Shen shook his varicoloured head and awoke from his trance of wonderment, then resumed shouldering an orbit around Kai, whose ardent dark eyes remained trained on the Way ahead, as the three orators continued preaching over the murmuring chorus.
“So, young man, you are here to find your true Elucian Way, I presume?” said Shen politely.
Kai looked at him; his eyes blazed like black fires beneath his mass of dark curls.
“Yes, of course you are — you and each and every one of the thousands of new Destiners every day! To name a planet ‘Destiny’ is an inspired stimulus for its economy!”
| “...the cheapest, most energy-efficient Way to immortality...” |
“And Destiny can offer every one of you so very much,” continued Shen, accelerating into an unbroken breathless string of enthusiasm, “Everyone is promised a new life here, everyone, even if it’s not always the one they expected. If you cannot afford to stay on the main island, the Way will even offer you inexpensive housing on the far side of the planet — if you are strong enough to do without regular visits to the temple, then you can probably live without sunlight, wouldn’t you agree?”
| “...the light of life and renewal...” |
Shen’s colour faded suddenly to pale yellow: “Forgive me, my boy! How rude of me, I did not introduce myself. My name is Shen. Shen Sol-Pá.”
Kai remained silent, and they looked at each other awkwardly for a moment.
“Well...,” continued Shen, “Perhaps, if it’s not too much trouble, you could...tell me your name also?”
Kai gestured, somewhat embarrassedly, towards his mouth, then courteously extended a hand to Shen. Colour flowed back to Shen’s face immediately, and, overjoyed, he grabbed Kai and hugged him warmly.
“It’s fine, fine, fine — you’re a silent soul. I understand, I do!”
| “...and only One will fulfil the three great prophecies...” |
Releasing Kai from his forceful hold, Shen sank immediately into seriousness. His brow furrowed grey, and he pulled up his sleeve, checking his arm where it had been bitten.
“How...how did you do that?” he stammered, “I’m...this...my skin is bio-holographic. Inside I’m just...just light, fluid light. And you.... Just one tear in this skin and I’m....” His hands flicked into the air to illustrate his potential death of dispersal. “I need it for atmospheres, you see. I can go at any time! Any time! But me...my light...you held it. Shaped it!”
| “...we embrace the light of Ephaïl...” |
Shen’s eyes burned bright and wide, and his building tension shook him from deep inside until he could no longer contain his colour.
“It’s the prophecy! It must be!!”
Almost immediately his voice and hue began to cool again.
“Well, it could be. There are so many of these prophecies. Certainly, the one in question is the first official prophecy of the Way, but...there are thousands of these ‘fulfilments’ every day here in Destiny.”
| “...the light in every one of us...” |
“You could be simply choosing not to speak, for all I know. That happens all the time.”
| “...and it is time for us all to speak up, for we are all One!” |
Shen suddenly flared into a scarlet rage and leapt over and up to the second orator’s box, shouting sarcastically, “Yes, we’re all the One! Of course we are! The Way has always supported each and every One...especially the rich Ones.”
Laughter rippled through the crowd, and Shen leapt down in a flamboyant gesture of gold for his audience. The first orator shouted over at him —
| “You ridicule the Way? The Gods?!” |
Again Shen blazed up and leapt across at him. The crowd divided to let his fury blast through, and the orator began quivering in his plush, purple velvet.
“The Way?” called out Shen, “Ridicule the Way? No. Only you, you indicime!”
The crowd let out a peal of laughter, but Shen cut them off with furious cries: “And anyone else that claims to know the deepest secrets of the universe. Especially when they can afford clothes like these!”
He tugged at the trembling orator’s robes, almost pulling him down, and the crowd laughed again, nervously. Shen roared in hysterics at the orator’s quivering terror, then raised a glowing hand to the sky and bowed to end his performance.
In the distance, the first group of SYS-soldiers marched out of sight around the temple. The SYS-officer, skirting past the far edge of the Religious Quarter looked vaguely up to his right as Shen leapt from the box back to Kai. The second group of soldiers reached the edge of the Religious Quarter and started grabbing citizens by the arms and feathers.
| “Don’t listen to the I’sta propaganda! No, no — the Way is for you!” |
Shen looked over at the SYS-soldiers, pushing in closer.
“We were lucky before,” said Shen, distractedly, his colour fading nervously pale, “If the I’sta hadn’t been there with their emotion...staff...things, then we would be in quite some trouble now.”
| “They are not the True Elucian as they say, but scheming outsiders!” |
“But we won’t be safe here for long. The Religious Quarter is not what it used to be, I fear! Although, to be truthful, I cannot remember very much from before....”
| “Join the Way, now, and then we can really make a difference. New volunteers are signing up today at the temple.” |
Kai’s eyes burned black as the orator spoke.
“Come on, Salvator,” said Shen and started to push his way out from the impatient triangle, but Kai gently took his arm, pulled him back, and turned them both to face the massive Elucian Temple. The skies behind the imposing, golden dome began to darken.
“Well...you did come here to find your Elucian Way,” said Shen apprehensively, prodding Kai’s chest with a single, shining finger, “So there is really only one place you might find your truth.”
The SYS-officer’s second group of soldiers started tearing down orators at the edge of the Religious Quarter; screams of panic pierced the air.
The SYS-officer himself was no longer anywhere to be seen.
Next chapter — Simple Pleasures
Sunday 23 January 2011
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