Celestial Sanctum

They had been walking for the last 10 minutes, every now and then hopping between the mini pedestal type rocks anchored into the lake. Finally, Aurora and Chris paused, craning their neck to take a look at the huge island hovering some 70 metres above them. Then their gaze shifted to the mini vio-ice slabs lined up in front of them and quickly each of them jumped on one slab and tapped their feet twice, as the slabs now started moving, rising above the level of rocks and going in the direction of the island. And two minutes later the duo found themselves setting foot on the island. A few paces forward beyond the dense bushes they were now walking through, stood a gigantic stone doorway, which paved way to a clearing. Walking in, they were immediately greeted by the sound of children's laughter as they ran about, playing and fighting whereas adults could be seen talking and doing their chores.

Each side of the cobblestone road was lined with huge Orabia trees, a unique species of plants whose flowers change colors depending on the temperature. Currently they glowed a beautiful shade of purple, indicating towards slight breeze and a chill in the air. Beyond the trees were lined up dome shaped houses in a haphazard manner. Some were only single storey while some had multiple levels. While a few houses could be seen huddled in vicinity, others stood apart separated by gardens and farms. Then a few houses could be spotted perched among the sturdy trees of Cello, whose mustard lustered wood found its use ranging from the beams of houses to furniture, from storage containers to various equipments of farming, gardening and such.

The duo deviated from the main path they had followed till now, going left into a lane which ended in a space where a huge Cello tree could be seen standing, its sand coloured branches distributed in all directions and each one, carrying on it a load of one dome at least. Majority of the houses were hidden among the dense foliage of the tree, and were being revealed one by one as Chris and Aurora climbed their way up with habitual ease. Their houses were situated pretty high up as they finally stopped on a branch in front of a simple yet charming 2 storeyed dome.

"Chris!"

"Hey, Mama!" Chris greeted back hugging a woman whose white hair was gathered into a top knot bun whilst a few strands of stray hair teased her oval face, her brown eyes twinkling at the sight of her daughter, towering a few inches over herself.

"Hello Aurora", The woman smiled behind Chris, wiping her sticky hands against the apron. Chris's eyes widened only to relax later on seeing her uniform in slick and span condition.

"Hi, Matilda", Aurora replied, putting down her tote and securing it in between her legs. Her shoulders were spasming.

"The lunch is ready, so get refreshed and then join me in 15"

Both the girls nodded as Aurora chuckled. As far as food was concerned, Matilda never cut them any slack.

"Let me check over at my place", Aurora called after Chris as she hung the tote in her neck and turning around, crouched and then jumped suddenly, her fingers curling around the upper, comparatively thin branch. Hanging mid-air, she swung her body like a pendulum developing momentum before she finally let go of the branch, her body going up and forward by virtue of inertia as she grabbed onto a cluster of stems forming a net. Climbing up with their aid, she soon found herself appearing at the top, the Sacred Wood in her sight and her dome right behind her.

Pushing the door, she entered inside and placed her tote on the vio-ice floor. She now found herself standing in a large hall, its colour a contrast between purple and white. She moved across the hall, as she opened the vio-ice refrigerator and got herself a water bottle. Guzzling down the contents in one fell swoop, she closed the fridge only to come face to face with a photo stuck on the door.

In the photo two women could be seen, one was young and her blue eyes sparkled as she clasped onto the thigh of older women while the other women stood with her one hand in the child's white mane as the other ruffled her own ginger shoulder length locks, her mischievous green eyes dazzling behind the glasses. And behind them was a magnanimous castle in white, its brightness effectively shattering the dark sky.

Aurora caressed the photo fondly. She missed Xandria.

"Oi, you coming or what?"

Pulled out of her solemn mood by the the voice, she moved over to the adjacent wall where a blue window had popped up as Chris stared right back.

"You'd better come quick or I refuse responsibility for what will happen to you!" Chris warned as Matilda could be seen shouting in the background, ordering both of them to get their asses to the kitchen quick if they wanted to keep it intact.

Aurora chuckled. "Coming". And with that the blue window disappeared, and only a small blue button remained on the wall.

This blue button is their Comm, a lacrima device used for communications. This Comm is portable and works well in the range of 300-400 Km, but if you want even better, Capitol is your go to place.

~*~*~*~

Chewing on the first morsel, Aurora hummed in delight as the gravy and cottage cheese melted onto her tongue. Across from her, Chris whined like a kid as Matilda complained into the Comm, to her partner Patio.

She enjoyed their company very much. Them and Xandria were her family.

Aurora POV

Speaking of family, I don't have parents, but neither does Chris, Matilda, Patio or other people living on this island, or for the fact many other islands. Chris was adopted by Matilda and Patio, some 11 years back, a year before I was taken in by Xandria. Before that we used to live in shelters, where young starlings like us were nurtured until they were adopted. I had met Chris there only and was equally delighted when Xandria had suggested moving to this island rather than the Capitol where she worked.

Unlike Chris who had always wanted parents, I and Xandria settled for friendship and I wouldn't want it any other way. She is my guardian, buuut she can never keep still. Oh, she is a scientist and so is always going from one place to another. The last we talked, was 4 days back on the Comm and that time, she had been in a real rush but the last I saw of her was 4 months and 13 days back. I miss her.

This world we live in goes by the name of Celestial Sanctum, and we are a race of beings, known as the Angels. And then, there are Gods.

As far as our books state, Sanctum was formed some million years back by explosion of the 7 constellations and hence the name. Every citizen of sanctum, whether it be the Angels or the Gods, are blessed with divinity, and as a result we can manifest our energies into tangible forms. Simply said, we have powers.

Gods are called so, because their innate divinity is larger than the Angels. We are differentiated from the gods by our white hairs, who otherwise show wide variation of colors in their head. We cannot even dye. It is a capital crime punishable by execution as stated by the Order. Real Stuck up!

The Order of the Sanctum decides the pedestal we stand on. The Null Law of the Sanctum divides individuals further on the basis of their Divinity, and they can be differentiated between, by their names- the higher your name is in the order of alphabets, the more blessed you are. It also means, that I, Aurora, am bottom of the barrel. Yup.

Moving on, The Order forms our laws. The Deity is the presiding body of the Order, and consequently the single most powerful being in the entire sanctum. Under her control, sits a council of Gods and Goddesses however the information about the members of the council is not so widely known.

By the law of Sanctum, Angels are prohibited from reproducing. Only Gods have that privilege. So how exactly do we even exist?! There is a reason young angels are called as starlings, we are formed from the stars, the core responsible for their energy, is what brings us to life. Gods were also born the same way but with larger divinity and since then they have reproduced to maintain pure bloodlines.

Whenever a progeny of Gods is born, the child often shows affinity for dual powers, a reason why they encourage birth when it comes to them. We are prohibited because we form about 72% of the population of Sanctum. If allowed to reproduce, they are afraid, we might overthrow them.

It had actually happened in the past. An uprising that set the Sanctum to flames, forced the hand of the Order and once the rebellion was squashed, barely so, The Order passed this law. But they did learn their lesson- Unfair treatment of Angels by Gods had been the cause of the uprising, and so to ensure that history never repeat itself, The Hierarchy Law of the Order was amended.

Before Amendment, it had stated that- "Only gods and goddess, who have proved their prowess in fields of education, science, economics, history, politics and other fields of Importance, or their immediate successors will be considered eligible for the seat of Council".

After Amendment, it read- "To be considered for the seat of council, individuals will have to prove their prowess in fields of importance, as signified. If, a seat stands empty, because it has been forfeited, or the residing member has gone missing or is dead, or if they were terminated or deposed, a competition among the eligible candidates will decide the next member. For an individual to be eligible for the seat,

a. Age of the participating angel should be between 19-24 (Gods are exempted)

b. The participating candidate should have passed or should be in the Final year of The Elites.

Note- An angel can transfer over to Elite if , continuous three years in a row, preceding their final year, they show a perfect record of marks in all the major subjects, namely Internationals, Science, Politics, Language, History and Ganit.

As a member of council, you serve a term of 7 years, unless you are deposed, or dead, or went missing. Forfeiting of seat is allowed only in special circumstances.

For the record, Angels and Gods are taught separately. Every God in their final year is already elite. I had been aiming for the Elites too. But my score in Internationals has been falling just short of perfect the last year, and when it comes to angels there are no exceptions, or exemptions. So, as I start my final year, next week, I have to let go of the ambition that has plagued me since the day I had been able to form coherent thoughts- A seat in the council- a change in the policy of Sanctum. No Angel has ever made it to the seat after the amendment.

"Oi, Aurora"

Or, I will simply have to repeat the last year again and get perfect scores. It is possible as I'm still 19 but I don't think I will ever change my answers.

"Oi, Aurora!"

"What?!" Startled out of her wits, Aurora turned to Chris who was looking at her.

"Tatia's calling"

Aurora's face fell as she registered those words, literally and figuratively. She could already hear the snobby blonde laughing at her failure. Just great.

"I'm leaving", Aurora quickly pushed back the chair and was out of the dome in a jiffy. Ignoring Chris's shouts, she pinched the bridge of her nose troubled. Now was not really the ti—

"Yeah, go ahead and pluck this big nose off!"

-time!

Aurora grumbled and looked up. The girl standing in front snickered in response. Her blonde hair was tied in a high pony tail that trailed halfway behind her back, which by the way was clad in a white vest topped by a red overcoat and a mini black skirt.

The girl's black eyes could be seen mocking Aurora. "All those big claims of meeting me at the Elite were, as I had stated, a pipe dream of yours".

Aurora sighed.

This obnoxious woman whose jaw looks like it is stuck by Rigor Mortis, is my arch nemesis Tatia, daughter of Goddess Vanilope, who sits on the council and is a liar...oops, lawyer by profession, and family. We owe almost aaaaall the stuck up laws of Order, to Vanilope and her family.

Usually, Tatia doesn't even spare a glance at the angels but her and Vanilope's strange jealousy with me and Xandria, makes me the subject of her unwanted affections!

It all started when Xandria adopted me or should I say Goddess Xandria adopted me. Yup! Apparently Tatia can't stand a mere bottom of the barrel like me having Xandria as a guardian, who not only sits on the council, every research and innovation coming under her supervision but also is more blessed and younger than Vanilope, and apparently has an apprentice who goes by the name of Sire Yamanov, who in addition to being responsible for the Education department as a Council member, is the grandson of High Deity.

Though Vanilope has held onto the seat for 3 consecutive terms, Xandria is halfway through her second term and is a starling by origin, while Vanilope inherited the divinity from her parents.

And that brings us to the present, where I'm sure Tatia, is thoroughly amusing herself at the expense of my misfortune.

"If you're done with your gloating, get out of my way", Aurora spoke uninterested.

Tatia scoffed, "As if this run down shack interests me". And she spat on the branch.

A glowing blue. A Shriek. A snicker. And Tatia found herself hanging upside down from the upper branch, like a bat.

Aurora now stood on the same branch, looking down at the bat-woman with a smug look.

"You fuckin bitch!"

A buzzer. Blue glowing red. A window popping. A voice.

"Miss Tatia, daughter of Vanilope, is hereby grounded for a week, for the use of profanity against another divine being, on their lands. Dismissed"

Another shriek. A roaring laughter (from Chris enjoying the view).

And Aurora was gone.

The day just got better!