The Ceremony
It was the first day of the Sunaq in the year 1986 and I was getting ready. I was now 18 and this was the year that I was required to go. 18 was the year when your powers would activate, whether you were human, vampire, or any other kind of creature or being. As for me, I was just a normal human..as most would say. Some magical humans are born into normal human families. Those in that situation were taken by a goblin in a magical flying car on the day of the Sunaq, unless their magical powers had not yet activated. If that was the case, they would attend the Sunaq the next year. They would go in as a first year even though they would be 19. A letter would then be sent to their families to notify them. Since my mother kept me away from most magical stuff, I didn't know much about things like that. For me, luckily, I had a mother and father who were both magical. That meant that they already knew of the Sunaq.
The world itself knew of magic, but they chose to keep the magical and real world separate. The world didn't know of the Sunaq though unless they were magical or a family member was. By keeping the real and magical world separate, it helped to make sure that those without any power, would stay safe from those with dark powers. Those with good magical powers, either lived in the magical world or go there for the Sunaq. Though that was true, that was only the case for humans.
I rummaged through my clothes, trying to find the perfect dress, and finally, I found a beautiful red-laced dress. I put it on and began to put on my makeup and then quickly combed through my long dark hair. “Vincenza," my mother yelled, “what’s taking so long?” I looked at my door as I began to throw the brush down onto my dresser, in which the mirror laid. The back of the mirror was attached to the blue accented wall. “I’m coming," I said as I ran quickly down the stairs.
My mother was waiting for me, impatient, with a frown on her face. I tried to not show any emotion, as I knew it would probably trigger something we both didn’t want. I walked past her with a straight face and opened the door, trying to ignore the fume of anger from my mom, as she walked quickly behind me. We got into her red jeep that was parked on our large concrete driveway. My mom always thought of that red jeep as her prized possession, which I never really understood.
My mom pulled out of the driveway and for a moment I felt a sadness wash over me as I watched our big white house, trees, and garden fade from my view. Everything I know now is going to change, and now that I have realized that, it scared me. It felt like I was leaving everything behind. When I went out the door I didn’t care as much, but when the reality hit me, I felt like the whole world was crashing down on me.
Drowned in my thoughts, I had not yet realized where we were. We had already gone through the portal and I was still staring into blank space, probably looking like an idiot. “Vincenza, are you there?” My mom was waving her hand in front of my face to try and get my attention. Once I got out of my trance, I looked up to see a giant building in front of me. I was shocked to see a ton of flying cars next to us.
We had been transported to a place full of magic, known as Bilena. Though my mom and I are vampires, I only ever lived in the real world. In London, where I grew up, I had never seen or done magic before, nor was I allowed to, so everything I was experiencing and seeing was all new to me. My mom pulled into the parking lot of the building, as I stared at everything in amazement. It felt so surreal. At that moment, I had wondered, even more, what my mom had against magic and why she tried to keep me away from it all the time. I thought that maybe she was just worried that I would get hurt from it, but that still didn't make any sense in my mind. I wondered how something seemingly some perfect, like the magic I was seeing in that moment, could be something so bad.
I looked out of the window before I got out and saw a goblin walk towards the building. I slowly opened my door, afraid that something might come at me. I looked around for a split second and then walked with my mom towards the building.
The sign on the building read, “The Vincent Hall of Magic." My mom opened the door in front of me, and I walked in behind her, dragging my heels along the stone floor, as they dug into my feet. The floor inside was decorated like a checkerboard and the walls were plain white. The hallway seemed so silent and bare. We walked down the hallway until we met two big doors. My mom and I opened them and went inside. As soon as we opened the doors, we saw crowds of people in front of us, including flying creatures that I had thought were gonna crash right into me. As we walked in we were escorted to the line in front of us.
All of a sudden there was a man’s voice. “Welcome to this new year of the Sunaq! The Sunaq has been in session for thousands of years. You will all be selected into your kingdom based on your ability, bravery, strength, knowledge, and compassion. Once you get up to the podium, come to me and I will give you each a gemstone, and the one that fits you will turn white. After you get your gemstone, you will go to your left and go through a magical door, which will lead you into your kingdom. All of the kingdoms based on your gemstones are as follows..” He began to read a long piece of parchment.
“The first kingdom is the Black Onyx, the second is the Bloodstone, the third is the Sapphire, the fourth is the Rose Quartz, the fifth is the Amethyst, the sixth is the Amazonite, and finally, the seventh is the Garnet gemstone."
He looked up for a second to make sure everyone was listening and then continued,
"The Black Onyx kingdom is the kingdom is known as the strongest kingdom and those in it represent the dark powers of the world. This does not mean that they are bad, but rather they protect the world from the most dangerous, powerful, and evil beings. People in this kingdom are fearless, resourceful, ambitious, and strong leaders. The Bloodstone kingdom is known as the bravest kingdom. People in this kingdom are honest, brave, caring, loving and generous and are known to be the most loyal of friends. They are there to keep all the kingdoms safe and in order. The Sapphire kingdom is known to be the wisest kingdom. Those in this kingdom are very knowledgeable and are seen as old souls. They are very honest and intelligent, as they can see beyond what most may. They know all of the past. They are there to give advice to kingdoms and they set the stages for any war, if and when it so happens, against any evil. The Rose Quartz Kingdom represents love and tranquility. People in this kingdom are loving, caring, selfless, honest, and charismatic. They are the heart and soul of all the kingdoms. They serve to guide the Sapphire Kingdom on decisions and help promote peace throughout. The Amethyst Kingdom is known to be the most secluded kingdom. People in this kingdom are quiet, kind, understanding, curious, shy, and are generally misunderstood due to their strange nature. Though they may seem weak due to their personalities, they are actually very smart, as well as strong, and they play an important part in the kingdoms of Londrus. They serve as spies. They report back to the kingdoms any plans that evil beings, or possible ones, may have. The Amazonite kingdom is known for it's ability and luck. People in this kingdom are decisive, strong-willed, confident, optimistic, and willing. Their purpose is protect those in war from harm. They're powers can provide kingdoms with powerful shields in war. Other kingdoms may see them as a good luck charm to keep them safe. Finally, the Garnet Kingdom. This kingdom is not important to the kingdoms, though we associate it as one. It has never been shut down as it is our only way to prevent wars. We made an agreement long ago in with the dark side in order to keep as much peace as possible. That agreement was to allow those who are fit to be recruited when they are older into the dark side, to be put into a kingdom and trained by the best. They are trained alongside the Black Onyx Kingdom. They live much further from the other kingdoms to prevent any spying from the dark side. Those in this kingdom are independent, selfish, aggressive, strong, apathetic, and vengeful. Generally, when you are put into your kingdom, you are required to be in it and serve for 19 years and can serve for much longer than that. This used to be the case. Now many are required to serve beyond the 19th year due to the events of the last 15 years. There has been many attacks on the world, as the dark side has begun to dominate over us and become more powerful. We are relying on your generation to keep us safe and change this. It is up to you to decide the world's fate and your own destiny. Beyond this, there is another detail that should be included. Each of you will be in a corridor. Each year is in a different corridor than the other, but is all attached into one, as it is all the same kingdom. There are magical doors on the left and right side of each corridor. Left from the entrance, and right from where the general stairs are located for all of the kingdoms goes to the corridor of the next year. For those beyond the first year, the other one is to get to the corridor of the whatever year they were in last. For example, if your a year four, if you go to the right of the entrance and to the left of the stairs, you would go to year three and from that corridor, you can go through a different door in the same place to get to year two's corridor. You are allowed to go to other corridors and mingle as much as you would like until you are needed. We hope you enjoy your first year! "
He looked up from the piece of parchment with a smile and put it down on a table and began to pick up a small box, and inside were 7 small gemstones. Every time a person would come up, a new box appeared with all the gemstones. The box was brown with small flower designs on it. There were about 20 people in front of me, so I had to wait for about 15 minutes.
I knew that when I would get to that door, I would have to leave my mom, and I wouldn’t know when I’d see her again. I had to remind myself who I was doing this for. I knew I needed to fight for my family and friends, as well as for the world and for future generations. I had also made a promise to my mom and to myself that I would find my sister and make sure that she was okay. Though I knew this, I felt afraid. I felt excited, scared, and sad all at the same time. I never thought I would even think it, but I knew that I would miss my mom a lot.
As we were waiting in line and moving up more and more by the minute, my mom put her hand on my shoulder and to my surprise, hugged me. I wasn’t used to my mom showing much emotion except anger around me so this was strange to me. I put my arms around her, and for the first time in my life, I felt happy around my mom. Once we ended the hug, I noticed my mom was crying. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and held my hands.
“I’m so proud of you,” she said. We smiled at each other and then looked back up at the podium. There was only one person left before me and they were taking their gemstone. I watched them walk to the door as I felt my feet drag up the podium.
The man in front of me had a long white beard with a red and white cloak. He began to pick up my box and open it. I took a deep breath, exhaling in and out. I then placed my hands over the gemstones. It didn't take long before one of the stones turned white. “Vincenza, the black onyx gemstone!” the man declared. My mom went up to me and hugged me one last time before I entered the door. I then went through the portal.
At the time, I thought it seemed crazy to think that my sister, Alexi, got into the same kingdom as me four years before. My sister and I were very close, and I had missed her. I didn’t know whether I’d see her or not, but I hoped I would. She had been gone in Londrus for so long and my mom (Laurence), dad (Alexander), and I had all missed her dearly.
Londrus is the place that the mirror transported you to. It was another magical world that was one of the small magical worlds beyond the main one we were in before, which was Bilena. Every magical world beyond Bilena lived deep in it's crest, below all of it's ground. Just as this is true, Londrus was also in the crest of the real world, where it could only be found by magical beings of some sort, as only they could go through the portal.
