only to find a strange little man who lived in a cabin filled with books and old artifacts he collected through his years. His uncle, Alaster Malakai, took him in without a second thought because he too was disowned.

Elias had a great interest in the artifacts his uncle, now his father- collected; like the jar of Shadow-Ash Birch bark that was believed to have come from the very first tree- the Giving Tree. It was rumored that the bark, which fell off with the slightest touch as ash with an oily residue, had healing abilities. Unfortunately, there was very little evidence to prove it.

His interest in the Vale's history greatly benefited him when he became a student of the Vale. He quickly surpassed his peers and reached Master status by the time he turned eighteen becoming one of the youngest Masters in the Vale. But that had its downside; because he was ahead of them, his peers kept their distance and treated him like a pariah.