fandomhigh | Defying Expectations, Tuesday, Per 3

An email had gone out to the class the night before informing everyone to dress nicely and to wear something warm as they'd be meeting by the Causeway today.

"Depending on your destiny, odds are good that you're going to be personally responsible for the well-being of others. Some of those people will be easy for you to remember: the vocal, the well-off and powerful, those who serve directly beneath you that you see and interact with frequently. But those aren't the only people who depend on you and sometimes it's very easy for people to slip between the cracks, to go unnoticed and become forgettable. Those people are, of course, usually the ones who need your support and concern the most. It's a sad truth that the people who need help most are usually the ones in the least position to ask for or receive it."

She began passing out maps of Baltimore with several buildings marked off. "Today, however, we're going to be remembering those people and doing our best to assist them. Your next hour is going to be spent volunteering--though I'm sure you can feel free to stay a little longer if you don't have class immediately after this. As a reminder though, today isn't about you and and how good you feel about yourself afterwards. These people aren't learning experiences or character building exercises. You're there to see how you can help make their day better. It's a very different mindset to go in with, which you can feel free to think about for next week's class."

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"Not on a child here," Karla said. "We can find another way for you to prove your control and then we can come back."

So for today? No dice, Kaylin.

Kaylin sighed heavily, but gave in. "Fine."

"I know, I'm the worst," Karla said cheerfully. "I'm considering this early practice for when the munchkin is born."

"You'll probably be good," Kaylin said. "You'll love it a lot and everything."

She was quiet for a moment. "I don't really remember a whole lot about my mother. Some things I do, but not a lot."

"I already do," Karla agreed, hand falling over her abdomen. "Believe me, it's terrifying how much I already do."

She meant that. The depth of love she felt for her unborn child was literally terrifying.

"You may meet her again," she said softly. "Here. On the island. If you remember enough, I mean. Twice, my parents returned to see me."

"How could she come here?" Kaylin said, looking totally shocked. "She's dead. Not even mages can raise someone from the dead."

"So are mine. Murdered when I was nine," Karla said. "But then, how are we turned to children or to males or to ponies? The magic of the island is far stronger than anything I've ever encountered and my friend stopped the sun from rising for three days."

"Your magic here is crazy," Kaylin said. "Crazier than magic in general, I mean."

She looked up at Karla a little uncomfortably. "I'm sorry about your parents."

And a pause.

"Why did your friend want to stop the sun from rising? That sounds dumb."

Oh Kaylin, nothing like tact!

"I'm pretty sure island magic is crazier than anyone's magic," Karla agreed. "It's a rather comforting constant, actually. We're all in this together, boggled by whatever the Hell Fandom's thrown our way this time."

Talking about Karla's parents would likely only make things more uncomfortable for Kaylin, so she acknowledged the girl's sympathy with a smile and a nod and moved on to answering her question. Tactless, yes, but a good one.

"The important thing to note was that the sun was rising for the land and the animals, just not for the Blood," she said, because, yeah, that made it easier to imagine. "The Dark Council wanted to take Jaenelle away from her adopted father. She replied that they were more than welcome to do so by the time the next sun rose, assuming they hadn't changed their minds before then. And so, for three long, dark days, the sun didn't rise." Karla's smile wasn't particularly nice. "The Dark Council reversed their decision before the fourth day."

"I hate magic," Kaylin said. Yeah, so she could do it herself, but that wasn't really the point.

Her brow furrowed as she tried to understand what Karla was telling her. "So... someone made the sun not rise for people, but not for animals and then you guys like... threatened people or something so they'd leave her with her father?"

That was pretty awesome.

"That someone was Jaenelle," Karla said, her smiling going pleased and proud. "She just wanted to make sure they were aware of their options. They could take her away from Uncle Saetan or they could have the sun. Whatever they chose was up to them."

"Huh..." Kaylin considered that. "She sounds pretty tough. She might have done well in the fiefs."

"Jaenelle is the strongest witch in the history of the Blood," Karla said softly. "But power isn't everything. There's a trade-off in vulnerability sometimes."

And Jaenelle's childhood was a minefield of horrors, enough to even make Kaylin blanch, most likely. Not that Karla intended to share that.

"But she did wander into Hell as a child of seven, so you might be right."

Kaylin went to Barren when she was 13, but it wasn't literally Hell, just figuratively.

She also thought she wouldn't mind at least feeling less vulnerable.

"Is she like a Mage or an Arcanist then?"

"She's a witch like I am--A Healer, a Black Widow, and a Queen, as well as the usual Craft than any member of the Blood has access to, regardless of caste." Karla bit her lip, uncertain how--or even if--to explain what Witch was and meant to the Blood of Kaeleer. "She's special. Quite literally the embodiment of dreams and given human form. That's why she's so damn powerful. But her heart, the person she is--that's all Jaenelle."

"The only ones of those I understand are Healer and Queen," Kaylin said. "The rest, well, I don't know how that can happen, being a dream and a human, but I get that she must be pretty special and you seem to like her, so she must be pretty good too."

And that was enough for her to decide this Jaenelle person must be okay.

If given the opportunity, Karla would be happy to indoctrinate Kaylin into the Church of Best Jaenelle is Best.

"A Black Widow is a mind-Healer," Karla explained. "Also the caste of dreams, illusions, and prophecies. And those of us who are born to the caste are also, quite literally, venomous."

She held her palm out to Kaylin and extended her snake-tooth out from under her ring finger nail.

"Black Widows can metabolize poisons and use it to make our own."

"You're like part snake-person?" Kaylin asked. There was no censure or shock in her voice, just honest curiosity. "We don't have those in Elantra."

Lion type people, bird type people, terrifying horrible people with tentacles on their forehead who could rip your thoughts and memories from your head, yes, but no snake like people.

Please excuse her if she was looking to see if she could see any scales. She's a curious thing.

"Nope, I'm fully human," Karla said with the easy acceptance of someone who was friends with tigrekin and satyrs and other random non-human types. "I just metabolize and create my own...what are you doing?"

You know, with the peering and the searching and stuff.

"Looking for scales," Kaylin said with complete honesty. "Because, you know, I'd thought maybe you were a snake-person so, but you said you weren't so..."

She sighed. "Now I feel a little silly."

Defying Expectations, Tuesday, Per 3

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