Ascension: Chapter 2

It's a day late, but here (finally) is the latest instalment of Ascension. NaNo this year is turning into a real struggle. We're almost half way through the month, and I've only written about 4,000 words. Of course, I am in my final year of university, so I think that gives me a little bit of leeway, no? Still, I'm back in Cardiff now, so there's no excuse for not posting. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

 Mari leant her head against the glass as she watched the ground drop away. The view beyond was obscured by the grey-green of her eyes staring back at her, bloodshot and bruised from lack of sleep. She gripped the metal rail, desperate to still her shaking hands.

 ‘You should be watching this; it could be the only time we visit the city,’ her father said, gripping her shoulder. As he spoke a shadow fell over the bubble. Mari pushed away from the rail taking in the view from the curved glass walls for the first time since boarding.

 Haven hung in the early morning air, a semi-sphere of white light shining in the dawn. They were too close to see beyond its underside, so that they seemed to be rising towards a second moon that hung a mile above the earth. Already, the fields had been reduced to a series of green and brown patches of colour beneath them, and the town had become a collection of children’s toys. Mari glanced back at the bald force-worker who sat cross-legged in the centre of the glass bubble, ignored by the other passengers. Mari’s mother was a force-worker too, but could do little more than moving building blocks across construction sites. This was something else entirely. And for all Mari knew, she would be able to do something similar by the end of the day.

 ‘Look at that,’ her brother said, brushing his hair out of his eyes. A mother nearby drew her own young son a little closer, eyeing the pale silver ‘T’ tattooed above his left eye with distrust. Nobody trusted tech-heads like Set; they were a constant reminder of the technology-dependant humanity. Of course, Set could do things with machines that humans could only dream of.

 They had drawn level with the rock now, and could see the shining towers of Haven through the wisps of cloud. They were among the traffic of other bubbles now, each one carrying groups of tourists and pilgrims towards the floating city. The city was like nothing Mari had ever seen: wide avenues that cut in straight lines between towers and domes, sumptuous gardens, and courtyards dominated by ornate fountains. At the centre of the city were three pyramids, arranged around a courtyard so large that it could have held their entire village.

 ‘That’s where we’re going,’ her father said, pointing at the nearest pyramid. There was a something like a skull engraved on the side, a symbol that Mari recognised as the emblem of the Lord of Death.

 ‘I’m not sure about this, dad,’ Mari said. The other two pyramids had symbols of their own; the all-seeing eye of the Faceless, and the scales and swords of Parliament.

 ‘Mari-’ her father began, shooting a warning glance at the other passengers.

 ‘I don’t see why we have to do this,’ she hissed.

 ‘It is a great honour, Marianne,’ said a voice behind her. Mari hadn’t heard her aunt approach, but now the woman stood behind her, impeccably dressed as always. Beside her stood Mari’s cousin, Shan; a younger copy of her mother.

 ‘Yes, Aunt,’ Mari said, conscious of attracting the attention of those around them.

 ‘Only a few children from each region get chosen to receive their Blessing in the temple of the Faceless.’

 ‘Yes, Aunt,’ Mari smiled. She knew that what the woman said was true, but proud was the last thing she felt. Shan sidled up to her, a smile on her face that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

 ‘I’m sure everything will be fine, Mari,’ she said, squeezing her arm a little too hard. Mari grimaced back at her. For all she knew, her Blessing would be something ridiculous, or useless. There was a little old lady who lived on the edge of town whose Blessing granted her invisibility. However, she could only sustain it for fourteen minutes. And only on the night of a full moon. And what was that, compared to people like the bubble pilot? People who could levitate twenty people at a time with ease, or the power-brokers who could generate enough energy to light a whole city, or the weather-workers who could summon a typhoon with a gesture.

 The bubble shuddered slightly, and the minor vibrations that ran had shaken the vehicle ever since it had risen from the ground subsided.

 ‘What was that?’ Mari asked.

 ‘Oh, don’t worry dear. We’ve just passed through Haven’s shield.’ Her aunt pointed to a line of men and women who stood on the edge of the city walls.

 ‘The city has a whole team of force-workers who keep a force-field round the city. So that people don’t get blown away and stuff.’ Shan added knowingly.

 ‘Have you thought about what you want?’ she added, lowering her voice so that their parents couldn’t hear.

 ‘What?’ Mari asked.

 ‘You know, what Blessing do you want?’ Shan pressed.

 ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Mari cast her eyes downwards ‘I guess I’d like to by a force worker, like my mother.’

 ‘She’s not very good though, is she? Still I guess it’s better than being a Linguist like your dad, or a Tech-head.’ Shan smiled. Mari grit her teeth to stop her from pointing out that her father’s ability to understand any language after only a few minutes was part of the reason that their town did so well when traders came through. Or hitting Shan for being a stuck-up cow, whichever came first.

 ‘What about you?’ she asked instead.

 ‘Oh, I was thinking a Luck-worker like mummy, but more powerful. Or an Alchemist,’ Shan smiled; the first genuine smile all day ‘That way I can get out of the town and live in one of the big cities. Maybe even Haven.’

 ‘That would be nice,’ Mari said, as they were joined by Set. Shan nodded at her other cousin, and then drifted away, as though repulsed by Set and drawn to her mother by some obscure form of magnetism.

 ‘That girl is deluded,’ Set muttered, ‘As if any of us would ever end up in Haven.’