Hasta Manana, Eternal Life: Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO
Saphronye

It was a wonderful night. The stars were shining brightly. A tall figure stood below an oak tree, waiting. It was half- past midnight and the moon was above the Earth. The stars twinkled and danced with the dark clouds that sailed in the dark blue sky. As the fields turn green in summer, the ballets of cherry blossoms fade.

“It’s midnight already. What’s taking it so long?” asks the figure, a girl in her teens wearing a turquoise gown. She had short, bouncy black hair with silver streaks at each side of her fringe.

She was Saphronye, the oldest of all. She was once bestowed the duty of Light of Blue when the planet was reincarnated. She knows it already; it had come to her in a dream a few weeks ago, as corny as that sounds. Although she was given the responsibility that was far bigger than she had expected, the Mother had ensured that she was not going to go through the perils alone. Two mates shall be by her side, and she awaits her ride to the Ultin Grand Cathedral.

“The oldest, I say. For the substance of water is the source of life, the seas and rivers and lakes and ponds. You have been here since the dawn of time, and you shall be lead to the Lands of Promise by the youngest of all,” said the Mother in her dream. She was a tall figure, almost unrecognisable with her glow of warmth that blinds evil.

Then finally a platform soared from the skies and landed in front of her. On it, stood a tall man, he was wearing a dark magenta cloak with yellow designs on it, similar to all Grand Priests in Ultin.

“You are Saphronye Phtrone?” The man asked, looking with kind eyes at the young, or shall I say old, Saphronye.

“Yes, I am. Are you the Grand Priest Yamn?” Asked Saphro, half expecting a hunched old crone.

“It is I. Come, my dear. We have a long journey ahead of us,” he said, and Saphro boarded the platform.

They soared into the skies and above the clouds, heading northwards to the Town of Ultin, closes to the Lands of Promise. It was a grand town, with streets filled with people. It had a long river running right through it, in which it is said to be from the Lands of Promise. It had rich water, full of salmon and carp, and it was naturally the source of water for the whole town. Before this, Saphro was but a normal young student in a boarding school. She was ridiculed and ignored by many, and had a life fit for a dog. She was miserable. One night changed it all. The Mother awakened her Magic and gave her the Light of Blue’s soul; she was her heir.

“Find the Father, my child. He will give you the answer. Go to the Promised Land and search for Him with your sisters,” she had said to Saphro. Then and there she knew her true calling. She volunteered the mission for the government, since everyone was afraid to do it, and now she was flying to Ultin on a platform powered by Magic.

“What seems to be the matter, child?” The priest asked Saphro, as she was gazing into emptiness.

“I was just thinking. Can I ask you something without being labelled heretic?” She asked the priest.

“Yes, of course you may,” answered the priest. He was a kind man, one of many priests who did not believe in heresy. He believed in freedom of speech.

“Is it really true? The Three Lights were the ones that created our land? Were they the ones or the Mother who burnt the mortals?

“Ah, yes. Well, I do not believe in the Lights’ story, however you must believe in something. Nobody had ever proved the Mother was our creator, and not the Lights,” he said.

“Yes, but nobody proved otherwise, either. How can we believe in something else just because we do not understand the truth?”

“That is not for me to tell you, child,” he answered, and the rest was complete silence.

They had reached their destination by dawn, and they landed in the Grand Cathedral. It was a big place, with five streams forming a pentagram. It’s strange, though. Pentagrams were often signs of bad energy. They were signs of evil. Maybe it was just an honest mistake made by the architect.

There was an altar in the middle of the brick floored- structure. The walls were covered with morning glories. It glowed in a violet radiance that seemed to be the source of the hall’s light.

“Please, wait here. I shall return,” the priest said, and left Saphro. She looked around for a while. It was a really big place. There was no ceiling, and the walls stretched so high that it was nearly faded away. It had just enough height to make only the sun visible at noon.

It was a majestic place, the cathedral. Soon she began to fall in love with the place. However, the pentagram still puzzled her. Why would the Holy Council form a sign of darkness in a Holy place like this? It couldn’t have been a mistake. They would have noticed it immediately.

“Ah, this is Saphronye Phtrone. Welcome, dear. I am the Grand Priest Ultin, XVIII. Welcome to the main hall of the Ultin Grand Cathedral,” said a man in a welcoming voice, as he enters the hall.

“Main hall? You mean this place is just part of the whole structure?” She was quite amazed, Saphro.

“Of course! It’s the Ultin Grand Cathedral. It’s the biggest cathedral dedicated to the Three Lights, worldwide! What did you expect, a little chapel?” He remarked, feeling quite proud of the place, as if he built it with his own hands alone, which he didn’t, so there. “Come, now. The other two will be arriving tomorrow. You must have developed quite an appetite from the journey. Come, to the parlour.”
In the large ‘parlour’ (It was more of a dining hall), there was already some food on the table. There was a large roast turkey in the middle with some side dishes around it. It was heaven for Saphro, as she was from a poor family. The best she could get was half a turkey on thanksgiving. So she sat on the chair closest to the turkey, and dug in.

“Once you have finished, the maid will escort you to your room. It is quite nice, If I do say so myself,” Ultin said, and left smiling. Was he ever obsessed with the place.

In 20 minutes, every crumb and morsel on the table was in Saphro’s tummy. It’s funny how someone who eats so much can maintain a slender figure. She was then escorted to her room. It was a circular room with a large bed with curtains. There was a large window on each side, and a prism chandelier hanging from the blue crystal ceiling. It let only blue light enter, a part from the light from the windows, and gave the room a cyan glow. It had turquoise with blue ribbon patterns, and there was a bridge over a flowing stream. This place was full of streams. That’s going to make visits to the toilet more often. She dozed of immediately as soon as she set herself on the soft water bed…

…And then she heard a voice.

Twinkle, twinkle, so blue light,
Let the ambience set its flight;
Fairies, Fairies bright, bright, bright,
Sailing in the sky at night;
Reds and greens all out of sight,
Shifting, twirling with their might;
Set the wrongs into the right,
Together, forever let us fight!

She woke up and found a small sphere on her lap. It was a sapphire, the gem that symbolized the Light of Blue. She was still puzzled by the rhyme that suddenly came to her dreams. It was already nighttimes, and she had missed lunch.

The next morning she had a quick breakfast and headed to the library on the left wing. It was big, indeed. It had three chandeliers with large stained glass windows that seemed to tell the tale of Apocalypse. She saw a lot of people, mainly priestesses, walking around, sitting quietly reading and some even whispering in one corner. She headed for a bookcase especially dedicated about books of Religion. She found the perfect book she was looking for. “Nature’s Evil” was it’s title. She quickly found a seat and flipped through the index. The book was about as thick as five thousand pages and it was as big as a block of canvas. She opened to the chapter of Symbols of Evil.

The chapter itself was written in a shape of a pentagram. It was the universal sign of the light’s enemy. It was a sign of conspiracy and also a sign of heresy. Why would the cathedral have it in it’s grand hall was still a puzzle. She decided to close this subject for the time being while waiting for her two-team mates to arrive.