Checkmate - Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Elegance and magnificence greeted Hana as they entered the Painting exhibit. It was different than the one reserved for photography. The walls were papered in cream with white flocking. The rug on the floor was gold-colored and made of some heavy fabric like quilted satin. There were lots of paintings on the walls and there were only three per painter.
Hana stared at one booth and it stole her breath away. It was a fantasy-styled art where grotesque demons chased naked people in underground erns colored mostly red. Unearthly monsters devoured other pitiful souls. Even as their legs still kicked, they dangled from slobbering mouths filled with long, shiny, sharp teeth.
"You are now gazing on hell, as some might see it," Althea informed her. "This is one of Goya's works. His works are fascinating, I admit for his art embodies Romanticism's emphasis on subjectivity."
"Why are his paintings here? Isn't he like dead?"
Althea chuckled. Despite Hana's brilliancy, she often forgot that she's still an amateur in artistry in any aspect except for photography. "Oh no, you're mistaken, this painting here is a recreation of his original painting."
"Recreating famous paintings? Is that a good skill to have?"
"Indeed. Repainting great paintings looks like an irreverent joke. But, in fact, it is part of an age-old tradition. Everyone wants a copy but not everyone can afford or even have the original. A lot of bidders and buyers would pay a sum of money to have the original copy. Unlike photography which can create lots of copies and distribute them to the buyers, which I guess..." Althea stopped, grasping a newfound thought. "I shouldn't debate the pros and cons between them. They are two sides of the same coin."
Hana was saddened by the sight of struggle within Althea's thinking. She held Althea's shoulder and felt her tense muscles began to relax. Althea searched for Hana's crimson eyes and like the touch, it was tender.
A newfound smile formed on Althea's lips. "Let's head to my booth quickly."
Professor Tosca hadn't waited for them as she headed straight to their destination. Hana and Althea picked up their paces and they came just in time to see the Italian woman chatting up with Althea's friends—the redhead one Hana remembered had to get her phone number for Samantha.
Joshua was there too, with a blond guy who Hana has never met until now. They were both listening to the animated girls chatting up to Professor Tosca.
Madeline and Heather were pretty much known as Althea's entourage, but their revelation today, when they introduced her artwork, was something from the heart, not because they needed to say it.
"When Althea wasn't sitting with her head stuck in a book during our pre-school years, she was painting watercolor scenes of snow-covered hills with lakes where ice skaters skimmed."
"Yes, yes!" Heather chimed in. "She would put small houses of yellow and pink deeply buried in snow, and smoke curled from the chimneys, and in the distance raised a misty church steeple."
"You all use flowery words too much," Joshua said. "You both know Althea seldom go out and about as she did not wish to acknowledge the obvious. Most of her paintings aren't from exploring. It's about recreating photographs that—"
"Had the judges passed this place?" Althea rudely interrupted.
"Althea!" the girls both squealed before taking their place on Althea's side. Madeline even pushed Hana away.
"No, they haven't yet," Heather said.
"A lot of passersby asked why you drew what you've drawn," Madeline said. "We can't really explain it but we did our best!"
"Oh! Althea Lancaster!" the blond guy said tensely as he fixed himself up. "Nice to finally meet you, I am Charles."
"Nice to finally meet you too, Charles." Althea then gave Joshua a knowing smile that irked him the most.
Hana's breathe halted when she gazed up at the portraits. There were three artworks available and all of them were beautiful pieces of women. Leonardo da Vinci could look at it and stare at his own artwork and hide in shame.
The first one brought a blush to Hana's cheeks. It was titled 'Safe' and it was Hana—herself—from the head to the torso, holding her digital camera. Hana noticed a new detail that she wasn't wearing over her orange jacket on that day. It was most certainly an addition to Althea's creative spark. She was wearing a badge of a moon-shaped like a flipped letter 'C' on her sleeve. The detail was incredible. The fountain was there in the background with the tiny smiling angels made of marble when she and Althea had first talked.
The next one was Althea—or rather an older-looking one. Hana mentally slapped herself for not realizing it at first. It was titled 'Brightness' and it showed Althea's mother on a cushioned seat.
She was a rather tall, but exquisitely-molded figure, she was smiling but Hana could still see the queenly dignity the older Lancaster possessed. With hair of pale gold and light green so radiant like it was touched by both moonlight and starlight. It made Hana wonder if Althea would grow as beautiful as her mother, or even more than that. Hana also noticed a full moon among the stars on Althea's mother's hair that cascaded down her slender body in thick flowing tresses.
The last one was titled 'Far-off'. Featuring an old lady naked wrapped in a silky sheet, like ones on marble statues. It looked like she was in pain and her eyes were covered with a white cloth. Hana stared at it a little bit longer and failed to recognize her. The old woman was grasping on a 'C' shaped moon close to her heart as if it was her salvation.
"Why did you draw the troublemaker?" Madeline and Heather asked Althea once again, demanding an explanation.
Somewhat irritated, Hana spoke her mind. "Hey, I'm over here!"
Joshua chuckled at seeing the whole scene. Hana wanted to punch his annoying smirk inside out.
Althea sighed. "Her facial structure is different than those we used to see every day, and I wanted to prove that I am versatile in painting."
That seemed to satiate the girls for now, but it left Hana confused on how to feel about that.
Althea turned to her, mouthing the words. "It's because you are beautiful."
Hana blushed more vividly than before, nodding and then smiled at her, quite contented with the information the blonde had just given her. There was a loud thud making everyone cease their rambling and avert their gazes towards the entrance door, through which a young woman, a middle-aged woman, and an old woman entered.
"Aww," Joshua gushed jokingly. "She finds you beautiful."
"Mate!" Charles scolded. "That's not nice, of course, she's beautiful. I find her attractive as well."
Joshua gave him a look. "The point of my teasing eludes you, mate."
"Oh!" Kaylor said, in a pleasant surprise, causing all of them to be startled at the judges' sudden appearance as they made way towards them first rather in order.
Hana hoped the others won't accuse them of favoritism, but it seemed no one was mad about it.
"Aww, you drew each other!" The Filipino judge continued, "How lovely."
"Yes, they must be the very best of friends," Empress said, crossing her arms and nodding her head appreciatively. Sending her friends some weird looks who returned the same gesture.
Hana couldn't understand why Althea frowned at that. She also didn't expect Joshua to snicker at that.
Doesn't Althea treat her as a close friend?
"Are you by chance, the daughter of Bernadette?" Morgana asked.
Althea curtseyed respectfully. "I am her only child. The family has somewhat turned smaller over the years. I only have two cousins from my mother's only sister."
"Oh my, is that so? We definitely need more Lancasters in this world." Empress pointed at her paintings as if it's enough proof to justify what she said. "But then again, that's up to you, my girl."
Althea smirked and she turned her face around to Hana, their eyes suddenly meeting.
Morgana however, had enough of the pleasantries and continued her critiquing. "As one would expect from a Lancaster, asides from the brain and beauty, they are art-inclined as well. They look exactly like the real living person they have painted after."
"This series reminds me of the triple goddesses in neo-paganism. They had been speculated as being connected with the appearance of the waxing moon, full moon, and the waning moon." Empress added.
"Yes," Empress said. "It is also noteworthy to say that the Maiden represents the safety of youthful enthusiasm. The Mother represents the brightness of power and life while the Matron represents the far-off death. The series of paintings Althea Lancaster has made is about the life cycle of a female human."
The judges looked at themselves, also everyone who tuned into the criticism and praises of the great Althea Lancaster. Everyone clapped their hands noisily in a cheerful tune.
"Tell us, my dear. Why did you decide to paint these?"
Althea turned around to take a look at the canvas. "I can paint the most beautiful landscape and everything else. But I struggled with humans—especially women. It was a blasphemy so I decided to practice and practice."
"Is that it?" Professor Tosca asked. "You aren't a shallow person, Althea. You better tell the judges why you drew them among all women in your life."
Althea's eyes began to water. Hana immediately wanted to wipe her incoming tears away, but Madeline and Heather were still beside her. She didn't like the feeling that she can't do anything for her.
She finally cracked. "I struggled to paint my mother and my grandmother. I couldn't even paint anything right about them, but Hana... she was different. She made painting easy. I could paint her fast from memory and still retain her character. And with that practice, I was able to paint my beloved mother and her mother. I didn't understand why I could not paint them before... perhaps because I had been afraid to admit their deaths' importance. Particularly of my mother, I had been afraid of everything—of her smile, of her hugs, of her eyes... and most importantly, of her love. I was afraid I couldn't paint her essence."
"Why were you so afraid of your mother's love?" Kaylor asked.
"I thought I would get lost in them. Lock me away once more as I did before and fail to live and move on. I just did not understand why my mother—who was loved and talented in everything she does—would be taken away and not even modern medicine could heal. Who could find a cure for the common cold? Who could defeat terrible diseases? A person with a sob story—a person who is motivated by losing someone could reach certain heights. Fate had it for that person to be me—a Lancaster. I'm supposed to uphold the family legacy and discover more cures. But I don't want to lose myself in that. I don't want my fate to be sealed like that. A life cycle of a woman is predestined, but I never wanted that. I wanted something more..." she faltered. "And I wanted to inspire people to do great things, like..." she hesitated. "Like Hana, as she had inspired me to do something I wasn't able to before. I lacked the courage but she helped me."
"Althea..." Hana met Althea's cool blue eyes. "I... I didn't know that."
A single tear escaped Althea's eye. Though it wasn't because of regret or unprepared admittance to the truth or because she shared the inner and deepest fear she held in her bosom. She smiled happily as well, for she was able to tell and move on from it.
A big round of applause came from everyone, especially Madeline and Heather who clapped their hands together, with looks of pure glee lighting up their features. "Hooray Althea!"
"Althea," Hana began, reaching out to her. "I didn't know you were this big time."
"Oh?" the blonde girl mused. "You weren't informed of my lineage?"
"Fallon and the others did tell me. The judges and even your mentor talk about how a big shot you are, but I didn't know it's this big." She stretched her arms apart similar to an airplane.
"What the heck is wrong with you?" Madeline asked, disapprovingly.
"Absolutely!" Heather continued. "You are being disrespectful to a daughter of the House of Lancaster!"
"Girls," Joshua injected himself into the conversation. "I don't mean to be rude, but they are addressing the issue and you aren't helping."
"Oh, we're sorry, Althea!" they said, synchronizing.
Hana was so irritated she could start up a fight in here, but since she was holding Althea's hand, her head cooled a little.
"Do you know what I realize, Althea?" Hana asked.
"What?" she asked.
"A photo is s nice when it looks like a painting and a painting is nice when it looks like a photo."
Althea smiled like she was attempting not to laugh. "In terms of composition, photography and painting aren't much different."
Interruption ruled over Hana once more as two excited squeals escaped the lips of Madeline and Heather as they once more clung to their best friend, pulling her away from Hana.
"We didn't know that was how you felt all this time! We're sorry we didn't recognize your pain, Althea!"
Hana frowned at that but thought she really couldn't do much about it.
Professor Tosca placed a hand on Hana's shoulder. Her fingers felt like steel through the thin fabric of her blouse. "Althea is still better than you."
She watched the Italian woman smirk at her. It left Hana wondering why she would say that. It was utterly weird.
"Althea," Professor Tosca approached her student. "You did marvelously today, I will see you during the announcement of the winner tonight at the amphitheater. There's somewhere I need to be."