Owl

Rhea, Year 813 of Avia, Day 293

“Grandpa! Why won’t you let me join the rebels?”

“Master Rhozo! Can you awaken my spirit? I know you’re the Owl!”

“Old Man! Can you train me?”

Icarum camped outside Rhozo’s bedroom the next morning, waiting for the old man to wake up. The moment he opened the door, Icarum would pester him with questions. But no matter what Icarum did, Rhozo insisted on ignoring him to the end.

After an hour of failure, Icarum sat defeated in the corner of the cafeteria, glumly eating breakfast.

“Icarum! Come over here!” Khal waved his hands in the air from a few tables over. He wore a large brown tunic, with headphones hanging from his neck. Startled by Khal’s shouts, everyone started to glance over at Icarum, who wasn’t thrilled about the sudden attention. He reluctantly walked over to Khal’s table and took a seat.

Across from him sat an orange-haired girl with freckles, sitting cross-legged as she ate. The girl next to her hunched over with dark circles under her eyes and obvious bed hair that she didn’t even try to hide. The two girls chatted amongst themselves while Khal talked to Icarum.

Khal pointed to one of the girls, who looked up and glared back. “The girl who always looks like she wants to kill me is Carla.”

He pointed at the other. “And the one who looks like she doesn’t sleep is Mia.”

“Oh, and this one’s Noah.” He patted the head of an incredibly small boy wearing a black cap. He couldn’t have weighed more than sixty pounds. Because Khal’s body blocked his view, Icarum didn’t even notice the boy sitting next to him.

Khal smiled. “Welcome to our ragtag crew of castaways!”

“Castaways?”

“It’s a cool name to call ourselves, isn’t i-”

“All the other children our age were born here in the mountains,” Carla interrupted. She looked down at her nails as she spoke. “We’re the only four who fled here from some other place, so we ended up banding together.”

“When did you all come?” Icarum asked.

“Mia and I came when we were eight. Noah came a year earlier, and I think Khal has been here since he was five.”

Khal nodded. “Nobody new has come for two years, so I was pretty surprised when I saw you yesterday.” He popped a muffin into his mouth and swallowed it whole.

Icarum finished his meal and wiped his mouth. “By the way,” he started. “You asked me who my spirit was. Is there a way for me to find out without being awakened?”

“Not sure. Master Rhozo announces it to everyone during the awakening ceremony” Khal replied. “It’s kind of an induction thing, so you shouldn’t have to wait long.”

Icarum placed a hand on his neck and laughed nervously. “Actually, I’m technically not a member of the rebels yet. That old man told me to leave by the next full moon.”

“Oh, did you fail his stupid test?” Carla asked.

“What test?”

“He asked you a bunch of weird questions, didn’t he?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

Noah stood up and tapped Icarum on the shoulder. Despite sitting down, Icarum was still taller.

“Let’s practice. I’ll pretend to be Master Rhozo.” Noah coughed a couple of times, hunched over, then furrowed his eyebrows and attempted to speak in a deep, raspy voice. The group started to giggle.

“Son, why do you want to join the rebels?” He placed his hand on his chin, pretending to touch a soft beard.

Icarum tried to answer, but he couldn’t take Noah seriously. “Rebels are cool, and Sydurnians suck, y’know?”

“Hmph, a good answer. I can’t argue with that.” He grabbed an imaginary cane, and walked away, returning to his seat. Khal applauded him for his performance, and the entire group laughed.

After the noise died down, Mia spoke up. “H-he wants you to give a reason for joining that isn’t just about you.”

“You’ve gotta say something about what you’ll do for the rebels, not just what the rebels will do for you,” Carla added. “But since your answer’s gotta be personal, we can’t really help you more.”

Icarum smiled. “Thanks, y’all. You’ve helped enough.”

----------------------------

Icarum walked down the hall to Rhozo’s office and knocked on the door.

“Enter.”

He took a deep breath and walked inside. The walls were decorated with Rhean paintings that the Sydurnians sought to destroy; they depicted images of magic-users casting spells with their spirits. An electric lamp hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room in bright yellow light.

“Grandfa-”

Before Icarum could finish speaking, he noticed that there was someone else in the room and paused. A boy who looked a little older than him was sitting by Rhozo’s desk, reading a book.

Rhozo sighed. “This is Asterum. He’s your cousin.” Asterum’s eyes stayed glued to his book. Icarum shivered from the awkward tension in the air.

“Asterum, we can speak later. Can you leave us?”

Asterum closed his book and made his way to the exit. He didn’t glance at Icarum once.

“I assume you’re here to ask about joining the rebels again?”

Icarum nodded. The old man had glasses glued to his face as he peered into a microscope. Underneath it was a shiny, black stone.

“You can test me agai-”

“Very well.”

“Just give me one more chance! I’ll pr-.” Icarum stopped in the middle of his sentence. “Huh?”

“I’ll test you again.” He looked up Icarum. “Ilina told you about spirits already, didn’t she?”

“Er,” Icarum started, “I’m not su-”

“Don’t even try to defend her. She’s also been pestering me about letting you join since yesterday night, even more than you did.”

He placed a hand on his forehead. “That girl really knows how to get on my nerves.”

Icarum smiled anxiously. He wasn’t sure how Rhozo would react if he learned that Ilina had shown him her wings and magic too.

“Why do you want to join the Rebels?”

“Because of my parents and my brother.”

“So you can take revenge on the Sydurnians?”

“I want enough power to create a world where nobody’s parents are burned alive and nobody’s brother is taken away.”

Rhozo’s eyes narrowed. “Would you sacrifice your brother for the rebellion?”

Icarum stared confidently ahead. “I’d find a way to save my brother and the rebellion.”

Rhozo laughed. “For someone who just lost their parents, you’re surprisingly naive.”

“There’s something you should know,” he continued. “Not everyone knows yet, but King Sydurn is dead.”

“Is his successor going to leave the Rheans alone?”

“Probably not. She’s started a war with the Enceladeans.”

“Then it doesn’t change anything. I’ll fight her along with the rest of Sydurnia.”

Rhozo was surprised at how quickly Icarum answered. It was likely that the late king had ordered his parents’ death, yet Icarum didn’t seem to care too much about King Sydurn’s passing. Perhaps there was more to Icarum’s quest to join the rebels than a thirst for revenge.

“Why do you think we fight?”

“For freedom.”

“Why else?”

Icarum paused to think about his answer. “We’re Rhean because of our culture, right, having magic and all? The Sydurnians want us to cast away who we are. Naturally, we should refuse.”

Rhozo had heard enough.. “Your induction ceremony will take place tomorrow night. That’s when we’ll awaken your spirit.”

Icarum ran forward and placed his hands on Rhozo’s desk. “Really?”

Rhozo returned to his microscope without a word.

Asterum sat outside next to the door, waiting for his grandfather to finish speaking. He stood up the moment Icarum walked out of the room. They locked eyes for a brief second, and Icarum opened his mouth. But before he could say anything, Asterum hurried away to ask his grandfather a question.

------------------------------------------

Sydurnia, Year 813 of Avia, Day 294

Khal, Icarum, Carla, Mia, and Noah sat together for dinner, waiting for the induction ceremony to begin.

“Out of curiosity, what exactly are your powers?”

The entire group looked suspiciously at Icarum, as if he just broke a taboo.

“Uh, did I ask something I wasn’t supposed to?”

Khal popped a piece of fruit into his mouth. “Not really. It’s just that, well, most people try to hide what their powers are. If too many people find out, you’d be at a huge disadvantage during the games.”

“The games?”

“Don’t worry, all of that’ll be explained after you become an official member of the Rebels.”

“Also, all of us haven’t really developed our powers much yet. We’re still working on strengthening our affinities,” Carla explained.

Icarum scratched his head. “Affinities?”

“Every spirit is better at handling some element, like water and fire. We call that your affinity,” Noah replied. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to share a little bit about what we can do, since you’ll be one of us soon anyways.”

“Wait, first of all, what spirits do each of you even have?”

Carla stood up and held out her hand, bowing slightly in a mocking manner. “Nice to meet you. My spirit is a Cardinal, and I possess a fire affinity.”

Mia followed her lead. “My spirit’s a Peacock! I’ve got a psychic affinity.”

Noah was next. “And mine’s Robin. My affinity is none other than wind.”

“I’m a Pigeon.” Khal continued. “Oh, and I have a sound affinity.”

“Since he’s a Pigeon, we used to call him Pig,” Carla said with a smile. “You should’ve seen the look on his face when I first brought it up.”

Khal rolled his eyes and tried to play it cool, but you clearly see him getting flustered. Icarum tried to conceal his laughter.

Suddenly, the lights started to dim. In the front of the cafeteria, Rhozo stood with his cane and made his way towards a microphone.

“Today, we welcome another rebel into our ranks.”

Everyone across the cafeteria cheered. The induction ceremony had begun.