Chapter 22: The Realm of Pale-Gold
Heaven was empty, vast and unending.
It had been growing since the very beginning of time. Dotted occasionally by realms floating around stars, travel between which could take countless turns even for the fastest of vessels.
To expedite such travel required aid from a Sovereign, so Sister Nona had spent the majority of her journey in prayer.
Sitting upon that Pearlglass floor in center of the Brighthome, surrounded by golden clouds with the back of her thumbs pressed to her forehead. A silent request, spoken not by her thoughts or words, but her blood.
She could feel it swirling, the vitae flowing differently through the many chambers of her head as it called out to her mother.
It wasn’t necessary for her to remain in such a state, she had felt the Brighthome shift in movement some time ago. Their Queen had already given them a push, so Nona had taken to giving thanks instead.
At least, that’s what she told the pilot once they’d settled in for the ride.
In truth, Nona desperately tried preparing herself for the battle to come.
“We’re close, Sister.”
Nona’s eye snapped open, revealing a Pawn rising to his feet before her. He wore the same face as hers, but bore a calm smile that she could only dream of ever bearing.
The Brighthome’s pilot was the only company she had throughout her journey. He’d prayed silently next to her as the Queen’s blessing ferried them across the immense nothingness that was Heaven, only rising once the sound of shifting shards changed.
The pile of pearlglass shards in the very center of the floor had begun writhing, producing a different tinkling sound. It lured the pilot back to the pile, his bare form practically radiating in the golden light of the Brighthome’s interior.
The shards reacted as he began waving his arms in slow patterns, crawling up his legs while others floated around him, matching his movements as he angled the Brighthome to their goal.
But Nona couldn’t help but notice that his movements were nowhere near as fluid as Brother Holst’s.
“Has it been long since you’ve been to Paradise?” the pilot asked whilst glancing back at her.
“Three turns,” she mumbled, only to clear her throat before speaking with more force “though, I’m not sure I saw much after my birth.”
“Then bear witness, Sister!” he offered as the floating plane shattered and returned to the writhing shards “Every Pawn should enjoy the beauty of their home!”
With a quick flick of his wrists, the golden clouds around them churned, with several shifting color until thin planes of Pearlglass emerged.
Those screens revealed the endless darkness of Heaven around them, but Nona could see tiny bright lights sprinkled along the darkness of heaven. Each one was a distant Realm that would take forever to reach at their current speed, she couldn’t even see the one they had left behind.
What she could see was the golden sphere writhing before them.
A realm completely covered in the same golden clouds that every Blanken Vessel had in them. There was no land or sea to witness, just a mass of congested, swirling golden clouds that shifted to welcome them as they drew near.
“Ah, they feel us, sister!” the Pilot laughed as he flicked his wrists again, closing his eye as the clouds parted around them.
Revealing the golden swathes of sand that covered paradise.
Islands of vast Pearlglass structures rose from a shimmering sand that reflected the glowing light emitted by the clouds. The Pilot had them swerve towards the largest of the visible islands, slowing down as they neared the immense structures.
Temples and monoliths bearing statues of beloved warriors from ages past rose high along maze-like arches and walkways that crisscrossed into the sky. The beating heart of the Quadrant’s supply line had massive docking lodges where numerous temples sat dormant, with only three of the hefty vessels being carried up into the sky by pure white clouds ferrying them
As they drew closer to the heart of the metropolis, Nona grew distinctly aware of the empty silence of Heaven being driven away by voices. Hundreds of thousands of voices conversing in Thoughtspeak merged together until they became a constant white noise.
Pieces of those conversations became clearer the lower they got. Brief snippets about the war, the need for more weaponry. More than a couple Pawns were giving thanks to their benevolent Mother.
Large pale hands ferried Pawns and weaponry from one station to another, each bearing runes that glowed a humble gold as they soared by.
Passing by one of the many obelisks, Nona could just make out the sight of Pawns chiseling and adding more monuments to their heroes. One Pawn took note of them passing, and briefly waved in greeting before returning to their labors.
Nona resolved to do the same, she couldn’t let herself be distracted by the grandeurs of Paradise.
Her goal resided at the very center of the metropolis, at the structure which dwarfed all structures around it and rose up to the very clouds which circled around its peak.
The Citadel.
All along it were smaller docking yards and spires completely riddled with runes that sparked with pure white energies.
Near the wide base of the Citadel were numerous pipes which spewed Vitae into massive pools around it. Several Brighthomes hovered over these pools, glowing brightly as an unseen force pulled massive quantities of Vitae up into them. Once full, those Brighthomes flew off, only to be quickly replaced with another.
But Nona’s eyes didn’t go to them, instead they went to the floating hands piecing bits of Pearlglass together in the shallower parts of the Pool. Soon after the hand would move on, only for the pieces they assembled to rise in the form of a new Pawn.
Pawns at the edge of the pools would hurry in, greeting and guiding their newborn kin away.
But it didn’t go that way for Nona, all she could remember from her birth was fear.
A fear not one of the Newborns below showed, as they had the certainty she sorely lacked.
As they pulled up and away from the pools, Nona covered her eye with her hand. She couldn’t let such thoughts fester. They would do nothing for her brothers and sisters back in the Quadrant’s outer edges.
No, the only aid she could bring waited above.
The Pilot brought them to one of the Citadel’s higher docks, the screens displaying the outside revealed an empty hold with several Pawns waiting for them. They hovered over a large ring lined with runes, waiting until those runes lit up before the Brighthome went still.
The screens displaying the outside went dark, the Pilot nodding to Nona as the golden clouds near the platform pulled apart to reveal the Brighthome’s fingers opening up.
Emerging from the gap in the fingers, Nona found the bare walls of the Citadel waiting beyond. In stark contrast to the numerous statues and monuments that towered over Paradise outside, the Citadel’s innards were as minimalist as one could get.
Several Pawns were waiting for them at the edge of the rune-covered ring, with one tapping a bare foot against the smooth floors once they emerged.
“Your signal read as urgent, explain.” She demanded as the others moved to examine the Brighthome.
One Pawn pressed a finger against a hovering Pearlglass screen, causing the ring below their Brighthome to start turning. Soon new symbols began appearing on the floating screen one line after another, and one of the other Pawns moved over to check them as well.
Steeling herself, Nona brought a hand to her chest and focused on the Dock Attendant staring her down.
“My Lady sends urgent information that I must bring to Perignassi’s atten-!”
“Our Bishop.” the attendant interrupted, eye narrowing at the confusion that bloomed across Nona’s features “You must bring to Our Bishop, Sister. But forgive me for finding this matter quite suspect. There are few things that warrant distracting him from his work.”
“I’ve been assured its worthy, Sister.” Nona bowed before gesturing to the Brighthome’s Pilot “You can debrief him on the specifics, but I’ve been explicitly ordered to speak with Peri-”
She flinched as the Attendant glared harder, then took a moment to correct herself.
“With Our Bishop, immediately.” She drew closer “Please, sister?”
The attendant’s glare faded as she glanced between her and the Pilot. When he gave a pleasant little wave, the Attendant just shook her head and walked past them.
“Not me you must worry over.” She murmured “All know the dangers of pulling Our Bishop’s attention from the war.”
Nona locked up at that, the vitae in her veins pumping faster for the briefest of moments before the Pilot placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Relax, Sister, have faith in Lady Khullic.” He implored before tapping a finger against his lip “Perignassi will be stupefied by how quickly we countered those Noirites. Take pride in the service we’ve provided mother.”
“Right…” Nona smiled as she turned away, only for her smile to drop as soon as she walked away “Nothing but pride.”
Leaving the dock, she followed the long halls of the Citadel. They were bare for the most part, sleek Pearlglass which occasionally pulsed with runes as Vitae pumped through them. Nona could feel it, the heavy pulse of the citadel. That feeling grew as she passed by a Pawn kneeling beside an opening in the wall.
As if the walls had pulled open on their own, the opening was a seamless square that revealed a series of pale veins pulsating within.
“How are we looking?” her voice echoed out as another one of those Pearlglass screens floated nearby.
“Room for another flowgate!” the voice of another Pawn echoed from somewhere below the pulsating veins “Might be a bit of a squeeze, but the Makers will appreciate more output!”
The Pawn near the opening immediately began tapping at the screen as Nona made her way by.
She continued through the citadel’s halls until she reached a nexus room where several joined together. In the middle, two Pawns and one of those floating Maker hands were moving a large stack of Pearlglass cubes into the center of a giant palm levitating over a large circular shaft.
“Excuse me?” Nona asked the moment she saw them “Do you think I could use this lift first? I’ve got urgent information for-”
“My my, sister,” one Pawn stepped off the palm to examine her closer “What exactly happened to your arm there? Quite the drastic alteration.”
She blinked before looking down at her blaster hand for a second, only to shake her head.
“Just a quick change during a fight.” She lowered it out of sight “Listen Brother, I desperately need to reach Perignassi, I can’t-”
“But how exactly does one get the vitae to react like that in the middle of battle?” he asked, drawing much too close for comfort whilst trying to get a better look at her “And so seamlessly! If you could do that then-!”
“You should use an express lift.” The second Pawn stated before nodding down another hall “If it’s important, the Blinded Eyes shouldn’t give you any problems.”
“Thank you!” Nona quickly pulled away from the first Pawn and was almost partway down the hall when she realized exactly what had been said “Wait, what are Blinded Eyes?”
She looked back, only to find the lift had already disappeared up the shaft. Frowning, she tried not to let her confusion keep her from pressing onwards. Following the indicated hall, she eventually came to a much smaller nexus.
However, a column of armored pawns was passing through led by a Templar. Though the pawns behind the Templar sported the more flexible armor of Crusaders, they all raised shields that were identical to his.
“Remember its weight, its feel.” The Templar ordered as they marched “A Templar’s pace is determined by their allies not their weapon.”
“Yes, Brother!” the Crusaders chanted together as they followed him down an adjacent hall.
Nona couldn’t see anything resembling an express lift, so assumed it was further along the halls. Spotting the end of the column of Crusaders, she hurriedly moved around them before making for the hall opposite of the one she’d entered from.
Only to stop immediately upon realizing just how short the hall was. It was much narrower than the prior halls of the Citadel had been, just wide enough for her to pass through with her elbows extended to her sides. It ended abruptly in a single bare-formed pawn sitting down, cradled in the grasp of a much smaller Mother’s palm.
But Nona couldn’t focus on that, her gaze was glued to the ball of white sparks surging in the dug-out cavity where the Pawn’s eye should’ve been.
Dragging a thin blade along the edges of the mother’s palm, the Pawn’s ‘eye’ shrank as it focused on Nona. The Pawn’s mouth was stretched into a grin so wide that its shell was cracking at the edges, and it only grew wider as Nona approached
“Business with our Bishop?” the Pawn asked as he laid the short blade along his leg. His grin barely shifted as he spoke.
“Are you one of the Blinded Eyes?” she asked, prompting the Pawn to lower his head.
“Newborn, then.” He gestured towards her with the blade “Learn quick, many issues can be resolved by your superiors. No need to infringe upon our Bishop’s time.”
“My Lady told me to deliver it to him, so that’s what I’ll do.” Nona drew closer, frowning at the small area of the mother’s palm “I was pointed your direction.”
“I am one of Our Bishop’s eyes.” he slowly began to stand “Trust that any knowledge you share with me is reaching him.”
Nona couldn’t keep from staring at those sparks, surging and writhing yet tightened into the barest facsimile of an eye. She’d never heard of a Blinded Eye before then, couldn’t remember seeing any of them back when she had been born.
Then again, she’d never been within the confines of the Citadel before.
She wasn’t sure how he could be feeding Perignassi information with the white noise of thoughtspeak all around, but she had to trust his words. Bishops knew more than even knights in the grand scheme of things, odd techniques were not uncommon for them.
So, she recounted as much as she could about the Noirite plot to smuggle a Rook into their Quadrant. The Blinded Eye’s expression didn’t change once. Not when she spoke of Towerfall, or how Captain Formal had led the plot, not even when she demanded aid for her allies locked in combat with the Noirites.
That grin never changed.
Not until she mentioned the Mortals.
“The what?” the Blinded Eye suddenly interrupted her, prompting her to nod before repeating herself.
“The mortals, brother.” She closed her eye whilst recalling Lady Khullic’s exact words “the realm we ended up in was rife with them.”
“Impossible sister.” The Blinded Eye shook his head at that “There are no realms in this Quadrant that could foster even the most basic of Mortals.”
Nona frowned at that.
“I’ve seen them, bugs and trees pulsing with life.” She tapped a finger against her lip “My Lady made clear this needed to be brought to Our Bishop’s attention, almost as much as the Noirite-”
“And who exactly is this Lady of yours.” The Blinded Eye snapped, his grin stretching further “Name them!”
“Lady Khullic!” Nona answered, only to step back as that grin inverted itself in an instant.
A grimace that threatened to split his head in half as his hand suddenly gripped his blade with fury. He brought his other hand out from behind his back, revealing a small gauntlet that lit up with runes.
“A joke.” The Blinded Eye snarled as he brought two fingers together “She seeks to make a mockery of our Bishop again!”
He snapped his fingers, causing the mother’s palm beneath them to shift in response.
“Audience granted, sister.” He declared as they began to rise “Lay her nonsense before our Bishop, and suffer the consequences of her degeneracy.”
