by W. M. Martin
“How did you do that? Are we all gonna be able to turn invisible?” asked Callum.
Ms. Holiday answered Callum with a tiny chuckle, “No, Darlin’. Y’alls’ totems’ inherent abilities can be mimicked and used to provide your armor with statistical boosts. What's your name?”
Callum answered, completely enamored, “Callum Young, ma’am.”
Ms. Holiday smiled and asked kindly, “And what's your totem, Mr. Young?”
“You can call me Cal, all of my friends do,” Callum said before answering Ms. Holiday’s question. “Her name is Ada, and she's an electric eel.”
Ms. Holiday, still smiling, countered, “Cal’s a nice name, but Mr. Young will do just fine. As far as Ada and your armor are concerned, you definitely won't be able to camouflage yourself like me, but I'd wager that given a little practice you could electrocute the meanest Fallen or create some pretty impressive defensive shields with the greatest of ease!”
Callum liked the answer which he was given. It only solidified in his mind how Ada was indeed one of a kind and precious to him. Ms. Holiday stood up from her desk, which she was still leaning on, and walked over to Maggie.
Ms. Holiday looked at Maggie and stated, “Mr. Carver and Mrs. Bonifassi were singing your praises, Sugar. They were going on about how quickly you're pickin’ all of this up. Mr. Evans believes that this particular First Year class will do great things, and Ms. Decker says that you, Ms. Bennett, are a natural. A true Kindred if there ever was one. I'd be pleased as pie if you would step up first and transfigure some lovely armor for us today.”
Maggie, feeling completely confident, due to her previous successes, stood up without a moment’s hesitation. She walked to the rear of the class which was adorned with large standing mirrors. Each mirror’s border was lined, intricately, with flawless coruscating diamonds.
“Go ahead and summon your totem, Ms. Bennett. Just stand in front of that lovely mirror and then visualize your armor,” instructed Ms. Holiday thoughtfully and with a saccharine smile.
Maggie proudly puffed out her chest and raised her sleeve. She called to her totem and after her mystical tattoo began to swirl, a burst of light gave form to Elliot. He flew across the room with great speed and then turned and soared back to Maggie and landed on her shoulder with sure purpose. Maggie watched her beautiful reflection intensely. She continued on in this fashion for a few minutes. Nothing. Not a single thing happened. Her medallion never lit-up, her cloak never changed; even Elliot had remained on her shoulder without moving. As hard as she had tried, Maggie could not envelop herself in armor.
Ms. Holiday comforted Maggie’s failure with a warm and caring smile and said, “Don't you worry yourself none. I couldn't envelop myself in armor on my first time trying, either, Darlin’. Okay then, let's let our other Legacy give it a try. Ms. Min, would you kindly step on up here?”
Lucy got up from her seat and walked past Maggie, who was on her way back to her desk, and stood in front of the diamond mirrors.
“Go ahead, Ms. Min. Show us what you got,” said Ms. Holiday.
Lucy raised her sleeve and called out, “Maverick!”
In a flash of light, the black crow shot out of her arm and flew down to the ground beside Lucy.
Maverick looked up at Lucy and cawed loudly, “Let's show everyone in here how it's done, Lucy.”
Lucy stared hard at her own reflection and without even breaking a sweat she smiled as her cloak effortlessly melted away and was replaced by a set of full body armor with hues of blue which was reminiscent of her Clan’s chosen gemstone. The armor poured over her like a cascading waterfall. Her face was steadily being eclipsed by a helmet adorned with sapphire wings on either side. The back of her armor had an impressive depiction of Maverick, seeming, perhaps, a little more regal than any crow had the right to appear. Lucy’s medallion was directly in the center of her cuirass. It was impressive to say the least.
“Excellent work, Ms. Min!” exclaimed Ms. Holiday.
“Thank you, Ms. Holiday,” Lucy replied in a proud and clear voice, even though her visage was still encased in an armored helm.
“You can go ahead and return to your cloak and we’ll let someone else give it a whirl,” stated Ms. Holiday.
Lucy turned away from the mirror and the glorious armor which she had been encased in melted away and was replaced by her black cloak. She walked victoriously back to her seat and turned to face Maggie. Maggie knew that Lucy wanted to say something malignant in lieu of staying silent, but she opted not to. Her self-satisfying grin said it all. Maggie felt defeated and Lucy Min, with her smug attitude, was doing little to change that.
“What happened, Elliot?” asked Maggie.
Her totem replied, “I do not know, nor do I understand. Perhaps we are missing something. I felt how hard you tried, but I could not aid you. Forgive me, Mags.”
Maggie grabbed her right forearm where her totem tattoo appeared, squeezed gently and then whispered softly, “There's nothing to forgive, Elliot. We’ll eventually get the hang of this.”
Many of the students were able to transfigure their armor that day. Most, as it turned out, were not.
Ms. Holiday addressed her students before releasing them to go to their Kindred Artifacts class in the Terran enclave, “Y’all have done wonderfully today!” she looked at Maggie before continuing. “For those of y’all who weren't able to envelop into your armor, don't give up or be disheartened. Y'all will figure this out. I promise.”
As the class ended, Maggie started for the door when Nigel walked up behind her and stated matter of factly, “Don't sweat it, Maggie. You're a Legacy. You'll definitely be able to envelop eventually. It may just take some time. Almost everyone bombed in there today.”
Maggie simply smiled and left the room, relieved to finally be finished with Armor Envelopment for the day. She headed toward the Kindred Artifacts class alone with only her thoughts and Elliot to keep her company.
Alice grabbed Lester by the hand, turned to Kylie and said with glee, “And here we go!”
Maggie felt that she knew at this point, having witnessed three prior Clan Halls, what to expect from the Terran Hall. She was correct in her assumption that the Terran Hall was alive with the representations of the land mammals of earth. She only paused a moment to witness a gazelle leaping away from a cheetah before moving on to her next class. Passing through the giant twin triangle doors made entirely of emeralds, the class moved hurriedly through the common room with a massive emerald lion fireplace in the center. The emerald lion’s maw was open, frozen with the semblance of an eternal, mighty roar.
The group ahead of Maggie, which should have already been inside, had been stopped by a stern man in a brown cloak with emerald embroidery. He stood blocking the door to their classroom.
“Form a line!” the man barked with unquestionable authority. Everyone looked at each other for a moment before he ordered even louder, “Form a line! Now!”
Everyone inside of the makeshift huddle immediately became one single file line and walked, studiously, inside the classroom. The students all sat down quietly and as the last one made it just past the threshold the door was slammed so hard behind him that it startled the entire class.
“My name is Mr. Akiyama. My totem is a Japanese hare named Kiyoko. We don't like stupid questions. If you have a question and it is stupid then you will receive extra after class studies. If you think that you have a good question, do not ask it. This is because it is probably a stupid question in disguise. Any questions?” asked Mr. Akiyama.
Thomas could not help himself. He spoke up to ask jokingly, “Are you being serious?”
Mr. Akiyama immediately turned to the chalkboard and wrote two chapters in which the entire class had to complete on top of whatever they were to learn that day about Kindred Artifacts. Lucy, who was sitting directly behind Thomas, leaned forward and slapped him in the back of the head.
“Shut up, Thomas!” Lucy snapped.
Thomas
turned his head slightly and whispered to Lucy, “Marry me.”
Lucy slapped him in the back of the head again and sat back in her chair, angrily. Klaus and Sara witnessed the scene play out between Thomas and Lucy and were trying extremely hard to stifle their giggles so that their strict instructor would fail to notice them.
Mr. Akiyama turned back around to face the class with a darkly intentioned grin and asked, “Anymore questions?”
The room was so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Mr. Akiyama was clearly pleased that the students were obviously receptive and understood how things were going to progress in the Ancient Artifacts class. He was not above punishing all for the foolishness of one. His word was law in that classroom and that unflinching fact would never be up for debate.
Mr. Akiyama answered the silence of the room with, “Good. Today we are going to the artifacts wing. From there we will make our way down into the artifacts antechamber. You will touch nothing. You will take notes. You will not talk. You will listen when I speak, and you will not ask questions. I hate questions. Any questions?”
Thomas had barely opened his mouth when Lucy leaned forward and slapped the back of his head again as a painful warning. This time Klaus and Sara guffawed loudly and Mr. Akiyama turned immediately and wrote another chapter on the chalkboard.
The artifacts antechamber was a sprawling museum with innumerable marble columns lining row after row of trinkets, weapons, armor, gems and stones. There were scrolls that were written in a language that Maggie couldn't read encased in glass. The marble columns were sculpted with the likenesses of great Kindred Guardians and their totems from the past. Mr. Akiyama stood silently in front of a large display case. The item inside was most certainly revered and precious due to it being showcased by itself in the center of the artifacts antechamber. The intricately crafted exhibit housed a very strange stone inside. The stone was held aloft on a beautifully gilded pedestal. This obviously important artifact was flanked by, what must have been, thousands of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, pearls and diamonds.
Mr. Akiyama, confident that no one would dare ask any questions, stated with authority, “This is the Pentagem. When the First Five were created and chosen by the Spire to enter the Nexus, many, many thousands of years ago, they were gifted this precious stone. After they each returned from the Nexus, they were not yet Kindred, but no longer could they be considered human. The Pentagem was born of the Spire and as it was, it floated into the center of the gathered First Five. They each placed their right hands on this very stone and at the exact moment that they did, it split evenly into each of the five gems which represent the Kindred Clans that we serve. Upon becoming Kindred at this moment, their totems appeared on their right forearms, just as ours do. Those First Five Totems are memorialized in each Clan’s common room. There was Aquilo, the noble Eagle of Avior. Phagus, the sly Cobra of Sauropon. Optera, the swift Dragonfly of Secarn. Leviathan, the vicious Great White Shark of Okeaous and finally there was Leosius, the powerful Lion of Terran. The First Five’s medallions were made from the apportioned Pentagem. This stone would not be whole again until the final living member of the First Five reconnected the pieces. As you can all clearly see, the Pentagem is complete. Also as you have all no doubt been told by your Clan Leaders, the First Five’s names were of course Terran, Okeaous, Secarn, Avior and Sauropon. They were chosen by the Spire to help guide humanity. Sadly, after centuries upon centuries of serving the will of the Spire, Sauropon wanted to rule the humans instead of guiding and protecting them. He convinced Okeaous, who had grown to loathe the human race and their petty squabbles, to betray her oath to the Spire and join him in his bid to subjugate the people of earth. Okeaous and Sauropon knew that Secarn, Avior and Terran would never go along with their treasonous plan and so it was together that they had formulated a plot to murder their brethren and steal the sundered pieces of the Pentagem for themselves. Together, they lured Secarn, who was the greatest of them all with a weapon, into a trap. Okeaous bewitched Secarn with her beauty and Sauropon snuck up behind him and he drove a sword into his back, killing him in cold blood. Sauropon then took Secarn’s piece of the Pentagem from his dead body, thereby absorbing Secarn’s totem into himself. That vile act caused Sauropon’s diamond armor to corrode and turn black. With this wicked form of betrayal, Sauropon became the first Fallen. Sauropon and Okeaous hid Secarn’s body and returned to Avior and Terran. They pretended to have no idea about where Secarn was, but Avior could sense that something was wrong and she didn't believe them. She convinced Terran that they should keep a closer eye on Sauropon and Okeaous and he agreed. It was the very next evening that Terran and Avior followed the traitors, Sauropon and Okeaous, into an out of the way clearing inside of the Forever Forest. Terran and Avior overheard Sauropon and Okeaous speaking and they learned the terrible truth of what the two traitors had done to Secarn and what they were planning to do to them. Sauropon and Okeaous were confronted immediately and a fierce and swift fight to the death began. Sauropon was injured in the fight by Terran, but before Terran could land the killing blow, Okeaous struck Terran down. Okeaous grabbed Sauropon and escaped through an omniport. As Terran lay there dying, he willingly handed Avior his piece of the Pentagem. Her armor didn't turn black, however. It retained its sapphire hue. You see, a medallion freely given or a totem freely offered has the potential to grant the recipient great power, if only temporarily in most instances. This phenomenon is known as Merging. That power is only perverted if stolen. Avior vowed to stop her former brother and sister-in-arms and set out to confront Sauropon and Okeaous. After many years had passed, Avior had managed to track them both down. Sauropon and Okeaous had taken over a foreign land on earth and were ruling side-by-side as gods. Avior confronted them one night in their throne room after having dispatched numerous guards. As Sauropon stood to face Avior, Okeaous seized the opportunity to steal Sauropon’s power for herself, and she slew him from behind with a dagger. She crouched down and stole both Sauropon and Secarn’s pieces of the Pentagem, absorbing both of their totems and gaining their combined power and knowledge. Okeaous merged the two pieces of the Pentagem with her own piece which rested within her now pitch black armor, thus becoming the second Fallen, The Dark Queen. Okeaous taunted Avior and challenged her to a duel to the death. However, she had been over-confidant in her ill-gotten powers and the enhancements that they had afforded her. You see, Okeaous had been unaware of the fact that Avior was in possession of Terran’s piece of the Pentagem due to the unaltered appearance of Avior’s armor. Remember, Avior’s armor hadn’t changed like Okeaous and Sauropon’s had because one of the pieces of the Pentagem, which she was in possession of, was offered and not stolen. Okeaous was unprepared for the power that now resided inside of Avior. Avior accepted Okeaous’ challenge and the two joined together in a ferocious battle. The two combatants were frighteningly powerful and equally determined, swinging their mystical weapons with unerring precision. Each strike meant for the intended target’s demise. By the end, Avior stood triumphant and Okeaous lay dead. Avior knelt by her former friend’s body, but she refused to touch the three pieces inside of Okeaous’ cuirass. Suddenly and without warning, she found herself inside of the Nexus. A multitude of voices spoke with her and granted her permission to return the Pentagem to its former state of being as a single stone. When she returned from the Nexus, she plucked the gems from Okeaous’ armor and placed them back together before returning Terran’s portion and finally her own. An omniport of the Spire’s own making swept Avior up and brought her back here, to the Veil, where the First Five had lived and stood together as Guardians to the humans for multiple millennia; before the birth of the Fallen. This is where she was instructed to form a school, using all of the remaining power inside of the Pentagem, dedicated to teaching our people's children, of which the Nexus called the Kindred. The Kindred youth would learn to harness their powers only for good. However, where there is good, evil will surely follow. After a few centuries, the Fall
en began to crop up once again. Their schemes have almost always been thwarted by members of our academy’s Clans. Almost. And so it went, that Avior, the lone survivor of the First Five, decided to name one Clan after herself and the other four in honor of her fallen comrades. She included Okeaous’ and Sauropon’s names in remembrance of who they once were, not what they had become. No one would ever be granted the power of the Pentagem again. Instead, we are all gifted our totem medallions when we are chosen. They aren't as powerful as the Pentagem, but they are far safer and much more personal. So, here rests the Pentagem, a monument bereft of all power, but it is the most important artifact in our world, if only as a symbol of the good and evil which resides in us all.”
The students gathered were now much more interested in the strange stone on the beautiful podium. Kylie stepped forward and reached out to touch the glass which separated her from the Pentagem.
Mr. Akiyama snapped, “Careful, child! That case is protected by the strongest of wards set by the Nexus and Avior herself! I can’t even touch it. No one can. If you would have touched that case you would have ended up in the infirmary for weeks and that's only if the blast didn’t kill you!”
Kylie snatched her hand back quickly, unsure if Mr. Akiyama was exaggerating, but she was no less in awe of the Pentagem.
Mr. Akiyama snorted with derision, “Foolish child, your curiosity is welcome, but your ignorance is not.”
Lucy sniggered at the rude comment directed at Kylie. Maggie did not like Mr. Akiyama in the least, or Lucy for that matter.
“Come,” Mr. Akiyama said bluntly, gesturing for the class to move along before sustaining, “we will now proceed to the scrolls of Anistagio the Wise, it rests just beyond my office. My office is warded against intruders and unwanted guests. You are all, most certainly, unwanted guests.”