The Celestial

Part 5

I did not visit with the Celestial in the three days I gave it to think. The three days that also allowed me to think. But nothing stopped me from listening at the door.

The first day, the guard posted on duty had reported that the only thing he heard from inside the chamber was it singing, "in a language that was as ominous as it was foreign". I simply eliminated any suspicions he had by saying "she" was from a faraway kingdom, one not well-known to us in Efisia. Not well-known enough for the name of said kingdom to have slipped my mind in that moment.

The second day I took the time to stand at the door, waiting nearly an hour for it to begin singing. Unlike the first time I had heard its singing, I did not enter the chamber, but instead remained outside for the entirety of this song. It had lasted twenty minutes, ranging from high notes to low, long and short. Its voice was as clear as glass, and the vibrato it held surely had the power to make stars shine – and die. I had returned later that day to listen again in the middle of a song, one noticeably different in tone than the other, seeming perhaps lighter than the previous. A song of joy, perhaps? But why it would find joy in its current predicament, I had not an idea.

The first thing I did on the third day was go to its chamber door. I leaned against the wall, absent of any guard as I had ordered, for multiple hours, noting the varying lengths of the songs and the long breaks in between each. I began picking up some reoccurring words during this time. Ji venre was one most used, along with keerah, reporque jo, and ro li dreneskule. I was sure these phrases were the main key as to what the Celestial was singing about, perhaps praying about. Praying for understanding for its god, perhaps, or to get it out of this situation? For forgiveness of what it did to offend him, or of what it is going to do further?

Either way, its time was running very low.

I called for Jayve to meet me in the lounge. There was no need to have a guard posted outside the Celestial's chamber door; there had been no reports of it even turning the handle. With the fire running low, I watched as Jayve silently slipped into the dim lounge and closed the doors behind him.

"Sit."

He sat.

I wasted no time.

"Tell me, Jayve. As the Celestial sang its enchanting songs on your trek back to Efisia, did you ever learn what it may be saying, or had a guess of a certain word or phrase?"

I saw his brow crease in thought, even with his head lowered. He still remembered his welcome home.

"I heard it repeatedly saying 'ji venre', and each time it did, it would run its thumbnail over its lips, downward and then across, and look to the skies. I assumed it means 'my god'. I also noticed that each time it said 'keerah' it would place its hand on its chest, potentially meaning 'love'."

"What about, 'reporque jo', or 'ro li dreneskule'?"

Forgetting himself, he looked up at me, his eyes glazed in perplexity.

"No. I don't recall hearing those phrases on the journey."

I sat back. Perhaps these specific phrases only spurred out once the Celestial met me. But with a surer grasp on even two of the words, it was more apparent that the Celestial was indeed singing to its dearest god. Maybe it was asking for help or apologizing? It was certainly a possibility.

I stood. This was all I could get from him.

"Let us go. I want you to accompany me now as I speak to the Celestial again."

He readily stood with me.

"Of course, Resundre."

Surely some of his last words.