"MTH GIVES ANNOUNCEMENT IN CENTER HOLD"
"TIER GUARDS SENT TO LOCAL BUILDINGS IN THE TIER FOR SHUTDOWN"
"After the raid in the Center Hold causing deaths of over one hundred and forty Mortem's and injuring many more, The Mortem Tier Head of 18 accompanied by his Bearer announced just Dies Mercurii, (Wednesday) that he has sent guards to lockdown local buildings where supposedly Hominum tend to surface. We are ordered to keep close watch on our streets for suspicious activity. Quoted from his announcement "Mortem's of the Center Hold and all four courageous Holds surrounding us, I ask you to watch closely." 18 then assures us that he will indeed "eliminate them and rid them from our homes permanently!"
~Ellis Ackerman (journalist)
CHAPTER EIGHT
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Exhaustion is one definite form of stress. No matter what your current mood may be or what situation you find yourself in, you will end up just being mute and nodding off to sleep. Everything of importance will fly into one ear and out the other, and everything that falls into the opposite category will shut your eyes and even sing you a lullaby. The atmosphere that built after the ceremony induced the exhaustion. The eleventh and last moon phase. Gradually waning down from the tenth phase that sifted soft powder down onto the streets like baking flour. The white fluff that lightly accumulated onto the black roofs and railings and candle lit streetlights shone brightly by the phases reflection of it. Carriages rolled across the city's wet pavement, it's wheels barely gripping the concrete. That phase was finally shipped off and the next package was hauled in, brimming with exhausted clouds that drooped and hung over the Center Hold, crying on its population. This is exactly what it began to do as two bodies rowed over the dark lake, trailing back to the mansion. Black beads flew from the ripples and splashed when the clouds tears hit the water. Elenora, after the long ceremony, surprises, and the lengthy hike back, just wanted to simply lay down. Sleeping would most likely follow, and she was definitely okay with that fact. Night clothes weren't even an option. Slipping her aching feet out of her semi-soggy shoes were. Only the shutting door and the sound of drizzling rain on the window sills sounded in the mansion. They arrived, quickly retreating to what their minds assured was a priority. For Miss. Bourdeleau, slipping under the crisp blankets of her rooms crisp sheets was exactly what she did. The Tier Head found himself constantly busy, scribbling away at his books, mixing and combining liquids. Returning to the processes was what occurred. Preparing for a Tier Guard to come and tell him that they were ready to secure an area was simply an add in for this scenario. It wasn't only Elenora who was dreadfully exhausted, but 18 desperately wanted to sleep as well. He just couldn't.
Mortem's, as they grow to adults, rarely shut their eyes to rest. It's not necessary, but every clock stops after a long while, and when Mortems lay down to sleep, they sleep for a great amount of time if they rest and remain undisturbed. Unlike a human, sleeping only at an average of seven to eight hours, in human time, adult Mortems rest for about two to three weeks at a time, and rarely at that. 18 had more on his mind than just sleep. He also didn't have that kind of time to waste. Stressed with the burdening and pulling feeling of exhaustion, he had more important things to attend to than such.
Storming unfathomable buckets of water from the clouds, the soothing sound of the white noise pulled at his limbs. The Ceremony of the Lost was dreadfully exhausting in every aspect. Traveling in a spiritual form from the Tier and delivering a mass of souls to their final eternity was, believe it or not, utterly demanding. Yet, his persistence and work remained uninterrupted. The man did what he did best. Relentlessly working without a rest.
In a flash, he was in the library once more, opening and shuffling through books, looking for exactly what he needed. His mind would eventually pull away from it. The one and only thing that could stop the relentless ticking machine. Her soft rippling soul. He stared off into the distance to where he felt it, through the walls to where the room where she was sleeping. The young leader effortlessly mixed liquids and solids, thinking about his job to come and the burdens it packs. The Four ranks were to secure the bases he assigned, and he was to attend all that he could until they were all complete or conflict arises to change his orders. Considering the worst possible outcomes was another job of his. To attempt to prepare for anything that could cross his mind was troubling to say the least and 18 knew he couldn't predict the future.This was possible for him, not a difficult feat, but Mortem belief prohibited it. His main goal overall, was protecting. The Mortem knew the prices that came with being the leader of his proud race, and this included protecting everything. His Tier, the holds, the districts, his soldiers and Madam Elenora. The dragging fact was that overall, even with the deciphering and calculating and decision making 18 does, in the circumstances at hand, nothing was apparent. Humans were going to be found nonetheless, but when they are, everything after that moment is unpredictable, and if time comes that 18 himself must go to the Hominum Tier, he will. For now, that thought was on the back burner. Never had he ever been to the humans Tier. 18 only went by hearsay. He heard there was a sun. He knew that he'd have to wear a cloak and mask like the Fives due to it as well. Yet, everything he knew about the Hominum Tier was solely his own study and hearsay. The wait for the messenger required patience. It was a long while before she hiked the long gathering of stairs to the mansions door. It gave 18 an abundance of time to work diligently and Elenora to sleep soundly.
Finally, the separate soul he had been waiting for approached the tall doors of the front to deliver the message. 18 felt their soul, stopping at the large doors before an unnecessary knock. He pulled the door open with a book flat in his palm, waiting for the Two Metal to speak.
"Sir." The young woman saluted him. "The Three and Four ranks of The East Hold's District Novem are ready for your assistance, Sir."
18 shut his book. "And where are we to depart from, Madam Ariadne?"
"Make your way to Lumley Street where a carriage will be waiting for the two of you to depart."
"Thank you, Madam. We will be there shortly."
"No, Thank you Sir." she said. "Tutum manere." The woman turned on her heel and headed back down the stone stairs. The door was shut and his coat was seized off of the rack, shoving his arms into the sleeves, he then buttoned it. The Mortem leader fled to the stairs and up it, around the banister and to his bedroom in a quick hurry. Elixirs were essential for where they were headed. Already prepared and racked for him to take and leave in an instant. Through the bedroom door, traveling to his desk, he skimmed through all of the bottles kept on the rack. His boney hand hovered over each, only plucking two, and quickly heading out. This was the extent of what he needed for now. Everything else he carried with him. Lastly, all he needed was Elenora. The man hated to have to wake her now. She was apparently exhausted, and he would rather leave her to rest, but unfortunately, he simply couldn't. Miss Bourdeleau must go with him. 18 took the stairs down a level and marched down the hallway on the second floor to her room. Finding her door about four down, the man approached it and stopped. Dim, orangish candle light peeked from underneath the door, marching in perfect streaks across the floor. A soft knock, and time slowed. Noiselessly, 18 set one hand on the wooden door and the other on the handle, carefully pushing the door open, greatly increasing the lights army underneath him. The room was still. His footsteps woke the wooden floor, stopping when he gently placed his hand on her blanketed shoulder. Her breaths were timed and soft.
"Elenora... Love... Wake up..." He did not rock her, he barely whispered, but his voice drew her eyes open slowly. The tranquility of sleep left her, filling her with the faint returning sound of the rain, and her breathing. Elenora did not speak, but only stared at the man who stood at the bedside.
"Quickly." he said. "Change out of those clothes and meet me at the bottom of the staircase..."
By this time, he was making his way back to the door already when he added a wispy "Alright?"
The woman sat up slowly and nodded, swinging her legs over the bedside as he carefully headed out and shut the door. Madam hoisted herself up with a deep yawn. It was unclear to her why he had woken her up so suddenly, especially after they had just returned from an exhausting event in the previous hour. Yet, she didn't question him. He wouldn't have woken her with the quick message to change and leave if it weren't something urgent. Her hand lightly brushed the dress she once wore that lie lightly on the bed. To the best of her tired speed, she slipped her arms through the thin sleeves. Buttoning the front of it, slipping the lacy button through the slit. Dusting herself off, slipping on her shoes and grabbing her novel, she fled sluggishly out the bedroom door, putting out the tiny flame that danced in the oil lamp. As fast as she had blown that flame out, she had gotten down the stairs, the Tier Head waiting there for her as he promised.
"Do you have everything you need, love?" The tall man asked, holding out his arm at the bottom of the steps. Elenora nodded, her body feeling slightly more awake, taking his arm. Making his way again to where he met the messenger, he seized his hat and an old walking cane, perched by the rack.
"Good."
Rain shower blasted their ears the moment the door flew open. It still showered buckets. Tediously made, the rain and clouds came straight from The East Hold, where they were headed. The deep glow of The Tier Heads eyes caught hers at that second. He was casting something. Just like striking a match, multiple sparks came from his left palm and an invisible flame flourished over their heads, igniting above. Like a barrier, an umbrella embracing them. The drops made no noise. Just the peculiar sight of rain falling limp from a microscopic dot from the sky, only to freeze before striking her head and rolling around it. At that, they went on their way, leading to Lumley.
"What is this about?" The first spoken words from the girl since she's woken up. Soft and still tired, flowing from her lips.
"I was called to The East Hold to secure an area my men have guarded. They need my approval on the base."
"The East Hold?"
"Yes. A simple search, and if need be, eliminate."
The East Hold. There was no path in her mind that led her to what it would look like. It all bunched in her head, and this roped and pulled her back to exhaustion. A tug of war between excitement and exhaustion. Like a child who didn't want to miss a thing and fought sleep to keep from doing so. The dock was slightly slippery, and the boat rocked back off forth on the shore. When they boarded, water crashed across the side of the worn rowboat as it was being pushed by the oar from the front. Elenora held his cane as he pushed the boat through hissing water. Again, the black beads on the water from the rain pelted its surface. More violently this time. The trees bent over the lake, weighted by the neck from the gallons that gushed from the clouds. It took them longer than normal to row back towards the city due to the fact that they were rocking in the lake more than they were the first time around. The shore neared, but by its own pace. The pull of the water was cut the moment the boat hit the tip of the shore and they jolted to a stop. 18 hopped off and tied it down, and took Madams hand. Not a second was allowed to be wasted. Handing him his cane, Madam was helped off and they strode to the city and down a set of wet stairs to the glistening streets. His stride hit a steady pace and Madam followed.
"We need to head to Lumley..." The man murmured under his breath, gathering his thoughts. She heard him.
"Lumley? I gather you imply some kind of station?"
"There's a carriage waiting there to escort us to a station. It won't be too long of a ride I suppose, but you can rest your eyes along the way." he replied. Elenora's gloved hands stayed tucked in his arm, only letting go to wave when a passerby greeted them. How he loved to walk with her. He loved to have her waving at the folk along with him on the streets. This was the one simple thing that drew his mind from the weight that drew down his shoulders. 18 knew that once he arrived in the East Hold, there was not a second that could not be dedicated to the Tier. Scouring the areas and securing them was all he could think about, and the second he finished, he knew that he was going to be called to another Hold or District. To him, by far, it was worth it. Worth the lives in the city. The lives in the Hold. The lives in all of the Tier. At least, while he disregarded his personal feelings, he could be with Elenora. The carriages, the people, they all stayed completely arid, just like they did when the drops were frozen. Approaching Lumley, the space drawn carriage sat comfortably in its spot, awaiting for the two of importance to be escorted. Watching as 18 approached with youthful strides, this was his cue to open the carriage door. They had not nearly taken as long as the man imagined.
"Sir!" He greeted cheerily, gripping the handle. The Tier Head tipped his hat along with the man, who quickly pulled the door open for him. "Starting your trip, I see."
"Yes, sir! Going to be a busy one, indeed."
"And I see you're taking your Mrs. with you!" the man said, peering at Elenora. She smiled at him.
"Yes, to the East Hold."
The man bowed and hoped for them a safe trip. Elenora was to enter first, planting her heel on the small step and slipping snugly in her seat, followed by 18 next to her and the shut of a door. Completely secluded and peaceful, you could barely hear the murmurs of Mortem's passing by. It was a short moment of seclusion. Not even a jerk or a sudden jolt, they began moving gradually across the moist pavement. Wooden wheels gritted the pavement and was like any other carriage, but the inside was like a perfectly still rocker, that could drift a child asleep like the wind. Sitting next to the warm blooded woman, pulled at the Mortem's eyelids. Even their leader wanted to drift into serenity like a cradled child. Warmth was something that he had rarely felt, but this time, Madam accompanied him. Watching the main city shrink behind her, past the carriage, and gone in a second, was what occupied Elenora. Her soft hair padded her head perched against the window frame. She could see everything approaching, and watched as the different buildings she saw drift by. The ride was easily a couple of minutes to the station. Very brief, because Center Hold station of District Unem was just near the bell tower. It sat on a mountain on the north side, tracks sprawled in countless different directions. The station lay tucked up in the mountains. The shorter portion of transportation was soon to be over as they slowed down. The station neared. When the drifting stopped, she could feel her legs again, but when her gaze dispersed out of the aperture, there was no making out where they had stopped exactly. Just a large building that blocked her view, and the building was quite busy. The door softly opened and the two simply disembarked. Now when Madam stepped out it was a different story, passing through the small door, the sight hitting her as fast as her smile. They had pulled around the station building. A passenger train with a single pullman glued to the tracks like it grew there, only to be used for the business trips the Tier Head made. It was undoubtedly old, but it was exquisite and just by the immediate gust that flourished in her chest and soul, Madam Elenora knew that every Tier Head, as far back as his lineage can go, had once sat in this train. Standing taller than two of the carriages combined, the dark metallic engine waited patiently for them to board it.
"Alright sir, this is where you transfer."
"Thank you very much." replied 18.
Madam's eyes spoke for her. She thought it beautiful and magnificent, having never ridden a train in her life other than when she was barely a toddler.
Setting her hand on the iron railing and the other taking 18's, he hoisted her up. They departed quickly, not a second to waste. The wheels peeled from the tracks first slowly, then it caught grip to the metal. The train did not jolt, as the ground began to crawl away. Not a flair of her dress or a catch of his hat or coat because there was no wind to kick it up. She barely felt The Tier Head lightly touch her arm and her attention now fled to the man's gestures to enter the pullman instead. The inside was just as grand as the last interior she witnessed, if not grander. Taking methodic footsteps down the wide aisle, she held onto the soft cushioned seats as the train picked up speed.
"It's... so beautiful..." she murmured as they sat down.
"Yes, it is... I'm glad you think so."
"I'm simply in love with it...the carriage...the train.." Elenora smiled as her head fell onto the windows side, her eyes closed.
"What makes you love it so?"
"Oh, everything makes me... Everything is much more grander than anything I've seen!"
He smiled, but said not a word. Everything outside the window fascinated her, watching as the train cut off her vision, a mountain quickly blocking it as it rushed by in streaks. The city hid playfully behind the rushing mountains. The moons above moved much slower along with them, bright and full in the shimmering sky, blanketed by thick clouds.
"What's it like?" The murmur of his voice broke into the constant sound of the tracks. "The Hominum Tier?"
Elenora sat up and looked at him. He stared at the floor than to her, his hands folded.
"You've... never been there.?" she asked, surprised at his curiosity. The man shook his head.
"Not in all my years... Not once. I've never had to go."
"Well..." To think she lived there all her life, and now it such a distance behind her. "theres... " she giggled "There's a sun, for one thing! It comes out everyday for twelve hours at a time... and at night, a single moon, greatly smaller than our smallest here."
"Is that so?" The Tier Head sat back and imagined the scene against the train ceiling.
"Oh yes, and blues skies and white clouds..."
"Blue skies?"
"Yes. Bright blue! And the trees are green, brimming with leaves in the Summer and Spring, only to turn to beautiful oranges and reds in the Autumn..."
He said not a word. Her voice played on like a melodic violin and he listened simply to hear the melody.
"Oceans that spread across the world... Mountains that touch the top of the clouds, and..."
"It's beautiful." The man's voice finished. Elenora looked up at him and his eyes fixed on hers. She turned away slowly.
"Yes... I suppose it is..." Her head fell. "Very beautiful."
Elenora looked out of the window at the outside, a fast blur that flew towards the rear of the train. Madam was homesick, yet it wasn't the people that she missed. Not the weakness, the scorn, the hatred. Just the clouds, and blue skies, the trees and their leaves. It all happened so fast, that she had not time to appreciate these things. Now, she appreciated all that The Mortem Tier gave her, beautiful and extravagant in its own ways entirely. Elenora didn't even know the beginning. The East Hold in itself will completely make up for it if the Center Hold didn't already do so. The man felt the slow in her soul and he wanted to reach over and grasp her hand, but he didn't.
"I've been wondering for a while now... You're name... Bourdeleau... That's French. Is that where you came from before you died? France?"
Elenora smiled and shut her eyes. "No, I came from England... I was born in France and my father was was a Frenchman. My family decided to live in England when I was just a infant."
18 remained quiet and listened to her with deep concentration.
"My parents died in England and I was raised there by a family friend. I lived there all my life." Then she smiled."That's where I get my accent!"
18 smiled as well, now sitting back in his chair and staring at the ceiling.
"I see... England."
"And what about you?"
No one had ever asked him about when he was a child or even about his parents. 18 straightened up and cupped his hands together in concentration.
"I assume both you mother and father are from the Mortem Tier?"
"My... father..." 18 paused. "My father was German. A human. My mother was the Tier Head of 17, and my father was a human."
"So... That would make you... half?" she asked.
"Actually, genetically, I get his looks partly, but Mortem genetics typically dominate. My father may be human, but I am completely Mortem, inside and out."
"And... your father?"
"I... never knew my father. As a matter of fact, I don't care to remember him. My mother took care of me all of my life." He laughed softly under his breath. "I don't posses a single memory of him. Only pictures. I don't care to, at that, but my mother loved him."
Elenora smiled, remembering the woman in the photo with the small boy.
"And your mother... where is she now, if you don't mind me asking?"
His voice was a soft murmur, staring at the ceiling as if he looked right at her. "Transiens somno..."
"Transiens... somno?" she asked.
"Passing sleep... She's asleep. Now that I'm The Head, she passed the duty down to me, and is now... in a death-like sleep, if you will."
"Transiens somno..." she repeated softly. Her head lowered back down onto the window and Madam shut her eyes, the choppy sleep and drastic time change destroying what used to be fixed. It was the hum of the train that put her to sleep. Elenora lie more still than the empty seats behind her. The ceiling grew more and more boring by the second to stare at, and The Tier Head wanted greatly to fight the urge to shut his eyes. After much debate, he found nothing too consequential in doing so, and gave into the prolonged urge, joining her in REM as well.
The East hold waited for them, and the train ran for it. Elenora was the only one moving besides the train itself. Her velvety methodical breathing comforted 18. It brought his sleeping mind away from troubles for a while along with her soft heartbeat. The ride was lengthy. The East Hold was the farthest from The Center Hold in comparison to all. Water droplets shot down in full speed from the layered sky and pelted the top of the train like little needles. For a while, the tracks stayed on the ground. About an hour worth of track stayed planted on the ground, but when it exceeded that hour mark, the tracks brought the train onto a long supported trail, gaining height by the minutes. Wooden beams that have held the track up for longer than generations on generations could even remember. It took a good while for the train to get a good distance away from The Center Hold. It had to make its way into the sky. Of course the distance up was what made the East Hold the farthest from the center of The Tier. By the time her eyes fluttered open a half hour later, and the time she realized that the tracks were leading them towards the clouds, she realized that water was not just the only thing that hit her chest like a sledgehammer when she looked at it. Pupils in her eyes dilated and she turned away, only to come to The Tier Heads still sleeping face. Elenora looked down to his hands and lightly grabbed them, turning back to the window.
Sitting back, you could see the layer of clouds approaching, purples and soft grays, dim whites, but when you leaned on the windowsill, it felt like if it broke you would die. Right then and there, you would plummet from the clouds down into the dark abyss of the Mortem Tier beneath, watching the train get smaller and smaller as you fell. The unstable appearance of the support beams disappeared at the bottom, and just touched the tracks at the top. Elenora stared at it, her fear gradually fading like the passenger car finally did in the clouds. She squeezed his gloved, still hands and leaned farther into the window. It felt like a while. They had been on the train for a while and her legs were beginning to fall asleep just like she did. The rocking and swaying of the passenger car on top of the rickety tracks wanted to rock her like a baby again. A blanket. A vast extending blanket and three bright moons. You could almost reach around and touch them they were so massive. Every crater so defined, and in the clouds the light bounced off of one side and shaded the other like an intricate mural. It covered everything under them and all that was left was the disappearing stilts that held them up. It was raining underneath them, and again, her eyes closed with her hands in his.
Xx_______________________.•.__________________________xX
The slow and fragile stop of the wheels against track of all things is what woke the now rested Elenora. Slowly arising, she turned to The a Tier Head who now was also awake, then to the window. The train had stopped in front of a station building. Awaiting for this moment, she stood up, her legs being numb and without feeling. Taking her hand, Tier Head lead her down the aisle and to the door where they opened it and stepped down from the train, onto a wooden floor.
"A decent ride, I take it, sir?" Another escort met them the moment they stepped off.
"Yes sir, it was indeed, thank you."
"Well, we have a boat just around the corner waiting for you. I'm sure you know your way around here like you'd know your front door."
The Tier Head nodded and gave the man a swift but small tip of his hat, making his way around the corner of the brimming building.
"The East Hold..." Elenora chimed as she began to board the boat. "It's all on water."
The man shook his head. "Actually, only a small fraction of it is."
She looked around at the small boats, some paddle boats with many passengers. The body of water deeper than they could decipher, but somehow they had to climb the sky to get there. It all extended farther than her eyes would let her see.
"This water serves as the streets to get from place to place. The rest of it,"
He pointed towards the sky, which Elenora now realized that it most definitely wasn't such. "The rest of it is up there."
All of the grief over missing the beauty of The Hominum Tier was quickly forgotten.
