Celesta had just finished a day full to the brim of duties. Settling disputes between powerful nobles, overseeing court, catching up on the status of debts to the crown, and allocating forces for use in the war with Kuva. Her last appointment was reporting to The Mothers. Before any day could be considered truly over, she had to report to them about her day, and, in special cases, any days where she had missed her meeting with The Mothers. She walked with a certain haste to her room. The kind that didn't raise alarms amongst the staff of the castle, but let them know she was busy. Once she arrived she began the process of getting into suitable garb for The Mothers.
She took off all the jewelry that she wore starting with her head. Her crown first, any special gems that lied in her hair next, any earrings after that, and finally necklaces, pendants, or amulets. After that she removed any body chains, tassels, rings, bangles, and bracelets. Finally, any anklets and toe rings. After she removed every piece of jewelry she placed her accessories in a small little bowl filled with water whose sole purpose was for this ritual. She threw in some soap that she found in the market while she was on her assignment. The scent was new and aggressive, but not unpleasant. It filled the room with an aroma that described passion, sun kissed skin, and lounging. She would have to remember what country it came from to try and trade with them.
After she felt her jewelry was cleaned she began to undress. Before she started wearing various layers, it was a simple four or five pieces of clothing including her footwear. Now, it was a bit longer than that. After she was completely in the buff started the process of removing all makeup and marks from the environs she may have accrued throughout her day. Once she felt to standard she inspected herself in front of mirror to make sure she hadn't missed anything. If she was pleased with her appearance she would then begin dressing herself.
The last step was by far the easiest, but it was the most important. She put on a plain gray gown and she slipped on a fashion of shoe that barely wrapped over her toes and just enough around her foot so she wouldn't be touching the earth underneath her. While this mode of attire wasn't especially grandiose, it signified something far deeper than any appearance could achieve. Her simple attire called back to when she was directly under the tutelage of The Mothers, but it also symbolized her servants station to her crown and people. The position of ruling King or Queen could not be taken by someone that had not yet been mentored by The Mothers of this responsibility. Not only that, but the gray signifies the pact made so many centuries ago that created the Magus Uni.
Finally, she was ready to commune with The Mothers. She exited her room as she always had. The grace and posture of her gait was the only defining characteristic of her status. She was more plain than any maid or attendant, yet still the dress was too well maintained to be assumed a commoner. She had only run into one person on her way to The Mothers. It was Nano, who had returned from his meeting with The Brothers. Much like who she reported to, they held a similar roles that The Mothers held yet only for the military. He was fashioned in similar dress as well.
She reached the giant doors that separated the castle she lived in and the chamber in which The Mothers resided. Before she could enter she had to knock on the doors in a manner specific to how she was taught. She knocked on the bottom corners in the center of the doorway. She knocked on the left on two times, the right three times and finally she reached as high as she could and knocked once in the center between the two doors. The doors had always swung open and revealed the scene of a sunny meadow and rolling hills. Land that had been untarnished by either the Magi or Avirians. Land that signified new life, youthful energy, and fun-filled passions.
This was not the case tonight. The doors creaked open with all the strength and speed of an elderly snail. The scene before her was a clearing of dirt surrounded with short prickly bushes and sparse spindly trees under an overcast evening. The Mothers, who once sat on white fluffy cushions, sat hunched over on the dirt in a semi-circle. There was a mouse and a cat in the middle of the sisters caught in a dance of death, though these weren't what you would consider the normal specimens of a cat and mouse. The cat had only three legs and was missing half of its tail. It was blinded with cataracts in one eye, a large hole in one of the ears bled slowly, and its fur was mangy. The mouse on the other hand was larger than normal all things considered. Its coat was whole and clean, it was quicker and faster than the cat, and it seemed to hold a physical prowess that she had never seen before in a small creature.
The dance played out in front of her for ages. Her eyes were held victim by the scene before her. She did not blink, nor did she avert her gaze. Her peripheral vision tunneled to the fraught duet in her view. All things faded away to blackness except for the cat and mouse. She was physically drawn to the scene before her. Before she realized it, she was sitting on the dirt in the same manner as The Mothers.
As she continued to stare she began to notice more odd things about the scene. Before she could really place it, the mouse had turned into twelve individual mice. The cat on the other hand grew smaller. In a haze, she found herself in the body of one of the mice, though the mouse was her. The other mice were her year-mates, and the environs had changed into a clearing in the middle of a forest. She moved without thinking and fought without any intention. The cat, ever slowly and unnoticeably, turned into the shape of a man. This man fought with all the rage and power of a mythic warrior, but showed no sign of slowing down. The struggle lasted for hours until everyone was exhausted except for the man before them.
The man before them took no pleasure in taking their lives. It was more like a planned and passionless execution of each person rather than murder. The expression on his face held the emotions of a man going about a dull business, not of someone who had just won his existence in the battle of his life. She woke up outside of the chamber of The Mothers, only a note in hand. She walked back to her room in quiet, unassuming shock. She read the note and burned its words into her memory. She needed to find a way to defeat this. She knew she was part of the answer, but didn't know who else was.

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The Prodigies: The Return of Equinox
FantasyAn enemy that had been gone for a few hundred years is expected to return, but complications have risen a year before his arrival. Though they don't know it, our twelve heroes are the ones to fight and before the threat arrives they must first prove...