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bubblepunk99s · 6 years ago

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Chapter 32: Dinner before dissection

Dinner was a simple affair; leavened barley flatbread and sausages stuffed with rice and deep-fried that Met had got from a street vendor. The whole thing made for a lot of chewing which was good as everyone had a lot to think about and chewing aided in rumination. Or so Met said.

Amara tried to do both, but the events of today had soured her appetite. The drawn, tired expressions of the others told her that they had also had adventures of their own. She wondered how long she could hold up in this city. They weren’t even in the god-grounds but she could still feel it pulling at her like she was standing at the edge of a massive pit, ready to make the plunge.

Met apparently sensed it to, as she saw fit to break the silence.

“So where do you come from?”

The chewing ceased. Amara gulped.

“Excuse me?”

“I thought we already answered this question.” Said Tia.

“Well I know you come from Keda but that’s about it. What of your families. Your reasons for taking up this mission? The people you love?”

She winked at Tia who just looked bemused. Khedes mouthed indulge us at Amara. Amara figured she could, as they were giving her free treatment.

“My family’s business was destroyed by the storm. This may be my only chance to get their lives back on track.”

“My temple is on its last legs but if I find something good on this treasure hunt, I might be able to revive it.” Udana added. “At least that’s what I thought...”

Amni signed emmisu in bench script. Without money. Then she pointed to herself. The lovers nodded knowingly.

“I was tracking down why the trade in our city has been ruined. Now I know the Corvus were behind it I can relay that info back to the Portmaster.” She hit her palm with a fist.

Khedes raised an amused eyebrow, but Met looked frustrated.

“So, you handle goods? Anything in this city that’s caught your eye?”

“Not really, why?”

“Nothing at all?”

“Are you trying to sell me some of your remedies? Cause I’m not buying.”

Met groaned. “Look this entire conversation was just me setting things up so you could give Amara her gift. Remember?”

“Oh shit, yeah!” Tia got up and squirreled over to where the sacks of market supplies lay. She returned holding a silken black scarf which she presented to Amara.

“New head scarf!” She squeaked. “I remembered how yours was destroyed in the storm.”

“Oh Tia!” Said Amara, somewhere between happy surprise and plain bewilderment. “You shouldn’t have.”

“I shouldn’t have?” She sounded worried.

“No, I mean... it was so kind of you to think of me.” It seemed plain, until she held it under the light, showing many flowing lines stretched over the night-black silk.

“I was told those light up in response to your Baran, like the swirls on Soljinn robes. It’s like when you sweat and it creates marks on your shirt.”

Met buried her face in her hands. Thankfully Udana was there to save the day.

“It’s like the light of the moon affecting the tide.”

“Right. It’s exactly like that.” Tia said hurriedly.

“It’s perfect.” Amara leaned in and gave Tia a quick peck on the cheek.

Tia froze up. She remained that way for a few seconds, her half-smile swapped for a big goofy grip.

“Oh, looks like we’ve another one who needs treatment.” Met said.

“Oh, I don’t think you need to worry love. Her body will adapt and she’ll be fine. Just like when we met.” Khedes added.

“Oh sweet heart you know I never was the same after meeting you!” Met leaned in and gave Khedes a big smack on the cheek. “You should have seen it, treasure-hunters, she really swept me off my feet. No that doesn’t do it justice. It was more passionate, more intense. It was like... she kneecapped me with the force of her love.”

“I’ll take that. You know why?” Khedes said, munching on a sausage.

“Because you kill giants?” Said Met, arching an eyebrow

“Because I kill giants!”

Khedes’ laughter was worthy of any giant, full of love and life. Amara began to smile. For the first time she began to feel safe amongst these robbers, so different from her parents and yet so much like them.

“Do you really kill giants?” Tia said, having snapped out of her peck-induced stupor.

“I cut this one’s ego down to size, that’s close enough.” Khedes replied, nudging Met in the ribs.

“I’m the one who handles surgical procedures in this outfit!”

“So where do you come from?” Amara asked.

Tia gave Amara a look that said she had just pushed the boat way too far from the shore. But Khedes and Met looked perfectly unoffended.

“Guess.” They said at once.

A moment’s silence ensued. Udana was the first to speak up.

“Ninnibruta?”

“The city beyond the marshes?”

“Home of temples, Scribal schools, official exorcists and esteemed medics.” Udana said dreamily. “It’s said the god Kur-Enil stalks the streets of the city when the marshes flood and the rivers shift their course.”

“And they grow a very nice strain of beer there. Make it with meltwater from the mountains beyond. Very pure booze.” Amara said, remembering what her mother had told her about the world outside Keda.

“I’ll remember to try some when I go there.” Met said. “So, you think we come from Ninnibruta? Because of my medical prowess?”

“I just assumed you weren’t a native of Kuru based on your irreverence. You don’t observe the Soljinn rites, you don’t rise in the morning with the others. Obviously, you followed a different path so maybe you came from a city known for its plurality of worship-”

“Irreverence?!” Met choked on her sausage. “What made you say that?”

“Interesting place Ninniburta.” Khedes interjected, keen not to have that question answered. “People fleeing across the marshes have set their sights on it. Only accessible by boat so it offers some degree of safety from...” She didn’t finish her sentence, but the Corvus’ presence hung like an axe-blade over their necks once more.

“What’s your guess?” Met asked Tia.

“Me?” She pondered for a moment. “Shamash.”

“The city to the south of here?”

“Yeah. They send convoys of tin and clay to here and Keda. Maybe you could have come in on one of those. Their port overseer is a friend our city’s own master. Lot more cosmopolitan than some other cities. I hear it’s a place of good deals.”

“We certainly are the full package.” Met gave Khedes another kiss on the cheek. “But no. Any more guesses?”

Just then, Amni’s cat scampered off her lap and began to softly rub against Met’s leg. Its fur became a riot of color and Met’s features morphed from confusion to stillness. Amara knew the clever little creature had to be communicating with her.

It stopped and scampered back to its mistress. Khedes laid a hand on Met’s as the light slowly returned to her eyes.

“Well these sausages came from where I came from. So, eat up!”

She may as well have said shut up. It was clear her little experiment hadn’t gone the way she wanted so now she was burning the bridge before they had even finished building. Amara was reminded of the gap that existed between her team and this couple- and surprised by how much she wanted to cross it.

They resumed their meal. After all the myriad interruptions that had plagued her stay in this city, Amara was only half-surprised when the sounds of eating were cut short by a massive crash from outside.

The couple’s eyes stabbed at the door.

“Mercs?”

“Doesn’t sound like it.”

Another crash sounded. An agonized grunt followed it. A fight Amara realized. Every noise was like a bruise on her brain. Worse still, they were getting closer and closer.

“Met.” Khedes whispered. “Get me the double-base cartridges.”

Met slunk to the dresser, pulling out a small wooden box. Amara heard the rattle of bullets as it was passed to Khedes, who had her rifle ready. Met then pulled her sleeves back to reveal her wrist-crossbow, a gleaming spike already set in it.

More noises, crashes and muffled cries. Images of breaking bodies spread across Amara’s eyes as she realized that Barans were sounding outside. She felt the others crowding around her, like when they had been attacked by ghosts in the desert.

Suddenly silence. Then...

Knock. Knock. Knock

Both Amara and Tia glanced at the lovers. They were utterly still, eyes on the door, not even their weapons quivering. There wasn’t another knock, but Amara could detect a faint citrus-like smell coming from the gap underneath...

“Anis?”

“Can I come in?” His timid voice rang out.

“By all means.” Met said. Neither her nor Khedes lowered their weapons.

The door creaked open to reveal Anis and by his side, Nannâru. The former’s smile quickly vanished upon seeing two well-armed ladies pointing their weapons at him.

“Where’s the fight?” Met asked

“The what?”

Met rolled her eyes. “I knew you weren’t too observant after sneaking up on you, but I didn’t think you were this obtuse. The fight happening outside!”

“No fight here.” Nannâru said. “Unless you want to make one.”

Just then, a massive flare of white light shot up into the night sky. The same light of the Corvus that had ripped apart the market tent when Amara had met the pair.

“Oh, just get inside!” Khedes demanded, lowering her weapon. Anis and Nannâru were funneled in while Met closed the door with a kick.

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en-231-world-lit-pre-1650 · 4 years ago

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sample questions your literary analysis might answer

Soooo the first set of “here’s what I want to write about” emails have come in, and that is great –– BUT one thing I’m noticing is that in a lot of cases folks are proposing essays that would fantastic for an essay that was, idk, four or five times as long as the one you are actually writing.

This is a good problem to have; it means that you are thinking about texts and how they work in important and complex ways. In general, it’s better to start with a “big” idea and try to narrow it down than it is to start with something very small and try to somehow get an essay out of it.

HOWEVER: The fact that remains that you really need to “shrink” these a little.

There are a lot of ways to begin that “shrinking” process, but one that I like a lot is to take what I’m seeing in students’ proposals and cast it back in the form of some questions, organized around the same basic concepts, that students could reasonably hope to answer in an essay of 5-7 pages (the length we are aiming for here).

So, here are a handful of sample questions; your essay doesn’t by any means need to pick one of these and answer it, but hopefully this gives you an idea of the scale at which we’re thinking.

Look the questions over and let me know if YOU have questions of your own; don’t forget to touch base with your own essay proposal by the beginning of next week.

Question #1:

The scribal narrator of Beowulf and the oral storyteller of Sunjata both interrupt their own tales frequently to “editorialize” about the actions of the characters in the story or the cultural/historical context in which the events of the story are taking place. What are the effects of these interruptions on the narrative structure? How do the narrators’ interpolations serve to encode values/assign meanings/inform an audience’s understanding of the protagonists, adversaries, and events recounted? If we removed the narrators’ interruptions from each text, what would be the core message remaining?

Hint: You could do this exercise with a single episode each from Beowulf or Sunjata; you wouldn’t necessarily have to cover all of each text.

Question #2:

Flip the first question around a bit; Beowulf and Sunjata both do that editorializing thing, so pick either one of them and then contrast with a text in which the person recounting the story is not giving us a running commentary: Sunjata vs. The Táin bó Cualigne, for example, or vs. The Iliad, or the scribal interpolations in Beowulf as compared with the notable lack thereof in Genesis. The Iliad is explicitly constructed to give us the narrator, Homer, as if recording his exact words ... and yet Homer himself is almost entirely absent (unlike either the famous storyteller who recounts Sunjata or the nameless scribe who inked the Beowulf manuscript). How does the presence/absence of editorial content structure the narrative differently across the two texts you’ve selected? In the absence of explicit commentary by the scribe or storyteller, how does The Iliad signal virtue, excellence, piety –– how does a text that elides its narrator codify its values and signal them to its audience(s)?

Question #3:

The Táin bó Cualigne and Beowulf both frequently set up a situation in which a character on the page has a reason to tell a story. Sometimes the embedded narrative is explicitly framed as providing additional information about a character in the same story; at other times, the relationship between the present narrative and the reëntextualized narrative lacks this explicit justification. Choose one of the latter examples from each text and

a) identify HOW the secondary narrative is embedded (i.e., what explanation is given in the text for why this other story is here)

b) compare the poetics of the secondary (embedded) narrative and how they do/don’t differ from the primary narrative (i.e., the one we’re here to read) in each case

c) examine how the embedded/secondary narrative functions in each case; what does this additional narrative do for the story in which it’s retold?

Question #4:

Do #3, but with any other combination of texts from class that do this embedded-narrative thing (make a case!).

Question #5:

If the peach tree is the bride, and plums are suitors, what is the rat? How do we know?

Question #6:

How does the construction of time function across the various poems in The Classic of Poetry? Is time the Classic’s overarching theme? How do the poems within this text construct time differently (from each other)?

^We’ve got a lot of time-construction happening in The Táin and Beowulf, too; if you wanted to you could probably do a mix-and-match and contrast the construction of time in either set of lyric poems with the construction of time in any one of our epic poems.

As usual, let me know if you have questions for follow-up. Good luck!

#dr. c says #text: the classic of poetry #text: beowulf #text: the cattle raid of cooley #text: the iliad #literary analysis essay #fall 2021 #read the instructions

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rejectedtreasures · 4 years ago

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Q&A: Authenticity of Scripture!

I hope you enjoy this question and answer piece I’ve put together. I found this was the simplest way to provide this valuable information in the shortest format. As always, feel free to message me with any more questions you may have.

Q. How do we know we are reading Scripture as it was originally written?

A. Unless you know Hebrew and Greek you won’t be reading the scriptures as originally written.

Q. What about all the translations? How do we know the contents haven’t been changed?

A. In short, the earliest original manuscripts always ensures and proves what we have today is accurate.

Q. Has there ever been a scribal error when translating?

A. Yes, but very rare and minute. Mostly punctuation or numbers.

Q. Should the movie The Davinci Code, effect my opinion about the Bible?

A. No, the movie is baseless with many false claims and errors. Our Bible was organically preserved by God and our early church fathers. The counsel of Nicaea was about the deity of Christ, not the Bible.

Q. Why are there so many translations?

A. There are so many different languages in the world. In order for everyone in the world to be able to learn Scripture, they need bibles in their own language. In our English language, we have so many translations because English keeps changing.

Q. How do we pick what translation to read? Are they all reliable?

A. Most of them are, but no not all of them should be read or studied from. We have to educate ourselves on who translated the version in which we are looking at. I am very particular with what translation I am reading from. There are many good ones. However, I only read KJV, NKJV, and NLT. It’s fun to compare with other translations when studying. However I mainly stick with these three.

Q. How can I go deeper and learn exactly how the canon of scripture was collected as we have them today?

A. ISOW.org Take the Canonization of Scripture course.

Q. Have we found archaeological evidence pertaining to what has been written in scripture?

A. Yes!!! Thousands upon thousands!!!!! Evidence of people, places, even gravesites of those mentioned in scripture! Also, the evidence of the other gods that were worshipped that the Bible speaks of have been found. You can learn more at iSOW.org and take the Biblical Apologetics course.

Q. Is there historical evidence concerning scripture? Where can I learn about this historic evidence?

A. Yes! We have many historical writings from secular historians and our early church fathers. Go to ISOW.org History of the Bible course.

Another great resource is The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. The book and the movie.

For a great free resource on all the topics above, find Mike Winger on YouTube and go to his website biblethinker.org

Next week I will be discussing the mistakes the church has made in teaching the Bible and what we need to do to not make the same mistake with others! Also I will be showing you how to read and study the Bible. I love you all.

Faithfully His,

Heather Hoffman

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mattprivettwrites · 5 years ago

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Can I trust my Bible?: Pitting Genesis 10-11 against Luke 3:36

Author’s Note: This post was originally written on August 31, 2015, and posted at my original web site, The MATTrix. As I transition away from that web site, I’m re-posting some things here along the way.

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Have you every heard someone allege there are errors in the Bible, therefore it should not be trusted? And have you ever heard someone state one of those alleged errors and not know how to respond to it?

Well, we can trust the Bible we have. For that matter, we must trust the Bible we have, for it is indeed the inspired, inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient word of God.

However, at the same time, we need to know how to answer the objections of unbelievers and biblical skeptics. The text of Genesis 10 and 11 opens the door to one such objection. This article addresses how believers should deal with it.

This is what Genesis 10:24 says in the New American Standard Bible – 1995 Update (hereafter NASB):

Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber.

And this is what Genesis 11:12-13 says in the NASB:

Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah; and Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Shelah, and he had other sons and daughters.

That seems straightforward enough… until you compare it with Luke 3:36. The third chapter of Luke includes a lengthy genealogy tracing Jesus’ lineage as the Son of David all the way back past Abraham to Adam. This is what Luke 3:35–36 says in the NASB — where we pick up the genealogy in progress:

the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, (bold emphasis added)

Our Luke texts add a name between Arpachshad and Shelah — Cainan — which is missing from Genesis 10 and 11. So why is that? And does it mean there is a mistake in the Bible?

Well, no. Not really. You see, what we believe about the inspiration of Scripture and the inerrancy of Scripture is that God is the author and the Bible is truth, without any mixture of error.

Now, no translation of Scripture is perfect. Almost every professing Christian would agree with that statement (save for some who have an over-exalted view of the King James Version). The translation I’ve quoted from above — the New American Standard Bible — is, in my humble opinion, the most accurate English translation as it relates to the original languages, but it isn’t perfect either. The word of God, however, is.

The original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek is the God-inspired word. The Westminster Confession of Faith agrees, stating “the Word of God as written in Hebrew and Greek was immediately inspired by God.” It adds, “This relates to the autographs of the ‘holy men of God’ while under the Divine afflatus or inbreathing. (2 Pet 1:21).”

There are legitimate issues which lead to translation difference — even when the translators are seeking to give the reader the most literal reading possible (many translators do not have that aim). For example, the original parchments the writers of Scripture use do not exist anymore, and if they did we would never know for sure if they really were the originals. Those originals, though, were copied again and again and again. And sometimes when you make copies you make mistakes. Scribal errors, additions, and subtractions have produced what are called textual variants, and you probably see evidence of this in your Bible via footnotes. But this is not cause for doubting whether or not we have the word of God. In fact, additional manuscript discoveries over the centuries — particularly in the last two centuries — have lead scholars (not to a more confusing view of what the Bible says, but) to have more confidence than ever in what the Bible says. We absolutely do have the word of God.

On the issue of Genesis 10 and 11, then, and whether they are missing something we see in Luke 3, this is a great example of one of these conflicts that can be worked out. In this case there seem to be two main possibilities. First, that the name Cainan found in Luke 3 was part of the original Hebrew of Genesis, but scribes mistakenly missed it when copying scrolls. Or second, that Cainan was not original to Luke’s Greek in 3:36, but later added by a scribe as a mistaken addition.

Let me explain why I am firmly in camp number two — that Cainan doesn’t belong in Luke 3:36. There are good reasons why this is the case.

First, the scribes who copied the Hebrew Scriptures were meticulous in how they went about their job, absolutely minimizing mistakes. There was a much more uniform and careful process of doing this amongst the nation of Israel than later with New Testament manuscripts all over Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa, and the Middle East. It is highly unlikely those Hebrew scribes would have mistakenly omitted Cainan from Genesis.

Second, other ancient versions of the Old Testament do not have the name Cainan in it. The Samaritans only believed the first five books of our Bible were Scripture, and their version of Genesis is missing Cainan. The same can be said for the Vulgate, the Latin translation produced by Jerome in AD 405. Significantly, he refused to use the Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, because of many errors it had compared with the Hebrew. He insisted on translated his Latin from the original Hebrew, and so the Vulgate omits Cainan.

Third, however, and the most compelling reason in my opinion, is that Cainan’s name isn’t just missing from the genealogies of Genesis 10 and 11. It’s also missing from 1 Chronicles 1, and it is that much more unlikely the Hebrew scribes would have missed it in both cases.

So how, then, can the presence of Cainan in our Luke 3:36 be explained? Well, look at Luke 3:36 again in the NASB, with the very next verse, 37, added on:

the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,

When I am reading the Scriptures publicly it is not uncommon for me to mistakenly skip a line and then go back and fix it. It is, therefore, not difficult in the least to imagine a scribe copying the text of Luke and, his eyes betraying him, putting two Cainans in Luke 3 — where only one belonged.

Wherever you come down, there is no doctrine at risk of being compromised by this issue. However, if we believe the Scriptures to be God’s word, inspired by His Holy Spirit, who used the pens and personalities of men, then we need to be prepared to answer questions such as these — to make a defense to anyone who asks for the hope that is within us (1 Pet 3:15). So even though the genealogies of Genesis 10 and 11 and 1 Chronicles 1 are at odds with our English translations of Luke 3, that isn’t reason for us to doubt the word of God.

Just a little bit of study backs up our confidence in the Scriptures as the inspired, inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient word of God. We can trust the Bible.

#bible #biblestudy #textualvariants

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virtual-beit-midrash · 8 years ago

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deathfromabove1989

if that was indeed a scribal error, it's one of the best damn ones i've heard of

It’s an error, and Aleinu is the most popular place where this phrase appears, but the scribe did not create the idea.

1. The error is a small one, and an understandable one.

The original piyyut speaks of "establishing the world under God's kingship".

The verb 'establish' is spelled tav-kaf-nun (t-k-n), and is not a common verb.

The scribe probably thought it was a mistake, and fixed it to say "improving the world under God's kingship"

The verb 'improve (fix)' is spelled tav-quf-nun (t-q-n), and is quite common.

I'd say this is something like taking "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?", and 'fixing' it to say "Where art thou, Romeo?".

It just looks like a mistake, and many people understand it the wrong way anyway.

Specifically, regarding t-k-n vs. t-q-n, I’ve seen other cases of this mistake. People are just not familiar with the former root, and automatically assume it’s the latter.

2. The phrase “Tikkun Olam” does appear in the Mishna, in the context of Rabbinic enactments that 'set right' certain issues. The existence of this phrase is quite possibly why the scribe made his mistake.

But Aleinu is said every day, three times a day, and has much more influence as to language than a few mishnayot.

3. Regardless of the exact phrasing, the idea itself is intrinsic to Judaism.

A famous midrash relates how a Roman asked a Jewish scholar why Jews circumcise their sons. Don't Jews think that God's creation is perfect? In Hellenist culture, the body was perfect, and circumcision was something they simply could not understand.

The scholar answered with his own question (thereby proving he's Jewish): What's better, raw wheat or bread?

The Roman answered that of course bread is much better than raw wheat.

The Jewish scholar then explained that just because God gave us wheat, does not mean that we’re expected to eat it as is. God gave us this world in order for us to improve it and make it better.

I have also heard that following the French Revolution, some Jews thought that Israel's task on earth has been fulfilled. If a non-Jewish country can raise the flag of "liberty, equality and fraternity ", then maybe the world doesn't need Jews anymore.

They maybe got overexcited, but I think that the very idea, that something happened and life is so wonderful that our task has been fulfilled, shows what Jews think of our purpose in life.

#judaism #tefilla #aleinu

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seekfirstme · 6 years ago

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Meditation: Do you nourish your faith with prayerful reflection of the word of God? When Nicodemus heard about Jesus' miracles and extraordinary teaching, he decided to meet with him privately, away from the crowds and the public spotlight. Nicodemus was no ordinary Jew. He was a religious ruler and member of the Sanhedrin, which was the supreme court of the Jews, and a teacher of Israel (John 3:10). He was a devout Pharisee who sought to perfectly follow the law of Moses, as prescribed in the Five Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and Numbers) and further elaborated in the numerous scribal laws, recorded in the Mishnah and the Talmud.

Nicodemus decided to meet with Jesus at night, possibly for two reasons. He may have been cautious and not ready to publicly associate himself with Jesus since many Pharisees opposed Jesus' teaching and called him a Sabbath breaker. It is also likely that Nicodemus chose the night as the best time for seeking a private and undisturbed conversation with Jesus. The rabbis declared that the best time to study the law was at night after the day's work was completed and the household was at rest. When Nicodemus saw Jesus he addressed him as rabbi (a teacher of God's word and law) and acknowledged that Jesus' teaching came from God.

How can one get right with God and enter his kingdom?

Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus went to the very heart of the Mosaic law - how can one get right with God and enter God's kingdom? Jesus' answer was brief and startling: "Unless one is born anew, he cannot see God." The new birth which Jesus spoke about was not a physical birth but the beginning of a spiritual birth which is something completely new and radical, and from above, namely from God himself. Jesus said that this rebirth was necessary if one was to enter God's kingdom. Nicodemus thought that to be born again, even spiritually, was impossible. He probably knew too well from experience that anyone who wants to be changed from within, can't accomplish this by oneself. Jesus explained that this change could only come about through the work and action of the Holy Spirit. This rebirth in the Spirit is very real and experiential, like the wind which can be felt and heard while it is visibly unseen to the naked eye.

Rebirth to new life in the power of the Holy Spirit

What does it mean to be reborn in the Spirit? The new birth which Jesus speaks of is a spiritual birth to a life which is transformed through the power of God. This new life brings us into an experiential relationship with God as his adopted sons and daughters (Romans 6:4; 8:10-11). This new birth is made possible when one is baptized into Christ and receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. God wants to renew all of his people in the gift of new life in his Holy Spirit. This new life in the Spirit brings us into God's kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17).

What is the kingdom of God - which is also called the kingdom of heaven? God's kingdom - his reign and blessing as King over us - is the abundant everlasting life and power from heaven which God shares with those who accept him as the Eternal Father and Author of Life and Ruler of All he has created. Jesus explains in the prayer he gave to his disciples, what we call the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father, that God's kingdom is that society of men and women who acknowledge God as their Lord and Ruler and who obey his word and live according to his will on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

We are sons and daughters of God and citizens of his kingdom

To be reborn in the Spirit is to enter that society in which God is honored and obeyed. Those who willingly accept God's rule in their lives become citizens of God's heavenly kingdom and members of God's family - his adopted sons and daughters. And they enter into possession of the life which comes from God himself, an everlasting life of love, peace, joy, and freedom from sin, oppression, and corruption. Do you know the joy and freedom of the new birth and abundant life which Jesus Christ has won for you?

"Lord Jesus Christ, you offer us abundant new life and power to live as sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. Renew in me the gift of faith to accept and obey your life-giving word and to cooperate with the transforming power of your Holy Spirit who changes us into your likeness. May your kingdom come and your will be done in my life today, tomorrow, and always."

EASTER PRESENTS

"Grant to Your servants, even as they speak Your words, complete assurance." Acts 4:29

On the ninth day of Easter, our true Love, Jesus (see 1 Jn 4:8, 16), gives us holy boldness, complete assurance, absolute confidence (Acts 4:29; Heb 10:22), "parrhesia, straightforward simplicity, filial trust, joyous assurance, humble boldness, the certainty of being loved" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2778). When we pray with this assurance and confidence, we are "filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 4:31).

Will you accept the risen Jesus' gift of what the Catechism quote above calls "humble boldness"? If you accept this gift, you are committing yourself to use it to witness for the risen Christ even if you will be persecuted. If you are in love with the risen Christ, that love will impel you (2 Cor 5:14) to speak up for Jesus. Therefore, such boldness may be just what you want and need. However, if your love for God, Who is Love, is cold (see Mt 24:12), then you would not want this humble boldness from your true Love on this ninth day of Easter.

The risen Jesus is asking us the same question He asked Peter: "Do you love me?" (Jn 21:15, 16, 17) Jesus is breathing on you and commanding you: "Receive the Holy Spirit" (Jn 20:22) of love (see Gal 5:22). Say "yes" to Love. Receive the gifts of love and boldness.

Prayer: Father, on this day in the season of Easter, give me a greater love for You than ever before. Promise: "I solemnly assure you, no one can enter into God's kingdom without being begotten of water and Spirit." —Jn 3:5 Praise: St. Catherine of Siena had converted thousands by her words and actions as a young adult. (For a holy boldness through Pentecost coming soon, order, listen to, or download on or on our website.)

Rescript: In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") for One Bread, One Body covering the period from April 1, 2019 through May 31, 2019.

Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, November 28, 2018.

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements

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bubblepunk99s · 6 years ago

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. Chapter four: The house of Five Waters

Lying before them was a bridge that branched across the canal. Curved like an arched back, the bridge was constructed of dark blue stone, permeated by lines of dully shimmering gold. The most eye-catching aspect of the construct, however, where the gates on either side. Two squat towers of the same blue stone marked the corners of either end of the bridge, upon which were engraved two serpents with golden scales that wrapped around them. Listening, both girls could hear the whirr of unseen wires and technology emitting from it, like the snoring of a sleeping beast.

"Urgh." Tia groaned. "Just looking at this thing is giving me the aches."

"You get the aches 'cause you keep your Baran on at full blast 24/7."

"I aim to live gracefully. You saying this thing doesn't give you any pain?"

Amara shrugged, but as they moved towards the bridge she couldn't deny the feeling of gnawing apprehension this construct gave her. She could taste its power in the air as a sharp metallic tang on her lips and a crackling sensation on her skin. The space between the two block-towers was bizarre to look at, as if a veil of malformed glass had been strung up there. Staring at it for too long before had made her eyes smart all day, so Amara made a point of not looking.

"Alright, let's get this done with." Tia said. With that she made for the right tower while Amara positioned herself in front of the left one. In unison, the two held their bare wrists upwards until they were level with the serpents on their respective sides. Instantly, there was a faint click and a beam of light shot out from the serpents' eyes, onto the girls' exposed skin. Amara winced slightly as the light made contact, but the serpents' check-up was done in a few seconds. They snapped back into their stationary states, while the veil between the two towers began to change. Much like Amara's mirror back home, it started coruscating until it settled as a smooth sliver-like surface, obscuring the bridge behind it.

"Dammit." Tia said as she strode to Amara, glaring at her wrist. "Got burnt again."

"Probably didn't hit the whole of your chip. I keep telling you that you need to hold your arm higher." Amara chided.

"Whatever." Tia grumbled. "I still think this system is a joke."

"Oh, look on the bright side. It's the fun part now."

At that Tia gave Amara a sly grin. "You seem keen. I'm guessing you don't want to hold hands anymore."

"That was once, Tia. It was required on our first day-" Amara began but was stopped when Tia held out her hand.

"Relax. I remember." She assured. "But it is our big day, so I figure we should enter in style."

Amara rolled her eyes but still slipped her hand into Tia's. "Live gracefully?" She said.

Tia winked. "Always"

The two girls walked through the veil.

They did not go through gracefully.

First, both girls experienced a sudden destabilizing shock- similar to falling in in cold water while having your armpits electrocuted. They had both been expecting this so it bothered them little. What did surprise them was what happened next. Before either of them could take their next step, a sudden tugging sensation yanked them violently to their left, like a kite being pulled by a sudden gust. Within an instant, Amara and Tia were off their feet and speeding through a tunnel of pulsing light. Amara could feel her body shake and throb with blinding energy that stabbed through every fiber of her being. Just when she thought her head couldn't take it anymore, the rushing pull came to an abrupt stop. For a second, they floated in air. Then both girls tumbled to the floor. As they did, Amara noticed that her body bounced ever so slightly off the ground before settling. They had arrived. But what had all that been about?

"Gah" Groaned Tia who was lying next to her. Pulling herself up, she brushed her braid back behind her shoulder and gave Amara a gentle shake. "You OK?" She asked.

By way of response, Amara gave quick thumbs up. Her throat felt weirdly narrow, as if it was somehow parched with thirst. Still nothing seemed broken, so as far as she was concerned she had come out on top. Getting up, the girls began to take stock of their surroundings. They appeared to be in some form of room, with a domed black ceiling that still managed to emit light somehow. The floor beneath them mirrored the roof by being smooth to the touch and constructed of cool metal. There appeared to be no door, but there was a hole located straight in front of them. And beside it was a man.

The man seemed to be in his middle-ages with a neatly trimmed beard, the sharp edges of which nicely complimented the geometric patterns on the sides of his tunic. Said tunic was a navy-blue color interwoven with threads of gold that shimmered in and out of sight as he moved, much like the stone of the bridge-entrance. A light blue cape was draped over one shoulder with a border pattern of black diagonal lines, indicating his rank and status: archivist with a record of one tenure. He held in his hand a small electronic writing tile and appeared to be ticking something on it with a silvery pen.

"You two." He said. His tone was authoritative, but his Baran- which was wobbling between different frequencies- betrayed a certain uncertainty to him. It was clear to Amara that he wasn't used to the role he had been assigned.

"You two." He began again, more forcefully now. "Come. The ceremony is barely a minute away."

"Ceremony?" Tia asked incredulously, while Amara felt her stomach drop faster than a convict at the gallows.

The archivist narrowed his eyes. "You are initiates in the scribal arts, correct?"

Before Tia could respond, Amara stepped in. "We are just that, sir." She said. "Both of us were just slightly confused about how events would proceed." Just to be safe, Amara also reduced her Baran to a faint hum allowing the archivist's to be heard more clearly. Tia followed her example. This simple move was a classic act of respect, indicating deference to one's superiors. It clearly had its desired effect, as the man's own Baran steadied to a heartbeat-like pace.

"Not to worry." The archivist said, eyes glued to his tile which he appeared to be ticking. "Just seat yourself and we'll commence."

He then snapped his fingers. Instantly, a portion of the floor in front of him opened and a small coracle came up, right in front of the hole. Inside were two grooved seats. The archivist had stopped talking, his work apparently done. Tia, however, took the hint and lead Amara into the small boat. Once settled, the girls looked for some means of propulsion- be it a paddle or an engine- but found precisely nothing.

"Excuse me-" Amara started, but before she could finish her request the archivist (his eyes still trained on his tile) gave the coracle a sharp shove with his foot, booting it through the hole. The girls yelped as their vessel fell down before landing with a splash in what appeared to be water. They heard a door slam shut above them and were then placed in near-total darkness.

"Tikan!" Yelled Tia back accompanied by a violent spike in her Baran that Amara was sure would give the archivist above an ache in the brain. Tikan referred to a type of endoparasite worm that was common in sick labor beasts that frequented the void-ports of the city. If Tia was willing to bust out her biological knowledge Amara knew she must be pissed. Though her own feelings made Tia's anger seem far, far away despite her sitting right next to her. That word went back and forth in her head like the tolling of a bell. Ceremony. How could she have forgotten? Had her mind been so fixated on the finish line that she lost sight of the first hurdle?

Amara thought back to the coin she had flipped into the river. She had done so as a good luck charm; a little trick to secure fortune for the day or so her mother had told her. But looking ahead, it seemed that a little circle of metal resting on the bottom of a canal wasn't going to do much good in the face of what was coming.

"Hey Amara" Tia's voice reached through Amara's hurricane of stressed thoughts and grabbed her attention in the gloomy dark. "Sorry for blanking out back there. Your save was much appreciated."

"Thanks." Amara said back. "I take it you've remembered the ceremony now."

Tia groaned. "Yeah. How many do you reckon-"

She was cut short when the darkness they were in was broken by sudden bursts of light. The floor beneath the water was suddenly illuminated with a ghostly blue glow as pockets of light began to shine, gradually growing in intensity like shining flowers opening to a hidden sun. Their radiance was mirrored in the lines of blue light that could now be seen on the ceiling, trailing and criss-crossing over one another like the trail of some ghostly snail. Their coracle then began to move. slowly but surely it edged forwards, despite their seemingly being no force propelling. Instead it felt like they were being pulled, gently yet ceaselessly down the softly shining channel.

"It's begun." Amara observed, feeling the sudden blue light covering the tunnel wasn't proof enough that weirdness was afoot. Turning to Tia, she asked "You all prepared?"

Tia gave an awkward smile and said. "Think as much as I can be. It's just a matter of keeping our Barans on a leash, right?"

The coracle was gaining speed now, as they turned a corner and began to gradually flow downwards. "That's true but there's more to it than that. We're going to have to merge with all the others. Ever done that before?"

"I think you know the answer to that question." Tia said irritably as they sped down a slope of water.

Amara sighed, but she couldn't say she had much experience either. She had been so fixated on what manner of text they would be assigned that she had almost completely failed to remember the assembly; the opening ceremony wherein all the scribal initiates would be grouped together. As one, they would raise their Barans to the ceiling, hiding nothing from those who would be examining them. Their superiors would then place the girls in groups of four based on how well their Barans complimented each other. And it was in these groups that the initiates would analyze the text given to them.

As the pair began to pick up speed, Amara heard noises in the darkness. The sounds of whispering was coming in through the walls around them, underscored by the faint but unmistakable noise of Barans contrasting and playing against one another.

With a sharp swerve to the right, the girls rounded a corner. Up ahead was an exit with light streaming out of it. Closer and closer it got. Amara inhaled deeply and looked Tia deep in the eye.

"Get ready." She whispered as the two passed through the door way and into the light.

Almost immediately Amara was overwhelmed.

Before she could take stock of her surroundings, her brain nearly cracked open like one of her father's eggs. A wave of Barans came crashing down upon the shore of her mind. Drowning her. Crushing her. She came close to blacking out until Tia grabbed her hand and squeezed tight, digging her nails into Amara's flesh. The shock was enough to jerk Amara back into reality. Breathing in, she looked up and properly saw her environment. High black walls stretched upwards, though illumination came from the glowing surface beneath the water and a solitary skylight located far above in the ceiling, the shine from which was beaming down directly on to the dead center of the room. Converging on to this point were waterways streaming from every corner of the room. And floating on these streams were the initiates.

There was about four on each path. Glancing back, Amara could see three more pairs trailing down the waterway they were currently on. They were all wearing the same dark red uniform marking their status as initiates and all of them seemed to be as stunned as Amara had been. Their faces darting back and forth, quicker than buzzing flies, trying to take in the enormity of this new space. Amara felt a pang of sympathy for a young girl who was sitting hunched in her coracle, shivering under the sheer volume of Barans swarming around her, while her partner rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her. She considered reaching out to help, but was distracted by the Tia tugging at her side. Glancing ahead, Amara could see that in the point where the streams converged was a massive pool where the coracles were starting to fall into and group together.

Amara tried to steady her breathing as the pair of them sloshed down into the pool. She had managed to grow accustomed to the amount of Barans in the hall and could even feel her own again. She gave Tia's hand a gentle squeeze, who smiled faintly back. It was clear their entrance had been draining on her too.

Eventually, all 16 pairs had flowed into the central space. Once the last pair entered, a mechanical whine suddenly emitted from the coracles. In an instant, each boat stuck to the side of the one directly next to it until all of them were joined in one big metal net. Around her, Amara could see her fellow initiates glancing around, whispering to each other though some simply tried to recover from the Baran onslaught they had just experienced. A few seconds passed. Then their attention was drawn by a deep, solid creak emitting from the end of the hall. Craning their necks, they could see that the wall there had begun to open. Beams of prismatic light shot out from behind and Amara could catch the mummering and footsteps of what seemed like several people going about their business. Then three figures slipped through the entrance, closed the door and made their way to the assembled students.

They arrived and took places around the pool. With just a glance, Amara could tell that these three were higher up in the academy's strata than anyone she had come across before in her three years of studying. The man standing in front of her had a deep crimson tunic, heavy gold bands encircling his wrists and a face as hard as quarry stone. His eyes were sharp and black, never fixed on one place for long as they swept over the assembled initiates. From the intensity of his gaze, Amara almost felt like the assessing ceremony had already began and she was being shoved under the spotlight.

"Gathered initiates." Said one of the other figures standing above the pool. Turning her head, Amara was pleased to see her teacher- Miss Amaharan- who had instructed her and Tia both for the past three years. Her wrinkled face looked so warm in the falling light, her eyes calm and still as they surveyed her students from over a slightly curved nose.

"Gathered initiates." She repeated. "First and foremost, I would thank you for your prompt and dignified arrival. Efficiency is our priority here."

Amara listened intently, though she chose to edit the 'dignified' part of Amaharan's sentence considering her and Tia's entrance into the academy had involved them literally falling flat on their faces.

"Secondly" Amaharan continued. "Cherish that appraisal. Chances are you won't be experiencing easy thanks like that for some time. True praise is hard-won in the House of Five Waters- and all the more meaningful as a result."

She gave a slight chuckle. The man in red, however, frowned and gave an impatient jerk of the head in Amaharan's direction. Taking the hint, she sighed and assumed a more upright position.

"As you are aware, you will now be expected to raise and intermix your Barans." Amaharan said. "You needn't have anything to fear, though. Our examiner has you under all her protection."

She gestured to the third person to have come in, standing to her left. This was a young woman, brown skinned with a bob of black hair. She didn't say anything, but Amara noticed the corners of her mouth twitch, revealing small scars on each side.

Sounding disappointed for some reason, Amaharan continued. "We begin in one minute. Please prepare yourself."

She stepped down from the platform. Immediately, whispering began among the initiates, everyone bracing themselves for the test. Amara simply closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. She'd burnt through the majority of her worrying. All she cared about now was getting it over with. Still, Amara opened one eye just to check on how Tia was doing. She had her eyes fixed forward, but on feeling Amara's gaze, she gave a weak smile. As the final seconds ticked away, she mouthed something to Amara- though she couldn't make out what it was.

Amaharan's voice echoed in the dark hall.

"You may begin."

In an instant, all of Amara's filters dropped.

Her Baran-which had been suppressed fiercely ever since stepping out her door-expanded to its full form. As it did, Amara felt her consciousness get tugged out of her body, flowing with her now free mental field. Soon she was lost in the noise and color of the rapidly building storm of energy that was now filling the hall. Countless sounds swirled in her mind. She flitted between droning hums, calming sighs, fluctuating whistles, more and more with each passing second, slamming and combining with each other in the cacophony. Then came the visions. One second, she was walking through a room, bare feet bouncing off a floor warmed by the steps of many others , the odor of scented wood filling her nostrils. But before she could settle into this scene, she found herself in another. Now she was standing in the docks watching as a bow shaped ship lifted off the ground and headed toward the sky, which opened up to receive it, revealing inky blackness beyond...

On and on it went, more and more visions piling on top of one another. More than she could count, more than she could process, streaming through her mind. Who even was 'she'? Was she the girl surrounded by the books? The one sitting in prayer? With each passing second, she was drifting further and further apart, losing any sense of individuality in the swarm of histories, color, sound and...

ENOUGH

After what felt like hours of floating aimlessly about, Amara was jolted back into her body with the force of a fly suddenly dying in the middle of hovering. She blinked and looked around blearily, her flesh feeling like a strait jacket after the anarchic freedom of the Baran vortex. Several of the initiates were groaning and slumping in their coracles, clearly experiencing the same backlash that Amara was going through. Tia herself was swaying from side to side, mumbling something about ships coming into port. Amara considered giving her a gentle shake but held back, figuring that even the slightest nudge might push her befuddled friend into the water.

Glancing upwards, Amara could see the scar-mouthed examiner looking down on them like a hawk. Her eyes briefly met with Amara's and in an instant the young girl knew who had brought her back to reality. The examiner had the darkest eyes of anyone that Amara had ever seen. One look was enough for her to immediately quit staring and turn her attention back to Miss Amaharan.

"Excellent display, initiates." The teacher said, quickly glancing side to side to make sure none of her pupils had passed out. "Your hard work has borne fruit. For the time being, however, you can rest."

She held her wrist up and typed a sequence on to the bracelet there. The doors at the hall's far end opened, letting in a stream of honey-colored light.

"15 minutes break in recuperation chambers" Amaharan continued. "Then you will be informed of the results."

At that, there was an ecstasy of fumbling as the initiates picked themselves from the coracles and stumbled out of the pool. Amara leant the still groggy Tia a hand as they made their way to the door. As they passed, Amara felt a tightness in her throat and knew that the examiner was still staring at her.

The nest few minutes were a blur. The group was lead down a well-lit hallway, a welcome change from the darkness of the gathering point they had left. If she had been herself, Amara would have probably taken note of the inscriptions on the walls. Or the patterning on the floor they walked on. Or the fact that they were probably going through the catacombs of the house of the Five Waters. But none of that registered. Her mind was still reeling from the Baran storm. With every step she took Amara worried if she was going to wind up stepping into someone else's memories again.

Eventually, the group took a turn to what appeared to be a dead end. Naturally, the wall shifted and dissolved, leaving an oblong gateway to another room with long benches and cushions waiting. The group flowed in, with Amara making a beeline for a particularly big cushion squashed into the far corner. The other initiates huddled together, whispering about their ordeal, making predictions and speculations. Amara made no attempt to join in. Her capacity for meaningful social interaction had fizzled to zero over the last half hour. All she wanted now was to re-charge before being swamped in more faces and voices.

As the minutes passed, Amara noticed that the walls were emitting a soft pulsing green light. She smiled to herself, knowing the choice of lighting was done to help calm down the initiates after their demanding experience. Still, she thought, the only thing that'll reassure me is finding out who I'm working with.

Glancing around didn't fill her with much excitement. Everyone in the room was about her age, for sure, but most had already bunched off into groups of their own. Amara felt a pang of dissatisfaction but quickly pushed it aside. She hoped the people she was sharing the room with got a match-up that suited them. Right now, the only person she knew was...

"Right behind you." Tia said. Turning back, Amara could see her friend standing behind her, a bleary smile plastered on her face.

"Well, that was..." Tia continued blinking hard. "That." Amara shuffled to the side and let Tia flump down on to the cushion with her.

"You reckon I did a good show?" Tia asked.

"You were the ship going through the void port."

"yeah"

"You'll be fine. That wasn't embarrassing or anything was it?"

"Oh alright." Tia said. She sighed, apparently satisfied with her lot. Amara wondered what she had seen, what the others had seen. A Baran was the sum total of a person's experiences; in combining them together each initiate had allowed their peers a glimpse into who they were. Nothing much. Just an image seen through a keyhole. But enough to go on.

"Enough to start making assumptions. Making Judgements." Amara winced, as her doubts made themselves known again. She pushed them aside best she could, fidgeting with a loose curl of hair as she stared at the softly pulsating walls - trying to lose herself the way she had lost herself back in the entrance hall.

Her daze was interrupted by the sound of the entrance opening again. Stepping through was the red-robed man. His eyes were black as ever, though they weren't intensely gazing like before. Instead the seemed unfocused, as if his mind was someplace else. Drawing himself up to his full height, he said.

"Thank you for your patience." Amara was surprised at how melodious his voice was, considering the roughness of his face. "Our results have been tallied. You may come through."

He then turned without a second word, leaving an open wall behind him. Not wanting to stew in her worry any longer, Amara shot up and headed after him, Tia trailing alongside.

"Would it kill him to wait?" Tia asked as they turned down the hallway.

"All part of the new emphasis on self-sufficiency, I guess." Amara replied.

Tia snorted "I don't care how much they pound into my head, I'm never finding my way around here."

Amara chuckled, but she could see her point. Now her mind had been sharpened by anticipation, their surroundings seemed much more vibrant. The walls appeared to shimmer somehow- rippling under the light above like fish scales. Every so often, the shape of a doorway in either wall would suddenly flit into Amara's line of vision only to flit out again, in an instant. She didn't even realize she had walked through an arch until a whole new room seemed to blossom right in front of her.

This space was much airier than the darkened hall. Light flited in through rectangular windows, becoming prismatic as it went through the glass. Scholars came down stair cases in the four corners of the room, the light from the windows dancing on the muted colours of their robes. At the far end of the room was a fountain, comprised of five interlocking dragon heads that intertwined and rose as one single point like some bizarre flower. Seated around this fountain was Miss Amaharan and the red-robed man- both of them locked in what appeared to be an intense conversation.

Determined to get this over with Amara strode down the room, vaguely aware that she had actually become the leader of their little troupe. Noticing them, Amaharan immediately dipped out of her conversation and resumed her warm smile. Getting up, she raised her hands in a celebratory manner and began to speak.

"Initiates! What a performance from you all. But enough anticipation, let's see the fruits of your labours!"

She snapped her fingers. Immediately the flow of water coming from the dragon heads ceased. There was a pause, followed by a faint rumble of hidden machinery. Then five beams of light shot up from the heads, projecting several tables on to the wall, in which were displayed the names of the initiates, four to a cube.

Instantly Amara's eyes began darting over each box of names. She was going so fast that the writing seemed to be just lines punctuated by the occasional circle. Slowing herself down, she forced herself to take in one table at a time. Eventually she found it; on the furthest set to the left. Her name directly on top- one circle flanked by two diagonal lines. And beneath that...

Amara sunk into her relief like a hot bath, the release of tension so great that even Tia's excited nudges felt like they were happening to someone else. Underneath her name was Tia's- two vertical lines followed by a horizontal and a diagonal. Amara quickly glanced at the other two underneath, but realized she didn't know them. Didn't bother her much. Just having one person she knew along with her for this job was enough to make her hope she had a chance. Or at least someone to catch her should she fail.

"Alright" Miss Amaharan said, apparently content with the level and duration of her students' chattering. "Now you understand who you're working with, may I ask you to kindly follow our inspector up the stairs. She shall escort you to your respective workspace."

The inspector- who had somehow appeared at the foot of the stairs in the far left of the room- gave a sharp jerk of her head, imploring the initiates to follow her lead. Amara and Tia began walking, but were stopped by a Baran very deliberately brushing against their minds.

Turning around, they could see miss Amaharan standing, an affectionate half-smile playing on her aged features.

"Sorry if I was a bit rough. Age makes handling one's baran quite strenuous." She explained. She then grimaced slightly and sat down on the fountain's side.

"Oh, look at me." Amaharan continued. "I'm your teacher. I should be doing more than just stating the obvious."

In response, Amara gave a polite chuckle, doing her best to ignore the growing drum-beat of concern pounding in the back of her head.

"I imagine that comes with the territory." Tia said, causing Amara's drumbeat of panic to evolve into a full-grown marching band at the prospect of her best friend pissing off one of the few adults in this entire academy whom she was sure was looking out for her.

Thankfully, miss Amaharan's response was a happy little cackle and a nod of approval. "That and more besides!" She exclaimed. "Speaking of which..."

She reached inside her robe and pulled out two pieces of paper. On them was the sigil of the house of the five waters- a circle separated by two diagonal lines and another running down the middle.

"Hold out your arms please." She said to both girls. They did so as Amaharan placed both pieces of paper on to their forearms. Instantly they began to smoke and Amara had to suppress a yelp as the sigils on them appeared to burn on to her skin before disappearing completely.

"Just a minor upgrade." Amaharan explained to Amara and Tia, who was tentatively prodding the space where the sigil had been with a concerned expression on her face. "The other students will receive it when they get to their workplaces. You can access the academy in its entirety now."

She gestured the pair to look around their surroundings, which they promptly did. The change was remarkable. Doorways she had half-glimpsed now stood clear as day. Every colour seemed crisper, every line more defined. Yet despite the dramatic increase in focus, Amara noticed that if her eyes stayed too long on one surface she began to see through it. Glancing down, she glimpsed corridors snaking through boxed-off rooms in the level beneath the floor.

"Disorientating, I know." Amaharan noted, looking down with Amara. "But you'll get used to it soon enough. Plus, keep looking long enough and you'll find some interesting ways around."

She pointed to a space nestled near the north-east stairway. After a moment's staring, Amara glimpsed another doorway wedged there- flickering in and out of her vision like a candle flame.

"Go through that door, follow the path, first door you come across will lead you to your workspace." Amaharan said brusquely. She then gave one more look to the two pupils.

"Good luck" She wished. With that the elderly teacher did a small jump backwards. Instead of landing back on the floor, she sunk right through it, as if the stone was no more substantial than water.

Tia and Amara stood there for a second, trying to process fully what they had seen. Realizing that they were standing around when they should be getting along, Amara decided to break the silence.

"Well I guess she wasn't kidding when she was talking about those interesting ways around." She joked.

"Yeah..." Tia replied uncertainly, eyes darting across the floor. She felt Amara staring so quickly looked up with a smile. "Lead the way."

Amara did, stepping forward to the flickering doorway. Turning around she noticed Tia hopping on exactly the same spots she had walked on. Rolling her eyes, Amara pushed forward through the door and stepped right through.

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bubblepunk99s · 7 years ago

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Chapter four: The house of Five Waters