Alkalians

by Caleb S. Bugai

  “News? What news?”

  “Matt says there’s going to be a party tonight, and the only guests happen to be him and his close allies, which is us. We’re all going to meet at your cabin before the party begins and he explains what it’s for.”

  “…Fantastico!” responds an excited Sean. “It’s been a while since I’ve gone to a fancy fiesta! I’d better hurry off and get ready!”

  Sean is about to run off when Dante stops him with a serious question. “Sean, tell me honestly. Could you see that I’m really caring and worried for my sister?”

  Caught off-guard by the question, Sean answers, “Uh, yeah, I saw it. You were as, ah, passionate, as you could be.” He shrugs, turns, and takes off for the cabins. Dante, meanwhile, remains alone on the road for a second, an appreciative, but sad, smile forming upon him.

  ***

  Later that day as the chill of a fall evening reaches its peak and the twilight is a golden thread lining the horizon below a purple sky, Matt, Sean, Rose, and Dante walk away from the freshmen cabins. The men are in their best suits. Matt wears a gentleman’s suit of black, Sean has a nice, brown vest paired with tan pants, and Dante wears a darkish blue match of clothes that seem woven from the glimmer of moonlight upon rippled water. Rose is dressed in an emerald green dress with the long skirt covering her legs, and her leaf emblem rests against her skin while hung around her neck.

  As the group passes by the other class cabins, Sean does not hold back his curiosity for the party’s location. “Come on, Matt!” he begs. “Tell us already, where are we going to have this party!?”

  “Patience, Sean,” replies Matt in his amusement. “You will find out soon enough. I do hope you guys will like it.”

  “Of course we will!” Rose says. “I mean, I’m sure we’ll be doing something not completely insane, right?”

  “I myself am anxious to discover the accommodation for our party,” throws in Dante. “It had better be impressive enough to satisfy royalty.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Matt says with an air of mystery to spur even more anticipation from his colleagues. “You’ll have your answers soon, that’s all I can say.”

  Rose and Dante let their questions end there, but Sean isn’t satisfied. “Could you at least give a hint? Some clue to where this is going to be?”

  Without warning, Matt stops, causing the others to halt mid-step, and he announces, “Here is our destination.” He refers to one of the first buildings in the cabin section reserved for seniors, the three-story house having windows marking several rooms for each floor. Dante, Rose, and Sean are surprised. The logical idea would be at the casino in a cleared-out location, or the study hall usually reserved for Lyn and her gang.

  Matt walks up to the front door, his companions nervously following him. He knocks upon the door, and Sean immediately says, “Oh, I guess they’re not home. Let’s come back some other time!” The attempt to make a good excuse to leave is choked when the door opens.

  Lyn Arcterus stands before them, her dress a dazzling shade of violet woven from the twilight above them that brings out more of her mesmerizing eye features, almost knocking over the four of them. “Ah, good evening, Matt and his friends. Sean, Rose, and Dante. Right on schedule, I see!” She comes down the step to them, over to Matt’s side, and, to his and the others’ surprise, kisses him on the cheek while putting her arm around his waist. Gesturing with her other arm, she says with a smile, “Please, do come in. We’ve been waiting for you.”

  As Matt is escorted inside by her, a puzzled look yet on his face, Dante follows, still a little shaken but overcome enough to go along. Rose, blind-sided from seeing Lyn kiss Matt, decides to not linger on it and walks in behind Dante. Sean, jittery from a situation he did not plan on entering, glances everywhere to make sure he isn’t being watched and hurries into the cabin, closing the door behind him.

  Upon entering the senior cabin, Lyn leads Matt and the others down the narrow hall and up a first, then a second, flight of stairs, into another narrow hallway, and through a door held open by one of Lyn’s associates. They are met with the living quarters and kitchen of the third floor apartment, adorn with luxurious furniture and appealing design. A large table in the middle of the living room has already been set with chairs for guests and food for dinner, served by some of Lyn’s girls. Fresh and hot roast, bread, and stew fill the air with pleasing aromas. At one end of the table, a glass bowl contains a bright colored punch drink, with ladle and cups nearby for self-serving, and on the opposite side is a freshly baked cake with black frosting coating it, along with yellow frosting forming the words, “Alkalian College Liberators.”

  Matt, Rose, Sean, and Dante, lost while taking in the view of the feast before them, gradually come closer into the room. After some of the girls come forward to take the outer vests from the men, to which Dante declines and keeps his on, Lyn says to them, “Make yourselves at home and relax, for tonight your efforts of revolution are receiving recognition, as well as being reinforced with senior approval!”

  “…Say what?” asks a dazed-looking Sean. “Who is this party for, exactly?”

  “Why, all of us here, of course,” answers a familiar, attracting voice. Sean and company whirl to see Cynthia emerge from an out-of-view corner of the room, wearing her blood-red dress, her crimson hair shaped into a long, braided pony tail, and her scarlet-tanned skin gleaming in the light. With her bewitching smile and twinkling eyes she says while approaching him, placing a glistening arm over his shoulders, “Didn’t expect to meet me a third time, did you, Sean?”

  As Sean is flabbergasted and unable to speak, another different voice booms through the room’s atmosphere. “At last! The whole gang’s here and ready to party! It’s about time, too, I was about to drag some of Lyn’s ladies outside to fight them!” Buster, in his gray-and-black suit with his badge on its front, enters from the hallway leading into another part of the cabin. He asks Lyn in an impatient tone, “Now that these rascals have finally arrived, can we please eat?”

  “Yes, we can now begin,” Lyn answers. “Matt, I’d start telling your friends what’s going on, before one of them faints.” Her warning comes too late as Sean suddenly swoons and falls to the floor, caught by Cynthia beside him.

  ***

  The meal commences after Matt explains to his roommates and Dante the meaning of this party and how it came about. Earlier that day, he had met up and planned with Lyn to hold this gathering in her apartment at her cabin. He was to bring them along, while Lyn had invited Cynthia and Buster, their newest allies to the cause, to join them, and they would all use the evening to become more acquainted with each other. This calms them down, and soon all seven of them are at the table, eating their share of the food at an easy pace while Lyn’s maids serve them.

  To pass the time, Buster, without the consent of the others, has been rambling on about past battles. He enthusiastically finishes one with, “And before she pounced on him, I grabbed her by the tail, swung her around and flung her into the wall, then nailed her to it with a blast from my cannon. Hah, the poor Panther never saw it coming. The look on her face after she demorphed was priceless!”

  “Yes, it really must have been something,” Lyn says with thinning patience. “Your strength and vigor continue to marvel us.”

  “Yeah, but not as much as his intellect,” Sean whispers to Cynthia sitting next to him, to which she fails at keeping a few giggles from escaping her.

  Noticing that, Buster, instead of suspecting something, exclaims, “Oh yes, it was very funny! Sure, I was the only one laughing, but I didn’t mind.” He reaches for and gulps down his glass of punch, handing it off to be refilled by one of the maids, and starts again, “Oh, and then there was that one time I fought…”

  “Okay, Buster, enough,” Lyn quickly cuts him off. “I think we’ve heard enough of your war stories for now!” To everyone’s relief, Buster shrugs it off while receiving his glass back, and she continues while placing her arm around Matt,
startling him in the middle of his eating, “So, who else would like to say a little about themselves? How about you, Sean?”

  “Eh? Who, me?” As the others all look back at him, and Cynthia pats him on the shoulder with a smirk, he clears his throat before speaking. “Er hrm, alright, then. Where to begin, what to say. Oh, I know! So, some of you know already I grew up in Minari, right? Well, I come from a farming family, who spends most of the time planting, growing, and harvesting crops, the labor made much easier through our battle morphs. However, since I never knew how to use mine, I couldn’t help out around the farm, and so spent the most of my time having adventures in town. I would jest with shop owners, flirt with the girls, get chased around by bullies. Ah, good times, those were! Reminds me of the one time some guy caught me making out with his girlfriend, and he chased me through the whole town in our morphs, threatening to chop me into pieces with his ax!”

  Cynthia bursts out laughing, surprising the others as they chuckled. Sean is especially surprised before he continues, “Yes, as funny as that was, it wasn’t all sunshine and fair play back then. Sometimes, the bullies caught me. And for me, who didn’t know how to fight in my morph, that was an ill stroke of luck, indeed. Like the one time a guy and his buddies caught me in the woods, after he found out I had been flirting with his sister. They put me through a real meat grinder, I tell ya.” He gulps down the last of his punch and holds it out for a refill.

  “Hmm, I can imagine the struggle of growing up without knowing your morphs’ abilities,” Dante voices from over his food. “Do you intend to join the family business at farming, now that you have discovered them?”

  “Hah, far from it!” Sean remarks while sipping from his punch glass handed back to him. “I always hated the farm life, actually, as well as that small, dusty little town I grew up in. I’ve always dreamed of a life of excitement, adventure, thrills and spills around every corner. It was one day, when I was out playing cards with a few buddies, that I decided I wanted to be a gambler. I’ve always had a strange streak of success when it comes to cards or dice, proven when I nearly cleaned out the local saloon. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to keep the money, as the ruffians snagged me afterwards and beat it all back out of me. I knew then, though, if there was one thing I’m good at in this world, it was flirting with Lady Luck!”

  “Haha, I think she’s not the only lady you’re good at flirting with, Sean,” Cynthia purrs while scratching his chin, making him cringe at her touch, her fingernails stroking his goatee.

  As the others take notice to her interest in him, Sean is the one to ask what they are all thinking. “Uh, Cynthia?”

  “Yes, Sean?”

  “Forgive me for asking, but, are you sober at the moment?”

  “Why, of course. Unless you don’t want me to be.”

  “Okay, then, just making sure, hehe,” Sean replies with a nervous gulp. Cynthia is right on one thing, he did have a certain kind of charm with other women. Most women, anyway, besides Rose. Usually, he was the one to hit on them, so he isn’t used to it being the other way around, especially from Cynthia. “So, uh, why don’t you say something about yourself, Cynthia?”

  “Hmm, okay, I suppose I can. I prefer an air of mystery around me, but you all, as allies, should know more about me.” She takes a sip of her stew, not minding it being hot yet, and begins, “Unlike our friend Sean here, who was of no use to his family business, I found myself as the backbone behind mine. My family owns and manages the infamous Volvaron Resort back in Saratu, and I had my share of jobs there. But the one thing I was constantly doing, from the time I was a teenager, was a talent we discovered I had at a young age. Sculpting.

  “You look at me now, in my dress, with my hair combed and braided, and you think that was all there is to me. Back at home, though, you could find me in small shorts, a tank-top, and my hair and skin slick with sweat as I carved out sculptures from stone for many an occasion or subject. I’ve sculpted people, animals, plants, fountains, plenty of things. We’ve put some of my work out as decorations around the resort, and, when business was slow, would auction off some of my statues to keep us afloat.”

  Matt, at her description of sculptures she has made and how some were displayed at her resort, thinks back and nods. “Oh yeah, I think I’ve seen a few of them there. I was really fascinated by that fountain that looked like an inferno. It was so big, and the idea of water coming out of fire, that really made my head spin! Did you make that one all by yourself?”

  “Oh yes, I certainly did,” replies Cynthia with a proud smile. “Sure, it was hard work, and it took a long time to complete it, but it wasn’t all by hand. In my morph, I used real fire to heat and carve down the stone to take out some large chunks of it, which left the start of what you saw as the tongues of flame I more finely detailed by hand. You’ve been to my resort before, then?”

  “Yeah, I’ve gone there a few times, with my parents. It’s a very nice place, we’ve had some good times there.”

  “Well, I’m happy to hear that, Matt! If you happen to go down there again sometime, perhaps you and I could meet up. I could give you a tour, show off some of my recent projects, share a drink or two with you, and maybe a few other things. That is, if we’re still friends after this school year ends.” The wink that accompanies her sly smirk rattles Matt, and some of the others. Ignoring their reactions, she looks across the table to Dante, suggesting, “You’ve been mostly quiet there, Dante Goros. Why don’t you say a little, at least?”

  “That’s Prince Dante Goros to you, Miss Volvaron,” he remarks, with the glimmer of a grin. He bites off a piece of a bread stick while Buster chuckles at the comment and the way Cynthia blushes, chewing and swallowing it before continuing, “As you may all know, I am Dante Goros, the second heir to the ruling Goros clan of Saratu. I have always conducted myself the way I was raised to. Display honor, respect, restraint, and conviction around others, no matter what their station. However, it is unfortunately not the same for my sister, the first-born heir. She dishonors her family, her state, even herself with her recent behavior and activities, and I worry if, one of these days, she may go so far there would be no way to redeem her graces.”

  He pauses a moment to compose himself, sating his rising emotions with a gulp of punch, then goes on, “And so, I would take this moment to humbly request something of you all here. I am aware that she now works for Cain, and is therefore an opposition to our cause. However, if and when the time comes that any of you confront her, I beg of you to not be too rough on her. If she is to eventually reap what she has sown, I would hope it does not drag any of you into it.”

  “Heh, that’s easier said than done,” Cynthia snuffs, drinking from her glass with a glower.

  “Agreed,” mutters Rose, something sharp and cruel in her eyes and tone for a brief moment.

  Buster asks, “So, you really care for your train wreck of a sister that much, eh, Dante?”

  Dante nods. “Yes, it is true. She is family, and I would love her, unconditionally.”

  “Uh huh. Well, good luck with her,” Buster tells him with a grimace while cutting up some of the roast served him. “From what I’ve heard and seen, she looks tougher to crack than a mountain tortoise’s shell.”

  Not sure how he himself feels over Dante trying to protect Irene, Matt puts it aside to bring up something that bugged him. “Uh, Dante, you say how you and your sister are of the Goros clan. What does that mean, exactly? What’s the point of a clan? I mean, back in Minari, we don’t have clans.”

  “Ah, because in Minari, we’re not governed by a dynasty of monarchs,” Sean answers. “Instead, we’re ruled by a union of individuals who are the top honchos of their businesses, elected into their positions on the council. Neither does Corrasin, the State of Seas, have clans. Well, officially. I’ve heard something about their more rural citizens yet having closely-kept families, but it’s the clergy who have the last word there, not the nobles. The only states that have clans are the other
three, Tirez, Saratu, and Riaquen, where the clans that were the most prominent during the Age of Chaos have maintained dynasty rule, unless, depending on the state’s preferences, another clan rises and replaces them.” The others were staring at him explaining it so readily, and he notices. “What, just because I hate history doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention!”

  “Right. Well, what he says is true,” concurs Buster. After eating a bite of his roast, he goes on, “Here are some examples. As Dante said, he’s from the ruling Goros clan in Saratu. James Iroshen, who’s from Tirez, is also from a ruling clan, although they were put there by democratic means. And then there’s Rose and I. She’s from the famous Alamence clan of Riaquen, as I am from the honored Harmada clan. Ain’t that right, Rose?”

  “Ah, yes, that’s right.” Rose holds her amulet softly as she continues. “My clan rules over a northern, more remote province, and we are famous in Riaquen, as well as across the country, for our legacy as especially talented Elemental Artists.”

  “Oh. Okay, I guess I understand, then.” He looks to Lyn beside him. “What about you, Lyn? Do you have a clan, in Tirez?”

  “Ah, no, I do not,” Lyn says, going on after a sip of her punch. “I think my family was once part of a clan, but it broke up a long time ago. My mother passed away when I was still very young, so the only family I’ve known is my father, Fenrir Arcterus.” She smiles at the thought of him, her pale eyes twinkling. “Despite his job as a ranger, hunting down and capturing criminals, which he is very good at, he’s always been there for me. He’s my greatest role model in life. I want to be just like him, putting fear into my enemies by my mere presence and serving other citizens faithfully, protecting and aiding them however I can.” She looks around at the others and ventures to ask, “How much do you all know about my father?”