Scylla closed her eyes for another attempt at meditation. She followed Willa's voice to her "happy place", traveling through her subconscious, Ramshorn felt a release of fear, weaving through her adaptability and acceptance to her situation than to a sense of self-control of her emotions. Running into her constant roadblock, her heart, Scylla found herself constantly reliving her regrets in full force, nothing seemed to sway her opinion of herself, not even the notion that Willa was teaching her everything meant to be taught to a more powerful witch. She felt her spirit's version of Raelle shift and alter to a slightly unfamiliar figure that mocked and played a slight drag version of her notable features.
Scylla escaped her subconscious again but received similar compassion from Willa, even with this being the twelfth time.
"I'm sorry," she quickly apologized.
"It's alright," Willa dismissed. "I think we can move on to the application. Follow me and take your shoes off." They walked through the house, passing by their agents until they came upon the back lot. "The Indian soldiers I worked with used transitional movements similar to what you'd find in forms of yoga. Here, watch me."
Willa took a deep breath, then explained, "The first chakra is deeply ingrained with Earth, what grounds us." She slid her barefoot across the ground, forming a small hill.
"Is that it?"
"Baby steps, Scylla." She slid her foot back with a great amount of force the hill back down. "Come here. It's a simple move but requires great focus. Connect yourself with the land and move it."
Scylla copied her master's work, beginning with a deep breath and sliding her foot for nothing to happen. She tried again with her eyes closed. After a few more failed attempts, she glanced over to Willa for help.
"Is there something I should be feeling?"
"Yes and no. You should be feeling one with the ground but empty of your desires."
Scylla tried to follow her words and repeated the movements, peaking an eye when she heard something move before her. "OH! I DID IT!" She pointed triumphantly at the bump in the ground, her hopes quickly dashed when a mole poked its head out of the dirt. "Nevermind, I have no idea what I'm doing."
"Maybe this will be easier," Willa tried to encourage her. "Flatten it."
Scylla nodded and tried to clear her head then slid her foot back. She heard another noise, noting that the ground moved at her action. "WAS THAT ME?!"
"I do believe so. Try pushing it up. Use your entire foot to feel the earth."
Scylla took another breath, feeling more connected and aware of her surroundings. She aggressively slid her foot forward, finishing with a sure stop, but again, not hearing anything. Resetting without a word, Scylla tried again. She created a hill, her final movement forcing it backward.
"Oh," Willa noted. "That's a bit more advanced but perfect. Now put it back the way it was before we get in trouble for maiming the ground."
"Is this really a more efficient form of witchcraft? I feel like the fact that we can manipulate the world with our voice alone is enough."
"As long as we stay silent with our techniques we are seen as equal."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"It does in its own way. Now look here," Willa segued as a solid square of earth popped up before them. "Move it."
"Move it?"
"Yes."
"Like I did with the hill?"
Willa nodded and watched her pupil. "You need to feel like an immovable object."
"I am quite moveable against that thing."
With a quick motion, the fire pit sparked to life and the water from their fountain swirled around Scylla before being replaced. "Silent techniques. Each chakra is rooted in an element including ether and light."
"What's ether?"
"Space, in simple terms. The chakras that lay in the crown and throat enhance your abilities more than anything else." Willa hopped lightly before levitating before her.
"Would I be able to do anything like that someday?"
"Someday," she shrugged. "But until you pass the heart and push that boulder, no." Willa snuffed out the fire pit with a quick and final motion.
Scylla stood on solid ground, trying to feel as unwavering as the block of earth before her before taking a solid step forward. The earth slid back an inch. Filled with hope, she tried again with more gusto and it moved another foot. With a final step, she sent the wall flying until Willa stopped it from breaking the fence.
"Witches from India are far stronger than our army. When I went through my informal training those years, I was finally able to connect with a Deva. They believe we get our power through them. Mine is a patron of medicine, Dhanvantari. When you are fully aligned, you should feel a connection to a Deva, but I insist on speaking to a friend of mine beforehand."
"Wait, what about the Buddhists or Sikhs?"
"Hinduism dominates their military or at least the military we have an agreement with. I never met a single Sikh or Buddhist on my deployment in India."
"Hm. Well, what's next?"
"Stop this," she stated, shooting the slab of earth at her.
The Medic unit stood around, watching a new drill sergeant lead the recruits. Raelle dwelled on the thought of her fellow "cousins" that had already died at the hands of the Camarilla, but not long enough to spiral when Josephine interrupted her.
"Hey, are you and Bellweather alright? We heard you guys from Kaysol's?"
Raelle absentmindedly nodded, relieved when Wick finally arrived.
"Really?"
"We're both strong-headed. It happens."
Graeae slid over to join their conversation as Wick led them to the training grounds. "What happened?"
Raelle silently followed their professor, unadvisedly avoiding her unit for the march to their new lesson. She did however hear their hushed conversation. They found Izadora and her unit of Necromancers ready to learn, already holding their worksheet on a clipboard with a pen attached to the top. Wick stood beside her coworker and began the introduction.
"Welcome to your new unit. Today we will be enhancing our knowledge of our respective majors with that of the polar opposite. You may be wondering why we are working with curious necros, but I tell you now that they create some of the most devastating works that we have used against the Spree and Camarilla. We can also learn how to identify witch made fungi that have been used against us and treat the soldier accordingly. Izadora has already paired you off with a student from her class."
Izadora began calling out the names, Raelle getting paired up with a girl from her year who she had seen with Scylla. "My students will show you various works we have used and your job is to identify the proper types of seed sounds. My students are tasked with creating or thinking of three works that could counter your seed sounds."
Raelle followed her partner to a shady spot for them to work.
"Are you the same Collar who saved the Tarim people last year?"
"No. That's someone else," she offhandedly lied. "So, what are these?"
The Necro went through the poisons, sketching out the plant they use and notes on how they affect the human body.
"So, with your dollmaker, I'd need a sound of … reverberation at staccato and the 3rd level of dissonance, 54."
"You, I think you are the Tarim soldier."
"I was born in the Cession, so definitely not Tarim."
"No, I mean the soldier who saved the Tarim."
"Can we please-"
"You know, I've been able to learn some Tarim work because of what you did."
"Their work comes at a great price. Don't treat it like a party trick."
"Let's reconvene over here," Izadora beckoned. She spoke briefly to Wick then pulled out her trusty knife. "You may have noticed in the remedies your peers applied to the poisons that we use similar seed sounds in a different form. I will let you know that in the field, Medics tend to be first responders and it is then the task of Necromancers to finish the job. I'll show you what I mean." Izadora nodded to her peer then pushed the knife into Wick's chest. As quickly as the bleeding began, Izadora remedies her mortal wound, not so much as a flinch from their generals. "Only thing left is a slight pain in the chest."
Raelle sunk back until she ran into Graeae. "You good?"
"No," she quietly answered. "Are you?"
"I'm alright. Is there any way we can help?"
"I'll be okay. How, um… how did it go with your necro?"
"It was interesting, but also extremely disturbing when you think about us possibly getting exposed to the toxins?"
"It's what we sign up for, and in the end, we are replaceable."
"That's a morbid way to say it. If you were so replaceable, do you think they would have saved you?"
"I don't know. They didn't bother to save my mother, so now I'm one of the last in my line."
"Did your mom not have any siblings or cousins?"
"We aren't close to them if they're still around."
Izadora called them together and explained the next part of their unit where they were put with their previous partner to be taught healing works by their Necromancer peers. Raelle and her partner fiddled around with a patch of clovers and an orange.
"So, the first work is the sound of the heart and resonance. Watch." She demonstrated it, letting Raelle follow suit until a patch of mold grew on the fruit, quickly clearing along with the sweet citrus scent. "Penicillin, if you didn't know, is derived from mold, first discovered with exposure to staphylococcus. We use it as a base to extract it from the air and create our own medicinal substances."
"What?"
"Think of us as chemists who specialize in the natural world. That's the route most of us take anyway. Our job is dealing with the dead, creating biological weapons, and supplying the army with whatever they need. Izadora is special in the way that she knows how to get information on how the dead died. I want to become a chemist. Scylla, told me she was interested in the biological weapons side of our works. Makes sense now when you look back on it," she casually dug into her old peer.
Raelle mocked taking notes on their works, but couldn't help but dwell on her previous partner's fate. She didn't even know what Necros did and now she was being told by a peer that Necros created the same works the Spree have weaponized against civilians.
"Well done, Collar," Izadora complemented. "I guess I should have plucked you from the lineup as well," she referenced to their first week of boot camp. "It's nearly noon, so wrap it up for lunch. We'll meet here again at fourteen hundred."
"Again!" Willa commanded.
Scylla prepared for the boulder of earth, holding her position until she felt it a few milliseconds away. She broke the boulder apart.
"Finally got it, but you flinched."
Scylla dropped her head back and braced for the surprise attack. "Shit!" She braced for impact and broke the earth that pelted her. "What was that about?"
"Always be prepared. You did well. We'll move on a bit to your second seed syllable, water. Begin your meditation."
Scylla took a deep breath and began to meditate on her sacral chakra. She felt Willa nudge her out of place, handed a thermos of tea.
"So, where are we going to get water from?"
"There's a river a few paces north."
"Why can't I overcome my fears?"
"Let's walk. Do you remember what I told you?"
"Never mix booze and fruit?"
"Don't be facetious."
"Loosen up?"
"Yes. Relax and forgive yourself. I know it's easier said than done, but it is the only way you can heal. Outside of these lessons and this form of Work, you must forgive yourself in life. At this point in history, there are far greater fears than my own, so that is how I forgive myself for the loss of our sisters."
Scylla held back her stinging critique of her teacher and followed her to the river's edge. "So, how does this work?"
"Similar feeling. Connect yourself to the water around you," she introduced as she hiked up her shorts and stood about knee-deep in the water. "So, I'm glad you wore shorts for today. You might want to keep a similar dress code while you learn how to control it. Alright- come on, come on. I promise there isn't anything in here tha- Ah! Ah!" she feigned in pain. "Just kidding." Scylla rolled her eyes and tried to center herself. "Be one with the water, You want to feel like you are no longer being pushed by the stream. Does that make sense?"
"In theory, yes." Ramshorn tried to feel a connection, not really understanding what she meant. "Yeah, I got nothing."
"Okay, then I want you to hold this." Willa pulled up a handful of water and placed it in Scylla's, keeping her hands cupped underneath to prevent the water from leaking. "Something small to start you off."
"What do you want me to do with this?"
"I want you to foster the water, stop it from leaking out of your hands. You'll learn how to use it, but first, you need to connect with it."
"I- how do I connect with it?"
"Be quiet and patient."
Willa pulled her hands away, the water quickly leaking out of her pupil's hands. "I'm sorry, I just don't understand."
"That's alright. Lam is about being stubborn, something you are quite good at. Vam is about being at peace with… yourself. I know you are distracted which explains why this may be difficult for you to connect with. I do not feel it beneficial to you to go out of order, so we will finish up today. We have a long walk back anyway. I plan on going to the grocery store, is there anything you may need while I am out?"
"Do I get special priority?"
"I'm running low on tea and wondered what kind may suit your fancy."
"I'm feeling chai this week or a ginger blend."
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Now, don't dawdle. Be back within the hour."
Scylla nodded and stood at the water's edge. She tried to meditate on her sacral chakra, anything to get ahead especially since she had been granted partial freedom to study on her own. In the time she had been going through her "happy place", her plague of a colleague joined her.
"You are like a bad dream, Quartermaine," she criticized.
"What are you doing?"
"Repenting for my sins. What are you doing?"
"Watching you repent for your sins. Care to walk?"
"I have a half-hour of free time. What do you want to talk about?"
"How about some personal questions?"
"What would you like to know?"
"Who were your parents running with? How did you escape and get caught up with the Spree?"
"We have a program for Alder's orphans."
"But how did you escape?"
Scylla took her time to roll up her sleeves. "I didn't, I just got the funding and direction I needed from outside sources." Anacostia cocked her head in slight confusion. "Are you shocked that you don't know everything? Alder doesn't trust you with important information. She sends you to her enemy's territory and trusts that we won't capture or kill you. Or are you more concerned with the fact that we have infested the fort?"
"I have nothing to say about the former assumption, but with the latter, I know of many Spree soldiers we have weeded out of our bases and forts. You have a similar attitude about you."
"And Raelle, what did you think about her?"
"She just doesn't want to be a slave."
"Neither do we. That's why we're here. She would have been the perfect addition." Quartermaine stayed silent on that note. "Was there anything else you were so keen on knowing before our meeting next week? I mean, with how often you seek me out, I'm almost thinking you have a crush on me?"
"I'm just trying to make sure you're staying out of trouble, Scylla."
"Was there anything else you needed?"
"Just be careful with whom you trust."
"I always have been."
"Really?" Anacostia questioned before slipping back into the world of civilians.
Scylla made her way back to the house, slipping through the gate with her password and happening upon a meeting in the living room. Willa stood before the fireplace, all eyes falling upon the young witch who interrupted them.
"Sit down," she requested. "As I was saying, we have been given an option from Sarah Alder, I am not looking for input or comments, I'm just updating you on what is happening. The Spree, according to her, will be needed to spy and discreetly take care of the Camarilla. Apparently, it would be in our best interest as they have been using our symbols and messages to carry out their attacks. I want All hands on deck."
"What if this is a trap?"
"We won't know, but in the end, the Camarilla is the only uniting front for us. As the old adage goes, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". With that, I would like to hand out assignments to the generals, Rachael, if you would?" Her secretary pulled out papers from a folder and handed them out while her boss explained in further detail, "I think it would be beneficial if we put aside our differences, that being said, we mustn't be brainwashed by the Military nor push our agenda until we lower the threat of the Camarilla. Is that understood?" A few nods seemed to satiate her for the time being. Willa scratched a symbol into the brick behind her. "This is our safe house, we cannot let anything or one in," she finished looking straight at Scylla. "You are dismissed, except for you, Kiran."
Scylla followed Willa upstairs where her superior rummaged through her desk to produce another letter. "Who is the soldier you have been meeting with?"
"An insignificant lackey."
"Really, insignificant? You seem to have had in-depth conversations with her recently outside of what you report to me." Willa pulled the letter back and finished. "I am watching you closely," she loomed over her. "I could just as easily turn you over to Alder, I know she's been looking for you. Trying to steal her war hero and being the only lead on the Bellweather murders, you have quite a bounty on you, Ramshorn."
"Okay, the first one was your prerogative and the latter is on the Camarilla."
"They don't know that. I plan to bring this to your source today. Until then, I encourage you to decide whose side you're on." Scylla didn't respond but nodded. "That wasn't rhetorical this time."
"I'm with the Spree."
"Good. I still plan to take this to your friend, so I expect you to stay here unless given permission."
"Yes, ma'am."
"You are dismissed."
Scylla closed the door as quietly as she could before she searched for her mirror. She scrawled her initial into the palm of her hand and waited for a response.
"Who are you?" Anacostia interrogated the middle-aged witch sitting across her.
"Who I am is of no concern to you, but what I have may entice you."
"I'm not here for free phone plans or timeshares."
"I'm sure you aren't," she responded, pushing a letter across the table. "For Alder."
"Where is the other agent?"
"None of your concern. Good day."
Anacostia pocketed the letter and began towards the bus stop. She felt watched, she would have to come back later when they weren't following her to check on Scylla.
Raelle shooed Jo away from her as they ate lunch. "I'm not in the mood to mess around right now."
"Come on, just the tip," Josephine jokingly enticed with a carrot poking out of her mouth.
"Not today, ask Grae." Raelle picked at her food before finally giving in to their invasive glances. "I wish people would stop asking about the Tarim."
"What do you mean?"
Raelle's palm itched incessantly. "I hate being praised for almost dying."
"You did a great thing, Rae," Laurielle tried to comfort her.
"She obviously doesn't want twenty people a day asking if she's the Tarim Savior. How would you like it if every day I saw you I asked, Hey, aren't you the Private who absolutely ate it on her first deployment?"
"Fine, but nobody even remembers that."
Her hand continued to itch as they joked amongst one another, but their tone seemed to only agitate their leader. Raelle ripped off her glove and began to scratch at the scar, earning concerned looks from her peers.
"What is that?"
"Is that from the Camarilla?
"What does that symbol mean?"
"Is it a brand?"
"Why don't you just heal it?"
"Here, let me look at it."
"Leave it alone," Raelle exclaimed, chucking her food into the metal waste bin while she stormed off.
Every time she saw the scar, she felt the dreadful spiral of humiliation take over her mind. How could someone, anyone at all, have such an inescapable hold over her? No matter how often she distracted herself, that Spree soldier was there like a glaring reminder of how naive she had been the previous year. She felt everything around her begin to strangle and overwhelm her until she came upon the grove they got high in. Again, an inescapable trance she fell in, and nothing could prevent her from thinking about Scylla.
"Enough."
Raelle took a fallen branch and ignited the end. With her scarred hand, she grabbed the flame, quickly extinguishing and letting it smolder in her palm. She let out a small whimper and looked down at her blistered palm. Collar felt her body go slightly weak at the pain but dismissed her physical maladies to deal with the blister before it too scarred horrifically. She opened her palm, not a scratch in sight, but soon felt the familiar itch as an 'S' appeared.
Inescapable.
"Collar, what are you doing here?"
Raelle turned to meet the eyes of her previous superior, Quartermaine. Unbeknownst to her, Anacostia was just as shocked to find the fixer in the grove as she was. Raelle strode up to her and explained, "I can't take it anymore, I feel this insane amount of guilt that I just can't shake. I need to get out of here for at least a day. I can't do this!"
"What are you talking about?" she shakily asked.
Raelle showed her the sigil in her palm. "I've made dangerous allies I can't avoid."
"Take a breath and explain what you mean, Collar?'
"Scylla haunts me. I can't go a moment without thinking of her. She's scaring me, too."
"How?"
"She escaped and is back with the Spree."
Anacostia bit her lip and nodded, "I know."
"What do you mean?"
"I know she escaped."
"How? How could you let her fall back into their hands? I thought you wanted her to change?"
"Because being imprisoned would have destroyed her. It would have killed her."
"But she would have been away from them?"
"I thought it was best for her."
Raelle's heart began to flutter and flurry in her chest. "I feel like she's always watching me- or inside of me like we're sharing the same body. I want to be alone, I can't take it anymore and no matter what I do, I'm stuck."
"I'm sorry you feel that way, but there isn't anything I can do."
"You have to know something, anything about her. I mean, if she's with the Spree, then you must-have information on their whereabouts?"
Anacostia weighed her options, and nodded, "Meet me here at midnight on Friday. I'll see what I can do. Now, pull yourself together, Collar," she finished with little confidence.
Raelle nodded then pulled on her gloves as she meandered back to the clearing for the second half of her class. Izadora was still in the clearing intently speaking to Wick. Once she spotted the fixer, she approached her with a question on her mind. Raelle glanced up at her superior and stood at attention.
"Please, at ease. I am not for all of those formalities. I had a brief question about the mycelium."
"What is that?"
"The wall of fungus you touched. We've been noticing some strange goings-on with the wall and a student of mine mentioned that you arrived with a growth on your hand. After some strange events, we realized that the mycelium has changed on a biological level."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, in brief terms, we realized that the mycelium has been- oh what's the right way to say it… breathing? No, that's not the right term. It's more active than normal. With the partial sample gathered from your initial contact with it, we were hoping to steal you away after class and the proceeding days to study how you two interact."
"I guess I'm in no place to deny your request, but what would I have to do?"
"Not much, blood and epithelial samples. We may need to extract some plasma to see what the mycelium reacts to the most."
"I consent to that," she uncomfortably agreed.
Izadora nodded and went back to gather the troops. "Welcome back to the second half of our class. While I know many of our necromancers have studied anatomy and physiology, I would like our Fixers to take over for our next lesson for first response care."
