Speaking With Constellations

looks up at the Duelist’s Mask constellation.

looks back at Salme.

thinks, at the constellation, what do you see?

would like to borrow the Mask, from Salme’s hands, in order to have eyes with which to properly observe her. Is this within her Will?

Wills it to be so.

takes the mask, and holds it level with her face, and turns its towards her. Her eyes meet its eyes.

says, “I SEE AN ANTHROPOS THAT IS TRYING HER BEST TO PERFORM HER DUTY, AS SHE SOLEMNLY ACCEPTED IT, KNOWING NOT WHAT ITS RAMIFICATIONS MIGHT BE.” Its voice is quicksilver. The mask’s mouth moves, when it speaks.

does not drop the Mask. Holds herself very still. “Are you what sometimes watches me from the eyes of the Mask?” she asks carefully.

replies, “THE MASK IS OF ME BUT IT IS NOT ME. ITS WILL IS ITS OWN.”

: “And what is your will?”

: “TO SHINE BRIGHTLY. WHAT IS YOUR WILL?”

considers for a long time and then says, “To tell the story in such a way that those I love will shine brightly. To shift the course of the river just enough to save all that can be saved. To not just know, but understand.” She takes a breath.

: “To remember and be remembered. To keep faith in the face of despair.”

: “Too much?”

: “YOUR WILL COULD BE TO CURL UP IN A SUNBEAM IN THE WARM LIGHT OF THE ALSOS, AND IT WOULD BE ENOUGH.”

: “YOUR WILL COULD BE TO BECOME A BEAST THAT GNAWS ON THE WORLD’S HEART, AND IT WOULD NOT BE TOO MUCH.”

: “YOUR WILL IS THE ONLY THING THAT IS TRULY YOUR OWN. LIVE IN ITS LIGHT.”

: “IT IS AN ADMIRABLE WILL.”

: “Thank you,” she says solemnly, and then adds, “can you tell me what happened to make the Space in the Sky Empty?”

: “STARS WERE EATEN.” It sounds, for the first time, horrified.

: “I’m sorry,” she says, though she doesn’t think that is a adequate. “Can you tell me who or what ate them? Can you tell me what shape the stars held before?”

: “I CANNOT. THEY HAVE BEEN EATEN. THEY ARE GONE.”

: “Fair enough,” she concedes. “Can you tell me why you looked at me? Why you spoke to me?”

: “YOU SHINE BRIGHTLY.”

: “ALSO, BECAUSE I COULD.”

laughs. “That’s the best reason to do something, isn’t it?”

: “IT IS.”

: “You said your Will is different from that of the Mask. Can you tell me how to learn the Mask’s Will?”

: “TRACE ITS ROOTS TO THEIR BINDING. YOU WILL FIND THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW ITS WILL. BUT YOU WILL HAVE TRACED ITS ROOTS TO THEIR BINDING, AND THAT WILL HAVE MATTERED.”

: “I will do that.” Then, she pauses. “Thank you. Is there anything I can do for you, in turn?”

: “YES.”

: “REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE FIRE.”

stares into the Mask’s eyes, and then laughs.

: “If I could speak to the other constellations, would they each say something I would find familiar?”

: “I COULD NOT KNOW THEIR WILL.”

: “You can’t just ask?” She says, with a bit of a smile.

sounds almost sad? “I CANNOT.”

: “Why can’t you?”

: “I HAVE NO MOUTH WITH WHICH TO SPEAK. I HAVE NO EARS WITH WHICH TO HEAR. I HAVE NO EYES WITH WHICH TO SEE. I ONLY SHINE. BUT I SHINE BRIGHTLY.”

: “And yet you looked at me when I looked up at you,” she says.

: “YOU HOLD MY ONLY ENTELECHEIA IN YOUR HANDS. AND IT WAS YOUR WILL TO KNOW ME. AND SO: I SHINE FOR YOU AND YOU ALONE, IN THIS WAY.” It sounds fond.

: “Oh.” She smiles at the Mask. “Thank you then. For shining for me in this way.”

: “THANK YOU, SALME TOU ALSOS, O BRIGHT SHINER. BE THAT WHICH ONLY YOU CAN BE.”

allows the light to fade.

is simply the mask again, in the bearer’s hands