Celeste Academy - Divining with Lulina (Patreon)

She follows the musical chimes of her navigation app as it indicates to make one last left turn, before she arrives at her destination. 

Thankfully, this time she was given an address, rather than the fascinating—yet cryptic—set of directions the diviner provided for their first meeting, which Carida is extra thankful for as she walks down the row of surprisingly normal-looking houses. It's hard to imagine someone as unique as Lulina living in anywhere short of a lace-draped, ancient mansion, but the only thing that stands out to her as she swings open the short wooden gate is a tidy herb garden just outside the front door, and a small, faded bird feeder hanging from the porch.

In the moment she realizes that, like Lexa, Lulina is someone she still barely knows, even though the two have exchanged a few short messages since their initial meeting, and a cautious excitement grows in Carida at the thought of what this second encounter might hold.

The doorbell gives a noisy, sonorous ring inside the house, and after a short couple minutes, Carida hears soft footsteps, and the sound of latches being undone. The door swings open.

"Oh, hello?"

Carida pauses in straightening out her sweater as she is greeted by a beautiful older woman, tall, with light, almost silvery hair draped in front of her shoulder in a neat plait over her pastel floral jumpsuit. The sides of her eyes crinkle ever so slightly as she smiles down at Carida.

Carida blushes and stammers for the briefest of moments as she remembers how to speak. "I-I'm looking for Lulina?"

The woman's face lights up. "Oh, of course! I thought she might be having someone over. Come in."

She leads Carida inside, to a very normal-looking entryway. An assortment of old portraits hang on the walls between the junctions of a few different doorways, and Carida catches a whiff of some kind of potpourri as she bends down to remove her shoes, which she traces to a bundle of herbs set neatly in a bowl on the shelf beside her.

She waits patiently as the woman calls Lulina's name up to the second floor before apologizing and excusing herself quickly to another room. Carida tries not to be too nosy while she waits, but her curiosity gets the best of her, and she begins slowly winding around the small corridor, peering at the faces in the dusty photographs and wondering who each one might have been.

"Carida."

She stifles a shriek, nearly jumping out of her skin as a soft, but firm voice calls to her, and turns to see Lulina, briskly descending the long staircase. For an instant, she finds herself stunned for a different reason. Her sateen dress, a soft sapphire, is as immaculate as her attire last time, delicately pleated, with a loose ribbon bow at her neck, her long hair with the same gloss and bounce to it. Yet, perhaps it is the lack of low heels clacking beneath her quick footsteps, or else the warm scents and sounds of an unfamiliar home around her that make her seem unlike the Lulina Carida met before. In this setting, she is as though a completely different girl—enchanting, in a whole new way.

"The moon's great grin," she says as she reaches the bottom, not breathless in the least. "I'm so glad to see you." She holds out her hand to grasp Carida's, tilting her head politely.

"Thanks for inviting me," Carida replies, beaming. "I know I messaged you kind of out of the blue. Hope I'm not imposing."

"Nonsense, I knew the paths that carry us would intertwine again." Lulina titters. "Whether fated or forged. This way," she says, and turns, starting immediately back up the stairs. She pauses, though, on the third step, and looks back over her shoulder. "Ah. Could I get you something?"

Carida starts to deny the offer, when the smell of something sweet and spiced wafts in from down the hall, and she realizes that she has yet to have lunch. She laughs as her stomach gurgles quietly in response. "I could probably stand for a bit of a snack."

"Absolutely," Lulina says, brushing quickly past Carida and heading down the hallway. She stops again when she realizes Carida is following her and clips, "Oh, no, you go right up, I'll be just there." Before Carida can protest, she adds, "Opening your heart and home to a guest means to never cause them worry." She smiles. "Please. My room is the second door on the right, I'll be just a minute."

Carida feels a bit guilty but can do nothing but smile back, and makes her way slowly up a staircase that is far more steep than she realized, finding the indicated door at the top. She starts to reach for the knob, and only just notices the gentle crackling as her fingers approach it. Curious what attunement permeates the handle, she wraps her hand around it, and finds it unlocked, the door easily pushing in.

If the rest of the home is 'normal,' this room is not. Yet, it is far more what she expected of Lulina. The early afternoon light snakes its way in between sets of dark curtains, strung between with small skulls and feathers and amulets and gems, the sunbeams falling across a canopy bed with poles of old brass and a deep purple circular rug, threadbare at the edges. Every visible surface is crowded with small boxes and artifacts and books, most faintly electric in the auras hanging around them, and Carida almost feels whisked away to another time entirely until she spots the small bin of device chargers peeking out from the other side of the bed. The room is cramped, and cluttered, yet there is an order to it somehow. Her eyes just start to fall upon a small desk with a pen and open notebook when Lulina comes padding back up the stairs.

"So sorry to keep you," she says, and Carida wonders where exactly they are going to rest, when Lulina sets the tray in her hands down in the middle of the rug, and sits down upon the floor on one side. Carida quickly follows. They have only just begun to eat when Lulina asks, "So, have you thought of your question?"

Carida gives a muffled, "Huh?" a frosted cookie halfway in her mouth.

Lulina tilts her head at the blank stare. "You'll need a question, to practice with."

The gears churn in Carida's head for a few seconds before a proverbial lightbulb blinks on. 'I would love to guide you in hearing the song of the stars,' Lulina had written, when Carida messaged to ask if she was free this weekend. She half-chokes, then quickly swallows, when she realizes that once again she failed to read all the way through Lulina's poetic wording—to understand that she had been offering divination lessons, which made the sudden invitation to her home make all the more sense. The still somewhat embarrassing memory of her slip-up the last time bubbles up, and her cheeks grow slightly hot.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah, yes, I was just surprised how spicy these cookies are," Carida fibs, "I like it. Did your mother bake these?" Lulina wrinkles her brow inquisitively, and Carida adds, "The woman downstairs?"

The diviner's eyes brighten up. "Ah, that's my sister, Serafina. Our mother passed when I was little... but actually she did raise me, so I suppose she's something like my mother."

Carida's face falls, her hand slowly with it. "I'm sorry..."

Lulina shakes her head. "No, it was a long time ago, I barely even remember her, to be honest. And besides," she says, running her fingers pensively across the edge of the rug before she looks up at Carida. "Those who love us never truly leave us."

There is something distant beyond the warmth of Lulina's face that makes Carida's heart ache even as it invites a strange comfort, but Lulina takes a sip of her tea and it is gone as quickly as it appeared, a moment as faint as memory.

"Anyhow," she continues, placing down the china teacup and clapping her hands together. "I realized that last time we were together, the obstacle to the answers was not the mediums, but the motive." She quickly hops to her feet and flits around the room, collecting various items that she sets down before Carida, pushing the tray to one side—a set of cards, a small velvet bag, a pair of carved twigs, among other things. She gestures to them all. "When we divine with items like this, it is less about the items themselves, and more about aligning them with our intentions. These objects are but the mouthpiece by which we speak to the beyond, but we still must speak the right language..." She leans forward, and presses a finger to Carida's heart. "We're attuning both the objects, and ourselves."

The gentle chill of Lulina's hands does not pass through Carida's shirt, but she can imagine it all the same, like a soothing wave. "So... does that mean that the problem with your ritual was that I wasn't speaking the right 'language?'"

"More that we weren't speaking the same language. I shared with you my question, but unless we both had the same focus on the result, it would never have worked anyway." Her cheeks pink, gaze drifting downward. "I suppose it might be obvious I don't often do partner work. I forgot that."

Carida bounces up and clasps her hand around Lulina's. "Well then, if we're going to practice together, maybe we should ask something that we both want to know?" She doesn't register how close their faces suddenly are, but Lulina certainly seems to, her cheeks going even redder.

"W-well," she stammers, quickly demuring, "I think I'm fairly adaptable. For now... We'll focus on something that you want to know, just to make sure you've got the hang of it." She pulls away, to point to the collection again. "Now, clear your mind, and pick your medium."

Carida does as she is told, though it's hard to to push the image of how cute Lulina looks right now from her head. What to pick...? She thinks back to her lessons in school and closes her eyes, trying to feel the potential energies of each item. Eventually, her hand comes to rest on the pair of sticks.

"The fairy boughs," Lulina reports. "Those are best for simple questions. I suppose what you want to know must have a simple answer. So, what would you like to know?"

"I..." Carida quickly cuts herself off, then laughs softly. "It's a little embarrassing."

"You don't have to be shy," Lulina assures. "But we can leave this a solo exercise to start, if you want to keep it secret. The only real key is honesty."

She then clears the other items away, and scoots back to give Carida some space, leaving just the pair of sticks before her. She talks her through the steps of priming her attunement to the items, and opening the channel of her own mind, and prompts her to begin.

Silently, Carida focuses on her question, mouthing the words that Lulina told her as she holds her hands cupped around the miniature branches. With her eyes closed, she does not see the branches glow and stand on end, vibrating. She speaks the final word of release, and they fall.

Carida looks down. The two sticks have fallen at a perfect angle, touching one another at a single shared tip, like a mountain or an arrow. "What does it mean?" she asks.

"The sign of the forest," Lulina replies straight away. "It means... 'Yes, but something is still clouding your vision.' There is an obstacle in your way, that's blocking you from seeing the end of your path, whether a real barrier or something of your own mind trying to lead you astray. More or less... it means that what you seek is there, and you're moving in the right direction, but you still have much searching before you find the true way... So, what are you looking for?"

Carida blinks at the sticks. Her pulse quickens as her mind swirls with thoughts, and she almost starts to go a bit giddy before burying her face in her hands. She turns up to Lulina, then slowly parts her fingers to peek out, and half-murmurs, "I was wondering... If I had met my true love yet."

A mix of emotions run across Lulina's face: confusion, curiosity, bashfulness, before it finally settles into something adoring and kind.

"I've... asked such questions myself," she finally says. "It would seem those stars are shining brightly for you..." Her voice goes soft, but still warm. "I hope that they can guide your way."

Before Carida can ask about this further, Lulina seems swift to change the subject, introducing Carida to methods of reading the other mediums, giving her various tips about how to focus her questions, and warnings about certain interpretations. The pair hardly notice how much time has passed between their practices when they suddenly realize the last ebbs of sunlight are starting to vanish from the windows, the room now dim around them. Just as Lulina stands to turn on the lamp, a woman's voice calls up the stairs, informing the pair of an early supper. Carida tries to protest, saying that she could not possibly ask Lulina's family to serve her a meal as well, but Lulina insists upon it—and the instant Carida catches a bright and savory fragrance from the kitchen, all her objections melt away.

Lulina makes a proper introduction and then the pair settle down beside a small table as Lulina's older sister, Serafina, cheerfully enters the room, a heavy pot hovering between her hands and the stew inside still burbling.

"This smells amazing!" Carida chirps. "What's in here?"

Serafina smiles as she sets the pot down. "Actually you'll have to ask my wife about that. Miri!" she calls to the kitchen, before speaking in a language that sounds familiar to Carida but she cannot put a name to.

Carida starts to lean over to Lulina, but before she can ask, Serafina turns back and explains, "Oh, sorry to be rude. I don't know if Lulu told you, but our family is from Ziyrkos. We came to the Islands when Lulu was young, but Miri only moved here recently." It's only then that Carida catches the hint of accent on Serafina's voice—before noticing Lulina's poorly hidden pout at the use of the diminutive nickname. It's all she can do to stifle a laugh.

Moments later, another woman, short and adorably curvy with cropped red hair, comes in to the room. Serafina plants a kiss on her cheek and says a few more words to her in what Carida then realizes is Ziyrs as she takes a seat beside her. Hearing this, Miri turns to Carida with a broad smile and points excitedly to the pot. "Oh, the klellem! You like to cook?"

Carida gives an enthusiastic nod and Miri begins to explain the dish in detail, Serafina translating between them as Carida asks a mountain's worth of questions in return, taking mental notes of all the seasoning pairings and preparation methods not so common in Nouveau. Lulina sits beside her quietly, taking in the scene, not speaking a word. Gazing at Carida, her eyes grow gradually wider, then narrow into a smile, as though something occurs to her, but she continues saying nothing until politely pointing out to the other three that the klellem is getting cold.

When supper wraps up, Lulina walks Carida to the door, asking if she is sure she's alright to get home, twilight now stretching its arms down the street and only a pair of lanterns illuminating the end of the walk, but Carida assures that she is fine; it's not so late in the evening yet that she can't get back to the dorm by one way or another.

"I had a wonderful time today," says Carida, lingering on the porch. "I think I learned a lot!"

"I'm glad to hear it," Lulina replies. "I... loved having you here. I hope you'll keep practicing. Perhaps you really can help me out some time, I think you have the spirit for it."

"Ha ha, do I?"

Lulina nods. "Honesty and curiosity. There are no better qualities to be found in seekers of the great mysteries. Oh... and Carida?" she says, catching her by the sleeve.

"Hm?"

"The path may wind, but sometimes... you might find it leads you right back to the beginning."

Carida's face wrinkles. "I'm not sure I understand."

"I think you will, in time." Lulina blushes, and takes her by the hand. "Keep searching. You'll find what you're looking for, near or far. The stars shine bright for you."

Carida smiles, and squeezes her hand in return, before setting off into the dark. Lulina watches fondly from the porch, until Carida rounds the corner, slipping out of sight.

Head Witch Note:

A very happy and enthusiastic thank you to Laiska for returning as a guest writer to create Lulina's second date! Our very favorite goth witch is always a welcome treat, and this story was just oh so sweet. See you all soon with our next poll!

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