Rock lights

Katelyn led them into the entryway where two very large gemstones were mounted on either side of a giant cascading staircase that led to the first landing. On either side of this staircase was another staircase leading down. She stopped in front of the three staircases and motioned towards the gemstones, "These are called rock lights, we use them in place of electric lights here, they glow with a natural light that replicates sun light. They are very important to us and one of our greatest discoveries here, they make life underground much more pleasant. The children stared at the lights with wonder and awe, not completely understanding what she was saying but still completely transfixed by her words. They understood that she had showed them something precious, the entire experience seemed to be out of a dream to them. With a sweet wonderful woman showing them wonders and speaking to them like they actually mattered. They had no idea where their parents were and they could care less, they were mesmerized by this new world unfolding around them. She then began to lead them up the center staircase and they could here the noises of everyday life going on within Sanctuary, they could hear people working and laughing and talking, children running and playing and they could smell wonderful foods being cooked. The interior of the castle's walls and ceilings had been masterfully carved and decorated with intricate designs, making it a true marvel to look at. With the rock lights spaced around the walls to perfectly light every nook and cranny, leaving no shadows for monsters or bad guys to hide in. Anyone who entered the keep would be immediately reassured by the combination of wonderful architecture, seemingly a dreamland fairy castle and the smells and sounds that would remind them of their most loved family members, even if they had no family at all. At the first landing there were 3 large corridors, one each going left and right and one going forward. "Come children, there is still a short walk to the cafeteria and I assure you that you don't want to miss out on whatever is creating that wonderful smell." Katelyn said with nostalgia, remembering many wonderful meals she had eaten in the cafeteria. "The cooks of the keep are truly masters of their craft and they take great pride in serving only the best foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a whole lot of snacks in between." She said with a kind smile while raising her eyebrows in a quizzical expression, "Would you children like to eat here or would you rather go to your room first?"

The boy began to speak timidly, "Thank you ma'am, but we haven't done anything to deserve this and we don't want to get into trouble. We should ask our parents, but we don't know where they are." Him and his sisters looked around, still in awe but visibly panicked by the thought that their parents might arrive and accuse them of having done something wrong. That the wonderful woman and the fairy castle would only be a part of their dreams. Katelyn seen all this transpire on their faces when the boy had asked his silent question. "Well you have been very polite to me but you haven't told your names, I am Katelyn but you may call me Kate or whatever you want. I live here in Sanctuary and so do many other people and even more children. You can live here too, your parents will never bother you again, they have gone and will never return." Katelyn had stopped moving and said everything gently and slowly making sure they would believe her. She had neglected to tell them that their parents had actually been killed or anything about the agency at all. To the children and staff and their families that keep the activities of daily life going it was just Sanctuary, they knew of the organization but wouldn't be involved with it unless they volunteered to help. Naturally, almost the entire population of Sanctuary had volunteered as a way to repay them for everything they had done.

"Hi Miss Kate, my name is Sofie and this is my little sister Sybel. I am 6 and Sybel is 4." The older of the 2 girls had taken the initiative, beating the boy to the punch but he didn't seem to mind. He put on his best smile and put his hand out and introduced himself, "My name is Steven ma'am, I'm 10 years old. It's nice to meet you Miss Kate."

Katelyn shook his hand while smiling at him and the 2 girls, "Its very nice to meet you all, should I show you to your room where you can have some privacy? Or would you rather come with me to the cafeteria?"

Sybel responded immediately by grabbing her leg and announcing, "I want to go with you miss katey." and she looked hopefully at her brother who nodded in reply.

Katelyn continued to lead the way to the cafeteria, continuing along the same corridor until the reached a large room lined with different sized tables surrounded by comfortable looking chairs and benches. The left hand side of the room look like a high-school cafeteria, a large window was cut out of the wall where people would line up to receive their food past this window there was a large table filled with drinks like tea and juice, next to the table there was a fountain drink machine with different kinds of soda available on tap. On the far side of the room windows showed the forest as the sun began to rise and there was even a balcony section for those who wished to eat outside. A large glass water fountain stood next the soda fountain, Katelyn first took the children to pick out their drinks. Getting a glass of water from the glass fountain herself she said, "This is our own spring water, its honestly the best water I've ever drank in my life and we discovered the spring not very far below Sanctuary. I want you each to have 1 glass and then you may drink whatever you want. Always remember that water is very good for you and to always drink plenty to keep your bodies healthy." She began to fill a glass for each child and then the children chose a table near a window and put down their drinks. They then followed Katelyn to the kitchen window and she said hello to the cooks, handling the introductions. "Hello Chris, the food smells wonderful, you always spoil us here at Sanctuary so much with the wonderful meals you serve. What will we be having this morning?" Chris turned out to be a man in his mid 30's, he had kind eyes and a handsome face that was mostly covered by his bristley beard. He looked like a man who had a hard time deciding if he enjoyed eating more wonderful food more than serving it with his large belly. His smile extended to his eyes as he turned to say hello to Katelyn and the children. "Good morning to you children, I hope you are enjoying Sanctuary so far. I don't have breakfast on yet, that smell would be the soup still going from last night and the crescent rolls that are about to come up now. Would you all like a couple rolls and a bowl of soup? Its a fresh chicken vegetable in a cream broth. I can also send out some meat and cheese with it so you can all get a full belly. As Katelyn said, my name is Chris but you may call me cook if you like, many of the children and adults here already do. I will bring out the sweets after everyone gets settled in, be sure to try the water, we have our own underground spring so its the best I've ever had." While he spoke his hands never stopped moving, as he prepared their food he made them all trays without ever pausing his conversation, loading them all up with a hearty meal and handing to each of them a tray laden with a bowl of soup, a few crescent rolls, some sliced ham and cheese and some silverware wrapped with a cloth napkin. Everything smelled and looked amazing, it was obvious that Chris was one of the masters of his craft that Katelyn had spoken of earlier. As he handed them each their tray he also gave them a very warm smile, he was a big man, large and tall but his smile was genuine and made him seem like a big teddy bear. He wore a full chef's whites, his uniform pristine and he probably weighed nearly 300 pounds and was over 6 feet tall.

"Thank you Sir, everything looks wonderful." Steven said as he and his sisters took their trays and the girls echoed, "Thank you Cook." in unison. Katelyn returned his smile, "Thank you Chris, everything looks perfect. Thank you."

"Your all very welcome, please sit down and enjoy your meal." Chris's smile went ear to ear as they all walked away towards their table by the window.

They enjoyed their meal in relative silence, each very concentrated on their food. The soup was delicious and perfect for dipping the buttery crescent rolls into, some of the crescent rolls became sandwiches for the ham and cheese and by time Chris walked out of the kitchen with a tray of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and glasses of milk for everyone they were already stuffed. He just left it on their table with another warm smile that could melt the polar ice caps and walked away without a word.

Sybel was the first one to go for the cookies, the smell of the melted chocolate chips was too much for her to bare. As her will broke so did everyone else's and they all began to munch on the cookies and drink cold milk to wash them down with. Dipping some of the cookies and sometimes having to fish them out with a spoon when they collapsed from over dipping.

After everyone had their fair share of cookies and milk Katelyn led them all to the balcony where they could gaze out into a wide chasm filled with many tiny rock lights, making it resemble a clear night sky. The balcony section was more than 500 feet across, running the entire length of the cafeteria and kitchen and was approximately 200 feet deep with intricate designs carved on all surfaces and rock lights spread here and there to keep the outside dim but cozy. The railing was about three and a half feet high with a eight inch stone step running the length of it. She led them to a table near the railing where they could sit down and look into the chasm on the other side that seemed to go on forever, it was easily over 3000 feet to the far side. The rock lights that held a resemblance to the night sky were actually the lights from homes that had been built into the walls of the cavern and they looked tiny because they were so far away. They went on as far as the eye could see, the children were full as ticks and happily gazed into the beautiful underground chasm with awe, wondering how something like this could even be possible.

As the morning got later the cafeteria began to fill up with people and Chris could be seen whipping up people's meals right in front of them along with several other members of the kitchen staff, none could have been considered to be of lesser skill than Chris himself. Most of the work was actually carried out in the back of the kitchens where most of the staff actually worked but each serving station was equipped to cook most dishes as well. As the cafeteria filled up it became obvious that most of the population was composed of children of all ages. There was a guard force big enough to police and patrol the entire complex and surrounding area, there were also many families composed of one or more parents and children, but most of the children there had no parents to speak of. They had either been rescued from abusive parents or had already been orphans to begin with.

Steven had been staring at the children there without any parental supervision with a thoughtful expression on his face, "Miss Kate? Do those children live here alone? Will we become like them?"

Katelyn looked at the children and then looked at Steven, "No they don't live alone, there are group homes that they share unless they join a faction here then they will bunk with other children who will join the same faction, other's live with their brother's and sister's and others are adopted by citizens of Sanctuary." Katelyn smiled and continued, "As to whether you will become like them, I don't know. It is your choice if you want to stay here or not. If you stay here, then yes you will more than likely become like them, Sanctuary just has that kind of effect on people."

Steven nodded his head, as if this answer satisfied him even though it only created more questions.

"Don't worry, I will explain everything to you before you have to decide. I promise that it will all become clear before you need to make any kind of decision. For now I'm going to take you to your chambers so you can rest and have some time to think about things without any interference from me. Come children." Katelyn stood up and led them back through the cafeteria and all the way back to the 3 staircases and then down the left most staircase 1 floor and then to third door on the left. "This will be your chambers inside there are 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom with a bathtub and a small dining area with kitchenette. You probably won't need to cook anything but you should be able to find some bread, cheese and meat on the counter and cold spring water on tap at the sink." She then handed Steven a bell and continued speaking, "This will summon a member of the staff if you should need anything, everything inside these quarters is yours to do with as you want. There are toys and books, crayons, pencils, paint, clay and many other things to occupy your time. There are also clothes that have been prepared for you, we left several outfits for each of you. Will you be okay for a little while children?" Katelyn's voice was kind but firm, inviting questions but inspiring resolve. Sybel stepped up to answer first, "We will be fine Miss Kate, thank you."

"Your welcome Miss Sybel, we will speak again later. Good bye children." As she told them goodbye Katelyn closed the door behind herself to finally give them some privacy and herself a moment of respite. She knew she had just dropped many bombs on them but there was no point in dodging questions when they were asked directly. She also knew that if they were to stay there in Sanctuary they would have to be strong, it was a place of healing for those who needed it but for those who decided to stay it became their home, academy and training ground. One day it would either be a distant memory for them or it would be everything that they were, as it had happened for Katelyn.