"A lovely girl gazing at the stars, and the stars who gazed back."

- Sarah J. Maas, "Throne of Glass"

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Soundtrack of the chapter: New Official trailer for THoG by the most amazing brookieismyname (DO WATCH IT!)

Media: Banner of Jasper

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Chapter Ten: A New Mentor

Cady waited for the stars to stir. She tugged her black cloak closer, blending into the shadows. Her two days were up, and her painted tattoo had already faded into a dark smudge. As silent as the night, she snuck out into the apothecary. Her heartbeat soared, thrilled to be in the dark--the territory of Walkers.

As expected, there was a hole in the fence. She pulled the shadows from the nearest trees and covered herself. The door was unlocked, and she easily slid in. The apothecary was a vast place, where built in cabinets replaced the walls, counters lined the entire chamber in neat rows, all filled with checks, balances, thick books, athames and whatnot. Some cabinets contained vials of curious brews, while others held labeled herbs. Turning around to double check the coast, she picked a few herbs from the first counter and a couple flowers from the next. Cady then bundled everything up in a cloth and tucked it under her arm.

When she was back in the shadows, she released Zoroth.

He appeared with a frown of disapproval stamped on his face.

"I can't believe you're actually stealing, Cady," he said. "I thought you were a nice kid."

"Shhh," she retorted. "It's for Jasper, okay? We owe him so much."

"He said, get him herbs if possible. You didn't have to steal."

Cady rolled her eyes, but Zoroth had managed to knock some guilt into her.

"Just this once, kay?"

Zoroth's lips lifted in amusement. "Come, we need to hurry."

Without another word, he wrapped his arms around Cady and took her flying to the Darkling Woods.

Jasper was outside, tending to the Moonflowers. His hair was wild in the breeze, falling over his eyes. He pushed them out of his face and grinned when Cady landed.

He pointed a dirt coated finger at the bundle under Cady's arm. "Is that herbs I see?"

She walked over and handed it to Jasper. "Straight from the apothecary."

Zoroth feigned a cough. "You mean, stolen from the apothecary."

Jasper's eyes widened in horrified surprise. "You actually stole the herbs for me? I like you."

"Stealing is a sin," Zoroth lectured Jasper. "Thought you should know."

"Is he always that annoying?" Jasper asked Cady, now sniffing the bundle.

Cady couldn't suppress a smile. "Sometimes."

Zoroth opened his mouth to defend his wounded pride, but Jasper rose and directed them into his hut. "Come, I think your tattoo has worn off by now."

Cady obliged. With Zoroth muttering incursions under his breath, they followed Jasper into the brilliantly lit hut. She scanned the room with interest. The last time she was here, she was rather confused by Jasper's sudden appearance and her fever. But now, she could take in everything in full detail.

Jasper must be an avid reader, for books of all shapes and sizes lined the many shelves in alphabetical order. She ran a finger across the spines, enjoying the feel of the smooth leather against her skin. A cauldron simmered in the fireplace with pink smoke swirling from its contents while a table stood far off to the right, groaning from the burden of peculiar apparatus and phials.

"Curious girl, aren't you?" Jasper suddenly interrupted her thoughts. He placed a stool next to the table and dropped his tool box.

"Just admiring your house." She sat down and rolled up her sleeve. Her Walker tattoo was in full sight, since the paint had faded yesterday.

"I wouldn't call it a house, it's tiny. A cottage, perhaps." Jasper uncapped a bottle of face dye. He almost dropped it when a loud clatter thundered from the kitchen.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" Jasper yelled.

"Sorry!" Zoroth's voice floated back to him. "I thought there was chicken in the pot!"

Cady blushed. "Sorry about Zoroth, he's always hungry."

Jasper replied with a gentle jab on her shoulder with a cloth, cleaning away the old paint stains. "He'll never find where my larder is."

She froze. "That...I can't guarantee."

Jasper rolled his eyes.

After a few, quick strokes, he put down his brush. "Done. Don't roll down your sleeve yet, let it dry first."

Craning her neck, she admired how fast and skilled Jasper was at painting. The tattoo looked so real, it seemed to undulate on her arm.

"Thanks, Jasper."

"No problem, thank you, for the herbs. Anyways, how's life in the Hall of Spirits?"

"They're teaching us how to communicate with the Stars. I had to pretend most of the time. I only managed it once." She pouted. "Hey, is there a Star called Jordin Sparks?"

Jasper looked flabbergasted. "A Star called what?!"

Cady looked down, trying not to laugh. "Figures. They asked me what Star I got in touch with yesterday and I couldn't think of one on the spot. So I made up a name."

"You made up a name?" Jasper's jaw dropped. "Stars alive, you're terrible at acting. I'm surprised they hadn't blown your cover yet. You could've given them a simple name, something like Aldberamin, or Rasalgethi, or even the almighty Ophiuchus."

She shoved Jasper in the arm. "What the heck are you talking about? That doesn't even sound simple!"

"To me it is." Jasper looked genuinely concerned at Cady's lack of knowledge about the Celestial world. "I thought you guys learnt it in the Hall of Games."

Cady felt a jab of sorrow. Suddenly in need of space, she turned and headed outside, where the trees were whispering in the dark.

"Cady-" Jasper began. "What's wrong?"

The image of Van's pale and cold body choked her. She remembered it so vividly, the reason that made her enter Esvanira without so much as a second thought. Her past was taken from her, and she still had no clue of the future. Cady dropped down to the grass and hugged her knees.

"I'm sorry, Jasper. It's just-argh-I can't say."

Jasper sat down beside her and tucked a loose strand of her fiery hair behind her ear. "Look Cady, it's alright. No one will hurt you."

"I never grew up in the Hall of Games," said Cady. "I'm from the New World. I only found out about Esvanira a few months ago, when my father died and left me nothing but a letter, telling me that I must go to the Hall of Games."

Jasper sucked in a deep breath. "You're from...the New World?"

"Well, I was born in Esvanira," Cady said slowly. "But my parents entrusted my brother and I to someone who fled the Great War to the New World."

"Your brother...is he a Walker as well?"

She shook her head. "No, he's a Warrior."

Jasper held his head backwards and scanned the sky. "Curious, very curious indeed," he muttered.

"If you don't mind me asking, who is the person who brought you up in the New World?"

Bittersweet memories of Van dropping Cady at school, making mud cakes with her and playing all sorts of games overwhelmed her, threatening to spill. Cady bit down her emotions and directed her focus at the grass, in which she started yanking forcefully.

"Van Blackthorn."

Jasper didn't say anything, but he seemed to be deep in thought. "Have you ever wondered who you really are?"

Cady's fingers worked even more furiously at the grass. "All the time."

"I think...I can help you." He shifted his position so he was facing Cady. His eyes seemed to have blended in with the night, swirling as they searched Cady's face. "Walkers are not too different from Oracles. I can teach you what the Hall of Spirits cannot, for I know the talents of Walkers. My mother was a Walker. She left me plenty of books on Walkers before she passed. With knowledge, you can slowly pick the Great War apart and you can search up the family trees, where you can trace back your roots."

Jasper's tone was sincere, and his eyes firm-a silence promise that he would help Cady to the very end. She felt humbled by Jasper, an Oracle so willing to help a stranger who was supposed to be his blood enemy.

"Really?" she said, feeling hope rise, inflating like a balloon in her chest.

"Really," he confirmed. "There is more to the power of shadows than what you can ever imagine. The Oracles of the Hall of Spirits fear the Walkers, because they have never really understood Shadows. There is no light without shadows, and no shadows without light. The dark shouldn't be feared."

"You're so different from the rest," Cady admitted. "Most Oracles avoid the topic of Walkers if they could."

Jasper's fingers started twiddling with a little leather pouch hanging from his belt. "That's because they grew up under the influence of Raphine Sanguinis. I, on the other hand, grew up in the wild. I never went to the Hall of Games. I learnt from my mother, I learnt from both Stars and Decanates. That is why I hate Starlet politics, they're often biased."

Cady's mind flickered to Thomas, the sweet, caring Oracle who had stuck with her ever since they met at a little campfire, then to Eli. Both were Oracles, but they flinch whenever the word 'Walker' was brought up.

They might desert her if they ever found out that she was a Walker.

She didn't realize she needed a real friend so much, until Jasper walked into her life.

Jasper waved his hand before her. "Earth to Cady!"

"Sorry," Cady said. "Was thinking about something."

"You do that a lot," Jasper mumbled. "It's creepy."

He clapped his hands together before Cady could retaliate at being called creepy.

"So, what say you?"

She smiled. "That would be amazing."

Jasper's smile was so brilliant, it could put the sun to shame. "I knew you wouldn't decline." He winked and leaped to his feet, brushing the grass off his pants. "And Cady, I think you killed my grass. I spent months tending to that patch."

Cady stared at the mountain of uprooted grass circling her like a halo. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

"You'll have to plant that back." He waggled his eyebrows. "I shall see that you do."

At that moment, Zoroth emerged from the hut, looking triumphant. He held up a large chicken leg and waved it at Jasper.

"I know where you hide your food now! Nothing escapes Zoroth the Almighty!"

"Did he just raid my larder?" Jasper was dumbfounded. "Hey, give me back my dinner!"

Zoroth danced out of the way as Jasper made at lunge at his stolen chicken. Spreading his wings, he grabbed Cady and took up into the air. She gasped, feeling all breath leaving her in one go as Zoroth seized her waist.

"See you in two days!" Zoroth spiraled away, leaving behind a yelling Jasper, shaking his fist at the Decanate.

Cady pinched her Consort at the arm. He flinched, but still held on to her.

"Zoroth, that wasn't nice!"

"Well, if you could steal herbs, I figured out I could steal his food," Zoroth replied through a mouthful of chicken.

"Alright, alright, I won't do that again." Cady said, annoyed that Zoroth had managed to blackmail her to decency.

"Good girl," Zoroth said. "What were you two talking about outside?"

"You know what Zoroth?" Cady smiled. "I found a new mentor."

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A/N

Before we go into chapter questions, I have good news to announce! The Hall of Games has been accepted to become a Wattpad featured story! I'm so happy I think I danced the moon down, or more like, screamed until it fell. 

To celebrate THoG'S 130,000 reads as well as over 1400 Starlets and a whooping 6000+ reads for THos, I would like to present you the newest official trailer for THoG made by the one and only Brooke! It's very similar to the events depicted in THoG with the most astounding voice-overs. Remember to check it out and give it a like!

It seems that Cady finally found a mentor who could teach her the ways of the Walkers! What do you think? Is this good or she might have just thrown herself into danger? Let me hear from you!

As usual, remember to hit that star and turn it gold!

Ang Pows (oh no, it's not a food),

Stef