“Yes, we do,” Amanda and Riccan replied in unison.
“We will begin with your firstborn,” Daven said as he dipped his finger into the green liquid of the bowl in front of Juila. He marked a line in green across Juila’s forehead and chanted, “I mark Juila’s forehead to be able to divine the thoughts and intents of this being.” He dipped his finger again in the bowl and marked a circle in green on the back of each of her hands chanting, “I mark each of Juila’s hands to be able to divine the actions for which she will be responsible in her lifetime.”
The room was utterly silent as Daven held each of Juila’s hands in his own. With his eyes closed, he began to rock back and forth with a thin smile on his lips, as he spoke, “Allah dari langit, silakan me panduan dalam penyelidikan. Membuat saya benar bacaan dan kristal tugas tepat.”
Amanda remembered the meaning from her dream and immediately translated it to, “Creator of heaven, please guide me in this quest. Make my readings true and the crystal assignment precise.”
They all sat in silence as Daven continued to rock silently. Amanda again recalled her dream and wondered if Daven saw the same thing Alena had seen. Although now she knew Elder Debbon had performed the ceremony. Perhaps he had seen the same things which Daven saw now.
“This child has had many obstacles in her youth. She will grow to be strong and independent. She will have a strong sense of right from wrong,” Daven finished, and he released her hands.
“I see no indication of a change in crystal in this child. Amanda and Riccan, please place your hands on Juila’s shoulders and repeat after me, “Saya memberikan ini untuk Anda dengan cinta.”
Amanda did as she was told and saw Riccan had also put his hand on Juila’s other shoulder. Amanda tried to pace her words with Riccan as she recalled the meaning of the phrase, I give this to you with love. The phrase was not entirely accurate since Juila had already been given the crystal by another, but she supposed the intent was the same and that was good enough for her.
Daven used a warm, wet cloth and cleaned the green liquid from Juila’s forehead and hands. He rinsed the cloth in another bowl of clean water. Daven removed the cloth, picked up the cup and handed it first to Riccan and then to Amanda. It was minty as Amanda remembered from before.
Daven announced, “I give you this water to drink. By the drinking of the liquid which contains your daughter’s essence, you will seal the bond between your lives and Juila’s.”
Amanda finished the liquid and handed the empty cup back to Daven, and he announced, “With this child, Juila, safe and protected from harm, we will now turn to her sister.”
Repeating the same ceremony, Daven dipped his finger into the green liquid in the bowl in front of Jena. As he marked the line across Jena’s forehead he chanted, “I mark Jena’s forehead to be able to divine the thoughts and intents of this being.” Then he continued by marking the circles on the back of each hand chanting, “I mark each of Jena’s hands to be able to divine the actions for which she will be responsible in her lifetime.”
Again he held each of Jena’s hands in his own. With his eyes closed, he began to rock as he petitioned Jehoban to guide him. Suddenly, Daven gasped his eyes popped open; he locked eyes momentarily with Amanda, and then purposefully shut his eyes to continue to see into Jena’s future.
“This child’s life will be an amazing journey. She will always have those around her who love her unconditionally.” Looking down at her birth crystal, he added, “I see no indication of a crystal change for this child.”
They repeated the process of putting their hands on Jena’s shoulders and saying the phrase, Saya akan kasih Anda di manapun Anda berada.” Amanda remembered the phrase had changed to I will love you wherever you are. She had hoped this part of the ceremony would have changed so her daughter would not be taken away from them. It appeared her destiny was set.
Amanda watched as Daven wiped Jena’s forehead and prepared the second cup of liquid for them to drink. She received the cup from Riccan and brought it to her lips to drink. After the first gulp, she tasted a drastic difference; this drink was bitter instead of minty as Juila’s had been. She finished it rapidly and returned the cup to Daven.
Daven then spoke to everyone in the room. “With this child, Jena, safe and protected from harm, we can all celebrate.”
The four stood up from the floor and hugged one another. They received their first kisses of congratulations from Daven and Nena who were the closest to them. Riccan led Amanda and his girls down the walkway lined with people. They stopped at each person and received kisses and blessings for their future. When they reached the last person, Riccan announced, “Let’s eat!”
Everybody laughed, and the formality of the occasion seemed to dissolve immediately. People began to mingle and talk among themselves. Soon, the household staff had disbursed to their assigned stations. Finally, only the six of them remained in the room.
Elder Daven took Riccan and Amanda off to the side of the room and said, “I must give you some instruction regarding the link to your children’s birth crystals before you leave. Would you like to do that right now?”
Riccan looked back toward their children and saw they were being entertained by his mother. He decided his mom should have this time alone with them before it was time for them to go. He shrugged and said, “I don’t see why not.”
The three silently left the room and returned to Daven’s personal office. After everyone was seated, Daven started with a grave expression, “What I am about to tell you must never be repeated to anyone, ever. Do you agree?”
Amanda knew what Daven was going to tell them and readily agreed. She could see Riccan was having a harder time and hoped her example of agreeing would convince Riccan likewise. After a moment’s consideration, Amanda saw her husband nod his head in the affirmative.
“Good, you are now both parents. It bears a great responsibility. Now that your crystals have been linked to those of your children, I have the pleasure of telling you how you can monitor your children. They will never know about your ability, and you must never reveal it to them.”
Riccan leaned forward, curious to hear what his father was about to share.
“As you know, the crystals cannot be removed until the girls reach the age of eighteen. The color of the stone can change with age, friends, or activities. As their parents, you should be watching their colors carefully to monitor their safety. This next part is the most important of all of the functions of the crystal: parents can both see and hear what their children are doing through their crystals.”
Riccan suddenly sat back and exclaimed, “So that’s how you guys did it! I always thought you were just amazingly intuitive to always show up whenever I got myself into trouble.”
Amanda laughed at Riccan’s reaction.
He turned to her and said accusingly, “You already knew about this?” Then he remembered she had inadvertently told him about the power when she had recounted her dream about losing Jena. He had not connected the search for Jena with a parent’s ability to spy on their children. He had to laugh at himself for missing such an important clue. To be fair, he had been slightly overwhelmed and amazed by Amanda’s story to even think about a minor detail such as that.
Amanda still grinned broadly as she nodded.
Daven was intrigued and asked, “Did you learn about it in your dream?”
“Yes. Alena taught me how to access the crystals of each child. I think you’ll only need to teach Riccan how it’s done,” she replied. She kept feeling the mirth bubbling up as she remembered Riccan’s reaction to his father’s statement. She hoped she had not offended Riccan by her reaction. It did please her to finally know something before Riccan did.
“Tell me how it works,” Riccan said. He wanted to have the same knowledge as Amanda.
Daven spent the next half hour going over the basics of accessing the crystals. Riccan concentrated on the color of Juila’s crystal and was pleased when he could see she was
still talking animatedly with his mother.
“Concentrate on each detail until they become clear. The more you practice this technique, the easier and quicker it will be. I think this will be even more important once you are back on Earth. The elemy seems to be slightly weaker in that realm, so I urge you to become proficient as soon as possible.”
Riccan knew what his father was talking about concerning the strength of the elemy. He had grown up on both worlds and knew the difference. He hoped his prior experience would help him to overcome the deficiency.
Following his father’s instruction, he sharpened his focus on each detail. He was able to expand the view of the crystal to include both his mother and his other daughter. He could hear their conversation as clearly as though he were next to them. Riccan opened his eyes and smiled his success as he announced, “I think I’ve got it. Is there anything else I should know about which nobody thought to share with me?”
Daven smiled knowingly and answered, “You’ll find out plenty of things as time goes along. It’s a part of being a parent. You’ll also discover things about your daughters which you will wish you didn’t know. However, I think ultimately, it creates a stronger bond between a parent and child. Riccan, you have had many life changes lately. Be careful to ease yourself into it, so you don’t become overwhelmed. Don’t be too hard on yourself when you make mistakes as a parent. It’s a part of the job to make occasional blunders. Learn from your errors and just move on.”
Riccan nodded solemnly at his father. He had not expected to get this type of a conversation for many years to come. Now he wondered if they would have other children by conventional means, or if the girls would be enough. He decided time would tell.
Daven slapped his hand down on the desk and announced, “I’m hungry. I think we should adjourn for dinner.”
“Amen,” Riccan agreed with a grin and stood up to go.
Daven also stood and then said, “Remember, if you have any questions about raising your girls, your mother and I would be more than happy to discuss it with you. We’ve had a little experience.”
Riccan chuckled and said, “I’m sure I kept you both on your toes during my teen anons!”
“Infant, toddler, pre-teen, teen, and adult anons is more like it! As you’ll find, it’s a never-ending job. It’s also one you would never forego, either. It’s the hardest job you’ll ever love to be a part of.” He smiled lovingly at his son. He was so proud of the man he had become.
They rejoined the three women in the ceremonial room. Nena turned and asked, “Did you have a productive meeting?” She winked at Riccan conspiratorially since she knew what the conversation had entailed.
“Yes, Mother,” Riccan said to his mom. “It was very informative!” Riccan had another horrifying idea and, pulling her off to the side, he whispered, “Wait, does the parent link through my birth crystal still function?”
She laughed, and her eyes continued to sparkle with mirth as they all headed out to the dining room for dinner.
Chapter Five
THE GIRLS WERE excited to finally travel to Earth. Unexpected events had transpired to keep them in Tuala for twelve days from the time they first met their grandparents. They had heard all kinds of stories, but they had never themselves been able to go. When Riccan had told them to gather their belongings to take back to the telepod, they accessed the elemy to telekinetically transport their bags rather than waste time doing it by hand.
When Riccan asked them, “When are you going to get started on your packing?”
Juila replied with a sheepish grin, “Our stuff is already on board the telepod.”
Riccan tilted his head in confusion and asked, “Did you use the elemy?”
Both girls nodded affirmation.
Riccan had to hide his pride in their accomplishment as he said, “You know you’ll have to curb your abilities when you’re on Earth. What the people of Earth consider magic will not be received well and you will be thought of as strange.”
“That’s what we’ve been told so we have decided to use our abilities as much as possible until we leave Tuala,” Jena responded.
Juila piped in, “I think it’ll be fun going back to the old-fashioned way of doing things.”
Riccan wondered how long she would think it fun. There were many times he was so tired and had to slog through doing something manually which he knew he could accomplish effortlessly and in a fraction of a second using the elemy.
It could be quite frustrating at times how ignorant the people of Earth could be to the possibilities available to them if they would just open their minds to it. He could not count the number of times he had said the same thing to himself about Earth, but it was not going to change until the people changed. He could not see that happening any time soon.
Finally, they were all settled in the telepod. Riccan was still smiling at how eager the girls were to get to Earth. They had barely taken the time to say goodbye to their grandparents in their desire to get going.
Riccan initiated the start-up procedures and could feel the telepod rise from the ground in readiness for the transfer. He keyed in the coordinates to land inside his garage. He had found it to be easier to find a large garage to land in rather than try to keep the telepod cloaked from the airport radar. The maneuver took more precision, but he had designed the software himself and had confidence in its ability to deliver results.
After asking if everyone were ready and receiving an emphatic ‘yes’ from behind him, he smiled as he activated the flight plan. The world turned black as they traveled between Tuala and Earth in the length of five seconds. Normally, the transfer between locations on Tuala only took three seconds, but, for some reason, going through the veil between dimensions took an extra amount of time.
He was used to the time delay, but he realized he had forgotten to share the vital piece of information to his newest travelers. When they reappeared in his garage, he could hear gasps of fear behind him. He turned around and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“We thought we were lost in between!” Jena exclaimed.
“Why did it take so long?” Juila asked at the same time.
Riccan smiled and explained the logistics of the transfer. They both nodded their understanding, but Riccan could not help but feel he had made his first mistake. Just one moment of explanation could have saved them from being scared. He would have to learn to take more time to be sure they knew what to expect, especially now that they were on Earth. He could not afford for them to draw attention to his house with their inadvertent mistakes.
“Okay, girls,” Amanda announced, “this is the garage of our home on Earth. We park here to avoid causing any type of scene outside. You can have your pick of rooms upstairs. Feel free to explore the house and the grounds. We’ll be in the living room when you’re done.”
Riccan palmed open the door and spoke hastily, “Take your stuff with you!”
The girls immediately turned around and picked up their bags and ran toward the garage door to the house. They were eager to see what type of home awaited them. Would it be like what they were familiar with in Tuala or would it be crazy different? Juila was first to the door, but Jena was the first to enter.
By the time they reached the kitchen, they knew this place was special. It was so opulent and inviting. The kitchen counters were granite, and the island was positively huge. All of the appliances were stainless steel and intimidating looking. They had never had to use an appliance before, so this was definitely going to be an adventure.
They walked past the kitchen into the living room. Their attention was caught by the wall of windows off to the right. The view of the yard was amazing, and the Olympic-sized pool was a sparkling blue wonder to behold. Juila was very fond of swimming, whereas Jena had a slight fear of the water. She did not mind putting her feet in or wading in the shallow end of a pool, but deep water was not her thing.
They finally turned away from the view outside to notice the oversized furnitur
e of the living room. The couches looked positively luxurious, and they faced a huge, flat-screened television hanging on the wall above a massive fireplace.
They had turned in almost a complete circle when they noticed the front entrance and the grand curving staircase leading to upstairs. With their bags still slung over their shoulders they began to race to see who would find the best bedroom first. Jena was the first to reach the stairs, but Juila was faster and reached the top before she did.
They were giggling like little girls as they opened one door after another down the long hallway. There had to be at least six guest bedrooms. Finally, after looking over their selection for the third time, they settled on two bedrooms which were side-by-side, both overlooking the backyard and pool area.
Juila’s room was decorated in pink, which happened to be her favorite color. The decorating was done tastefully in a grown-up fashion, not in a childish manner she would have done for herself. She felt very adult in this room. The en-suite bathroom was also luxurious with a huge soaking Jacuzzi tub as well as a shower with multiple shower heads. She could imagine her showers would be pretty quick with all the water available. After putting her bag down in the middle of the king-sized bed, Juila wandered over to inspect Jena’s room.
Jena, of course, had selected a room which was decorated in yellow. It also had a very elegant look to it. The furniture was similar to that of Juila’s own room. The view outside was the same. The en-suite bathroom was the mirror image of her own.
Juila came within a foot of her sister and said, “Isn’t this amazing? I’d always hoped, but never dreamed, this day would actually come!”
Jena nodded emphatically and then lunged forward and hugged her sister. She was thankful they were embarking on this new journey together. She had always hated when she had to go to Elder Debbon’s residence and leave Juila behind. Now they were together, and they could stay that way, at least until she turned eighteen. Then she would be obligated to marry Willian unless she was still in post-study.
Answering Ascension Page 5