5. The Pearly Gates

If tossing and turning all night is called sleeping,

I definately had a wonderful sleep last night.

I woke up to a note by my bed that read,

Miss Collins,

You must get dressed but you will not be going to the leva ileto today as the chief of knowledge ileto that is the Zyrad chief ,Alden Kent wants to meet you as she feels she can help us with a new lead .

Chief Henderson.

That's when my drooping eyes noticed the lime green dress placed on the dresser with other essentials to get ready .

Okay a warm shower would be way relaxing I guess..

After getting dressed as I was correcting my side french braid ,I heard a knock on the door.

Fingers crossed ..Not him god ..please please!!

And as I opened the door my worst fears took their physical form.

The man with a smirk that almost makes me want to push him of a cliff no scratch that..

That makes me wants to jump from a cliff myself ....that person,Ladies and gentlemen is Caleb Freakin' Henderson..

Who else can it be!..duh!

I couldn't help but have flashes of what he had said last night.

"Hope you slept well , Miss.Collins"

He smirked in triumph.

"Oh trust me I had no intentions of waking up today , But unfortunately..."

I didn't even want to complete my sentences as I knew by the look on his face how much he was enjoying each word I spoke to him sarcastically.

Urghhh!!! His gutts!!

"I suppose you are hungry so we will be heading to Zyrad after the breakfast..",

He marched ahead after ordering me what to do ...like he always does.

I notice now that his clothes had changed too. I dont know why exactly but ,

He looked like a royal jerk to me dressed in a grey polo neck and black pants with a a royal navy blue trench coat on.

Is he the only one who dresses like people on earth here?..It suits him more than anyone I feel.

OH ! Stop it Aura..

I dont care how he looks 'cause all I want is food right now. I am starving so badly!

After finishing a lavish breakfast we head back to the room were panpan and even my dexter is...

I am happy I have him!

As we get inside the high ceilinged room ..

Caleb moves towards where PanPan was and bent over to the new born that we had seen yesterday.

"I have named him Panchan...Panpan seems to like that name for his brother." ,

Caleb said.

I smiled as I looked down at the sleeping Panchan in the warmth.

How adorable is it!

We had to leave as Dexter was here to take us to Zyrad.

Yes US!!! .."security purposes" *air quotes* you know..

As we sat on his back comfortably , I asked

"Hey Caleb how is Mr.Malkan now?What about the people of viscon..How are they?What had happened there exactly?".

"He is alright even the people at viscon...The people there sell and plant herbs at shops and homes..its basically all around the town.

So these herbs were spelled to cast a smell that puts the entire town to sleep for a few hours.

So...thats what happened"

He shrugged.

Before i could get lost in my own thoughts, Caleb spoke.

"Umm..You have to gently stroke his back once...

He is waiting for you to ask him to move..".

And with a single stroke , Dexter flew high up through the walls

* I admit I freaked out and had held tightly on to caleb's wrist *.

.But as I took a sneak peek around me..The beauty of this place left me in awe..

But in no time Dexter had already descended to the grounds again.

I took my time to come back to reality and looked around as I slide down from dexter's back to ground.

But this place is just ....It looks exactly how I had pictured ..HEAVEN!

No literally I am not kidding...It's pearly white all around ...the stairs that lead to the gateway looked so surreal that I feel even touching it will make it vanish in thin air.

It looked like gates to the heaven..

like the pearly gates.

As we make our way through the beautiful gateway covered all around by white roses and pathway covered with tall trees with thin branches,

Dotted all over with tiny white berries that looked like tiny precious pearls.

As we entered the main town I couldn't believe how insanely pretty the place was..the people moved around in a rush..

through the tall pillar that was connected not to a roof but as i looked up i could see the white heavenly sky..

The crowd looked happy and excited as the shops were beautifully decorated all around and people moved from shop to shop.

We stopped in front of a stunning white manor that had a look of those medieval fantasy manors that

I always wanted to explore as they always appeared mysterious to me.

We saw a pretty girl in short curly blonds standing in front of us at the enterance of the manor..

She smiled at us which caused her dark brown eyes to appear smaller.

"Hey Cal! On time .Mom is waiting ,She has asked me to bring you guys to the main library."..

"Oh ! I'm sorry.. where are my manners!...well ..Hi! I am Grace. Welcome to Zyrad!"

She smiled sheepishly as she looked at me.

"It's a beautiful place you live in..",I replied genuinely."..

by the way, I am Aura".

"Apparently I know!"

she giggled shyly.

"umm..You said Chief Kent is waiting!..by the way that colour suits you Grace.",

Caleb was not even looking at Grace as "appeared" to compliment her instead he smirked at me and walked straight ahead ..

To I dont know where.

"Thats quiet unusual...He never compliments people ..

specifically girls..And weirdly his compliment sounded more like he was aiming at someone else,"

She spoke in a tone that was indirectly at the same time directly pointed at me.

"Maybeee...I don't get that guy ...I believe he has major mood swing issues."

I answered with an awkward smile to Grace.

"You seem to understand him pretty well! ..

By the way just so that you know the mind readers that is the Gemzar ileto like him ,

Can only read ones mind from a certain distance so there are high chances he is not reading yours right now.

He must have reached the main library..

Oh hurry! Aura come with me."

She hurried forward as she got hold of my wrist and dragged me along.

But all I was thinking was how releaved I felt ,

on hearing that Caleb can't access my thoughts at a distance. Thank god!!

But that doesn't make much difference as most of the times that

'smirking jerk'

is always around me.

We finally stood in front of a massive room with tall doors ...

The room had a beautifully carved marble dome for a roof ..now that I looked around..

not only the roof but the entire room was made of sparkling white marble having letters,designs and patterns delicately carved on to it.

As Grace had already mentioned this was a main library and most probably the largest library that I had ever witnessed.

The huge moving racks and shelves had neatly placed books onto them.

A few book laid open on the long white marble table that seemed to go until infinity,

These were placed in centre of the big hall ,right under the dome .

"Ahh..Aura come in!"

I heard a voice that was wise and gentle voice that still echoed in the room as everything came to sudden halt.

This voice seemed to carry a power to enlighten anyone it spoke it.

It was from a lady who was quiet lean and had an average height .She had her curly blond hair half tied into a neat bun and was dressed in a long white dress which was simple yet elegant.

"I am Alden Kent...

The chief of this place,

the ileto of knowledge.

I was the one who wanted to meet you.I have a lead but i am not much sure of it.

I want you to hear it out and then decide whether or not you want to try it out."

I moved closer ,now more curious to hear her out and now

I knew from whom Grace had got her blond hair from.

"Aura as you are new to planon and this whole world of mysterious powers and people..

We all know you are not aware of the powers you possess which makes me believe that you are the only person capable of entering the place no other maxipian except our ancestor has never dared to enter.

Even though I am the knowledge chief I have limited knowledge about this place because all we know about the place is from our ancestor who was the then chief of Zyrad at the beginning.

He was curious and ofcourse wanted to explore planon's every nook and corner as he was assigned to make its map."

She walked slowly towards a completely empty wall with the normal carvings as any other walls but with a single touch ..

Itslowly showed ripples like a white metallic liquid and revealed a huge map that covered the whole wall.

*wow*

"This is the map he successfully made to be used as a reference for the future generations ahead of him but....

He has left an empty patch at the far east end if you notice.

My dear that is the last place he was meant to explore but when he returned he had....unfortunately lost his power...his knowledge..but luckily not completely.

All he said is that the place was full of magic unknown..

that it was like a maze so full of complicated puzzles...riddles..challenges that he was forced to do the best of his abilities..to use the best of his power to solve it . And...and when he did so the place absorbed his only power

..that is his 'knowledge'.

He said, That place existed to answer questions that not even the most brilliant..most powerfull..most superior had answers to ..

but to find your answers ..it seeks to take your powers.

Once entered it traps you with things that forces you to use your powers and hence you lose them..

Everyone knew how brilliant he was..

noone could ever beat his knowledge.

But after what happened to him at that place.

Nobody dared to go there because nobody is willing to lose their powers..its all that we have.

We call that place..that maze...'kyrings',But now that our whole existance has become a question mark we must get our answers and ...

Dear ,we believe you are the only one who can do this."

"CHIEF!! What are you saying!!???..You can't be seriously considering sending her to kyrings!..NOWAY!!",

Caleb had suddenly jumped into the picture and started protesting like a crazy elephant.

"Caleb ...we have thought it through. And we feel she is the only one who can come out without any damage ..as she has no clue about her powers...she has never put them into use!!..

How can she possibly use them in the maze..!?".

"But Chief that is what the maze does!!! It forces you to use your powers isn't it!!??"

"I know but she is our last hope on this and how can she make use of her powers when she herself is unaware of it. Just think about it my son.

We have to."

"But it just doesn't seem fair to me. Why the maze?...why...why..her?"

Caleb was staring at the floor almost blank.For the first time it was he who looked confused and not me...and I am not sure whether i should be happy about that!

"Aura dear ...you have time until the morning of day after tomorrow to think and decide what you feel is right.

Please let us know by then. You can go through some of the accounts about the Kyrings that the chief had recorded after he returned from there.

If you need any help we are always here ."

She smiled at me with concern and warmth.

"Until then I am pleased to invite you to "planiplate"..the festival that is celebrated every year on 5th May ,

It being the day we discovered our home! It starts today eve and will be celebrated until the eve tomorrow..

Even though it is difficult to forget the fact that we may ..lose this all we made ..but that can't stop us from celebrating the day that changed for fates forever ..never!

It's just the best ! And trust me you will know what i mean. "

Chief Kent looked like she was going to cry any moment now.

"Caleb..it's upon you to show her around during the festival..make her feel comfortable..make her feel at home.

Afterall it's her home too.

I am sure arrangements are already done for you to get dressed for the day Aura. I bet you will just get more prettier tonight.

I'll meet you in the Eve..got lots of prepartions to do and loads of things to check on.

Take her home Caleb.",

She nodded at him and smiled sweetly at me.

Even though i was pretty clueless right now but i reciprocated with a genuine smile too.

And with that she hurried outside with Grace by her side.

"Don't you worry chief...I will leave no stones unturned"

.

.

Aaannddd as usual

CALEB FREAKIN' HENDERSON SMIRKED!!!.

No biggie right?

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