Started a little something new, been a while since I posted and I thought I'd share something I began :]. Complete honesty is apprichated, I'm very good at constructive crisitism. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
The sound of the golden bell gently swaying back and forth signaled their usual motions. Multitudes of servants of Alior got down on one knee and placed there palms on the ground, looking toward the ground. A perfect harmony of voices took over the sound in the great hall of the Mosalium. The voices of the people's sang the song of the goddess Alior, praising her and all her wisdom, as they always do. I sat among them, believing as they did that praying would keep us safe and prosperous. Why would believe otherwise? There had to be some truth to this as those who serve her as always happy and cared for, right?
Alior was but one of those gods that the people of my world worship. Everyone believed in one of the gods and all believed that they would gain by giving to them. They were right no doubt, great things happened to those who worshipped the gods. Who wouldn't worship them?
The bell rang again, signaling the end of our prayers. Everyone stood from their positions and gestured to Alior, the shape of a triangle with your hands, holding them to the air, then bringing them down below your chin and bowing your head. Daily prayer was now over and people flooded out of the building while others stayed to fellowship.
"Praise Alior." A voice moved through the crowd and reached my ear.
"Dalia, prayer is over you can stop patronizing me." I said turning to the familiar greeting, slanting my head a bit to show I was annoyed.
"Don't use that name, you know I hate that. Besides, when you miss prayer for a few days then finally show up I think you earned that one." Dalia snapped back.
"As if I'm going to call you Daliandria every time I say your name." I said avoiding her other point.
"Are you making fun of my name? Mr. Noxaliam Ezram."
"Oh my Alior, please do not ever say that aloud again."
"And you stop taking her name is vain, Nox, if the Prelate heard you then you'd be jailed for sure." Dalia said actually sounding concerned.
"Don't get into my affairs Dalia, you're not my friend and certainly not my guardian." That prompted the end of our conversation. The Mosalium was much more empty now, so I made my way out the front doors and into the city. The glow from the Weis gave the sky a reddish color, which meant it was nearing the start of the Justification. My only hope was that this year I wouldn't be chosen, and maybe I'd even get lucky enough for Dalia to get sent in.
I jumped on my bike which was near the doors and wrapped my hands around the handlebars. The green shine indicated that it was mine and the engine started without a sound. The crystal blue bike lifted off the ground and hovered in the air. The simple design featured two wheels which were covered unless you were driving on a surface. I switched to speed mode and I took off toward Academy.
The giant Academy building could be seen from almost anywhere in Zezul, the Weis reflected off it making it red for the time being, it resembled a castle, a large tower in the center and four smaller towers directly on all four sides. The reflection underneath the floating building was of the exact same thing, but wasn't just a reflection. Half of Academy was actually upside down, a perfect copy resting as a reflection under it. Once I got close enough, my bike took control and pulled around Under Tower 3, landing in the nearly empty bike hangar. As I passed through the hangar barrier, the world turned right-side up, an effect made possible by the Weis.
I jumped off my bike once it landed on the ground, my attention directed toward the only other bike, green plated with red strip across the side. My body almost moved automatically, going with the motions it was used to on this day of the week. I exited the hangar and got in the elevator which took me up, or rather down, to the building highest in Under Tower 3. The doors opened and I walked into the large empty room with crystal blue walls, a two door on each wall.
"What took you so long moron?" Vaan's voice echoed thought the room from outside the door on the far left.
"Dalia and her usual annoyance, but let's not even go there. Got anything new?" I said walking toward him.
"Do I? You can't even imagine what I have today. Come on, inside." He motioned with his head. We opened the class doors and they locked behind us. This room was identical to the one before, but smaller and with only one door. A small table and a case where in the middle.
"What's this?" I asked.
"I know it's not what you're used to but I promise it's worth it. Come on." Vaan led us over the single case and looked at me with wide eyes and a slight nod. I reached down and the case opened itself as I was about to touch it. A blue light shined inside and the lid rose to reveal two blue orbs resting next to each other.
"What in the Surface is this. Vaan, where did you get blue Weis?" My face must have alarmed him because he responded quickly.
"Calm down. Let me explain, this isn't just any blue Weis, it's not only extremely rare but as of this morning there are only seven in existence."
"That does not answer my question."
"My father was on the Surface yesterday when the came across a Noran tribe." Vaan spoke with his hands, he was nervous of my response and was desperate to make his point.
"Noran? Seriously? I thought they were extinct."
"We thought they were, but my Dad found some. They were protecting some kind of ancient Weis under orders from their god, Tetra."
"This is that ancient Weis? You stole it from your father?" I said, slightly freaking out.
"Calm down I said. It's powerful, I'm not entirely sure what effects it has but I do know one thing. If we use it, we won't age." A smile lit up on his face,
"You've got to be kidding me. That's not even possible. All known Weis when consumed by someone ages hem relevant to the power of the Weis."
"I know that, but this doesn't age you. I swear." The sound of the elevator cut our conversation short. "Come back before Justification, we will use it then." Vaan closed the case, placed it hand over it and pulled his fingers together which caused the case to shrink to the size of his palm.
"Wait." I said trying to stop him, but he was already headed for the door that appeared as he approached the wall. "Dammit Vaan." I said aloud then ran for the exit to the room behind me. When I stepped out i was greeted by another Academy student.
"Nox. What are you doing here?" A girl sporting a pink long sleeve shirt, white skirt with pink stockings, white tennis shoes, her long blonde hair dropped over her scrawny shoulders.
"Bellum, I was just having a go in the Impulse."
"It's pretty amazing isn't it? A room that can create anything your mind can." Her soft voice didn't cause an echo. She slid toward me, her hands behind her back and her hips leading the way.
"Useful, that's for sure." She chuckled.
"Justification is tonight, I hope I get chosen." She said hopefully.
"Really? I don't."
"What? Being chosen as Prelate is the most amazing thing you could hope for. A seat at the side of Alior when you die, a year of leading the people and continuing the properity of Zezul."
"I'm not even sure if I believing in Alior, let alone care to "be at her side." Bellum brought her hand to her month in shock.
"Be careful what you say and who you say it too Nox." She said it as a warning rather then a concern.
"I have to go, good luck with training and I hope you get chosen as Prelate. I can think of no one more suited." I walked toward the elevator when I was interrupted by Bellum.
"Nox. May Alior bless you." She said, ending with the prayer. I didn't say anything, I just stepped into the elevator. The doors closed on her prayer and my beliefs along with it.
The bike road home was a strange one. My mind was like a lottery, a thousand different thoughts and I could only pull out one at a time. What was the Weis that Vaan had found? What if I get chosen as the Prelate? These things weighed on my mind as I flew through the empty streets above the Presidium, the site of the Justification. My house was nearby, hanging over the Street, a large walkway that circled Zezul. The Street is how people who don't want to use vehicles get around or just simply don't need to use a vehicle because they are so close to where they are going. The floating circular road moved up, down, left and right all throughout the city. It was kept afloat by the power of the Weis as was the city itself.
I parked my bike on the platform outside the house. Second nature kicked in and I jumped off my bike and to the front door.
"Welcome home Mr. Nox." A voice welcomed me as the seemingly glass door disappeared.
"Thank you, Nora. Is anyone else home?"
"Yes sir, both Ilen, Harium, and Tessa are all here." Her female voice spoke with the smoothness of a human.
"Damn. I was hoping they'd have left by now. Do me a favor and don't tell them I'm here?"
"As per our arrangement, Mr. Nox."
I walked in through the walkway as slowly as possible, my shoes gently pressing aganist the black metallic floor, the heat rising from it felt warm on my feet. My body turned
right at the end of the hallway, towards my room. I had to walk past the kitchen in order to get to my room and Ilen and Harrium were in there discussing the Justification.
"You know there is a good chance one of them will get chosen." Ilen said to Harrium who was leaning aganist the stainless steel counter tops. Ilen was sitting at the matching table on the other side of the counter. The conversation caught my attention so I had leaned against the archway to eavesdrop.
"Neither of them would be able to handle it." Harrum responded, his voice full of anxiety.
"How can you say that? You know it's not true. Either of them would be great Prelates." She spoke with confidence.
"You would wish that fate on them? To live short lives and be forced to rule the very religion they don't even seem to care about."
"Both can't be Prelates. So we would still have one here with us, at least for a little while." Ilen said, causing an awkward silence.
"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Ezram, you have company, behind the archway." Nora came over the speaker and warned my Guardians. I threw myself around the corner.
"You betrayed me!" I yelled at the monitor where Nora was speaking from.
"They offered me a better deal. What can I say?" She said with personality.
"How much of that did you hear?" Ilen said, getting up from the table and walking over to me.
"Enough. I don't want to be Prelate anymore then anyone else. Neither does Tessa. Let me just go ahead and tell you, if it comes down to that, I won't do it. I'll run away. I refuse to be apart of this shamble of a system. They think it's perfect but it's not. It's far from that." I said, finally giving way to my feelings toward the Justification to my Gaurdians. Without waiting for a response I turned and ran to my room, the automatic door slamming behind me. My room was decorated the same as it had been since I was a child, when the Prelate first gave me to Ilen and Harrium. A single large window looked out over Zezul, the Presidium just out my window. The red glow from the Weis would shine off every building and right into my window, creating a stunning color, depending on what time of year it was. Right now it was as red as it ever gets, right before the inauguration of the Prelate.
Inside my room was a full size bed which sat on the east part of the room, black covers and red pillows. The walls were recently upgraded from paint to videographic, a new device where you can select videos or pictures to decorate your walls. Currently, my walls were showing a live feed of the Surface. Other smalls things littered the room, such as a alcove in the west of the room opposite of the bed which was my closet, a console by my bed, a VR system for games and the internet, and some storage.
"Tessa is at your door Mr. Nox." Nora's voice came over the speaker.
"I'm not talking to you right now." I said. Nora responded by overriding my live feed and changing it her chosen face. We rarely saw it, but she had chosen a good one. The image was just of her head, though we had seen her "desired" body once before. She had long blonde hair which draped over her shoulders, skinny red lips, blue eyes, high cheek bones and normal sized nose. She was very pretty.
"Alior, don't do that to me." Shocked by her giant face on my wall I fell back on my bed.
"Do I exsist?" Tessa's voice called through the door.
"Turn my sound proof back on, Nora." I demanded.
"You aren't talking to me, remember?" She said, smiling, then fading back to my live feed and opening the door to my room.
"Thank you Nora." She said, walking her prissy self right into my room.
"I do not want to see you right now."
"No need to be iratable Nox." Tessa was only a year younger then me, which was pretty normal for people on Zezul. She didn't look anything like me, her hair was brown instead of blonde like mine, dark like her eyes. Her body was slender but short, sporting no hips or butt to speak of. I remember she hit on me when we turned about 12, and I turned her down saying "Maybe if you get a little meat on your bones first." I think as we got older she stayed that skinny just to spite me.
"Today is not a good day." I sat in a sitting position and put my head in my arms.
"Calm down. There are only about 400 more kids that have the possibility of getting chosen." She sat down next to me, putting her hand on my shoulder.
"You know as well as I do they don't pick at random." I picked my head up out of my arms, keeping a gloomy look on my face.
"No sense in worrying about it. If it happens, it's going too. If not, you'll be to old to be chosen anyway."
"Right, my 19th *birth day is a few months before the next one."
"Exactly, so just relax. We will get through this." She put her arms around me and gave me a little squeeze. "Only a few hours left. I guess I'll see you there." She said as she got up and walked out the door.
"No, you won't."
*Not spelled wrong, simply two seperate words due to it's meaning being different from our's of "birthday"
