Chapter Twenty Three – Summer is i'comin In
Evelina
Block B, Day 2
Joslyn Singer: 0
Evelina Joy: 5
Asma Jameel: 4
Josh's second Heats battle was not going well.
Screwball was down, Ivysaur was injured. He had managed to take out his opponent's first clefairy through force alone, which Eve found rather disquieting. Josh didn't just throw around blunt force. He used force decisively, after carefully picking apart his opponent's strategy.
And disquietingly, it was his opponent who was in control of the battle; Dione Page, from Pewter City, with a liking for clefairy. Her second clefairy stood primly on the field, her fur shading to a coppery hue instead of than the usual pink. Eve frowned anxiously. It really wasn't like Josh to battle this way. He kept glancing nervously at the crowd instead of focusing on the details of the battle.
Evelina Joy, you damn fool, he's distracted. Just after the start of the battle, there had been a moment when Josh had accidentally let his feminine voice slip. Maybe some of the spectators had noticed it, the strange fluctuation in his voice as he stammered and tried to correct his mistake, but …it was one quickly grabbed her phone and hammered out a text message:
The pokemon are the centre of attention. Noone is watching you. Relax! Be yourself!
Down on the field, Josh pulled out his Pokégear and slowly read her message. He stared at the text for a while.
"Melissa. Your next pokémon," the referee instructed.
"Sorry," Josh said, taking a deep breath, as if huffing out the negative thoughts. He expanded Fionn's Love Ball, saying something to her before he threw it.
For almost half a minute neither trainer reacted, each waiting for the other to make a move. Eventually Dione made her choice. "Take a break, Aphrodite."
"Return, Fionn. Ivysaur."
Dione slumped her shoulders in exaggerated annoyance. "Ok, go, Aphrodite."
Sensibly making use of the brief lull, Josh signed some more complex orders. Be defensive, circle gesture, not sure what that means -
"Scatter," Josh called, with a diagonal hand slash left and down. Oh! Scatterseed. And … Nature Power.
"Ivysaur," his pokémon confirmed. His flower briefly opened to fire a Tri Attack – his aim was off, the beam alternately scorching and freezing the concrete as it traced a line towards Aphrodite. She saw the attack coming that way and jumped aside.
"Incinerate!" Dione called. Her clefairy bowed to the crowd as if she were about to perform a magic trick, and leapt into the attack, a long floaty leap that would carry her right over Ivysaur. As if he'd been waiting for it Ivysaur dashed under the zenith of her jump, intercepting with a shotgun-blast of Leech Seeds, ensnaring her in a snarl of tendrils. She squealed in alarm, crash landed into the concrete, and threw a temper tantrum.
There was no other way to describe it. Aphrodite flailed her arms and legs, screaming shrilly and breathing gouts of flame, scorching Ivysaur's vines as he reached out to grab her. Some of the Leech Seeds actually withered from the heat and dropped off. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, she scrambled to her feet and charged the shocked Ivysaur, laying down a barrage of Double Slaps and Power-Up Punches.
"Take control! Slam," Josh said.
"Ivy! Ivysaur!" Ivysaur protested. With effort, he managed to grasp her by an arm and leg, bash her on the concrete and fling her away. She'd hardly slid to a halt when a Future Sight bolt flicked her into the air.
Aphrodite defiantly and painfully tried to get back up. "Clefairy is unable to battle! Ivysaur wins!" the referee ruled.
"Yes! Evans!" Eve yelled encouragingly. After that match Ivysaur was worse for wear; his face looked like Aphrodite had tried to play noughts and crosses on it. One of his anterior leaves was charred and curling. The green light of Overgrow was flickering faintly from the base of his flower.
"So. It's come to this, has it? You're going to make me work for my win," Dione said. The cheerful tone in her voice was diminished. Josh didn't so much as shrug.
"Well. Anyway," Dione continued. "Come forth, my ace! Ouranos!"
This time Dione selected a Dusk Ball. The clefairy that appeared from it was the strangest pokémon Eve had ever seen. Its fur was black, the dark inky black of the sky at midnight, bedashed with glittering spots of light. That dark fur totally obscured any hint of its expression. It was as if the deep night sky was showing through a clefairy-shaped hole cut into the world. It was so still! From the moment it materialised on the field, all it did was slowly turn its body to face Ivysaur and freeze there, still as a statue.
Belatedly, Eve remembered her Pokédex. "Uranian Clefairy, Pixi tenebrus urani, the Fairy Pokémon. This subspecies is thought to inhabit the Night Sky Edge."
"That's all?" she asked it almost incredulously. She glanced away from the strange clefairy to gauge Josh's reaction. It was a slight relief to see him waiting patiently for Dione's first move, sensibly falling back on favourite strategies. Clefairy had a diverse movepool at the best of times – there was no knowing what this one might do.
"Ouranos. Show us your Shadow Ball," Dione said. It spread its arms wide, charging and throwing a roiling purple-black sphere half as big as itself.
"Intercept. Nature Power," Josh ordered. Ivysaur's Tri Attack hit the Shadow Ball just off-centre and burst it like a balloon. Nice defence, I like it.
"Cosmic Power!" Dione ordered.
"Growth," Josh replied without missing a beat. The – bioluminescent? - stars across Ouranos' fur twinkled brightly; Ivysaur shone green amidst a swirl of sun-motes.
"Signal Beam!" Ouranos fired a white ray trailing nebulous wisps of magenta and turquoise. Ivysaur tried to dodge off to the side but Ouranos simply panned the beam round. Sun-motes left over from Growth went whirling off as Signal Beam blasted them away. Ivysaur yelled out in pain and frustration. He collapsed briefly onto his stomach, groaning under his breath.
Josh took another deep breath. "Ok. Scatterseed!"
"Ah, ah, ah!" Dione said, waving an admonishing finger. "Magic Coat!"
The Leech Seeds pinged violently off Ouranos with tendrils flailing – Ivysaur tried to take back the initiative, extended his Vine Whips and attacked. He was too tired, and too slow. Though he cracked the concrete with Overgrow-boosted blows, Ouranos all too easily leapt out of the way. It drifted up like a shadow cut loose from earth, bringing its hands together. With a kind of inevitable finality, it finished Ivysaur off with one long Signal Beam.
"Ivysaur is unable to battle. Clefairy wins," the referee ruled. Josh recalled Ivysaur quickly. He was shifting uncomfortably from foot-to-foot, scuffing his boots against the concrete of the trainer's box. Expanding Fionn's Love Ball for the third time this battle, he said something inaudible to her before release.
Fionn let out a blood-chilling wail – Eve shivered even at this distance – fanning her hair out into a halo of wriggling locks.
"Shadow Ball!" Dione hollered.
"Misdreavus!" Fionn yelled petulantly, evidently upset at her joke being interrupted. She ducked under the Shadow Ball, only to find herself immediately phasing out to avoid another. Ouranos kept up a relentless rate of fire, forcing Fionn to dodge and keep dodging, never giving her a chance to launch an attack. It could almost have been a contest of endurance – until Ouranos threw a Shadow Ball at a seemingly empty patch of air.
The Shadow Ball screamed as it exploded, leaving behind a dark blue haze that coalesced back into Fionn. Wow. It was news to Eve that Shadow Ball could harm incorporeal Ghost-types. And this being the case … oh bollocks. That meant that Josh was now effectively waiting to lose.
"Keep it up Ouranos," Dione called.
"Come on, Evans!" Eve yelled for what it was worth.
"Destiny Bond."
"What? No -"
At the exact time Fionn shrieked her last for the battle, Ouranos keeled over in a dead faint.
"Clefairy and Misdreavus are unable to battle! This battle between Dione Page and Melissa Evans is a draw!"
Eve started to laugh softly. It wasn't a win, but he had stolen the victory from Dione nevertheless. She ran down to his side of the field while he shook hands with his erstwhile opponent.
The first thing Josh did upon leaving the field was apologise. "Sorry, Eevee. A draw was the best I could manage, my own damn fault."
"Mmm-mn," Eve said, shaking her head. "You don't have to apologise to me for doing your best, you dunce."
"Hmm," he said non-committally. He arched his back slightly. "These damn tits are getting on my nerves," he complained.
"You wanna head back to the Centre?"
"Yeah. Could I borrow your laptop, by the way? I've got some serious research to do."
"Um. It might be worthwhile to do some light practice later. Once your pokémon have rested," Eve suggested carefully.
"They did their best. I need to sharpen up my knowledge."
Eve decided not to argue the point. She was sure that Josh would benefit from a more holistic approach to training, but, well, the eleventh hour draw proved he wasn't lazy or complacent.
The thought suddenly occurred to her that with a combined score of twelve, she would need to at least win tomorrow in order to have a good chance of getting through to the doubles tournament. It seemed appropriate, Eve thought wryly, that getting the quarter finals should come down to her own skill and effort.
It all comes down to you, Evelina Joy, so … you've got some work to do this afternoon.
Block K, Day 2
Melissa Evans: 7
Florianne Favager: 0
Dionne Page: 2
Eve shut her Pokédex and dropped it onto the small table at the foot of the bunk – Josh's bunk. He was lying back on his pillow, contemplating the cracks in the ceiling plaster. They were talking strategy in their pyjamas again, at the end of a good day's battling.
Except they weren't, because Eve was daydreaming in the Millennium Centre common room.
"There's almost no better rush than battling on instinct," she was saying in her imagination.
"Almost?" Josh replied mildly.
"Almost," she giggled. "You can do it so long as you know your pokémon well enough."
"If you say so Eevee."
"It's a wonderful skill to have in – in tight situations."
"I always seem to be learning something from you. Upperclassman," he added, only half-joking.
"Does that mean you trust me, then?" Eve teased.
"Of course I do."
"Good. Because you've got a lot to learn, Underclassman," she purred, taking off her hoodie dress in one smooth motion -
"Evelina?" someone said.
"Nothing!" Eve shouted guiltily. She focused on the person standing next to the armchair. Unfortunately, it was her cousin Riley. "Oh. It's you," she said dismissively.
"We've restored your pokémon to excellent health!" Riley said sweetly in the talking-to-trainers voice, and taking a lot of credit for a simple post-battle follow-up. She made no move to hand over her pokémon, even when Eve got up out of the armchair.
"Are you sure you're feeding your pidgeotto properly?" Riley continued, deliberately speaking louder than she needed to, though her sweet tone didn't change. The colour rose flaming to Eve's cheeks. In her peripheral vision she could see trainers surprised and transparently curious at the sight of a Joy receiving a pokémon care lecture.
"Pidgeotto need about five percent fur in their diet so they can digest meat properly -"
"I'm aware. My mother taught me that, too," Eve interrupted tartly.
"Oh, yes, of course!" Riley said with mock contrition. "But you dropped out of nursing college."
Everyone heard that. Eve's ears burned with embarrassment and fury at the blatant lie. I'm pretty sure I could choke you half to death before anyone managed to prise my fingers from your throat, you little bitch. Riley was good at this. In public, and with her in an obvious position of authority, any arguing from Eve would just sound like irresponsible petulance. Oh, if she were Tigerlily Champion! Accolades and honours eclipsed everything else – Riley would have to lionise her along with everyone else.
"Is that all?" Eve asked pleasantly. Your eyes would pop out like champagne corks.
"Of course!" Riley replied sweetly, passing her all four Poké Balls as one handful. "Take care of them, Eevee!"
"Thank you, Rye!" Eve gave her a sisterly hug. After the requisite few seconds her cousin tried to pull away, only to find that the hug had turned into a steel grip. "Call me Eevee again and I'll slap your head off," she growled in her ear.
She let her cousin go. "Kisses!"
"Love you!" Riley said, equally insincerely.
Eve headed back up to the room, taking the stairs to walk off her temper. That smug bitch must have overheard Josh call her 'Eevee' once. The daydream sneakily drifted back to the front of her mind. 'You've got a lot to learn, Underclassman.'
Where on earth did that come from? Eve wondered. It was probably the date, she supposed … May Day, the first day of summer, a festival passionate with the accumulated lusty energy of the previous spring. In Eostre's shrine glades the sacred bonfires would be blazing and her handmaidens joyously singing to welcome in the summer. Fortunately, Eve's second battle was scheduled for tomorrow, leaving plenty of time to join the celebrations later at the Great Shrine of Eostre.
Back in the room, Josh was anxiously examining his roselia seed. Again. "Does this look like a fungal infection to you?" he asked, scrutinising a non-existent discolouration.
"Sweetling, it's in excellent health. Relax."
"Hmm," he said, perhaps relaxing very slightly.
"Hey, Josh," Eve said. He didn't look up right away.
"… yes, sorry Eve."
"I'm going out to the shrine for the evening."
Josh stared blankly for a moment before comprehension dawned. "Oh, yeah, I forgot it's May Day. You want me to come along?"
"I didn't know you liked Eostre?" Eve said, taken aback.
"I don't particularly like Eostre, but, dear Eevee, I do like you," Josh replied. "You always used to celebrate May Day with your family, right?"
"Well … yeah."
"I know it's not the same as your aunt or sister, but …"
Eve found that she was smiling. "No. No, I'd like the company."
"Ok, then."
"Thanks," Eve said. "Um. Oh, hey, I get to put your hair in a bun again!"
The day was just beginning to darken when they left Millennium Centre for the evening, amid the usual crowd of trainers. It was a bit chilly for a May Day night, but Eve was staying with her polo shirt and gilet anyway. Josh was looking like his usual self, but for his shoulder-length hair in an attractively untidy bun at the back of his head. Eve privately liked fixing his hair, since the silly boy seemed to think so little of his appearance. She wondered whether she'd be able to convince him to keep it after the Tourney.
They boarded the L-train at Penrose Street Station, taking the Jubilee line through to Long Mile Station. The Jubilee ran several storeys up, at once looking down on the streets and looked down on by the towers and skyscrapers of the cityscape. For the better part of four miles Eve had one of the most dynamic views of Central Goldenrod; passing under the shadow of the ultra-modern 14 Ecruteak Road – twelve hundred feet tall with an average apartment price of ten million – rolling parallel to the broad, strong River Stour … after a while the heights of Central Goldenrod fell away and the skyline opened up. The first street lamps were lighting up, the city's electric constellations appearing in the gathering dusk.
Josh shuffled his stance back and forth. "Much as I love my boots, they are a bit weighty. Sometimes I wish I had my moccasins."
"And I bet you made them yourself," Eve teased.
"No!" Josh replied playfully. "But I did come up with the deerskin."
Eve glanced at her friend awkwardly, not wanting to ask the obvious question. "Not … not stantler?"
Josh laughed and gave her head an affectionate shove. "No! But I am flattered that you think I could bring down a stantler. No, it was an ordinary red deer, and I was lucky to get it. And I needed the meat. Long story, remind me to tell you sometime."
Night had fallen by the time they arrived at Long Mile, and the festival was very much in full vigour. Troupes of Eostre's handmaidens roamed Long Mile in wild packs, singing and playing ocarinas and beating drums. May Day was the festival of Eostre in her aspect as the Mother, the very height of spring and the beginning of summer. The festival tended to get into Eve's blood, as if Heaven were reminding her that she was still a woman.
Eostre's Great Shrine was divided from the city by a moat, on the far side of which was a thick holly hedge. A bridge spanned the moat to the shrine gate on the other side, where shrine attendants handed out the mandatory headdresses – circlets of white daffodils for the women, wooden antlers of varying sizes for the men.
"Just my luck," Josh said drily, donning the very modest antlers he'd been given. The path from the shrine gate led on through the darkness of the sacred wood to the shrine glade. Firelight flickered brightly through the trees. Drums throbbed out a slow, pounding beat.
Eve let out an elated giggle. The path had suddenly opened up onto the great, broad glade, at least fifty yards across and alive with fire and people and music. A grand old oak spread its gnarled limbs over the grassy clearing; beneath which the huge Sun Bonfire blazed, the bonfire that had burned since dawn and would not be allowed to go out till midnight. There were plenty of handmaidens here, obvious in their loose white dresses and lovely crowns of glossy yellow marsh marigolds. They meandered back and forth, performing minor blessings apparently at random.
"May Day at the Great Shrine!" Eve thought, and found that she'd said it aloud. She grabbed Josh's hand and towed him through the clearing. The edge of the glade was occupied by a circle of festival stalls, while on the left a number of cooking fires ringed the great Sun Bonfire. The air was full of the earthy smells of smoke and roasting meat.
A small pack of handmaidens appeared from behind the old oak – one of them abruptly skipped up to Josh, seized his head in both hands, and kissed him firmly on the cheek. The look of complete surprise on his face was golden.
"Summer is i'comin in!" the girl sang, half-skipping, half-dancing backwards. Eve's laughter faded as the handmaiden glanced at her fellows and said, "Shall we crown her Princess of May?"
One of the other handmaidens circled Eve briefly, giving her a close look. "Hmm … nope! But -"
Eve's disappointment didn't last long since the girl leaned over and kissed her cheek. A kiss from a handmaiden was lucky, luckier than any charm you could buy. On a mischievous impulse Eve kissed her back, thrilling in pushing her luck. The girl's skin smelled like the blessed smoke of the May Day fires. She just laughed and capriciously skipped away, singing.
At the north-eastern edge of the glade was the approach through the sacred wood to the oratory, and the throne room. The wood in that direction was reverently quiet. A group of girls were walking down the path, talking in hushed voices.
They both gazed down the path for a moment, in silence.
"… I'm going to go on ahead," Eve said quietly.
"Mhm," Josh said. He squeezed her hand briefly. "I'll be waiting."
There weren't any men praying here, not on May Day. Eve bought some votive tokens from the kiosk before quietly taking her place in front of the oratory – for all intents and purposes, in front of Queen Eostre. She bowed low, as a matter of respect.
It's me, my lady. Evelina Joy. Divine Majesty, Goddess of Earth and Sea, your blood runs in my veins, one woman standing here at the Heaven's Edge. Tonight I make these offerings, in your honour and in thanks.
She hesitated mid-prayer. Being here alone on May Day felt strangely lonely. It felt almost as if there was a void in the air where her family ought to be. May Day was one of the few truce days, when all arguments are dropped and they were all just girls together, honouring the sacred feminine.
She rubbed the worn wooden grain of a votive token, before tossing it into the offering box. It went in with a clatter. One for my sister, Alison Joy, to give her our strength. Another. Clatter. One for my aunt, Imogen Joy, because she gave me strength. Another. Clatter. One for my mother, Gabriella Joy, because I do love her.
Back in the shrine glade Josh was patiently waiting by the eaves of the sacred wood, his seed canister slung over his back in its cannibalised bag.
"Oh, hey. You ok?" he asked. Those short prongs made him look like a yearling buck among a herd of stags, bless him. By way of an answer she hugged him tight, and didn't let go for a while. He wasn't the same, but she wanted someone warm and friendly at the moment.
"Come on, let's get some food!" she said, eventually.
"Best cure for the blues, Eevee."
There was invariably plenty of food to be had on May Day. Close to, a couple of handmaidens were roasting lamb over their fire, and both were delighted to learn that she was hungry. Eostre's shrines always enthusiastically distributed food on May Day, in celebration of the bountiful spring. The smell of the meat was gorgeous. While one of them roasted the lamb, the other – Eve couldn't help but think of her as the saucier – prepped the meat in a cheerfully rough and ready fashion, hands covered in marinade.
"I approve of this way of cooking," Josh said mildly, a man whose idea of adequate cooking utensils was one knife, one stick, and one flat rock.
"You like the hands-on approach then?" the saucier-girl said flirtatiously, though not unusually. Eostre's handmaidens represented the goddess in her aspect as the Maiden, so some sexiness was considered to be entirely in character. The bustier of the two had accentuated that trait with a breast band, rather successfully, Eve thought. They were using two marinades, rosemary and garlic, and a Maroc spice marinade – Josh keenly quizzed the saucier-girl on the recipe – theoretically served on slabs of crusty bread. In practice they just ate it with their hands and giggled at the tactile, almost primal sensation of it.
"I still think you can make a few seasonings go a long way," Josh said, tearing off a large morsel. "Open," he commanded, holding it to her mouth. Eve happily accepted it, the tastes of Maroc marinade and rosemary garlic competing on her tongue.
"I love it when you feed me," she said, and meant it. Smiling his little half-smile, Josh playfully shoved in another mouthful of lamb, starting her giggling again.
"Feel better?" Josh asked.
"Yes," she said contentedly. "Thank you my sweetling."
The pounding drum beats, long since blended into background noise, switched up to a faster tempo. Both handmaidens stopped cooking and quickly started covering up the meat. One of them helpfully handed Josh a fistful of paper towels for their greasy hands.
Time for the May Circle. People were beginning to line up in a wide ring around the Sun Bonfire, some of them holding hands. Eve gulped down what was left of her food and went to join them with Josh in tow. She squeezed his hand, which was not her sister's, for the comfort of it. Some of the handmaidens formed a double line on either side of the path from the oratory; others took up places inside the circle itself. All the wildness and merriment in their demeanour disappeared. Ambient chatter faded away, till the only sounds were of fire and the faint rustle of oak leaves. The atmosphere turned decidedly numinous.
Into the middle of the circle, just upwind of the Bonfire, stepped the officiating priestess. She swept her wand into the air to get the attention of the congregation.
"The wheel of the year turns, and we must turn with it!" she cried in a strong, carrying voice. "Tonight, spring reaches its apotheosis. The world is awake – this is a night of life and love and passion! Summer is i'comin in!"
"Summer is i'comin in!" Eve chorused along with everyone else.
"Tonight, we welcome the time of unions and give honour to our Divine Majesty, Queen Eostre of the Fields!" the priestess continued. She turned to face the oratory and knelt. "Dear Queen, your followers await your presence!"
Everyone but the drummers went down to one knee, including Josh, albeit with some reluctance. "Thank you," Eve whispered in his ear.
From the path from the oratory, the priestess playing Queen Eostre entered, resplendent in green and garlanded with a glorious crown of daffodils and marsh marigolds. She took the kneeling priestess by the hand and gently pulled her to her feet.
"Rise, my followers," she said kindly, smiling benevolently. There was something in her smile that reminded Eve of her mother.
"I am the Earth, mother of all that lives!" Eostre announced. Her voice was gentle, framed by the crackling of the Sun Bonfire. "I am the wheat in the fields, the fruit on the bough, the fish in the sea. I ignite the passions that arouse the hearts of men. As I create life and inflame passion, so too do all women: and we are kin."
"And we are kin!" the women chorused.
"Summer is i'comin in!" the priestess cried.
"Summer is i'comin in!"
There was a minor commotion from the other side of the glade. A man emerged from the shadows of the sacred wood, bare chested, cloaked in oak leaves. His antler headdress was magnificent, larger and more finely carved than any other man's. There was a noticeable swagger in his stride as he shouldered his way into the circle.
"I am the rutting stag, the seed, the energy of life," he declared. "I am the mighty oak at the heart of the forest. As I rut and hunt and love, so too do all men." - Eve felt Josh wince for some reason - "And we are kin."
"And we are kin!" the men chorused.
Eostre watched the Horned King with a kind of nonchalant amusement as he rounded the bole of the old oak. It was an ancient tableau. The drums started again, a slow, quiet heartbeat.
"My lady! This night is yours, and I do you honour. Let me bring in the summer with you!"
"Catch me, then!" Eostre laughed, dancing back out of the King's reach.
The Chase began. It was a ritual Eve had seen every year since she was a teenager. Every year, the Horned King would try to catch his queen. Just as she did every year, Eostre led the King in a merry dance, weaving in and out of the circle, dodging around her own handmaidens and hiding behind the great oak. She playfully teased and egged him on, along with friendly taunts and encouragement from the congregation. The drumbeats quickened in tandem with the vigour of the chase – and so did Eve's heartbeat. Your blood runs in my veins. Just as she did every year, Eve felt completely, profoundly aware of her own femininity. As I create life and inflame passion, so too do all women.'
"Hey, do you want her or not? Catch her!" Eve ardently catcalled to let out the pent-up fizz. She laughed as Eostre riled up the King even more with a provocative little flaunt of her chest, adroitly leading him back into the middle of the circle.
Eostre suddenly spun on her heel in a whirl of green. The drums abruptly stopped. The Horned King captured and kissed his smiling queen without another word.
"This night is mine; love and passion waken tonight," she announced, firmly breaking the kiss. "Honour me, my lord, and bring in the summer with me!"
As the King bowed low and led Queen Eostre from the circle, the priestess leapt forward, brandishing her wand. "The time of unions begins now with the divine union!" she cried. "Summer is i'comin in!"
"Summer is i'comin in!" Eve chorused joyously, amid so many cheers and celebratory cries of 'Summer is i'comin in!'
Eve knew that this was all merely human symbolism. Every year the Horned King would chase Queen Eostre and their love would turn the wheel of the year. Summer would happen whether people re-enacted the divine union or not. But it felt good to celebrate the cadence of the changing season that carried you along with it. Fire was the right symbol – lusty, passionate, alive. Pity you don't have a boyfriend right now, then you could really celebrate!
With the May Circle ended, Eostre's handmaidens went right back to their usual energetic selves, some of them playing instruments to lead the post-circle singing with a familiar May carol. For once, Eve decided to just listen to the rising wave of singers.
"With small persuasion she agreed,
To see me through the bosky riggs,"
To Eve's surprise, it was Josh singing for once. He abruptly stopped when he realised she was listening.
"Mulberry Town version," he explained.
"What's a bosky rigg?"
"It's an area of high ground in the middle of the town, covered with woodland. They're not easy to see into from outside, so … a private place to be on May night. Not personal experience!" he added sharply.
Would you like it to be? the thought came, unbidden. She hurriedly looked away, pretending nothing was amiss. Evelina Joy, you get a grip. Are you sixteen or twenty-three?
"Yo dude, what's that in your bag?" someone said.
"What?" Josh said. Eve almost did a double-take – she'd almost forgotten he still had that. There was a bright light shining through the fabric of his bag.
"Smoke and fireee," he cursed, hauling the bag off his shoulder and redundantly opening it up to confirm the seed was indeed germinating. He instantly hesistated, glancing around wildly. "Agh, what dun I do!"
His accent was getting steadily thicker. Panic, Eve mentally diagnosed.
"Joshua Cook, you listen to me! Put it on the ground and unscrew the top," she commanded. "Good. And now we wait."
The seed brightened and faded arrhythmically, that unmistakable living light attracting spectators from the breaking circle. Eve settled down next to Josh to watch. No matter how bright the light got, it never dazzled.
"What's tekkin se long?" Josh fretted. "Is tha' normal?"
"It takes a while sometimes. Be patient," Eve said, rather pleased she could decipher his accent.
"Ahh, it's so beautiful!" one of the watching girls observed. The seed started glowing with a constant brightness. Eve laid a steadying hand on Josh's arm. A pulse of light burst from its surface. It split smoothly down the middle, the seedcoat peeling away to reveal a tiny, curled up humanoid. It gently unfurled itself, legs and stems unrolling to form a perfect roselia seedling. The light faded. The little roselia, its eyes and flowers still closed, wobbled unsteadily and fell over.
"Awww!" someone said.
"Oh my -" Josh gasped, reaching for it.
"Tch, tch!" Eve warned, waving him away. She gently picked the seedling up, supporting it against the palm of her hand. Ok, Eve, you know how to do this. No pale blemishes, no obvious hypertrophy, downy anterior leaf – her ability would be Poison Point -
"Shouldn't it be bawling?" Josh asked anxiously.
"Shh." Eve gently tested the range of motion in the stems. Balance should be acquired in a few days.
"There," she said, swiftly depositing her in Josh's arms. "She's yours."
"She?"
"Are you gonna argue?" Eve teased.
Roselia blinked her dark eyes open. The first thing she saw in this world was May Day night.
"Then your name is Megaera."