Xelqua Rising || The Lost One AU

60. Ceremony

Xel looked up from where he had been sitting on his chair. In his vision, he saw Miesall come out of his own room and begin walking towards Xelqua's. He stood up before the Watcher invited himself inside without knocking.

"Hey Miesall." He said, trying to put enthusiasm into his voice. He thought about using the other's true name, but he was not in the mood for joking around like usual. Miesall only hummed. He was never one for hellos. "How are you?" He tried again.

The taller one stood there in the doorway. His wings dropped a little as he looked away and one pair of wings wrapped around his torso. He did not wish to answer. "I was thinking we have not interacted much since that illogical outburst of emotion." He began. He was blunt to the point of being mean, though Xelqua knew him well enough to know that it came from a place of insecurity; his facade. 

"Did the others pick on you?" He asked, stepping forward. He hadn't seen anything, but he wanted to ask to make sure. He only gained a loud sigh, an unsatisfactory answer. He knew not to push it any further than he already had. "Are you asking for us to do something together?" He asked, changing the subject. He forced himself to stretch out his wings, trying to lick the thick sadness that had clouded over him.

"I was wondering if you would accompany me to a ritual, yes." The other nodded. He hesitated, moving his gaze to Xel's shoulder. He stood there for a few seconds before walking out.

At this, Xelqua smiled. The distant Watcher had tried to imitate a more human side, though he still very much was true to being a Watcher. It was not the sort of imitation that he had when they first met, where he tried to act the part in every fashion, bending over to cater to the human. Instead, he did a few casual little things, like looking in his direction, even if it wasn't at his face. Although Xel was not consciously aware, he was doing similar things, making less eye contact than he did as a human and expressing some of his emotions through his wings. In other words, they had found a sort of balance that made them both comfortable. 

Xelqua hurried up to follow the other. Watching Miesall open up his wings and begin to fly, he was quick to follow suit. He flew as fast as he could, trying to surpass the other in speed. He was unsuccessful, however, as the curly-haired Watcher only grew further and further away. It took him a good length of time to catch up, Miesall waiting in the room.

"What ritual are we going to do?" Xel signed as he walked into the room. The room was hidden by a curtain of water, a purity ritual that one must go through to enter and leave the place. Much like the rest of the temple, the room was white. Like the Sanctum, it was a pure white with no variation, although this room was legitimately a room. Incense holders lined the walls and at the front of the room was a stand with a wand. Inside of the stand was other supplies needed for rituals. Grian had been brought here long ago in preparation of joining the Watchers. 

He knew by now that most, if not all rituals were to be performed silently. Even Signage was frowned upon most of the time, though only meditation outright banned it unless it was to communicate things of the utmost importance.

"Let us offer ourselves up to the Great Ones. For even if their ways are mysterious, they are powerful and holy."

Xelqua frowned at that. He did not feel like praising the ones who would not allow Ryan to have a better life.

Almost as if hearing the blonde's thoughts, Miesall continued, forcing the slightest hint of a smile. "For the better or the worse, they allowed us the opportunity to choose the fate of The Convex. May their name be praised."

The former human was still hesitant, but he nodded. Even if these ceremonies were not his thing or his heart was not behind it, at least he got to spend some time with Miesalt again.

Xelqua kneeled down on the floor as he held his hands together in what most religions would call prayer. He summoned all but one of his eyes into the room, leaving one on Azubius in case he was spoken to. Miesall walked around the room, lighting the incense. He too moved his eyes into the room.

He then walked to the stand, opening the secret compartment to grab the container of glowstone dust. Moving around the room once more, he gently sprinkled the dust around the outside of the room with his magic. Xelqua waited as patiently as he could. If he could fall asleep, he was sure that he would. These kinds of things only ever seemed to bore him.

Seeing that Miesall had now finished outlining the room, Xelqua lifted his chin, pointing his head upwards. The snowy-haired Watcher now stood in front of him, making another scoop of the dust float into the air. He lifted it above the other's head, beginning to sprinkle it onto his hair. It began to roll down his braid and down his back, a soft tickle that was beginning to grow. He had to bite his lip to avoid laughing, which according to the other creatures was completely inappropriate. (He had failed holding back his laughter on several occasions. The Void welcomed him after such incidents.)

Miesall now moved around to Xelqua's side as he grabbed another handful with his magic. He held it higher this time before he sprinkled it on the former human's wings. Xel fluttered his wings, allowing the dust to go into the crevices of them. He shuddered at the feeling, having things in between his feathers never felt that great.  It only took one look from Miesall for him to freeze and remain still as he was supposed to.

Miesall now took a step back, signaling that he had finished. Having practiced this many times, the blonde stood up as the other kneeled in his place, the two swapping places. He took ahold of the container with his magic as he moved to stand before the creature he called his friend.

Grabbing a handful of dust, he began to sprinkle it into Miesall's hair. He smirked, thinking of how the tiny speckles of gold were about the size of grains of salt. He wished it was salt that he was sprinkling— that would have been a whole lot funnier. In any case, though, he sure not to laugh at this thought.

Grabbing some more dust with his magic, he let it begin falling into Miesall's wings. The creature moved them, stretching them out, closing them and opening again over and over as he moved his body. He was trying to get the glowstone all over himself in a similar way in which a bird does with dirt or water.

When Xel was finished, the snowy-haired Watcher was speckled in the golden substance, radiating purity. He looked up to Xel with a gentle smile before moving his hair just a bit. Xel could almost see a halo above Miesall's head, just above the sparking crown of dust he wore on his hair.  Having white hair, the glowing substance just looked so much more magnificent than the blonde's did.

Standing up now, Miesall headed out of the room. There was a new bounce in his step, and it was clear that the ritual had rejuvenated him. Getting soaked by the water only seemed to make him smile more, as somehow it seemed to glue the dust onto him rather than washing it off. (Xelqua never did quite understand this. Magic was indeed a mystery to him, even now.)

Xel was quick to follow, standing a bit taller than he usually did. He bit his lip before he walked through the waterfall, the freezing cold water drenching him momentarily. He impulsively shook his wings out, even though that would not help him dry any faster.

The other did not wait for him, continuing to walk in the hall. He raised his chin a bit. Xel had to remind himself not to hurry up to catch up to him; in such a ceremony, that was disgraceful. As they walked, other Watchers stopped in their presence, a typical showing of respect.

The curly-haired Watcher led them both to  the gates of the Sanctum. He stopped in front of its doors, Xel soon stopping beside him. As they faced the doors, Miesall quietly placed one hand over the other as he closed in his wings tightly. He cleared his throat although Watchers had no need to do such things, and Xel quickly got the memo to copy the pose.

He was not sure how long they waited there for. It was rather boring to stand there without doing anything at all, but at least he could watch the worlds for a base line of entertainment.

At long last, the doors to the Sanctum fully opened to them, welcoming them into the endless white space. In unison they walked in, and it was not until they were fully inside that the doors shut behind them, closing as slowly as they opened.

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AN

Something very big is happening very soon. What it is? Well, you'll just have to guess... ;)