Veiled (16 page)

“
But that’s now. Things
will change by the time we are born,” I said
dismissively.

“
Mortals think that anyone
with special abilities like those are either witches or lunatics.
Either way, we would be ostracized for these so called gifts of
ours.” Liam shook his head.

“
It may be that not all
mortals will believe in our abilities, but there will be those who
will, and they will appreciate the service we will render them,”
Thomas said with determination.

“
I agree,” I
replied.

“
So do I,” Samantha said,
determined.

Leo remained silent and
pensive.

“
Tess is right. We will
probably be born at a time when people are going to be more open to
these kinds of things,” Irene added with renewed hope.

“
Don’t count on it,” Liam
spat.

“
You don’t have to accept
a gift, Liam,” Thomas said flatly. “You could ignore this part of
yourself, but repressing it might make things worse.”

“
You are right Thomas!”
Liam said haughtily. “I will stop taking this silly class and do
something more productive with my time, that’s what I’ll do. And
repressing this part of me will be no trouble at all.” He turned
and stormed out of class without any further comments.

Milah was in the other
corner of the garden when this happened. She simply looked up and
saw him go, then continued instructing another spirit completely
unperturbed.

After another comment or
two she called our attention and told us that class was now
dismissed.

*****

Dorian and I had agreed to
fly to our next set of classes together. They were located at the
Square. This place was definitely the official hang-out for all
spirits from the Sixth Seal of time, and was located in the center
of several tall buildings that were in close proximity to each
other. There was something for everyone there—impromptu
performances, board and electronic games, gadgets that could be
used for entertainment; discussions, joke telling, gossiping, you
name it, it happened there.

Dorian was unusually chatty
on our way there, so I mostly listened. Apparently he had just
taken an Earth’s Cultures class and had found out that there were
going to be different races within the human family and that he was
most likely be from a race of people who came from the African
continent. Then he told me that I might also be from another race
group, because of my features.

He was very excited about
this, but this new piece of information made me very apprehensive.
I didn’t care what race I was, I knew that Alex would love me
regardless, but the thought of being born in a different country or
continent, far away from him scared me. I mentioned this to him,
but he shrugged, “I’ve seen us—and Luz and I meet.”

“
I wish I could see into
the future and feel as calm as you do all the time,” I told
him.

He stopped abruptly and
looked at me with the most serious look I had ever seen him have.
“That’s not what gives me peace. I trust the Eternals. That gives
me peace.”

I nodded in response. Of
course he was right. Still…being a seer was pretty
helpful.

As we made our descent on
the middle of the Square we were greeted by the dissonant sound of
different instruments being played at once and each playing a
different tune. Then there was the um of voices and the ring of
laughter, coming from all directions.

I was impressed by how many
spirits had so many varied interests besides their gifts. I glided
aimlessly for a while and wondered why I didn’t have an added
interest besides my gift. I could tell that these spirits felt very
passionate about this aspect of themselves. What was I passionate
about, other than Alex? I felt so silly about this. My whole
existence could not just revolve around him. Besides, Alex had
other interests. He had the “Freedom Fighters” and that endless
quest for human rights that the group vowed to uphold.

After I wandered around for
a while, I found Celeste playing a card game of sorts. It looked
like a lot of fun, and I wanted to play, but Discerners were not
allowed to play. In fact most Discerners were not allowed to play
most games for fear that we might use our gift to cheat, so I just
watched.

Henry was there too,
proudly displaying and explaining a game that was played through a
device called the Neuro-interface. The device fitted over your eyes
and attached to the temples, the part that went over the eyes had a
visor. Through the visor you could watch images and interact with
them. He had smartly reprogrammed the game to fit our interests.
The game I tried was a simulation of a Flaming Sword fight with a
Cherub. This game I could play, so I gave it a go. It was the
oddest thing, I thought I was moving, but I wasn’t. My form stood
inert while my mind gave me the impression that I was in an actual
sword fight with an enormous Cherub female. In the first round she
cut my form in half and the game ended and in spite of this
unfortunate end, I asked Henry for another round. In the second
round I was a little better but this time lost my head. Then I had
to hand the game over to an impatient spirit, who complained to
Henry that he was playing favorites by letting me have two
turns.

Once Celeste was done with
her card game, she took my arm and steered me to a corner of the
Square where she said all the spirits who could sing practiced
before class.

On a small pedestal, we
found Estelle. She looked as I had never seen her before, confident
and glorious. Her voice was like the tinkling of a bell, clear and
hypnotizing.

“
She is very good,” I told
Celeste.

“
Yeah, I know. I make a
point to come and listen to her when is her turn to sing.” Celeste
waved at Estelle and got a wink in reply.

“
It’s like…she’s another
person on stage,” I said with awe.

“
She sure is.” Celeste
looked around, looking for something. “Where is Henry, he is
missing the whole thing!” she said, irritated.

“
He was playing with his
gadgets,” I informed her.

Celeste shook her head
disapprovingly.

“
Did you like it, Tess?”
Estelle came to us as soon as her performance was done, and looked
like her old self again. The transformation was incredible. Estelle
on stage and Estelle off stage were two different
spirits.

“
You sing like an Angel!”
I told her.

She smiled and giggled. “I
wish! Problem is, once we sign up to be Angels, we have no way of
knowing what we will be called to do. I do hope I get the Choir…”
She looked around and lowered her voice. “That’s the only thing I
dare do.”

“
I don’t know…I would love
to be a Ministering Angel, or a Herald,” Celeste said with her
usual confidence.

“
How about you, Tess? What
kind of Angel do you want to be?” Estelle asked with a twinkle in
her eye.

“
I haven’t thought about
it yet. What are the choices?”

Celeste rolled her eyes.
“Where have you been, Tess? Oh yes. Hiding from life,” she said
sarcastically.

I responded with a cynical
look.

“
There are lots of types
of Angelic Missions. Sentinels and Heralds get trained by the
Cherubs—as we well know,” Celeste said with a smirk, no doubt
referring to the many attempts we had made in the past, at finding
their secret training grounds. “Then there’s the Choir, the
Scribes, the Ministering Angels, and the Guardian Angels. There are
lots of different things you could do. Once you sign up it’s up to
the Eternals to assign you, but you could certainly have a
preference.”

I thought about it for a
moment and though all those things sounded like fun, nothing really
stood out as my call or destiny. I wanted to feel like I had a
purpose other than just pass the time until I was born. I wanted to
feel passionately about something like Estelle did about her
singing, or even Celeste did about being a Herald. But nothing came
to mind.

“
I like working on my
Gift,” I said while I shrugged, and they both cheered at the
idea.

“
See! That will definitely
give you purpose,” Estelle said.

“
Your singing has nothing
to do with your gift though,” I suggested.

“
Neither does my interest
in plant propagation, but it doesn’t mean that your purpose in life
will not stem through your Gift,” Celeste said.

“
You are interested in
plants?” I asked incredulously. When did everyone go out and get
these pastimes?

Celeste and Estelle
exchanged meaningful looks.

“
Come on, Tess, we are
going to Talents Class. You’ll find something there, I’m sure of
it.” Celeste grabbed my hand and pulled me.

Talents Class was being
held in a theater, and the teacher was an entertaining little
female who wore funny glasses with dangling beads at the ends.
First she explained the difference between a gift and a talent,
then she listed some of the many artistic talents that we would be
observing next.

“
We will be watching a
performance from a window. This is a festival celebrated in Asia
every year. Pay attention to all the details, not just the dancers
and the singers and the other performers. Look at everything that
they have made and created for this event.” Then she turned around
and unveiled a huge window that looked out into space and in the
distance was—Earth. To the side of the window was a large pad with
buttons. She entered some information on the pad and Earth started
to get closer and closer, then the image zoomed in to one
particular spot on the planet until we could see clearly what was
happening on the surface.

We watched, mesmerized by
all the different activities that were going on. The colors were so
vibrant, the singing so unique. But what caught my attention the
most were the dresses. I couldn’t look away. Only now did I realize
that we always wore white, and we all wore the same thing. I never
minded my attire, it was simple but it had flair. These dresses
however…they were something else. I could barely process all the
colors and intricate stitching involved in them.

“
I would like to wear
beautiful garments like that when I’m a mortal,” Celeste said with
determination.

“
But this is a
performance. I don’t think mortals usually wear these
things.”

“
I don’t care. I want
beautiful dresses,” she said stubbornly. “I want to be born in a
place where people wear bright and beautiful clothes like these
every day.”

I had to admit that it
would be fun to wear those dresses. But they didn’t look very
practical.

“
I want to know how to
make them. I could make them beautiful and practical,” I said, and
then I turned to face her. “I know! I’ll make you those dresses and
you’ll wear them!”

Celeste turned her bright
eyes toward me with excitement. “Deal!” Then her face turned into a
smirk. “Mmm…what do you think Alex or Max would say about this
particular class?”

An image of Alex and Max
dying a slow and painful spiritual death entered my mind. We
laughed and then were once more captivated by all the singing and
dancing.

Before I knew it I was
enjoying the performance a lot. The music had me in some sort of
trance. After a while I could tell that the music was conveying a
story. My own thoughts blended with the music and I felt as if they
were singing the story of my own existence, troubled at times,
happy and carefree at others. Now it sounded like a longing and a
pleading.

I closed my eyes and the
image of Alex standing on the beach, waiting for me to emerge from
my self-imposed grave, came to mind. He looked so…worried, hopeful.
Then strange voices filled my head.

“
I still think that there
could be a peaceful resolution. This battle is definitely the
beginning of peace for them, mark my words. Fighting back is not
always the answer, and warring all the time hardens the soul and
turns humans into animals. Personally, I agree with what they’ve
done. Laying down their weapons was, for these people, the absolute
best decision.”

“
But Mohandas, they
died!”

“
They are with the
Eternals.”

“
Dead.”

“
Saved, and
evolving!”

“
Tess?”
Alex’s voice was so clear, my eyes flew open and I looked all
around me shocked to hear his voice here of all places.

“
Alex?” I asked troubled.
Whose voices were those? What were they talking about? I felt
confused and disoriented, I shook my head as if that would somehow
make the strange stupor that I felt, go away. Celeste looked at me
funny.

“
Do you think she is in
trouble…again?”
That was Russell’s voice.
Why would I be hearing his voice in my head? Why would I be hearing
any voices for that matter?

“
I don’t know, it’s…it’s
the weirdest thing. It’s as if she’s in my head,”
Alex responded.