Chapter Sixteen: AarryAir at his AirAgent Air-birthday
"Let's then all again properly sing them their air-birthday song!" Warder-dad Airion said as Airien with Airii and Warder-beast-dad Aireo were at his side ⸺ and he and Airien were in white suits and wing-wears and patagium-wears, and as they had flown down and stood behind AarryAir with AarrybeastAir, and with Warderess-mum Arletta and Airian with Airaa and Warderess-beast-mum Airea behind AarrietAir with AarrietbeastAir, and all began again aloud.
"HAPPY AIRBIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY AIRBIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY AIRBIRTHDAY TO YOU AARRYAIR AND AARRIETAIR AIRAGENT AND AIRAGENTESS!" And slower and softer. "HAPPY AIRBIRTHDAY TO YOU!" And all clapped and cheered, and AarryAir and AarrietAir joined them in jollity.
And all again picked up.
"HOW OLD ARE YOU NOW! HOW OLD ARE YOU NOW! HOW OLD ARE YOU NOW AARRYAIR AND AARRIETAIR AIRAGENT AND AIRAGENTESS!" And slower and softer. "HOW OLD ARE YOU NOW!" And all again clapped and cheered, and AarryAir and AarrietAir joined them.
AarryAir and AarrietAir then saw Warderess-mum Arletta stare at them with her expectant stare, and started.
"ELEVEN YEARS WE ARE! ELEVEN YEARS WE ARE! ELEVEN YEARS WE ARE AARRYAIR AND AARRIETAIR AIRAGENT AND AIRAGENTESS! " And slower and softer. "ELEVEN YEARS WE ARE!" And all again clapped and cheered as they ended.
And all picked up again. "MANY MORE YEARS TO YOU! MANY MORE YEARS TO YOU! MANY MORE YEARS TO YOU AARRYAIR AND AARRIETAIR AIRAGENT AND AIRAGENTESS!" And slower and softer. "MANY MORE YEARS TO YOU!" And all again clapped and cheered.
And then, "HAPPY AIRBIRTHDAY", "HAPPY AIRBIRTHDAY AARRYAIR", "HAPPY AIR-BIRTHDAY AARRIETAIR", erupted all around them as the air-fireworks rocketed all around the room above, and exploded to the cheers and delights of everyone. Airien and Airian patted AarryAir and AarrietAir, as AarrybeastAir and AarrietbeastAir and Airii and Airaa did same.
"You can now blow on the candles!" Warderess-mum Arletta cheekily declared.
AarryAir and AarrietAir began blowing on their candles as the two sitting rooms exploded of chants and cheers of "YES!" "YES!" "YES!" "YES!" "YES!" "YES!" "YES!" And AarryAir and AarrietAir succeeded in blowing off all their candles as everyone burst out in merriment, which was mingled with heavy clapping.
"You can now cut the cakes!" Warderess-mum Arletta declared again, as she took two knives from the table and handed them each to AarryAir and AarrietAir who began cutting on their cakes, and Airien and Airian and AarrybeastAir and AarrietbeastAir and Airii and Airaa helped them in putting them on saucers.
Warderess-mum Arletta and Warderess-beast-mum Airea and the other mothers and beast-mothers then went for the dining table, and prepared for the meal to be served.
The dining table was full of all sorts of breakfast foods. There were baked breads — wheat-bread, maize-bread, millet-bread, sorghum-bread, teff-bread, fonio-bread, and rice-bread in their trays; fried beignets — wheat-beignet, maize-beignet, millet-beignet, sorghum-beignet, teff-beignet, fonio-beignet, and rice-beignet, in their golden-brown colour in their trays; white porridges — wheat-porridge, maize-porridge, millet-porridge, sorghum-porridge, teff-porridge, fonio-porridge, and rice-porridge, in their bowls; bean soups — red beans soup, white beans soup, black beans soup, and brown beans soup, in their dishes; and coffee, tea, cocoa, and herb tea in their pots. There was also fried eggs, fried spaghetti, fried macaroni, pancakes and crepes in their trays, and water and fruit juices in their bottles, and all the tableware; and behind all of this were the gifts which had been brought by the boys and girls and their fathers and mothers and the beast-boys and beast-girls and their beast-fathers and beast-mothers, and which AarryAir and AarrietAir occasionally eyed.
Warderess-mum Arletta and Warder-dad Airion opened the buffet, and called on all to come and serve themselves, and when they came forward AarryAir with Airien and AarrybeastAir and Airii served his cut cakes to them, and they personally wished AarryAir a "Happy AirAgentmas and AirBirthday."
There was movement and noise in the two sitting rooms from all and every one, and from the cutlery and crockery and glass, as everyone struggled to serve himself and herself, and find a seat to sit on, or a spot to stay on. AarryAir after finishing to serve his cakes, served himself with Airien and AarrybeastAir and Airii, and they went and sat where the other boys and beast-boys were gathered, and all ate as they chatted; and they chatted mostly on the gifts the boys had received from AirFather AirAgentmas as they wondered what they were. AarryAir also wondered what was wrapped in the gifts that the boys and girls and their fathers and mothers and the beast-boys and beast-girls and their beast-fathers and beast-mothers had brought for them, as well as the gifts from Warder-dad Airion and Warderess-mum Arletta and Warder-beast-dad Aireo and Warderess-beast-mum Airea and Airien and Airian and AarrybeastAir and AarrietbeastAir and Airii and Airaa, as he suspected what the gift of Airien and AarrybeastAir and Airii was. Warderess-mum Arletta had told him and AarrietAir the previous day that they wouldn't unwrap their gifts till after they had come back from their air-confirmation, and she and Warder-dad Airion kept an eye on them and the gifts to ensure this, as they too ate and were engaged in their chatter with the other fathers and mothers and beast-fathers and beast-mothers, which was mostly about the air-baptism and air-confirmation to which they should be soon going to, as the air-baptism started at exactly 09:00 a.m.. The adults also chatted on their boys and girls and beast-boys and beast-girls finally going to the real Airia and AirLandia and AirWorldia and its AirBeastia and AirBeastLandia and AirBeastWorldia, and the boys and girls going to AirSchoolia AirSchool for their 'actual' air-wizardering and air-wizarding secondary school studies, with the beast-boys and beast-girls accompanying them there.
By 08:30 a.m., most of the adults had already finished with their meals, and the fathers and beast-fathers were already gesturing to the mothers and beast-mothers that it was time to leave, and were telling Warder-dad Airion and Warderess-mum Arletta about it, and calling upon their children and beast-children to come and leave with them.
AarryAir and his sister were wished a last "Happy AirAgentmas and AirBirthday" again by the boys and girls and their fathers and mothers and the beast-boys and beast-girls and their beast-fathers and beast-mothers, and him and his family were bid to sooner to the air-sanctuary, and all parents and their children and beast-parents and their beast-children after flew and glided to the entries and exits out of the roof and out of the floor.
AarryAir and Airien, with AarrybeastAir and Airii, and Warder-dad Airion and Warder-beast-dad Aireo did a little bit of tidiness and arrangement in the two sitting rooms which mostly involved taking the respective gifts to the boys' and girls' rooms, while AarrietAir and Airian, with AarrietbeastAir and Airaa and Warderess-mum Arletta and Warderess-beast-mum Airea cleared and cleaned the tables.
By 08:50 a.m., the Airsleys and Aireasleys had all finished, and with the Airsleys still in white, they all flew and glided out of the nest into a sunray-pierced air, and towards Warder-dad Airion's aerocar to fly in it. AarryAir saw that almost all the families of the Airhoods were already in their primarily white airvehicles, with the men and women and their boys and girls in their airvehicles accompanied by their respective beast-men and beast-women and their beast-boys and beast-girls inside with them.
"Airion," Mr Airmanie called from his airvehicle, "we should all be leaving as we wouldn't want to be late for AarryAir and AarrietAir and AarrybeastAir and AarrietbeastAir's air-baptism."
"The air-baptism shall proclaim them as the new air-human and air-beast AirAgents and AirAgentesses to all the air and its air-land and air-world and its air and its air-beast-land and air-beast-world." Mr Airfatherie called out from his airvehicle. "So they shouldn't be the ones late there."
"Yes, yes," Warder-dad Airion agreed. "We are going." He said this, and spoke to his air-car, "ouverite te aero-veituro" — which was the 'open' spell-word he had air-magically created to command the aerocar to open up after he had been air-magically bonded to it, and the aerocar's wing-shaped and feather-shaped doors rose up, and him and Warderess-mum Arletta took their place in the front seats, while Warder-beast-dad Aireo and Warderess-beast-mum Airea took to the seats behind them, and the girls and beast-girls entered the succeeding seats, and AarryAir and Airien with AarrybeastAir and Airii entered the back seats. Warder-dad Airion then took hold with both hands of the steering wheel, and spoke again, "firmaro te aero-veituro" and the doors closed, and he spoke "demarro" and the aerocar started in an airy cry, and after "roulo" as its feathers and plumes and wings and patagia stretched outward and inward, flapped and waved upward and downward, and the aerocar pulled away and soared out of Number Zero's roof drive, and joined the other airvehicles who had also simultaneously started, and all the airvehicles all soared through the branches and boughs of their tree's canopy, and out of the canopy's large leaves-covered hole to a sunny and warm atmosphere, and away from their air-isle.
The airvehicles all flew and glided as a group along the air-road, with the Airanies of Air in their air-shaped aerocar with the Aireastanies of Air, and the Airatheries of Air were in theirs with the Aireastatheries of Air.
The Gasanies of Air were in their gas-shaped gasuocar with the Gaseastanies of Air, and the Gasatheries of Air were in theirs with the Gaseastatheries of Air; the Featheranies of Air were in their feather-shaped pennocar with the Feathereastanies of Air, and the Featheratheries of Air were in theirs with the Feathereastatheries of Air; the Plumeanies of Air were in their plume-shaped plumocar with the Plumeeastanies of Air, and the Plumeatheries of Air were in theirs with the Plumeeastatheries of Air; the Winganies of Air were in their pair-of-wing-shaped alaocar with the Wingeastanies of Air, and the Wingatheries of Air were in theirs with the Wingeastatheries of Air; the Patagiumanies of Air were in their pair-of-patagium-shaped patagiocar with the Patagiumeastanies of Air, and the Patagiumatheries of Air were in theirs with the Patagiumeastatheries of Air; the Flyanies of Air were in their wing-shaped volocar with the Flyeastanies of Air, and the Flyatheries of Air were in theirs with the Flyeastatheries of Air; the Glideanies of Air were in their patagium-shaped laborocar with the Glideeastanies of Air, and the Glideatheries of Air were in theirs with the Glideeastatheries of Air; the Onehumanairanies of Air were in their simple humanaerocar with the Onebeastaireastanies of Air, and the Onehumanairatheries of Air were in theirs with the Onebeastaireastatheries of Air; and the Otherhumanairanies of Air were in their simple humanaerocar with the Otherbeastaireastanies of Air, and the Otherhumanairatheries of Air were in theirs with the Otherbeastaireastatheries of Air.
They were soon joined by other airvehicles, and flew and glided in an air-traffic in the warmth of the air-sun, and the air-traffic was getting denser at every passing second, as airvehicles seemed to emerge out of every air-lands, air-islands, air-isles, and air-islets along and beyond the air-road. AarryAir, with AarrybeastAir on his lap, stared as they flew past the airvehicles and their occupants in them.
As they flew in the air-traffic congestion, Warder-dad Airion and Warderess-mum Arletta were busy in conversation with Warder-beast-dad Aireo and Warderess-beast-mum Airea, and the girls and beast-girls were in theirs, as the boys and beast-boys were also in theirs.
"Airien, how did you say it was again when you were in that air?" AarryAir asked feeling anxious about the air-baptism as it was going to be the very first serious thing that was going to see him officially as an AirAgent.
"It was just it." Airien said as he stared outside the window. "Air all over me, and after that, it was all over."
"Ok." AarryAir accepted, as Airien had said the same thing when he had asked him on the day he and Airian had been air-baptized and air-confirmed after their air-birthday, and which had been in the month of January in which they were born. AarryAir had heard from Mr Airmanie that it was no big deal, and that the air-baptism and air-confirmation of the AirAgents was almost same as that of all air-humans, but with the difference that it saw the AirAgents been proclaimed as such.
AarryAir thought about how since yesterday, immediately after his success at the A.E.E.E.E. and A.S.S.E.E., he had been strongly feeling his affinity with the Air, and as an 'Of Air' — an akin to the Air and Air Essence and Air Element, and an AirAgent — the male air-human Agent of Air. AarrietAir had also come to him and told him of how she had exactly felt same.