SolaCelestial

A grand chandelier dangling with crystals lights up the immense ballroom with cool lighting. Suspended from the highest tier, at the center of the glass ceiling that opens up to the starry night, it twinkles as if it were a cluster of stars. Enclaved by a gradual spiral staircase-like ascension of upper floors, the ballroom is the centerpiece of the ground floor. White gardenias, orchids, and lilies paint the pillars, and wisteria pour out from the vases. Silver and gold sparkle throughout the room like moonlight on a lake. Anticipation fills the air as a summer breeze and rises, like mist attempting to inhabit every crevice of space feasible.

Sophia wishes she was filled up just the same. She wouldn’t mind feeling it, the anticipation that is, however she was only able to see it. It had been quite some time since she felt. A resident of the castle for a while now, and she hadn't experienced feeling for longer than that, she would have been concerned had she been capable. It wasn´t that she felt bad or negative, she was simply removed from any sensory episode really. A familiarity for emotions wasn’t lacking, she had felt in the expanse of her life, just not for some time. The idea of senses remained. It seemed as if she were severed from a part of herself. Though she wasnt’t currently able to participate with sensations, she was a pristine observer. Eyes like an eagle, to her the unseen was visible.

Sable thick garments covered the man's pale skin. Intriguing robes, impeccably made, but definitely antiquest. They didn’t look like anything she had seen in her own region. The gentleman was tall and slender, but not frail. And he stood upright with a slight tilt of the head, as if the tilt would shield him from notice. But it was impossible to overlook them, well, him… and them. Especially for Sophia. Her eyes appraised his ebony hair, just long enough to slightly cover his ears, shagged across his head. Boyish charm and masculine strength emanated from him all at once. Ice blue eyes shone from beneath eyebrows that seemed as if hand painted by an artist; accentuated by long black eyelashes they pierced like the tip of a sword to the heart. 

Magical. Tethered to this dark figure were wings, majestic like a wild stallion. Moonless black feathers. Luxurious and rich. Enormous, towering as if reaching into the universe to snatch up something special. The pair of them brimmed with ambiguous possibility. 

 Everyone in Anastalia possessed gifts, but long ago the ancestors were visibly different. They were born under a brighter sun and with a different kind of beauty. Sophia heard rumors that those with powers of healing displayed what seemed like a thin layer of bark which covered their feet and wrists, and foliage sprouted from their heads as well as various places on their bodies. Shapeshifters subtly resembled leopards. They didn’t have fur, but looked as if different colors had penetrated their skin and spread like ink blotches. Possibly even similar to patchwork. In our day it would look like imperfection. Telekinetics displayed mismatched eye color, and what appeared like stretch marks or veins crawled up their necks, mid body, and thighs. But that was long ago and with every passing generation our gifts were fading away like dust, and they were all hidden on the inside escaping as only a whisper, none altered our physical appearance. Not for hundreds of years. No one in Anastalia had seen wings in centuries, if ever. This was something special. It was evidence. Evidence that magic was not dying, it still illuminated our world. It was hope. 

At that moment a quietly slumbering seed rose up from deep within Sophia, somewhere she was unaware existed. Gently at first and increasingly fierce, it was like a woman in labor.  The sense was exhilarating and unpredictable, it seemed good, yet dangerous. She felt like she was radiating. She felt refreshed, she felt alive…she felt!

There was something about this mystifying man. The phenomenon happening inside of her, almost uncontrollable, was compelling her towards him. At first she thought she was only in shock from feeling that it rattled her, but her feet began sliding out from underneath her causing her to lose her balance. A magnetar force, the strongest she had ever encountered beckoned. Determined not to knock over anyone or anything, while also committed to maintaining her free will to whatever degree attainable, she began to step forward. Not exactly walking, more guiding each pull of the leg, she somehow elegantly moved through the crowd of guests. Passing couples dancing her hands swept by silken and lace gowns, even velvet tailcoats. The aroma of flowers, perfume, and the fresh night air ushered in through the windows,  her nose. When she realized how close she was to the man now it became more evident how enchantingly beautiful he was, she didn´t know if she was nervous or excited, or both.   

Every few centuries the moon gets so close to us that we get to see it up close, as if face to face with a friend, in all itś glory. It remains present all day, for three days. As a side effect of the moon´s intimate position our magic is temporarily enhanced. There is said to be a stone that resides somewhere on the moon that can reverse the disintegration of our powers that has been occuring over the generations. The Solacelestial ball is being held in celebration of a New Hope. And at this moment Sophia felt that hope, she held it so closely it hurt. 

As she neared the man, so close now, his back to her, slowly turning her direction she completely lost control. His essence had drawn her in at an accelerating pace, and just as he turned they were thrust into eachothers arms. Their eyes met. He gazed down at her in shock at first, shortly followed by a gentle smile. She shyly smiled back, and just as she noticed that the lovely man's eyes were not like ice, for surrounding his pupils were vibrant golden supernovas, she vanished from before him. 

…..

Darkness and silence. 

 Wrapped up in incomprehensible peace Sophia regained some kind of sense of awareness. Consciousness in its pure form. It was as if she was inside, outside and beside herself all at once. She felt complete symbiosis with all of creation. Plants, animals, elements, energy, and sound in complete harmony. Acceptance with the substances that converged to form spirit and intrinsic human nature, even those that she once may have found unfavorable were in unison. Darkness and light were not opposite, but the same. Everything that is, is One. 

Suddenly fire and ice swirled like a supernatural hurricane fused with planetary and solar wind. The sound of soothingly fierce roaring water echoed into what seemed like eternity. A divine symphony buzzed and undulated returning her to recognition of physical sensation and her eyes were opened as she trembled to the ground. When she opened them she was in a dimension surrounded by planets, blackholes and stars. Galaxies and nebulas, life was exploding and imploding all around. 

Gradually lifting her head she looked  out into what could have been a horizon where snowlike dust blew through dunes of sand. It was like waking from a beautiful dream. When she began to lift herself to her feet she realized she was standing on a sea of saphire like stone, and Sophia knew exactly where she was.

She had never really been at the ball at all, she had been here all along. That is why she had not felt. A shadow of her had been living in the castle back home. It was all real, the spectacular ball, the curious man, but she hadn’t been there in the flesh. Some secret truth about the mysterious man had reverbirated through her being waking her from her sleep. Sophia was on the moon.