Chapter 44 - Seers Sanchuary

Naian and Emelinia arrived at the gates of the Seers Sanctuary. The gate was wide open so they walked right in. Their eyes first set on an enormous star shaped building that stood on high stairs.

They saw numerous seers in red robes with their hoods on walking in and out of the building. As per custom, those who had aged were bald and adorned in special purple robes. They freely exposed their bald heads as they walked around.

The place was clean and green with water fountains. Surrounding the Star building were several rectangular dorms. They were all made of the finest timber and emitted a cozy aura.

A fluffy dog barked happily as it ran past Naian and Emelinia. In its mouth was an orange ball. Emelinia couldn't believe her eyes when she saw a group of five seer women around her age embrace the dog. She never saw other female seers before in her life.

They looked so happy as they petted the dog. One of the women spotted Emelinia. She pulled the sleeve of the one who was close to her and pointed at Emelinia. This forced the heads of the others to turn. They all happily waved at Emelinia. She felt accepted and waved back.

Naian and Emelinia climbed up the stairs. They came to a halt at the entrance and found an old man smiling warmly at them with his eyes closed.

"Welcome, I have been expecting you. My name is Dano." he said to them, still with his eyes closed. "Please come with me." he told them and they followed him in.

Naian and Emelinia's eyes wondered around in amazement. The inside of the building was spacious and had several doors arranged in a circular pattern. There were stairs allocated for the higher floors.

Dano opened a door on the third floor to a quiet room that had no furniture. There was only a carpet with a kettle on a little brazier. The room was illuminated by the glass slide doors.

"Please do sit down." he told them and they sat.

"You mentioned that you had been expecting us." Naian said.

Dano poured them tea. "Oh yes I have. I have been waiting for you for three weeks now Naian and Emelinia." he softly said with a grin.

"Three weeks?" Emelinia asked, surprised.

Dano handed her a cup of tea. "You have been dreaming a lot child." He said, diplomatically ignoring her question.

"Yes I have. I was having a lot of nightmares but I stopped having them after I spoke to Naian." Emelinia confirmed.

Dano laughed softly. "You are fortunate to have a husband like him Emelinia." he remarked and gave Naian his tea. "Tell me son, why did you accept to have a seer for a wife." he said to Naian.

"The circumstances were beyond my control." Naian quickly answered.

"Oh no you haven't answered my question." Dano dismissed and gently blew on his hot tea.

Naian looked at Emelinia and then back at Dano. "I have never really seen seer women as outcasts."

"That's interesting of you to say. Will you still feel the same after her powers are activated? I mean it will only be a matter of time and she will begin to age until she looks as old as me. You on the other hand will never lose your youth."

"It won't make a difference." Naian answered without a second thought.

Dano chuckled and looked at Emelinia. "You see why I said that you are fortunate to have a husband like him?" he said and turned to Naian. "Her powers have been activated." he added and Emelinia gasped.

Naian was astonished, "What?"

"As a matter of fact, they activated five months ago. Haven't you noticed that your instincts are stronger now?" Dano asked Emelinia. "Those dreams you have been having are prophetic Emelinia. Well most of them were in puzzle form and you need to know how to interpret your dreams but believe me when I tell you that they were prophetic." he explained to Emelinia. "

"But how is this possible? Doesn't it take at least 700 years for a seer's powers to mature?" Emelinia asked him, bewildered.

"Oh yes it does but you are a special case. You came into contact with a power source that awakened your powers. You know...that time you were in the woods with Sharaina." he further explained.

"Are you saying Sharaina activated my powers?" Emelinia asked.

"No child. I am saying that you were supposed to die that day when you came into contact with Sharaina when she was in that state. You survived because your powers were forced to awaken hence creating a force field that protected you." Dano smiled but Emelinia was tensed.

"Do not worry. You are a fortunate girl. You have a huge responsibility ahead of you therefore it is important that you know who you are and what you can do."

"What is this responsibility?" Naian asked Dano.

Dano drank from his cup before saying, "She will know when the time comes."

"How I'm I supposed to know who I am and what I can do?" Emelinia asked him.

"Well that book you bought is a great first step." he said. "However, you need the remaining seven. We have a library here that contains all the books you need." Dano said with a smile. "But I'm afraid you won't be able to use any of the books here."

"Why not?" Naian asked him and Emelinia nodded her head.

"Well, unlike the one you bought, the ones here are big and one needs a lot of time to read them. You will only be here for days isn't it?" Dano asked and Naian nodded his head. "I also can't ask Emelinia to stay here so that I teach her because, unlike the seer women you found outside, she is a married woman. Her place is with her husband." Dano finished his tea.

"What do you suggest I do?" Emelinia asked him.

"We have a book store in the city. I ordered the books you need. All you have to do is to go and pick them up." Dano said and handed Naian a piece of paper that had directions to the book store.

"Thank you." Naian expressed his gratitude.

"You two take care now. You're in for a pleasant surprise tomorrow." Dano waved at them as they left.

Naian and Emelinia went straight to the book store but to their surprise it was closed when they got there. Someone told them that it was going to be open the following morning despite it been a weekend.

Back at the hotel, Emelinia felt anxious the whole night. All she could think about was what Dano had told them. She really wanted to start reading the book Naian got her but she decided to hold on at least until they got back home. She didn't want to get sucked into a book at the expense of giving Naian attention.

When she opened her eyes to the rays of light for the new day, she was elated. Naian saw how eager she was to go to the book store so he wasted no time in preparing himself for the day. The two of them went back to the book store and to their relief, it was opened. There was no one in the store when they got in because it was still early in the morning.

Naian went to the counter while Emelinia took a look at the books in the novel section. She took a liking to some of them. Naian hit the bell at the counter and a man quickly answered.

They heard him running and when they finally saw him, they were stunned to see that it was Ulanos. Ulanos exclaimed in joy when he saw them.

"I never expected to see you again so soon." Ulanos said with a wide smile.

"I thought you said that you work at a restaurant." Naian replied with a smile of his own.

Ulanos laughed. "I got fired yesterday because my brother drank himself to a fool and harassed the customers." he explained.

"I am sorry about that." Naian said and handed him the paper that Dano gave them. "We are here to pick up these books."

"Please excuse me while I go and check." Dano answered and left them.

Naian and Emelinia remained waiting in silence until they heard Ulanos coming back again.

"I'm sorry we are all out of these books. Luckily for you, a fresh batch is coming in an hour. Please sit down at that table there and wait for them." he pointed.

Naian sighed, "Alright we can wait for an hour."

****

Zentz drank his drink out of a straw as he listened to Sharaina and Naraygeous argue. They were all in their green uniforms because they had just finished training in hand to hand combat. Naraygeous was feeling bitter for losing to Sharaina again and he was taunting her.

"What kind of a girl fights like man?" Naraygeous teased Sharaina.

"The type that is friends with a guy who gets beaten by a girl." Sharaina retorted with a bored look.

The students had received half of their salaries the previous day. The other half was sent to their families. Zentz had decided to go into the market to buy new books to read.

Sharaina and Naraygeous had a little shopping to do so they all agreed to go straight to the market after practice. They were first going to stop at the book store before proceeding to buy everything else.

On the way, Sharaina saw a pretty dress so she stopped to admire it. Naraygeous who hadn't had enough of their argument stayed with Sharaina while Zentz proceeded to the book store.

He got in and when he saw Naian, he gasped. Naian got up from his seat and the two hugged each other. Emelinia looked at the both of them with a smile on her face.

"Naian, man it has been so long. Is it really you?" Zentz asked him

Naian chuckled. "Yes it is man. I am so happy to see you." Naian looked at Emelinia who was feeling a little awkward. "This is my wife Emelinia." he introduced Emelinia and she got up. "Emelinia, this is Zentz, he is a childhood friend of mine."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Emelinia." Zentz said and Emelinia nodded her head with a smile.

"Sharaina and Naraygeous will be so happy to see you. They should be on their way here now." Zentz said and Naian widened his eyes.

"You two take care now. Tomorrow you will receive a pleasant surprise." Dano's words replayed in Emelinia's head and her heart skipped a beat.

"You mean Sharaina and Naraygeous are with you?" Naian hopefully asked him.

Zentz didn't have to answer his question because Sharaina and Naraygeous walked into the store. They did not see Zentz, Naian and Emelinia immediately because they were still arguing.

"You have a poor taste in fashion madam. That dress doesn't match your complexion and it will make you look fat." Naraygeous snorted

"I didn't know that you had this feminine side Naraygeous. Perhaps I should start asking for fashion advice from you." Sharaina sarcastically replied.

"As long as you are doing lingerie shopping then I'm your man."

"You're the absolute worst like just shut the fuck up already." Sharaina looked at him unamused.

"Only if you give me a rematch."

Sharaina rolled her eyes at Naraygeous and when her eyes fell on Naian she screamed and dropped her paper bag.

"Naian?...Emelinia?" she couldn't believe it.

"Hello little sister." Naian smiled at her and she ran and hugged him.

"I missed you so much. I can't believe that you are here." Sharaina said with misty her eyes. She looked at Emelinia and her eyes were already watered up. The two of them hugged each other.

"We missed you too especially mama." Emelinia said.

"Is she here with you?" Sharaina searched the store with her eyes and looked back at Emelinia with hopefulness.

"No, she and papa remained in Gemhules with Alainara. It's just Emelinia and I." Naian answered instead and Sharaina frowned.

"Naian I am still finding it hard to believe that it really is you." Naraygeous finally spoke up and hugged Naian. "So this must be the beautiful wife Sharaina told us about." he said to Emelinia and she blushed.

"Yes that's her." Naian laughed.

"I see why you decided to get married early." Naraygeous laughed. "Where are you two staying?" Naraygeous asked Naian.

"We are staying at the Lavender hotel." Naian answered.

The five sat down and chatted with each other. They spoke about the old times and the new times. In no time Naian and Emelinia's order arrived. They were baffled to see how big the books were.

Zentz got a good number of books while Sharaina only got three novels. Naraygeous completely refused to get any book.

"Typical." Sharaina commented.

"Tell me about it." Zentz agreed.

"Both of you can kiss my ass. You know that I'm not a reader." Naraygeous waved his hand dismissively at them as he giggled.

"You will never change." Naian added and chuckles were heard.

"Let's all meet again at the Night Glamour pub at 6. It's the one opposite the Lavender hotel." Sharaina suggested.

"Good idea." Zentz supported.

"Alright, we'll see you guys then." Naian said before he got onto a wagon with Emelinia.

The hours went by quickly and soon it was time to go to the agreed pub. Naian and Emelinia were the first to arrive. The pub was packed with a good number of people. Most of them were students from the Great Academy.

Naian and Emelinia didn't wait for long when they saw Naraygeous and Zentz. The four of them found a spot that had sofas arranged in a circle. Naraygeous ordered their drinks while Zentz and Naian chatted.

The waitress placed their beer bottles on the table and she gave Emelinia a sweetened alcoholic drink. Emelinia felt a little nervous because she had never been in a pub before.

She watched Naian drink his beer as he happily spoke to Zentz and Naraygeous. His presence made her feel safe in the midst of drunk people. She however frowned at his beer.

Naian hardly ever drank so she never saw him in a drunken state. She didn't know what to expect. She wondered if he was going to allow himself to get drunk. She really hoped that he wouldn't.

Emelinia looked at her drink. She hesitated a lot before finally sucking it up through the straw. It was sweet but it had a burning sensation. She flinched and squint her eyes. Naian noticed that and smirked at her with an eyebrow raised. Emelinia looked feeling flustered.

"Where is Sharaina?" Naian asked Zentz after turning away from Emelinia.

"She has gone to pick up her sneaky bastard of a boyfriend." Naraygeous quickly answered instead.

"Boyfriend? Sharaina has a boyfriend?" Naian was puzzled.

"Yeah she does. He is some guy named Light Velan." Zentz said and Naian was surprised.

"Light?" he asked. "Did you know about this?" Naian asked Emelinia and she nodded her head. "Huh? I had no idea that they were in a relationship."

"You mean you know this guy?" Naraygeous asked. "I have wanted to see him for months now. At least I will get the chance to see him tonight."

Light and Sharaina walked into the pub. They soon spotted the place where everyone sat. Sharaina whispered into Light's ear and he nodded his head. She left him and he walked over to the guys alone.

When Naian saw him, he stood up and shook his hand in greeting. Naraygeous narrowed his eyes at him and Zentz smirked. Light greeted Zentz and Emelinia. When he turned to Naraygeous, Naraygeous stood up and they became face to face. Light was puzzled by the serious and stern look on Naraygeous.