Imperial Orders

♕The Ceremony♕

This was obviously going to be no ordinary day at the temple. 

The first indication of this was the temple bells themselves. According to Hugo, they rang for longer than usual, echoing through the air long after the majority of the Ikmanonites had already started making their way up the hill. The Peenutz stayed in the middle of the crowd, slowly but steadily trekking forever upwards on their way up to Ikmanon's final resting place. 

Throughout the long walk, Tuofah felt a dread brewing in her stomach. She kept it to herself, not wanting to worry the four younger Peenutz who skipped forward with a kind of joyful enthusiasm that could only come from children, until she could no longer suppress it. 

"Hugo... I don't think we can trust her. The High Priestess, I mean," she whispered close to his ear, casting furtive glances at the people around her to ensure she hadn't been heard. They all walked forward methodically, their eyes cast toward the ground in apprehension. None of them looked bold enough to offer their help if Idala suddenly decided to do away with the Celatysians. 

Tuofah now knew why. The pitiful, gaping mouth of the Acolyte boy Ben and the desperate urgency in Aikoro's warning were memories fresh on her mind. 

"What other options do we have?" Hugo sighed as the crowd around them herded them through the temple's front doors. "We're surrounded. We'll never get out of here alive by force- I hate to tell you this, but right now our only hope is to cooperate." 

Tuofah didn't want to admit it, but he was right. Until the Armlets were in her hands, it was not safe for her to use her powers. Hugo was a surprisingly adept Djareny warrior, but even he was capable of being overpowered by the Ikmanonites' sheer numbers. 

Today, twelve Acolytes stood on the dais. In the middle of them, distinguished by the fact that she wasn't wearing her hood, was Aikoro. She held the Armlets out in front of her on the same platter as the previous day, her deep blue eyes looking down at them with measured curiosity. Slightly in front of her stood her mother, the High Priestess, dressed in a ridiculously sequined and feathered gown that seemed to contain every imaginable color somewhere in its infinite folds. 

"Welcome, good people of Ikmanon," she smiled with feigned warmth as the Peenutz walked down the temple's middle aisle, making their way up to the dais. "Today, we are honored with some very special guests: six citizens of Celatys, among them a carrier of Ikmanon's Great Gift." 

This stirred up a bit of commotion among the natives. Clearly, the Great Gift meant something to them, as they gave each other surprised looks at its mere mention. 

"Now, in the presence of the Spirit of Ikmanon, we will bestow upon the Gifted what is rightfully hers: the second and final pair of Robust Armlets constructed by Ikmanon himself. It is true, the Armlets are a treasure of our people and we have guarded them faithfully for centuries, but they were never ours to keep. We merely served as their protectors until the arrival of one fit to wield them." The High Priestess enunciated these words slowly and carefully, gesticulating often for effect. "Tuofah Lynnstrijker, Daughter of Ikmanon, please step forward." 

By this time, the natives were all seated, leaving the Peenutz as the only ones still standing in the aisle. 

"I can't go alone," Tuofah whispered, her stomach twisting itself into knots. "Who knows what she'll do?" 

"We're right here for you, Tuo." Tuofah managed to draw in a deep breath at the feeling of Hugo's hand on her shoulder. Slowly, she approached the High Priestess and her daughter, both of whose faces were entirely expressionless. 

"Spirit of Ikmanon, look favorably upon us as we give your gift in your name," the High Priestess passed her right hand first over the Armlets and then over Tuofah's head. Then, she signaled to the Acolytes, who approached Tuofah in a semicircular formation until they were uncomfortably close and she could feel their rhythmic breathing on the back of her neck. 

"Aikoro, bestow the gift!" 

Tuofah watched warily as Aikoro stepped out in front of her. They stood face to face, their eyes locked on each other in an intense reciprocal gaze as Aikoro lifted the first Armlet off the platter, sliding it over Tuofah's right arm. 

The effect was almost immediate. Tuofah felt her Tactile 'gaze' extend far beyond the clothes on her skin and the floor beneath her feet. Suddenly, she became aware of an underground tunnel separated from her only by thin tile- just a small part of a whole network of tunnels that ran beneath the building. The temple's rich history clawed at the edges of her mind, just waiting to be let in. Somehow, she felt stable, powerful, and in control, an effect that was only magnified by the placement of the second Armlet. 

Suddenly, the feeling of something other than the Armlets around her wrists brought her attention back to her immediate surroundings. She looked down at her hands to see that her worst fears had been confirmed. 

Aikoro had handcuffed her. 

"And now that the Gifted is endowed with the Armlets, she will selflessly dedicate herself to the service of the temple. In order to ensure the purity of her sacrifice, her powers of speech will now be removed. 

Tuofah whipped her head around to see one of the Acolytes approaching her with a platter of smoking coals topped with a sickly sharp knife. Her gaze turned back to Hugo as her legs grew weak in terror, but the look on his face was entirely hopeless as he shielded Nut's eyes with the back of his hand. His expression looked oddly familiar, but it took Tuofah a few moments to place why. He looked like Ben. 

No! It could not end this way. Not when she was so close, not with the Armlets literally on her hands. Her powers had ceased to be a barrier- now, they were something beautiful, something liberating! She watched, her heart pounding in her chest, as the Acolyte picked up the knife by its wooden hilt, inspecting it to confirm that the blade was hot enough to do the job. 

That was when she looked down at her handcuffed wrists one more time to see that the cuffs were...unlocked? Sure enough, she was the only thing keeping her hands together: the chain that attached them was terribly loose! She looked up at Aikoro who still stood in front of her and a barely perceptible smile seemed to grace her features. She leaned forward to whisper to Tuofah, her lips barely moving. 

"I helped you. You'll get me out of this hell-hole."