Chatterbox: Crowd Sorcery

Our Sidekick!

Cricket readers have spoken! You have chosen Araceli Luminè to be the sidekick in Fred and Emily's crowd-sorcery story! Thragen Mist and Scrant finished second and third in the voting, with Sir Cecil and Jonah also having many fans. Each of the remaining characters received a substantial number of votes.

Thanks to everyone who participated, and a special thanks to Katniss Everdeen for creating Araceli Luminè. 

Now it is up to Fred to weave an imaginative tale involving our heroine Fable Thatcher and her sidekick Araceli Luminè as they confront the villainous Khaos. 

Remember that some of your villains will appear in the September issue of Cricket with sketches by Emily, and that your sidekicks will be featured in the October issue. Fred’s finished story, illustrated by Emily, will appear in the November/December issue.  

Meanwhile, you are welcome to add to the posts on this area of the Chatterbox. We are trying to figure out how to make this a permanent area for fantasy writers to which you can add your own threads and stories. We also hope to make the Cricket contest in the November/December issue a fantasy story where you can write about some of the Crowd-Sorcery characters you've invented.

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1. Name: Araceli (meaning sky alter) Luminè ( mostly known as luminè)

2. Appearance: Soft white skin that seems to glow like that of a star, blinding to look at for too long. Her hair is long, spilling over her back in a waterfall of dark and darker. It seems to garb her like a shadow, clinging to her as she watches you from the darkness. Luminè's eyes are gray, the color of the ocean after a storm, and never seem to be looking at you, but instead, looking through you. She is slender and short, poised like a bird ready to take flight at the slightest sign of danger. She smells of parchment and ink, the hearts of old books worn dog-earred and ragged. Luminè is the one face that you would miss at first in a crowd, and upon returning home, remember forever. She is never seen without her cloak, which is long, inky black, and made from the feathers of crows. As well, she carries about a leather satchel that she never opens, but is rumored to be her father's last gift. 

3. Background: Araceli Luminè was the only child of the mysterious Booksmith, a man who travelled every town and village of the northern parts, copying ancient manuscripts and bringing them back to the Library. No one knows what became of her mother, not even Luminè herself. Indeed, the villagers say that if she had a mother, she must have been one of the stars, fallen to earth. One day Lumine's father is sent to an obscure part of the realm to find " a shadow faced, blue eyed man", who supposedly has an extremely valuable book, the Book of Shadows. It is not only incredibly rare, but incredibly magical, though no one knows quite what it does. Luminè is left with the Sisters of the Library for what is expected to be his short trip. But her father never returns, and Araceli is left an orphan,  alone in the Library, raised by the silent Sisters who guard  and care for the books. Months after her father's death, a package arrives at the library, addressed in his handwriting. None  but the silent sisters know of its existence, none but Luminè. To the visitors in the library, she is little more than a hazy memory: a girl in the shadows, pale faced and garbed in a feather cloak like a wild raven, fed on books and them memories of dreams that cannot be written.

4. Occupation or trade: Araceli works with the Silent Sisters in the library. While sorting books, she has fed herself on the memories of the years of book gathering she did with her father. 

5. Attitude toward main character: Luminè is at first frightened of Fable, the girl who daily wanders the Library alone hungry for new words, but at the same time, afraid of all that she learns. Luminè watches her from the shadows, trying to understand this mysterious girl and all that she could represent. Eventually, Luminè begins to trust Fable enough to approach her.

6. Strengths or special abilities: Luminè can hide anywhere, in anything. Under her raven-feather cloak, she is invisible to any eye. But her gray eyes can peer into any secret. She can also climb quite well.

7. Fears, weaknesses, or secrets: Luminè's weakness is darkness. She is safe in the shadows, but when it becomes ink black in the deepest crevices of the library, Luminè does not dare to venture onwards, even with the temptation of new stories. Luminè cannot stand being underground. Other than this she is quite brave, though she is quite reserved and inclined to be suspicious of people. 

8. How is the sidekick helpful? Araceli Luminè is intelligent, mysterious, and holds in her possession the Book of Shadows, a book created from living words. If used properly, this book has the power to control all knowledge ever written, or to wipe it from humanitiy's memory. It contains the secrets of all things forgotten, and most especially the things that were meant to be forgotten. All prophecy, all that has happened and is yet to happen is contained in the ancient pages. Luminè can also tell if people are telling the truth or not. She is said to be a child of the stars, and can upon rare occasions, fly. 

9. What does the sidekick want most? Luminè wants the shadow faced man to be punished for her father's death. As well, she wants to discover the truth about her mother and see the flame of eternal knowledge in the library lighted at last. 

10. Crowd Sorcery Sentences: Deeply immersed in the book she was reading, Luminè barely noticed the Silent Sisters as they glided around the library, their feet seemingly never touching the ground. They were always busy, as the Library seemed to go on forever, but their soundless footsteps and the whisper of the turning of old pages always seemed to shake the very building. They wanted to be felt, not heard. Not that they could find Luminè, even of they wanted to. From her peephole in the ceiling of the domed marble arch, Luminè could see all that was going on below. Not to mention that this was a nest of books; mostly those forgotten by the sisters, but some Luminè had stolen from the library herself for her enjoyment. But the prize gem of her books was the Book of Shadows. She had never opened this mysterious book, as her father had commanded in his last letter, but the cover spoke of tales too old to be of this earth, and too black to be remembered. It was an ancient thing, silent and cold as the sisters themselves. It demanded to be felt. It's very presence in Araceli's covey left a hole in its wake, a hole that meant having no father. 

On the floor below, suddenly the sound of high, echoing footsteps boomed across the library, amplified by the emptiness and the former silence. Luminè was jerked from story-land, her she imstantly looked down to see who it was.Didn't they know that this library was cursed? Ever since the flame went out, a year ago, people began avoiding the library. Some even began blaming the sisters for other misfortunes, but in all cases, they left it abandoned, only cared for by the sisters and herself. This time it was the girl again. The only one who dared to enter the library.Fable? Why does she always come here? What is she looking for? And why is she afraid of what she might find? Luminè flew from her comfortable perch, down the ladder, and out of the trapdoor on the second floor. Dashing silently across the marble steps, she followed Fable to an ill lit corner of the library, where she was just in time to see the other whirl on her. Luminè grasped for her cloak, but it was too late. Fable had seen her. 

" I knew it! I thought I saw you last time, but I came back to make sure.Why are you following me?"

Luminè couldn't honestly answer this. She was foolish to believe Fable could help her find the shadow faced man. So she replied with a question.

" What are you looking for?"

" Answers. A cure. Anything that might help."

Luminè was taken aback by the bright blueness of Fable's eyes. There was something in them that made her trust the girl. Suddenly, she recognized the symbol hanging about Fable's neck, and she shuddered with amazement.

"What is it?" Fable asked.

" Come with me" Luminè answered. " I think I have the answer to your problem." 

submitted by Katniss Everdeen, age 14, the Forest