Prophecy

Chapter 1a

Day One of Festival Prep - The Palace

We devour the snacks left on the mantel of the fireplace, and one at a time the rest of the team joins us in the foyer. Anjulee is, surprisingly, the last one out. When she does come down the stairs, Scout pack present and her still ambiguous pin on her neckline, her hair is hanging over her ears and a bit in her face, but she doesn't tuck it behind her ears. She and Ada are wearing the same type of gown Rose and I were given, Anjulee having a dark brown top with three-quarter sleeves and a spring green skirt, while Ada has a black skirt with a glittery bottom and a navy blue top with spaghetti straps that complements her auburn curls. Arik and Javier on the other hand, have turtleneck shirts and colored suits, Javier in a grey-green suit and white-gold shirt, his wings coming comfortably out of slits in the back of his clothes, and Arik in a deep violet suit and gray shirt (he looks pretty good in that color).

The Chancellor glides down the stairs at around 11:15, a few minutes after Anjulee, in another bright white gown with a long slit, her hair tied up in a sleek bun, and diamonds gracing her neck and hanging from her earlobes. One of the angels from yesterday is following a few feet behind her, his wings folded close to his body. My teammates stand at her arrival and bow their heads, and I follow suit a few seconds behind them (because I'm good at etiquette, obviously). Artemis nearly falls with how clumsily I mimic them.

"Good to see you're all awake now. It's a bit later of a start than I would like, so let's get going on the tour of the palace," she announces with her melodic voice. Everyone raises their head again and kind of groups together, ready to follow her wherever she decides to lead us first. 

First we go to the left side of the foyer, into a long and tall hallway with large portraits of various regal figures hanging on the walls. She stops us a little bit after a crossroads of the hall, right next to a huge arched entryway. We all gaze into the massive room through the entrance: one with an extremely long table covered in a silver cloth and adorned with minimalist flower arrangements, a black grand piano, a fountain built into the wall, and plenty more room to spare.

"This is the banquet hall. This is where we hold publicity lunches and dinner parties and such," the Chancellor declares before briskly moving on down the hallway and making a left turn at the end of it. 

Straight at the end of the hallway is a tall door to a fenced off outdoor area with a packed dirt floor and a random assortment of decorations and weapon racks.

"Here is our Elemental Gym. Feel free to use this on your own time and train yourselves. If you need a coach or someone to spot you or anything, just ask one of the angels and they'll help you or find someone else to do so," she says.

The next stop is just a bit back down the hallway, a sliding door into a tiled and less grand room: the kitchen and/or breakfast nook.

At the corner of the hallway where we turned to reach the Elemental Gym, there's a big square doorway into the largest room yet: a huge cleared space with polished wooden floors, a throne on a podium at the end closer to us, three breath-taking fountains on the wall of the doorway, and with the opposite wall being completely covered in adorned windows.

"This is the ballroom. We'll be having the Festival Ball here on the first night of the Syacore Festival," the Chancellor says proudly. She guides us across the dance floor to the opposite end of the room and through another large doorway back into the halls.

The next place she shows us is across the hall from the ballroom: a large terrace with a short fountain in the center, well-pruned topiaries in each corner, and a few tables here and there.

At the end of the hallway the Chancellor tells us is the study of the most important angel in the entire Reality, so we should avoid disturbing him if possible. However, if there is an emergency and we cannot find her, it would be wise to go to him.

We follow her back down the hall until we reach a crossroads again. She explains that if we find that we just need a quiet space, there's a "lovely" sitting room at the end, the sound of which Andromeda perks up to.

Next in the tour and just a hop skip and a jump down the hallway is a library with shelves that scrape the ceiling and cover the shorter two walls, Reality windows over desks against the wall, and a reading nook against the back wall.

After that, we are pointed to another large bathroom, a recreation room (across from an unofficial lobby) stocked with a pool table, regular ol' TV, books, more water features, a dart board, a sound system, and more free space. Right next door to the rec room is a huge, open room: the combat hall. There's a section for target practice and archery, there's weapon cabinets and racks, another water feature, a closet full of practice armor, and dummies. Across the hall from that is another bathroom of equal size to the others.

With the first floor's most important rooms now toured, we make our way back up the left staircase in the foyer to the second floor.

"Only a few rooms up here other than your sleeping quarters that you need to know about," the Chancellor says in a dismissed tone.

She points out the open dining room, which provides more private eating space than the downstairs banquet hall. The wall facing the outside has a large bay window and a glass door onto a balcony, from which you can see the Elemental Gym. Past the dining area is another kitchen and a Council Meeting Room, which is centered around a large circular table with Reality Windows over it. It also has a row of Reality Windows on the wall to the right of the double doors.

There's more hallways to rooms unexplored, but that is where the Chancellor ends our tour.

"I have some appointments to attend now. If you have any questions, talk to one of the servants or angels and they'll help you the best they can. You have some free time for now, but I would love to dine with you all at around 6:30?" she invites. We all nod, and I see Anjulee grinning at this opportunity.

"Alright," she finishes with a smile. She nods curtly to the angel that has accompanied us thus far, then marches off to the unexplored parts of the palace. 

As she walks away down the corridor, an incredible pain surfaces in my head, blurring my vision. It feels as though my skull being pulled in all directions from every possible angle. I yelp loudly, catching the attention of my teammates as I sink to my knees and grip my own hair.

She's as good as gone.

It's the same type of voices I heard in Utopia Z....

Your sister is never coming back to you.

I scream, the voices roaring in my ears.

What are you going to do about it?

Ada presses her hand to my forehead, keeping me upright with her other arm.

I see a beautiful projection of the sky, my teammates vanishing into the peaceful illusion Ada has given me.  The roar of the voices fades as suddenly as they came. I close my eyes, and when I open them, the galaxy is replaced by my teammates, all crouched around me and with extremely concerned looks on their faces.

"What happened?" Arik asks worriedly, but the question isn't directed towards me.

"I'm not 100% sure, but it almost felt as though there was another presence in her mind," Ada responds, her hand retreating from my head, now with sweat rolling off it. Anjulee rests her hand on my shoulder, her hazel eyes meeting mine.

"Are you okay, Robin?" I swallow my tears, the throbbing in my head finally subsiding.

"I don't know," I respond honestly. She purses her lips awkwardly.

"We're glad to see you alive," Bo blurts out. I gape at him.

"What?" Andromeda hits him over the back of the head, as though appalled at his disregard for my mind's current well-being.

"Usually when someone collapses in agony, it's not a good sign for his or her health," Anjulee offers. 

"It's not a guarantee that you're going to die either," Andromeda adds. I breathe a sigh of relief, just glad to get that awful sensation out of my head.