Ascension Discovery

by Amy Proebstel

  Amanda chuckled at Daven’s last comment and could not help but add, “Unless you find my creation to be inedible. I’ve never professed to be a good chef.”

  “You’re in luck, I have a strong stomach and an untrained palette,” he replied hastily and led the way from the room.

  Amanda had never seen this part of the Residence and was impressed with the opulence of it all. She could see why they would be worried about the newest prophecy saying the Elders would fall. If this were her home, she would not want to lose it either.

  They arrived in the kitchen which had several women working at different stations. Amanda realized they were preparing the various dishes for the evening meal. It occurred to her that these women could have used their power to create the dishes and she wondered why they did not. Finally, she could not contain her question and asked, “Why don’t they just create the dish like you’re asking me to do?”

  “That’s a fair question, Amanda. Some people prefer to have their meals prepared in the ‘old fashioned’ way while others have simply not learned the skill for which you are being tested today,” he answered patiently.

  “Some of us just enjoy working with the food and making a masterpiece,” one of the cooks spoke up from across the room with a smile as she continued to chop vegetables.

  “And then there’s that reason,” Daven admitted with a smile for Amanda. “Melba, since you have decided to participate in this conversation, can you gather a few supplies for me?”

  Melba wiped her hands on her apron and replied, “Sure. What are you looking to make?”

  “I’d like Amanda to make a basic vegetable soup.”

  “Just one moment,” Melba said as she started gathering supplies and putting them on the sturdy table in front of where they had stopped.

  Amanda felt slightly nervous as she watched the pile of supplies grow in front of her. She had never made soup before, and yet now this was to be her first test. Daven had said this was simple and she wondered what he would consider complicated. She felt lost.

  Melba saw Amanda’s face and asked, “Honey, have you ever made soup?”

  “No.”

  “Would you like me to tell you the process?” she asked kindly.

  “I would be forever grateful!”

  Amanda listened as Melba listed the steps needed to make the ingredients ready for the dish. There were several things which could be accomplished at the same time if a person were preparing this the traditional way. Amanda wished she could just let Melba take over so she would not have to embarrass herself with a horrible first creation.

  “That’s all there is to it, my girl,” Melba finished.

  “Yes, that’s all,” Amanda said disconsolately.

  “Thank you, Melba, for your very thorough instructions,” Daven said and then turned to Amanda. “Go ahead and give it a try.”

  After reviewing each of the steps listed by Melba, she closed her eyes and concentrated on seeing each of the food items being in their final product. She felt the energy drawing from her birth crystal, and suddenly her confidence level increased. This was not going to be very hard after all. The recipe was complete in her head, and the finished product appeared on the table. Unfortunately, Amanda forgot to visualize the bowl in which it would be placed, and the broth and vegetables poured in every direction across the surface of the table.

  “Oh, this is terrible!” Amanda cried as she tried to stop the food from dripping all over the clean floor. “I’m so sorry! Is there a rag I can use to sop this up?” She looked around desperately to locate anything she could use to clean her enormous mess.

  When she looked back at the table, she was stunned to see it was spotless again. Immediately she looked up at Daven’s pleased expression and said, “Did you do that? I need to learn how to do that!”

  “Yes, we’ll get to that level in a bit. Now, try to make the soup again. This time, make sure you correct your error.” Daven crossed his arms and waited for his student to try again.

  Amanda’s face turned red, and she promptly closed her eyes so she could pretend she was somewhere else. She repeated each of the steps in her mind and found the process was easier the second time. When the dish was complete, Amanda purposefully envisioned a large serving bowl for her creation to reside. Without incident, the dish was present on the table. Amanda opened her eyes and sighed with relief.

  Daven laughed at Amanda’s expression and said, “Let’s try your soup, shall we?” He picked up two spoons and handed one to Amanda.

  They dipped their utensils into the broth, both tasting the soup at the same time. Amanda thought it could use a bit more seasoning.

  Daven nodded approval and said, “Nicely done. I think we can cross this lesson off the list.” He turned to Melba and said, “Please serve this at dinner this evening.”

  “No, please don’t! It’s not very good,” Amanda pleaded.

  “Melba will take care of it,” Daven assured. “Let’s take a walk while I explain the next lesson we are going to tackle. Are you feeling well enough to continue?”

  “I’d feel better if you told me you’d throw the soup away. Otherwise, I feel perfectly fine to go over the next skill.” Amanda looked back over her shoulder to see what was going to happen to her soup. She saw Melba tasting the broth and smiling in satisfaction.

  Mortified, Amanda turned her attention to where Daven was walking. She realized he had been talking and she had not heard him. Feeling like a terrible student, Amanda interrupted Daven by saying, “I’m sorry. I was so distracted by Melba tasting the soup that I didn’t hear what you just said.”

  “It’s no matter; I was just making small talk until you were ready to continue. A good teacher will always know if their student is paying attention. It appears you are now ready?”

  “Yes, you have my undivided attention,” Amanda assured him as she watched carefully where they were walking. The last thing she would need now would be to trip and fall to complete her list of mortifying actions in front of Riccan’s father.

  “We are moving on to the task of distance notation. Are you familiar with the process?”

  “I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never tried to do it.”

  “Good. The process is rather simple. First, you imagine where you would like your writing to appear, and then you visualize what you want to write. Then it’s as simple as creating a meal; you imagine it completed at the remote location.”

  Amanda groaned at the reference to cooking, but she understood what he was telling her to do. She nodded her understanding, but was unsure if he wanted her to try it.

  “Did you bring your journal today?” Daven asked as though he had read her mind.

  “Yes, it’s in my purse in your office.”

  “Perfect. Imagine a short sentence which would be relevant to today’s teachings and place it in your journal. Let me know when you’ve finished.” He continued walking silently. They had passed through the double doors of the grand living room and were now outside on the patio.

  Amanda stopped walking and rested her hands on the railing which overlooked where they had parked the telepod. She was trying to think of what she would like to write in her journal and finally decided on the right phrase. In a few moments, she felt as though she had completed the task. She turned to Daven and said, “I’m done.”

  “Wow, that was quick! Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”

  “Very sure, and maybe I didn’t even complete what I think I did,” Amanda replied with a touch of humility.

  “Let’s just go back to my office and take a look,” Daven said as he turned around and led the way.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  WHEN THEY ENTERED the office, Daven strolled to his side of the desk while Amanda returned to the chair she had used earlier. She reached into her purse and retrieved the journal. Without opening it up, she handed it across the desk to Daven. “It should be on the last page,” she instructed.

  Daven opened the small boo
k to the last page and burst out laughing as he read the last passage, ‘Please don’t serve my soup at dinner!’ He closed the book and chuckled some more as he returned the journal to Amanda. He made a few more notations on his patil and then considered the next skill they would try to tackle. Normally it would be navigation, but he was more interested in seeing if Amanda were at all sensitive to a person’s aura.

  Amanda got the distinct impression she was not going to win the battle over the soup so she shrugged with good grace and put her journal back in to her purse. If Elder Daven wanted to poison everyone with her terrible soup, she would just let him. Really the joke would be on him and not her. She had tried to warn him!

  “Amanda, are you familiar with what an aura is?” Daven finally decided to ask.

  “I’ve heard of them, but I always thought they were a figment of the imagination. Are you saying they are real?” Amanda realized Daven was serious with his inquiry. Naturally, she would have to adjust her Earth thinking before she would comprehend there was so much more available to the human brain than she was raised to believe. It was the way Tualans thought of their environment and their interactions within it which had first drawn her to want to stay in Tuala.

  “Not only are they very real, but they are also quite useful. A person’s aura can tell a lot about a person. Like the colors of the birth crystals, the colors of the aura have the same meaning. An aura can change color as the intent of the person changes. Naturally, we can’t wander around in ‘aura mode’ always analyzing the people around us, but if used correctly, it can help in making decisions in life.”

  “Like if the person you want to marry would be the right fit?” Amanda asked and then blushed again as she realized she had been thinking about Riccan and she was discussing this matter with his father.

  “Exactly,” Daven continued as if the thought had not occurred to him, “The skill is learned when you become educated in seeing the space around a person rather than the person themselves. Once you learn to access it, you can also expand the aura for easier analysis. Does that make sense?”

  As Amanda listened to the explanation, she realized something she had missed earlier. Her daughter had told her that her crystal matched what she saw in her mother. Juila had also mentioned something similar when she was referring to Riccan and her together. Excitedly she explained what she had been thinking to Daven and finally asked, “Do you think Juila was reading our auras?”

  “It certainly sounds as if that were the case. I’d certainly like to meet your children someday.”

  “Me, too,” Amanda said sadly. “Do you think Jehoban will know about them if I were to ask?”

  “I have no doubt about it, Amanda,” he answered assuredly. Seeing his student’s attention was once again wandering he decided, “I think we are done with today’s lessons. Let’s go find Nena and Riccan.”

  Amanda’s attention was once again focused on the idea of being able to be with Riccan again. She had not realized how much she missed him. Eagerly she stood up and asked, “Where do you suppose they’ve gone?”

  “We’ll start with Nena’s office, she said that’s where they would go,” Daven replied.

  They walked in silence again. Amanda felt comfortable with Daven, and the silence was comforting rather than awkward. She looked around at the paintings on the walls. The look was similar to the wall of family paintings she remembered from Barla’s wall. It seemed it was a tradition for people on Tuala to have the portraits done to remember certain times in the family histories.

  Daven reached a closed door and opened it after a quick tap. He smiled and opened the door wider as he had discovered both Nena and Riccan were still visiting with one another.

  Nena smiled at seeing her husband and asked brightly, “How did the evaluation go, honey?”

  Daven continued into the room until he came up behind his wife’s chair. He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. Once his greeting was completed, he finally answered her. “Amanda is quite skilled with the use of her birth crystal. It’s amazing to believe she has never received any training except in her dreams.”

  An odd expression came over Nena’s face as an idea struck her. She turned her face up toward her husband and said, “Do you think Amanda could be an intuitive?”

  Daven lightly squeezed her shoulders before moving over to the side of the desk and resting his hip on the top as he considered his wife’s inquiry. He had only ever heard of a natural intuitive before so he did not have any comparison for Amanda’s obvious skill. He finally shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I don’t really know. It might be another question which will have to be asked of Jehoban. He would definitely know.”

  Amanda groaned as if this conversation actually hurt as she said, “I don’t want to be special. I’m just an average person on Earth.”

  Nena took pity on Amanda and tried to comfort her by saying, “We all have special talents, my dear. Don’t try to deny any gift you’ve been given by Jehoban. It doesn’t honor Him or yourself if you won’t accept who you were born to be.”

  Amanda stared across the room at Nena for the wise words she had just imparted to her. She looked over at Riccan and said, “You seem to have gotten your wise sayings from your mother. Now I’ll just have to come to terms with it myself.”

  “That’s right, Amanda. The sooner you accept yourself for who you are, the easier and more fulfilling your life will become,” Nena agreed.

  Amanda wanted to change the subject and asked Riccan, “So what have you been doing while we were away?”

  “I was telling Mom some of the adventures I’ve recently been on which had kept me away from Tuala for longer than when I was in school so long ago,” Riccan replied.

  Daven wished he could have heard the stories as well and asked, “Were you successful in any of your searches?” He knew Riccan had been following up on leads for locating the other twelve crystal skulls. They had thought they had discovered one a few anons ago, but it had turned out to be a replica and not an original.

  “No real progress even though I do have several new leads to check out some time soon. I don’t think there are many of the crystal skulls on Earth anymore. It seems as if our best leads have come from our Tualan contacts.”

  “Did you track down all of our relatives to see if any of them remember more about the family legend? People are usually more than willing to share a tale they think is so far-fetched as to be unbelievable. The crystal skull would definitely fit into the bazaar category of stories,” Daven inquired.

  “I’ve only managed to talk to about half of the people on the list we created. Our family seems to move around more than most other families. Also, they don’t seem very concerned with leaving forwarding addresses more often than not. It’s very frustrating!”

  “Maybe you’d have better luck if Amanda were with you. She appears to be a natural amplifier and possibly an intuitive, both qualities which could be of great assistance in your search,” Daven reasoned.

  Amanda still managed to blush even though Daven’s statement were more than likely true about her abilities. The more she considered the possibilities of her talents, the more she believed she could have something special. She also liked the idea of being able to spend more time with Riccan. What better way than to travel the country with him on his unusual quest?

  Riccan considered his father’s idea and turned to face Amanda as he asked, “I’d love to have the company. Would you want to take a few trips with me?”

  “I think it would be a lot of fun. I don’t know how much help I’d be on Earth, but I’d be more than willing to offer whatever assistance my skills would lend you.” Amanda’s heart skipped a beat with the idea, and she had to contain her desire for a little jump for joy.

  “We should probably think about heading back,” Riccan said as he glanced at his watch.

  “Oh, you must stay for dinner. Amanda has created a dish for you to try,” Daven teased as he wink
ed across the office at Amanda.

  “Ugh, you’ve got to be kidding. I think Riccan’s right, we’ve got to get going,” Amanda protested.

  Nena did not understand the byplay which was occurring and innocently asked, “Did Amanda get to the creation lesson today?” She looked back and forth between her husband and Amanda.

  “Yes, and further than that too. Riccan, please say you’ll stay?” Daven practically begged.

  Amanda was shaking her head back and forth.

  Riccan smiled at Amanda’s discomfort and was curious to see what she had created. In an instant, he changed his plans for the evening as he said, “I guess we’ll have enough time to eat, but then we’ll have to leave right afterward.”

  “Traitor,” Amanda mumbled to Riccan as everyone got up to go to the dining room.

  Riccan just smiled as he gestured for her to leave the room ahead of him.

  They sat at the table, and the kitchen staff immediately began serving them their meal. Amanda watched as each item was placed on the table and was relieved to see her soup was not among them. She began to smile at Daven that the joke was on him when Melba appeared in the doorway holding the white soup taurine containing the dreaded vegetable soup.

  “Ah,” Daven announced as Melba placed the dish directly in front of him. “We’ll start with Amanda’s creation.” He dished up a bowl for everyone and passed them out.

  Melba managed to catch Amanda’s eye as she was leaving the room. She winked at Amanda and gave her a small smile as she returned to the kitchen.

  Amanda started to get the idea that Melba had added a few spices to her horribly bland soup. She started to have some hope that everyone would not laugh at her first creation.

  They paused for a short prayer of thanks for the food and then everyone picked up their soup spoon to begin the meal. Amanda was first to dig in and taste the liquid. She was both surprised and pleased to note the pleasant aroma as well as the flavors blossoming on her tongue. It was actually more than merely edible; it was downright tasty. Amanda said a prayer of thanks for Melba’s assistance and then she dipped her spoon for another bite.