The Ascension

2: Animals and adolescents

 Bombshells of information aside, it's important to remember when the focus is back on Aster that she isn't aware of any of this. Wren is going to die! Or is already dead. There was no dramatic ceremony for exaltation, just a signed deed at the city hall. He could be long gone by now. And dead.

It was not a day for school, meaning Aster had free range of... well, the house. Unless a friend came to walk with her, it was not a good idea to venture alone too far. And now, with Wren gone, she did not have any hope of leaving. Her father was at his work, exalting or ambassadoring or whatever he did.

She decided to read, and then read for a few hours in tedium and general uninterest. She was quite absorbed in it, of course, but overall it wasn't the most exciting way to spend a day.

Around three, there came an excited knocking on her door, and she looked through the eye hole to see Wren and what appeared to be his entire family.

He leapt into her arms the moment she opened the doors, and the act of joy was so unknown to him that Aster almost felt the need to check he really was Wren.

"I'm going to live!" He exclaimed. "Ikina, the blessed mother, has chosen me to live."

Aster was not sure how to match his enthusiasm, though truly very excited on the inside. With his entire extended family here, however, she felt the pressing need to try. "That's... amazing." She tried. The grin was not hard to conjure. "How do you know?"

He pulled a feather from his coat pocket. It had been sticking obviously out before, but Aster had taken it as nothing special. Wren carefully handed it to her by the tip, and she spun the soft golden feather about in her fingers. It still did not look sacred, but was definitely beautiful.

"This could have fallen off of any bird." She whispered, handing carefully back to him. "But your family interprets it to mean you shouldn't be exalted?"

"Of course I'm going through with the exaltation, Aster! Ikina has blessed me. I'm meant to finish this quest."

Aster grimaced on reflex. "You'll die. A cocky attitude will only ensure it."

"Thanks for your vote of confidence. I'm sure the mother of the sky is going to look fondly on you for doubting her so ruthlessly." Wren was more energetic than Aster had ever seen him, and she did not enjoy how easily his sarcasm was heard. "I came here for your regards. Will you give them to me?"

She didn't want to disappoint her friend, no matter how wrong he was, so she bowed her head at him, two fingers on each hand pressing down- the traditional custom of blessings.

Wren smiled, lightly touched her head once to signal her to look up, and returned to his family.

As he continued down the street, his overjoyed parents in tow, he glanced back once long enough that Aster could sign out: 'I will not pray for you.' Then he was gone.

"Cold." A man's voice said behind her, and she yelped and punched him as hard as she could without stopping to look at her face.

If she had, of course, she would have been met with the appearance of a man she had never met before, but the gaze of someone who knew her very well.

He didn't fall to the floor, and even though her punch had made contact, there was a sort of soft feeling to his body that made Aster queasy.

The man stopped to close the front door, then stood in front of it while Aster's mind raced. There were many ways this man could hurt her- and she was too weak to overpower him. What weapons did this house hold? Surely her father had a gun of some sort, or perhaps a shovel?