Mannerly's Night Lessons: A lecture amidst the lutumtratium

The seven fold group moved through the rims of the spiral staircase, heading downwind their final destination. The sight of massive tall ferns could be seen poking out from the soil several stories below all the way to the top, out the entrance and onto the surface itself. Below a sprawling forest had been dug and constructed, the glass panels made to refract light and grow the sunlight plants crave below. One, three, five spirals further the class arrived at the bottom, the top of the lutumtratium entrance a faint spec whose shrinking status obscured the faint gleam of the moon. The chasm in the earth allowed them to stop into a vast garden underground, surrounded by torchlit walls, benches and a hexagonal pyle made for a brilliant bonfire.
Miss Mannerly leaned over to the cold pyle as if to say 'Oh no, that won't do' and threw some dust, lighting the subterranean in neon blue light. In her sleek robes she sat by a podium and cleared her throat.
"I admonish you all to pay your respects to the creed of six. Tonight we shall observe the sacred circuits in their full resonance. The sisterhood of a Ward over the years is proliferated, as it has been for centuries, by improvement and acknowledgement of all six relations and how the limits of their transference fixes our connection with the Hex."
The girl on the end of the bench, Chex next to him put her hand on the Julius's head and whispered "She's asleep."
Miss Mannerly was staring, a look of intense concentration on his face as she listened. She went over, pinched Julius's cheek and propped her upright, then continued without further interruption.
"I now introduce you to the Hextrifold seven-fold. The sacred circuits as a legacy define us as a people, and are the core of all Warden sisterhood." she said, gesturing to the next two class members on the bench. "Julius, Laikra." Stand under the moonlight, if you please." The two got up and followed suit, Laikra's dyed spiky hair illuminating from the miniscule hole in the ceiling farbound on the surface.
"Can you tell me the circuit of light?" Mannerly asked.
"Um.. Chicken wings?" Julius asked, hearing her stomach rumble. Mannerly shook her head gently. "Your notes. You are a student of Fire, please give tribute and enlighten Laikra here."
Julius closed her eyes and sighed. She tried to remember what she could.
"My element is fire, the primordial center, the spherical, the eternal. It's conduit of relevance is Light, the embodiment of knowledge. For Light has no beginning and no end. It cannot be created or destroyed; instead it only changes form. Every change in light is not a variation, but its opposite. You cannot create light but you can consume it. That is why the Hex is the center of all things and the knowledge of that beginning tells us where all connects, as light emanates from the Hex."
She put her hands out and created sparks from the bonfire which gathered into a fireball from her hands.
Laikra nodded. Mannerly cleared her throat. "But do either of you know what lies beyond the Hex?"
The two looked at each other, and shook their heads. "N-no."
"It is an anonymous place of emptiness. No one knows what represents the cut within the Hex itself. But it's enough to consider that someone might.. neither of you do know, do you?" She walked over to groom them, patting their heads and hugging them both together.
"The circuit of light is a relation of knowledge. In friendship, in sexual impasses, in familiar relations and passing, it's established as the relationship of knowing. Sisters who study, learn and embark on the transference of knowledge engage in Prisemela's pedigree."
She dismissed them both, and they sat back on the bench, rubbing each other's shoulders a little. Elizabeth and Chex were called up next.
"Elizabeth. May you?" She smirked. Elizabeth smiled, making a certain pose and crossing her fingers. A halo of thunder fell out and covered her body quickly, soon she took the shape of Miss Mannerly, but in thick leather, wings, latex gloves and a feathered staff.
"Kneel before your goddess." The woman said, speaking in false Santri dialect and acting as if she was convincing Chex in a 'Santri Marriage." With Chex kneeling and accepting a ring, Elizabeth waved the wand, created a chain around her neck and pulled her close for a kiss. "Whose your goddess?"
"Y-you are.." Chex said.
"That's right. Care to say your prayers?" She smirked.
The two continued to make out. Mannerly rolled her eyes. "That's quite enough."
Elizabeth deactivated the spell and appeared as a student once more.
"Can you identify the circuit?"
"The Circuit of Fire.." Elizabeth continued, still bedazzling Chex. "Is a transference in which a partner is considered to have acquired the one, the absolute. It is a bondage of the highest power, a relationship in which one is presented with the truth and absolutely no inconsistencies."
Mannerly gave a slight clap. "Never one truer. This is how the sisters of fire are represented by Rima. There is one who knows, who 'is.' A relationship with the highest order of being." The others gave a dull clap, and the two were dismissed back to the bench.

Nanette, Elizabeth came back up.
Elizabeth smirked, this part she knew was going to be fun.
"Nanette. May you?" Miss Mannerly asked, standing right next to Elizabeth and handing her the wand. The girl was still smirking as she gave the sign and the spell started in on Nanette. Before she knew it, a large black dress came out, one that she wasn't even aware she owned. A leather glove came out and then she was a large hooded hooded woman with a large red leather hat, a staff and a large wooden box of knives on her back.
Nanette's easygoing deposition changed. She threw a knife right next to Elizabeth, cutting her cheek. "It must be so easy getting admitted as a thunder practitioner. All the social training, the parties, the banquets, who wouldn't pay to be as spoiled as you?" She stuck her hands out and her sweat formed into icicles which slid in and slit a tiny cut in Elizabeth's neck. "I bet you never once thought about my feelings! About the needs of others. Why don't you let go of your narcissism for a little bit and CHILL OUT!" With a swish of her hands, the bonfire went out as its flames turned to plasmic droplets of icy dew, drenching and flooding on Elizabeth. The girl was chilled in Icicles.
"Very good Nanette." Mannerly helped transform Nanette back, her black dress and knives no longer present. "The anthem of Mercia is one as old as time. The love of a martyr. All those marked by the path of thunder's circuit are in a dizzying dance, a love of tension. The radical transference inherent in it seeks annihilation for those departed in their engagements, and annihilation of the self. A dual, a duet. The marriage where blades and bullets are exchanged, all in the name of sisterly love."
Everyone clapped politely.

Tenebria and Klaudia came up next. "The Circuit of Earth. In the Hex Manifold, it is the oft said to be the sturdiest of relations." Mannerly swept her foot, and the ground below the two girls turned into squeaky black goo. Vorplex, a layered substance that could transmute the body and annilate one's sense of identity and rob them of the Hex, leaving them obedient husks. Klaudia was sunk deeper, forcing her to rely on her partner.
"Grab my hand!" Tenebria said. The two linked, and were forced to rely on each other's strengths to slowly pull themselves towards the edge of the small yet infinitely deep puddle Mannerly created.
"Dyara's shield, it is the element of life, one that seeks to make sure all is well, to grow, and to heal. The Earth also represents a homely place of the many and an individual's physical body. But while Earth might seem to lack a spark, it is, in truth, the element of protective love. The song the sisters sang when they discovered this relation was one of the most tragic ever written. Its lyrics are a prayer of loss, of love which is never returned, only the void left in its wake. Because of this the dialect of the Earth circuit.." The two eventually reached the edge, and Tenebria pulled Klaudia out. Their bottom halves were coated and made entirely of sleek, perfectly smooth glossy latex with seams on the edges.
"..is that which protects by an indefinite magnitude. A relation marked by intersubjective interdependence, of guardianship and necessity. This, within the Wardenship's long history has inspired the ballads of knights and many a survival tales. No transference of Earthen circuits can be complete without this protection, without this survival and necessity."
The two rubbed each other's squeaky dark bodies, trying to avoid the urgency to blank anonymity and lust that crept up the two of them. It continued to crawl up, threatening to turn them into anonymous drones.
Mannerly poked them both and the sleek black infection disappeared.


The rest of the Hex class clapped, Julius had fallen asleep yet Elizabeth was taking notes.
"Nanette, could you come up again."
She scuttled her way to the front.
"Dear Nanette, can you identify the circuit of Water?"
The warden of Water wasn't too sure of herself, but she pressed her head forward to explain. "Invented and refined by the early Wardens of Alcina, the Water circuit seeks to help a partner by filling up all the holes of life with the very substance and essence of their own body. This circuit is marked by self-disclosure and unconditional affection. But, the circuit also seeks an indestructible bond in its partner, an interdependence in which you rely on the other and the other relies on you. This bond of love, this interdependence of a circuit which was supposed to symbolize the interconnected nature of the sea, as all bodies of water are as one in the same, flowing interchangeably." She looked away a bit. "It has a tendency towards sympathy, and relationships are marked by a focus on the emotions within the subjects."
"Very good, you may sit down. Moving on.." Mannerly said.
"Wait, that was it? I-"
"I said you may sit down." Mannerly interrupted, throwing her bait.
Nanette took the catch. "You glossed over my element! How could you do that?"
Mannerly shook her head. "We're limited on time. You explained it. Perhaps if you weren't such an unremarkable student, you could explain better."
Nanette started to shake, her eyes felt weepy. "No. Nonono, NO! That's not fair! You cannot neglect me like this Miss Mannerly!" Her cries turned into an outburst and she charged into Mannerly, her clothes turning to ice, and then into a whipping, waving flowing stream of water around her body, spinning rapidly with her emotions. "Neglecting you?"
"Yes! How do you think that makes me FEEL! I JUST WANT TO BE SEEN AS A GOOD WARDEN OKAY? I WANT OTHERS TO KNOW WHAT I'M FEELING AND LISTEN TO ME! I WANT TO BE TREATED LIKE SOMEONE WHO WORKS HARD AND WHOSE EMOTIONS CANNOT BE CAST ASIDE!" The water started to boil, and even multiplied- calling forth geysers and springs from the earth around the bonfire to the freight of the students.
She took a few moments to catch her breath.
Mannerly hugged her, patting her gently on the back.
Everyone looked at one another, but understood. "I.." Nanette sniffled.
"Sssh.. it's alright. You are a remarkable student."
Soon she dragged her way back to the bench. "Do also note while the dyad of water relationships are marked by emotional intensity, sympathy and empathy.. they are oft not, the best elicitors of true understanding. They're the circuit of the spectacle, of emotion. What you see is what you get. The truest aesthetic coupling possible."
Mannerly paced back and forth, eyeing all of her students once more.
The next student was Tenebria. She looked at her with a wide and inviting smile. Mannerly grabbed his wrist and he looked surprised.
"This is the first time you've ever done this, right?"
"Yeah, but- it cannot be that hard."
Mannerly smiled and shook her head. "Now, Life. The voiden chasm of the Hex. It is a difficult circuit for many reasons, especially as a beginner. Now, in our world Alchemena Daemonia occupies a certain privileged position when it comes to the Hextrifold." Tenebria got up, ignoring Mannerly. She walked past all the other students, pulled out some snacks and began to munch away from the others in the leafy forested segments within the shadowy corridors ahead. Others could see her sit in the dirt, scooping her hands and playing with the shadows. Her shadow puppetry created the shapes of wild beasts and insects, her dyed ink-black hair wavering in the dark shadows.

A lot of nodding.

"Now, in the case of life, one must realize the Void, like the other two circuits, is not a circuit at all. Rather, it is a void- a void of existence, of things, of meaning, of life itself. It is not of the Hex Manifold, it is a separate space. There is little- or no warmth or relationship in the circuit of 'Life.' Rather, this exchange is marked by the idea of an absolute independence. Subjects can be understood as isolated, in no way related to each other. A sisterhood in which one occupies a position of otherness that has a cataclysm of effects and consequences, but with no emotional exchange.. and that is why we have the most difficult circuit. It is not easy to love a void, one in which there is no one to reciprocate in kind. You must love without conditions, without hope of reward, without expecting to be met with reciprocation, without needing to be seen, only to be seen as a one-way mirror.
Mannerly's tone changed, her eyes looked sharper than before. "It is the circuit of madness, the circuit of the black hearted.. but this path too, this relation, has a value among the Hex. Wardens who follow the path of Void and are marked by its circuit, are able to enjoy a private and unique  power. The gift of absolute independence. Of a mind that is free from all bonds of reciprocation, who is able to move in a way which is only theirs.. for they will never have to look back in the mirror to wonder whether they were seen, and whether they have been seen. In a world full of broken promises, their promises to themselves are the greatest."
She was pacing back and forth in the dimness, the blackness that was made of the void.
The shadowpuppets grew out and soon became three dimensional, coating the entire room and even blocking the exit. When all was black, the only thing that could be seen was Tenebria's silhouette, her smile like a chessire's.
Soon even that disappeared.
All was dark.
"BOO!" Tenebria yelled, stirring the screams of her classmates as she popped behind them.
 Her body formed a void that wrapped around them, trapping them in a perfect spherical cage of silence and emptiness.  
When Mannerly came near, she popped that spherical stage with a twirl of her hand and Tenebria fell back.
"Give a round for our Life classmate." Everyone reluctantly clapped, still quite a bit spooked.

But, they would all agree that the way Mannerly had made their day was most appreciated.
Mannerly walked by each of them, taking pride in how she'd trained these students.
"That concludes tonight's lesson on Hex Manifolds. Know that all these relationships, either as academic or interpersonal as they may be are crucial to developing your placement as Wards. On the level of professional, familiar, romantic, these circuits will inform and should inform how you think about the life of relations the Hex structures and gifts us with. To learn how to recognize and how to appreciate the differences of your Hex partners, is the primary mark of a matured Ward and what signals their succession. It's the primary goal of your education, and you can have no true mastery of your element without it.
"There are only six of us, and yet our sisterships are many, manyfold. We walk the earth, and in a place that's not here, among all our sisters, in different tongues and worlds despite walking side by side. Each of the sisterships makes us stronger, and grows our connection with the Hex. We draw our power from it and through these sisterships, we understand the structure of our element, in not only its socially constructed context but divorced into the wider statrum of reality as a whole." She said very matter of factly.
"There are some very important terms we will go over, in the next class, which we will discuss in the following lecture."
Everyone clapped for the last time, exhausted. They'd been there for over an hour and were starting to get quite hungry.
"Now.." Mannerly pulled out of her cloth a large bucket of popcorn, a bucket of lemonade, chips and an old projector reel. "As promised, we'll watch tonight's movie and enjoy snacks. Which cinema classic should we watch? Hexula and the Night Mistress unleashed, Bride of the Tempest Queen, or Urban Story: Downtown Hexalotl, if you're craving a good B-movie."

Everyone began to nestle by the fire as the projector and a snack table was set up.
Mannerly went over her routine and gave out her own snacks, while chatting to them all.
One by one, the students began to settle in for the movie. Soon, the entire class was wrapped up in it, chatted and laughed, and ate popcorn. The dark garden forest underground grew denser as the students relaxed, some talking, some silent, some still. The kindling of the fire seemed quieter on their ears than it did moments before, each passing moment, every one encoded of love and hate flowed into the students like rain. A gentle storm of emotions, the precipitation of every intersection of being nipping at them peacefully while the projector dazzled the 7 into a phantasmagoria of pure fantasy.
At some point, as the projector lights dimmed and the fire fizzled out, the last one to be picked up began to make noises, a low snore. Soon all were sound asleep, their mouths open, their eyes peacefully shut.