Annelise: Do you want to talk about your visions? They can be intense sometimes.
Venessa pauses, then shakes her head: I…don’t think I can talk about it yet.
Annelise nods: That’s alright.
Venessa pushes her lunch toward Annelise: You want some?
Annelise: No, I already ate.
Venessa: When are we gonna leave?
Annelise: Why?
Venessa: Why?! Have you seen this place?! There’s a forbidden room, personal files on who-knows-how-many people, and no vending machines!
Annelise laughs: We’ll leave at 2:30.
Venessa: 2:30?! Ugh! Why can’t we leave right now?!
Annelise: Because you’re grounded.
Venessa puts her face in her hands.
Annelise: This won’t last forever, I promise.
She places her hand on Venessa’s arm, and Venessa yelps and pulls it away.
Annelise: What is it?
Venessa removes her hand from her arm. There’s a small, pink, hand-shaped mark.
Venessa: You burned me, Annelise! How the heck did you do that?!
Annelise looks down at her hands: I don’t know.
Venessa runs out of the room. Annelise heads to the second floor and into the forbidden room. Venessa watches intently. Dortor appears beside her.
Venessa: Ah! Oh, it’s just you.
Dortor smiles: I see you’re getting acquainted with the way of the Bridge-dweller.
Venessa shakes her head: I’ll never get used to that.
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Dortor: What’s that mark on your arm?
Venessa: A burn.
Dortor: What burned you?
Venessa: Annelise.
Dortor: Really?
Venessa nods: I don’t know why she did it. After it happened, she ran upstairs into that room I’m not supposed to go in.
Dortor: She does that quite often.
Venessa: Burn people?
Dortor: No, rushing into the room. You see, Annelise’s gifts and abilities are a very mysterious thing. I doubt that even she understands the extent of her powers or what she’s capable of.
Venessa: Do you?
Dortor shakes his head: I have no idea what intricacies her abilities hold. I can only say that they’re unique. I haven’t seen anything like them since I came to be. Of course, my kind had many legends of strange occurrences.
Venessa: What kind of legends?
Dortor smiles: Many kinds. A favorite one, especially with my brother Felandrul, was the legend of the Kuvgonasgnima.
Venessa: What?
Dortor: It’s difficult to translate into English, but it loosely means “Bringer of the Sgnima’s Bane”.
Venessa: Are sag-whatever you said…Are they the Hostilities?
Dortor: Yes and no. It depends on how the word is used. Sgnima by itself is a general term for the Hostilities. When “The Sgnima” is used, however, it refers to their leader.
Venessa: So, this person would destroy Wyverna?
Dortor: Not exactly, but they would play a major role in her defeat. The word for “bring” in…what you call Cyclonese is very complex and can have many different meanings. However, the Bringer of Wyverna’s Bane isn’t the Bane themselves. They would probably assist the Bane in some way or have some other connection to them.
Venessa: You guys have some weird legends.
Dortor laughs: Well, the strange thing about this legend is that it came true years ago.
Venessa: Oh my gosh! When did it come true?
Dortor: June 8, 2029. A day that Bridge-dwellers remember for being of utmost importance, but very anti-climactic.
Venessa: Was there a fight?
Dortor: Not until 2034. I wouldn’t even call it a fight.
Venessa sighs: ‘Kay. It’s clear that nobody’s gonna tell me what’s going on. So, I’m just gonna quit asking.
Annelise walks out of the forbidden room and downstairs toward Venessa.
Annelise: Are you okay?
Venessa: Yeah, I’m fine.
Annelise: Good. Dortor, can you take her to Agent Susanna to get that burn fixed? I have some things that I may need to work on.
Dortor nods: Certainly.
The two of them head down the hallway and meet Susanna.
Susanna smiles: Hey, Venessa! Long time no see. Oh, and it looks like you burned yourself.
She signals for Venessa to hold out her arm. Susanna touches the burn and it disappears.
