[Great! The green one can be Nendanbar. Who can tell I just made that name up?
]
The procession was one of the most boring things that Cid had ever had to endure within the School. Everyone would always be so careful that they moved extremely slowly towards the altar. The students were also required to stay perfectly still in the sweltering heat, making the situation even more uncomfortable.
One of the few reasons that Cid did not dare to miss the ceremony, apart from fear of expulsion, was the revealing of the Orbs. Unless you had experienced it, you could not describe the feeling that one got when the Orbs were displayed.
Each shone brilliantly, with an intensity that would normally blind a person, yet the Orbs not only did not damage people's sight, but soothed the viewers. The Orbs would catch the Midsummer sunlight and send off bright light in all directions. Waves of peaceful joy would wash over all in attendance, giving them strength after it was over. It was a fantastic sight and the deepest peace that anyone in the School had ever felt. Cid liked those feelings and would wait like all others at the ceremony, just to feel it. One did not even have to look at the Orbs to feel. Some people said these waves washed over the entire World, renewing it and bringing a happy air to all on that day.
Finally, the mage in charge of the Orbs stood on the altar. The same half-speech, half-prayer began as it did every year. Cid only grasped parts of it as he was remembering every ceremony he had ever attended.
"peace on earth ... by the powers ... elements of ... bless and protect ... as we protect ... bring us ... "
Then the veil was lifted off the Orbs. He knew it was by the dramatic swishing sound that was made. Complete silence fell over the School. He waited for the waves.
A little gasp came out of the crowd, setting up quiet mutterings and uneasy shufflings. Confused new students who had never been to the ceremony were looking at each other with questioning faces. Older students were beginning to become more nerve-wracked than before.
What was wrong? Cid tried to peer past the many moving heads. The waves were not coming and the flashes of coloured light were not happening. And it was then he caught a glimpse of the Orbs and understood what the unease and fear was about.
The light had gone from the Orbs.
It had been a week since Midsummer's. Students were constantly whispering and professors for once did not care. Lessons continued as normally as they could, but the purpose had gone out of them. The students had always known what the lessons were for, but with the light out of the Orbs, they were listless and wandered about the School without any particular aim. Professors were constantly coming and going between lessons. The Head had been locked up in a room with a variety of advisors from different races, all who had been in attendance, for the last seven days. There was still some form of discipline, but no one even wanted to make mischief. Everyone was so unsure about what was happening.
Already rumours had been floating in about the rest of the World. People talked about volcanoes erupting, the crops rotting, the earth melting, the seas stopping, the seas throwing tsunamis at all kinds of cities, the winds being completely still... Well, everyone knew about the winds were still. Ashling itself was quite safe, protected by the School's mages, but there were no winds at all. The lack of air made the atmosphere even more unbearable and the sweltering heat was magnified. It became unclear as to what was happening to anyone, but one thing was for sure: the World was in disarray.
The last bit seemed obvious. Cid was fingering the books in the library. In past times he might never come here, but it was the only place where whispering was not allowed. He was sick of hearing the constant "sss" noises that came with whispering. The Orbs were the protection of the World itself and what kept it in order. It was really the life force and the balance of the World. With the light gone, the protection was gone and the balance with it as well. It would make sense that the World would be opposite to what they once knew about. Yet no one had ever imagined it.
The Orbs' protection was the kind that people took for granted. It was simply what was there and what would always be there. It
was the World and no one had ever thought that one day the Orbs would no longer have light. It was the impossible, so extremely impossible that try as anyone might to think of the worst possible disaster, the light gone was not one of them. Now that the unthinkable had happened, Ashling was in shock. Many disbelieved that anything was wrong and went about their business anyway.
So what was going to happen to them? he wondered. No one knew. It seemed the end of the World was coming somehow.
Well, this is certainly something no one ever trained us for!
He went out of the library and almost immediately crashed into a girl who seemed about two years younger than him.
The Head of the School walked quickly and deliberately across the wide plain of grass to where the dragons were lodged, in a large building of marble the school mages had conjured up temporarily.
"Phalan," the Head said quietly, directed to a large red dragon. "How do you do?"
[Dawn or Glass, please be the girl Cid crashed into. x_x]
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