Verlaine

And behind that story lay a truth of the simplest, plainest kind: the "treasure" was nothing more than a mineral, common enough throughout the Mundus Empire, used to help young Ascenders newly awakened to their powers learn to master them—it possessed no ability, in truth, to ward off evil or turn aside misfortune.

One day, the children who had ventured out from camp on their little expedition met with disaster. As Verlaine and her friends stood facing the Chaos Remains that came pouring out from within the cave, the only thing she could remember afterward was that Polaris had been standing right there beside her. She had not felt afraid.

When she woke again, it was in the camp, with her parents keeping watch at her bedside; and at the sight of her waking, they were overcome with joy beyond measure. It was then that they resolved to tell her the whole of the truth—of how they had fled all the way from the Mundus Empire to this place, of the true nature of that treasured trinket, and of the dangers that lay beyond the safety of camp.

But Verlaine cared for only one thing: where was Polaris now? Though the grown-ups would not answer her, still, every night before sleep, she listened to her stories and held in her heart the hope that Polaris would someday suddenly return, so that the two of them might set out on some new adventure together, just as before.

Not long after, Verlaine awoke from a dream to find, curled up beside her bed and sleeping soundly, a great hound—one that seemed almost to wear armor, its head covered in shaggy black fur. She remembered, then, the story her parents used to tell her before sleep: that after the knight died, he became a great hound, and then a towering tree, and at the last, a gentle breeze—forever remaining at his friend's side.

As for why the hound now bears the name "Monday," well—that is another story altogether.

As she grew a little older still, Verlaine made up her mind to set out and travel the world. Her parents raised no objection to her decision, only cautioning her, again and again, to keep herself safe. Verlaine, brimming with confidence, promised them she would return home safe and sound—and with that, she set off on her journey, her hound at her side.

By the standards of the Mundus Empire, Verlaine was already a rather formidable mage, though her command over certain forms of magic remained somewhat unrefined; but by the standards of the surface, she was, for now, only an Ascender of unstable performance—her Ascension Ability's output fluctuated wildly, and its effects could hardly be called consistent. None of this troubled Verlaine in the least. To her mind, pressing ever forward with her Ascension Ability, gathering new stories along the way—that, and nothing else, was the true meaning of travel.

"But when Miss Verlaine first boarded the train, the registered crew count was three..."
"Ah! That's right! Me, Millie, and Reeva, wasn't it?"
"Indeed. So then, where might Miss Millie and Miss Reeva be? It seems the Conductor's office has never once found any boarding record for either of them."
"That... I'm not sure either! But once they show up, you'll find out soon enough! We'll all help you with your work, so don't worry!"

With a radiant smile, this was how Verlaine explained the whereabouts of her two missing traveling companions. And indeed, from the odd turn of phrase she let slip now and then in daily conversation, one could occasionally catch a glimpse of a ravenous companion here, a fellow mage there—it seemed her travels were, after all, never quite so lonely. And besides, aboard the Eternal, she still had Monday to keep her company.

Verlaine had never once, in all her life, set foot upon the soil of the Empire.

When her parents at last spoke to her plainly, she learned the truth of her own lineage. Her ancestors had once served among the Empire's ancient Tribunal, a family whose members carried a rare and singular gift—born with the power to shape and command the dreams of others. Decades ago, amid some great upheaval, a young couple, descended from a collateral branch of that line, had fled the Empire together with so many others; and it was thus that Verlaine came to be born upon the surface.

Her parents' stories were always steeped in a tender longing for their homeland, and this, in turn, could not help but stir in Verlaine her own yearning for the landscapes of the Empire. In her dreams, again and again, she found herself gazing upon sights she seemed almost to have lived through herself: a lake as clear and still as a mirror, great trees rising to pierce the clouds, hillsides washed in the colors of spring... And yet, what could possibly have befallen so beautiful a place, that her young parents were forced to flee it?

Among the people of the Empire around her, this was a matter treated as forbidden. It seemed that all Verlaine's ears were ever permitted to hear were those gentle, wistful recollections, while the truth beneath them remained forever sealed in silence.

After meeting Millie and Reeva, both natives of the Empire, Verlaine one day fell to speaking with them of her childhood and her parents' stories, hoping to learn at last what great calamity had truly befallen the Empire—only to find both of them thoroughly bewildered by the question. Millie declared she had never once heard of any such thing; Reeva said that any book recording such an event would count, even in the Academy's own archives, among the forbidden texts. It was a remarkably peaceful night, the three of them seated together around the campfire, Monday resting close against Verlaine's leg—by all rights, a scene that should have brought comfort. And yet Verlaine felt, instead, an unusual and heavy sense of loss.

That night, Verlaine dreamed a dream she would never forget.

She stood once more beside that lake so familiar to her, and looking up toward the great tree upon the hillside, she saw Polaris—grown now into an adult—waving to her from far beneath its boughs. When she woke, only Polaris's words remained, lingering still in her ears.

"Look for me beneath your feet, Verlaine. Look for me along your travels."