Chapter 9- a wild worship service part 1
And so, a little time later
The Asgard Sky City Gathering House was alive with a crowd talking and wittering. The Gathering House was built to be a sacred congregational spot for Aslan followers to gather before the Creator of the Narnian world to worship him and also to hear sermons about him get preached. Each Domain and sub-region natives had their own style of Gathering Houses and Gathering Spots. On the Land Domain, a Gathering House or Place could be something as basic as a large cave, den, area provided that the weather was suitable, or even a simple building made from basic materials from nature of the Land Domain. For certain Domains that used futuristic (from our perspective) technology and built buildings resembling something straight from the works of a science fiction story from our world, Gathering Houses were more 'advanced' and elaborate. In the case of some areas in the Sky Domain especially Asgard Sky City, Gathering Houses were built as such buildings, sometimes with gold or other metallic colour covering their facades and roofs. Asgard Sky City Gathering House was one such building and it was a beautiful building indeed. It was a MASSIVE building built in a similar fashion to our world's cathedrals with its facades laid with Narnian gold and encrusted with rare jewels harvested from certain areas of the Sky Domain. The windows of the building were beautifully painted in a variety of colours like the stained glass paintings of the cathedrals of our world. There was one large window which had the painting of Aslan's face and fiery mane, the choice of colours for the Lion being mostly gold and yellow with orange and red being lesser colours to give Aslan's mane a fiery look to represent his fierceness and majesty. When the light from the Narnian Sun, a Domain in of itself, shone through the window of Aslan, its colours were painted as the colours of the Lion and beautifully decorated the air inside the cathedral-like building. A large dome served as a roof of the building and was opaque and white. The Gathering House also had smaller stained glass windows depicting significant figures in the history of Narnia including on the Land Domain. Before Kurama took over Asgard, the windows portrayed such figures such as the four Pevensie children kings and queens during the Land Domain's Golden Age, and Digory Kirke, his friend Polly and the father of the entire Pegasus species, Fledge and their trip to the Garden of Youth, home of the Land Domain's Nine-Realms Potion ingredient, the Garden apples. These windows had been painted and installed into the building by the Asgard Sky Citizens as part of commemorating these significant historical figures. Even in the other Domains these figures were VERY important. The remaining windows had stained glass paintings commemorating other significant figures who did things for Aslan in the Sky Domain itself. However, these windows had since been taken down and disposed of by Kurama shortly after he disposed of King Lightning-Bolt and his family, usurped the throne of the City and brought in his evil Cult of the Lion. In their place, Kurama had ordered that paintings of himself be installed and the citizens specialised in painting stained glass windows had been forced to do this even though they knew it was UTTERLY wrong. After all, Kurama scoffed at the idea of humans ruling Narnia, especially children younger than 20 years.
Inside the huge building and the largest Gathering Place in the Sky Domain, various creatures filled the seating area such that it was full to the brim. The seating areas were the equivalent to the pews in our world's churches only they were designed differently to accommodate the various creatures and not just bipeds. Most of the creatures in the crowd were native-born Skylanders such as Cloud People (Cloud-Men and Women), a few Sky Whales, Cherubs, Flying Rods and Cloud-Birds while the rest of the crowd was formed from creatures not native to the Sky Domain and originating from several other Domains such as the Land, the Sea (such as Snorkies, Nestri Primi and Leopard Water Dogs and even some Seals, Tizheruk (long-bodied Seal-like creatures), Sea-Fish People (in their Human Land forms) and Merfolk (also in their legged Land Forms)), Moon and even the Sun (such as Sunlings, fiery fluffy creatures with nothing more than a head with antennae and legs) and the Underworld, or Underground Domain. Present was a family of one such Underworld-native creature, the Fire Salamander. Fire Salamanders were native to the very depths of the Underground Domain, a region called Bism. They lived in the lava rivers and glowed so brightly that they were difficult to look at directly. Outside the lava rivers, however, they glowed duller and resembled glowing red-orange lizards. They were eloquent creatures with excellent tongue talents. Very few Underworlders such as Fire Salamanders and Gnomes had ever ventured onto the surface of the Narnian Land, the Land Domain as these Underland natives weren't keen on the bright sun, much less to other Domains such as the Sky Domain, preferring to keep themselves confined to the boundaries of the Underground Domain despite having access to the Bifrost Transporter (the only quickest way to the Underground Domain. To travel there manually would require finding an entrance to under the earth). Furthermore, no human has EVER set foot into this Domain in the history of Narnia so far. Much like Siveth, the non-Sky Domain creatures who were mostly visitors had been forced to remain in Asgard Sky City when Kurama closed off the borders and severely restricted travel outside the sky city since his takeover. Thus these non-natives were stranded in Asgard, especially the visiting Merfolk, Sea-Fish People and the family of Fire Salamanders who desperately wanted to return to Bism. However, they had been forced to stay out of fear of severe punishment from the wicked Nine-Tailed Kitsune since after all, in their eyes, he was Aslan's mouthpiece and they could only talk to the Lion through him and him alone.
The congregants continued chatting and murmuring as they waited for the service to start. Many looked forward to the service while a few only half-heartedly anticipated it. Because ALL the inhabitants of Asgard Sky City and the surrounding areas where Kurama had taken captive had gathered as per his VERY strict dictatorial cult rules, the Gathering House, despite it being among the largest buildings in Asgard Sky City, was practically overflowing with congregants and tightly packed like the stands of a football stadium of spectators during an important game in our world. It was SO tightly packed that individual movement was almost impossible. Some of the congregants, especially those that were winged and could fly, or used telekinesis to levitate such as some Tanuki, had been forced to fly or levitate to the perches and ledges installed from the ceiling and around the walls to escape being crushed. As for the others that could not fly, quarrels for space broke out so squabbling and bickering noises were also present in the soundscape of chatters. It was indeed VERY packed and stuffed full, WELL beyond the capacity of the Gathering House. Though it was large, the House was meant for the populace of Asgard Sky City and that alone. Additionally, Asgard Sky City had other smaller Gathering Houses built while the surrounding sky country areas had their own smaller Gathering Spots for the villagers and citizens in those areas to gather together on Aslan's Day to worship Aslan so as to avoid Asgard's main Gathering House becoming overcrowded, as well as save a long journey for those that lived quite a distance from the main city. However, Kurama had closed down those Gathering Houses and Spots so that only THIS Gathering House could be used, regardless of the hazards caused by extreme overcrowding and the distance those that lived a long way had to travel. This placed additional burden on the citizens and some were even unable to manage the travel but they had no choice. If they didn't obey Kurama's rules in attending the service every week, they would be punished and have their basic supplies such as food cut off for a time at Kurama's decision. Even disabled citizens that lived on the outskirts of Asgard had to make their way to this Gathering House and often, transport for them was an UTMOST pain but Kurama didn't care about this.
While the air above the main gathering hall of the House continued to rattle from the chattering of the crowd, some of Kurama's assistants went to a curtain-covered doorway to backstage behind the preacher's spot, an area where a preacher would stand to deliver the sermon (similar to a pulpit in a human's church) where Kurama and also a depressed Siveth were waiting. Siveth had her sermon notes clutched in her front paws, a sombre look on her face as she reluctantly got prepared for the imminent service. As the group of assistants who had been checking the overcrowded and overfull seating area to make sure everyone from all corners of the city and the surrounding areas was present for the service, among them Nicholye the Vermillion Bird and Carpathi the White Tiger, entered the backstage room via the curtain, the former delivered the report to his leader.
"Everyone is present and correct, Boss," said the Vermillion Bird, "We're all ready for the service."
"However," the White Striped Cat, Carpathi, said before Kurama could congratulate them, "We have discovered that two of the residents are missing."
At this revelation, a flash of rage burned through Kurama and he shot his underlings a glare. Siveth flinched while some of Carpathi and Nicholye's helpers, among them a Yellow Homunculus (which were simple creatures with rounded bodies, faces, arms and legs and a few hairs and were always male and wore goggles similar to simple yellow creatures in another world. Their female counterparts were Blue Homunculettes which were deep blue creatures and sported metallic blue hair) flinched at the brief flash of anger from the cult leader.
"Two of the residents are WHAT!?" demanded Kurama angrily.
"Missing, Boss," Nicholye repeated.
"WHO are the two missing RESIDENTS!?" Kurama demanded again.
"A-a-a-a female Cherub and a male Cloud-Man, Boss," Nicholye immediately replied rapidly and timidly, stammering a bit at the beginning, "We could not find them anywhere in the entire congregation."
"Not even among the Cherubs sat among the ledges along the walls," put in the Yellow Homunculus.
"Or among the Cloud-Men in the grounded seating area," added a Blue Elf, a male.
"Their names are Glitterwing and Ozone," added Carpathi, "We have asked the Cherubs and Cloud-Men, especially their families, when they saw those two last and they answered our question with nothing but silence."
"We'll have to deal with this after the service," said Kurama, "As soon as the service is over, call for the families of those two rebels and tell them that they must come and see me WITHOUT question or hesitation for punishment. As for the guards that were supposed to keep the home area of those two under strict supervision, they are gonna face some SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES as WELL for carelessness! You lot take up your posts at the Glory Breath Smoke dispenser and wait for my command to flood the congregation area with the gas."
Nicholye, Carpathi, the Yellow Homunculus, the Blue Elf and the others with them, among them a Faun and a few Land Domain Talking Animals of the small species like Talking Mice and Squirrels, nodded and left for said destination. Kurama then turned to Siveth and said, "You wait here until my command to come out comes with the time to deliver the sermon."
Siveth just stood there and gazed at the Dog Fox as he got prepared to enter the hall via the curtain.
"Oh, Aslan certainly HAS been such a good Lion to us, hasn't he," he hummed proudly to himself before disgruntle took hold about the two missing individuals, "I just pray he deals EVER so severely with those two escapees for leaving Asgard Sky City without his permission..." he put that aside and entered the main hall, plunging the gathered congregants into silence as they fixed their eyes on the magnificent ivory furred Fox with his nine tails trailing behind him like a Peacock's train and the royal robe covering his back, the Aslan-decorated button keeping it in place around his neck glinting in the golden light slashing through the air from the large Aslan stained glass window behind him and the preacher's spot.
"Well done for obeying the weekly command to come to the mandatory service, you lot," Kurama spoke, his front paws spread out toward them in a greeting, "Welcome to this week's service where we all gather and sing praises to our brilliant Lion King Aslan, celebrating everything that he has done for us and giving him thanks for everything. Now that you lot are all here, it's time, as usual, to start worshipping our Lion King with the opening songs..."
The packed congregation watched and listened on as Kurama continued. "So without any more stalling, let's begin singing the first song. So let's all stand and start singing and dancing to the music our Gathering House band is gonna play for us," the Nine-Tailed Fox nodded to an area where the band was situated. The band consisted of several Fauns, a Sylph or Air Being, some Cloud-Men and some Dwarves, Blue Elves and Primates from the Land Domain. Their instruments consisted of flutes, trumpets, tambourines, cymbals and percussive instruments made from wood brought in from the Land Domain. Then at Kurama's signal, they opened up the music for the first worship song. As they did that, two Great Blue Windrunners flew in with some sheets with the lyrics to the music written on and unfurled the first sheet to display the lyrics. The whole congregation, packed though it was, stood up and began to sing the lyrics of the song. Some did it willingly but others did it reluctantly but they had to for fear of severe consequences from Kurama. As the entire congregation burst out singing the first worship song with Kurama singing with them, back in the backstage room behind the curtain, Siveth stood and gazed sadly at her sermon notes. As she did that, a colourful male Kirin walked in. Accompanying him was a female Fenghuang or Fenghen. Siveth turned and gazed at the pair of newcomers.
"What do you want, Kaecilius and Chroma Nerada?" the Nine-Tailed Kitsumiho Vixen said.
"We're waiting for the children to come to the classroom at Kurama's command, Siveth," replied the Kirin, Kaecilius, a sly smile marking his muzzle.
"Yes, while you carry out your sermon to the adult audience," added the Fenghen, Chroma Nerada, with that same sly smile on her beak. Kaecilius was a handsome Kirin and was a descendant of Kosmochlor, a cousin of Sisu from Kushanku's time period, the Golden Age and the years of the early Dark Age. However, unlike Kosmochlor, his cousin Sisu and their ancestor Azula who were Aslan-loyal, Kaecilius was anti-Aslan and was fiercely loyal to Kurama and his false Aslan. This was shameful among the Kirin species for they were noble species like Centaurs, Unicorns and Magical Foxes, as well as being normally loyal to Aslan. But Kaecilius did NOT care about these facts about Kirin one bit. He was of the antlered Kirin subtype and his hide was white but had the light interference properties of an opal stone. In the right light, Kaecilius' scales would shine in a rainbow of colours which changed with each viewing angle. His mane, tail and antlers, however, were silvery. Kaecilius' antlers were pure white and his eyes were a shade of azure blue like an Azure Dragon's scales and Kurama's eyes. Kaecilius had been put in charge of educating the young members of the Asgard Sky City community about the false Aslan and he had some underlings of his own, among them several rogue Unicorns who had turned against Aslan.
The Fenghen, Chroma Nerada, much like Kaecilius sported a rainbow of colours in her plumage like all Fenghuang of both sexes except she did not have the Peacock-like tail feathers present in Fengcocks or male Fenghuang. Her body and head plumage was predominantly metallic red and she had metallic orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and pink wing and tail flight feathers, albeit less colourful than a Fengcock. Because she was a Fenghen, she did not have the Peacock-like tail feathers and her tail was nothing more than a simple fan. She had a sparkling silver crest atop her head. Despite being a Fenghuang or Rainbow Phoenix who were normally loyal to Aslan, Chroma Nerada mocked the Lion and thought the whole story of him and his history... REAL history that is... was a joke. Furthermore, she scoffed at other Rainbow Phoenixes for believing in the real Lion, calling them cowards and she especially despised Fengcocks and other male Talking Beasts being appointed as leaders in high roles such as preaching Aslan's Book of Narnia word to a congregation, preferring that females should take up the role and she admired Siveth for doing this despite the Kitsumiho Vixen's reluctance and guilt. Thus Chroma Nerada was a very feminist Fenghen, and an extreme one at that. At one time she imagined Aslan to be a Lioness instead of a Lion which was a HUGE insult to the Lion himself as he was always a male figure. Chroma Nerada's role in Kurama's cult was mostly to teach young Talking Beasts and other Creatures and assist Kaecilius (or rather, lead him) in the classes. Chroma Nerada certainly was out of line in the role of a Fenghen on so many levels and was a dangerous individual, as deadly as one of Jadis' minions, and Kaecilius treated her like a queen and always submitted to her commands.
"You know something, Siveth," Kaecilius complained as the Vixen continued to peer through the curtain at the crowd of dancing creatures and Kurama as they continued to sing the worship song, the music produced by the band, "I only wish you were a part of our kid education team as you have an excellent talent in the area..."
"Yes, especially in teaching them about Aslan and Narnia's history," put in Chroma Nerada. Siveth pretended she hadn't heard for she did NOT like the rogue Kirin and Fenghen one bit. Not to mention the MASSIVE insult the group lead by these two had toward her role as teacher to young Creatures. After all, Kurama's taking captive of Siveth and preventing her from travelling to the Narnian Moon where she SHOULD have gone over a year ago had seriously frustrated her and it was exacerbated by the fact that Kurama will NOT let her be part of Kaecilius and Chroma Nerada's young Creature-teaching group as, according to him, Aslan wanted her to preach from the preaching spot, an area meant for MALE Creatures who were qualified to preach from, something Siveth knew was UTTERLY wrong. No wonder she was so bad-tempered. Then the nasty Chroma Nerada decided to rub in Siveth's frustration further.
"We're EVER so sorry that your plans to go to the Narnian Moon had to be put on hold, Siveth," the condescending Fenghen tittered, expressing her mock-sympathy for Siveth, "But if Aslan had told our Boss Kurama that you had to go to the Narnian Moon, he would have allowed you to go to the Narnian Moon but he hasn't. He wants you here in Asgard Sky City preaching to our followers out there every Seventh Day..."
"After all, it is important that we keep our cult pure and confined within the city," said Kaecilius, "The only members allowed OUTSIDE of Asgard are those with Kurama's special permission, such as going out on missions and assignments to other Domains via the Bifrost Transporter."
"And unfortunately, Siveth, that role is NOT for you," added Chroma Nerada nastily. Siveth immediately darted away, tears welling in her eyes to the laughter of Chroma Nerada and Kaecilius. Siveth HONESTLY could not STAND these two obnoxious followers of Kurama and his false Aslan and often, she had been on the apex of their rotten jokes and mockery. In floods of tears, the Kitsumiho Vixen rushed away as the wicked Kirin and Fenghen continued chortling at her before resuming waiting for the arrival of the young members of the crowded congregation out in the main hall.
"Don't forget, Siveth," Chroma Nerada called after the tearful Siveth, "You're needed for the sermon and you daren't disobey or Kurama WILL be FURIOUS."
"An' you will NOT like him when he's furious," put in Kaecilius. Siveth just ignored them and began to weep while the music and dancing's sound filtered through the wall as Kurama continued to lead the massive and crowded congregation in worship of Aslan (not the TRUE Aslan by the way, but HIS Aslan). Recollecting herself from Kaecilius and Chroma Nerada's rotten taunts, Siveth peered through a small hole perforated into the wall separating the backstage area from the main hall to get a glimpse of the singing and dancing congregants.
Siveth, together with her twin brother Quaoar, were familiar with how an average worship service of Aslan went on the Seventh Day of the Narnian Week (unlike us in our world who have named our days Monday, Tuesday and so on, most of the Narnians referred to their days as the First Day of the Narnian Week, Second Day and so on up until Seventh Day though some groups had their own names for the days. The same applied to the months in which they were often referred to as the First Month, Second Month and so on up to Twelfth Month; again some groups had their own names for the Narnian Months that made up the Narnian Year which had exactly 360 days instead of the 365 (366 for leap years) we had in our world) though different groups in different Domains had their own styles of worship. Some groups had dancing and singing, such as the Fauns (who also played instruments like flutes and other musical tools that required blowing to function), Dryads and Naiads (the Undines of the freshwater sources such as rivers, lakes and streams; their marine or sea counterparts were the Nereids) while some had a simpler style such as simply standing and singing songs. For the citizens of Asgard Sky City, their style was simply standing and singing of the songs to the music made by a band. Regardless of style, worship services to Aslan were always carried out in an orderly fashion, even groups that include dancing and singing in their style like the Fauns. However, what Siveth saw in the singing and dancing congregants right now was NOT like the orderly fashion she and Quaoar were familiar with. Instead of the usual orderly fashion, most of the congregants, regardless of their species, were dancing UTTERLY wildly though some remained stationary and clapped. This was certainly NOT the orderly fashion Siveth remembered Aslan decreeing in his Book through one of his writers that worship services were to be carried out.