Chapter 31 - Lizbeth

Today marks the day we are no longer students and are full fledged members of the Council of the Fallen Moon. We have done probably a hundred walk throughs of how graduation and the celebratory meal. Everyone that made it to the advance placement courses all had to come up with a quote referencing a 'Fleeting Eternity'. The number of struggles and pains that have been felt here is a lesson I will never forget and will cherish each and every memory I have had in this place. Rowan beat me in the tournament, it is bittersweet, and the funniest thing is I want to try the fight again, I guess I am being a little competitive. We have all been training still honing our skills increasingly each day since the tournament of times. The Mangoran warship departed almost at the conclusion of the tournament, though the Fillideshi ship stayed a week or two allowing them to interact with all of us, and after a long 4 days in infirmary we all as a group went on another group date to Bits and Bots, I write this tentatively because I don't want to incriminate myself incase someone reads this in the future, but a few Fillideshi soldiers had come into the pub and caused a little bit more of a havoc and chaos than any of us wanted to deal with that night. Fillideshi soldiers are shit fighters that being said, at least those were. But I am now off to the actual graduation where each and everyone that made it through the trials will be presented with our titles within the Council as acting members.

Petals 1

Lizbeth

I finish putting on the formal dinner-wear Rowan and I went out and bought together a few days prior, the night-blue dress stops on the inside of my right thigh and tapers down toward the ground in a flourish of ruffles that look like a mass of snow-white feathers. The upper portion of the dress is made of a deep midnight blue lace pattern and a white cloth under, its midriff shows off a little more than I am completely comfortable with. I wouldn't have picked the dress normally but when I walked out of the fitting room with it on and Rowan's face turned a shade or five of red with blushes, I just knew it was the appropriate choice.

Finding shoes to match proved impossible but thankfully I have a wonderful set of robes than can take the form of anything I want them too; I am going to go with dressy boots that at the calf are white as the feathers and shifts to a deep blue at the base of them to match the top of the dress. The way I am dressing my hair is also with a little assistance of the robes, I pictured a clasp for the back of my hair my long hair is held back loosely enough to allow tow locks of hair to lay down the sides of my face and captured loosely in the back to allow intentionally loose loops of my hair to hang down the back of my head in a controlled chaos that is very hard to do on purpose, but I want to look pretty today.

I reach over to Artemis who is sitting on top my desk and pat him on his head and gently moving him in his sleep off of the cases of makeup Rowan and I tried on me, I grab some of the pinkish powder and apply it to my cheeks lightly, this is how Rowan showed me to do it I think, and a permanent blush lightly sits on my freckled cheeks. Next and this is the hard one, Rowan is better at this than I am, I pull a small brush and this thing is so tiny I could break it with one finger but I dip it in a thin black liquid like I had practiced a thousand times with Rowan so I could do it myself and put a thin layer on top my eyelids. The rest of the makeup is easy to apply light blue power with a small brush is dabbed onto the majority of my eyelids then spread out with another brush to make a fading coat from the inside of my eyelids to the outside of them. The Dark red Lip stain, I think that is what Rowan called it turns my lips to an almost maroon color and I purse and pucker my lips like they showed me.

Now for the part all of us have practiced so many times after our initial lesson with the robes, gently covering our underlayer without making them explode. We always wear the robes even if it doesn't look like we are tonight I have my anchor for the robes held in a bracelet of silver with deep viridian green gems with a small force of will, I send the command for the formal robes to cover over my clothing gently and to not have the hood cover my head. Thankfully the hours and hours of my hair work won't go to waste with a heavy hood mashing it down, it isn't required for this event.

The bracelet vanishes into a cloud of deep grey and green; the cloud washes over my body and takes form as my formal robes, the deep grey almost black robes have viridian green sleeve ends and simple silver embroidered patters around the green rings at the end. I reach over to the end of my desk pick up the deep blue ribbon the same color as my dress and with a malicious giggle I quickly tie a small bow onto Artemis's neck, with his waking squeal of disapproval and a minor struggle the bowtie is spun around to the front of his chest at the base of his chin, "Now aren't you just the little gentleman."

The feeling of pure rage and hatred coming from him quickly disperse from my mind as chuckles roll from my lips. His disapproval is apparent in the violent swirls of sage greens washing around the patterns in his fur. "Don't worry there will be plenty of snacks and treats at the party after graduation," I say to him giving him a little pat and kiss on the forehead. The colors quickly subside to the gently lines that his body only shows while he is moving around.

Rowan

Stepping out of my room my robes fit a bit strangely, have they always felt like the most restrictive thing ever. My mind if flushed with a thousand thoughts of the speech I must give in during the ceremony as the winner of the Tournament of the Times. The strangest thing is we all knew we would have to address everyone in the crowd of the nearly 600 people the remaining members are just under 500 or so, lives were lost, and even worse peoples minds broke during the training.

The subject we were given to write about prior to the tournament and after are interesting in theory, the simple subject was that of our time with the bonds we hold dear. A short statement to the thing in life known as a "fleeting eternity," their words not mine. I have rehearsed the speech about a thousand times to both Lizbeth Aven, and Gronaan; it still does not feel like I have practiced nearly enough to put two and two together.

Today however, is the day of graduation, no more putting it off. I wasn't this nervous when Lizbeth showed u as a force of nature herself ready to crush the world before her. She walked into the field after destroying three quarters of the arena around us. I am glad I could calm her down before the fight, that wouldn't have ended well for me; one of us would have gotten seriously injured. The fight left both of us battered and broken for a bout a ten-day or so, I couldn't move my right arm after the impact shattered most of the bones, has just now gone back to feeling somewhat regular.

I broke most of Liz's ribs during that fight and she shattered most of the bones in her feet from what I could tell listening to the people fixing all of us, and I mean everyone from the tournament. Though she would regularly upset the healers in charge of getting us back to tip top shape, she would get up and walk over to me, not a far walk just around corner quite literally.

I look over to Lizbeth's room and just listen, I can hear her tell Artemis, "Don't worry there will be plenty of snacks and treats at the party after graduation," and the two make their way out of the room Artemis riding on her shoulder instead of his typical spot a top her head. Liz is a vision, well what I can see; her hair is put up with individual waves and loops that hang down slightly messy, but I can tell it is intentionally done like that. That is what she has been fighting with these past few hours. She has a minimal amount of make up on her face, I helped her figure out, as she said and I quote, "This stuff is a waste of time, and it is a worthless effort." I found myself being an expert in my words and intellect, "You look great," go me.

Lizbeth drew her golden eyes over me and saw that I had just pinned my hair to the right side of my face, I have been keeping short since the episode where I cut three quarters of it. Her smile and a slight blush melted my heart because I could tell it was a breath of fresh air for her, she must have been worried about how she looked. I could feel the tension in the air around the two of us, everyone is fully of all sorts of emotions. Her voice broke the small moment of silence filling the space between us, "Tonight will be an absolute wonderful night, and you will be great, remember we have all have to give our statement about a fleeting eternity, and I have to follow up your speech, which is amazing by the way."

A giggle boiled up from my belly as the smile put itself back on her face, "I just don't want to sound like a rambling idiot, or have a speech that is just bad, but I will trust you that is going to be wonderful." I put my hands out in front of me holding them out to her in a helpless gesture. Her Iron grip met my hands, and the warmth of her fingers filled my soul with the fire I have only felt on the field and around her. "Thank you, Liz," I say looking over at the gorgeous girl I can call my partner and her bound, "Is that a bowtie?"

Gronaan

Walking out of the tower under the night sky a cool breeze fills my lungs, and a smile can't be wiped off my face Sheila holds my left arm and looks up at the sky between us, the clouds are uncharacteristically thick for this time of year, normally you can see every single star in the sky during petals, not even the moons are showing through the clouds. "I hope it isn't rain tonight," I say looking down at Sheila her eyes alight with the excitement of a child, it's a good look on her.

She simply looks back into my eyes and nods her head, a chitter comes from Avernous who is riding atop Sheila's fox, Kita. The two are inseparable while they are around each other and must feel like the bond between the two of us a bit themselves. "You are a complete airhead sometimes, you already know they are going to have people take care of the clouds before the ceremony begins, the light of the moons and the bond of the elementals are the only thing that really matters tonight," Sheila's voice comes across my ears. I use my free arm to lightly rub the back of my head as if she just hit me, "You are filling my head with rocks from time to time, and it helps me stay on the ground when I realty need too." The two of us share a small laugh and look out over the courtyard the trees all blooming with bright white flowers the dark night sky and the illumination of the city only letting us see the colors in the air. "But yeah, you are probably right when it comes down to it, the clouds will be pushed out by a whole bunch of us air-heads."

Sheila's laughter from my words makes my face tingle a little and a smile forces its way even more onto my face, "We don't want to late though let's get into the arena, I have heard they were finally able to clear out all of the mess Lizbeth left." Sheila began tugging on my arm and I couldn't even think of fighting the force she was putting into my arm; she is truly excited for tonight.

Aven

Lyka and I look over the large setting in the middle of the arena, where most of our time had been spent during the original classes teaching us about our bonds. We have all been asked to say something as graduates of the advance class, and it is terrifying to think of speaking in front of that many people, it is just a short little thing about a fleeting eternity, and I have bounced mine off Lyka more times than I can count. Looking to him with the slightest bit of worry washing over me, he just says the same thing as he always does, "It sounds good and you will be okay, one sentence isn't going to kill you. I don't think anything, but a beam of light sent by the sun can do that." We both share a small chuckle with his affirmation, and I feel the warmth of his flames wash over me, not literally but the warmth he gives off from time-to-time surprises me constantly.

We both turn back to the Arena, and it looks nothing like it usually does. The normally sandy and dust feed that has caught all our blood and sweat from hours and hours of training is gone, a smooth floor of almost reflective marble replaces it. The soft white, stone is accompanied by wooden chairs, their finishes give them a look that almost screams that the wood they are made from is still alive and the curving branches in the chair's backs for the symbol of the four elements. A rug so long I don't think it has an ending to it starts at the opening of the tunnel we normally enter and continues through the chairs a couple dozen feet away from me. What doesn't make sense is that the rug turns and goes in a complete lap onto the stone stage erected in the middle of the arena, back to the front of the chairs.

The stage is dressed modestly, vines line the top of the stage hanging down off the top angle of it. Two fountains sit on either side of the stage's top, the deep grey stone allowing water to gently flow down from the top and into deep bowls at the base. Small pillars about 2 to 3 feet tall hold flames on all four corners of the stage. A simple wooden podium stands alone at the center of the stage.

We step out with the crowd now massing in the tunnel, I can hear Lizbeth and Rowan talking and they must be a few people back in the tunnel because I cannot see them in the crowd, and I can see over everyone's head. Walking out to the field well I should say the polished floor of the arena a strong breeze washes through the night air, and the clouds move aside lighting up the field. The three moons over Valorous shine down reflecting off the surface of the floor. Stars Like a million diamonds fill the sky along side the three titans of the sky. And everyone moves in unison, the floor wasn't just kind of reflective, it is like a mirror; the night sky takes form under our feet as the clouds begin to clear. The only thing interrupting the sky at our feet is the shadows cast on the ground by the crowd filling the arena making our way to our seats.

I lean over to Lyka and give him a small kiss on the cheek and let his hand go, "Well we do have assigned seating for this, I will find you at the party." He nods to me and returns the kiss on my lips, the warmth of his skin on mine fills my heart and sends the butterflies in my stomach away. Tonight, can't be all that bad.

Lizbeth

The Night sky during petals is the most gorgeous thing and I can't help but force myself to look ahead at the stage, I mumble to Rowan before the rest of the people sit down, "It's good that I am number two and get to sit right here next to you." Their giggle was enough to tell me that they were lost in thought until I said something to them.

The moon bounced off their eyes and the little flicks of red from the elemental bond dances across them like petals falling from trees. When they spoke it stole my breath, "This is what they meant by a fleeting eternity, the moment last for so long something you never will forget or will ever want to forget, this is the moment I will never forget, You and I are sitting next to each other, surrounded by the stars both above and below us." The sound of her words and the implication of the powerful emotions in her voice struck a chord in my heart and I could feel my smile relax into a soft grin.

With a small crash of sound and light, five people stood on the stage dragging my eyes from the beautiful person sitting next to me. Viceroy Vince, everyone thinks it is strange that I call him that, but it is how he was introduced to me, he was around in my life while I was younger, but I can't remember that in the least bit. My mother, she was standing in her formal robes and her hair was let down either side of the outfit the long black locks framing her face and a smile, an honest smile rests on her eyes and mouth.

One man who I had never seen before and accompanied by two women; they were not wearing the elemental bound robes. The two women where each wearing formal military gear. Dark grey blazers, with black pants and under blouses, bars of ribbons of varying colors stick softly to the top of their left breast, and a simple Sabre sits on their hips they are most likely heads of the Congress. The man was dressed in exorbitant finery his face a pudgy blob sitting on fine red and black silks draping down each of his shoulders, and a fancy hat much to large for his head with three brightly colored plumes of feathers; the heavyset man must be someone of the Royal family come to witness the fresh graduation.

Then my mother spoke breaking the silence, the Voice of the Council, is the new nickname everyone in my class has been calling her; I have heard more compliments directed in her presence from all the boys and most of the girls when ever she walked into my hospital room. "Thank you everyone for showing up, and with these words I wish everyone waiting patiently in the walls to come and take seats in a calm fashion to bear witness to the graduation of the classes laid before you." The stands of the arena came to life with sound, mumbling and movement of hundreds of people filled the air of the arena. I turned to look over the stands and hundreds of people, maybe even thousands of people filled every seat in the stands behind us. My mom continued, "Families, and loved ones here to bare witness to this wonderful of nights, please remain silent and seated during the graduation, and allow for everyone their turn to speak, the advance class will each part with you a few choice words and then every individual that successfully completed their training will be called up." The Viceroy stepped to the center of the stage as my mother took a step back, "Welcome, tonight we bask under the light of the three; under this sky before any of our times on this earth, there used to be four, and the elements decided to pull the smallest of the four sisters down to our feet. Enraged she destroyed the mountain we currently stand together in, but after years of her finding peace with the new fate of living as one with the earth she decided to bless the places her body fell, with that the elements were brought to us and countless others around the planet. We must take care of this holy ground where we form bonds with the beings she brings to us, our love and trials in this arena strengthen our bonds in the sisters and the elements names. This place of calling, this place of the Fallen Moon. May her sisters Light continue to shine, and the elements continue to bless us with their presence."

At the completion of his words everyone in the crowd and on stage bowed their heads, all of us basking the one true prayer, the elementals, Artemis, and Machina who are simply sitting next to each other at our feet look to the moons in the sky above and call out a cry. It was more of a howl, but most of the animals minus the one wolf of earth and a few dogs of other elements behind me could howl. The viceroy's lion waited for the completion of the animals call to let out a roar alongside Tagini.

Rowan

Badum Badum . . . I could feel my heart beat out of my chest, with Viceroy Mercer's final words of the opening address and introductions of the Guests on stage with him, the man's name was Emery Ivanic, a viscount of the region that holds the region around the Council. The two women on stage with them both introduced as heads of the Congress, the military liaison of the Council, Lilith Mari, and the other woman, Rowena Curri, both women are dressed from head to toe in matching outfits and are much more official looking than the pudgy man on stage with the Viceroy.

Viceroy Mercer was dressed in formal robes much like all the rest of us of the Council, except his sleeve's coloration is a distinct color all together, the silver sleeves stand apart not as the head of the Council, but as a collector. His elemental, a massive lion, is born of electricity, it is known as the storm bringer, though not a soul except the viceroy himself knows any part to its name. The sash around his neck holds all four colors of the elements and hangs low to the ground, off his shoulders, the sash is as old as the Council of the Fallen Moon, it is what signifies his standing as the Viceroy of the Council.

His voice fills the arena, and a smile grows onto his face with shear delight, "Would our champion of the Tournament of Time please step fourth to deliver your speech, The Fallen Royal themselves, Dianne Rowan Evaris, though I believe it is just Rowan to all of your friends." Like the drop of a hat, I feel my stomach begin to boil over in a fit of nerves and anxiety with the announcement. That is until I feel Lizbeth's hand reach across my lap to touch mine softly, her warm skin and slight smile assuring me everything is going to be alright. "Thank you, love," I say finding the controls to make my legs do what they need to do once again.

The walk to the stage is all of forty to fifty feet, but it feels like miles and miles, the seconds of the night tick by in my mind through the walk as if they were hours each. Before I knew it I am standing on the stage, a nervous smile playing at the corners of my lips, and lunch begins to try and fight it's way up my throat and I hear a gentle voice come across my ears and I turn to find that Lizbeth's mom is smiling at me, her words are short and sweet to the ears, "Take a breath before you speak and it will all work out." The woman who is hands down the scariest person I had ever seen in combat training, to include her daughter in that list and all the other instructors was smiling at me, along with the viceroy as her side.

I walk up to the center of the stage where the viceroy had been standing only a moment before, and a chittering burst of sound fills my ears as I take a breath and the warmth of Machina's flames fills my body and soul, as his adjusts himself on my shoulder. When did he get there? I take a deep breath in and begin to hold it as a mass of fur fills the bottom of my left hand and I look down to find the storm bringer, the massive grey lion pressing its mane under my fingers before I exhale my breath.

Fuck it, I can do this.

"The elements, all of them are here and I tank them for the bonds we hold and share with them and each other. I would like to also thank the instructors and other chosen from that night that feels like a decade ago and thank you for the sacrifices of all the seekers and chosen to come before us."

I take another deep breath not wanting to sound like a fool when I give the statement of the fleeting eternity.

"Sounds of life are much differed from the final sounds that life makes. The moment a tree falls before and after it breathes its final breathe, can hold off even the chaos that is Nature, in the fleeting eternity of silence cause by the lumbering ancient's final moment, only then can one know, what true silence is."

A small applause from the crowd follows and I feel the head of the lion leave my hand, the tingle of its power resonating through my hand, and small chirps from Machina fill my ears as a few sullen and grateful tears stream down my face.

Aven

The ceremony brough tears to everyone that spoke in front of the crowd, the power that surged fourth from all of us through the massive lion on stage with us was a lot to live with while we delivered our short and sweet speeches. "Did you know Rowan can cry by the way," I say to the group, my friend's faces jerk over to me and the smiles on their faces burst into laughter, looking to Rowan their smile turned to something a bit scarier and a twinge of pain shot across my arm with the punching motion they finished.

"Everyone should with out a question be excited for the final decision for your first assignments so let's get that out of the way so everyone can continue with their night," Liz's mom calls out to the crowd grabbing our attention in a simultaneous jerking motion from the entire crowd. She continued, "Your families will be brought in shortly after the announcement so just another few moments of patience from the crowd if you would.

Looking around the room in the arena, it was one of the cafeterias outfitted for a festive night, none of the students eat here though, this must be where the instructors eat, its much to fancy. The smooth marble walls overlook the combat field through wide windows allowing the cool Petal's breeze to fill the room. The tables are made of a beautiful wood stained to be the color of a desert sunset, tables spanning the length of the walls either side of the windows are full of food piled a mile high, the forty of us in the advance class couldn't possibly eat all the food here, and the basic classes and the others from the choosing cycle each have their own areas probably much more open than where we are.

"Are you excited to find out where we are going," Lyka's voice brings me back into the room from my daydreaming about the room. "I am not quite sure I would like to return home to help everyone in the desert with the water issues, though I have learned there is only so much I can do, because the water I create is not permanent nor is it easily accessible there, so I am not sure," I say turning to him a smile on my face, and my hands meeting his in front of everyone. Lyka's outfit is something I took to the Tailored Touches, well I brought him, and Lim smiled and flirted with the two of us teasing and poking more jokes than I would care to admit. His formal suit is a uniform black, the buttoned blouse made of smooth and shiny silk, his shoes are a subtle black as the rest of the suit was,

"Look at the two love birds," Gronaan says a chortle filling his voice until Sheila's foot smashes down on his, the yelp of pain Gronaan let past his lips was much higher pitched than the sounds I am used to hearing the dwarf make. Gronaan dressed similarly to Lyka the only significant difference is the color palette, his blazer, and pants each a deep brown grey, the accompanying blouse underneath a soft sky blue almost white. Liz let out a chuckle and pulled Rowan close to her side, the pair of them dressed in matching outfits, Lizbeth's dress a gorgeous midnight blue that's lace tapers into a feathery white bottom, Rowan dressed like the rest of the men of the group wore a midnight blue, suit and a silken white undershirt, the biggest difference Rowan had their hair pulled back to rest on their ears. A simple white feather that had been dies at the tip to the color of Liz's dress and their suit rests pointing to the back of their head folded in-between tosses of hair.

I wore formal clothing from my region instead of the basic formal wear everyone else decided to go with, my blouse very loose fitting and fully of vibrant reds, the extra folds draping over my right shoulder turn to beautifully embroidered gold strips. My bottoms also very loose cuff at the base of my legs the red from the blouse prevalent is small stripes leading down the length of the pants, other than the strips the black of the pants is filled with gold embroidery and matches the simple moccasins of black and gold.

I turn looking at the group all staring in anticipation of Liz's mom but holding each other close, I just hope we are all close enough to hang out, though I know we will be busy.

Liz's mom begins to speak after what felt like an eternity, though it was only around 2 minutes or so until the crowd settled down, "Congratulations, you have heard this a lot the past day and before this even for some of you, but it more of a good job you earned this all. I am pleased to announce all of you will be moving together, the orders we have for everyone is the Royal Capital itself. You will all be assisting the Capitol of Valorous, Royal's Keep."

A massive explosion from the crowd filled the air with sound, a cheer flooded throughout the room, and I look to all my friends most everyone was smiling from ear to ear, except Rowan; they looked like it was the end of the world.

Gronaan

"Well, I guess you and I will both be spending a bit more time together in the Capitol and I hope that doesn't upset you any," I say to Sheila, holding her hand at the edge of the windows. Her smile told me everything I needed to know. She is lovely tonight, more so than usual, she wore a dress that I had trouble getting Lim to okay making my current suit. It was a silken piece; its sky blues show glimmers of a pearl white whenever she moves throughout the fabric.

The edges of the dress are lined with deep browns and greens that shine in the light, the small stones catching every bitt of light, her hair is bound up tight and she is wearing a small silver band that shines off her blonde hair catching my eye and bringing it simply down to her soft eyes, the brown flakes flashing off the hazel eyes she has today.

"Gronaan Versric, you are the man who has brought me closer to the life I want, I can not wait to go to the capital with you and share stories together with you and these other fools," Sheila finished the sentence and pointed to our friends who have all simply gathered together, slowly getting closer and closer to us, making space for the dancing that has spread all over the center of the room. Music carrying through the air light and bubbly, playing the vibrations of the air off my skin and the cheer in the air.

I turn back to the goddess in persona, that is my girlfriend and felt her lips press against my own. The warmth of her lips against mine is a feeling I don't think I will ever get used to, the joy and relaxation it brings me is something I can't even begin to put into words. He his lingered on my lips a few seconds after I felt her pull away from me, my eyes tracking her smile as she backed away and a mischievous glint in her eye that told me everything I needed to know about the night.

I grab her and pull her to our friends that have one at a time migrated back to the same group after an hour or two, Liz's mom and uncle came to talk to her, and pulled her away from the group. Liz on top of being eloquently dressed now sports a scimitar alongside her right side, a gift from her mom non the less and it fits her better than any other kind of accessory. Rowan's parents I am guessing two fae of the highest caliber of society approached her and pulled them from our group shortly after Lizbeth's parents. Rowan for the second time in their life cried, and threw themselves against their parents, good news, I hope. Aven and Lyka danced to several songs together next to Sheila and me for the longest time, until the two of us broke off for some fresh air by the windows.

"Hey guys any plans after the party is over, sadly it doesn't seem they have any drinks here for the spirit just the food and teas," I call to them, our steps idling us next to the group. "We had talked about going to Bits and Bots for a bit or one of the other bars in the area, but we all know how that will go if we decide on anything else," Lyka says his hand teasing at Aven's side pulling the giant man closer to himself. Aven just set his arm down across Lyka's shoulder making Lyka look small in comparison.

Liz speaks next pulling Rowan to their side holding onto their arm, "We are okay with Bits and Bots, but also we are both very tired and would like to change into more regular clothes first."

"Rowan, what happened earlier, I saw you cry again, Aven was right you can cry," I say jokingly toward them. Rowan's smile just shown once again how beautiful of a person they truly are, "My parents called me by Rowan for the first time tonight, well my dad did, he told me he was proud of me for everything I have accomplished, and he looks forward to seeing my growth even further; my mom just complimented my hair." A chuckle comes from Sheila and Lizbeth almost simultaneously, and the two girls standing next to each other had been obviously having a separate conversation. "Well shall we go," The two say giggling amongst themselves, an evil plan obviously laid across their face.

I smile back at the group and there is only a few words that come to mind and feel quite fitting for the night, "I will see you guys soon."