by A Y Beltran
“Trust me. We’ll pass the test. Now, c’mon!” I held his hands and together we glided along the air and upward to the next house.
A few feet away from the house, Venir wobbled.
“Are you okay?” I asked, holding him. I noticed that he was becoming heavy.
Fear was sketched all over his face.
“I won’t make it,” he stammered before he fell.
I dove down and caught him just in the nick of time and gently helped him reach the tread of the third house.
With a forlorn look on his face, he said. “Just leave me here and go ahead with your trial. When you’re all done, find me.”
I could no longer hold back my tears. I buried my face in his chest as I broke down. We kissed. Longer this time. But we could not just stand like this forever. Although if it were really up to me, I might try leading a life just like this. No trial, no quest. Just him and me. But what if the angels were really missing? What if the darkness had taken them? What if these people I saw in the well were my family? And why did I feel exhilarated at the death of the mortals? Could I live a happy life with these questions haunting me?
It was Venir who finally broke the kiss.
“Go,” he said with a smile.
“I’ll come back as soon as I’m done with the trial.” This I promised. “Don’t eat too many berries!”
And I left him, feeling like there was a hole in my chest.
CHAPTER 13
It was the darkness that greeted my eyes when I entered the House of Trials. Since being born, I had become accustomed to the seemingly eternal light in Ether that the sudden absence of it disturbed me so greatly that I began considering going back and waiting for Venir. If I were to get stuck here, it wouldn’t be that bad if it was with him. But I had a feeling he wouldn’t like it. So I swallowed my fear, and onward I moved.
I learned from the first house that there were two Houses of Trials: the fifth house would test the knowledge and the tenth house would test the skills. In the first trial house, I was tasked to pick three correct doors to complete the trials. If I passed, the third door would open and take me to the next house. But if I selected the wrong door, I would be facing a monster.
The door would not present itself to me, so I needed to find it myself. I summoned the white energy Hwit. My plan was to increase its intensity hoping that it would render itself visible. It was white energy so it had to look white when visible right? But I didn’t get to that level to find out. I was left exhausted. Summoning Hwit was like dragging T-Rex by the tail. And so I changed tactics. This time, I would will the darkness to disappear. But the darkness was in itself a whole type of energy, one that was not inclined to listen. Venir’s doubt started to creep into my head. What if I was not really ready?
A whole list of what-ifs began running in my head. What if this was just all illusion? What if I was seeing darkness because I thought of it as dark? What if…
Then the answer hit me in the head. That’s it. Light in my mind. I did not need to summon any energy around me, but rather summon the energy within me. I could make myself a living torch. I then closed my eyes and invoked an image of my center in my head. My inner core was a ball of bright light so intense its heat started to make me sweat. More. I commanded myself the same way I commanded energy. More. I said again. I was well aware that I was now soaking in my own sweat. But I needed the light to be visible. So I said it one more time. More.
It did not hurt. But my body was pulsating like something inside me was unleashing. I screamed when I thought I would explode. Perhaps, I did explode because the next thing I knew I was glowing, and my glow chased the dark away and lit my path.
I was in a garden replete with bird flowers and walls of kalaskig. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I was back in one of the earlier houses, simply strolling in the garden instead of here in the trial house. I explored my surroundings until I stumbled upon a cascading pond. Staring at it, I imagined myself to be the trial master. Why would I place a pond in the middle of the garden? Angels at the lower houses tended to gather around the water—pond or well—whenever they were in the garden. So if I were the trial master that only wished for the angels to pass this test, the pond would be the best place to hide the clues. But I didn’t have to look farther, for as soon as I touched the water, there on its surface appeared words that said:
‘Beware of the door that eats the light.’
Now that’s scary. But then again, it could also be referring to a door. So how could I find a door that ate light? My mind then screamed. Mirror!
Mirrors reflected light. So what would happen if a mirror was facing something that ate light?
Since the water was bendable, meaning it worked like clay dough where I could shape into whatever I wanted. I figured I could use it to create a mirror. To start, I touched the water to make it aware of my plan. Then I visualized the kind of mirror I wanted and communicated this visual with the water. A stream of water surged into the air and then transformed itself into a mirror.
I held the mirror up as I walked deep into the garden. So far the mirror reflected images it caught on the way. I was waiting for it to show nothing but darkness, but instead, it was of a door.
Then I remembered the clue.
‘Beware of the door that eats the light.’
Since this door was reflected in the mirror, it was safe to say that it did not absorb light. With a little hesitation, I moved closer. And when I was close enough, I touched it. It glowed, lights swirling in my hand silky to my touch, and then it opened. I took a deep breath before I came in.
One down, two more to go.
The door led me to another garden that was nothing like the first one. If there was a Garden of Eden, then this was it. Flowers and fruits were not all energy-looking, but more like the ones found in the paintings on Earth.
So where was the door? I looked around, stared at the wall as I commanded it to show me the door. And as though it responded to my request, a door appeared in front of me. This looked suspiciously easy so I thought this was a trick. And soon enough words appeared on the surface of the door as though an invisible hand was writing it.
Tell me my story
In words of flattery.
And Speak!
In poetic sorcery.
It was clear to me what it was trying to say, but I was also aware of the difficulty it entailed. The door wanted to me to create an incantation or a poem of exultation about the garden. I swept my gaze around. Everything looked earthly to me. I could name all the flowers peeking off the bushes or hanging on the wall: red and white roses, dendrobium, begonia, bluebells, bleeding heart, Ixora, Calla Lily, Lily of the Valley, cherry blossom, Cana.
I squinted my eyes to concentrate only to realize that I was not really eloquent in terms of writing a poem. So I sat on the verdant grass and picked up a small ruby rock and used it to draw a box. The energy gathered along the lines and formed into a tablet. I then used it to compose a poem.
“Pretty colors…” I started. Words came out on the tablet as I spoke. “Erase…” It wrote ‘erase’ as well.
“Not that…” Not that the tablet wrote. I wiped the words off with my hand. The words rippled like water before it disappeared. Amid the darkness, there was so much beauty in this garden. So I figured the verse I had in my mind would fit. And so I continued to translate my idea into words. I made a lot of errors, but I persevered. I didn’t know how long I had been doing this, but I believed it’s long enough that it wouldn’t surprise me if Venir also found his way here.
I kept on writing only to end up erasing everything. I changed a word only to write it back. This was my process that I went through again and again until finally, I was able to compose a simple rhyming verse.
“From the bowels of nothingness
Comes a stream of consciousness,
It pierces through the light,
And springs up to life.”
Whoever designed this gard
en must have been very forgiving, for lo and behold the door covered with vines opened.
I entered it and came out in a garden of the nebula. Well, it was what it looked like in my perspective. The flowers, plants, trees, the grass, and even the walls all appeared to be made of gaseous clouds. They were all stunningly beautiful. One plant, in particular, had two different flowers sharing the same stalk: rose-like and hibiscus-like. The flowers did not only look gaseous but also were gaseous. When I touched it, my hands passed through it. I touched the ground and my hand sank through it. Scared that I may completely submerge, I flew.
Since the walls were gaseous too, nothing hindered me from passing through it. I flew through the wall after gliding through another until I reached the other side of the garden without even seeing a single door. This made my heart race faster. I made a grave error.
A silver-horned man with long pointy tail suddenly appeared in front of me. His eyes were raging with fire. The beast bent down to bring his eyes to my level and to my face roared: “You cheated!”
I thought at first my skull would collapse from the force that washed over me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know!”I said, pleading.
“Death to you. Death is what you deserve!”
The creature moved and whipped me with its tail and cut my face. Silver liquid oozed out from the wound and I screamed from the burning pain. Instinct took over, and I fled. The creature was in pursuit.
I ran into what looked like an orchard and hid behind one of the trees that had a huge trunk. Gasping for breath, I mustered whatever earthly brain cell I had left in my heavenly skull to think of ways to escape from here. I remembered one experiment that may help so I mentally summoned the energies from what I could find available nearby. They answered to me and came dancing in a circular motion. I split it up to get the Rood, which was the only one I really needed. I summoned more energies only to break them apart and harvested Rood from the broken pieces. I repeated the process until I had enough of the red energy. I rubbed them together to create friction. And just as I intended, it burst into a flame. I needed it to be strong enough like the sun that the angels in the Experiment Area accidentally created. Please, please. I kept saying to myself while I built up the strength of the Rood. I triggered the fission and the fusion cycle until it cycled by itself with no further prodding from me. And out from process, a small star was born.
“Here you are,” the creature said behind me.
I jumped. With my heartbeat surging up into my throat, I flung the ball of fire to the beast, hitting the beast’s head.
“Fire?” The creature laughed, “I eat fire!”
The beast took it off his head and thrust it into his mouth.
As soon as the creature burst into a colossal flame, I summoned the silver energy Sylfur and tossed it at the beast. And just like what happened with the sun at the lower house, the beast froze and turned into a huge diamond.
“Not bad,” I said and then grimaced when the pain came back. The wound on my face stung so much I thought I would pass out. And I did. But before darkness fell over my vision, I caught sight of a door appearing right in front of me.
CHAPTER 14
“I see that you’re already awake. I’m Traquus. We’ve met before.”
I made a cursory assessment of my current state. I was on a bed, not a floor. I was so used to waking up on the floor whenever an energy-sleep caught me off guard that waking up on a bed triggered suspicion in my mind. I sat up and floated in front of him.
I remembered him. He was this angel who greeted us at the door of the first house. His physical form looked a few years older than me. His eyes were blue, so blue it reminded me of the sky and the ocean on Earth. I found it unsettling to be referencing Earth so casually. Traquus continued talking so I tried to give him all my attention.
“I’m Orieumber. And yes, I remember you. What happened? Why am I here?”
“You were seen lying unconscious at the portal. Since this house is only accessible through the Maze at the fourth house, I am positive that you came from there, that you’d taken the test and passed. So congratulations. Welcome to the fifth House: The Arts and Science of Medicine. And this is your room.”
This house was only accessible though the fourth house?
“So if I visit someone at the third house, I would have to go through the whole trial in the fourth house again?”
“Yes.”
No. This would not stop me from seeing Venir at the third house. I would go through the whole ordeal if I had to.
“Why are you sad? You passed the trials, so be happy,” he said while staring at me in confusion.
“Where’s the door out of here? I need to go back to the third house.” I hovered toward the door and opened it. I glanced down. The ground was a few miles beneath me.
“The fifth house does not have a door to the lower houses,” Traquus said, hovering beside me.
“What are you saying?”
“You’re now at the second division of the academy. The upper houses. You’ve finished the basic knowledge, and now you’re ready for the application.”
“But I need to see my friend.” All my hope was for him to hear the desperation in my voice.
“You can once you’re done here,” he said like it was not a big deal.
“You mean to say the next house has access to the lower houses?”
“No. None of the higher houses have access to the lower houses, and the only way out of this division is in the tenth house, the Great Ordeals.”
“That knowledge is nowhere in any of the books! This fucking place lied! It did not say anything about not being able to go back unless we finish all the houses. It’s nothing there!” I screamed at him as though it was his fault. But I didn’t care. “And do you want to know why I know it wasn’t in any of the books?” I moved closer to him. “Because I’ve read them all.”
He raised his eyebrows, but rather than looking mad at me for my disrespectful attitude toward him, he instead looked amused.
“You cannot possibly read all of the books there. It’s designed that way so there’s a room for the trading of knowledge.”
“Well, my friend read all the easy books and he’s thorough. While I read all the difficult ones including a few of the mystery ones, and believe me, I did read all of them. And then we shared what we read. So yeah, I know what is in those books.”
He grinned like our conversation was amusing to him.
“That’s against the rules.”
Then it was my turn to grin. “There are no rules. It gives you reasons why you should not do certain things like sharing knowledge without corresponding payment because then you’re depreciating the knowledge.”
“Isn’t it what you and your friend were doing, sharing knowledge for free?”
“Oh, no. It’s not for free. We owe each other a lifetime’s worth of debt. So we’re… paying it by installments.”
His blue eyes gleamed while he smirked at me. “Then you should endeavor to get to the tenth house then so you can see him again. Or you can wait for him to get here. Either way, it’s none of my business. I had taken you to this room while you were unconscious, but you can pick another room if you don’t like it here. It’s all up to you. And by the way, you and your friend have a way to talk to each other.”
I must have looked desperate to him since he chuckled at my reaction. “How?”
“Do you know how to manipulate the air?”
I nodded vigorously.
“The garden has better reception. And …” he said, stopping me from heading toward the garden. “Why don’t you fix your face first. There are books in the room that can help you with that.”
The room was spacious. It had a table for experimentation, stones to hold gaseous elements, and diamonds. The best thing was that I had my own walls filled with plated books from green, yellow, blue and red.
“I have my own library? All mine?”
“Not really yours,
but yours at the moment. All the upper houses have rooms for each fledgling and inside every room is a mini-library,” Traquus said with a little smile.
While he was talking, I was staring at his wings. They were huge, brilliant and white as mine. He must have noticed where my attention lingered because he shifted his gaze to his wings and then back to me. His eyes turned glassy and his face faraway.
“Yes, we both have special kind of wings,” he said.
“But it was not white before. It was red the first time I saw it.”
“I have special kind of wings. So if you don’t have any questions, then I shall leave you so you can heal yourself.”
“I thought asking a question is discouraged in Ether,” I said before he could even turn to go.