eleven thirty

your hearts desire

The civilians ran around frantically tying ribbons around light posts and hanging up banners. The rush of adrenaline before the trials could be felt by everyone from the city's center to the distant fields of florals miles out of the city's limits. The trials had to be held once every 100 years when the deity's heartbeat would abruptly stop. They had two weeks after this to host the trials and select the next ruler before the Heart died out. 
The Heart was the sole reason the sun and moon showed at dawn and dusk. After the air pollution sent the air quality downhill, the Heart was created to keep the air and atmosphere clean. Once the new deity was selected they would go through a surgical procedure to remove part of their heart and fill the missing pieces of the Heart. The centennial trials would be hosted the following day
The trials consisted of a two day long death maze. Different obstacles and challenges would be presented to the contestants. They would not be able to exit until the 48 hour timer was up and incase of two or more remaining opponents there would be an arena fight between them. The battle tie-breaker was almost as anxiously awaited as the trials itself. The last contestant standing in the maze will be removed and crowned. If every ruler is pronounced dead, the last alive ruler's child will take place as the deity.
This year's contestants consisted of Astrid, Milo, Kairos, Cornelia, Seymour and Desire. Desire was the eldest of the bunch at 132 followed by Kairos at 127. Milo and Astrid were the youngest at 105 and 107. Seymour and Cornelia were dropped in the middle at 116 and 114.
The night before the trials the Gala would be hosted as an introduction to the contestants and an informative speech on rules and actions. It would be hosted in the largest area of Asia, Acalia. This area stretched out for a 36 block perimeter, its edges consisted of 4 streets, Rever,  Atlas, Lunar and Key. These names represented the 4 original deities.
Typically the Gala would go as follows; arrival and introductions, then food, drinks, followed by dancing speech and agreement and then closure and exiting. The giant theater auditorium stretched over 800 feet long with a glass dome roof sitting above. The centerpiece of the dome was connected on a hinge and flipped around at midnight each night, reflecting the moon in its new direction. The harsh wooden floors had dents and bumps due to years and years of wear and tear from footsteps and ever changing furnishes. In less than 9 hours the seemingly lifeless room would be filled with people all around the globe.
The auditorium had a large stage in its front with 7 podiums, one larger one in the middle and 3 smaller ones per side. Each podium had its corresponding color and a small metal name tag for the contestants. The committee had almost finished decorating the room the previous day, but had few unfinished ends to tie up before the event. There were various balloon arches for the rulers and their own table for the people to place bets, donate, write letters of hope and enjoyment. The round tables lined around the edges of the room and continued outside through the 18 by 12 foot doorway opening. One wall was lined with just the buffet and ran from one of the main entries to a concealed fire escape. Balloons, flowers, flyers, banners, practically anything to draw attention was put in every corner of the room in a desperate attempt to get what they have to say out past the harsh whispers of the trials.
At around 8pm the previously empty room filled with thousands of people moving out of the building and out into the chilly night. The rulers were all said to be at their podiums within the minute. Once they all lined up, Saturn entered the stage and stood tall behind the middle podium.
"Hello people! We all gather here today on this lovely evening as the commencement of our centenary trials. Our contestants for this year's trials are Desire!" He announced as Desire raised her hand gently upwards and let it gracefully sink back down. "Kairos!" Kairos sternly raised his left hand for a few moments and then let it back down to his side. "Cornelia!" She quickly raised her hand and waved to the crowd. "Seymour!" He held his hand high above his head in a bear claw symbol with a big grin on his face. "Astrid!" She perked up quickly and cheerfully waved with her normal bright smile. "And Milo!" Milo mirrored Astrid's movement and flashed her a quick look and smile.
"Please treat the contestants with respect and send love to our passed deity, Juno." Saturn said as he turned and walked off stage. Quickly after Saturn the rest of the contestants scrambled down the stairs and off into the crowd.
Desire stood there, five foot eight. Her long, ivory, mermaid style dress pooled at her feet embellished with small pearls and lace. The skirt fit seamlessly with the corset. The pearls on the top rim and boning varied in size, switching around every few pearls. A thin lace bustle tied into the loops on the back of the corset and laid flat against her rear, going down to just above her knees. She was decorated with numerous jeweled and beaded necklaces, some with just beads, some with just pearls. One long pendant necklace double wrapped around her neck and fell in the middle of her torso. In the small cage held a pink pearl. Her lips were a neutral pink color and shone brightly against her dark skin tone. Her eyes were a shimmery oyster color. The moonlight that shone through the glass dome in the middle of the ballroom truly made her makeup shine just enough to see the thin blush across her face. Her hair spewed down her back in long bouncy waves. The small, flourished fascinator hat was clipped at the top of her head, a small veil covering her right eyebrow. On her ears hung a small gold ball. Sheer gloves ran up til mid bicep where it was hidden underneath a droopy semi-sleeve connected to the corset by small hooks. The rings mixed the necklaces and earrings styles with assorted jewels and gold. In her hand she held a small clutch with a ball and loop closing mechanism. Her heels made small clicking noises as she walked across the cold stone floor, careful not to trip over her trailing skirt.
She walked into a small corner where she leaned against the wall sipping her colorful drink. Across the room she spotted Seymour talking to Cornelia.
Tall and thin, he stood there holding a thin champagne bottle, roughly half way full. A long pair of navy blue corduroy pants ended just above the platform of his thick black boots. Trailing back up the side of the pants was a thin silver line that ran on to the matching blazer. The blazer had numerous pockets of different sizes and uses. Ones that held napkins, glasses, and a small dagger. The rest were fastened shut with an intricate button or small metal snap. Under the blazer was another matching vest with a skin tight white collared shirt underneath. The buttons on the vest, blazer and pants all varied in shape, size and color. One was small, blue, fabric and a triangular shape while another was a thick plastic button that appeared to be a daisy. The blazer cuffed at the end of his wrist showing small, silver cuffs clipped on and many clanking bracelets. He wore one ring, a small metal band on his right thumb. His hair was slicked back revealing a small penny thin scar on his left temple. From one ear hung a small key and the other a miniature playing card.
In front of him stood Cornelia roughly five foot five in a forest green gown that stopped and just brushed the floor. Silver heels with butterflies and wire wrapped up her revealed calf. She had little jewelry including one emerald necklace, ring and a set of earrings. She wore a belt around her waist and a pendant hung from the side sliding back and forth around her wide hips. Her hair was up in a bun with little curls and flyaways getting loose around the edges. Bright green eyeshadow and long, winged eyeliner made quite the statement with her outfit. Both Seymour and Cornelia seemed to be having an interesting conversation, depicted from their quickly changing facial expressions and hand gestures.
         She made the quick decision to not walk over and disrupt, but to further people watch. She glanced across the room to Milo and Astrid. They were the youngest and expected to be together quite often. They appeared to be having an enjoyable time as the bright liquids swooshed back and forth in their cups.
Astrid had opted for a suit instead of dress due to its functionality. Her bright smile and golden retriever personality didn't match her outfit. It was a simple pinstripe suit paired with platformed boots and a small black purse. Her long hair was braided into French braids that trailed down her back. Her braids interchanged between silver, lavender and a dark plum purple. Her makeup, in contrast to her dark outfit, was an assortment of pigmented blues, purples, pinks and white. Her many ear piercings varied between stars and plain cuffs.
Milo's outfit matched Astrid, but inverted colors. Their suit had a white base and black stripes. Milo's boots were the same style, but white and had little charms around the grommets. Their brunette hair fell in short curls and brushed their shoulders. They wore chapstick and no other trace of makeup. Small wrist gloves coordinated with both of their outfits and colors. Neither one wore any jewelry aside from a small ring with their continents symbol.
"Boo!" Kairos yelled out from behind and into Desire's ear. She jumped forward, spilling the contents of her glass. She quickly turned from behind and grabbed a napkin, but by the time she got it, the drink had seeped through the wood. She re-angled herself towards Kairos and yelled at him.
"Don't scare me like that! You made me spill my drink!" Desire yelled with a shove to Kiaros' chest.
"Maybe don't be so easily scared, I doubt you'll last in the maze with reflexes like that." He said with a pretentious grin.
"Shut up, you're not any better. Just because you've trained for apocalyptic circumstances and act like you could be murdered any second does not mean you get to be mean to me!"
"Yes it does! That's clearly stated in our messages that I"m allowed to be mean under the circumstances that you are not paying attention!" Kairos spat back defensively, crossing his arms.
"Whatever, I'm going to get another drink." Desire said side eyeing him. She tipped forward to pick up the empty class, swishing the remaining puddle of liquid back and forth. She remained, staring at the drink until the color darkened into a burgundy and a darkness covered the outlines of her view, slowly making her vision go black. Without realizing she had fallen backwards and onto the cold floor, her dress poofing out beneath her.
Kairos spun around quickly, falling down to her side instantly and checking her pulse.  Her unconscious body held a faint pulse but she was still alive. Kairos was tall and stronger than most so he easily scooped up Desire and carried her as quickly as possible. The murmuring crowd cleared out a path for him to walk through. The suspense of the room rose quickly after he exited and then fell back into quiet chatter. The rulers with the exception of Desire and Kairos all floated throughout the room anxiously.
☆★☆
In the infirmary Desire lay unconscious on the bed, Kairos at her side. The medics had come to the conclusion that her drink had been laced with some sort of drug. Kairos sat there, slumped, upset and angry at who had done this to his best friend. They had no leads on who would want to do this to Desire.
"She was a woman who held few grudges and kept her promises, so why would someone do this to her?" Kairos had a hint of despair in his voice. He thought that he could protect her no matter what. But having turned around for an instant and she was lying, unconscious made his stomach toss and turn.
"I'm not sure, maybe it was something from decades ago or someone just chose the wrong person. Sometimes people just go nuts and do things they shouldn't." The doctor suggested, giving a brief tone of annoyance. Checking his watch Kairos noticed it was almost eleven fifteen. crap. Everyone had to be up on stage in less than 20 minutes for the closure and Kairos was a mess on the floor. He decided to stay behind and watch the closure from afar.
"I'll be right back, darling." He mumbled and gently  squeezed Desire's hand as he walked out.

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super excited!!
new chapter in 2 weeks (monday, may 22nd)
lots of love,
astro ❣️