A Hand-Woven Universe 2 2. Trouble

Soft blue light filled the dim room and fresh air flowed in from the halls. Everyone who had been waiting outside crowded at the door, bathed in the light from a man standing right in the doorway.

Elder of the Azelle family branch, a branch of predominantly water attuned individuals.

Not always, but often an individual's attunement reflects who they are as a person, or perhaps they become a certain way based on their attunement.
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In the case of Elder Azelle, he was the oldest in the conclave and wielder of immense strength, wisdom and knowledge. The glow of blue light which emanated from the lines of power on his body sent a calming wave through everyone present.

Elder Azelle had seen a lot in his life of more than 500 years. Even from a life within the confines of the conclave, its world was always changing and there were always new challenges that arose. But this is the first time Elder Azelle had ever heard the cry of a child.

Internally he was shocked. When he felt the atmosphere in the room upon his initial arrival to the halls, he had quickly realized something had gone wrong. Despite their hardy dispositions and it being incredibly rare, there are records of still-borns. This was what he had been mentally preparing himself to tackle upon reaching the door of the room.

What he heard however, shattered this completely. He looked around the room. There was Stara laying in the center of the rooming seemingly out of it. The librarian Liter watched on as though trying to commit the entire scene to memory, and that indeed was what he was attempting to do.

Next to the bed was the mother of Stara, one of Elder Azelle's direct descendants, and in her arms was a small child.

His complexion was grey like ash.

"Elder…" Everyone looked at him upon his arrival. No one knew what to do. Certainly then the Elder must know, they thought. How long has the elder been around for? Longer than any other living person in Tapestry!

"Everyone… leave." Elder Azelle said softly.

If there were another elder around, they would be able to hear it. A supreme tiredness and worry in his voice. But to the people here, they felt nothing wrong with these words. Everyone quickly filed out, leaving any artifacts they brought in behind. Despite the elder being there, many were still very unsure of the situation.

The mother Stara, her own mother, the newborn, the librarian Liter, and Adria attempting to make herself stand out as little as possible all stayed behind. When the last person had left the elder shut the door and covered the room in his energy. Instantly everyone became calmer, Stara was no longer dazed, and the child was no longer crying as he had been moments before.

Elder Azelle glanced at Adria but did not say anything, Adria swiftly avoided eye contact as though she hadn't noticed.

Walking over to the child, "may I?" holding his arms out to take the child from Stara's mother.

"How odd, I really can't feel anything from him." The elder said after a moment. He put his thump to the infant's forehead before frowning. "Even trying to speak to it directly… I cannot get any feelings in return." He spoke these words out, not keeping them to himself in the slightest.

In the city of tapestry, they are all family. They have always been family. And will always be family. As far as they have ever known, they have been the only humans left in the world since eras long past. As such they all believe in and have a total open community amongst themselves.

"Elder… please." Stara spoke out, her voice carefully controlled as she continued, "May I please hold him?" The elder paused and discretely scanned through the infant's body, checking to see if coming in contact with the newborn would be harmful.

"Of course, Stara" He smiled to her, focusing a bit more attention on soothing her with his energy.

She took the child from the elder and stared down into its eyes. The baby quieted down, slowly it stopped fussing, it just stared back. Stara smiled at the baby, and oddly enough the baby seemed to smile back in its unique newborn way.

"Stara? are you able to feel hi-"

"Is he healthy Elder?" Stara did not bother to look at the elder when asking, seemingly entranced by the child in her arms. Her child.

The elder paused for a moment, considering his words. Eventually he nodded. "Physically he is very healthy. He should have no problems…" he let the words trail off.

"That's good then isn't it Noone?" She brought the child up and kissed his head.

Liter looked on in silence, he felt unsure about everything that was going on, nevertheless he made sure to remember it all, to write down in the annals later.

Adria on the other hand also looked on, to her it seemed like all the adults were overreacting. So what if he can't communicate mentally like them, she thought. It's not like they can't speak vocally?

In the city of tapestry, spoken word is taught to every child, simply as a form of pa.s.sing a tradition of their origins. However, after learning it, there is not a single person who continued to use it. Adria did not understand this yet as she had just begun to take the lessons on spoken word.

"Stara… what do you say you let your mother take Noone to the element baths? Though he does not seem to have a universal affinity… it is also good for a newborns body to rest surrounded by the gentle flow of element laws. There is something I wish to talk to you about."

Stara nodded gently, pa.s.sing on her son to her mother. She did not find it wrong that the elder would want to talk to her about Noone. This is an occurrence that- as far as she knows - has never occurred before. Her mother swiftly took Noone out. She did not have feelings against this newborn, at worst she pitied it… and her daughter.

"You too Liter, Adria." Adria was not much interested in staying around to listen to the grown-ups talk anyways, and was more curious about Noone, so she swiftly made to follow to the Element Baths. Liter on the other hand was a bit apprehensive, in the conclave he was the record keeper who was to write into the histories everything that occurs for later generations thousands and millions of years down the line.

Nevertheless, he would never not listen to an order from one of the elders, let alone The Elder. He decided he would follow along to the baths and see if any weird occurrences were to happen with the strange attune-less child. He gathered his stuff and made way.

Once they had left, the elder sat down at the foot of the bed. He let out a long sigh and his back slouched. Suddenly he looked infinitely older. Though unmistakably strong, anyone would be able to tell the weight he carried was immense.

"Elder please," Stara extended her own calming energy. Though less powerful than the elder's own attunement by a large degree, her calming aura could outmatch the elders any day of the week. "I know this situation is strange, but as long as he is healthy, how much more can we do now? What's done is done. And it is okay."

"It seems like your heart has become more tranquil since the last time I talked to you Stara, it really is impressive." The elder chuckled, more to himself than her.

"Haha, hardly. Although it has its uses, I will never be strong. Calming the heart is just a matter of being content with the world, and as far as I am concerned, as long as my child is healthy everything else can flow off me like a stream" Her eyes glowed with blue waves like a sea.

"Mm" Elder Azelle grunted. At this point the elder hesitated… Is now really the right time? Should I tell her? I can hold off for a bit… but she will find out eventually.

It would be best to hear it from me.

"Stara."

"Yes elder?" Something about the look in the elder's eyes caused a pin to appear in her heart, she immediately felt uncomfortable. She felt something was wrong,

The pressure began building in her chest as her intuition began to kick into high gear.

The weight of the enclosed room suddenly felt a million times smaller.

Why does it suddenly feel wrong, she thought frantically. Her intuition had always been dangerously astute, and now it was telling her something was very very wrong.

What's wrong? Her brain repeated.

What's wrong? Mocking her.

What is going on…

What happened!?

"I'm sorry, but there was an accident in the mine… your husband had an accident and has pa.s.sed. His body was unable to be recovered."

Her heart twisted - was stabbed through like a needle dipped in poison. Her usual calm and delicate energy seemed to shatter within her. Suddenly she felt as though the world just ended.

"What-" before she could respond, she fainted from exhaustion and shock.