Ilda had long lost her faith in the Goddess Queen and her church, but it had sunk to a new low during the Selection. Growing up, she’d heard nothing but stories and whispers about how fate chose the bravest and the best of their generation and gave them a chance to be queen and change the world... only to discover that the Twelve were chosen technically via raffle draw. Completely random.
So when the soft light of the rising sun revealed a mousy-looking girl huddled away in a corner of the boat, the blonde simply assumed she was one of the Twelve, if only because she was about the right age. Only teenagers were eligible for the Emergence.
“Hi there!” she called out, smiling brightly as she shifted over to Nita. “Did you sleep well?”
Just because they were in a competition didn’t mean she had to be a snob, right? Plus, maybe having more friends would help her cause, especially if she’d get caught. (Or maybe not. Cheating in the Emergence was, after all, tantamount to sacrilege. Or heresy. Or something just as bad. Ilda wasn’t sure; she‘d never really taken their religious teachings to heart.)
Ilda's smile brightened all the more when Nita met her eyes.
"Just enough. Kind of hard to sleep with all that's going on." Plus she was more excitable than most girls. And anxious, because of what she'd done to get to where she was. "Are you one of the Twelve?"
It wasn't rude to ask, was it? The Selection didn't exactly reveal who the Twelve were. The priestesses just did some fancy show of picking out crystals; the matching ones in the possession of the lucky girls were supposed to glow, signaling their selection. Ilda didn't know for sure, since her crystal was rigged, guaranteeing her selection.
And while Carmela was sneaky and spunky enough to have thought of a way to cheat, odds were about even as to whether she had; some good things in life just seemed to happen to her.
Not that she didn't put any effort in, either. Carmela was self-driven in that way.
"I... take it you are, then?"
Nita had no set image of what the Twelve were supposed to look like; just how they were expected to act and benefit the people.
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So when the soft light of the rising sun revealed a mousy-looking girl huddled away in a corner of the boat, the blonde simply assumed she was one of the Twelve, if only because she was about the right age. Only teenagers were eligible for the Emergence.
“Hi there!” she called out, smiling brightly as she shifted over to Nita. “Did you sleep well?”
Just because they were in a competition didn’t mean she had to be a snob, right? Plus, maybe having more friends would help her cause, especially if she’d get caught. (Or maybe not. Cheating in the Emergence was, after all, tantamount to sacrilege. Or heresy. Or something just as bad. Ilda wasn’t sure; she‘d never really taken their religious teachings to heart.)
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"Er... I've been trying, yeah," she dodged, glancing more at the floor in an attempt to avoid awkward staring... which was itself awkward.
"Might sleep better once we land, though. What- what about you?"
She looked up properly then, gray eyes meeting Ilda's.
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"Just enough. Kind of hard to sleep with all that's going on." Plus she was more excitable than most girls. And anxious, because of what she'd done to get to where she was. "Are you one of the Twelve?"
It wasn't rude to ask, was it? The Selection didn't exactly reveal who the Twelve were. The priestesses just did some fancy show of picking out crystals; the matching ones in the possession of the lucky girls were supposed to glow, signaling their selection. Ilda didn't know for sure, since her crystal was rigged, guaranteeing her selection.
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"My friend's sister is."
And while Carmela was sneaky and spunky enough to have thought of a way to cheat, odds were about even as to whether she had; some good things in life just seemed to happen to her.
Not that she didn't put any effort in, either. Carmela was self-driven in that way.
"I... take it you are, then?"
Nita had no set image of what the Twelve were supposed to look like; just how they were expected to act and benefit the people.