The Great Scale of Bethesda

BETHESDA , Western District, 2420AA, After leaving the Lithewood cottage, Havillah found herself walking aimlessly down a street, not sure which direction to follow. Rows upon rows of the two storey cottages that made up the Western District rose up to greet her and realising that she had no idea where she was headed,  she let out an exasperated sigh. Still, that did not stop. Her feet kept on going and going as it was the only thing that she could do not to buckle down and crumble from the despair. "Great deity," she whispered. "Great and Eternal Light, what am I to do?" she stumbled clutching the front of her robes at the pain that was searing her. A whirring sound filled the air and she stood upright. Her head turning even as it followed the vehicles that had passed by her heading down in the direction of the Lithewood home. One of the Hub's vessels. She recalled his explanation and the realisation further cemented her fears and the shame from her actions. "Dear Light, dear Hope, what am I to do now?" she wailed in her thought, tears streaming down as she looked up to the sky and at what she believed was the source of all light. However, no answers seemed to be forthcoming and finally she laughed bitterly to herself. "What am I even thinking? No one has actually communicated with the Light in centuries. Why should I think that I will be the one to be heard let alone be answered?" she thought audibly to herself. "No, but someone, something saved me from that terror and even reactivated my scales." Another part of her countered. She could not afford to lose faith yet. She was still alive, wasn't she? Sure, a lot of things had gone wrong, but if being alive was the standard for being okay, meaning that she was still in existence. Then it meant that she still had hope. She finally surmised. "Come to think of it, it was right after I mentioned the Light that I was saved!" she spewed out excitedly. "Could it be?  Could it be? " " Congratulations. You have finally realised." A dull monotone answered her and Havillah skittered back in surprise, searching for its bearer. A tired sigh emanated from the air all around her and she turned, looking every way in an attempt to find out its source. She was not successful. In fact, there was no one there. Just an empty road and the ocassional building here and there. "Havillah," the voice called out, its timbre, warm and smooth something that reminded her of milk. A sound that reverberated in every part of her being, leaving her feeling scared and comforted at the same time. "I thought you knew?" It asked her, even though she felt deep within her that it already knew the answers to all this questions. "Who are you?" she finally mustered the courage to ask. "Come, follow and I'll show you." it replied. "Follow?" Havillah wondered out loudly. How was she supposed to follow what she could not even see? Suddenly, her feet beneath were swept off beneath her and in an instant, she found herself standing outside the Western District, in a completely different zone. The Central District, she muttered in her thoughts even as she stared back at the familiar surroundings and the huge derelict mansions that rose up high to kiss the late afternoon sky. As usual it was empty with no other sign of life save for the occasional cry of a passing bird and the chirps of the crickets hiding in the shadows. Yes, it was as quiet as it had been several evenings before when she had landed there. "The abandoned district?" There was no answer and instead, a strong gale suddenly appeared and once again, Havillah found herself struggling as she was pushed forward through the corridors and pathways. Why? She grumbled within heart. Wasn't it easier to just let her walk? But still, maybe this way was faster. How had she even managed to move from the western district to this side of town? And in an instant for that matter. Was it the robes again? Did the Triban robes have a voice?  A soul maybe? Even though she was seemingly lost in thought, her eyes remained ever attentive. Taking in her surroundings and soon enough she was able to find out where the wind was blowing. "Really? You couldn't just land me there?" she complained, her irritation at being handled roughly getting the better of her. Right there infront of her was the temple and it seemed this was their final destination as the wind as ceased the moment her feet had hit the front step. "Havillah..." A fading whisper filled the air and once again, she was reassured of the presence of that thing that had her doubting her sanity. Who was he - she? She could not make up her mind as the voice did not clue her of its gender. "Come..." it prompted again. This time with a slight push towards the stairs. "Come?" she responded irritably, in her anger, having found the clout to finally questions its motives. "Come, I will show you." Was the flat reply free of any emotion including anger at her sudden outburst. There was an urgency though. As if it was desperate to reveal something to her and despite her earlier reservations, Havillah found her curiosity driving her to walk up the front steps and to the massive front doors of the earthly temple. Havillah had been there before and so she was a little bit apprehensive. She was aware of the state of the doors and from her former experience she was anxious for any intruders that may appear to stop them. What was she supposed to see here? She wondered, her fingers once again tracing the familiar engravings that bore a striking resemblance to something that she was familiar with but was yet to discover.  "If only I could remember." she thought wistfully as she tried hard and failed to connect the markings to a memory. "Go in." The voice finally told and as if in response to the simple command, Havillah watched slack jawed as the huge metal doors grated open revealing the darkness that was waiting inside. As she had suspected there were no windows which explained the darkness that her eyes were still getting used to. With the Light of the afternoon sun shining on her face, it was hard to get used to even with her jewel eyes. "Come! " once again, the gale appeared from nowhere and Havillah was shoved inside the into the darkened interior of the golden temple. With no sun to inhibit her gaze she could see the layout quite well and was surprised to find that it was quite empty, devoid of any furniture and with just the pillars that littered it. "Come." The voice said again and Havillah frowned in response. Were it not for her eyes, she would have been totally blind. Any human should have been and yet this thing was telling her to keep venturing forward into darkness? "What is it with you?" she finally hissed. "How am I supposed to see in this great darkness?" "You are a Great, aren't you?" it responded. "If you know that then you should also be aware that... " Wait! It knew? She had not yet introduced herself and yet, it already knew about her.  "Come to think of it..." Haulage mulled finally realising that it had been calling her by her name from the very beginning! "Wait! Are you my Triban-" "Walk!" Was the only response she was given as she was shoved forward. As her foot finally stepped over the threshold, a bright spark burst out from the floor beneath her heel and flew up to the ceiling. Surprised, her gaze lifted up to behold a sight that she had thought never to see again. "Hope Crystals!" the words left her mouth in a gasp even as a bunch of tiny lights flared dangling down from the high domed ceiling by what appeared to be glowing threads. Yes, Hope Crystals, she turned around taking in the design that the dangling threads of varying lengths had just created. It was the same as the vine like design on the door. "Did I do that?" she questioned in awe, turning back to view thr surroundings that were now glowing in the new light. "What is this place?" she inquired of the voice. Yes, it was as empty as she had deduced before apart from the murals that depicted a scene that she now knew very well and that had her thinking back to the oracles of the Last Great King. If Killion could see this... She began to think but was interrupted by the voice as it answered her. "What do you think it is?" the atmosphere grew even more serious. "I do not know." she pondered her answer for a moment. "The people around here call it a temple, but to what purpose, I have no idea." She replied truthfully. "What are those carvings on the doors? It is the same pattern formed by the crystal." she wanted to ask about the paintings but decided to go with what she felt was much more important. "They are the Marks of the Destiny. To be specific a variant that goes by the name The Calling." It replied. "I am surprised though, that you are asking that question considering who you are and where you have come from." Havillah's eyes narrowed, as she frowned at what she considered a weird response. "Somehow I feel like you are incapable of being surprised." she finally said but was answered with silence. Was it mad? Had her responses finally ticked it off? "What is that on your robes?" the voice finally replied after a prolonged moment of silence. "My robes?" her eyes dropped to her robes and she gasped as realisation finally settled in. "The Marks of the Destiny!" She remarked finally piecing the puzzle that had been troubling her all along. Who knew that the answer was that close? She had only needed to look at herself, or rather the vine like designs on the garmets edges that resembled the very ones that were gilded upon the temple's double doorways. "Yes, the markings are the same for all the Great robes. After all, you are all children of destiny." It added, answering her unspoken question. "I assume then, that it has some meaning and is not just some form of decoration?" "You are right to assume so. Moving on..." it ended as another gust of wind blew in to push her forward. "Will you please stop doing that? I can walk on my own!" "There's a lot that you need you to see before they come looking for you." "They? " it ignored her and she found herself growing more frustrated by the minute. What was all these? What was the purpose and why was it important that she saw it? She huffed as she conceded with its wishes.  Not that she had a voice in the first place for the wind was quite forceful even as it wrapped around her robes, lifting her, before carrying her across the entire length of the hallway and through a second door. This door  led out into another courtyard only that it was not as dark as the first one. On the contrary, dazzling light was shining down from the ceiling. A ceiling of crystal glassthat resembled the floors of Triberias, but where the Hope provided the city's light, the yellow rays of the sun cast a rainbow of colours on the yellow outer walls. There were more murals here. Pictures that depicted what she had now come to know as terrors. There were many types she confirmed. The information aligning with what she had gathered at the hub. Unlike the outer court. This inner courtyard was definitely not empty. As all around her vegetation flourished, such that it resembled a colourful tropical garden with flowers and even fruit trees of several kinds. No wonder avian life could survive here. She remarked as she surveyed the several species of birds that had turned the bright extensive space into a home. "Come..." her observations were cut short as she was pushed further into the courtyard. The path in front of her remained crystal with grass growing on either side of it. How the grass had not overgrown it. Havillah could not tell, but with Virtue, she knew that anything was possible. As she came to the centre, Havillah noticed a long winding corridor, one that snaked around another building standing at the centre of the courtyard. The walls were made of a familiar crystal. One that was quite different from that of the floors and that reminded of what she once called home. The temple's inner sanctum,  she thought as she beheld the golden door with new markings that quite distinct if not a little different from the Mark of the Calling. "What is this?" She inquired, staring at the markings that also looked familiar, though she could not remember where she had seen them before. "Another variant of the Marks of the Destiny." the voice told her. "  It is named the Chosing, or rather the Mark of the Chosen." The Calling? The Chosen? Havillah mulled over the words in her mind. "Why was it a Mark now and not Marks?" she asked even as she tried and failed to decipher the meanings. Distractedly, she continued to take in and trace the beautiful carvings until something else caught her eye through the crystal walls. "Enter. " once again,the doors opened and Havillah walked in to find what could only be describe as a very huge scale. Not withstanding, the scale was quite different from the ones she had seen in Sanctuary scrolls back in Triberias. For instead of the scale being quite small and crystalline, this giant scale was all golden, albeit a dull golden and the three bars of the scale were brazen instead of golden, covered by a dull sheen that spoke of their inertness. In short, the scale was not active.