Yeah wow so uhm yeah that was a hiatus mhm yep.
Yeap please don't hate me I made this chapter really long for you.

Everyone give thanks to solitaryloner because she's the one that kicked me in the ass enough to get this bitch done.

Friendly reminder that everything written in bold is in the language Tessgofei. kthanks

The Sky Goes On Forever

Chapter 4: The Priestess

TSgoFETSgoFE

"It's all… meat," I said.

Miku was pawing through various mystical containing contraptions that I didn't try to understand because I was still going through shock. "Yes," she said. "Is that a problem?" she asked.

"No. Well, it's not for me," I replied. "It's just… my sister's sort of a vegan. I don't know that she'll even digest it."

Miku actually scoffed. It sounded so uncharacteristic. "She's not a vegan now; not here," she said.

"Oh, I don't know. Where there's a will, my sister has a way." I started picking through what looked to be a spice cupboard. Nothing was labeled, so I had to go by smell to judge what would go well with… meat. "How do you even get food up here?" I asked.

"Well, there's a few of us that hunt still, and they usually provide for their own families, but mostly we trade. Mainly for fish, but sometimes poultry and beef."

"Trade? What is there to trade with? And, like, with whom?"

Miku spun me around and put my hand on her cheek. A picture of the city floating in the air fluttered into my head. "Our city is built on top of a large supply of ore," she began. And image of caves with glittering walls flashed through my mind. "This ore is unlike anything found on the surface. It's normally found under extreme pressure, deep below the Earth's crust, almost to its mantle." My fingers crept closer and closer to her mouth; I could almost feel the heat of molten rock. "There were only two known surface deposits of this ore in existence, and both became the flying cities, Tessfei and T'inaph." The city she showed me in this image was bigger, much bigger than Tessfei. Separate neighborhoods floated around the main city area, posh with tall buildings reflecting brilliant colors, some of which I didn't even know existed. "Not only is this ore extremely valuable, it also contains unimaginable energy capabilities. Just rubbing two pieces together for a minute generates enough energy to run a factory for an hour." The ore was almost as beautiful as the city. It was dark, but reflective, and casted rainbows in every direction the light hit it. "It creates more energy than needed for the machines that harvest it."

"So this ore… Is that what makes this city fly?" I asked.

Miku smiled and lifted my hand off of her face. "No, but it powers the mechanism that does."

I nodded slowly. "So if this rock is so valuable, then why don't we harvest it on the surface?"

Miku raised an eyebrow at me. "Think, Len. Does it cost more to supply a flying colony with food for a year or to dig a hole forty kilometers deep to harvest a mythical ore that may or may not even be there."

"You raise a fair point."

Alas, our conversation was sorely interrupted.

"Miikuuuu! I'm starving!" Aoki complained from the other room.

"Be patient!" Miku yelled back. "We're working on it!"

"No you're not! You're talking!"

Miku sighed and shook her head. "I guess we should get back to work."

"Yes, that would probably be for the best."

TSgoFETSgoFE

Miku'd started cooking some sort of fish with my spice instruction, so I decided to go back to the living room with Rin and Aoki. Rin didn't take it very well when I told her that all we had was meat. Of course, it was in a Rin sort of way, which just meant she acted even more grossly sweet than usual, in a somewhat passive aggressive sort of way.

"Oh, it's okay, Len. I'm sure that the fish wanted to die in order to feed our temperamental bodies." Make that a totally passive aggressive sort of way. "Of course, I can't 'see' things like that, so I wouldn't know." Rin smiled sweetly and cocked her head to the side. Meanwhile, Aoki seemed rather disturbed by her and my behavior.

"I can… go to the market and see if they have any sort of vegetables today, if that would be helpful," she offered, uneasily.

No, Aoki. I wouldn't want you to trouble yourself for my sake," Rin said in decline.

"Ah, no," I said to Rin. "Aoki, it would be absolutely wonderful if you could go to the market for Rin. She'll only get crankier if she doesn't eat something," I added toward Aoki.

She nodded. "On it." She left swiftly, almost forgetting to close the door behind her.

Rin huffed. You know, Len, it's really annoying whenever you speak in that tongue around me. Especially when I know that you're talking about me." She said. Her eyes were closed, but I knew that if they were open, they would be glaring at me.

"I-I'm sorry, Rin," I said. I walked toward her, but didn't have the nerve to sit down next to her. "I just… went into it without thinking."

"It feels natural, doesn't it," she stated, snapping her eyes open and freezing me in my spot, "speaking that language."

"Ah, yes. Yes, I suppose it does."

"I knew it would," she said, clenching her jaw. Rin was never jealous of me. She was never jealous. She never needed anything that I or anyone had that she couldn't get on her own, and probably more easily than I could, too. Which is why I passed off the odd behavior as hunger more than anything else.

TSgoFETSgoFE

Aoki was able to come by an ample supply of blueberries and oranges from the market. Apparently she bought out the merchant that was selling them. I wanted to repay her but there was no way that I really could at that point, so I settled for a heartfelt thank you.

I wasn't sure why these people, nothing more than strangers, were being so nice to us. I didn't even know why we seemed to be living with them in the first place. There must have been a reason Aoki and Miku were assigned to take in the newcomers. Maybe it had to do with the government, or possibly their occupations.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how little I knew about anything that was going on. The questions just kept piling up and jumbling through my mind to the point that I couldn't even remember what they were. I was just stuck inside a mass of mixed up letters that had lost their meaning entirely, and I could feel them curling in around me like tendrils of—

I caught myself right as I'd started to curl inward. I opened my eyes and dashed outside, desperate for cold wind, clean air, anything to clear my head. I breathed deeply, tried to calm myself. If I hadn't stopped when I did, I knew that one of those painful visions would have grabbed me and pulled me under. I didn't want Rin and Miku to have to try and deal with me then. It was… embarrassing.

It took me a moment to realize that I'd just shot out of the house for no obvious reason in the middle of lunch. The girls probably thought I was out of my mind. In fact, I was starting to think so myself. I took in another deep breath, turned back toward the old blue door and walked back inside wordlessly. Rin, Miku, an Aoki were still sitting in the living room with their white stone plates in hand. Aoki shot me a questionable look, Rin's more laced with concern. She looked at me like she wanted to talk about it, but I ignored her. The only one that didn't react was Miku. She didn't even look at me when I came back inside, instead just casually asking Aoki how her work was going and listening to her, somewhat vague, reply. I looked down and saw my plate on the floor next to two fish bones. I was just thankful that I'd finished eating.

Nobody spoke beyond Miku's attempt at small talk. I could not tell if they were worried, or afraid.

Rin took the opportunity to break the tension. "Aoki, why did you say you brought us here, again?" She twisted a berry uncomfortably in her hand as she awaited her response.

"Ah, oh, my boss told me to," Aoki replied. "I don't know if I said that before or not. Sorry, Rin."

"No, it's alright. What do you do for your work, then?"

Aoki seemed relieved by the topic change. "Miku and I work up in the temples. I work translating our scriptures into English to teach the newcomers our history, and Miku here is working to become a priestess. That's why she has the white tattoos all over," Aoki answered. Miku squirmed uncomfortably in her chair as her sister talked about her.

"Really? A priestess?" I could see Rin's eyes light up. "That's amazing, what do you do?"

"Well, right now I mainly interpret old scripts and perform the ritual of blessing. I'm still only in training…" Miku said.

"Wow. Do you think I could watch you sometime?" Rin asked eagerly.

"I-I suppose so. I see no reason not to," Miku mumbled, shuffling her hands.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Rin bolted up and wrapped her arms around poor, helpless Miku's neck. Rin didn't always get excited, but when she did she never went about it half-assed.

"Y-you're welcome," Miku stuttered after Rin let go.

I was hit by a sudden wave of tiredness. My eyelids drooped and I found myself trying hard to stop my head from nodding. "God, what time is it," I huffed. "I'm about to pass out here."

Aoki and Miku exchanged a look. "You've had a long day," Miku said. "I'll… take you downstairs to the bedrooms."

I nodded and followed her through the kitchen and down into an underground stone hallway.

"We've not yet prepared your rooms, so you can sleep in my bed for now. Ah… sorry about that." Miku led me to the first room on the right. There was barely room for the bed and a small vanity inside. Only used for sleeping, I supposed. "Everyone gets tired on their first day." She paused, then added,"Hopefully you won't wake up in the middle of the night, though."

No promises.

I wordlessly collapsed onto her bed; I was out in seconds. I didn't even hear the last thing she said before I fell asleep.

TSgoFETSgoFE

I was floating in a blue void. Wispy clouds danced circles above me and all around me shallow waves of clear water lapped my arms, legs and face. Light warmed my skin, though there was no source to be found.

Hands began stroking my hair. I sighed in content as a stranger's voice spoke from behind me.

"Do you remember me?" she said. Her voice was soft like the clouds and clear like the water around me.

I shook my head slowly. "No, I don't," I replied. "I'm sorry."

Her fingers grazed across my forehead as she combed through my hair. "It has been a long time," she said.

"Who are you?" I asked.

She seemed to laugh, though not out of jest. "Open your eyes," she said, "So that you will see me."

TSgoFE

I awoke to find myself in a room unfamiliar to me, until I remembered that it belonged to Miku. It was very dark, the room being underground with no lights at all. I wasn't entirely sure what time it was, and my head was still foggy from the dream that I'd just had but couldn't entirely remember. But I knew that I couldn't go back to sleep. I tentatively opened the door then climbed my way up to the kitchen. Not to my surprise, it was still rather dark outside. I noticed that all of my clothing was still on, so I decided to go outside, being ready and dressed for the occasion as I was.

The sky was blazing with starlight. I'd never seen so many stars together. The Milky Way blotted its way across the middle of the sky, next to specs of light that I never even knew existed before. I found my eyes drifting to the top of the city. The sun would be rising soon. I bet that the view from the temple would be stunning. I could probably get there in time, if I started right then. Feeling as though I were still in a dream, I began climbing the roads toward the top of the motionless city.

The sky was painted a blurry violet as I neared the temples. I used up my last bits of breath racing up the hard white stairs just as the sun peaked over a mountain in the distance. I felt a sense of familiarity at the sight of the sunrise as I stood before the stone columns. I didn't know why. Maybe it was another dream I'd had.

It was beautiful, though. The violet started to melt into a watery magenta, then fiery pink and orange that reflected off of the clouds in warm rainbows.

"What are you doing here?" someone questioned me from behind.

I whirled around to see a woman standing there; her hair was the color of the clouds, her blue eyes shone purple in the light.

"Who are you?" she demanded. Her eyes bore down on me.

"I-I'm Len," I answered, averting her gaze. "I'm sorry to intrude. I… woke up early this morning."

"Len…" she said, pacing around me. Her suit was different from the others', black instead of gray, with light violet detailing at the seams. "I've not seen you here before. And yet you speak our tongue." She stopped suddenly, honing in too close for comfort. I could have sworn that her eyes started glowing. I felt as though she was staring straight into my soul when she looked at me. It was rather violating, actually, however, as quickly as she'd come toward me, she backed away. "I am IA, the spiritual interpreter here. I do apologize for startling you earlier."

"No, not at all," I insisted. I felt that there was some sort of spiritual etiquette that I needed to be aware of in that moment.

"We do not often get visitors that like to watch the sunrise," IA said, eyes narrowing in amusement. She looked to be in her thirties. I didn't know if that was young or old for a priestess, though I assumed the former.

I slid my gaze back to the now lavender clouds. "That is unfortunate. The view is at its very best up here."

"Yes," IA agreed. She stared over the city with eyes like a hawk. "You are the one staying with young Miku and Aoki, correct?"

"Ah, yes. My sister and me."

"I see. We do not often have men in this city. Not newcomers."

"I've noticed."

"Be careful, Len," IA said, meeting my gaze again. It was rather uncomfortable. I wondered if she was a halfblood, her gift based on vision. "You will be staying in this city for a long time to come. You'd best learn our ways sooner rather than later."

I wanted to ask her what she meant, but she turned away before I could say anything in reply. It sounded like a threat more than anything. I went on gazing at the sunrise, though I couldn't find myself enjoying it quite as much as I had been before.

TSgoFE

The sky was blue when I found my way back to the house. Inside, Rin appeared to be the only one up, so I found a seat next to her and attempted to engage in conversation.

"Morning, Rinny," I said.

"Where were you?" she asked.

"I was… around," I avoided.

She gave me a look of disapproval but didn't push the issue any further.

"Did I miss anything fun after I passed out last night?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it fun, exactly. Interesting, though. I asked Miku more about her job, working to become the next priestess."

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Why not ask me yourself?" Miku said, suddenly coming out from behind the kitchen wall.

"Oh, Miku. Good morning," I greeted.

"And to you, Len," she replied. "So? What do you want to know?" Her tongue still twisted the vowels of Tessgofei.

"Ah, I guess whatever you told Rin last night."

Rin stood up and excused herself: "Since I've heard the story before, I'd like to go out and observe the city some, if that's alright."

Miku nodded. "Of course."

Rin left soundlessly, leaving just Miku and me. She joined me on the hard couch in Rin's place. "So you want to know about my job?"

I nodded.

"I am training to become the next spiritual interpreter of the city."

"And what does a spiritual interpreter do?"

"Well, usually she stares into the sky, looking for messages from Sky Mother in the clouds or in the wind."

"I see."

"Then, other times she sits behind a screen next to the altar of burning incense to give advice to the wary, sometimes telling them about their gifts, if she has the ability."

"Interesting," I said. "So is there only one priestess, then?"

"No, five. And one head priestess. No one ever sees her, though. She always stays in a private room, where she looks into the perfect section of the sky and speaks with Sky Mother. I've not even seen her yet."

"That's odd. Is she like an elder or something? What's her name?"

"I'm not sure how old she is. I believe she is somewhere around 150. Her name is Ilia Ala, The Wing. But she goes by IA."

I knew my eyes went huge then, but I tried to hide it. I hoped that it merely appeared to be amazement at such a figure, rather than any sign of recognition. "Oh."

"You look surprised. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing," I said. "So this IA girl, woman, she's a pretty big deal, then, right?"

Miku nodded. "Indeed. She is the most important, and most well-known, person of the city. Even though no one has seen more than a glimpse of her. They say that she is a descendant of Sky Mother herself."

"Is that so…"

Very interesting, indeed.

TSgoFETSgoFE

"Miku!" Aoki called. "I have a job for you."

After Rin returned, we spent the next hour or so sitting in the living room, where we always seemed to be, telling Aoki about ourselves. Well, Rin did most of the talking. By the end of the conversation I'd put in maybe a sentence or two into the tale of our childhood. We'd also totally singled out that Rin's gift was that of sense-based future sight, which was no surprise to either of us. Then, the conversation drifted onto the topic of a celebration of sorts for the newcomers of the city, where they would be introduced to the people—a custom which was to take place that evening for Rin and me—followed by discussion of proper education necessary for surviving on Tessfei, like language and customs, all of those things, which would be later arranged after the ceremony. That was when Aoki called on Miku.

I heard bustling coming from underneath us and Miku was soon up the stairs and past the kitchen wall. "Yes, Aoki?"

"We need to start preparing Rin and Len for the ceremony tonight. Would you be a doll and work on Len for me?" Aoki asked.

"Yes, of course," Miku said. She looked at me and gestured for me to stand. "Come. Follow me."

I did as instructed and followed her into the bathroom next to her room. She had me sit down in the middle of the room while she grabbed various supplies.

"What is all this?" I asked.

"It is customary to dress our newcomers in the clothes of our ancestors from T'inaph for a welcoming ceremony. We are celebrating your new lives here, and the new knowledge of your past and ancestry now available at your fingertips."

"That sounds… odd," I said.

Miku giggled. "It was odd to me as well, though I was only a little girl when I was brought here. It is a rare thing for partial breeds to live as long as you did before needing protection."

"Protection? You mean from…"

"The hunters of T'inaph. They would do anything to kill us all off," she murmured darkly.

"Why do they hate us so much?"

"Because we are unnatural," Miku said. She gave me a hard stare; it almost looked… sad.

"Unnatural," I let the word roll off my tongue, moving it around between my teeth. Nait'ogiai. That was the word for it. Unnatural.

Miku stirred a small jar of black paint with a thin brush. "If I were to be truthful, I would say that I hate this ceremony. It is… an obsolete tradition. Why should we celebrate the customs of the city that banished us?" She shook her hand as she began dejectedly stroking marks on my face. Her hand was very steady. "I… I hate that city."

I wanted to ask her why, but I didn't want to upset her by asking.

"In the old days of T'inaph, everyone had tattoos like mine," Miku said, expertly changing the subject. "Women had white tattoos and men had black. They say that it's because purebred men and women look so similar that they had to figure out some way to discriminate." Miku looked amused. "I'm sure everyone will be surprised to see black markings on a newcomer."

"Surprised?" I smirked."Miku, is this your way of telling me you think I'm pretty?"

Miku blushed, wide-eyed, and shook her head furiously. "I-I'm not saying that! Well, no to say that you aren't… attractive, or—"

"Stop," I laughed. "Stop while you're behind."

"O-okay."

Miku quickly got back to her painting job, making precise strokes all around my eyes.

"Could I get you to take off your sleeves for me? I-It's part of the custom, for the symbols to cover your whole body. Only, I mean, not your whole body, but—"

"I got it," I said, pulling off my sleeves. "No need to dig yourself any deeper."

"Ah, yes."

I turned my face toward the mirror in the front of the room and cringed at the sight. They looked just like the letters from the vision I'd had not two days before. It was hard to make out the script, reversed and so stylized, but I could at least read "man" and "Sky Mother." Everything else was fuzzy to me, but I could have sworn that I read "consume," right beneath my left eye.

Miku noticed my expression. "Is there something wrong?" she asked. "Did I mess something up?"

I shook my head and shut my eyes tightly. "No," I said, "it's fine." I was lying through gritted teeth, and when her hand 'accidentally' grazed my skin as she painted, I knew she knew I was lying, too.

"All right," she replied swiftly.

The air grew uncomfortably still, and I tried with every fiber of my being not to look at Miku's beautiful, precise strokes.

"Have you discovered your gift yet?" Miku asked, breaking the silent discomfort only to replace it with verbal discomfort instead.

"I couldn't say that I have," I replied. Unless schizophrenic hallucinations counted. Then I knew exactly what my gift was.

"That is rather unfortunate. If only you could speak with the Priestess. She's a halfblood; her gift is knowing what another's gift is with only eye contact."

"Useful gift," I said, though on the inside, all I could think about was that moment when my eyes met with IA's. She knew, then.

She had to.

"Very. At least, it would be if she ever came outside to use it." Miku sighed, her shoulders drooping. "I wish I understood her, Ilia Ala. What I wouldn't give to share her thoughts…"

"Damn it," I spat, without thinking. Miku looked surprised at me. "Damn, it must be comforting, knowing what your gift is." Miku just kept looking at me, the same expression on her face. "Knowing at least that one part of your identity… All of my life I've known that my sister has a gift. She knew she had a gift. Hell, everyone and their mother knew it. And there I was, sitting back, being the normal kid. And I was perfectly happy with that, getting to be an average kid, leading an average life, someday marrying some nice, average woman and having average kids and an average family. I wanted that."

I noticed Miku's hand creep up to my cheek. It seemed to be something she did whenever someone was talking about something important to her, or to themselves. It helped her see the whole picture, so I didn't bother moving it.

"And then this." I whipped out the marble bladed ring from my side pocket and held it in my hand. "This ring falls out of the sky, and suddenly I'm being chased by strangers and swimming out to sea to some tiny-ass island and taken away to this foreign city in the goddamn sky, expected to live there or some shit. And all of these people that don't even know the least damn thing about me start telling me that I'm special. I'm gifted! But nobody knows what the hell I've got. Did it ever occur to anyone that, well, maybe I'm not gifted! Did you ever think of that!?"

I was breathing heavily, trying to hold back from yelling again, but I wasn't finished yet.

"And then you come in and tell me that because of my blood, or whatever, that there's this chance that I'm just… unstable. And I could just be triggered by anything and there's nothing I can do except suffer and what the hell kind of gift is that, anyway—" My voice caught for a moment. "And I just get so caught up in my head sometimes, and I think that's it. I just… my 'gift' is just this thing that engulfs me."

I didn't talk again until Miku was finished decorating me, and then it was to apologize for my earlier outburst. I'd never just exploded like that. I was hardly used to long periods of talking at all. It just came out, all at once. She didn't hold it against me, though. I was stressed, as she said. There was a lot of change happening all at once.

I just needed someone there to tell me what to do. Or at least someone to keep me stable.

TSgoFETSgoFE

WELL THAT WAS INTENSE.

YEAH I'M STILL A TERRIBLE PERSON AND I AM SORRY

IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU DIDN'T KILL ME THANKS