The Will To Live (Sanctuary)

[Nora Saint-Clair]

It was only that morning that she finished learning her final exercise. It had been Calliope who walked her through the astrological mysteries, which sounded more like rebranded astrology than it did solving the mysteries of the universe. She was working on her journal when someone came to fetch her. As an Ember, she’d done very little official brotherhood stuff. A little volunteering, a little talking about the brotherhood. But nothing really official. Hence her surprise when she was summoned to the great hall to assist with an influx of people. It quickly became clear to her that these people weren’t Brotherhood seekers, they were simply escaping the storm.

Hours passed where she did nothing but run around. Initially people were cold or hungry. She showed them where to put their wet coats and shoes. As long as the electric grid held, they should have plenty of power to keep the building warm, but as time passed and the storm worsened, tensions were growing, and a lot of it was directed at Quillon.

She’d not spent much time around Quillon. Seraphis led her teachings in the Brotherhood’s ways, but even Nora realized that there was some competition going on between members of the uppermost ranks. She wasn’t sure what they were all competing for; it didn’t seem like there were overt rewards bestowed upon one or another for any one accomplishment, unless someone counted the so-called praise of the Luminar. It made Nora want to roll her eyes. They all sought his approval as if he were the sun itself.

And every time a new group of people filed in the great hall, she silently cursed the great Luminar for his absence. It was obvious that Quillon was in over his head, so Nora did what she could. When the latest group filed in, the severity of the situation really hit her. She finally took a minute to look outside, and it hit her.

She called Claude.

“Hey. I am stuck at the Sanctuary, and just so you know, I’m not freaking out. But what is going on with this storm?”

"Glad you’re safe! No idea. They expected something, but not this much. It’s insane!”

“So it’s kind of bad here.”

"How so?”

“I don’t know. People seem really scared. There’s all kinds of people here saying they’re stuck or can’t get home. And someone brought in this little girl that looked dead.”

“Have you looked outside? There might be some truth to the not getting home part. As for the girl - I’m not even sure what to say about that. I hope she’s okay. Seems like there’s emergency vehicles going around everywhere”

“So vehicles are still going around where you are? Where are you anyway?”

“I’m safe - vehicles have been slowing down lately though. This is bad Nora.”

“But they are getting through? Okay. Do you think you could. Well, okay. I’m fine. And I don’t want you to put yourself at risk, but well…”

“Yes - but soon they won’t be able to. What do you need, Nora. out with it.”

“I wouldn’t hate it if you were here.”

“I can try, but won’t guarantee it. And if I try and I can’t make it, I’ll find shelter.”

“Okay, no never mind. This is way too risky. I’ll be okay. I just had a moment. You stay put. Swear it.”

“I swear it. I’ll stay here. You have a lot of people there?”

“Yah. There’s a ton of people.”

“Going to have to get morale up somehow. You get a lot of scared people, and you’re going to have problems there.”

“Hah! Right. Funny. You always know how to cheer me up.”

“Sorry - my own anxiety levels are a little high too. But cheering people up. That’s an idea. Distractions - something to get people to not focus on being stuck.”

“Ugh. Cheering people up. Because I’m good at that. Okay, I’ll figure something out. Check in soon.”

“If you don’t I will. You know how annoying I can be. Behave or I’ll come beat you up.”

As soon as the call ended, she wiped a tear from her eye and took a steadying breath, ready to go back out and try to cheer people up. Somehow