by Ian Newton
The next day at noon, with almost three thousand people gathered in the marketplace, Kaya, Andrew and Jacob held their first weekly meeting.
Kaya flipped her perspective above the marketplace and began her speech.
“Hello everyone,” she said.
Every voice replied.
“As you all know I’m Kaya Elbe, this is my husband Andrew Weaver, and this other fine gentleman is Jacob Duncan. With a fair amount of luck and courage, the three of us have rebuilt the City of Light!”
The crowd exploded with cheers and applause. When it eventually quieted down, Kaya continued.
“Needless to say, we’ve all been waiting for this remarkable event for a very long time, and now that it’s finally here, it’s up to everyone to make sure it stays here.”
The citizens mumbled and grumbled.
“Please,” Kaya said, “please be patient with me. We’re not here to debate the Sentinel Rule. We’re here today to tell you about things you didn’t learn from the Fountain of Knowing; things everyone must know if we’re going to be successful.”
Suddenly, it became very quiet.
“Thank you,” she said, with kindness and patience. “None of this is easy, and all of it is of the utmost importance.
I have practiced what I am about to say more times than I care to discuss and no matter how difficult it may be to accept, you all know, above all else, I speak the truth. What I am about to share is not done for pity or sympathy or any such motivation. Those things have no place in our City.
Let me begin by stating that neither Andrew, Jacob nor I are in charge of anyone in this City. As you all know, that is not necessary, and it is certainly not wanted. Though many of our legends refer to our City of Light as the Kingdom, we have no king or queen. We are a free people.”
The ground shook, and the air reverberated with applause.
“Andrew, Jacob and I are responsible for two things in this City and to ensure we meet those responsibilities, we must have your assistance. If you cannot, will not, or do not aid us in our tasks, this City will fall in less time than you can imagine.”
The wind picked up, and it swirled around the marketplace bringing a welcome and refreshing breeze.
“We have visitors at the south entrance,” Jacob said to Kaya and Andrew.
“Go slowly,” Kaya instructed. “I’ll use your exit to demonstrate.”
“Our first responsibility is to welcome each new citizen to our City and to offer them water from the Fountain of Knowing. Jacob has used his power of perspective to see the three approaching visitors at the south entrance. If you use your perspective, you can do the same. Just look from above and keep pulling away until you see them.”
As the citizens experimented, Jacob slowly lifted off the ground.
“Jacob, Andrew and I can all fly at great speed, anywhere within the City walls.”
As she finished the sentence, Jacob accelerated like a rocket toward the south entrance. Oooh's and Ahhh’s came from the crowd.
“This gift only works within our boundaries, and it allows us to attend to our welcoming responsibilities twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for the rest of our lives. To us, it is a task second to none, for should we fail, the City will fall.”
There was more rumbling until Kaya held up her hand, and said, “None who have held this post has ever failed in this task, and we will not fail you now, or ever.
None of us requires more than two hours of sleep a night. This is yet another gift to help us keep our endless vigil. However,” she added with caution, “should Jacob, Andrew or I be alone in the City, which will happen a great deal of the time, we will need to sleep, and you must be our eyes and our ears. We will talk more about this next week.”
The citizen’s faces went from concerned to curious as Kaya continued.
“Our second responsibility is no less important, and unfortunately, it is much harder to perform. The difficulty does not lie in the task, but in knowing when to execute it. You see, Andrew, Jacob and I, all have the ability to heal.”
The citizens marveled at this new knowledge, and before the questions could be asked, Kaya attempted to answer them.
“I will be as succinct as possible,” she said, feeling the group’s curiosity coming to a boil. “We can heal virtually any wound, but we cannot do it alone. You must also recognize that a wound can be both physical and emotional, but again, we cannot heal without your help. Also, unless the wound is life threatening, we will not be aware of it. If it is life threatening, we’ll be there quickly, but our actions must be supported by you.”
Flipping her perspective through the crowd, Kaya could feel the confusion. She was prepared for this, it was all part of the plan.
“I know this can be a bit confusing,” she said comfortingly. “Andrew will demonstrate the act of healing, and you will all be surprised at just how much you already know.”
Andrew’s mind had wandered back to Celeste’s diary, to the marketplace, to the time young James’ arm was broken by the wagon wheel. Behind him was the bakery and he looked down for the blue wooden ball, half expecting it to roll by.
“Andrew,” Kaya coaxed, “You’re up!”
“Oh, right,” he said, blinking past his déjà vu. Holding up his hand, he asked, “Will the citizens of our Kingdom please show me their Light?”
In response, as though it had been perfectly choreographed, every person in the marketplace held up an open hand above their head, and said, “My Light shines for all to see.”
Small orbs of blue-white Light formed in their open hands. It moved and pulsed as if it were alive.
“My friends, will you please lend me your Light so I may heal with it?”
In unanimous response, the people said, “My Light is your Light.”
The orbs of Light flew to him and in the blink of an eye, he was consumed by it.
Andrew flipped his perspective as Kaya had done, and spoke to the marketplace, “This is the Light that heals, it is not my Light, it is yours.” Then he said, “I return that which has been given. There is only one Light.”
Suddenly, Light shot from his fingertips forming rainbows over the crowd. The colors quickly came together, forming drops of glistening Light that fell upon the people and the marketplace went wild!
“How did that feel?” Kaya thought to Andrew.
“Like a dream coming true,” he said, with tears in his eyes.
“Wonderful my love,” she said, taking his hand. “I can hardly wait.”
As everyone settled down, Kaya sifted through the marketplace, looking for signs of uncertainty.
“The key to our success,” Andrew continued, “is understanding these essential responsibilities and helping each other every step of the way.” He paused to check in with Kaya. She nodded, indicating most everyone was following along without issue or misplaced concern.
Andrew recalled his portion of the presentation flawlessly, and continued, “There is no easy way to tell you what comes next, but I will try. When I do, please do not be saddened or worried. Jacob, Kaya and I have already come to terms with what you are about to hear.
After we had rebuilt the City, we learned our new responsibilities would last a lifetime. One that will not end for five hundred years.”
Even though the people from the village had told this story for hundreds upon hundreds of years, it was still difficult to accept. The few citizens not from the village appeared outraged, angry, and most of all sympathetic.
“We will all be better for this,” Andrew declared, with optimism and hope ringing true in his voice. “In time, you will see the truth of it.”
Kaya’s mother and Grandmother wept as they embraced each other.
“We must keep going,” Andrew announced, “We still have much to cover.”
The marketplace quieted back down, and
he continued.
“Kaya is pregnant!” he exclaimed, with all the exuberance of a new father, and again, the marketplace exploded.
After five minutes of boisterous congratulating, Andrew struggled to quiet them back down. Eventually, he said, “Our daughter, and yes, we know she will be a girl, but that’s an even longer story, will be named after my mother, Marie, and Kaya’s mother, Erynn. We also wish to preserve the village custom of keeping Kaya’s last name, so in about nine months, we will all be welcoming Marie Erynn Elbe to the City of Light.”
People applauded and blew kisses to the parents to be.
When Kaya and Andrew were done waving and thanking people, the announcements continued.
“As Kaya mentioned yesterday, I hope everyone ate before they arrived because we still have a few more items to cover.”
The citizens acknowledged they were anxious to continue, and so it went on.
“Marie will also be blessed with an unnaturally long life, but we would like to save that discussion for another day. With that said, I would like to introduce our last topic.
As you all know, our City of Light is not the first of its kind. We all know there was one here thousands of years ago, but would you believe this City, our City, is the seventh City of Light?”
Most people were clearly surprised.
“This cycle,” Andrew continued, “has been going on for almost twenty thousand years.”
He paused while the citizens struggled with this new information.
“The reason the cycle keeps repeating itself, the reason we believe the City exists, is because we are being tested.”
Questions started to percolate out of the crowd the second Andrew had finished the sentence. He quieted them by saying, “Please, let me continue and I’ll share everything I can.”
The crowd slowly quieted, and all eyes were on Andrew.
“This City is here to test us. We believe humanity is being judged as a collective work of art. We are on display, and our every action matters. Of course, when art is evaluated it is never truly about the art, but about the artist.
You have all drank from the Fountain. Is there any doubt, in any of your minds, that you have a creator, that God exists?”
No one objected.
“The test itself is easy enough to understand,” Andrew continued. “Since only the virtuous may enter, the challenge is to see just how many people living on this planet are worthy.
To pass the test, half of all the world’s people must enter our City of Light, and we must all gather within these walls at the same time.
There is a second way to pass the test,” he said. “The Kingdom must stand for three thousand years. The only way that can happen is if the Sentinel Rule isn’t broken three times.
Kaya, Jacob and I have seen every one of the six Kingdoms rise and fall, and we are here to tell you three thousand years is a very, very long time. No City has ever come close to surviving that long.
Based on this knowledge, we know we must do everything possible to complete this test as soon as possible. We must gather, shepherd, escort, and lead by whatever means necessary, the world to our door.
Unless every one of us accepts that our collective purpose and the purpose of our society is the gathering of souls to this City, we will not succeed. We must grow in number until everyone on this planet has been given the opportunity to join us.
There is one last thing I have to share, then we will adjourn until next week. We are the seventh City of Light and we are the last City of Light. Should we fail, no one will come after us. We have run out of chances.”