CHAPTER TEN: MESSAGE FOR THE THIRD PILLAR

 The temple of Wisdom has maintained an indomitable status for almost ten decamillennia as the most sacred ground since it was first established, not just to the people of Stell City but to the nation of Igineri and the continent of Ayika at large. It has factually remained a place of divinity since ancient times, with great mysteries that continue to repudiate the unveiling eyes of Science and its appeal to logic. No published knowledge has successfully made it past data-analyzing, whether it be trying to understand the changed biology of a newborn Holy Warrior or barely getting a comprehendible peek into the phenomenon of the holy star symbols.

 Taking up the entirety of the city's Southeast is the temple's territory – primarily bounded from the edges of the city towards the center at a right angle point of contact. At the noticeable center of it is the largest building of the entire city – Comet Tower – a centric perfect circle stretched to a height well over a thousand meters and settled amongst the low clouds, with two layers of five triangular wings angled into the shape of a star around it; one around the tip of the circle and the other attached at about four hundred meters below. The last layer, however, doubles in number close to the fanned-out base that had held the complex building since its completion.

 An old woman in a black uniform holding the temple's insignia across the back – an array of copper-colored stars forming a pair of eyes in a cross formation – dashed into the tower's lobby with a taut expression. Of forty wide elevators lined around the temple base floor in groups of eight, she hurried for one of the two meant for temple servants the furthest to her left and took it straight to the highest floor. The jumbo corridor of white lights trailing overhead is outshined by the series of large transparent glass squares giving unabashed views of cloud spread beyond the farthest reach of her sight. Yet, all these are ignored along with the military men and woman securing the entire floor for the month, as she hastened towards the largest wooden door holding the gold of three sections of an entire sun designed along with other intricates. 

“Hey! Are we invisible to you or something?”

The woman jolted into a halt and she found two of the four security men and women walking towards her. “Good day…..” She was cut off before she could finish her words.

"Your uniform clearly states you belong outside Comet Tower." The security woman spoke first.

“Yes, I’m an outer temple servant. I’m here on a delivery from Outpost-ENE. ” She answered with hesitance.

“And they sent an outpost cleaner to Comet Tower’s highest floor?” The security woman voiced her skepticism as she scanned the older woman.

“The messengers are currently on other errands, and this was urgent so they entrusted it to me.”

"They must trust you then." The male security nodded briefly. "Then may we see your permit."

The woman looked at the two of them before dipping her hand into the pocket of the white apron tied by her waist, pulling out a tiny green speaker along with a piece of paper. "Will this do?"

After confirming the permit slip, the two glanced at each other as she pressed a button at the top.

"This is Head of Security, Johnson; words past my lips to the Third Pillar's ears. The main permit is WCT-VMVM-HS.P-ST, the day code is HONOREE and the hour code is 674U."

The man tapped at the in-ear monitor in his left ear. "Did you get that?" He responded to the voice in a calm tone with a few head nods before turning his attention to the woman. "You're allowed in." He gestured to the woman still by the door and one of the large wooden doors was slightly opened. "Remain close to the gate; a temple keeper will attend to you." The permit slip only proved the woman was sent from the particular outpost, but the main permit, along with the day and hour codes would have been the only way that the speaker would have made it to the intended. This is the residence belonging to one of the most important figures in the entire country, after all.

The woman watched them move aside and she walked past the opened door with greater tension. She turned back to the loud click that followed behind and she found the door closed. Eyes on the humongous space being cleaned by the tower servants, she was awed at the breathtaking decor.

The glass ceiling-to-floor window fed bright lights into the office of gold and blue wallings. The space between the tall golden statues of a pair of naked angels faced away from each other, led to a short flight of stairs through an archway formed by their touching wings. At the top of the stairs is an exquisite wooden desk holding a solid amount of stacked files and a laptop. The ceiling's ancient arts constellations could also be seen, though spread somewhat dull in colors.

The woman couldn't contain her gawking. For the life of her, she had never stepped a foot inside Comet tower until today and she couldn't believe she got to see with both eyes one of the highest elders' dwells.

A door to her far right opened and a lean Ebony man in a gold loose robe walked out to cheerful greetings from the servants. He replied with quick nods as he met her with a gentle smile that left the woman briefly enthralled.

Indeed, those who walk with the radiant ones will inevitably share in their glow.

“Sun-blessed afternoon to you, Ma’am. I’ve been informed you have something for the third pillar?”

The woman quickly turned her gaze to the beautifully complex designs of the rug spread across the entire office floor beneath her. She began reminding herself she’s been married for over thirty years and she recently became a grandmother. “Uh… Yes, temple keeper.” She raised her hand to reveal the tiny speaker.

The man nodded and received the item, ignoring her obvious shyness. “Is that all you’ve been sent to deliver?” At the woman’s confirmation, she was dismissed.

He watched her leave before turning back through the door he came out from, through a wide and lengthy curved corridor that led to a courtyard built at the tip of the entire triangular wing. Bushes of Orchids and Carnations lay in layers of two along both edges of the courtyard up to the tip where they meet.

“The stars light the path through your divine perception; the constellations dance around you with gentle discerning. A vision of comprehendible disquisition awaits you.”

At a distance near the edge, he could see four young and beautiful women sitting cross-legged around a chocolate-skinned middle-aged man lying in the middle, going through their rosary counts as they chanted.

"How far is he?" The man walked over to note the faint irregular spasms on the older man's forehead, along with his covered fingers and legs.

One of the women, Sorrel skin tone with shoulder-length black hair, looked up at him. “It’s almost two hours now. We might have to draw him back.”

“No need.”                             

A deep yet gentle voice, familiar to all five present, drew their attention downward to the calm pair of blue eyes staring at the sky.

“Third Pillar!” was mixed with “Elder Tobias!” in a chorus as the young women all go on their knees to help him into a stand.

“I’m fine.” The man chuckled as he managed to keep himself on shaking feet. He took a few calm breaths, taking off the rubber gloves and leather boots before turning to the young man. “You have something from the priestess’ Head security.” He stretched out a hand.

The young man helplessly placed the speaker into Elder Tobias' hand as the man walked past him in an airy mood, the four women not far behind him.

Two of the women in similar styles of clothing giggled as they easily deciphered the man's thoughts. "Two months as a temple keeper, Mathew, and he still gets you every time."

“Still pretty new here.” The Ebony man simply shrugged as he followed after the ladies back through the curved corridor. “It just….. I didn’t expect him to come across this incident while having a major vision.” He rushed past the first two ladies with a “sorry” to their “hey, watch it!” and bumped into the others at the front with his shoulders. “Zayida, Efroni, do you think he’ll tell us what he saw if we ask him this time?”

Zayida, to the man's right, groaned with an eye roll, earning a chuckle from Efroni on the other side. "Sure, why don't you ask him?" She sent the man a brilliant smile. "I'm sure he'd be more than happy to give a well-detailed answer."

The feigned enthusiasm in his fellow keeper’s words had the man sighing in submission.

Efroni noticed the young man’s mood and rubbed a soothing hand on the side of his neck. “You’re a minor seer just like every temple keeper in this tower, and you know how difficult decoding the true meaning behind every dream vision can be, the level of discomfort you get when you wake up.”

"Then imagine that a thousandfold, striking at the oddest moments during your waking hours to flood you with intense displays of symbolism you have to break down yourself. "

Those words had Mathew turning his head to find the other two ladies locking arms as they walked behind him. “Bumia, I didn’t know it was that bad.”

“Worse, you mean. I had the same expression as you when Jaia here filled me in on what happens every time a Pillar is pulled in by a vision.” Bumia looked up at the bald Ecru skin-toned lady with soft eyes as she clamped down on her interlocked arm. “You should have seen this one over here, fussing over my every mood for the next few days.”

"What!" Jaia tilted her head down to place a light kiss on her honey-skin-toned partner's brown hair. "At least it got you falling for my charms, didn't it?"

Mathew couldn’t help the upward tilt at the edge of his lips at the tenderness between these two. Feeling he was prying into their private moment, he turned back to the two before him. “But visions with that level of impact are bound to be accurate, right?”

Efroni sighed. “You’re adorable to think that.”

Zayida saw the man's apprehensive look as they approached the corridor exit to the third pillar's office. "None of the twelve Pillars ever has it easy when dealing with visions. They struggle most times to differentiate a possible outcome of a future from an imminent one."

“Then there’s their ability to draw past knowledge from the planet’s elements.” Efroni ended the lecture in whispers as the five temple keepers reached the office.

Aside from not wanting to be overheard by the topic of their discussion, they couldn’t let words like this fall into any of the servants’ ears. Anyone below temple keepers and personnel from the military school is considered nothing beyond a paid worker. It would be overly naïve to think there aren’t any spies amongst the thousands of workers moving in and out of the temple.

“Apprentices to the Light Speakers, come here!”

The five keepers jolted upward at the third pillar’s sudden heavy tone as they watched the servants and office workers hurry out of the third pillar’s quarters. They swiftly paced across the large office to take the steps beneath the winged archway, ending up side by side before his desk to catch the slightly bothered look on his otherwise gentle visage as he tugged on his short beard. This was serious and they all knew it.

“Listen.” The third pillar tapped on the tiny speaker and the entire office went quiet.

"This is Head of Security, Johnson. Words from my lips to the Third Pillar’s ears. The main permit is WCT-VMVM-HS.P-ST, the day code is HONOREE and the hour code is 674U." The silence that came after is eerily cut through by the brief radio waves being transmitted. "Third Pillar, the accordance trial is over and both aircraft are on their way back during the time of this transmission. Unfortunately, multiple situations unprepared for occurred during and after the trial. The dead, failed living, and the star-touched finalists are counted for……..with a first-class threat; Male by sex, Young adult by appearance. We currently do not have the means to dig up a background check until we reach the temple." There was hesitation in the man's voice before he let out his last words. "There was a brief encounter with the priestess and it resulted in her passing out. Currently, she remains unconscious. We hereby require the utmost discreet entry into Comet Tower's highest floor."

Elder Tobias glanced back up to note the lost and shocked looks on his keepers’ faces. He could tell they had questions they knew better than to ask right now.

Jaia was the first to calm down. "What do you want us to do, Third pillar?" She was well aware they wouldn't be hearing this if there wasn't a task to follow up on – a discreet one, she was sure.

"Zayida, Efroni, and Jaia, you three will deliver orders to specific people in the outposts. Bumia, take Mathew to inform the second pillar. No one other than the light speakers is allowed near the priestess' quarter. No one else can find out what's going on."