by A Y Beltran
“Oh, wow. You did understand them.”
I really needed to talk to Venir and share this information. Five angels missing at every house should be a big deal and apparently big enough that the archangels showed up. And I was more certain now that these angels did not hide in the Focus Rooms when none of these books even talked about summoning it.
Malachy volunteered to be my partner in our communication project. He told me he was staying on the third floor. He was not bothered about the fact that there were angels missing. His reasoning behind it was that the archangels were working on it and he was sure they would figure out where these angels went. He never thought about the fact that these angels may have been dead. ‘Angels don’t die. We’re immortal.’ This he said.
So the angels went about their business accumulating more navi and not a wee-bit concerned about the fate of those missing angels.
Still, there was another thing that continued to perplex me. How did I manage to understand the archangel-tongue?
“I don’t quite get what you said, but I like it.” Malachy smiled with satisfaction.
Malachy and I went to the garden to explain my idea for a communication medium.
“It’s easy. I combined the orb-talking and water-bending principles and a mix of the energized water at the garden, Blo energy, and Memor energy. I’ll create a crystal ball using water and trap the blue energy inside it. So when the Blo energy establishes a communication link inside the crystal, the Memor energy will provide the crystal ball the images to transform into.”
“Let’s try it then.”
Malachy stayed in the garden while I went back to my room. I activated the Blo and sent my message to Malachy. The Blo disappeared and then reappeared and started glowing inside the crystal. After this, the water crystal transformed into Malachy’s face and started talking to me. I answered back. I believed Malachy could also see my face on his end. It was a success!
When I came back to my room, Traquus was waiting for me.
How?
With a heavy heart, I left the house and flew high up to the seventh house.
CHAPTER 16
The seventh house, the Arts and Science of Elements, turned out to be twice as big as the previous houses. Although it shared the same architectural designs with the fifth and sixth, this house had a vast Common Area and a garden that could fit five of the gardens from the other houses. All the fledglings in this house were tasked to master the art of conjuring the red energy Rood.
“This is one of the houses where many fledglings fail to advance,” Traquus explained.
But I was no longer interested about what the house offered. I wanted to know more about the missing angels.
“What do you know about the Great Riddle?”
“Are you initiating a trade with another of your rare information? Because I’m telling you now, no information is valuable enough for the Great Riddle. This one is worth all the knowledge of the entire academy,” he said it with a tone condescending verging on arrogant.
“Is the Great Riddle more valuable than the lives of the angels?” I answered, huffing. I was beyond caring this time, and there was no Venir to tame my tongue. So suck it, Traquus.
He squinted his eyes. “Finish the academy, pass the tenth house and then we will talk about the Great Riddle. And you will realize that you’ve been worrying over this for nothing.”
Without any more chitchat, Traquus left as soon as we reached my new quarters. In a hurry much? The words died on my tongue as I watched him fly away and out of the house. With him gone, I checked on my open air-streamed communication with Venir.
“Hello, Venir. Answer me, please? Where are you? Aren’t you done yet? C’mon, ask me anything, I’ll help you.”
But no one answered.
Having nothing to do, I decided to stroll in the garden. I passed by some students who were levitating with their faces deep in concentration. Others were in pairs, fighting each other. Curious, I watched a pair of angels who released yellow beams out of their hands and then later cried in frustration.
After a little more exploration, I found a good spot to practice. It was open, yet secluded as the huge trees blocked the view from the main area where most angels congregated. I closed my eyes as I gathered my thoughts and freed my mind from mental obstruction. Levitating crossed-legged, I held my hands forward, palms up, invoking the energy. Sylfur hovered above my palms.
“Silver. Interesting.”
I opened my eyes to see my intruder. Handsome. But back to business.
“I’m Haim. What’s your name?”
I opened my eyes again. The stranger appeared to be more handsome than before. Everyone was beautiful in Ether, but this one surpassed them all.
“Orieumber,” I said.
Haim levitated himself and imitated my sitting position.
“Tell me,” he said. “Why did you choose to conjure silver when you are supposed to conjure red?”
“Because silver is a beacon, and it helps me summon any energy I want especially the Rood.”
“It’s a clever tactic,” he paused, his eyes never leaving mine, and then he smiled. “But it won’t work in the battle.”
“And why is that?”
“I would rather show it to you.”
Haim leaped from his position and somersaulted backward to land on a battle stance—feet an inch or two apart from each other. “Go ahead, hit me with the Rood.”
I sprang up to assume a position opposite him. Without hesitation, I conjured the Sylfur and then…a thousand tons of force suddenly hit me in my chest, sending me backward. Pain rolled from my ass when I hit the ground with a loud thump. Feeling a little groggy and very much embarrassed, I got up. Haim helped me to my feet before he jumped back to his previous spot.
“Hit me again!” Haim ordered to my astonishment. “Hit me,” he urged.
I gathered the energy again, but even before I was able to blast him with the Rood, the same amount of force that got me tumbling the first time got me tumbling for the second time.
“Stand up and hit me again,” Haim said.
And again I tried, and again I failed. But for the many times, I was knocked down, I recovered faster and faster.
“Hit me!” Haim said.
I did, but this time instead of summoning the Sylfur, I caught the Rood mid-air and threw it back at him. I was flabbergasted. My jaw dropped. I looked more surprised than Haim himself. He simply rose from his feet, straightened up his clothes, and then smirked at me.
“Good,” he said.
From then on, I was able to conjure the Rood like nobody’s business. Silver was still my favorite energy, but the Rood proved to be a great ally especially in kicking opponents’ asses.
I breezed through all the exercises in the house so fast that I felt like I was ready for the next house. But I couldn’t help wondering why Haim was still in the house. We were in the garden when I broached the subject to him.
Smiling, he said. “Believe it or not, there’s so much more to learn here. Most fledglings prefer to stay longer in this house. And I’m doing the same.”
Well, if my companion were with me, I wouldn’t care if we stayed here for good or not.
“I’m guessing you have someone here with you?” I asked.
Haim’s face turned grim. “I lost some people in this house. I’m still waiting for them to return.”
“Did the Great Riddle take them?”
“They did. We were three when we entered the academy. I’m the only one left.”
I mentally reprimanded myself for ever asking him this question, for now, he was all sad and gloomy. We talked some more and I shared with him the possibility that they might be in the Focus Rooms. Or surely they were safe if, indeed, the Great Riddle took them. No one would harm an angel, right? I promised him that I would search for his missing friends and that I would solve this Great Riddle. His grin was back on his face when I left him.
With Traquus nowhere to be fou
nd, I flew back to the fifth house. I would sit there and wait for Venir. It was taking him so long. Was it possible for an angel to die inside the trial house? Weren’t we supposed to be immortals?
At the fifth house, I started asking the angels if they saw Venir. I made his likeness using the water with a dash of Blo energy and I showed it to them. All the angels I talked with shook their heads.
I was in the garden when Traquus found me.
“I believe you’re headed to the eighth house?” he asked.
I took a long-suffering sigh before I followed him.
The House of Creation had two houses. The eighth house served as the library; the ninth house, the experiment area. To pass the eight and ninth house, an angel had to create a life.
A great number of angels who have been stuck in these two houses—god knows how long— was a testament to the difficulty verging on the impossibility of the goal.
As soon as my feet landed the smooth marble floor of the eighth house, I immediately immersed myself into my study. And for the very first time, I started to encounter difficulty reading some of the books that I was forced to skip some lines and went back to re-reading the previous lines to acquire more navi. One of these books was called The Birth of God. I left the eighth house with this book left unfinished.
The last house before the Great Ordeals came to be the biggest of all the houses and the most populated. Since it only dealt with experiments, all activities were dedicated to creating something using the white energy Hwit. Since not everyone could conjure the white energy much less create a life with it, many angels looked resign to spend their eternity trying. I wondered what the percentage was of the fledglings who made it out of the academy successfully.
Hoping to get an idea for a project, I found a new past time of striding along the hallway, which had a vast space for flying and peeking at whichever door was open for viewing. On most occasions, angels allowed other angels to observe them while they worked on their projects. I had come across quite a few who worked so persistently that it broke my heart to watch their projects fail to breathe.
In one of my explorations, I stumbled upon a room whose resident fascinated me so much that I would often come to his room to watch him work. I only realized it after probably my second visit that I was not the only one watching.
This fledgling had a yellow glow, which was the normal color of most angels here in Ether. But it wasn’t his wings that made him strikingly beautiful enough to inspire thousands of verses. It was his long dark raven hair and his eyes with the exact color and shade of Emerald’s. Anybody could easily spot the uncanny resemblance in both their eyes and I began to wonder if he had any familial relation with the archangel.
I didn’t speak to him the first time. I just levitated at the portal and watched him work. But on the second day, as I approached his room, I discovered a fellow admirer, hovering a few feet from the door, but not far enough to see the angel inside the room. He was staring at the raven-haired angel so that he did not even notice me coming.
“Fancy meeting you here, Traquus,” I said. I grinned when Traquus glared at me.
“Marvelous. Aren’t you supposed to be working on your project?” he answered without taking his eyes off the beautiful angel.
I studied Traquus’ face. There was an interesting sparkle in his blue eyes. His lips slightly curved upward as though he was holding back a smile. My grin widened.
“Stop staring,” he said in a commanding voice, which triggered a rumble in the back of my throat and became full-on laughter.
“Stop staring,” I said, mimicking his tone.
He glanced to my side, looking annoyed. Taking his gaze away from the beautiful angel must have been aggravating even if it was for a mere second. But then he did something that surprised me. His lips twitched in amusement and with that, he became a mile away better than his old stern self.
“I can see why you’re fascinated. He has that unique look. Raven haired with Emerald’s eyes. He’s a beauty.”
“There’s just something about him that gives me a pleasant feeling.” His eyes remained on his prize. “I thought at first it was his eyes, but then realized that it was not. Then I thought it was the hair, but it was not that either. Now I believe it’s his determination, his persistence, his ambition. These are all what lures me to him that is why I am unable to leave until he succeeds. I want to be there when his creature takes his first breath.”
His voice had a certain melancholic quality that tugged at my heart. It was something familiar, something that had been with me ever since I thought of Venir.
“How long have you been watching him?” I asked.
“How long had you been waiting for your friend?” he asked back.
“Long enough that I started to think there is a hole inside the fourth house.”
He grinned.
“What? Tell me,” I asked, a little scared for the answer.
“No,” he said and chuckled as I made a huge sigh of relief. “If there’s one house here where the angels stay the longest, it would be what?” he asked in a teasing tone.
“Fourth house?” I answered.
“Ninth house,” he grinned.
I glared at him.
“The fourth house is a far second. You wouldn’t know it because you breezed your way through it.”
“How did you know?” I said, challenging him.
“I saw your first arrival and look where you are now, the last house before the Great Ordeals.”
“Yo-hoo to me,” I replied with feigned enthusiasm.
“I thought you wanted to meet the Great Riddle?”
I swiveled so fast I actually made myself dizzy.
“What are you saying?”
“Just what I said. And no more questions.”
He said if I wanted to meet the Great Riddle. The tenth house was called the Great Ordeals. Just what kind of ordeals did the house have? What if they were riddles? Or the entire house itself was the riddle. I believed Traquus just gave very valuable information, and this without trading something in return. While thinking about what to do to return the favor, an idea sprang up to me.
“Have you ever talked to him?” I didn’t give him time to reply when I said, “C’mon, let’s get a closer look.”
When I reached the door, I knocked first and asked permission to enter. The raven-haired angel swiveled around and nearly knocking over his project. His eyes narrowed with curiosity.
“I’m Orieumber. May we observe you as you work?”
“Go ahead. It wouldn’t be the first,” he smirked. “I’m Jasper.”
So Jasper knew that he was being watched. But did he know by whom? Soon enough the answer to my question came when Traquus grew some balls and stepped out from behind me.
“Hello, Jasper. Sorry to disturb you with your work. Orieumber here just wanted to meet you.”
My eyes widened when I caught the blush creeping over Jasper’s face, accompanied with a shy smile.
“I don’t mind,” Jasper said. “Have you had a project in the works?”
I shook my head. “No. I was hoping I could get some ideas from yours.”
“Feel free to look around then.”
My gaze swept over dozens of unfinished replicas of Jasper’s image on top of the huge marble table across from us.
“You’re creating another image of yourself?” I asked staring at the form lying on the golden rectangular table. It looked exactly like Jasper.
“Yes, it is myself that I am creating. Ambitious, I know, but how else do you think I would spend my eternity?”
He pressed his palm on the breast of his likeness and pumped him to life. Nothing happened.
“Can you conjure the Hwit?”
“Yes, I can, but not enough to sustain him.”
“What do you think is wrong with it?”
“Just not enough life force. I tried to give him the maximum that I can conjure. It almost drained me empty. One time I pushed it toward
my limit, I woke up in the healing house. Thanks to Traquus here, he had the sense to carry my unconscious self there. The healer said it could have been worst. I could have ended in deep sleep.”
Deep sleep was a healing sleep. This was a type of sleep that could be likened to the sleep an angel would do when inside the Womb. In other words, back to the factory.
“Did it ever occur to you that perhaps the amount of energy it needs is everything that you have?”
