The key turning in the lock sounded like the end of the world. The blue light from the torches burned her eyes like the rusted hinges burned her ears as the door swung open. The rough fabric of her "clothes" which chafed her skin reminded her of a potato bag and were about as shapeless. Her body felt weak, but her mind was clearer than she expected after the three day water fast. She looked up at the looming figure who entered her cell.
"Rise," was all he said. The hood of his robe was deep and the voice seemed to emanate from the midnight darkness. The torch bearers stood impassive outside the room.
She obeyed and waited while he studied her. Finally, he said, "Do you have any final questions? You truly stand on the precipice now. The Pool awaits."
Clarissa felt calm inside, but decided to take the opportunity. She carefully worded her questions in an attempt to get information without seeming to be afraid or hesitant.
"What may I expect? I wish to act well before the Pool."
The figure tilted his head, considering. "All I can suggest is humility." Pausing briefly, he continued, "I won't lie to you, not all survive contact with the Pool," she sensed a smile within the hood now, "but most do."
She nodded at this. It was too late now anyway. There was nothing to do but go forward. She'd be damned if she died down here failing the final test. The figure took her silence at face value and motioned for her to follow him. They exited the cell and the torch bearers fell in a respectful distance behind.
They did not go far, a walk of less than a minute brought them into a large chamber lit by many torches. At the entrance were guards wearing armor. Brigandine and plate. It was the first armor she had seen and the men and women wearing it looked comfortable and accustomed to the gear. This must be the Pool chamber. A few dozen robed figures stood arrayed in rows to let them pass.
At the far end of the room, a man in midnight blue robes stood upon the dias, his feet bathed in the saturated blue glow she had seen emanate from torches and, she thought suddenly, shooting through the aquamarine stone she wore on her neck. She also saw Tanya at the foot of the stairs leading up to the dias with two other Servants who she did not recognize. She was wearing a robe as well and though her features appeared placid, her eyes shined. There was some kind of bundle in her arms.
Clarissa was halted in front of the dias, her escorts peeling off to join the ranks of Servants. Two of the other initiates stepped up beside her. They must have been processing behind her the whole time. Of the six she had sat with almost a week ago, two had left during the first three days and one apparently did not make it through the water fast. She did not want to know what had happened to her.
Once everyone stopped, the man on the dias began to speak. His eyes glowed with a fierce blue fire, as if his outward stillness hid deep passions.
"Today is a glad day, one in which we hope our ranks will be swelled further. First, the Pool recognizes our three sponsors here. Tanya, Derin, and Gastone, your loyalty and devotion to the Pool have given you insight and courage. I have been told these men and women standing here are worthy indeed and ready to help us shoulder the burden of building the ark of the future. You are brothers and sisters no longer, but are from hereon elevated to the rank of full initiate."
Clarissa understood most of what was said, but saw all three of the sponsors beaming with pride. The crowd of robed figures shifted slightly, but there was no sound and no clapping or other acknowledgement. It was eerie.
The man shifted his gaze from the sponsors to Clarissa and her two companions. "And now I must commend you three. You have shown courage and resourcefulness in order to be here. None can stand where you are now without those qualities. However, those traits will not serve you in the coming moments. There is but one thing that will vouchsafe you through your Cleansing: faith. We stand on the precipice of change in the world and are assailed on all sides by the ignorant. We are the vanguard of humanity! The world will be remade soon and only those with faith in the Pool will survive to see the other side!"
As he spoke, the man's eyes widened and the frenzied look of a zealot overcame him. By the last sentence the force emanating from him was palpable. Clarissa stood transfixed and her breath quickened as the words penetrated her. She felt the room stir and shift as the Servants surrounding her reacted in the same way. She was ready to run through a wall and had no idea why. Before the Leader was simply a man speaking before a crowd, now she saw him as a lightning rod of change.
Breathing deeply, the Leader seemed to bring himself back under control. The glow of his eyes receded and his eyes lost their faraway look. He met Clarissa's eyes and she froze. Raising his hand, he pointed his finger at her. Nerves and uncertainty kept her rooted to the ground, but Tanya stepped forward and took her arm, guiding her to the dias and up the steps. On the top step, just below the level of the dias, she was told to kneel.
What she saw took her breath away. A hole cut into the dias 2 meters in diameter was filled with a liquid unlike any she had ever seen. It glowed the same blue as filled the eyes of the Leader and others, the same blue in the eyes of Wrhythm, the same blue in the stone around her neck. But there were any number of other colors mixed in, small dashes of purple, orange, reds, and greens. It was every color, but only one showed through. This had to be pure Water element. But how? It wasn't contained.
As soon as she knelt, the gathered Servants began a slow chant.
Dirt of ignorance washed away
The dark depths still and teeming
Water is life. Embrace it, know it, become it!
Be cleansed!
Clarissa was near panic, what was going on? She had no idea what to do and no idea what was going on. This was beyond her experience, perhaps beyond her ability. She had never heard of anything like this in the element cults. They discovered how to harness pure Water element in a way that was beyond the city's knowledge. She felt Tanya's hand push gently but firmly on her back as the Leader, his eyes flashing with zealotry again, grasped the back of her head and pushed her towards the Pool. Terrifed, Clarissa heard the chant continuing as she took one last breath and her head went beneath the surface.
Tanya and the Leader's hands left her body, but they were no longer needed. She wrestled and jerked but something held her head in a grip of iron. It was not painful, only unyielding, like a padded vice. The intense blue shot through her closed eyelids and filled her vision. Still she fought and in her panic felt her breath running out at an alarming rate. It then she heard a voice, distant sounding from the liquid, but still clear. "Breathe," it said.
Her mind rejected this out of hand without conscious thought. Her lungs would fill and she would drown or suffocate. At this rate, it was a race to see which would kill her first. She continued to struggle in vain against whatever was holding her.
"Breathe."
Her struggles weakened and her lungs burned. She pounded her hands on the stone of the dias. What was this? There was no understanding, no explanation in her world of scienseers, natural laws, and military hierarchy. What she was experiencing was impossible. A thousand arugments against this flashed through her mind in an instant. All shattered against the reality of her experience.
"Breathe," the voice said for a third time. In the center of herself amidst the burning of her depleted lungs, bruised hands, and smashed world view, the Leader's face appeared before her. "Faith," the apparition breathed. She had no other choice. She breathed.
The effect was instantaneous. The burning in her lungs continued, but with a speed that defied reality, her mind was laid bare. Her emotions, desires, jealousies, things dark and deep that she hadn't known were lurking but which controlled her every decision were all of a sudden brought out of the deeps and into the sun drenched shallows of her consciosness. It was too much for her. In fact, it was too much for anyone. As every potential member of the Servants of the Pool before her, this blast of unbelieveable and yet undeniable truth forced her mind to shut down. The world went from blue to black.
She woke up somewhere that had unworked stone for a ceiling. She was exhausted. Her hands hurt badly. Someone stirred nearby. Confusion set in. Her initation, her cleansing. The memory flooded in and nearly sent her back into oblivion. She turned her head slowly and realized her neck was sore from her struggles. She saw one of the men who had stood with her to be initiated, sitting on his own bedroll. She turned further and saw an empty third one. He shook his head.
"I almost didn't go after I saw what you two went through. Scared the shit out of me."
Clarissa didn't know what to say. Looking back she was glad she had gone first. Sometimes ignorance and courage go hand in hand.
"Did we pass?"
"Failure is death, as our late compatriot discovered. So I would have to say yes."