With the herd all in bed and fast asleep, she was alone with her thoughts once more. She didn't bother with her homework, she didn't see the point. She'd already made up her mind, she wasn't going to college anymore. Part of her brain argued that perhaps she was only doing this because Rick approved of the career path and wanted her to take it. She had to argue back with herself that it wasn't true. Well, not completely. Rick's approval did automatically have her wanting to run in the other direction, but it wasn't what sparked the choice to quit. She'd had this feeling, that college wasn't going to go anywhere, so she was better off not doing it at all.  That and she didn't feel comfortable taking away another persons lifes work when she didn't feel as passionate about it. 

Now that the matter was resolved in her head, she went up to her room. Usually, this quiet time was when she worked on her projects. Her paintings, drawings, writing, here recently she'd begun to make a quilt for sister Pixie who would be celebrating her tenth birthday soon. Alyson wanted to mark the occasion. Not tonight. Tonight she went through her candles and made the preparations to pray. 

When Hektor had finished making the world as he saw fit, the people asked how were they to pray to him. Hektor, who had promised he would never again actively be among the humans, told them candles. He created the Prayer Candles. If a person wanted to pray to a Divine, they but to light a candle, and their prayer would be heard. Each Divine had a specific color of candle, some were a mix of colors. The King of the Divines, The Ultimate Authority, The father to All, Hektor's candle was gold. The Divine of Patience, Mother to all, Olivia's candle was silver. She took out her candles, lining them up, grouping her spares together. She examined each of the Divines candle and was lost in the wonder of how beautiful each individual candle was. 

Despite Hektor's assurances, promises, and efforts, there was a war. But he had made a vow, he could not go down among humanity again and actively help or slaughter them.  He had made this vow, but his son, Balor, had not. Balor went down among the humans, and aided the ones loyal to Hektor and the other Divines against their enemy. Before this, Balor had to Divine Grace, he was just simply a Divine being. However, when joined the war, he became the God of War. His candle was a spiral of Gold and Silver. Colored so for the weapons of war he wielded while in battle, as well as his status among the Divines. The Eldest son of the Divine Realm. 

At the end of the only war that was a stain on the new worlds history, Balor discovered his wife, and his other half, Serenity, Goddess of Peace. Her candle was pure white and smelled of vanilla. They had two sons between them who took on the Divine Grace of the elements. Kale's was the Divine Grace of Air, and his candle was a spiral of pale blue and silver. Their other son, Kane had the Divine Grace of fire, and his candle was red with bright orange and yellow flames decorating the sides. 

So far, Kale and Kane had yet to find a bride. Rumor among the church officials said that they didn't like humans. She'd just heard it in passing. Alyson wasn't sure it was true or not. It honestly wasn't her business what the Divines did. 

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Hektor and Olivia had a second child. A daughter named Thalia. The Divine of Order. Her candle was a pale peach color and was also scented of the exotic fruit. The fruit was extremely difficult for humanity to come by. One grove bore peaches, and each year, the crop was less than less. Thalia's husband, Graeson's candle was pale gray. He was the Divine of Sanity. Thalia and Graeson had one son. It was his candle Alyson sat on floor staring at. Running her finger tips over the unique candle. The main color was black, but it was spotted and had swirls of a variety of colors.  It looked like a crazy mess, which was the point, Alekzandor was the God of Madness. 

Out of all the candles she had, this one was her favorite. She felt it resembled her own mind and soul. Given she too was a chaotic mess at times. 

She put away most of the candles, keeping out Olivia's, Serenity's, Thalia's, Graeson's, and Alekzandor's candle.  Clutching them to her chest, she closed the lid of the chest that held all of her candles and made her way to her alter. She placed the candles in their usual places. Alekzandor's candle sat on the bottom alter, solitary, away from the rest. She lit his first, then set about lighting the others. When all the candles were lit, she closed her eyes and prayed. Since no one was home or awake who might hear her, she spoke her prayers aloud. 

"Olivia, Divine of patience, please gift this house with your divine grace so we may deal with our conflicts calmly. Serenity, Divine of peace, please gift this house with your divine grace our those conflicts are few and nothing serious. Thalia, Divine of order, please give this house with your divine grace so the chaos may end. Graeson, Diving of sanity, please gift this house with your divine grace so the children may get through this awful time."

Taking a deep breath, she blew the candles out one by one, till the only one left was Alekzandors. She watched the wax drip for awhile. Mesmerized by how it melted and the multicolored wax dripped down into a puddle that became a uniform black with only flecks of the once mass of color. She had always loved his candle the most. This was her last one, she wouldn't be able to get more for a long long time. For her prayer to be answered, she had to let it melt until the wax was completely melted into a puddle. The longer one left the candle lit, the greater the chance of their prayer being answered. 

She stroked the side, ignoring the sting of the hot wax as it hit her fingers. She drew a shaky breath.  "My Lord . . . "

Authors note :

Yes, chapter two ends on a cliffhanger, please forgive me. 

I know this chapter is short, and I apologize for that too. But next week you get into the world of the Divines the story switches POV's! I can't wait to start on it. 

Sadly I have shopping to do, and my permit so I can drive in the mean time. 

Maybe once I get my new laptop I can post updates faster, but for now, once a week will have to do.