Setting: Testing Chamber: White Tower, Tar Valon

Players:
Raemira, Lanta, Micana, Maeve

Maeve enters the Testing Chamber from the hallway of the basement.

It is an unusually pale-faced and wide-eyed Maeve who is ushered into the testing chamber by Lanta Sedai. Tense she is as well, like a bowstring on the brink of what it can take, and it doesn't look like she'd get a word out even if she was allowed to speak.

Lanta enters the chamber with Maeve, her face stern and emotionless.

Raemira stands... no... more like looms before a podium which seems to house three chalices, a towel and some white cloth. She watches stony faced as the Novice and the Mistress enters the room, though deep within her eyes there is an uncanny presence of sympathy.

Somewhat stiffly Maeve's stormier-than-usual gaze flicks over the room, settling briefly upon Raemira. The touch of sympathy in the Amyrlin's eyes seems to, somehow, give the girl a little of her usually stubborn strength back, and she firmly lifts her chin. Her act of confidence isn't very convincing though.

Lanta faces the Novice, studying her for a long moment. After this silence, she speaks. "You are to be tested for Raising to Accepted. Before you undergo the test, you must search your heart to determine for yourself whether or not you are truly ready. You may refuse now, and twice more, without shame. On the third refusal, you will be put out of the Tower for good." Another pause, and then Atalanta asks, "do you understand?"

Micana remains silent as she stands by the ter'angreal, at one of the intersections of the three arches. Two other Aes Sedai stand at the other points.

Despite the sleepless nights, and the worry, Maeve is who she is. Impatient, irrational and often hasty. She might not be ready, but to refuse a challenge? Never. Initial.. well, almost shock, over Atalanta's words, which make her face pale even more, changes just moments later into stubborn determination. "I understand. Refusing... never." However, the look in her eyes doesn't speak of any confidence at all.

Lanta arches an eyebrow. "Are you certain, Novice? Remember, there is no shame in refusing for the first time."

There might be a moments hestitation, but then Maeve nods her head, firmly.. sharply even. "I am certain." She forces herself to speak firmly, and her voice is tense, very tense. She seems to think its best to get it over with at once, to jump off the cliff on the first chance.

Micana settles into a seated, cross-legged position before the terangreal, her skirts speading in a circle around her. Her hands turn palm upward and rest on her knees in a positon of repose and her face assumes the expressionless ritualistic mask common to this ceremony. The other aes Sedai settle into place beside the other two points.

Lanta nods, just once. "Then remove your clothing, Novice, that you may enter the testing unfettered."

With almost feverish haste, so she wont have to think and regret her decision perhaps, Maeve undoes to the belt and steps out of her shoes, leaving it all on the ground where it falls. The dress is next, and she almost tugs it off with in the same, hurried manner, though manages to slow herself down somewhat. It is added to the small pile at the ground, and the socks, which she almost forgets, join the rest of her clothes moments later. Then she straightens herself up, nodding to Atalanta to signal that she's done and ready.

Lanta looks impassively at Maeve. "Now I will tell you two things that no woman hears before she stands here in this chamber. The first: Once you begin, you must continue through to the end. Refuse to go on at any point and you will be put out of the Tower, exactly as if you'd refused to begin for the third time."

If she could have paled more, Maeve probably would have. But she cant by now, so again she merely nods, though very, very stiffly, wetting dry lips with an equally dry tongue.

Lanta looks at her very seriously. "The second is this. Some women have gone into the arches and /never...come...out/. When the arches were allowed to grow quiet, they /were...not...there/. And they were never seen again. To survive, you must be steadfast. Falter, fail and..." She trails off, meaningfully.

Looking away from Atalanta, Maeve turns her gaze to the three arches, staring long and hard at them, before she slowly nods her head again, returning her darkened and stormy gaze to the Mistress of Novices.

Lanta lifts both eyebrows now. The light glints off of her glasses. The reflection causes it to seem as if she hardly has eyes at all. "Are you completely certain, Maeve? You may still refuse without penalty, go back to your life as a Novice for a time, and ready yourself."

"If I am not ready, I never will be. There's nothing to gain from waiting." Maeve's voice is suddenly calm again, calm as the sea before the storm one might fear, but her words ring true, this at least is nothing she's hastily and suddenly come to think of. "I will not refuse."

Lanta says, her voice intense, "Then ready yourself, Novice. For there will be no turning back."

Lanta looks to Raemira.

Micana focuses on the intersection before her, her bearing one of intense concentration.

Taking a deep breath, which she forgets to exhale and thus it rather increases her tension than anything else, Maeve pulls herself up to her 'full' height. Once more she nods her head, as stiffly as before, and turns her gaze upon the closest arch,

"Whom do you bring with you, Daughter?" Raemira begins to intone, eyes regarding Maeve with a shaded glance. This is the point of no return, light help the novice for her decision.

Lanta meets Raemira's eyes, her own voice a monotone, almost a chant. "One who comes as a candidate for Acceptance."

Maeve hardly moves a muscle, looking as if she's turned into a statue of pale marble, her gaze still locked upon the arch awaiting her.

Raemira seems to regard Maeve with quiet, calm eyes that hold a note of unending sympathy, "Is she ready?" Her voice comes out in a monotone expression as she speaks, no emotion in it at all.

Lanta 's voice echoes back to the Amyrlin Seat across the chamber. "She is ready to leave behind what she was, and, in passing through her fears, gain Acceptance."

Yes, she's said she's ready, and her stiff posture could perhaps indicate something similar. But one look into Maeve's eyes tells a completely different story, for within them wild storms rage.

The arches begin to shine with a dull silvery glow. There is a hum filling the air, more felt than audible and the space within each of the three arches begins to glow, nothing visible beyond the shimmering barrier.

"Does she know her fears?" Raemira inquires in her monotone voice, emerald eyes still watching the older novice.

Lanta says, "She has never faced them, but now is willing."

Does she know them? Perhaps she knows some of them at least, for there's fear within her eyes as well. But it is too late to turn back now for Maeve, and always was perhaps.

The next few words echo about the room, seeming to silence it, "Then let her face her fears." Raemira calls out, her eyes locking on Maeve more rigidly now, as if expecting something.

Lanta leads Maeve towards the first arch. "To seek, to strive, is to know danger. The first arch is for what was. The way back will come but once. Be steadfast." A quick, light touch of her hand upon Maeve's shoulder, and then she steps back, sending the girl into Light knows what.

For a moment Maeve tears her gaze from the softly humming arch before her, it rests for a moment upon Raemira, and brushes over Atalanta. She doesn't nod this time, doesn't do anything expect takes a stride into the unknown, before she has time to think about where it might lead her.

Maeve enters the Arch One.

As you pass through the arch, the scene within the chamber and your life of the Tower seems to flit from your memory, as if it was not even there. You find yourself back at home, just before the door. For some reason you are nervous, and afraid, though eager at the same time, excited. Inside someone is waiting for you, someone you love and wish to please more than anything else within the world.

Blinking Maeve looks about herself. Home, but somehow it doesn't fit. A distant memory tugs at her, but it is too far away, the door before her so much more real. Yet it is with hesitation that she steps towards it... and reaches out to open it. As if she's fearing what awaits her behind it...

Behind the door she finds her house, her home, her life. Sitting in a chair by the fire is her mother, gazing into it silently. She does not seem to notice Maeve entering the room, at all, as if held within deep contemplation.

"Mother?" Maeve's voice is... uncertain, despite the obvious hint of happiness within it as well. The memory tugs at her again, but it is her mother after all, and she brushes it aside, hastily covering the distance between her and Dienna. "Mother... are you... I mean, I am back now." Back from where? She doesn't know, but it seems to fit. "Are you not happy to see me?" Worriedly she adds this, seeing her mothers expression.

Dienna's eyes turn toward Maeve, the expression within them far from welcoming, "So... You've returned." She speaks, her voice holding no emotion, almost like ice. "Finally." She adds.

Maeve shrinks back from the cold look in her mother's eyes, kneeling down on the floor before her. "Mother? What is wrong? I've... I've missed you, and I am back now." There's a not of desperation in her voice, she so dearly wants to please her mother, and the faint whisper of a memory, of somewhere else, is gone now, buried beneath the pain of such a cold meeting.

Dienna gets up from her chair, cold eyes meeting Maeve's for a moment. She makes her way to the door, not answering her daughter, "I had a daughter. Once." She speaks. Melodramatic, yes, but effective. She opens the door, then proceeds outside to the gardens.

Steadfast
  Steadfast
    Steadfast
      Steadfast
Once
  The way back
    comes but once.
          Once.

Thoughts not of Maeve's own making tiptoe through her mind.

At first Maeve just stares after her mother, numbed by the shock and the wave of pain washing over her. "Mother!" she cries out, hasting to her feet to follow Dienna... and stops. The memory again, clearer now, and she whirls about, looking for something in the room. But all she sees is the closing door, and she half throws herself through it, realizing that her mother is gone.

The woman Maeve calls her mother appears to be heading toward a particular maze, a place she knows well and goes often, a place that is easily forgotten if you've been gone long enough not to travel it's paths each day to keep it's memory fresh. Dienna starts through the entrance, "We've nothing to talk about. You are a stranger to me." She calls out over her shoulders. "You are the cause for all of my troubles." Cold words meet the ears of Maeve, as she steps through the tresses of the first section of the maze, disappearing behind the tall, leafy plants.

"Noooo.... wait! Mother!" Maeve's cries are pained, desperate, and she stumbles blindly into the maze, thorny branches leaving long scratches on her as she takes no care of what she runs into. "I didn't... I didn't mean to. Please wait... let me explain!" But Dienna is nowhere to be seen... and at a juncture where several paths meet, she stops, looking wild-eyed around her. The memory is back, yet the urgency she feels to find her mother makes it hard for her to hear its call.

A silvery arch flickers in the periphery of Maeve's vision, light glinting on the rising arc.

        Be steadfast
        he way back comes but once.

Footfalls can be heard moving along the next path, though how or where to get there cannot be found......

As the arch appear before her, Maeve stares at it, silent suddenly. It, more than anything, tries to force her to recall something. But then the footsteps reach her ears. She starts to move aimlessly towards them, but the arch tugs at her too, and the voice in her mind. Torn between the two choices she seems to be getting neither way for a moment, until she with an anguished look upon her face and raw pain in her eyes seems to realize that her mother is dead and gone, and the future can never be the past. With a last, wailing cry escaping her, she throws herself towards the silvery shape, tumbling through it.

Maeve leaves the Arch One.

Cold water is splashed over Maeve's head as soon as she exits the arch. Raemira begins to speak in her monotone voice, no sympathy or emotion there this time, "You are washed clean of what sin you may have done, and of those done against you. You are washed clean," She continues, "Of what crime you may have committed, and of those commited against you. You come to use washed clean and pure, in heart and soul."

Maeve stumbles out through the first arch, falling heavily to her knees with a look of pain and horror upon her face, her eyes filled to the brim with tears yet unshead. She hardly seems to notice the water which is poured over here, staring out ahead of her as if blinded by what she saw in there.

Micana sits impassively staring straight ahead at the arches, her concentration on them unwavering.

Lanta doesn't give Maeve much more time to react than it takes for Raemira to pour the ritual water over the girl's head. She takes her by the arm, steering her right back towards the second arch. "The second time is for what is. The way back will come but once. Be steadfast."

Raemira continues to watch impassively, waiting for Lanta to continue on with the rest of the ceremony. Several of the Sedai about the chamber seem to tense then relax a bit as Maeve exits, though it could be a part of your imagination that over half let out a breath of air.

Stiffly, as if drained of sense and emotions, except for pain, Maeve forces herself to her knees. She still doesn't seem to notice what goes on about her, merely leads Atalanta lead her, like a sheep to the slaughter, towards the second arch. This time she doesn't haste in the same way into it, just nods slowlyt and walks like a zombie into the silvery shape, passing out of view once more.

Maeve enters the Arch Two.

Your life, your friends, the Tower as you know it all winks away, behind you. Something flickers at the back of your mind, tugging at it, yet it seems not imporant. You find yourself in your Accepteds dress, just newly raised. You are out in the courtyard when you are approached by Diar, an odd look upon his features as he walks over to you. "Good evening, vixen." He greets you in the old way.

The pain is gone, beyond remembrance even, once Maeve steps through the arch. Once again she looks about herself hesitantly, frowning at some thought hidden deep within her mind. She looks down at her dress at well, an odd look on her face for a moment, but then, then she sees you. "Diar... Good evening..." She speaks slowly, looking him over almost nervously, as if something isn't quite right.

A broad smile seems to great the the young woman before him. Diar seems to be charmingly handsome this particular evening instead. Yet... there's something about him, something... different. You can't quite put your finger on it... until. "Look..." He begins in a hushed tone, eyes glancing about him, before they fall fully upon yourself, "I am sorry about all that's been happening of late. Things have been... different... Especially since you've started training here."

As always that smile has an irresistible effect on Maeve, her eyes suddenly alight with a bright gleam, despite the feeling that something isn't right. What does she care after all, when Diar is... as... as usual? "You're sorry?" She's puzzled though, over his words, yet finds herself drawn closer anyhow, a hopeful note in her voice. "What about... I mean, do you mean about... us? I've accepted it.... well... I've tried..." Her voice fades, and she looks up at him, staring into his grey eyes.

"Well..." Comes his voice, "I've tried... as well... and have done quiet a bit of soul searching..." He pauses, hesitantly, "I think..." He begins, "We could possibly work something out..." Another pause, "If only...." His words somehow seem to falter and fail, as if he cannot find them.

The way back
The way back
        Once
        Once
        once
  The way back comes but once.
          Steadfast
        Steadfast
    Steadfast
  Be Steadfast
Words echo in memory, bare whispers in Maeve's mind.

"Light..." Maeve breathes out, having been tensely holding it back since you last spoke. "You think we could? I mean... you dont care that... what we are. That we are -siblings- Diar?" She cuts off suddenly, looking over her shoulder with a frown on her face. A memory, distant and yet so instant. What was it that she had to remember? But you're still there, and she cannot ignore your presence, nor your last words. "If only what... love?" The last is insistant, oh so insistant.

"Well..." Diar continues, nervously glancing about the Tower grounds, "You would have to come with me. Away from this place" His hand motions out idly toward the Tower, "We could never be togehter here with them watching over us all of the time. You'd never be free like you were meant to be, but caged. And Vixen..." He pauses, reaching out a hand to touch your cheek, "You should never be caged like some animal to be controlled."

Just to the side rises a shimmering silvery structure which certainly is foreign to this place yet seems somehow to 'belong' Silver glints along the curving surface which beacons by its very presence.

        The way back comes but once.
        Be steadfast.

For one moment the 'yes' is on Maeve's lips, these are the words she's wanted to hear for so many, lonely months, but then she realizes the full meaning of her words. "Leave? But... I... I asked you before... before I took the test. Light... Diar, I love you... but it is too late." Her voice is far from certain as she speaks though, and she's painfully aware of the cheek where your hand touched her so lightly. "I don't know... maybe I can..." Sudden't she stares past him instead, over his shoulder, seeing the silvery structure. It calls to her, beckons to her, and she takes a first step towards it. For a moment you are not the foremost thought in her mind.

"Maeve... please?" His voice seems to beg as he watches you, his eyes pleading with you as well. "That is the only way we can be together." His hand tries to bring your chin back to him, to face him, "Only way I can be certain nothing will get between us again." His voice is soft, and holds emotion, loving emotion, for the first time in a long time of hiding behind a void.

A sparkle of light glints on the crest of the silvery arc. An inaudible hum may be felt as the faintest brush of memory whispers to Maeve.

steadfassssttttt
once
        once

More terrible than the pain she felt before, the one she no longer remembers in here, is the torrent of emotions which sweep in over her as you speak. "I... Diar, please..." What she begs for she doesn't say, her expression frantic as she stares from you to the arch, and back again. "I... I have to go..." She starts to move towards the arch again, yet stops once more, on the verge of turning back. But somewhere in her mind that memory calls to her, and somewhere she knows this isn't right. "Oh Light! I love you Diar... but you made me go here... you..." She cuts herself off forcefully, and before you can say something else, rushes towards and through the gait. The last thing she hears is your: "Maeve... please?"

Maeve leaves the Arch Two.

For the second time, as Maeve exits the arches, cold water falls upon her. The Amyrlin Seat begins to start her intonation, "You are washed clean of false pride. You are washed clean of false ambition" A faint pause, "You come to use washed clean and pure, in heart and soul." Quietly does she regard Maeve, the firelight of the candles glinting within her emotionless, emerald eyes. Others about her, Aes Sedai, seem to let out a breath of air, tension still high, yet apparent that they are glad two arches are down with one left to go.

Tears stream down Maeve's cheeks, mingling with the water poured down over her, her hair plastered to her back and shoulders. She doesn't seem to care or notice though, but repeats over and over in a monotonous litany. "I love him... I didn't want to leave him... I love him... I didn't want to leave him." She's shaking as well, but it could be from the cold water. It likely isn't though.

For the briefest of instances sympathy finds it's way into Raemira's eyes once more, before winking out again. Her expression turns placid and emptionless, yet seems to lend a sort of strength as well.

Lanta doesn't react to Maeve's words at all. She simply guides her to the third arch, impassive. Stern. A moving statue. "The third time is for what will be. The way back will come but once. Be steadfast."

Micana continues to sit immobile, totally concentrating on the task at hand.

This time, when lead up to the final arch, Maeve stops. Pain, almost unbearable pain, is all which show upon her face. "Oh Light... not once more... Oh Light...." Her legs seem to tremble, as if she's about to fall to her knees and refuse. But from somewhere she finds strength, a last scrap of strength, to look around herself, to realize what will happen. It saves, or perhaps dooms her, for with a look of utter anguish and fear too terrible, she steps into the last arch, trembling still.

Maeve enters the Arch Three.

As you walk through the arch, thoughts of the previous fears blink away, as does the chamber once more, for the third and final time. You find yourself deep within the midst of the Blight with Diar next to you. Somehow, somewhere, that just seems... right. Your 'Gaidin' looks back at you, his expression seemingly hard, taking note of every danger about you. Suddenly a creature pops out into the area just as Diar dismounts from his horse, seeming to be a rather large boar. Before Diar can turn and look at his 'attacker' he is literally mowed over and spiked with the tush, thrown into the air then he falls hard to the ground. Pain throbs through the bond and as it does, you slowly, ever so slowly feel his life essence draining away.

There's no chance this time for Maeve to even start wondering, for the pain which fills her body all of a sudden mutes all other thoughts and feelings. "Nooooooooo!" She screams, hoarsely, her own voice alien to her. The pain... aaargh, it is unlike anything she's ever felt, and it cannot be avoid. "Light... no, Diar.... Diar!" The boar is engulfed in flames, reduced to a pile of ashes as she unleashes her full strength at it, but she doesn't seem to notice. Filled to the brim with Saidar still, drawing more than she's ever had, she kneels beside her fallen Gaidin, desperately trying to with her hands and her simple weaves of healing to stem the loss of blood. "Oh please... dont leave me, dont die..."

The life continues to drain from Diar as he looks up at Maeve, "I will try not to, Mashiara" Love, the word means, "My vixen." You feel him struggling, through the bond, to keep his emotions of fear down, though you can also feel his love and anguish as well, all three overwhelming you and him. Slowly he starts to close his eyes, "But I must rest first..." His words seem weakened.

Back
        Back
             Back
The way back
    Comes but
  once
  once
  once.
        Be Steadfast.
Fragments of memories not Maeve's own tickle and play in the back of her mind.

She looks up, for a moment, but the call is so faint, so very, very faint, and it cannot reach through the haze of pain and loss unbearable. "No... You cannot leave me Diar... Light, you're my heart, my soul... my very self." Crying, her vision impaire by the flood of tears, she struggles to close to wound, but in vain. She curses her inability, she curses the Light... but nothing helps. She has no gift of Healing, and the wound is fatal without a doubt. But she will not give up, not as long as there's a chance...

His eyes flutter open again, a smile touching his lips. "I will always be with you love" He was always a terrible liar, deep down inside he does know he will be leaving, but his words are to sooth your thoughts and feelings. A hand painfully raises to your heart, "In heart and soul." It then lifts to caress your cheek weakly. Something flickers within his eyes, then you feel him slipping once more, though still trying to struggle for life.

Back
Back
The way back
once
once
steadfast
        steadfast
once

Words jiggle and probe, flickering in and out of the line of thought.

"Diar, damn you Diar... You swore you would not leave me again..." Her voice hoarse and her eyes dry, she has no more tears left, she ignores the risks, ignores the warnings, and pulls more and more of Saidar, pushing it into the weak and useless weaves of healing she can manages while feeding strength into you at the same time. Only the thought, nagging at the back of her mind, stops her in time... before she passes too far. She looks up from the lifeless body on the ground, staring out at the twisted landscape around her, her eyes empty and her face grief-stricken.

"And I will not, Vixen..." Again he refers to you by his old name, "Upon my honor I will stay with thee until the end of time." A sweet smile graces his handsome features. Some of the blood slows, but the hole protruding through his body seems to be the cause of most of his damage. That she can't possibly heal, even with her miniscule weaves to stop the flows. "To guard and pro... tect" He struggles with the last words, seeming to grow more weak even with the invigoration weaves placed into him.

Slowly something starts to flicker a few paces away. Silver glints in and out of vision as if there and yet not there before it solidifies into a silver arch. An almost imperceptible hum fills the mind and words echo in memory.

The way back
        Comes but once.
Be steadfast.

A glimmer of hope in the utter darkness as you speak again, yet Maeve knows deep within that it will not last. It is enough though, to make her see right through the arch. It calls to her again, but all which matters to her is here after all... She leans over you, gently touching a pale cheek. "I won't go... Rest love, I will... I will not let anything happen to you." She's so weary, even though her weavings have dulled your pain, and she hardly has the strength to maintain the flows which essentially keep you alive, feeding strength into you. For a brief instance she looks up at the arch, but it is as if she doesn't see it. "I'll never give up Diar..."

"Rest..." He agrees, "Rest is what I need..." He begins to close his eyes again, "I will be better with rest..." His arm weakly manages to find a away over your body, holding you to him. "Rest..." He keeps murmuring, as if it holds new meaning to him, "I love you...." A beat, "I'll always will.... rest love"

The silvery gleam begins to grow hazy and indistinct. The hum it emits grows fainter then stronger.

        "Steadfast
        be steadfast
        The way baccckkkkk
        once.once.once.

Blood stains and wets her clothing, but she doesn't care, struggling to get her arms around you, to cradle your weakening body. "Shhh.... don't speak... I know, how could I now know?" The pain is great, it threatens to consume her, and yet there's love shining out of her eyes. The bond is weakening though... And, somewhere, buried deep, the memories whisper to her, as to the humming of the arch. She lifts her gaze from your pale face, but it doesn't seem to want to focus on the arch. "Light... I cannot leave you..." Yet somewhere she knows she must pass through the silvery doorway, but she cannot leave you. In a last, desperate act to save you, she tries to lift your far too heavy body, tries to drag or carry you towards the arch. "I will take you with me... always Diar... never separated." Blindly she struggles, inching closer to the shimmering portal.

Diar hangs limpy within your arms as you pick up him, unable to protest. Your hands are able to feel his wound, at least partially, and the blood still gushing from it, at places it could not be stopped even with her help. He is unable to do much more than groan in pain as he is lifted however.

Finding strength, the last of her strength, Maeve slowly drags you closer to where the arch should be, where she last saw it. But it is not enough, and she's too weak to Channel even a trickle more, having exhausted herself long ago.

The arch grows so faint it is obvious that any delay and it will be lost, gone. The hum fades leaving only an echo....and an Aes Sedai alone...with a dying man. A final strengthening of the flicker accompanies the last echo in memory.
Once
once
Steadfast

No time for the burden, no room to maneuver..One...or none shall pass.

Turning away from Diar, lying immobile upon the ground, Maeve searches for the arch, her red and raw eyes hardly finding the faintly shimmering shape. "Light... I love you Diar..." She almost moves towards it, so close after all, and it calls to her still. Something is wrong, she shouldn't be here... But you are, and you're dying, in front of her eyes. Again she bends down, brushing her lips against yours. They're almost cold. "Light... I have to go... Will you forgive me love?" There's a faint flicker of life left, but you cannot answer any longer... Tortured, feeling nothing but pain, Maeve starts to crawl towards the arch, still futily trying to drag you along. But she cannot even move you any longer, and the silvery doorway... it is almost gone. Despite this, despite that the air is filled of danger, she looks back a last time, "Diar..." She cannot bear to look away, but backs towards the arch, if it is still there, with her eyes still locked upon your lifeless form. The last thing she feels as she falls through it is your bond breaking...

Maeve leaves the Arch Three.

Lanta lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Such a long time...

Maeve seems to half back out of the final arch, swaying dangerously, and tumbles to the ground in a pitiful heap just outside of the third of the archways.

For the last time cold water seems to pour over Maeve, as Raemira empties the chalice over her, "You are washed clean of Maeve Maeve Ygraine di'Zhiaara-Cathal from Saldaea. You are washed clean of all the ties that bind you to the world." A faint pause as she continues, watching Maeve quietly, without emotion, "You come to us washed clean and pure, in heart and soul. You are Maeve Ygraine di'Zhiaara-Cathal, Accepted of the White Tower" Another pause, seemingly just a beat, "You are sealed to us, now."

The arches are dark as Maeve barely leaves in time. Three whitefaced, exhausted Aes Sedai, at the limit of their strength sit unmoving, held upright by sheer strength of will, unable to rise from their seated position because of the drain on them.

Others about the room seem to echo letting out a breath of air, tension seeming to leave. There is one from each Ajah here, and them some, come to see the Novice Maeve turn into the Accepted Maeve. They seem to wait on the Amyrlin's cue to start congratulating the young woman on passing her test.

Raemira seems to step forward now, taking a ring from a small pouch at her side: the great serpent biting it's tail, chisled in gold. She seems to wait for Lanta to get the girl more calmed and settled before continuing on the last part.

Water is poured over her again, and Raemira speaks, but only later will Maeve realize what was said. She has no tears left, hardly any feelings... pain as numbed her so completely, dulled her senses utterly. But the memories remain, etched into her mind, and as slowly some life seems to return to her, and with it the raw anguish of open wound, she lifts her head, looking up with empty eyes. "I... Light, the bond was broken..." She stutters, her voice hollow and so very empty. "Is it... is it true? Light, tell me it isn't?"

Lanta puts a comforting hand on Maeve's shoulder. "Almost every woman who comes through this seems to ask that question," she says in a low voice. "The answer is, nobody knows. The arches weave traps for you of your own mind."

"Custom, Maeve, is not to speak of what happens within the arches. Your fears are yours and yours alone to bear" Raemira speaks, a kind gentleness to her voice. "Rise now, and lend me your left hand."

Lanta winces slightly. She forgot to say that. She looks apologetically at Raemira.

Naked, her hair still wet and dripping, Maeve seems but a pale shadow of her usual, lively self, and it is slowly that she heeds Raemira's command, unsteadily getting to her feet and extending her left hand. Her face is empty, her eyes as well... her look is that of someone who has lost everything, even herself.

Slowly does the Amyrlin push the golden serpent onto Maeve's finger, explaining as she does so, "As an Accepted, you are allowed a ring of your very own. You may wear it only upon the third finger of your left hand" Her voice holds that gentleness now, and even carries a bit of sympathy, "You will be given a dress, with the band at the bottom as well. You may teach only after having the Accepted Spirit class, and only after being observed doing so by an Aes Sedai first, for one class." She gives out what things to expect, all information perhaps overwhelming the new Accepted. "Also.. for the next two weeks you can expect to be worked harder than you can imagine."

Lanta wraps a towel around Maeve, and stands ready with the banded dress worn by all Accepted.

An Aes Sedai helps Micana to her feet and steadies her as the other two who powered the arch are helped by others. "Welcome, Accepted Maeve" She offers the traditional kiss on the cheek weakly.

Raemira adds quietly, "You will also be free of classes and chores for the next two days, to put the experience behind you, after that time you are to go to Atalanta for your new schedule in classes and chores." She then leans forward to kiss each side of Maeve's cheeks, "Welcome Daughter" Yes, she did say Daughter, not child.

Lanta then kisses each of Maeve's cheeks. "Welcome, Accepted."

Dark eyes, shadowed over as if no light could never again brighten them, stare down at the golden ring which now encircles her hand, and nods, numbly, to Raemira's words. Perhaps she has heard them, perhaps not. She seems almost.. catatonic, or apathic, having lost too much. She accepts the towel and the dress, and the greetings as well, with the same hollow silence, nodding where she feels she should.

Maeve's eyes remain pools of darkness, hollows bereft of all light, surely now more than ever mirroring her soul, but she lifts her head at least, her dead-seeming gaze wandering over each and everyone of you before settling. "I... thank you Mother... " She curtseys, knees trembling dangerously, and not knowing what to do she starts to fumble with the gown.

Lanta helps Maeve a little bit with the gown.