Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 

 

     After Keres we come to the shrine of Sobiul, who Torikibo explains was the God of Obscurity. “What kind of power did He have?” “Wonderful of you to ask! He was the deity of all that is unknown or hidden. Many of the Animos once lived through stealth and secrecy, though I’d say we’re the only ones that do now, ever since the Council was established. It isn’t too hard to see why He would lend us His power. Though He couldn’t do much, He did create a strange sort of barrier for this place.” “Barrier?” She grabs my shoulders shaking me hard with a pout on her face that would’ve been cute if she weren’t so freakishy strong. “Now what… did I… say about… interrupting… me!” Her voice also comes out stronger in between shakes. “Ugh, now where was I? You know, you ought to be thanking me for this history run through. It’s not everyday you come across someone as patient as me.” “I do really appreciate it though, so please go on.” I shield the rolling of my eyeballs with my hand, which is also serving to quell the surging dizziness.

     “Fine fine, I’ll keep going since you asked so nicely. Sobiul made it so that no one notices the castle, from land or air. Even when people travel, if they don’t already know about this place, all they see are ice cliffs. I mean, we still hide the entrance to this place anyways as an extra precaution, but we’re super safe here.” She lifts The incredibly plain gray curtain and disappears inside, as do I. Inside is pure darkness; I can’t even see Torikibo who’s right in front of me. “Um, what’s the point of this darkness?” Torikibo giggles. “Well aren’t you being silly? Sobiul is the god of OBSCURITY remember? Like He’d want His secrets to be so easily discovered. Y’know, some people say that if you feel around, you’ll find something new every time. Some have even said there are hidden messages raised in the walls, but you have to learn to read them by touch. It’s sad though, that not so many people really worship him much. Of course we give respect as much as we can. Still… I feel kinda bad for him. Anywho, about face!” I try do a 180 degree turn and feel around for the curtain. I lift it and look behind me, but nothing inside is illuminated, not even Torikibo. It seems this Sobiul was quite strong.

     “So um, before we move on to the next shrine, why are there only five?” “Well would ya look at that! Seems you know a thing or two after all!” Now it’s my turn to glare and pout but she laughs me off. “Aw don’t worry, I’m only teasin’. But, are you sure you don’t wanna take a break first? I’m not so sure you’ll remember everything…” I flick her right on the forehead, hard, and it surprises her so much she’s speechless with her mouth hanging open. This time I laugh heartily and she joins in. “Hey, why don’t you visit the other shrines on your own time ok? I still gotta give you the basic tour and show you to your room for the night, not to mention scrounge up some grub.” “Uh…” “What?” “Well, since you’re a bird type and all… uh, you don’t actually eat GRUBS, do you?”

     She’s silent for several moments, just staring at me, until she bursts into a hysterical laughter.  Meanwhile, I don’t really think my question merited such a reaction. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! Of course we do! What do you think that stuff we were snacking on earlier was made outta? I mean, I knew you were kinda ignorant about a lot of things, but I didn’t peg you for being dumb.” My wide-eyed, horror stricken face quickly disappears as I defend myself. “Hey! That isn’t fair to say! Where I come from no one eats grubs! And that thing we ate didn’t look like a frickin’ grub to me!” “Hey hey, calm down now, still only teasing. But yeah, the oomyun we ate is kind of like a fake meat. It’s made from different kinds of beans, fruits, and grubs, but it’s super yummy. You won’t find a better way to eat the stuff in all the world!” She’s beaming proudly and I’m wishing I’d never asked.

     The rest of the castle is pretty straight forward. The governing facility is really just a large conference room, and the residential areas are numbered just like hotel rooms. Unlike the tree houses, it seems the housing here has their own private bathing rooms, for the predators that can’t get along with the prey people. Though the communal living could be fun every once in awhile, I think I prefer the privacy and peacefulness that’s offered in the castle. Torikibo leads us to our room on the sixth floor, giving us a key, and I am utterly exhausted by the time we get there. “I had some food put in here earlier, so we should eat before it gets too cold. She opens the door with a key of her own, and I can’t say I like that she has it.

     Stepping inside, I find that the inside is much like a hotel as well, but with some major differences. The glowing wall sconces are not electric, I realize I’ll have to ask about their usage, and the walls themselves don’t appear to be walls, but rather an open valley of falling snow at night. The only hint that this is an illusion are the afore mentioned wall sconces. Next to the single, full sized bed, is a glowing orb about twice the size of my head. Half glows white, the other half pink, and while it’s cute, I have not a clue what it is. Directly to my left is a door, which I assume is the bathing room. Walking past the food laden table, but not quite to the bed, I find that there is a small kitchen on the left hand side, though I’m sure I won’t be using it. I turn back towards the table, where Torikibo is already stuffing her face, and slide into one of the chairs.

     Yuuin is sitting on a chair as well and looking at me expectantly. Smiling I grab a plate and load it up with raw and cooked meats. With her mouth full Torikibo says, “Not sure what your diet was, so I had em bring bunches of stuff. Dig in! It’s pretty good!” I nod and load a plate of my own with the various unknown meats, veggies, and things I can’t even categorize, trying a little bit of everything, except the raw meat. I’m thrilled to find that there’s even some seafood here, since I absolutely love seafood. Following suit, I stuff my face, asking my questions between bites. “So what’s with the walls?” “Ah, well some creatures get claustrophobic, so we have these wall illusions. Just touch the left half of the orb to change it.” Left half, so that would be the white side, so I see. “What’s the pink side do?” “Mmm, yum. You ask a lot of questions. It’s the heat control. Some do prefer the cold you know.” “And how do I turn off the lights?” “Gods! Really? You can’t figure that one out? Just touch the damn thing, just like all the other glowy stuff around here! And don’t ask about the bath, I’ll show ya myself when I’m done with this. ”Yeesh, note to self: don’t bother Torikibo when she’s eating.

     After eating I help her take the plates into the kitchen, and true to her word, she shows me to the bathing room. The walls and floor are all smooth dark gray stone, as well as the basin of the bath itself. Even the sink is made of the same stone. Above the sink, on the wall, are two black circular pads. Torikibo explains that to turn on the water I just trace the outside of them with my finger. She shows me herself, and a white semi circle arrow is drawn onto the pad. She does the same for the other and the water changes from steaming to luke warm. “So the left one is always hot, the right is cold. If you wanted more hot water just draw the arrow a little longer. Trace the arrows back the other way to turn it off.” Showing me, she retraces the lines, but in the opposite direction and it turns off. The bath is the same, but if you want a shower you have to draw an upward arrow on this middle pad. She points to it and I see a larger square black pad above the two circles on the wall of the bath. “And there you have it! Now, I really should get going.”

     “Wait! Before you go, can you tell me a little about the rest of the gods?” “Eh, why not? So we did Keres and Sobiul right? So after that is Nemaya Goddess of Balance. She bid us to allow changed predators here as well, and with Her powers She made the trees grow giant, and carved the castle from the cliff, after being incited by Renwar God of Justice of course. He didn’t believe it fair for the predators to go unpunished for their cruel acts in this time of despair, which is unusual since Renwar could often be cruel Himself. Anyhow, He used His magic to quell the hearts of the prey kind, so that it would be easier to prevent their transformations, and did the opposite for the predators. These effects have diminished over time though. Because of what Renwar did, the prey had a harder time hearing His voice, so the Council is almost entirely predator, which brings us to Varterus, whom you already know. He didn’t actually do much for us, but at the time it was said that He had no choice but to save His powers in order to be of use to us in the future. Who knows, maybe He was waiting for you Miya.” I couldn’t tell if she was sincere about that last part, but I suspected that was because she was unsure about her own feelings. “Well, I really do gotta go now. I’ll come back a little after dawn tomorrow. You can explore, but keep the little one chaperoned, k? See ya!”

     After Torikibo left us alone, I tested out the water and the various soaps. I found it unusual, but I think I understood. The soap bars were contained in tin containers, and there were different types and colors. I’m pretty sure one of them is a solid shampoo, but since I haven’t encountered the word yet, I couldn’t be sure. That’s when I remembered that I had the language books stowed in my backpack. Yay! Quickly flipping through it, I find that indeed one of them is shampoo. Actually, it seems one is also an anti-parasite shampoo bar. I guess I’ll use that one on Yuuin. I wonder if snow leopards hate water just as much as ordinary cats? I know tigers don’t. Welp, there’s only one way to find out. “Yuuin! Can you help me out?” I see his cute little head pop into the doorway. I hold out the various tins. “You wouldn’t happen to know which is regular soap and which is shampoo would you?” He steps all the way into the room, and quick as I can I slam the door shut, locking it. “Sorry bout that, just want to be sure we’ll have privacy.” His eyes widen and he scratches frantically on the door. Hmm, so snow leopards DON’T like baths much. Well, it might just be cuz he’s a little boy.

     “Yuuin, this won’t take long and the sooner we get this over with the sooner you can dry by the heater.” He stops scratching and mews his surrender, climbing begrudgingly into the tub. Climbing into it myself I notice that there’s one large step inside, that one could presumably lounge on. Yuuin is not sitting on the step and he looks at me with misery in his eyes. The little baby. I try not to laugh as I take down the shower nozzle and prepare the water. “I’ll be super quick, ok?” He makes not a sound as I water him down, but he does growl quite a bit as I soap him down. The little guy’s actually being very patient. I wonder how I can reward him for this good behavior. I get him rinsed and out and prepare my own bath. I think this is the first time I’ve gotten to relax in quite awhile.

     I try to remember how my life was going before all this happened, but oddly, it’s difficult to recall anything of significance. It’s like trying to remember the details of a dream you used to have every night, but it’s been weeks since you had it. While it was with you, you couldn’t get it out of your head, and yet somehow, it manages to disappear so easily all the same. I know it’s silly, but a thought invades my mind. The reason I can’t remember anything significant is because my life WASN’T significant. As hurtful as it is to admit it, I know it’s the truth and I’m left wondering that if things had been different there, would I be here now? Instead of trying to remember the details of a rather bland past life, I think about the people I’ve met here on this amazing world and all the stories it carries and I smile, and I’m glad that my life has turned out the way it has, even if my life is in danger. It’s totally worth it. Who else on Earth gets to have these kind of adventures anymore?

     Finally positive again, I finish up and dress. Yuuin is still drying so I decide to visit the shrines on my own. “Yuuin, I’ll be back in a bit, k?” He gives me another of his misery stare downs and I high tail it out of there. Finding my way back to the cathedral, I decide to visit the other three shrines. Seeing them reminds me that I forgot to ask Torikibo about the sixth deity.

     The shrine to Nemaya is veiled by twin curtains of green. Sliding between them, I find myself in a room painting with lush sceneries. On the ceiling are the moon and stars chasing a setting sun. On the walls forests, seas, and mountains are painted as well as a myriad of creatures. On the altar lies Nemaya herself, with perfectly straight hair falling behind her naked body. She is kneeling and holds her hands in front of her. In them she holds the figurine of a baby cradled in the trunk of a tree. I give her my thanks in aiding the creation of this magnificent place before leaving.

     Next I visit the shrine of Renwar, whom I’m not too sure I like all that much. The curtain to this shrine is a simple, almost sheer white cloth. How unexpected. The inside though, is more gruesome than I’d imagined. The wall depicts an image of two people exchanging bloodied hearts. A life for a life. Renwar himself is not shown, only two crossed swords stained forever in blood are shown. Yeah, definitely don’t like this god. Quickly exiting, I find the final shrine, the shrine to Varterus, and I have to admit, my heart pounds with the suspense and for some odd reason, I’m blushing. The curtain to His shrine is a soft, fluttering creamy yellow, much like the lights I saw in my dream, which already feels like ages ago. Gently lifting the curtain back, I see absolutely nothing in the room, save a crack in the wall through which water is streaming from, directly into a tiny rocky pond below it, and a fluffy cream yellow rug before it. I kneel on the rug and wonder at this unglamorous spring. Staring at the pond, I cup my hands and scoop up the delightfully chilly water and allow it to trickle into my mouth.

     Mysteriously, the water is warms in my mouth and burns my throat. My vision blurs, my body grows hot, but I can see and feel warm tendrils of yellow light embracing me once again, and I feel so safe and… happy. I feel as though I’ve finally come home. My vision returns, the lights fade, but the feeling does not. I look down at the soft rug beneath me and know that it was meant to be there as an invitation. This spring is a sacred place of Varterus that should be shared among everyone, not kept untouched in sanctity. Feeling eyes on me I stand and turn to find the curtain lifted to one side and a large crowd struggling for a peek inside. So these people felt the light of Varterus too. I smile and reach my hand out, noticing a residual yellow glow surrounding the skin. “The water of Varterus is not to be horded, but shared in blessing amongst you all. Drink His from this spring and hear Him as I have.”

     Tentatively the two boys I’d seen by the fountain earlier today step forward, hand in wing. I nod to them, smiling my encouragement. I see their mother not far away, too fearful to join them, and too fearful to stop them, because she has seen for herself that I’ve heard the voice of Varterus. Though honestly, it isn’t a voice. Don’t really know why they call it that but whatever. Mentally shrugging the thought away I watch in awe as yellow light surrounds the two children. It fades almost as quickly as it came, and they are both completely human looking. The wings have vanished and both are crying. Their mother rushes to them, tears in her eyes as well, and pulls them to her. Suddenly, both children morph before my eyes into little eagles. The mother gasps her horror, but the children change back, laughing as they do and hug their mother. I can hear the awes behind me and I step away from the shrine as others try to make their way inside. Varterus saved His power for His people, who had never used it, but now, that’s all about to change.