As the Scholar started calling for the children—young men and women— to go up on the raised dais, Ernith found his attention shifting from the golden stele towards the golden ball hanging in the sky. Enn, the God of Day, Action, and Light. Though it was Yul who was the Goddess of Time, it was through the position of Enn, and Orn in the sky that most of the people were able to tell the passage of time. Six hours of Enn ascending to his zenith, and six hours of Enn descending into the horizon, never late no matter the circumstances.
Orn, on the other hand, often came off as lazy, with her mood directing when she left her home. According to the myths, an agreement was made between the Gods allowing her one hour with Enn after his descent into the horizon every day, following which, it was supposed to be her turn to shine her light upon the world with the same schedule of six hours of rise, and six hours of descent.
In reality though, no one could actually force the Goddess of Night, Emotions, and Darkness, to do anything against her wishes. Especially after the Gods had long left the world. Thus, more often than not, the soft bluish white glowing counterpart of the golden ball in the sky rose up hours later than she was actually supposed to, rushing along with her rise, and diving back to her home hours before she was supposed to. Not that those things mattered at the moment.
The myths of the Gods, interesting as they were, were not enough to keep Ernith away from the thoughts of his father. Neither was the slight chill creeping up along his limbs, as the God of Day slipped towards the horizon, allowing the winds to pick up their pace, and with it, the slight chill left in the air. Winter may have passed, but spring had not come in its full force yet. The chill left from the last snow, just two weeks past, still lingered in the air, which the winds carried into his robe through the wide openings along the end of his limbs.
Biting his lips, blaming the frustration in his heart on the stupid winds, Ernith tugged at the ends of his robe tightly, determining himself to not give the winds the satisfaction they wanted. At the same time, he also tried his best to shift his attention away from the North-western Altar Road to the Altar at the centre of the plaza, where the Spirit Awakening Ritual was happening. Where the young men and women, people of his age, were laying their Roots.
The process of laying their Roots itself was not long, or complicated, or at least that was how it appeared to him. At the call of the Scholar, those young men and women were climbing up to the Scholar, who stood with his back against the stele shining in a faded golden glow. But neither the Scholar, nor those who went up the Altar were paying any mind to the stele. Rather, they probably did not have enough time to pay attention to anything.
After those people climbed the Altar, the Scholar spoke a few words to them before tapping their foreheads, following which those people just stood there in a daze, recovering only after the passage of a few moments. Not too short, but not too long either. Probably less than one twentieth or one thirtieth of an hour. Still, with more than a thousand people present in the plaza, it was going to take quite a while for everyone to lay their Roots. That was probably the reason why the Scholar just congratulated the people done with their ritual with a smile, and sent them down the stage, making way for the others.
Thus, the confused and bewildered Seeds, people who had laid their Roots, climbed down the Altar with all kinds of mixed emotions showing on their faces. Some smiled, running down the stairs with a smile, flying into the arms of their family, while the others, scared, and lost, came down crying and trembling, either having lost more than what they had thought they would while laying their Roots, or regretting not having the courage to pay a higher price required for their desired Roots.
Still, since the Ritual had just started, there were only a few people like this. Most were like Ernith, standing in the plaza, waiting in a nervous anticipation. Unlike him though, they were waiting for their turn, and not for their fathers. As such, their wait soon came to an end, with their turns for the Ritual arriving one after another, including Reth, and Amaya.
Soon after having laid their Roots, the two came by to share their excitement with him. Yet, just when they were just about to share what they had taken as their Roots, they were stopped by their parents. One’s Roots should always be kept a secret, they said. And if they really wanted to share their Roots with each other, then they should wait until they were a little older, and more mature. Both Reth, and Amaya grumbled at first, but acquiesced reluctantly.
Still, the nervous energy that filled them was hard to contain. As such, failing in sharing his excitement, Rethn then focussed his attention on Amaya. Winking at Ernith with a grin, the yellow robed boy turned towards Amaya, and complimented her for her looks, saying that the colour suited her the best. That caught Ernith with a surprise. It was the first time in the six years that he had known the two of them that he had heard a word of compliment for Amaya from Reth’s mouth.
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A little intrigued, Ernith turned his head to take a good look at Amaya. The green did look good on her, but not any more so than the other colours she normally wore. But that did not matter. Forgetting his wait for his father for a few moments, Ernith grinned back at Reth, before following his example, and complimenting Amaya on her dress. Unfortunately for them, Amaya caught on to their mischief, pinching their waist, making them yelp in pain.
Running around, teasing, and chasing each other in the limited space they had, Ernith found himself forgetting all his worries, and laughing along side his friends. They were his best friends, people he cared for the most after his mother, and father. Maybe he could take them as his Roots, he thought, before shaking his head right in the next moment. His mother did not allow him to take her as his Roots. How could she allow him to take his friends as his Roots?
Ernith was just thinking of consulting his friends on what he could take as his Roots, when their parents urged them to go back home. Having already laid their Roots, there was no need for them to stay in the plaza anymore. And not just them, but all the other people were the same. Thus, just like the others, his friends, after wishing him the blessings of Goddess Ilea, went back to the comfort of their home as well.
On the other hand, the people who had yet to lay their Roots moved closer to the Origin Altar, eagerly waiting for their turn to come. Only Ernith stood where he was, waiting with his mother for his father to come. He waited, and waited, until Enn started approaching his zenith, dimming in appearance, giving a reddish hue to the sky, while the crowd started thinning out as well, giving the sly winds the chance to pick up their speed, and blow against his robe, flapping its loose cuffs, and its hems near his feet.
However, Ernith stood still, bearing against all the forces of nature, waiting for his father to come. Because his father had made a promise. And promises were not meant to be broken. So even if hunger came at him, he stood still, waiting. Even if his mother gave up on his father coming, and urged him to go to the Altar, he stood still. Waiting. Because he knew that his father would come… Because he had made a promise…
So why was it that there were still no signs of him, Ernith asked himself, as the last person completed his Ritual, leaving only him in the entire plaza who had yet to undergo his Spirit Awakening Ritual. Only he had yet to lay his Roots. And the Scholar knew it as well, urging him along with his mother to come to the stage, to the Origin Altar, and lay his Roots. Even if he wished to, Ernith could not wait anymore.
Turning towards the North-western Altar Road, he gave it a last glance, before making his way towards the Origin Altar in silence. He had only taken a few steps though, when the sound of hurried steps rang out behind him. From the direction of the North-western Altar Road. From the direction that his father was supposed to come.
With his heart pounding in hope, Ernith paused in his steps, and turned around, looking towards the North-western Altar Road in anticipation. What he saw though, was completely out of his expectations. It may have been late in the evening, with Enn almost hallway into the horizon, still, its fading light was enough to partially illuminate the Altar Road and let him see that it was not one person running towards the central plaza, but two.
None of them were his father though. They were dressed like his father, in loose trousers—tucked into their boots at bottom— with a rough coat covering their loose shirts. But they were not his father. Uncle Trepis and Uncle Yuren. Both Arcanists, serving the Redbud family along with his father. Their children were not old enough to go through the Ritual though, so why had they come? And where was his father? Most importantly, what was the look on their face? Fear? Anxiety? Horror? And… was that guilt?
“What happened?” Ernith heard his mother ask in a voice just as shaky, and loud as his heart. “Why are you two here, and Raun isn’t? Did he send you two in his place? That idiot. This is the Spirit Awakening Ritual for Enn’s sake! Didn’t he know how important it is for Ernith? Or how much Ernith was looking forward to this? Why didn’t he come himself?”
“Ciena,” uncle Trepis called his mother. “Raun… he… Raun took a new task of the Redbud family… He went to test their new Arcana…”
“What–what do you want to say?” his mother said, trembling at uncle Trepis’ words, as if already aware of what he was trying to imply. “He is not coming because he is busy testing the Arcana, right? He will come back as soon as he is done with it… right?”
“He is not coming back, Ciena,” said Uncle Yuren. “The Arcana… it was from a member of the Redbud family. Though his Spirit had reached the Peak Stage for a while, he had been stuck at the Late Stage of the False Wanderer Rank for years. Recently, he had gleaned some Mysteries of the Origin Sea, and had created an Arcana from those Mysteries… but he was too scared to test out the Arcana himself. So, he had Raun test it for him…”
“An Arcana of the Peak Stage?” his mother exclaimed. “Has he gone mad? What is he thinking?”
“The Redbud family offered to allow Ernith to train with the members of their clan, the Lotus clan, and not just the Redbud family. They said that they would pull some strings, and allow Ernith to train at the Central Academy… But they would do that only if Raun would test out the Arcana for them. Raun couldn’t refuse…”
“That idiot,” his mother cursed hysterically. “No, I have to stop him. Where is he? Where is that idiot right now?”
“…I am afraid that it is too late for that. I—We are sorry, Ciena. Raun… he…”