Chapter 25- The Ceremony part 1

Baby's POV

As soon as everyone finished eating, we all got into the carriage to take us to the place where the ceremony would happen.

"Don't be nervous" my dad said. I thought he was talking to me so I raised my hand to let him know I wasn't nervous and then quickly put it down again when I realized he was talking to my mom when she responded.

'How embarrassing' I thought, hoping no one noticed.

"You're right" my mom sighed and said. "Did you already tell Baby girl what she needs to know?"

"Not yet" he said and turned to me. "Baby girl, the ceremony is very important and for your safety, you need to follow what I say. The Temple is relatively safe, but...Ooph!"

I could picture my small, but fierce mom elbowing my dad in the gut.

"You don't need to go into the reason why, just tell her what she needs to do or not do. We are almost there and you are wasting time"

"Ok, Gems."

Then my dad began to explain the details of the ceremony and that before the chamber doors closed, I must not use my aura at all and as soon as the doors opened again, I was to make sure I had retracted it.

He had finished giving his instructions long before we arrived at the overwhelmingly large cathedral, which led me to believe that my mother just didn't want me to be afraid of possibilities.

My sister picked me up and carried me out following my brother's exit and then out came our mom.

I could hear the sound of kissing and my dad saying he would be back before the ceremony was over. Then the sound of the carriage pulling away followed. I was a bit surprised that my dad would leave and not stay for the ceremony, but knew he was an important person and assumed he had to work.

The air outside was crisp and fresh compared to that inside the cathedral. The air inside was coated in some type of incense as if trying to cover up the musty smell. My nose twitched, clearly not liking the smell at all.

The sounds of people quietly speaking and children crying echoed and cascaded off of the high ceilings and walls. They seemed to be coming from all around us as we moved further into the building.

We had stopped briefly before a voice who asked us for my parent's names. I heard some scratching like a pencil on paper and then we went to sit down to wait for my turn. Listening to people who came in after us, I realized that every little girl had my name!

We waited and talked and waited some more. Each time a young sounding voice would call for a handful of children who were all crying. At this point I realized that most likely it was because of hunger. We weren't allowed to eat anything after arriving and before the ceremony. My stomach was growling fiercely, but I refused to cry or complain. Nevermind that mentally I was much older than the other children.

Finally after several hours, my name was called and I was placed into the hands of one of the helpers of the temple. I sneezed several times after being passed to her since her clothes smelled very strongly of incense. She carried me toward the very front of the cathedral where a door was. I could hear even more crying as we went through it. The air was warm and humid like that of a sauna. It seemed to me that there were 'stations' in what appeared to be an assembly line.

The first one cut off the majority of my hair. The next shaved off what little was left. Then my clothes were removed and I was placed into a warm pool where I was scrubbed red. My skin felt raw afterwards, but I still refused to cry, which seemed to impress the temple workers.

A rough nightgown type outfit was pulled over my head and then I was again picked up and carried this time down stairs and into a place that reminded my of the catacombs in my previous world. The air was damp and cold and the sounds of large heavy doors opening and closing was nerve wracking. Especially when the sound of crying was muted at the sound of it closing or became louder at the sound of them opening. I have to admit that if I were genuinely 2 years old, I would be terrified and crying too.

I was placed into a slightly chilly stone room and was startled at the reverberating sound of the heavy stone door closing.

I spread my aura out and found grooved markings on the floor, walls and ceiling. I sat down and waiting, shivering as much from nervousness as cold.

I didn't have to wait too long as a warmth spread throughout the small stone room and to my amazement I saw colored lights! I had not been able to see anything since I was six in my previous life. I thought I didn't remember what color was, but as soon as I saw them, I knew which were green, blue, yellow, brown, red, purple, and white. I was so excited that I could physically feel my heart pounding in my chest. I wanted to get up and see the close up, but I realized I was stuck to the floor; unable to get up or even crawl forward. The only thing I was still able to move was my head and arms. I held my aura out for a long time, all the while frustrated at not being able to touch the colored lights. I was beginning to get tired and allowed my aura to retract slightly.

To my surprise, the lights moved closer after I did that. I thought about it for a minute, then retracted my aura even closer to me, only to find the colored lights had also moved closer. Proving my theory correct, I retracted my aura until it was only about a foot away from my body.