The Zodiac Stone

Chapter Four: The Lataro

The sun was rising soon. At the windows along the far end of the long room dim light filtered through the dark sky. He finished pulling his sheets into place, folded back the top and placed the pillow at its center. He patted it a few times to fluff it into a better shape and then headed out of the room with the other boys.

The morning line had formed, some of the younger boys already mingled with his year, the oldest kids. They all knew the way down to the Au Bay Stage, the platform created specifically for the Morning Prayer. Another area was for praying to the stars at night, the Star Ceremony, but that was on the other side of the academy.

Aine shuffled down the stairs, down the halls, followed the green back in front of him. A green vest indicated a Valens, an earth wielder.

Finally, they made it to the area where the red raised dais sat, a large square platform feet higher than the rest of the space. It was where the dancers would perform the ritual to the sun, thanking it for rising another day.

Streaks of sunlight laced the sky in bright pinstripes. Pinks and oranges like dye in water.

As the light fell over him, Aine raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sudden bright. Looking over his shoulder the wide hallway was nothing but a menacing dark hole. The girls joined them at the doorway as they funneled outside but the boys separated from the girls and stood off to the left, the girls on the right, with an aisle between them leading up to the red painted stage.

Once his line had stopped and faced the stage, he was able to look around.

On it to the left were all the Libra Masters, and the scholars, those with less knowledge and younger, stood at the base of the stairs with the students. In the center of the stage was where the ritual of Morning Prayer would happen.

Dancers in bright colors of the sky, pinks, reds, oranges, yellows, white and blues hovered on the right side of the stage. They stood waiting for everyone to arrive before they'd begin Morning Prayer for the day. But because dance was a form of beauty, the dancers were all Pisces, only ever Pisces.

Aine looked up to the sky and watched the streaks of color and clouds. A warm breeze played across his face. He closed his eyes to immerse himself in the warmth and light.

A flute began playing off to the left and was slowly joined by other wind instruments. Sweet notes filled the air and floated up to the blend of colors.

At the fifth joining instrument the dancers moved as a collective onto the stage.

Their movements were mesmerizing. Arms bent in ways they looked as fluid as water, calm and slow.

A small group pulled away from the school of fish, five in blends of pink, red, and white outfits. They swirled and danced and bent and tilted their heads all in unison, a display of long hours of dedication and practice to move so beautifully together like they lived and breathed as one instead of thirty separate people.

The dancers ended with the one leg fully extended, their other bent at the knee and their hands and face stretching for the sky.

Aine, along with everyone else bowed their heads and the area went quiet and nothing stirred except for the breeze that swirled among them.

The sun finally peeked over the horizon in the distance and stretched its bright arms across the sky, blending light colors into bright blue that would decorate the day.

Now that the ceremony was over, Aine and the others filed back into Saziel. He looked over to where the girls were joining them and spotted the familiar shade of light blue hair. He felt his shoulders fall as he thought she was going to ignore him again when he saw her glance around.