Sound Of Silence (Wrath Of Gods Precursor 1)

One: A Voice Of Reason In A Chaotic Choir

ALEXANDRA:
    I stepped away from the mirror, my hands slackening as the braid fell down my back. I ran my fingers over my head, the three braids, one starting at the crown of my head, dead center, the other two on either side of my head, all perfectly spaced. I set my crown atop my head, and felt the familiar second nature tug to shift into my indigo armor. But, I, didn't, need, it. Not any more. No one needed their armor anymore. No one needed to set up tents and worry about their next meal tasting like anything worth eating. No one had to be tough for the others. No one, no no no no no, no, one. I turned, stepping through the wooden hut I and a dryad had designed as we started building homes. The door opened and a dryad stepped in, "Madam Alexandra, are you ready?" "Yes, I'm ready." The dryad closed the hut door behind me and I stepped out on to a stone path that lead out into a property that would be home to another indigo one day. A lake sat lackadaisical behind the hut, and in those waters, keeping it fresh and clean and clear, nine naiads lived. Dryads moved about all over the property, keeping the grass easy and short, trees carefully clean and set aways from the pathways as so no one tripped or went face first into the stones. We stepped off my land, and on to the main road that wove through the Eirini Kingdom.
    A satire walked by, a cart behind him. "Would you like some help with that?" A dryad asked, melting out of her tree. "Uh, no thank you Ms. I have it." The dryad melted back into her tree. My dryad and I walked deeper into Erini territory. As we walked, trees pulled back as the road grew wider and wider. "Shall we get a cart Madam?" "No, I like the walk." I said. It was true, I enjoyed walking through the kingdom, or at least, the bit of it I had to in order to carry outt the meetings we went through. "You know, you don't have to accompany me every time I go to these meetings." "I know." Said the dryad. "I want to." A dracon flew overhead. "Ah, there is Sir Jeffry." I shuttered slightly. Jeffry, rather than working with a dryad, wanted, demanded, he'd work with a, quote unquote, "Fire breathing dangerous being," and so, he got a Molten dracon. Teaching him to ride the damned thing was, an experience. "Do we still have the fields he torched when he was learning to fly on the back of that dracon?" My dryad snorted softly. "Yes Milady, we still do, the grass will of course grow back, and thankfully, no dryads took root there, on the gods orders, I suppose for that reason among others." "Rose," I said. "I'm fine, I just wanted to root there with my friends, but I do understand why we can't root everywhere." "Then you'd get hurt." "Yes." Said Rose.
    It took over an hour, but we reached the community center that Huntor and Sydney personally designed and built. Rose opened the doors herself, and nodding, let me step in first. The center was one among several that were under massive construction. Unlike castle council chambers, the centers were for all indigo to come, make their opinions known, and vote on the best idea to further the kingdom. Speak of the diamonds, Huntor and Sydney stood on the second level, talking with a centaur. The main lobby of the center was beautifully decorated with carved pillars holding up the glass dome ceiling. It's center, haha, was carved out, so you could look up, and see all the different levels. The dome, which I might have forgotten to mention, is openable, was open, and dracons flew in, riders on their backs. Another shape flew in from overhead, and Wenzi dropped to land in front of me.
    "Alex," she said, wrapping me in a hug. "Wenzi." I said, hugging her back. She pulled away, and turned to Rose, "I see you've been helping my friend out, thank you." "Of course Milady." Said Rose, stepping a little behind me. "All the gods scare me," she'd confided in me one night. "Even me?" "I'm learning you." She'd said. "But the flaming one really scares me, and the big big ones, and the death one, and, well, all of them." Rose continued to step discretely behind me. Wenzi noticed, and said, "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." Rose didn't step out though. Wenzi snorted. "Awww Alexandra, you have a shadow." I rolled my eye. "Course you'd say that." Wenzi shrugged and said, "We'd best be up there." She waved to the balcony where Huntor and Sydney still stood, waiting. I nodded and we stepped to one of the many staircases that lead up all twelve levels of the center. Another winged shape flew in from above, and Sarah landed on the second level a few feet from Huntor. "Ah, Alexandra, Wenzi, good good good." Said Sydney. "Hello Ivy-Rose." "Hi." Said Rose. "How are you today?" "Good." Sydney smiled, and I felt Rose relax slightly.
"Well, now we're all settled." Said Huntor as we sat in one of the many council rooms in the center. It vaguely reminded me of the war room back in the Symbol, just a lot looser. Soft sofas scattered about, nice wooden coffee table, no one table dominated the area. All chairs were fitted for any occupants who bore wings, or for any with an animal bottom half. "I'd like to go over the construction over the cities." "We haven't had any major issues," Said Phoenix from his seat by his mate. "Major, but any little ones?" "Well, it's just hard to construct any, what was it, modern, buildings with just sketches, I feel we may have to see them, in the physical sense in order to replicate what we're trying to." "Fair enough." Said Sydney. "We'll set up a traveling sector to go to Earth and you can see for yourselves." "I—uh—well," Phoenix sat back, his eyes widening. "Thank you." Huntor nodded. "How about our farming fields?" "So far crops are growing exponentially." Said one dryad. "We may actually make the quota, many of us believe we'll surpass it actually." "Very good to hear."
"How's the training arenas?" Nyx sat forward. "All races are integrating well in the arenas, however," she turned to Sahara. "Not many of my scorpions can get time in to train with the dracons." "Gee, I wonder why." Muttered a dracon male. "Wanna say that a bit louder?" Asked Kitana, seated between Amala and Kamala, her mate behind her, leaning against their sofa. The dracon shifted slightly and murmured, "No, why would I." I grinned as his murmur echoed across the room. His eyes widened in shock. "Thank you Alexandra." I sat back lackadaisically. "Meh." "Well then, since you wonder why, why don't you personally train with any scorpion Sahara selects." "What?" He snapped, shooting to his feet. "I don't—"Disagree?" Said Sydney. "Gee, we were hoping you wouldn't." The dracon male stiffened, his eyes lashing. He turned to stare into Pheequa's eyes, then Qudorzo's, then Vello's. "Please, you all cannot be serious." "You got yourself into that one." Was all Vello said. "I have the perfect group of scorpions too." Said Sahara sweetly. The male paled slightly.
    As the meeting wore on, more plans were brought up, and settled. "We need an envoy to Earth. We need to check the status there and see how our Symbol is after us being away for so long." Huntor stroked his newly braided hair and said, "Alexandra and Camille, both of you should head envoys to Earth." "REALLY." Shouted Camille. "You're gonna send me away, now? NOW? REALLY BEST FRIEND?" "Alex," said Huntor. "Pick your people, I'd say three not counting you." "Ok, well um." I flipped through my mental list of who was in the room. "Audrey, how about you friend, and, Cello and Violin." "Sure." Said Audrey. "Not like I have anything better to do than to travel around the worlds." "Good," said Huntor. "Wait," said Camille. "Why do I have to—"Because I said." "I hate that argument." Huntor shrugged. "Anyway, moving right along." Camille groused but the matter was closed. It took hours, as it always did, but we were all finally caught up on everything that transpired, and, it took hours more, for me to pack. "Shall I accompany you Milady?" "No thank you Rose." I said, sliding a backpack over my shoulder. "I need you here to keep this place running and looking pretty for both of us." Rose bowed her, well, rosy head. "As you request." I hugged her hard and said, "I'll miss you, you still have the iPhone I gave you right?" "Yes," Rose nodded. "Keep it charged, need any help any of the indigo will help you figure it out." Again, Rose nodded.
"Come on Alex, we don't have all day." I walked faster, using my sound power as a cane to travel along the stone pathway to the start of Eirini Kingdom. Audrey plotted along, using her own senses as her cane, whereas Camille, Jeffry, and Lorna actually had their own. I had forgotten what it was like to own a cane, to rely heavily on it, to, hate, it. To hate the feel of it in my grip, to hate the necessity of it. Then, to accept it. Some did, some accepted it without going through the age where we hate it, hate using canes, hate using braille, hate, because we feel like it makes others look down on us. Then again, I could only speak for me. Cello and Violin had canes of their own, canes I hadn't, haha, seen them use since we first met them. They murmured to each other, talking quietly. I could've listened in, listened simply and so easily, but I had a feeling it was about their dead brother, the brother they'd lost coming here.
We walked through the gates of Eirini Kingdom, and two huge dryads closed the solid wood and stone gates behind us. Gigantic cobra plants stood guard outside the kingdom, huge serpent-like plants that were carnivorous plants, standing guard for us. "You know, that kind of shit makes you rethink the food chain." "Seriously?" I asked. "Come on you can't tell me you never thought of that?" "Yes, and no." I answered. "You have these big ass plants the size of actual trees, some even bigger than that, you have to wonder what they eat, how they eat, when they eat, how often, I could keep going." "I think Huntor is rubbing off on you." Audrey snorted. I sped up to catch up with her. "How are you—"Doing?" She finished. "I swear, if one more person asks me that shit." She sighed dramatically. "I'm, fine, it's been a year."
"Yeah, a year, and she was your mate, your other half Audrey, she was your everything, and from what Rose and some of the satires and fawns have told me, same gender mating is extremely rare, and, extremely painful when severed." I paused, realizing, "Ok, wrong choice of wording—"You aren't wrong though." Said Audrey. Her voice was cool and flat. "It was severed. Severed in one of the most cruelest ways. But there are other things that are more important." With that, Audrey waved a hand, inaudibly closing the topic. Ahead, Jeffry shouted at the top of his lungs. "Why," I wondered. "Just fucking why." "I've learned to stop asking." Said Audrey.
    We rounded a corner, and Audrey said, "This is a good spot, hold up you four." Camille jogged back to us, Joy's hand in her's. "Everyone take hands." Audrey ordered. "Oy, who made you enacting leader when Huntor's not around, Sydney too." "I did." Said Audrey. "Now take hands." Jeffry grumbled, but took Lorna's and Camille's hands. Cello's hand slid into mine as Violin's hand wrapped around her sister's wrist, accounting for the canes they had. "Joy, will you so gladly do the honors." A star fell from Joy's hand, still clasped in Camille's, and exploded at our feet. I felt a familiar rush, a blast of warmth, but the color was different. Colors, flitted around us, not the usual deep indigo we always tasted and saw. Instead, it was all the colors, even the eighth color we could never identify. We were dropped in the middle of the Symbol's dinner hall, and for a brief few seconds, everyone, stopped, eating. Then there were cheers, screams, breaking dishes, flipped tables, and everyone crowded around us, all talking at once. Audrey merely sighed and said, loud enough for me to hear, "Well." "Silence." I ordered, my voice amplified. Everyone went quiet. "We will answer all of your questions, we will tell you everything that happened in the Indigo World, but first, we need to check in so to speak. We also have questions for all of you as well."