First impressions of Atlan
were breathtaking for every traveller that arrived in the empire famous harbor, for the graduates, walking into the Grand Courtyard was an added thrill. After having studied so many historical books depicting only artist renderings of what the Grand Courtyard looked like the real life walk through generated emotions none of them had prepared for. The tiny statue
of Medel in their text books was enormous in real life, powerful and majestic
beyond imagination. He looked down upon them with a stern and confident gaze,
as if acknowledging each and every one of them as their eyes met in space.
The students paid their respects to the statue then followed
the prefects through the crowded courtyard to a small wooden door in the base
of the courtyard wall. The passage inside the wall was dark and narrow, it led
into a plain, well lit hallway where a series of green rooms and backstage
facilities were hidden, even a social lounge was conveniently concealed beneath
the royal stage!
The green room assigned for the students was thoughtfully
prepared. There were fresh oranges, corn buns and glasses of orange bubbly on
offer. Beautiful graduation outfits hung on pegs for each of the students,
complete with matching slippers and ceremonial flags.
Zara spotted her name in the Goldens section and walked up to the beautiful teal blue outfit hanging below, brimming with anticipation. She lifted a sleeve to touch the fabric, it was beautiful, luxurious and silky in her hands. She ran her fingers along the lace, almost luminescent in the light, amazed. These clothes were nothing like any clothes she had ever worn before... These were goddess clothes…
"Can we keep
them?" There were multiple requests.
"I'm afraid not" the Prefect replied, "but
you can buy clothes just like them once you're earning gold beads
yourself."
Zara let out a disappointed sigh, pondering her new freedoms
to earn as she picked up the matching slippers. It didn’t matter that she
couldn’t keep these, now she knew what she wanted, now she knew what she was
worth.
"Wow, look at you!" Zara gasped out lour as she met with Nel, dressed in black. "Black.... It looks so..."
Nel was grinning, unable to hide her joy. "Looks like what?"
"Formal!" Zara sputtered, tripping over her own reaction. "You look amazing!"
"You too!" Nel didn't lie. I'm really going to miss you, Zara..."
Zara paused to acknowledge the moment she had been dreading the most... "Me too..." She felt tears welling in her eyes almost instantly, and threw her arms around her friend.
"None of that!" The prefect had been watching. "You are adults now!"
At last the graduating students were called to take their places in the Grand Courtyard. Feeling like a goddess in the luxurious blue gown and velvety slippers, Zara felt transformed into someone new, she felt giddy as they emerged from the old door in the wall.
"Wow…"
Soon she forgot her own personal experiences as she beheld new surprises once again! Thousands of aribu had filled the bleachers encircling the Grand Courtyard, and aside from the entrance lane, were packed like peas in a pod from stage left all the way around to stage right, centred on the giant statue of Medel… There were so
many aribu... She had never seen
so many aribu in her life...
As she followed her class across the courtyard to their marked positions she could
feel the powerful eyes of Medel watching over her from above once again.
Humbled, she felt small in His presence and had to remind herself that it was He who helped her to walk tall and
proud, holding her up with His golden string.
Nerves steeled, she let her gaze drop down toward his feet as the class passed by the stage. Below
the statue of Medel stood a sacrificial pyre, neatly stacked with freshly
chopped branches below what looked like a grill.... She had learned about the sacrifice and was supposed to feel
excited, but somehow these sorts of details made her feel uneasy about it... Was this simply the reality of growing up? Was she malfunctioning?
Her gaze shifted away from the pyre to the upper platforms stretched across the the
width of the stage, either side of the statue, lined with a row of twelve ornate red velvet canopied seats, six each side. A step below the balconies stretched the rest of the royal stage, minimally dressed save for a
podium, flanked by urns of lily flowers. At each side of the stage,
a platform extended out into the courtyard to accommodate a single canopied seat, and half way along these platforms were the stage stairs for the graduates to ascend and descend from the royal stage. Stage right stairs were for their entrance and Stage left for their exit.
Eventually the gods arrived from back stage and took their seats on the
upper balcony in no immediately apparent order. Zara couldn't help but stare at the gods, some of which she had only ever seen artist renderings of as they took their
seats on the upper platform. From her place in the courtyard she had a clear view of
Hedena, she looked absolutely stunning in her orange dress, when it occurred to her how odd some of their customs were. Why was Hedena sitting at the end? Why
didn't she have a more prominent seat in the middle? This was, after all, the
graduation of her students, was it not?
The energy in the courtyard was charged up by the time the king
arrived, flanked by Halios and Bakkon, looking absolutely amazing in his red
velvet gown. Once again, the textbooks had proven to be a lame rendition of
reality. King Atalon was amazing in real life, even his presence felt amazing.
Goosebumps broke out unanimously amongst the graduates as the crowds erupted in cheers, a sea of red flags
accompanying them them. Awed by the sights, the sounds and the feelings she hadn't
prepared for, Zara wiped a tear of joy from her eye, proud to be
chosen as a Cog for the wheel of His Great Machine.
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