ACOSF Part 1b Final

The hosts of the podcast, Hidetales with the Lit Sisters, continue their discussion about the book "Nobis." They talk about the character Nesta's self-loathing and training. They also mention a librarian named Meryl who is researching different realms and Valkyries. They plan to meet with a character named Aerith in the Spring Court. Cassian, one of the characters, is dealing with allergies. Hey guys, it's been about 30 seconds since we last talked to you because we recorded all these episodes and then we're like, wait a minute, we talked too much on this talking podcast that we have and we flipped the episodes up. So, we literally just did the exit of the last episode about 10, 15 seconds ago and now we're saying hi to you again. Same day. Yeah. So, welcome back to Hidetales with the Lit Sisters. I'm Nicole. I'm Marissa. And I want to say same bull. Same bull. Bullshit. No, I'm just kidding. All right, so this half, the latter half of Novice. What's your favorite part about it, Nicole, looking forward? I think I feel about this half of the book the way you did about Frost and Starlight. Ooh, those are harsh words. Not a whole lot that happens. Just talk about more of Nessa's self-loathing and her training and throw in some stairs. Wash your hands briefly. Can I give you the same feedback you gave me? You're kind of a downer at the beginning of this episode. They're not going to keep watching. Well, all of you guys, good news is we recorded all the podcasts and we split this up for a reason because there was too much funny shit. Actually, maybe we're just funny when we're complaining. I think that's half of it, but I also think in the last couple of episodes or actually this whole book, just so that way I felt comfortable, we've kind of really leaned in on our enlightenment during it. And I think you have. You're like blocking out memories. You're like, oh, my God, I have to talk about sex in front of one person that I've known my entire life, literally. Literally known her my whole life. Well, we are also kind of putting it out there then. We are. To the whole 30 people who listen. I don't know if it's that much. Maybe 10. Who knows? Maybe just your mom. No, I don't even think my mom watches. Mom definitely doesn't listen. No. If you're there, hi, mom. Prove us wrong. Pretty sure you're never going to bring this up. Okay, so how about this? We're going to get right into it and you guys are going to enjoy yourselves. Take a little break to enlighten and we'll catch you on the flip side. Hi, y'all. So now Nesta has to go to the library. First time she worked out, she is sore. Yes. She is walking funny. Yeah. But she's breathing. She's happy. So the endorphins worked. Yeah. Sounds good. Yes. And so Gwen comes up and says, hey, do you have volume 7 blah, blah, blah, blah? Yeah. And Nesta's like, no. It's a great war. Yes. Gwen is like, it's not where it should be. I can't find it anywhere and if you don't have it, I have no idea where it is. Yeah. And my boss is going to be pissed. She's a little more frantic than you're displaying it right now. Yeah. We're like, oh, my God, bro, you've got to kill me. I've gone through corporate training to be able to communicate with that essentially. And we are also levitating our mood right now. Exactly. So we're really chill about it. Like, Gwen, it's fine. You're boss. Don't get over it, man. No, you don't know Merle. No. Like, I bet you I do. So is it Merle or Meryl? Oh, it's Meryl. I was going to call her Meryl. So Meryl. No. Meryl. Meryl is her boss and she is evidently clothed or stuck in command. Okay. But she is very, very demanding. So we find out that Gwen accidentally got volume eight and not volume seven. Oh, my God. Idiot. Yes. And if she doesn't fix the problem. Right. Then she's going to get in a lot of trouble. Yeah. And just that's it. A big tongue-lashing. A big tongue-lashing. So why is she this scared about it? I mean, let's consider all these pre-steps were traumatized. So, I mean, she's just kind of scary. She's not going to actually do anything to her. So Gwen is like, okay, let me know if you find it. I'm going to go look over here. And Ness is like, gotcha. And walks away and is like, huh, I wonder if this will work. And she's like, hey, ambiguous house, my only friend, do you know where this volume seven book is? And it just plops down on her cart. Yeah. And she's like, okay, I got this. So she takes the book and she walks and she sees another pre-step whose hood is over and is like, hey, where is Meryl? That's like, where's her office? Meryl. It's Meryl. Oh, where does Meryl? Where would Meryl be at? And so they point her in that direction, obviously a little startled that somebody actually talked to them. And she goes and she knocks on the door and she's like, hey, I've got the book you ordered. And Meryl is just like, please, who are you? What are you doing here? I didn't order any books. The word please did not come out. No, Meryl was out. She was like, who the fuck are you and what are you doing here? She was very irritated. Again, you're corporate training. Again, sorry. My bad, y'all. I was interpreting what she should have said and what HR, if they were in the corner, would be telling her to say. It's hard to take those hats off, you know. Okay. So Meryl is disgusted. And finally, Farrah sees the book, Volume 8, that she needs to switch out. And she says, oh, are you, you're not Rosin? And she's like, oh, my gosh. Rosin sits on Level 4. And Nesta in her head is like, okay, evidently there's some hierarchy based on where you are. But she distracts her enough that she turns around and is able to switch out the book. And she's like, okay, yeah, my bad. See you later. And she's like, if you see Gwen, tell her, like, she needs to hurry up. She's been away too long. And she's like, who's that? And so she just acts like a complete idiot, annoys Meryl. But she fixes the problem. So when you heard Gwen talking about Meryl, what did you picture? I picture that black, curly hair, round face, sharp nose. Older. Older. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Then when Nesta sees her, she's beautiful. Yeah. And young. Yeah. And gorgeous. Yeah. And a bitch. A lot of those things go together. Because that's exactly what I was picturing. I was like, oh, this hag, you're going to mess with her. I was picturing Mother Gotham from God. I was too. No, I was. That's exactly what I was actually picturing in my head. But, like, with a little bit of a gray. Maybe not fully gray, but, yeah. But, no, she was beautiful. Gorgeous. Yeah. Yeah. I love how Sarah J. Moss always, like, whenever you're introduced, is like, this is the most beautiful person. But everybody can't be the most beautiful person. But everyone can, if you're Fay. Well, then you're one of many beautiful people. Yeah. Okay. But we also find out what Meryl is researching. We do. We find out she is, like, super smart. Gwen is basically, like, I can't understand what she's talking about half the time. Yeah. But she is renowned for researching a lot around different worlds. And the idea that there are different realms that sit on top of each other. And people have, like, pondered whether you can move through these different realms. Right. Some people say that there's 11. Others say that there's 26. Yeah. But she's just very smart. And it's a lot of, like, physics problems with that. Right. She's not just, like, doing her little introduction to, like, the metaverse, basically, of this realm. Yeah. Again, I love a metaverse. Me, too. There's so many options. We also find out that right now she's researching. Why she needed that Volume 7, The Great War, or whatever, was because she's researching Valkyrie. So we find out what Valkyrie is. There's Valkyrie in the metaverse. Yeah. And so we find out that they used to live, like, hundreds of years ago in a different territory. They were actually better fighters than the Illyrians. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They were known for being a recruited group of females, only females. And so it wasn't a race like the Illyrians. Right. They were recruited across all phase, all classes, as the elite. Right. And they were either Novice, Blade, or Valkyrie. And we find out 500 years ago, with the Human War, all of them died. Yeah. The Smattering that did survive actually rapidly grew older and died. So they let themselves die. And the legend says that it's out of guilt that they did not fall with her. They were the ones who survived. So they have been extinct for, like, 500 years. Yeah. I mean, I'm not, I'm not. Listen. Very similar story. So the Valkyrie who fought for Odin. Yeah. They all were battling in war, and they all fell. This makes me want to Wikipedia, like, Valkyrie. Like Greek mythology and all of that. Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure there's a whole podcast. We'll do a separate podcast about Valkyrie. We're not that smart. We are not. We are not. It can be Wikipedia-style research. That could be our whole thing. It's a whole new niche. Nesta also found out a little bit about Gwyn. Yeah. In her background. And she found out that two years ago, she came from a place called Sangrava. Yeah. I remember Sangrava. Yeah. Sangrava. Sangrave. Sangrave, I think. Oh. I don't know. No. Okay. Silent H. So Sangrava is still okay? Well, it was changed from Sangrava to Sangrave. Sangrave. Okay. Anyway, we found out where she was from. It was one of the temples that got destroyed. So Cassian lets her know a little bit, and we find out that she was actually rescued from there. Yeah. So she kind of connected the dots that Gwyn was this person that was rescued, I think, by Asriel. Yeah. Yeah. So we need another meeting with Aerith. Yeah. And we decide the best place to meet. Aerith decides. Aerith does decide. Aerith decides the best place to meet is, hey, you come to me. Not in the Autumn Court, though, because you don't need anybody else to know. But the Spring Court's right here. And I heard the guy who, like, owns the place doesn't care. So why don't you meet me here? Rhys and Cassian go to the Spring Court. Cassian is sneezing and itching the whole time. So, like, the great warrior has allergies. Cassian was talking to Rhys about how miserable he was. He was like, oh, I would rather peel, I would peel my skin off if it stopped the itching. And Aerith behind him goes, I'd like to see that. So Aerith and Rhys are talking a lot about, like, what do they do next. And Aerith makes a joke about wanting to kill the queen and be done with it. And Rhys, like, legit half agrees. Like, Cassian's like, no, we can't do that. Rhys is like, it would save some time if we. But, no, yeah, my dude here is right. You can't do that. Aerith also alludes to the fact that Baron wants war. Like, he wants to have a war happen because when that happens, you can obtain weakened courts. And what's a weakened court? I don't know. Maybe I have heard that they say this land we're on right now is the lord is locked in his beast form and doesn't care about the land. And his house was destroyed probably by himself. Right. So, like, he alludes to the fact that Baron is, like, positioning himself to take the spring court to have more land. I just think it was really sweet that he also just flat out says that he knows Rhys has been trying to help Tamlin. Because that's something else that happened in Frost and Starlight, right? Or was that. So, when I read that, I didn't take it as him acknowledging that Rhys is trying to help. I took that as, I'm keeping tabs on you guys, too. Oh, like, thinking they were making a ploy for. No, more like, I know what's going on. Oh, yeah, you're right. Oh, look at me. That actually makes a lot more sense. So, basically, they need to find out what Braylon wants and if she's involved with Koshi. They've got to confirm that. Kathy is just like, don't listen to this guy. We know how he treats people. Just ask more. And Aeris is like, she knows the truth now. She knows the truth of what happened that day and why he left her and you should probably ask her. Again, I want to know more. Is that a pun? Oh. But I'm fun. Every time we interact with Aeris, my, like, wall with him shifts away a little bit. Like, I feel like he's misunderstood. I think everybody's a little misunderstood. Yeah. I just don't care to understand him right now. You said that last time we talked about this. I think I brought this up before. Yeah. To me, this is probably how Reese was before for centuries. But, to me, Lucian's my bro. If Lucian doesn't like him. But he told us he didn't try and so it was the other brother. Still, if he can't fix it, share it with Lucian. I'm not. Let's just see how, like, she is posturing right now for Lucian. She's like, you know what? That's fine. It's all fine and good, Nicole. If you want to forgive him, until he makes it right with Lucian, I just can't. I shan't. But I respect it. Actually, I respect it. Yes. That you have your brother. Then I'll trust you more. I try to call myself a Lucian stan and I can't even. If Lucian can't trust you, neither can I. That's a good, I mean, we should put that on a shirt. We should put it on a shirt. Okay. Okay. So, there's a just greater sense of urgency because Eris is getting a little antsy. Right. He's like, this is going to happen any second now. You need to kill the Queens before my dad makes the steal. Yeah. Yeah. So, that's where we're at. Yeah. Pan back to the house. Nesta tries to stay with him. She does try to stay with him. And she goes to 150, which actually isn't that much farther than the last time. That's 10 to 15 flights. She is extremely short from training, though. So, I will give her that, that she then was able to do that with everything she was put through. Because she actually started participating. Yes. And then the house gives her dinner, but the house also gives her a money book. That's really cute. So, she actually said to the house, I didn't know you had dirty taste. And the book drew a romantic bath, like in response. Yes. And then she said, I think you're my only friend, which agrees. She is. Which is sad. Yeah. But then the friend gave her, like, a cake and it popped. Yeah. I love it. I love it. It was a great friend. Yes. I want a house as a friend. I know. I want a house like that. Just a friend. It's a house. I want a friend, a house, a friend like that. Well, this friend, like, cleans up after you and turns on your fire and draws you a bath. That's called a maid. That's called a house. You want an Alice that doesn't talk, is what you just said. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, because I don't really like people. So, I would much rather that person in my life be a house. I wouldn't want to walk around thinking that my house can see me. I think you're out of sight, out of mind. I wouldn't even remember. I would. I would be aware. I know you would. But you could just tell the house when I do this. You can't be in that room. If I go, oh, that. Viva, viva. You must leave. Okay. It's the same thing over and over again. You know, morning with Cassian, afternoon the library. In this cycle, you can see Nesta being nicer to herself. You can see Nesta wanting to know more about what's going on. Yeah. So, Cassian and her start having real conversations during this. And in that, Cassian tells her his story. So, she can kind of understand, you can come back from anything. Like, I was born from an unwed female that was raped and forced to give birth to me alone in a tent in the middle of winter because she. That is so sad. Right? Can you imagine giving birth alone in the winter in a tent? In a tent. Because you were raped and you're unwed. So, you're a disgrace that you were raped. Like that, yeah. I mean, there's cultures that still do that. I know. We're called Alabama. I love Alabama. Get up. I'm just kidding. Anybody from Alabama, I am totally joking. You were just the person that just came to mind. It's called South Dakota. See, now they can be mad at me, too. All right? It's called Vermont. Can you stop? I'm going to cut all of that off. I thought it was okay. All right. So, oh, not only that, he was taken when he was three, thrown out in the snow basically, told to send for himself. He had to do the backbreaking labor until she died. Tells her that whole story. He's like, through all of that, this training centered and guided me. The breathing helped him. And he's like, the breathing helped Sarah, too. And then she was like, it helped me, too. You know? So the onion is peeling. Right? We're getting to see more and more of it. Yeah. So in the afternoon, Nesta goes and works at the library. Right. And she has to take something down to the sixth floor. And she is terrified up down there from her last encounter with the ravens. You know, she just is frightened. And it's still really dark down there. Yeah. We know that Braxis. Braxis. Braxis. We know that Braxis hasn't come back. Yeah. Still out there. Yeah. He's still out there laughing all the way to the bank that they believe he wanted a window. Oh, silly thing. Oh, silly, silly humans. So Nesta gets an assignment to take a book down to floor six. It's still scary. And it's still really, really dark. And so she starts climbing down. She gets to a point where she just starts looking at the darkness. And she says it, like, almost has a heartbeat. And she just feels it, like, drawing her in. Like, she's almost like a tide, back and forth. And just gets in a trance. And Gwen comes up to her, like, are you okay? And she's like, okay, we should probably head up the stairs. And she finds out. Wasn't she even, like, leaning over the edge? Yeah. Looking down too. Yeah. Gwen, like, puts her arm around her. And she pulls out of her pocket her blue siphon. That should be on her forehead. Right. And it's just, like, blinking for them. And she's like, stay looking forward. Don't look back. Don't look back. But Gwen keeps looking back sporadically. And so Nesta's like, what is behind us? Yeah. And so then she gets up to the fourth floor. And Gwen is just like, you probably should tell Crossbow not to have you go down anymore. And Nesta's like, what was that? Like, why was it blinking blue? And she's like, it was protecting us. It was a shield protecting us. And so we know that something was actually behind them. Some sort of thing was, like, trying to draw Nesta. And the shield is what got them to the fourth floor. Right. Now, a little scary. Yeah. But for now, I am bound to a house where I have to work in the library where there's darkness and I need a protection spell. Yeah. Cool, cool, cool. This is also the first time that Nesta and Gwen actually, like, have a real conversation. So Gwen, like, doesn't really know who she is. And so Nesta tells her that she was, you know, cauldron maid and said, whatever is down there is older than the Brick Facts. That's not, like, darkness residue from him living there. Yeah. That's something much older. And I can tell because they like cults alike. I mean, she doesn't go into that detail. She also took credit for killing the King of Hybrids, which I know she helped, but Elaine did the killing blow. This is kind of the second time I think she's done that. Yes. Or someone else said she killed the King of Hybrids and she didn't correct. Yeah. But every time I'm like, Elaine did that. Elaine did that. You held up the head like a savage. Yeah. Sweet. I mean, you cut it the rest of the way. But there's no way he would have survived getting a knife to the throat. Yeah. But Nesta took credit for that with Gwen. Nesta also tells Gwen that she trained to, quote, unquote, curb her behavior. Yeah. She doesn't really go into what type of behavior that is, but Gwen is just like, okay. She's a sex addict. And then Nesta actually asks Gwen, why don't you wear your, like, siphon on top of your head like everyone else? Yeah. And she's like, it's because I don't do that. Yeah. And then she goes back home and the house gives her a bunch of money books and, quote, unquote, argues with her to eat with Cassian. Yes. And says – and Nesta, like, walks out of her room and is like, you're just as much of a busybody as those rascals are. Their first time as friends. Yes. All right. So at dinner, Nesta tells Cassian about the darkness. And he – she actually says it in a funny way where she's like, he's like, how was your day today? And she says, well, nothing tried to convince me of the darkness. Yeah. And he's like, wait, tell me everything. Yeah. So she tells him about the darkness. Cassian tells Nesta about the monsters he put in prison because she's like, I believe you. Yeah. Like, I've seen darkness like that. And we find out a little bit about this lorax. I think it's lorax. Lorax. Which we find out the bog is actually a spawn of. Yeah. So the bog is just like redness of how creepy this big thing is. We find out that's one of his huge scars on him. Yeah. The noticeable one, right? Yeah. And so that guy is like a death god, right? And he starts telling her all about these different monsters and she's just like, I can't hear this anymore. Yeah. It's too much. Thanks for telling me about the prison and all this stuff, but I can't handle it. I'm not ready for this scary movie. Yeah. Cassian is questioning her about this darkness. He's like, did maybe you feel this because of your powers? And she instantly is like, push them away. Don't talk about my powers. They aren't here. I don't have them anymore. Don't talk about my powers. Like, I'm not even here. You know how I talk with Chris whenever I'm talking about Nesta and when I'm annoyed by her, like, dramatic? Don't talk about that. Cassian continues to poke her, to rile her up so she gets so pissed off that her eyes have that silver fire in them and start to glow. And he's like, got you, bitch. True. If you don't have powers. How are your eyes silver and on fire? Yeah. She showed her hand and his reaction. Beautiful. Yeah. I was like, oh, Cassian, I love you. And then he goes into the whole spiel, his love spiel, about how the first time he saw her as a human, he nearly went to his knees for her. Her power is a song that he's wanted to play for a very long time or hear for a long time. And he's always thinking of the look on her face. I just put the parent of the bog and then they started getting real. And then that's all I wrote. So the part that you're talking about, I just put. They're getting real. Oh, my God. This is going to be a rough lesson to us in this capacity. Well, because we just are interested in different parts. Yeah. I don't even remember that part. I'm like, oh, okay. Daddy bog. Cool. Oh, you guys are going to have a real conversation now? Let me pay attention to that. I don't care about the lineage of the blog. Bog. Okay. You are our father's daughter. I am. Right there. I am. Like, I'm like, we talk about the feeling that you're like, oh, it's a letter to a family tree of the bog. Let me put it in the chat. GPT, how many, how many, how many fogs of bogs? GPT, how many flows of that? I had to stop myself when I was reading this to not look on Wikipedia for the Valkyrie mythology. I wasn't joking about that. And this was the last episode of five minutes. Okay. We can get back to it. So then he says, you know what I'll be thinking about tonight. And it was her beautiful face. Yes. But what we find out later is what he was actually thinking is I'm going to touch myself thinking of your beautiful face. I just thought like you're going to. You described masturbation. It has to be one of the funniest things I've ever. Again, we have got to get on video at some point because you guys have to see her face. I hope it comes across as awkward as it is. It usually does. Oh, my God. Because what happened was never Nesta couldn't stop thinking of him either. And she just told the house, like, come back to Dawn. And she helped herself out. And then at breakfast we found out Cassian did, too. No, no, he said he did it three times just to be able to fall asleep. And then still woke up in the middle of the night and had to do it again. What a man. So this is why the cuts in black were fun for me. True, true. Save the black. Cut to black. You would probably like it to cut to black. You don't even want that relationship. No, you don't even need to say it. Cut to black. Kill some people. More. Oh, my gosh. But at breakfast, you actually are the one who brought this one up, that they tried to talk and how awkward their breakfast talk was. Yes. And he's like, oh, what book are you reading? Just trying to make conversation. And in her head she's like, oh, shit, this is like a sex book. She's like, I can't tell a love flower with prune-flea and men. I don't know what she loves. Is that what you think romance is? I mean, I can't say A Court of Silver Flames. Oh, my gosh. Okay. And he said, she's like, oh, it's a book about a book. And he's just like, interesting. And she's like reading into this like, oh, my gosh, this is so embarrassing. I'm an idiot. And he's thinking to himself, he's not even paying attention. I hate that line. I'm a boner. He's a boner now. So he storms out. And I love how she's like, it's a book about a book. I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot. I'm such an idiot. Okay. Cassian, like, gets his stuff together, and he's quite the professional during training. Yes. And I love how, like, Cassian definitely treats training as, like, sacred ground. Like, he doesn't F around it. Right. Right. He's good. He's good. He looks around. He does. I was going to say, he's fast. He doesn't have so much. Yes. But Nesta asked him. She remembers kind of Emory about Valkyries, and she said, there really are no females that fight for Elarians. And Cassian's response was, yeah, progress is really slow with Immortals. Which actually kind of makes sense, right? Like, if no one's dying, you know, they're going to be stagnant in who they are for a very long time. There's not really growth there. But he brings up the Blood Rite. Yes. We learn about the Blood Rite. And how he brings it up is, really, they will never respect them unless they do the Blood Rite and survive it. Right. And they would never do it. Right. They would never do it. And he's not training warriors when he's trying to get females in there. He's trying to train them to, like, protect themselves. And Nesta's kind of like, that's why I'm here. Right? Right. But we do learn about the Blood Rite. And we learn that it is, they don't have any weapons, no magic, and they, like, kill each other to the top of the mountain. Very hungry game. Very hungry game. Your goal is to get to the top of this mountain. By any means necessary. Carnage is part of it. And he said some villages, it's even, like, you count your kills and that's what gives you notoriety. So it's not like, oh, I'm just going to try to truck through and some people will be nice. It's like, I need to kill people on the way. Right. And they actually, we find out, separated as Cassian and Reese when they went through the Blood Rite. Right. And so, basically, no weapons, your wings are restricted, no magic, because not everybody has magic, so it levels the playing field. Right. And, but he's like, you have to make your weapons, because not only are you fighting people around you, but there's also, like, terrible beasts in the woods. Right. Right. And he said most people actually don't get the chance to even climb up to the mountain, like, climb the mountain, because they don't save enough energy for the actual truck up the mountain. Right. And if you don't finish the Blood Rite, it's because you die. Right. But if you survived it, but didn't make it to the mountain, you were considered Oktossian. And if you make it to the mountain, but don't reach the top, it was Orestian. And only 12 in 500 years have reached that level. And then, if you scaled the summit, you were considered an elite warrior. And basically, the only way to leave the Rite is either through the stone at the top of it, touching it, and it, you know, is a monolith that kind of gets you somewhere else. Right. Or you die. Right. Like, that's the only way to get out. And only six total people have ever been here. Mm-hmm. Three of them are... Ask Cassie and Henry. They all touched it together. Yeah. During that story. The three others, the story he said they lost, what did he say? Two of them. Two of them. Yeah. They were great warriors. I got that from there. Yeah. This is also, the Blood Rite happens at a specific time. You find out, too, every year when the stars are in the right place right over the mountain. And it's the three stars above the mountain with the night sigil. Right. And the Valerians can only winnow on that night, because they winnow all the guys in for the Blood Rite. Kind of want a whole book. Yeah. On Rhys, Cassian, and Az's Blood Rite. Yeah. It would be really more interesting than a process story. First it was Pam when he couldn't get over it. Okay. And now it's the poor Christmas special. I'm sorry I'm acting like a misfit here and not dropping it. This is just... Elaine would like it. Yes. This is also where they're like, so we're making progress with females. We move slow. Yeah. In the past, Devlin would have just killed a woman who touched a weapon, and now he just buries it and decontaminates it. So those witches don't do anything to it. Progress is progress. Progress. It gives a... Not a bad idea, though. Yeah. So Nesta actually goes to Krasa and asks, could I see if some of the priestesses want to try? Yeah. Because her thought process is, the breeding helps me. The breeding has helped a lot of people, and people can defend themselves. Right. And with that, Cassian's made, well, with the women, Valerians, so it made her go, if we all feel better because we can protect ourselves, we can heal from this trauma. Yeah. Well, and when she was talking to Gwen, she found out some of these priestesses have been in this building with no light or windows for like hundreds of years. Yeah. So she's like, let's get them outside. Yeah. Like, let's get people to be able to leave, healthy enough to leave. Yeah. They've never even left the library. Clockwizard's gone. You're probably not going to get anyone. And Krasa's like, well, maybe if it's just a little. And Krasa's like, I don't know what's given it, but sure, you can put a sign up. You can try. You can try. And no one signs up. Nope. The next day. Nope. No one signs up. And Cassian told her, keep reaching out your hand. Which was what Amory told Cassian when Cassian was like frustrated and was like, I don't even know what to do. Right. With Krasa. Yeah. So I said, just keep reaching out your hand. Just keep it up. But this is some tough news. And she's not taking it well. So like every night, she tries the stairs. Because she's like, I just want to go get a drink. Yeah. And so the first night, she does 500 stairs, which is 33 to 50 flights. So she's still not even a tenth of the way. Her internal dialogue, though, during all of these, is getting better and better. Yeah. She's liking herself a little bit more. She is doing better. She cares about other people. Yeah. She actually formed friends. Right. And then one day after training, Elaine's at the house, which would be something really nice. And Elaine is trying to connect with her. And next of mine is running through all of the awful things her mother has said to her. Right. It's making her, she starts fighting with Elaine, pushing her away, tumbles right into old habits. I have to say, I felt for her, I felt connected to her here. Because I remember going through this moment in my life from a young adult to, and you are so disappointed in yourself as it's happening. You're like, I'm doing it again. Yeah. But you can't stop yourself. And Elaine says a couple of things that really set her off. And Nessa is trying in this fight. I do want to add, she is a little different, but is getting flustered by it. And Elaine says, Feyre warned me this was going to happen. And Nessa is just thinking, see, she chose Feyre over me. They're talking about me. I'm the butt of the joke. Elaine mentioned that father were here and Nessa just explodes. Talks about how she blames herself for his death and like tries to kick her out. And Elaine is like, is that what this is about? Is this about father? And she's like, get out of here. That was a bad fight. That was a really rough fight. Yeah. Cassian is at the River House when this is going on and Elaine gets back. And she says she's not getting any better. She's not even trying. She's not even trying. She's so mad. And Cassian, you can tell, is like really wants to defend her because Reese right away is like wanting to rip her head off. He's going mind to mind. Cassian is telling Reese she is making progress. It's going to take time. Her sister shouldn't visit anymore without permission, right? She has to go through this journey herself and they're only going to make it worse. That pisses Reese off, which probably kind of annoyed me. Yeah. I mean, how does it, Reese? It's not, it's like when on the Real Housewives and the husbands get involved, like it's not your business. It's a sibling business. It's not your business, Reese. Reese gets angry. I do love how Cassian is like calm the fuck down, right? You wanting to obliterate Nessa every time they have a disagreement doesn't help their relationship. Get out of here with it, okay? Yeah. So Cassian feels bad, defends her, comes back to the House of Wind and confronts her about it. She doesn't want to talk about it. Cassian tells the house, fire, again. Nessa's like, no fire. Nessa keeps flinching and at the popping of the laws and fear, it's like flashing across her face and storms out, does the stairs again. She makes it to 1K. 1K. 1,000. And Cassian waited for her to come back up. By the way, that's 67 to 100 points. Nerd alert. They both come down, though. Yeah. I find it interesting. He waits for her. He says he's depressed. And he just goes, what sets you off? And she says everything. Then she just looked at him and said, why won't they come to training? And I felt for her that that's part of her healing, right? That's part of the realm is making amends, right? Like trying to spread good. Why won't they come to training? And she said, some of them have been there for hundreds of years and they still can't come back from their trauma. What hope do I have? And it kind of all clicked for me right there that, like, she's connecting, helping them with is she ever going to be okay? Am I ever going to be okay? I've been here for 200 years. Yeah. Am I going to be feeling like this for 200 years? Yeah. I felt for her there. I mean, that's like, yeah, that sucks to have those feelings. He, Cassian is just kind of proving time after time how he's perfect for her. But he just told her about his journey. He's like, you know, after my mom, I slaughtered everyone who hurt my mother, tortured and killed his father. He didn't even say his father. Right. It took him 10 years before he was able to face it. And you had that before. Yes. What, it's been like six months? Yeah. Right. So this is a good amount of trauma. He's like, give yourself a little bit of grace. Yeah. Be a little nicer to yourself. And then they end it with, she calls him an arrogant bastard. And he's like, you're a hottie witch. And I just kind of thought in that moment, like, they are very evenly matched. Right. So do you want to say now that it got hot and heavy? No. No, it actually says, yes, they kissed him to get him to shut up. No, I didn't get getting him to shut up. Yeah. I totally thought, like, it was one of those words, like, they were going to kiss her tat. And she didn't come up with the tat fast enough because she was like, I'll just kiss him. And little did she know, she wouldn't have the upper hand because Cassian went in his pants like a little 12-year-old boy. See this face right here? Yeah. This is how I read all of the softie parts. So it's like if I was reading on the couch at night, I was like, just see. I'll have to tell your husband that. But that's his comment when she wasn't there. Someone clicked off the mark. That is. And so she actually did win. Cassian thought he won. No. And, again, I just saw, like, Chris probably like, idiot. You're so stupid. So she walks away. Cassian feels like an idiot. Yeah. Yeah. And the next morning they find out they instantly have to go down to the Riverhouse. You know, it's not training right now. And so Cassian has to, like, carry Nesta. And they haven't, like, made eye contact or talked or anything since that happened. That's so awkward. And so he's just, like, carrying her. And they're just acting like everything's normal. But we find out that Az has found out a lot of information. Yes. And, in fact, he's ready to report out. Yes. And he confirmed that the Queen's fled and that Baron had fudged his horses to her, like, at Arista. Arista's a bullshit. Yeah. Yes. We also find out that there's other armies that she's gathered and that she really probably wants to get the Cauldron to regain her youth. Yeah. She doesn't have enough strength to find the Cauldron. Amron's like, there's no way she's going to be able to find it. Only us, Dracon, and Miriam know where it is. Right. And then Az is like, well, that would be the case, except she's working with Koshi. Yeah. And Koshi is older and more powerful than Amron ever was. And he pointed it to this thing called the Dread Trove. Yeah. To free himself. He wants to free himself. Amron starts talking about how when the world was old and magic ran wild, before there were high lords or Parisian or anything, different top-like items would be imbued with magic, and it would almost be that the items were living and breathing and had sentiment. Because everybody was like, why didn't we think of the Dread Trove before, like with the book? And she was like, the book was easier to get to find the Cauldron. Right. But the Dread Trove, we forgot about it. And so it must be like they didn't want to be found. Right. It's almost power for you to forget about it. Yeah. And now that it's mentioned, that's what Amron remembers. Yeah. She didn't even remember it. Yeah. So we find out that there were a lot of them, but many of them have been lost and everything. The last we've heard people claim there's four items in the Dread Trove, but legend only speaks of three. So Amron describes the three that they currently know of. Right. One is the mask, and the mask can raise the dead. Pretty cool. Yes. The harp is the second one, and that can open any door. So like a physical door, but like also doors to other dimensions. Or otherwise. Yeah. Pretty cool. Those realms that Meryl was researching. This is how you can move. Yeah. And then the last is the crown, and it can influence everyone, anyone. But you have to be, like, close. So you have to be, like, within steps of somebody in order for the power to work. Also pretty cool. But we find out that the power can't be used against those that are made by the cauldron. Also very cool about being made by the cauldron, that you can't be affected by the things made by the cauldron. Braylon should be able to track these things, because she is also made by the cauldron. Made ugly and old, but she is made by the cauldron, and life calls to life. And since Nesta and Elaine are also made by the cauldron and are immune, they should also be able to track. So Elaine volunteers right away. I volunteer as tribute. Nesta is like, the fuck you do. The fuck you do. No. And they haven't talked since their argument before, so keep that in mind. And they argue about it. I think Elaine finally kind of stands up for herself a lot here, where she's like, I went into the cauldron, too. You know? And it captured me. And yet somehow all you think about of my trauma is what it did to you. Like, it's not all about you, Nesta. And Nesta, what did Nesta say back? Nesta said, look who grew claws. Maybe you'll become interesting at last. Right. And you know Nesta was actually pretty impressed that Elaine stood up for herself and knows it's true. She's right. But she has to. Well, and she instantly saw Elaine's face, and in her internal dialogue was saying, oh, it landed, and then instantly felt terrible about it. Well, you know, when I said this was a handmaiden for oldest, this right here. I physically remember doing those things and knowing that I didn't want to. And you're like, oh, why are you such a bitch? Like, why do you do that? And it still takes time before then you rectify it and, like, apologize for it right away and then move forward and then you stop doing it. Like, there's stages, you know, to all of this. But I've taken hate. Yeah. I've taken hate. Just for the sake of taking hate. It is. It is. And it's a deflection mechanism. Yeah. Nesta also then turns to Feyre and is like, why can't you do it? Which is instantly like, I care about Elaine more than you. Yeah. Why can't you do it? Why don't you do it? And Feyre's like, well, I can't. She looks at Reese lovingly in the eye. These are the things I didn't like doing in this book. No, no, no, not quite yet. They smirk at each other, and then she looks towards everyone and says, we're pregnant. Oh. I love Cassian. That reacts in a very Cassian way. Immediately tackles Reese. He's like so excited. Ab comes over and gives Feyre a little kiss on the head. And Nesta is just like, congratulations, I'll search for the dredge rose. Like, fine. I guess you have a legitimate excuse, then. But then after that, after that, you know, they're all happy for her. She comes over to Nesta's, kind of went over and quartered by herself, and tells her it's a boy. And she makes sure to tell her, I told you before I told Elaine. And she's like, why? And she's like, well, she caught me puking, so she found out I was pregnant first and I wanted you to know the sex first. So they didn't know we were keeping score. And, again, another instance of, you see Feyre just like, I'm not. I'm just trying to connect with you. And Nesta knows she's being a bitch right now and can't, like, stop herself from being a bitch. This also explains the shield. It does. So we find out, like, I mean, Cassie, right away, was like, oh, that's why the shield's around you, sneaky bastard. But when Cassie went to give her a hug, Reese, like, kept the shield on, but he, like, lightened it. And then the whole room filled not only with Feyre scent, but a scent of a little bud, a little baby. So she knows it's a boy. They're just very excited to just have the baby and have their family. Okay. I didn't request it. I heard you say, I'm talking about when Cassie comes in and goes down on Nesta. She walked into this room and was like, Nicole, if you think you're going to talk about when Cassie came in and was down on Nesta. That's all I'm going to say. You took my line. Okay. So Cassie was sitting at dinner with us. And I was talking to them. And Cassie was like, I'm a little B word, because I did that and she didn't get anything. Did what, Marissa? What did he do? Why are you making me uncomfortable? You demanded that you wasn't. I did not demand this. Okay. Okay. So Cassie was like, I've got to get even or it's going to drive me crazy. And so he says, hey, chaperone, turn a blind eye, come back in time. Which is just awkward. Just like sneak away. This is where she talks about how he knew Ads could already smell his erections. Yeah. That's so weird. Why do they smell so much? I don't want to smell other people's arousal. So Cassie is on the door saying, hey, miss, we are talking about something. And basically, quit looking at me. Quit looking at me, swan. And basically what, Marissa? What happened next? So he goes and they negotiate for him to be able to pleasure her. And it's just sex. That's what he said. Just sex. Which is what? She just wanted to play. Yeah. Right. But Nesta was much more bold about it. She was very direct. You mean she actually said the words? Yeah. Like you can't? Well, I will also say for every single step that he encountered that night, he very much paused for consent, which I appreciate her writing that in. That's true. Yeah. I did not pick up on that. I did. I like it. I did not. I was just like, oh, yeah, here we go. He looked in her face. No. Okay. And so my notes say Cassian rocked her world. And then he stood up and said, now we're even. And he walked out. Yeah. And she's like, does he not like me? She did say just sex. I know. But she instantly went to a little girl like, maybe I didn't do it for him. But don't we all do that? Like I feel like you're not my husband sometimes. If he like walks by and doesn't smile, I'm like, oh, is he mad at me? I told Derek the other day, I was like, what is the deal? And he's like, what? And I go, you have not grabbed my ass once today. What am I, ugly? And he said, yeah. So you look the same as you do every day. Wait a minute. Okay. So training the next day. Not training, library. Let me do training. Is it a good one? It's just the hand-to-hand with ads and cats. Okay. Let's see like a picture of three sons with ads and cats. Why do you want to keep talking about the sex part? I didn't type any of that shit in my notes because I knew I was doing this podcast with you. And apparently you typed all of it into your notes because you knew you were doing this podcast with me. And we're so respecting each other that like I veered away from it so you didn't have to get all red. And you're like, it's okay to talk about this. I need to know what I can say. It literally was like I can't just skim this. Or we just go, hey, guys, they had a lot of dirty thoughts again. Moving on. They nasty. Okay. Read the book if you want to know. They nasty. Literally at the beginning of this podcast you made fun of me for always coming off that with that. So you're determined to prove me wrong. You're kind of like Cassian being a courtier. You kind of suck at it. This is me taking the feedback. I swung too far. But this book is going to get worse and I don't know where to sleep now. I'm so nervous. We're going to punch that off, love, and we're going to talk about it before the next one. Okay. But, guys, everybody, they talk nasty. So nasty, read the book. If you like nasty shit, it's great. Okay. Okay. So Clotho calls Cassian down and Cassian's like, oh, boy, haven't seen her in a while. I'm in trouble. Clotho tells him with her writing, please talk to Nesta. She will not stop training in our library. Cassian says, is it distracting people? She's like, no. And Clotho's like, oh, okay, is it, like, making her not, like, her performance go down? And she's like, no. I just told her to stop. Clotho is like, this part's Alice. Yeah. Yeah. And so Cassian's like, fair, I'll go tell her. Yeah. And so he goes and he's, like, walking up and he's, like, following her steps and her breath to, like, sneak up a little bit. And he finds her actually training. Yeah. And she's doing her punches and he's just like, you dropped your elbow. He's like, keep dropping that elbow. And she's like, no, no, I'm not. And he's like, you really need to stop training in here, by the way. She's like, okay, show me how I'm dropping my elbow. And he's like, okay, fine. And so he, like, sets her up and he, like, shows her. She punches. He's like, you did it again. Do this. And, like, just very much how he trains Jackie and stuff. Yeah. Give him a tip. And so she, like, does the punch. She does it perfectly. He's like, great. Now give me five, one, two, like, whatever their sequencing is. And he just, like, trains her out a little bit to, like, check the punch. Yeah. And she's like, okay, thank you. And he's like, okay, but you need to stop. And she's like, I will. And, well, he turns around and what does he notice? Everybody's watching. All the priestesses are along the railing, like, watching. And that's what he says. Clodo says, you know, or no, she just goes, tell Clodo I won't need to practice anymore. I thought that was so cute. He was like, good one, Archeron. She baited him into showing how good he is at what he does and how professional it is. There is touching but always consensual. Yeah, he put his, like, general hat on and he's good at what he does. And they all watched. And she knew it was going to happen. They just had to see it. And then she goes to lose that day. And she just starts walking. She doesn't think anything of it. And Clodo actually is like, but doesn't really do that because she never talks. I don't know what she actually does to get her attention. I think she just goes. Okay. So she goes, and pretty sure she didn't do that. But we're going to pretend that she did. She gets Nesta's attention. Yeah. And Nesta turns around. She's got a book in her hand. Do you like how I look at the microphone like I'm looking at people? You guys can see it. She did the book. All right, go ahead. Sorry. We said we were getting really lit this one. We did. Clado points over. And Nesta sees the pillar. And Gwen's name is written in bold. I know. And that's where Novice ends. Yep. Tell me this really good answer you have about what's your favorite character? The house. Oh, that is a really good one. I love the house. The house is very cool. The house is like the strong friend that's always there, but also calls you on your bullshit in a loving way. Like, I'm still going to be here, but you know you're full of shit, and you are hungry. And so I'm going to pout, and then I'm going to get this back to you, but I'm going to be nice and also bring you cake. Because I love you. I love you. But you being a bitch, and you need to stop. You know? I love the house. That's a good one. Yeah. And the house is exactly what Nesta needs. Not a real person in her face. Can't tell her what to do. But somebody that will respect her enough to leave the room if she wants to get dirty. Right? Respect is important in a friendship. But also, like, it's not a person. It's not Feyre. She doesn't feel judged by the house. She can treat the house mean, too, and it's not feeling the judgment back. Not seeing the look on people's faces. Like, it's just the unconditional love. If you have an anger problem, just act like your house is a friend and just talk it out. Sometimes it's lonely for other people to go through this, because they don't have a house. Maybe that's what I was thinking of. I just think the house is exactly what she needs. It's kind of like Lucien was for Feyre in that time, you know, those different times. Ooh, I like that correlation. Lucien and the house. Yeah. But it's a dynamic duo. Lucien is to Feyre, as? The house is to Nesta. Who's your favorite character that maybe is a real person? I don't like saying this, but Caspian. Oh, why don't you like saying this? If I had to pick a real person, I'm picking Caspian. Yeah. Yeah. If you just take out, like, he thinks a lot about stuff that I like. His actions speak louder than words. Yeah. He's got some – he really wants Nesta. He's just – he can take a lot. He's really kind of a saint. And he really – I think – I mean, we're not talking about that. I don't think he knows he loves her yet. But as a mother, like, look, I'm like, oh, son, you love her. You love her so much, so much, you know. And I think I'm picking up on cues that he knows that. And he's just not, like, thinking it out loud because he doesn't want to scare her away. But if there is any person that is exactly what she needs right now, it is Caspian. No, I agree. And I like him a lot. But whenever we get his POV, I am like, oh, Caspian, you're talking a lot about – He's so crude. He's so crude. Yeah. But that's why I love him. Agreed. So is that what your brain goes? Because my brain just goes to the flowery stuff. Oh, am I nasty? No. You're not, right? No. Cussing and stuff. Yeah. Do you think, like, that real in your brain? Like, that's your internal – That's what's in my brain? No. Like, that real. I think so. I don't think that real in there. Okay, I'm going to cut all of that out. Does that make me sound like an airhead? No. Well, some people have an internal voice. I like to hear a little – Do you have a voice in your head always talking and narrating what's going on a little bit? No. And my internal dialogue is my internal dialogue. But, like, I feel guilty if my internal dialogue is mean. That must be exhausting. It really is. Holy shit. All my internal dialogue is a mean. No, I'm just kidding. You know how I became a better person? Yeah. Right? And it's a journey. All those things are still a part of me. I just know, don't say them out loud. I think this was another thing where I swung too far in the other direction. I feel really bad when I say mean things. I really do. I think at least you didn't say that, bitch. Good for you. You pat yourself on the back. I did get a cookie. I deserve one. I don't think I get enough credit for the amount of mean things I don't say out loud. I don't think I get enough credit for how guilty I feel about saying mean, bad things. You're like faith status at this point. I don't know how you cannot think bad things. You beat yourself up a lot. No, I'm just kidding. You need to borrow. This is another instance where you need to borrow a little of my narcissism because there are many times that I'm like, you are such a good person that you didn't tell them that to their face. You are. Or talk about it behind their back. That's a double star. No, that is not a star. Okay. So, next time, we will be reading the next section, which is called Blaze. Blaze. Please follow Hightails with Sisters on Instagram, YouTube, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you for talking Hightails with your favorite Liz sisters. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Bye.