The Fault in Our Star

[Cards of Fate]

The House of Cards

About a month ago Vincent had been sent on a rather routine recruitment mission. Leona would see a “Card” in her visions of the future and send the scholar to recruit them. At this point he had found about two in the recent past, Cerock the Drakari, and Stella Stern. The former was adjusting to his new home quite well, often showing signs of his habitation but rarely ever making an appearance to the scholar. The latter was proving to be…a handful.

You younger looking girl had more or less attached herself to Vincent’s hip at all times. Everywhere he went, the youth followed like a lost puppy. It was endearing for the first day or two, her scampering around him calling out his name and pointing at things for him to name. As far as he could tell she didn't speak a lick of common, and that would prove to be an issue if she was to continue working for the Tarot Hierarchy.

The scholar has settled down into a routine of teaching her, starting first with her letters. He would sit her down with a quill and paper and force her to write down the alphabet, saying each letter as she scrawled it down. Once she knew her ABC’s Vincent began to teach her sounds. To any onlookers the scene would have been quite the sight. Stella sitting on a stool going “Aaaah” every time Vincent help up a sign marked A and “Buuuuh” every time he swapped to B.

However this only seemed to open the door for more interruptions in his studies. Stella would go explore the house at night, the only time she ever seemed to be awake, while Vincent was studying several tomes. She would find something interesting and come sprinting into the room with a grin on her face.

“Vincent! Vincent!” she would cry with glee, and then she would open her mouth and some chiming and whooshing noises would escape her lips as she waved something in his face for him to identify in Common. Usually this was harmless enough, unless she had found one of Alyssa’s guns lying about and was about to shoot him, or Ioder’s knives, of Leona’s soccer ball. The last one was less dangerous to him except for a very angry seer storming his study to chew him out.

[Star Strike]

Ok well Alyssa's guns and Leona's soccer ball was out of sheer not knowing or having seen anything like it before. Knives? Please three linear, shortly spaced small stars hung from the ever recognizable Orion’s Belt. However it was seeing Vincent being chastised for Stella's actions by Leona that had deterred them from Vincent's side for a few days, making the ash blonde youth a rarer sight around the Card House. Indeed they had not graced the library for several days, avoiding the annoyed glances and moans of Vincent at the sound of Stella’s voice.

In truth, Stella was lonely in their room. There was not a single window for them to gaze up at the night sky and to make matters more isolating, their room was south facing, away from Cygnus. It was not helpful that everyone else in the Tarot were active during the day and did not know most of them. The little child of the stars wanted to ask Vincent or Leona about if the House of Cards had an observatory or if she could go to the roof at night to watch the stars.

Watching the stars drift silently in the night reminded them nothing more than the fact they were not among their friends and Deneb. For Psaróni, they rarely stayed at home, traveling to several universes and galaxies in search of new stories and legends to bring home to the stars and then share with other worlds. How else could one explain why most cultures say Ursa Major as a bear? Stella themselves had been joining her master and elders for over two hundred years in journeying to various worlds. But now, they were alone, isolated, with no way to return home. Acting childish and endearing toward Vincent, asking for his attention, impeding on his study…

For now Stella watched the stars quietly from outside the House of Cards. A single tear dripped down their face. Touching the tear and bring their hand to the moonlight, the tear shined as though the sentiments of a thousand stars were reflected in it.
Walking into the library, Stella quietly searches for Vincent. Sitting in his natural state over his desk, he is hunched over some charts and texts, scribbling down some notes as he flips through the pages, comparing the pages to his notes. Suspecting his guest, he doesn't even look up.

“What is it this time Stella.” Folding his head into his book, he’s been at work since morning and the night had already bleed well into the next day. “Please tell you didn’t get it from someone’s room. I know you don’t sleep like the rest of us but you can't just do that.”

Stella holds out the tear on her finger. “*We… we do not have a word for this as we do not experience this. What is this liquid coming from my eyes?” By now the tear has hardened into a small glass like gem as it rolled off of their finger and onto the desk. “From eyes. What is.” They asked.



*In Astéri

[Cards of Fate]

It took Vincent a moment to process what she had said as she rolled the gem down onto his desk. The scholar paused for a moment and picked the gem up, rolling it between his fingers, a slight tinge of sorrow fleeting through him as he did so.

“It looks like a tear…” Vincent murmured curiously. “Stella have you been crying?” he turned to the little blonde girls a she stared at him confused.

“Cry…ing?” She asked cocking her head to the side. “Vincent what mean?” she asked sitting down on a small stool next to his chair, reserved usually for when his instructed her in her lessons on common.

“It’s like…” the scholar paused for a moment to try and gather his thoughts before opening his mouth. “Have I ever taught you about emotions?” he asked as he hunched over to meet her gaze.

“Emotions?” She asked staring back at him intently, “No emotions…” she shook her head side to side. “Confused, not understand. What mean?” she asked playing with her hair, a frown on her lips.

“Well when you react to something…” Vincent paused scratching his head, “This is not necessarily my realm of expertise.” He chewed his lip as his thoughts raced to explain the abstract concept of emotion. “Let’s put it this way…remember when I bought you that starfruit at the market?” he asked gesturing towards her.

The young woman perked up at the memory. “Yes, Vincent!” she exclaimed cheerfully. “Was yummy!” she said patting her stomach.

“That feeling is happiness.” Vincent stated as a cheesy grin crossed his face. “Most people do this when they are happy, it’s called a smile.” He continued.

“Smile.” The Psaróni replied copying his expression and nodding. She had often felt her lips curl on their own like this before but had not realized the relation to this emotion “happiness” before. “But this?” she said pointing to the tear.

“That’s a tear, it’s what happens when you cry.” Vincent replied nodding. “It’s what you do when you are sad.” He said turning to her. “Since you appear to be sad, why don’t you try and use your own words to describe how you feel.”

[Star Strike]

"In Stella's words or Vincent's words?"

"Vincent's"

"Stella feels like Tanabata when Kengyu doesn't make the trip. Raindrops and meteor showers."

Pulling his chair out, Vincent walks over to another bookshelf. Running his hand over the leather spines of the library's collection of star charts and mythology. When Vincent found time away from his research for Leona, he had carefully traced the stars and constellations of Althanas. In his curiosity to compare the differences of Earth and Althanas, he had drawn what constellations he could recall. Some things were alike others were not. Vincent had hoped that with time, he could ask Stella to draw sky charts for him from various worlds and dimensions with their respective mythology. However while they were making progress, the little star struggled with concepts such as privacy and greetings.

"Hmm. It doesn't appear that I have anything on those. Mind telling me the story Stella?" He pulling a book off by the spine, flipping though and then returning it.

"Tanabata is Vega or Lyra. When her father found out that she love the mortal Kengyu, the star Altair, he put them in the sky, far away, parted by a Celestial River. However on the seventh day of the seventh sun, if Kengyu is able to cross the river they can be together. The journey is dangerous Kengyu doesn't always make the trip. Rain or meteors are said to be Tanabata's tears." Stella speaks slowly, choosing their words carefully as they were was unsure of many. There was more to the tale, more they could say in Astéri, but Vincent seemed to only care about the voice he called Common and that only made more little gems form at the edge of Stella's eye.

Gently brushing the corner of their eye with their fingers, Stella takes one of the newly formed tear gems into her hand. Folding her hands over the stone, she presses it against her chest and breaths. "Tears." Another forms. "Stella misses Deneb like Tanabana misses Kengyu. Stella is broken. No good for sky."

[Cards of Fate]

Vincent listened to her story as he pursed his lips, pressing his fingers together and chewing on his lip. He watched her intently as she spoke and ruffled her hair.

“Not good for sky?” Vincent asked curiously as he sat down, running a hand through his messy mane of blonde hair. His eyes were bloodshot from days of no sleep and spending hours at a time teaching the youth how to speak common. He yawned and stretched as he turned back to the starling. “What do you mean not good for sky?” Stella turned her teary eyed gaze away from Vincent.

“No words…” She answers. “No words yet. Vincent listen?” The star turns back at Vincent. “Vincent listen a little bit now and much later?” She opened her mouth and a series of sad sounding whooshes and chirps escaped her lips as Vincent sat in silence. Her song sounded solemn and sad, like the titanic theme, a song that often inspired chills down Vincent’s spine.

“That was…,” Vincent paused for a moment still shaken slightly. “Chiling…,” he paused and then pulled out a notebook and began to scrawl some notes down absentmindedly. “Perhaps we should resume this lesson when I’ve gotten some sleep?” the scholar asked as he leaned back in his high backed chair and rested his head.

“Yes…,” Stella replied sadly as she fetched a blanket from the corner and drapes it over the reclined scholar. “May Stella have this?” She asked pointing at the quill and paper on his desk.

Vincent nodded, already half asleep “Of course Stella, I have some more over there.” he said meekly gesturing to a desk across the room.

[Star Strike]

Stella watches Vincent curling up in the chair giving him a slight wave goodnight as his weary eyelids fold over. Listening for the slowing and steading of his breath, they place the tears in their hand on Vincent’s desk, retrieving the papers, the star sits down in front of him. The paper felt strange under their fingertips but not as strange as the black, thick liquid and the feather used to guide it along the page.

Closing her eyes, they thought back to Deneb. “*It is not the job you gave me but guide my hand Deneb as it dances with ink and paper to share the story of the heavens.*” They chimed softly to themselves taking the quill in their hand. Dipping it lightly into the inkwell, Stella began to trace her memories of the sky along the pages. How the night sky was arranged on different worlds during different times, from one end of the galaxy to the other. How the worlds looked from the perspective of many stars and the strange and curious arrangements they created. From Earth to Vega, Althanas to Deneb, Stella mapped the way home until the echos of heavy footsteps alerted them of another presence.

The woman called Leona stood in the libraries doorway. Motioning her finger to her lips, Leona gestured toward the hallway, lips forming shapes that were meaningless to Stella. Laying the quill in the inkwell, the starling retreated from the library to their room. Hovering just outside before stepping in. Stella reaches up to her eyes. Tears forming once more, Stella pressed the tear against the wall, solidifying into the wood. Deneb. As more form, the starling caught the sparkling tears and presses them with precision into the door. When the tears had ceased, they reached out and touched the first tear gently. Deneb. Tracing the stars on the door. Cygnus. They brush their hand across to the opposite side of the door. Vega, Lyra, Altair, Aquila… Stepping into their room, Stella curled up into a ball overcome by sleep.

[Cards of Fate]

Vincent awoke with a start as a tome thumped softly against his forehead. His whole body jerked awake as his eyes snapped open to find Leona standing over him, dressed in sweatpants and a simple black tanktop.

“Do you ever sleep in your actual room?” She asked cocking her head to the side, the faintest hint of a smile crossing her lips as she spoke.

“I have an actual room?” Vincent replied grinning as he sat up, stretching. “How are you doing today boss?” he asked yawning.

“I am well Vincent, you?” she asked taking a seat next to him, glancing down at the mess of notes and books that his study had devolved into. “Do you ever plan on cleaning any of this up?”

Vincent paused for a moment and took in the mess before replying “You know better than me…” he asked as he rose to his feet, glancing down at the heap of star charts at his feet.

“Oh so the next Hierophant gets stuck with this then…” Leona mused aloud. Vincent froze for a moment before turning to her.

“Next Hierophant?” Vincent asked confused. “As in like…thirty years down the road when I retire or…?” he asked looking nervous.

Leona simply grinned as she tapped her fingers, “Not a dumb question per se but Im not answering that.” the seer replied as she leaned back a bit. “Clean up and maybe you won’t get eaten by that…whoops.” she stopped mid-sentence “I’ve divulged too much.”

“Not funny!” Vincent growled turning back to her. The seer simply raised her hands and gestured for him to sit back down.

“Calm down, you’re too important as it stands for me to let something happen to you…” the words struck Vincent for a moment.

“I’m important?” he asked sitting down.

“Questions Vincent.” Leona chided swatting him.

“That wasn’t a…” Vincent flinched for a moment before sighing defeatedly. “What did you need anyways?” he asked.

“It’s about Stella.” Leona replied. “I have a mission for you…”

[Star Strike]

Vincent scoops up the charts and stacks them on his desk and nods “Sure boss. Another card?” he jokes wishing it wasn’t another boring recruitment mission.

“I need you to take her to Etheria Port for a week or so. It can wait until her common is better but sooner is better than later. You can consider it a treat for working hard with her but Stella is needed there. Let her roam as she desires and she will find where she needs to be.”

“Okay… mind if I ask why?”

“If our Star is to the face of the Hierarchy then she needs to get stronger as you have with Stalt. Minus the sword fighting and testosterone.” Leona smirked. “But I promise you Vincent, Stella’s gonna be fine, she’s not gonna get hurt if you are concerned about her well being?”

“Why would I be…”

“Another path, another you I guess.” She frowns. Walking over the star chart she picks one up, a guide map from Deneb to Earth. “Vincent if Stella became ungrounded, would you go home?”

Vincent chewed his lip for a second, “Why are you asking me that? Of course not.”

“Just checking. Oh and go check on Stella and make sure the door isn’t ruined.”

Vincent’s eyebrow raised to question to the last comment but the seer but just shrugged her comment off. Signing, the scholar shook his head and looked down at the paper unsure how to read some of the charts. As he moved the paper, he noticed that the stars shifted in perception too. Strange the drawing was two dimensional, as was the paper, but the chart reminded Vincent of the map from Treasure Planet where the map was four dimensional, minus the projection aspect. Perhaps Stella’s people have a special way of drawing star charts to appear 4-D or had developed technology to navigate and this is her trying to imitate it. Either way he needed to tell Stella that Leona had a task for them. Probably should wait till sunset when the star would wake up.

[Cards of Fate]

The scholar spent a bit after Leona had left sprucing up his notes and such, actually taking a moment to return some of his books back to their shelves. Leona may have been joking, but their were always unpleasant truths hidden in her phrases. Either way he had no intention of tempting fate. The seer had stayed for a bit to idly chat with him, mostly about silly things such as his work restoring the kitchen and his recipes. The scholar had taken up several hobbies as his sources of knowledge began to dwindle. It would be a long time before he could visit the library of Khal’Jaren once more, thus he had to wait on shipments of books.

Astronomy had been an easy talent to take up, after all it required him to stare at the sky at night and write down what he saw. Stella had proven useful in this regard, her nocturnal nature made her an excellent companion in these endeavors. As he finished Vincent turned back to the seer to make a comment only to find her missing from her seat.

“Typical batman move Leona,” Vincent sighed. He was beginning to think almost all of her “mysterious” persona was ripped straight from the movies of their shared homeworld. After spending a few more moments making sure he could find all of his notes later, he departed for the young starlings room. It wasn’t too terribly far away, the “upper” level of the building was made of three parallel halls connected by two halls at either end. The “back” wall to the south held a grand double door that led to Vincent’s library and nest. The north hallway held the stairs that led to surface and another set that delved deeper inside.

The westernmost hall held numbers 1-7 and the common room, and Vincent found Stella’s room, door slightly ajar with what appeared to be a blunderbuss shot of tears embedded into it. The scholar paused for a moment recognising her asterism and then sighed. The starling was still asleep, which left him to clean up her mess. He debated prying them all out, but instead opted for a more...creative route. He found paint in a nearby supply closet and got to work, brush in hand he began his tedious task.

[Star Strike]

As Vincent painted the door, Stella slept quietly curled up in a corner in her room. When the sun had set, Stella awoke to find their painted door. Tracing their hand over dry paint, they smiled at themself. "*Thank you*" Heading to the library, the star ran into the scholar.

"Hi Stella. Did I do a good job with your door?" Vincent asked, smiling at his own handy work.

The starling nodded. "Yes. Thank you Vincent."

"Are you hungry? I have something that I need to discuss with you."

Stella nodded taking hold of Vincent’s shirt, the two continue to walk down the hallway toward the library and turn right to face the kitchen and the dining hall. It’s modest but large enough to house the hold tarot plus plenty of minor. There’s not many in the dining hall as the dining hour had long past by but the stoves still had a little heat. Entering the kitchen, he brings back some fruit and a cup of sugar for Stella. They happily wait for Vincent to cut open the fruit for the young starling before dipping them into sugar and tossing them into their mouth.

“Are you feeling better Stella?” Vincent asked kindly. Growing up an only child he guessed this is what having a sister is like.

Stella nods grinning as they shove more sugary fruit into her mouth.

“Okay so Leona said we’re gonna be going on a trip in a few days. Do you want to learn more Common or just go ahead and head out. We can wait if you want.”

“What Vincent want?”