The next Sanctuary Meet was coming up. In a few hours Gray would be an adult and would get a chance to leave this crazy place that had been home since as long as he could remember. This was the 15th Sanctuary Meet he would live to see. For all intents and purposes he was young for an immortal, they all were. In fact the entire reason he was looking forward to this Meet was that it delineated the boundary between too young to be taken seriously and old enough to figure out the world without getting killed by it.
Most of the reservations to being released outside of the Sanctuary before the fifteenth Meet really had a lot to do with survival Very few things could kill an immortal and of those that could, they affected sub 15th Meets most. The ones that could kill all the others above that particular age had been hunted down eons ago. Most of our species enemies had learnt that fighting individuals who have had forever and a half to live was a particularly bad idea for their existence.Thus they found prey they could handle easily and not have to worry about being hunted to extinction.
The Sanctuary was a good place for Aeterian progeny to find themselves in. First and foremost, it was the safest place for their very limited numbers to survive.Nobody knew where it was, at least nobody who should not know. Actually, he had been informed by his caretakers that even they could not pick out it's location in the expanse of the void. It was said that every member of their species was born with an internal compass to find the Sanctuary when they needed to be there. The Sanctuary called for you, you did not go to the Sanctuary. As a result, nobody was considered an adult until they felt the stirring within them during the time for a Meet. For those already on the inside, it was more of a peaceful feeling suddenly coming over you while for those on the outside, it was said to be a feeling of having your heart being tagged and feeling empty with such a deep longing and instinctual movement in one direction. Of course that direction was not the same during every meet.
That sudden peaceful feeling is what made Gray excited. It was a precursor to the opening of a door that he had just been unable to get passed his entire life. He knew every stone and the monsters living under them, the scratches on every piece of wood and even the sound made by every wooden plank when stepped on but never for a second had he been allowed beyond this particular door.Allowed is not really the word, the door just did not open until it was time and now was that time.
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Hazel was tired. She should have been excited at the possibility of leaving this place after all the years she had spent within it. She had been told over and over again that the world outside was an interesting place to be. In fact she thought it was an interesting place to be. She just could not muster the desire to go and be part of it.
"Hazel, give me that book. You do know that we do not allow books out of here and besides, you have read it so many times it does not matter anymore." Hazel grunted without turning. She was half tempted to just hurl the book at Ruby. It wouldn't hurt her of course and it wouldn't even be considered rude, the energy expenditure on such a meaningless move is what held her back. She turned as slowly as she could and handed the book she was reading: How to tame large void creatures Volume III. This particular volume dealt with how to get pets out of these crazy creatures. The previous two volumes dealt with how to make mounts and war beasts out of them respectively.
" I just want to read it one more time before living the Sanctuary. I do not know if I will meet the Void creatures but i'd rather have the knowledge and not need it than need it but not have it, right?" Hazel tried her most winning smile. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't going to work. "You will have HZXX01 with you and he has that knowledge all the time." Hazel flinched at her companion being referred to by a code. "Lumin, he is Lumin not a code. He is an individual with a name and a personality not a bunch of numbers he ..." Her attempts at anger were curtailed by the smile on Ruby's face. A smile that made her know she was humoring her while giving her childish tendencies time to patter off. She knew what she was going to say before she said it because they had had this conversation before. She cursed herself for allowing her hate for the world make her make such a fundamental mistake as she now had wasted energy on something whose answer she knew. "..... is a matter of your own preference and not part of the designation the sanctuary has given it. IT becomes an entity beyond that door but before that..." Hazel stopped listening after that. Maybe, just maybe leaving this place was worth it if she would never have to have this argument again. Maybe the humanity of Lumin was enough reason.