All That Glitters Ch. 64

"All present may attend the Ascension Ceremony here in the Grand Hall in two days time," the Palace Seneschal called out.

L-1889 the Piscium Apartment, Lima Deck, Liramor-23, The Piscium System

Hanalei received the call from a jubilant Kumaraie only minutes after the Council of Warriors left the Grand Hall.

"They finally said yes!" the Kumaraie practically squealed as she spoke to Hanalei. "I was so angered at the Council for forcing my hand as they did, but they finally did their job and acknowledged my Goddaughters as warriors and Kai-Rai!

"We will have a ceremony on Sunday for the ascension of those who were injured after the coup and could not receive their titles at that time. The children will be recognized as Rai, but their ascension to Kai-Rai will take place at the next Denders Summit as so many of the Leadership of the Community will want to be present for that ceremony," the Kumaraie explained.

"The children will like that, having all of their 'aunties' and 'uncles' from the Greater Community to witness the ceremony," Hanalei laughed. "Give us the timings and we'll be there on Sunday, or should we come in a day early to let the children all be together?"

"That would be a treat for all of us, so, yes, please come Saturday evening," the Kumaraie agreed.

The Palace, Capital City, Pod-Saar, The Sharanas System

The children had been anticipating seeing their friends all day and when their father finally ended his shift, they were more than ready to go. On board The Trine were the family, Raymond, Liea, their respective staff and security, Mind and Caye-Ur, Martte Garnal and her security, Mylat Alafka and her group, and Clarrisiya. The trip to Pod-Saar was quick and uneventful as was the long walk up to the palace but, finally, the children were with their friends in the Small Throne Room.

The adults were surprised to see so many Maha-Rrin children in the room, as well as the Pemipinae, who was using a walker to get around. Many of the children were in the final stages of their rehabilitation from their individual Limb Recovery Surgery, while others were still waiting to begin their treatment and waiting impatiently after seeing the results that their friends were showing.

Ikekiya, Zarreniya, Prakeshya, Sunyea-Jarl, and Nalyea-Jarl were mingling with all the Maha-Rrin children running back and forth or helping their friends do things, while the adults talked.

"It is good to see you walking so well, Pemipinae," Junelliya said as the Pemipinae took a moment to sit and sip some tea.

"Oh, Junelliya, it is always a delight to have you come," the Pemipinae grunted after a sip.

"Oh, please!" the Kumaraie commented. "You are only happy to see her tea, ."

"Guilty!" the Pemipinae smiled while sipping the tasty Anuuran tea, garnering laughter from the other adults. She could not send her people to the market to get tea, her physiotherapists wouldn't allow that, forcing her to go herself, something that she could not accomplish at this time. Beside, some of her people were themselves injured.

"How are you coming along, Pemipinae," Hanalei asked.

"I am the end of my second month of rehabilitation. It is frustrating as I can see how well I am doing but am not progressing fast enough for my needs," the Pemipinae replied.

"You are doing excellently, Pemipinae," Dr. Maria Linder answered for everyone. She was a Doctor of Physiotherapy and one of those most hated/loved by all in the room. Maria was used to it; it came with the territory....

"Doctor Linge, it is good to see you once again," Junelliya spoke to Dr. Theona Ligne, the Medical Administrator for the Union medical team to Op Oran. They had met once before during a Presidential dinner aboard the Franz Müller (see chapter fifty-four).

"It is always a pleasure to see you and your family, Lady Junelliya, especially so if you are singing," Theona replied with a smile that was returned by Junelliya.

Prakeshya, her two brothers, Krissiya, Clarrisiya, Junelliya, Ikekiya, and Zarreniya, eventually found themselves in an isolated group as Clarrisiya introduced the Kumar-Pair's brood to Krissiya. "This is Kriss Klasson, sometimes known as Krissiya. She is a specialist GME like I am. She is also a trained bodyguard and will be working with your sisters directly, and you indirectly.

"Since Kriss will be with the children almost exclusively, you will see her more than me. So the duty of helping you with your empathic training will fall to her," Clarrisiya explained.

Kriss said hello to all and sent out a small tendril of her power for all the children to answered to. She was surprised at the different levels of power.

"So, some more advanced than others," she stated, looking particularly at the two male Pod-Drran. "That is not surprising. Even in strong empaths, the levels can be quite different between us. What you need to do is begin a steady routine of training so that you can make use of what you have and can develop it further. It will take time, but you can definitely improve."

She gave them some simple exercises to play with, something fun and easy. The children were soon playing with their abilities and enjoying themselves when they were interrupted by a group of Maha-Rrin children in float chairs.

"Excuse me. We see you glowing and wonder why that is?" the obvious leader of the group stated. "We see this glow in us too, and wonder if it is important."

Junelliya gasped and signaled one of the palace staff. "We need to speak with the Kuma-Pair, the Pemipinae, and the Palace Seneschal immediately. It is important."

The female nodded and quickly moved to speak with those worthies. Not long after, the small group was suddenly much bigger.

"Kumaraie, do you remember how it was that I came into my powers?" Junelliya asked, holding out her shark tooth necklace as a hint.

"You were attacked by a great sea beast," the Kumaraie replied.

"Some empaths come into their power through life altering events. It can trigger dormant empaths to come to life. Nalyea and Sunyea, both came into their powers during the Palda event, as did many Asocans. It was a life altering event that activated dormant powers.

"Kumaraie, Pemipinae, the Great Tremor was a life altering event. Some Kisory, and probably many adults, have had their dormant powers activated," Junelliya informed her hosts.

Heads snapped around to look at the Maha-Rrin who had approached the group. Junelliya raised her hand.

"Try to do as I do," she told them and sent out a small tendril of power to the group. They looked at each other and lifted their hands. Immediately, those that could see it noticed the bloom of power around the small group. Junelliya smiled as each sent back a tendril. It wasn't much, but it was there.

"This is wonderful!" the Kumaraie stated. "We will have to check with all the Maha-Rrin and see who has manifested power." She gave the Seneschal a significant look and he nodded once to her. It would be busy for a few days for him...

************

The next day, the Seneschal was busy for another reason, as he prepared for the ascension ceremony to Sai, and Kai, for those who were too injured to take part in the previous event.

Once he had everyone placed where he wanted them, he turned to address all by name, giving them the order in which they would be elevated. He spoke finally to the Piscium brood.

"Your elevation will acknowledged today, but the ceremony will be postponed" he explained with a very Pod-Drran smile (closed mouth as the showing of teeth is a threat display for Pod-Drran and Maha-Rrin). "The other rulers want to be present during your elevation. For this reason, your elevation ceremony will be conducted at the Denders Summit this summer."

The children were happy with that. They understood politics much better than some of the adults who worked at the palace. "We OK with that, sir," Ikekiya said.

"We understand," Zarreniya parroted. "There be many things scary about little girls becoming Kai-Rai." That got a bark of laughter from the Seneschal who was fully aware of the controversy that had been caused by the Council of Warriors.

"I look forward to your actual ceremony, Chohdae," he stated, grinning wildly as he did so.

The ceremony went off without a hitch. Soon enough, it came time to nominate the two Piscium children.

"The brood mates, Palda Ikekia Fatima Tema Se-Lam Poda-Rai-Dosri Piscium Soona-Patek, acknowledged as Shamot, and Palda Zarrenia Henadi Se-Lam Poda-Rai-Latti Piscium, acknowledged as Shamot, have been nominated to Kai-Rai," the Seneschal barked. He looked to the Kumaraie, who rose from her thrown.

"Where is the representative for the Council of Warriors?" the Kumaraie called out.

"Here, My Kumaraie," came immediately as Callet-Mun Kai-Rai stepped forward.

"The Council of Warriors debated long and hard before they finally consented to allow these two to be designated Rai and elevated to Kai-Rai. Are you agreeable with their elevation ceremony being held at the next Denders Summit?" the Kumaraie asked.

This was actually political subterfuge, as the Council did not want them to be elevated with other Kai-Rai in the Palace.

"We are, My Kumaraie," Callet-Mun replied.

"Good. A representative of the Council of Warriors will have to attend the ceremony. I suggest you, Callet-Mun," the Kumaraie spoke with a slight smile on her lips. "It will give you a vacation on another world."

"Yes, My Kumaraie," Callet-Mun replied, having been put on the spot. She knew this was retaliation for the length of time it took and the request not to have the brood elevated in the Great Hall of the Palace. She would be forced to endure the elevation ceremony of those she most despised, in the presence of the leaders of the Greater Community...

The Palace, Capital City, Pod-Saar, The Sharanas System

Hanalei sent the Trine to Hollander's World to pick up members of the Council of Empaths for a special session of a Crush. They would be their to re-assure the parents that they would have support for their broods.

The special Shamots and their families were brought to the Palace for another training session for empathy and telepathy. This time, there were new people, two Byandi, and more than a dozen Maha-Rrin and three Pod-Drran and their parents.

Violletiya sat at the bottom of a very large circle with Augraf and Tougrate on either side of her. The circle consisted of both students and the families of those who were available.

"Hello students. Today I would like to introduce new members of our Crush. We have with us Maha-Rrin who we have recently discovered they have come into their powers. We also have the brood of the Kumar-Pair, Sunyea, Nalyea, and Prakeshya, acknowledged by the Council of Empaths.

"This session will include, Saalaa and Alafka of the Byandi," she pointed out each person she named. "Both of them have also recently discovered they are empathic and in need of training. However, we have a special problem with the Byandi as they do not view empaths in a good light. As such, they not only need to learn how to develop their empathy but also how to control and conceal it from their fellow Byandi.

"This means that what we teach them, you will also learn. While you will be looked on favorably in the Asocan Realm, and within the Oranae, there are other areas of the Greater Community where empaths and telepaths are looked on with suspicion, fear, and even hatred," Violletiya advised them.

"It is the nature of intelligent races to congregate together in groups'" Heyya began. "We are all social creatures and need the sense of belonging to a group in order to thrive.

"Most of our groups are forced on us during our youth, through school, or extra curricular activities. Whether that is sports or music, acting or astronomy, or other activities, it doesn't matter. The coming together of groups is the essential part of intelligent races that empaths desire and need. Empaths need this even more so than non-empathic members of our species.

"Without this sense of belonging, empaths can wither and die. That is why the feelings of societal alienation that the development of empathic power can bring about are so harmful to the psyche of empaths. Being labelled as a freak or a monster and shunned by your society is damaging to any but more so for empaths and telepaths.

"It is also within our nature to bond with one another. We bond as friends, lovers, couples, workmates, religious groups, political parties, soldiers, and entire planets of people. I am from Hollander's World; you are from Pod-Saar, or AsocAR, or other worlds.

"Empaths need the social aspects of our nature to thrive, whether it is through the bond of groups, such as the crushes and fellowships of the Council of Empaths, the bonds of matrimony, the bonds of a Congress, such as we are now involved with, or the bonds of race - of just being part of our people.

"Our needs to be a part of our society means that when we are ostracized, it can hurt us mentally, and physically. Eventually, such hurt can cause so much harm, that we want to hide away in fear, or lash out against those who are hurting us.

"This is why the Byandi have such problems with the Gratna, as the Byandi call those with empathy. Their society has been hurt before because of the intolerance against the Gratna. Anyone who is persecuted for reasons beyond their control or understanding, will eventually lash out against their persecutors. With the potential power that some empaths have, this can cause major issues within the population, and bring even more fear against those with power.

"Those who successfully learn to hide their power, will eventually survive, but the cost of having to suppress their power can be devastating on a person's psyche. That is why those of you with families have them with you tonight, so that they can see for themselves that your powers, though special, are nothing to be feared.

"Because we have so many new people, we will begin again with the first exercise that most empaths do on their own. That of simply touching another person to feel their emotions.

"We will begin by centering our being. This is something that is unique to each individual, and even species, but it basically means bringing calm to our hearts, minds, and bodies so that we can focus on what we need to do.

The young ones all began the centering exercise some doing much better than others. After a few minutes, Junelliya centered herself and started helping those who were having the most problems. Not long after, everyone was centered.

"You are all centered now," Heyya explained. "Remember this feeling. It is what you will strive for each time you center yourself. Now, reach out and touch your family members and try to sense what they are feeling.

The students were directly in touch with most of their family members, with the exception of the orphans. Here, the local Caregivers and Crèche Mothers had stepped in to act as family. The students were able to accurately assess the feelings of surprise that they received by touching the feelings of those closest to them. The families were deeply moved by the closeness that this brought to each other.

After awhile, Heyya told them to "reach out and touch the empath closest to you. Try to sense what they are feeling."

The students all reached out and touched the empaths around them, feeling surprise and wonder from the others as they could more clearly sense the feelings of other empaths. The instructors had placed empaths of other species together so that as much as possible, no one was sitting beside a member of their own species. The feelings were different and that surprised those in the circle.

The experienced empaths came and sat in front of groups of students and had them touch them one by one. Each of the GME's was focusing on a specific feeling of pleasure, pain, happy, angry, surprise, etc. They successfully brought these feelings to the students then moved on to the next group.

"Notice how the feelings change between species. Even though they are slightly modified, they are still identifiable as feelings similar to your own," Heyya explained. "Once you begin to identify the different feelings, you can then sense those same feelings in other species, no matter how they are filtered by the different races. Conversely, if you sense these feelings, you will know immediately from which species they emanate."

By now, more than an hour had passed in the exercise and Violletiya called an end to it. Petronellaya stepped in to provide one more little treat for the empaths.

"I am going to show you how to do a 'summons'. It is used to call other empaths near you to see who is around you. Normally a more senior empath would initiate such a pulse. The return will tell you who is near you and what their power levels are. It is simple, fast, and fun for empaths," Petronellaya explained. She then sent out a pulse and had the new empaths return it to her.

The students immediately understood how useful such it would be to use a summons as they were roughly able how determine how powerful the return pulses were and thus determine which empaths of consequence were around them.

They had a lot of fun getting returns from the other students but when the GME's, and the Councillors returned their pulse, they really got an idea of just how useful the summons could be.

Then Junelliya answered the summons. Everyone was overawed by the power she projected with her pulse.

"Junelliya is the most powerful empath in the known universe at this time," Councillor Elliya explained. "She is currently designated a Grand Master Empath, but will soon be made a Master Class Empath. There are currently only five MCE level people in the Council of Empaths. Junelliya will become the sixth."

Violletiya took over once more. "I want you all to recenter yourselves so that we can exit the circle with a clear and calm demeanor."

The students all recentered themselves and smiled as the exercise ended.

"Now, remember what you have experienced, especially the centering exercise. You will always need to center yourself before you use your powers. With practice, centering will become so fast it will be a mere thought for you, but that is a little bit in the future for most of you.

"Take the time to talk to those closest around you, your families and friends, about what you just experienced. Families, this will be the life of your young one. Their experiences will only grow exponentially from here. Some of them will become truly powerful but all of those here will be able to successfully use their powers as they grow.

"Please note that your young ones are now on a path that will bring them to a level of control that will allow them to successfully integrate their empathy into their lives, possibly allowing them to use their powers as part of their work lives. They will become very useful members of your societies," Violletiya explained.

The families took the time to speak together, acknowledging what they had just experienced. Councillor Petronellaya then spoke.

"For the families who have wrist comps, we will be providing you with the translated version of the Code of Conduct of the Council of Empaths, and the written laws of the Council. It is important that you all understand these two items as your young will be required to follow the Code of Conduct for the rest of their lives. We will be holding a Grand Council of Empaths during the next Denders Summit this summer. There we will induct all of those here who have yet to be included in the Council of Empaths. This is an important ceremony as it certifies our young empaths as members in good standing in the Council.

"We will arrange for the transportation and accommodation at Denders for all of those who will be included in the induction ceremony. Something for all of you to look forward to," Petronellaya ended.