Saithilien

Chapter 10 - The Ascendancy Ritual Part 1

Dara Pha was surprised to find herself lying on her bed, she stood up and opened the window curtain. When she peeked outside from her window, she saw her mother sweeping dried leaves. I’m not dead? A feeling of uncertainness plunged her as if someone was sitting on her bed, behind her. She slowly looked back, and she almost dropped in fear seeing Juliana sat on her bed, enjoying a vanilla-flavored lollipop.

“Am I really home? Why am I not dead?”

“You just arrived hours ago.” Juliana pointed her lollipop to her desk. Dara noticed an envelope, opened it and found a letter inside sealed by St. Catherine’s Academy.

The letter read as:

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Pha,

The Academy was overwhelmed to have an explicitly hard-working student, Ms. Dara Pha. But due to some circumstances, she was not able to pass a major requirement needed for her scholarship. In that case, I’m afraid we need to discontinue her scholarship. I hope for her great success in the future. 

Best regards,

Morn Foringray

Academy Director

“I mentioned back in the hotel, that if someone wants to quit. I will grant your wish as soon as possible. Now, let me clear some of your memories.” 

The MapleGrove train had finally reached Filerethea station. People looked outside to get a glimpse of the town. The town was dark. Its roads were undetectable under layers of dust and dried leaves. The residents were staring at the slowing down train like zombies that startled the passengers. As the train had its full stop, the passengers started to get off. The train attendant blew his whistle and made his final announcement. “The MapleGrove will be back at exactly ten o’clock tomorrow morning. If you’re not yet in the station by that time. We’ll be leaving without you. We do not wish any delays” The attendant waved his hand as the MapleGrove slowly departed. 

The passengers gazed at the leaving train. After a few minutes, Four nuns approached them. The three were young-looking while the other one is quite old. They were wearing a dark blue veil and a tunic, a black woolen belt, and a white cloth covering the neck and the shoulders. 

“Welcome to Filerethea. We will be escorting you to your rooms.” The older nun said. 

The passengers followed the nuns as they led the way. The town had no transportation, and the establishments were all closed, and it seemed like it’s been that way for a long time. As they walked passing by the residential area, they noticed that the residents were strangely old. They couldn’t find any children or middle-aged people. 

“Gosh! What a creepy town.” Freya whispered to Vera.

“Sssshhh…”

In an open field just outside the monastery, A huge tent and some small tents were being arranged. Carnival rides and other games were set up by the Cirque’s crew. “Finally! Young people.” Freya exclaimed. Vera was kinda annoyed by Freya, so she walked ahead of her. 

As they reached the monastery gates, everyone was shocked. It’s a big castle for a monastery! It had 4 thick towers built in various spots, a regular bridge connecting the large iron gates and the main doors. “Since the town has no hotels or inns. All guests will be staying here. I want you to know that the castle grounds are off-limits. Only the dining hall has an exemption. ” The older nun said. A mansion at the back of the castle near a forest stood before them. Everyone went in and started to look for a room. Each room had two single beds and a shower. All the representatives occupied the second floor. 

“I’ll be rooming with Christiaan.” Katsuro peeked into Navya and Monique’s room. 

“Alright. Be back soon, the carnival will open in an hour.” Navya smiled as she fixed her suitcase.

“Navya, noticed the other nuns?” Monique whispered.

“What about them?”

“They were smirking the whole time. And they’re staring blankly.”

“I noticed the smirks but not the stares. I got scared that’s why I never looked at them again. ” 

Suddenly a commotion bothered everyone on the floor. A man was accused of stealing his wife’s wallet. 

“Give it back!” 

“I didn’t steal anything.”

“Huh, look at yourself. You’re rugged, you don’t even look like someone who can afford a train ticket.” 

The accused man glared at him and walked away. Eventually, the commotion had died down. The man asserted his wife of finding her wallet and they went back inside their room.

“Gosh, that man is mean.” Afina gasped.

“Judging a man by his clothes. Tsk! What a jerk.” Paulo said.

“Alright! Since all of us are ready. Let’s go to the carnival.” Anna exclaimed.

Passing through the castle gave the representatives an eerie feeling. Chills ran down through their spine and each one of them felt worried. 

“How can these people live here?” Afina sighed.

“Life in a big city scares them,” Monique replied.

“That’s a good answer.” Penelope suddenly joined them.

“Penelope! You’re here, didn’t see you on the train though. Come with us” Vera exclaimed.

“Thanks, but I’ll be with my friends and Kasey.” Penelope walked ahead of them and pulled Kasey.

Navya and Katsuro were surprised to see Kasey with Penelope. On the other hand, Monique felt relieved. On a dark hallway on the other side, Monique noticed a running shadow. She gazed at it and eager to recognize. She seemed familiar. Monique stopped. It’s Arya Ellis.

 "+What’s wrong?” Navya turned to Monique.

“I forgot my Cirque ticket in the room,” Monique said and ran going back to the direction of the mansion. Navya knew that Monique didn’t forget her ticket and she’s just up to something. Katsuro patted Navya’s shoulders. “I’ll protect her.” Navya nodded and looked at Katsuro’s eyes, giving them her full trust. “I’ll be waiting for you two at the carnival.” Katsuro smiled and ran to catch up with Monique. Navya sighed, worried. She then continued to walk with the others. 

Monique was in the hallway, where she last saw the shadow. She curiously stared at a painting of a man wearing a dark brown hooded robe, his hood almost covered his eyes, and beside him was a beautiful princess. She noticed that the princess’s little crown was designed with rose accents and a butterfly was sitting on her shoulder. A rose and a butterfly? Footsteps were suddenly heard, Monique quickly hid herself in the cupboard below the painting. From the inside, Monique could hear voices. 

“This is our chance to perform the Ascendancy Ritual again. We need to hurry.”

“How many do we need?”

“As many souls as we can get will be perfect.”

Monique was trembling in fear hearing the conversation. Moments later the voices were gone and the footsteps were vanishing, Monique’s still in the cupboard couldn’t move. She tried to reach for the door but she halted, as footsteps were approaching again. She saw the shadow of a man stopped and stood in front of the cupboard. Tears were about to fall from her eyes as she panicked. When the cupboard doors opened, Monique closed her eyes and tears finally fell down to her cheeks.

“Don’t worry, I’m here.” Katsuro knelt down and reached Monique. He wrapped his arms around her and wiped some of her tears. Monique just hugged him back and couldn’t stop crying. 

“Ka-- Kaya… How did you find me?” 

“No matter where you are, how far you are, I’ll always find you.” Katsuro gently caressed her head. 

“You i***t!” Monique suddenly stood up and wiped her own tears with her arm.

“Whaa -- ?”

“It’s all your fault!” She pouted and folded her arms.

“What did I do?”

“Because of you, I was scared to death!”

“Nuh! I was just helping you.”

“What are you two doing?” Arya suddenly appeared in front of them. They both looked at her kinda embarrassed and shocked.

“Ahehe. Nothing.” Monique smiled forcibly.

“You two shouldn’t be here, let’s go.” 

“Wait! What are you doing here, Arya?” Katsuro asked suspiciously.

“I know you suspected me being part of the cult. But, we have the same intentions here. And this is not a good place to talk, let’s hurry.” 

“Paulo, is that an iPhone?” Afina gasped as she saw him filming the stunt cyclists. Afina immediately grabbed the phone from his hand and checked it. “Wow, it’s working fine. Did it not die down? It doesn’t have a signal though.” 

Paulo grabbed back his phone and put it inside his pocket. “During the welcome dinner at the hotel. I happened to put it in my pocket.” 

“As far as I can remember, we’re not allowed to bring gadgets at that time.”

“Yeah, I really forgot to remove it from my pocket there. And this is the first time I turned it on.”

“Tsk. C’mon, the performance will start in a few minutes.” Afina pulled Paulo and went inside the big tent to join the others. After everyone was settled, the lights dimmed, and opening music was played to mark the beginning of the performance. Monique, Katsuro, and Arya arrived on time and just stood up at the uppermost back of the audience.  

“The monastery I knew adopts orphans, but I couldn’t find any children in the castle.”

“How can we trust you?” Monique glanced at Arya with suspicion.

“It’s up to you. But the people wouldn’t just go here to adopt. I believe that the Divine Ascendance had something to do with the missing orphans.”

Ascendancy? “There will be a ritual happening in the castle soon, and one nun mentioned the need for three souls.” 

Arya sighed and turned to Monique. “If something suspicious happened. We need to investigate immediately. I believe they’re going to get those souls from us. We need to split up and find clues.” Arya tapped her shoulders and left the scene.

“Do you trust her?” Katsuro asked.

“I heard with my own ears about a ritual. If she’s right about getting some people here for it. We need to trust her and watch over the others.”

Acrobats flying, stuntmen jumping and a cyclist balancing on a rope overjoyed the audience. The performance was finally over and the carnival was alive again. Christiaan, Freya, Vera, Hermann, and Talya went to a magician’s tent to watch him perform, they sat on the very first row in the audience. 

“As you can see in front of you! This is a vanishing cabinet.” Everyone was amazed and excited about the trick. Katsuro heard the magician’s introduction from the outside, out of curiosity he pulled Monique and went inside to watch. They sat on the back of their colleagues in the second row. Two of the magician’s assistants went inside the cabinet, as the magician opened the doors for the first time, one of his assistants disappeared. The crown cheered in amazement, but Monique was observing the trick seriously. The second time the magician opened the door, both of his assistants were missing. It made the crown more amazed and excited. Katsuro suddenly noticed two nuns entered the tent, they stood up at the back. He poked Monique and pointed at the nuns secretly. 

“Alright! Who wants to volunteer? How about this young lady?” The magician went down the stage and offered his right hand to Freya. The crowd cheered for her and she eventually took the hand.