Fates Day

The Citadel had finally dried out enough for her Father to let her walk the streets once more, she was one of the new generation of Faeries, the newest blood for the Children of Syn. The sun smiled down on the vast fields that stretched in all directions on the main Floating Isle of Alsiala, the Queen was happy today it would seem. Odeza pranced out of the house built on the outskirts of the complex city, waving to one the passing Giants.   She was told while she was still young, her wings couldn't get wet, the Divine Spark that fueled her magic was a bit too reactive to changes in her young age. So keeping them stable and dry was the most important part as she continued her lessons in controlling her magic. Still, the pleasant breeze that swam across the vineyard that surrounded the home, and the sun on her wings felt amazing after having spent days cooped up in the home. Excited, she turned back to see her father, clad in his armor, Syn's golden sword belted across his back like a radiant sun. Today was the day, she would get to meet the Queen for the first time.   It had become a rite of passage for the teenagers and young adults to meet their Queen, to lay eyes on the one who had brought them to the safe Haven of The Elsewhere, the who had with the help of a few others, created this realm to escape the horrors of their former world. Her father, Anlyth, First Son of Syn, was the one and her people that had made the very sun she was just enjoying. "We should get moving, Sunshine." Her father had said, walking toward the main gate to the estate.   "Pa! The Queen is always talked about, how come we never see her all that much?" Odeza asked after a time, passing the main market square in the heart of the Citadel. Buzzing displays, the sound of street music, the endless conversation around her, was the song of this section of the city.   "Alnya is... busy most of the time. She keeps this place stable for us to live here, it's a rather taxing responsibility. When she rests, she typically only wants a few of the Children around, the ones she grown closest too. When you are tired, Sunshine, do you want to talk a lot of people?" He smiled down at me, I had grown too old to hold his hand out in public, but I still did anyway.   "I suppose, does that mean Uncle Taneth, and Y'vitol are going to be at the Cathedral today?" Her voice pitched up with excitement again, she hadn't seen them in quite some time.   He laughed, as we walked up the stairway to the Queen's Cathedral. "Most likely, yes. As well as the Council and the Circle. We are there to try and make her life easier, she still hasn't regained all her former might from forming the Elsewhere. We just want to make her life easier, leave the governing to us, let us deal with the mundanity of everyday life." She knew her father was important, she was beginning to think of how important he was as he spoke so casually about it all.   Years of schooling had taught her everything, that Uncle Taneth and Y'vitol and her Father we effectively kings, the Council served to pass judgment of laws and order, and the Circle were her trusted advisors and confidants. A litany of minor bureaucrats and helpers assisted with everything from maintaining the harmonics of this world to the everyday needs of the people. Yet, her father never acted like a Nobel of the days of old, they still had many of books and files of their old world kept on board of the Ash Bringers. Systems in which were given freely to every Child of the Elsewhere.   In the end, the Queen was always a mystery to the kids of this world, they had never been given a chance to know the old world, they were born here. So, to them the Queen always seemed strange, they were unsure of how she fit into all of this. They didn't have the same kind of faith everyone else did, they never had to see the horrors of the old world. Well, that's not entirely true, that had plenty of firsthand of accounts, footage, maps, specimens, analytics, basically everything they could want to understand the Was with the Shadows. Except for having actually been there. Regardless, when there was a true decision to be made by the government, or the Legion of Syn, or the Cathedral the Queen had the final say.   She was nervous as the main Cathedral doors opened, not sure how to act in front of a god. Her nervousness turned to relief and confusion all wrapped up into a tight bundle of hesitation, the throne she had been expecting was empty. Actually, looking like it had never once been sat in, a beautifully carved piece from a tree that was found in the old world, depicting the efforts of the Quartet during the creation of the universe. "Pa, I don't understand, where is she?" She asked as she felt like she should kneel before that throne, only to have herself pulled back up by her Father.   "Alnya does not demand submission from anyone. She hates it, to her we are her Children, we are her Family. She won't chastise you for any lack or perceived lack of respect. That isn't how she operates." His warm smile was all the encouragement she needed. His words only solidified it all. The rest of the Congregation gathered in the throne room all gave her an understanding smile, words of sympathy. If one had never meet one of the Quartet before, they would never have known that the last thing they wanted was to be treated like an authority. The last surviving member certainly shunned any amount of it thrown toward her out of some sense duty or fealty.   Odeza jumped as someone set their hand on her shoulder. "My, how you've grown into such a beautiful young woman. May I see your wings in their full glory, Child?" A strange mellifluous voice filled her ears, like she had heard it many times before yet had only ever heard it in dreams. The person speaking walked in front of her. A Fae woman with a silver lacy diadem around her ears and head, eyes closed, yet Odeza could see them moving beneath her lids. She looked like every other Fae she had seen in her life, nothing particularly notable to her, plain faced, small framed, only a few things she couldn't over look at all.   Her hair seemed to end in smoke billowing out around her, shifting from physical to ethereal on a whim, the other was that this woman wasn't breathing. Her mouth mothed, yet their was no intake of breath to speak, yet somehow words came out. "Um, who are you?" Odeza asked hesitantly, feeling like she already knew the answer.   The woman smiled brightly, opening her eyes a little to allow the divine fires of creation to spill from them. "I see your Father wanted this to be a true surprise for you! My name is Alnya. I am what the Children have called The Queen of the Fae. Sister to Kyln, Syn and Vilorlith, I have watched you grow up from the moment you were born, I heard only so much through your tight lipped Father. Tell me, Odeza, how are you today?"