Chapter 1 - Opening Night, Part 1
The light of the day-moon was bright over Theophanies, rays bouncing off of the many ornate marble surfaces of Anduruna's most historically religious district. The blinding reflections did little to dissuade commerce, as hundreds of dreamkeepers went about their business, selling their faith to anyone they could get to listen. Amid the crowd of the faithful, there was a young man, a rattlesnake with red scales and above average height, dressed in casual clothing covered by a thick gray coat. His long tail had a line of white hexagonal diamonds running down its back, leading to the tip which had maroon and white bands before the rattle at the very end. Unlike the rest of the people around him, he was concerned more with history than salvation. He moved through the crowd quickly, slipping between vendors and passersby alike before slipping into an older-looking building with much less of a crowd in front.
The building's interior was considerably less lavish than the outside had suggested. Where the facade carried the same energy of the rest of the district's architecture, the lack of daylight seemed to drain the life from the inside of the building. Just across from the entrance doors was a simple desk, staffed by a single, somewhat bored-looking eagle girl with brown feathers wearing a modest uniform and scrolling idly on a data-scroll affixed to the desk. The young man slowly approached the desk, hoping the girl would be alerted to his presence before he said anything. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to notice him at all. Coughing a little to get her attention, he spoke up with a slightly raspy voice, "Um, excuse me, I'm here for an appointment."
The girl almost leaped out of her seat at the sudden voice. "Oh! Sorry, didn't notice you there. It's been a pretty dull day. Anyway, you said you have an appointment?" She tapped on the data-scroll with her taloned hand a few times. "Okay, so the only appointment today is for a Hazel Atrox to look at some of the old scrolls, is that yours?"
The snake-man hit his face with an open hand and groaned to himself before answering. "My name is Azel, the same name with no 'H' actually, but that's my appointment. Can't believe they got my name wrong again, if it's just the one appointment they could've at least tried to get it right…" he grumbled.
"Sorry about that, if it's a problem you've been having with our system, I could issue a complaint for you," the girl offered earnestly.
Azel visibly recoiled at the offer. His tail began to shake, causing the rattle at its tip to start making noise. "No, ah, that's fine. Just a problem I run into too much just because my name's a little different. No one has to get involved, it's not important," he practically blurted, catching his tail in his hands to silence the rattle.
"O-kay, would you like me to take you to the reading room for your appointment then? I'm Lucia by the way."
"Oh, sure. And, um, I'm sorry about the outburst, miss Lucia…"
"It's not not a problem, and you don't have to be so formal. Just Lucia is fine."
After confirming a few details on the data-scroll, Lucia stood up from the desk, and walked over to a door on the left side of the lobby. "The reading room is just this way," she said, gesturing for Azel to follow.
Azel was stewing in his thoughts as Lucia led him through the corridor to the reading room. Staring at the red and gold tipped wings on her back as she kept moving, he could only imagine what sort of things she was thinking about him based on his behavior in the lobby. Being so immersed in thought, he only just noticed the two of them had stopped in front of a door at the end of the hall. As she reached for a key-ring on her belt, Lucia asked him, "So, are you a scholar interested in Sacrare's history? We don't get many requests to see the older scrolls from anyone else."
"Oh, I'm not a scholar or anything, just interested in the importance of powers in ancient Sacrare parables."
Lucia nearly dropped the key-ring when she heard this. "Powers? Why powers? Haven't they been illegal for years now?"
"I-it's not like that! I'm just interested is all!"
"Is that why your tail is rattling again? Hey, relax. I'm not going to report you for taking an interest in powers. If anything, it's more interesting to me than what most people come here for."
"You're interested?"
"I got a job at the Hall of Records to get closer to history, but no one these days seems to care. You're the first in a while to take an interest in what I always hoped this job would be."
"And you don't mind that I'm looking into something that's illegal now?"
"Even if it's illegal nowadays, there's no real harm in learning about what things used to be like. And if there is, I promise I'm not going to turn you in or anything."
Lucia pulled the key to the door out and inserted it into the lock. "Now, shall we look at those scrolls you came here for?"
"S-sure."
The two of them walked through the door into the reading room. Bookshelves lined the walls of the room, loaded with scrolls and books no doubt documenting centuries of Sacrare's extensive history. In the center of the room, already laid out for the appointment, a pile of dusty scrolls lay ready to be unfurled. Azel immediately set to work looking through the scrolls for stories and mentions of powers. He felt relaxed, almost calm, seeing Lucia was looking over his shoulder, taking in the same ancient letters he was. For some reason, he felt comfortable enough to have a proper conversation with her.
"You know, I always found it strange that powers have been completely outlawed. It's not as though every time someone gets a halo over their head they're about to blast through an entire crowd. In fact, with powers being as varied as the dreamkeepers that use them, I'd imagine that a lot of them aren't even lethal."
"I guess it's just easier for the government to have a total ban on powers than to pick and choose who's allowed to use them and who's not."
"I suppose you're right, but it still bothers me. Long before we were born, powers were already considered to be unnecessary for daily life, and exile was only reserved for power uses that crossed the line into violence. Then, just twenty years ago, someone went crazy and used their power in a fallguard stadium, and public outrage led straight to an outright ban on powers. It just feels needlessly excessive."
"I think I see where you're coming from. Even with a moral outcry, it does seem a little much with how, like you said, some powers don't even have that kind of potential for damage."
The conversation went on as Azel continued to pore over the scrolls, occasionally scanning interesting parts of the texts with his own data-scroll. Lucia continued watching, giving her own input on Azel's musings on powers and pointing out entries in the scrolls she thought Azel would find useful.
Hours later, Azel stretched with a yawn. "Alright, I think that's about all I can get from these. You've been a great help, ah, Lucia, was it?"
"That's right. It's been a pleasure talking with you, Azel. Always nice to talk history with someone."
Azel paused for a moment, considering something. After a moment, he spoke up. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, are you free tonight?"
"Asking me out? We only just met."
"N-no, I meant," Azel started, then sighed. "I'm going to be honest with you. You seem like someone who really understands how I feel about powers. The reason I came here to research stories was to get material for some… performances I had in mind, and I'd like it if you came to watch one of them."
"Performances? You're an actor?"
"I've been trying to get a start in something like that, yes. The thing is, with the sort of material I'm working with, I can't really go around performing in public circles."
"You mean you have to perform in secret. Away from the CCA's eyes."
"I wouldn't have asked earlier, but our talk made me think you'd be interested. You don't seem to be as averse to powers as most people, and I promise you don't have to get involved in anything shady. Just one performance. Please. I think you'd like it."
"It's just a performance, right? If you're so sure about it, I guess it wouldn't hurt…"
"You'll come? Thank you! You don't know how much this means to me."
Azel started moving a mile a minute looking around the reading room. "Is there something to write on in here? I'll have to write you the directions."
"Okay, settle down, I'll get you a pen and paper." Lucia smiled faintly at her guest's sudden burst of energy. She wasn't sure just what kind of performance she'd just agreed to watch, but it would be better than the dull evening back home she'd been expecting.
