Song: "Anakin Sees His Future" from Star Wars: The Clone Wars OST

I changed my name from Alura, daughter of Ántonin of Bel Delvala when I was fourteen, and seldom allowed people to use my birth name - Nell, when I met him at the age of twenty, was one of the few exceptions. Norwyn told me changing it would give me a chance to start over, a way to be free from the burdens I endured as a child. But my past followed me, all the way up until now. His lesson to me - to run away from who I am - is one of the teachings I regret following most.

❂❂❂

They left Delvala that same day. On the next, Light Spinner woke up in her office; her sleep had become so irregular that she'd dozed off working on the Spell. She gave a massive yawn and went to her bathroom to shower.

Micah's arms were still warm around her. His voice, whispering in her ear - You'll always have me as your friend, Light Spinner - kept haunting her. But her pain was too deep for Micah, a young teenager with an idealistic mind, to heal. No - the only way was to have the Spell on her side. If it succeeded, she would never be hurt again. Everything would be perfect, and people would be proven wrong about her. She could handle such power.

She entered her bathroom, sitting down to apply her makeup. Her glance shifted, and she dropped her brush, her figure wide-eyed in the mirror. In the glass was a felinetta toddler with mismatched eyes, one of the cat-humans that lived in Tropicilas. Her long, gray-brown hair was ruffled, and her ears flattened as she sobbed loudly. Light Spinner hardly dared to breathe. A future vision. 

Another thought occurred to her, almost in passing. Micah must have had one too. He was serious about what he saw - or thought he saw - in Delvala.

Who was this felinetta? Would Light Spinner save her from the Horde with her newly-found powers? Would she train another tiny Tropicil sorceress?

Or... She reached out toward the mirror timidly, but when she did, the vision swirled away. Will it be my fault she's crying?

✧✧✧

Another day passed; today was the day she would present her plan to the Guild. Light Spinner entered her office to check the forecast, as Mystacor sometimes had blizzards in the winter. The cauldron shimmered before Light Spinner's eyes, but when she gazed into it, an eerie image glared up at her.

A metal mask, carved in the image of a female face, flashed in the light. Empty white slits peered at her with morbid amusement, shifting with the wearer's eye movements. Light Spinner trembled as a gloved hand reached up to remove it, and she crushed her eyes shut so as not to see what lay beneath...but somehow she didn't need to in order to know who the woman was.

Sweating, she backed away from the cauldron. Shadows oozed from the sides, whisking the curtains shut and slamming the door. Black mist coiled around Light Spinner's feet, clammy hands viced around her elbows, and metal pressed itself to her ear. And through the horrid whispers that filled her ears, a woman with a familiar voice spoke.

"Insolent child."

Light Spinner screamed, and her light fired on its own As the dark magic seceded, she dropped to her knees, gasping. My voice. It was my voice speaking.

Her body knocked back and forth. The woman couldn't be her. Trembling rocked her to her core, and her legs stopped working for a few moments. Get a bloody hold of yourself before you soil your dress. You're such a coward.

Future visions were not set in stone; surely this was only one possible outcome. Light Spinner dug her fingernails into her still-stinging arms, chills seizing her from head to toe. The pain was an anchor to reality. I am not a monster. I am a victim, I have been lied to, and I'm trying to save Etheria. I am in control, and I'm the one the dark magic should fear.

I will present my plan to the Guild. I will continue things normally. I am no monster. But before she left, she took the sample of the Black Garnet she kept so secret and placed it in the pocket of her dress. It was her only warmth, for she could not tell these things to Micah and worry her apprentice.

Her cauldron hissed, and she turned toward it. Someone's trying to contact me. She accepted the message timidly, willing her body to stop shaking.

"Light Spinner!" Angella's formal tone sounded hopelessly relieved. "The Horde...they have taken the Black Garnet."

No. We're out of time for half-measures. Now the Rebellion was down a whole runestone. A whole princess. "I will come to your Rebellion soon," she said firmly. "I am presenting my plan to the Guild of Sorcerers today."

"Has the Horde attacked your kingdom, too?" Angella looked on the verge of tears, her violet eyes misty as she spoke.

You have so much to learn about war, my queen. We both do. "No - not yet. Stay hidden until my plan works. I promise, Your Majesty - we'll send backup soon."

"I do hope so," Angella said softly. "Thank you, Light Spinner. I don't know what the Rebellion would do without you."

Light Spinner smiled from behind her veil. "Goodbye, my queen."

✧✧✧

When they arrived at the Great Hall, Light Spinner gazed up at the darkening sky. There was an eclipse today; the brightest moon of Claritas would be overshadowed by its more magical counterparts, Sacramentum and Argenti. The Spell had to be cast before the eclipse ended, or there simply wouldn't be enough magic moondust renewed to chain the corruption. And we're out of time. The Black Garnet is in the hands of the Horde now.

Micah took her hands. "I know they'll listen to your plan. Go in there and knock 'em dead. I believe in you."

He pulled her head down, pressing it to his. Micah still loves you. He'll always love you. It was a moment of relief in the midst of her neurotic, panicked state. When she pulled away, he grinned. "Good luck!" he called as she stepped into the Great Hall.

Light Spinner kept her journal out as she made her way into the Lunarium. This meeting had been called specifically so the Guild could discuss what to do about the Horde. Now was her chance to prove herself. They had allowed her to teach them her discoveries in illusionary arts; perhaps they would grant her this hearing too.

She inhaled deeply as she entered. Her peers' eyes, for the first time, chilled her. She stepped up to the cauldron, and Norwyn permitted her to have the floor immediately, much to her surprise.

Light Spinner pushed aside the desire to smack him across the face. Stop acting like a child. You must stay focused, clear-headed. "I am glad we're finally discussing this issue, only after one of the mighty five kingdoms has fallen," she said smoothly. The eclipse overshadowed her face, blocking out her faint glow. "We can no longer stand by while the Horde continues to conquer more and more of the free territory. The princesses have been unable to stop them, and now they have taken a runestone: the Black Garnet."

Submerging her hand in the magical water, Light Spinner cast an image of the Black Garnet chained by the Horde, its Scorpion guards chained up and injured. Even Festinia looked appalled, and a smile touched Light Spinner's lips. She'd gotten the upper hand by knowing about the Garnet's capture before everyone else.

"We may not have runestones, but there is a way we can become powerful enough to stand against the Horde." She tapped the water, and the emblem of the Spell appeared. Her bones trembled with desire at the four-point diamond, and she barely recognized her own voice. "Cast the Spell of Obtainment, and take power for ourselves!"

Norwyn moved up to the cauldron. "What you propose is forbidden, Light Spinner," he said, the harsh tone causing heat to burn Light Spinner's cheeks. "The Spell of Obtainment leeches power, turning the caster into a magical parasite - before it inevitably kills them!"

She dug her fingernails into her skin. Lies. You know there was a survivor. She and Norwyn had had their tossups over the years, but this was the first time a tiny part of her fantasized about snapping off his horns. "But I've modified the Spell. Emeth Auctor was a wicked fool on his own, not even needing the Spell to drive him mad. He never tried to chain the corruption. The Spell's power is not dark; the byproduct is. And then the Three Moons of Enchantment come into alignment tonight - think of the good we'll do - "

"Enough," Arvina interrupted. "You have gone too far this time. How did you even find the procedure for the Spell? Norwyn - "

Norwyn gazed at Arvina with a warning look in his eyes, and she backed down. Ah. That's a confirmation. He turned back to Light Spinner. "There can be no good from this," he said firmly.

Fury roiled in her chest, and she slammed her hands on the cauldron. "So we do nothing?"

Norwyn was unfazed by her outburst, as was usual. "The princesses will settle the problem," he said, breaking her location spell. "Etheria will take care of itself, as it has always done, without resorting to twisted spells."

Light Spinner's hair rustled, and she forced herself not to panic. The princesses haven't settled the problem, you idiot! "You know I'm right!" she shouted. "If we don't fight, if we don't become stronger, we won't have a planet to protect!"

Every face that had once been shocked into listening was now stone-cold. Norwyn spoke calmly. "Be satisfied with what you have, Light Spinner. Some power is not meant for you."

Her fingernails dug into the scrapes on her wrists, and she bit her tongue. "You're all blind," she spat, and left the room in fury.

❂❂❂

Did you know...

● I've always seen Anakin Skywalker and Light Spinner as similar characters in many ways. Even their endings in canon are similar.

● The song I put at the beginning of this chapter takes place during Anakin's equivalent of the scene where Light Spinner meets her shadow.

Tell me what you think...

● Why do you think Norwyn hid the information about Light Spinner's father, and the Spell, from her?

● Who is the felinetta? (This is an easy one.)