Underestimated Affinities

by Matthew Scarcella

  Or, perhaps, he doesn’t see any need for concern as I do. After all, he’s in a new city, he doesn’t know anyone, and no one knows of him or his history. He can do whatever he wants. Me, on the other hand… it’s more complicated. However, I did make the decision not to stress out about it too much. I think that it’s best for me to just take things slowly with Piero, and not care about what anyone has to say about me. I have to live my life for me, not them.

  Also, I’m kind of at a loss for how to proceed in a relationship. As I’ve never been in a serious relationship, nor ever dated, I don’t know what the protocol is even for communication. Am I supposed to be seeing him more frequently? Am I supposed to wait for him to talk to me, or does the door swing both ways? I feel like it goes in both directions. But, am I supposed to do anything specific? Why do people think that they ‘have to’ do this, or ‘have to’ do that? I think I’m just going to do whatever comes naturally. For now, that means going to find Piero myself.

  Though first, I must leave the city for a few hours. Safeyya told me that the twins are a tad more familiar with the Sais of Zulena than she herself is, and I’m to meet with them. I’m scheduled to head out to the Forest of Lamphere with Melandria and Klaryk, well, right about now. So, I’ll find Piero when I’m back.

  I’m waiting in the window of the eastern guard tower for Klaryk to finish his shift when Melandria flies in from behind me. I turn around to face her upon hearing her wings beating rapidly while descending. She lands gracefully and cracks her knuckles before greeting me.

  “Hi, Selvyn, it’s nice to see you in a semi-unofficial capacity. It’s been a long time since we’ve had that luxury.” She smiles broadly.

  “It’s nice to see you as well, Melandria.”

  “Sorry about your sit-down with Bayleigh and the rest of the Council,” she says, though she doesn’t look sorry. “What happened?”

  “Oh, it’s alright. No worries,” I reply. I may as well shrug it off as if it’s not a big deal, because theoretically, it’s not; she was just doing her job. “It wasn’t so bad. They all just individually wanted to talk to me, so I’m sure you know what that’s like. It was just about newfound responsibilities, that kind of stuff. How I shouldn’t be slacking anymore.”

  “Well, they are certainly correct about that,” comes a deep voice from around the wall. Klaryk struts around the corner, clocking out of his shift on the electronic device on his way toward us. “You could use a little toughening up, Selvyn.” Ugh. A roll of the eyes more than deals with that comment. He means well, he’s just so awkward when he actually does talk. It’s generally amusing but occasionally borders on being repugnant, as is the case in this instance.

  Noticing the not-so-subtle dig that Klaryk’s delivered, Melandria pulls him by the arm toward the window.

  “Let’s go, you two. I don’t want to be late,” she says. I follow suit and fly after them.

  ***

  After flying southeast for an hour and a half, the Forest of Lamphere comes into view on the horizon. A calming wave washes over me as I sense Genesis within the forest.

  The forest is massive, spreading out to the ends of my periphery from afar. It’s nearly indescribable. Aside from our seas, the Forest of Lamphere is one of the largest natural spots across all Cinderfal. Spanning just under ten thousand square kilometers, it encompasses every tree species known to our world, except, oddly, fenestras. I’m not sure if this is something Gyllien decided to get rid of since she started taking ‘ownership’ of the place, or if they never grew here to begin with.

  Either way, a few of the species it houses are kornishaan, shoardez, and parvoinaizè, which all directly stemmed from the ancient species of maple, pine, and oak, respectively. However, the parvoinaizè, in particular, has evolved to bloom lavish cerulean blossoms along its branches. Some of the trees have mutated genes where the blossoms take on an apricot or gold coloring.

  The forest is known for housing the twins five to six days of the week, and as a result, pretty much everybody stays away from it. No one in their right mind wants to go up against Gyllien; she’s not the most powerful of the Tunes, but she’s on her own turf here. It would be impossible for someone to escape a fight against her and live to talk about it.

  Now that I think about it, I’m not sure who the strongest Tune would be. As Piero just gained his wings, it’s definitely not him. I don’t want to be biased and think it’s Safeyya, but to be fair, lightning is moderately difficult to wield. You can have a semblance of control over it, but it does tend to have a mind of its own; at the last second, it can change course, and then all the accuracy and precision in the world mean nothing. With the thought of sheer destructive power in mind, I’d wager that the Lava Tune is strongest, but that perhaps the Metal Tune would be the most dangerous.

  “Selvyn!” I hear a yell from ahead. Klaryk. “What are you doing? Catch up. We’re almost there.”

  “Sorry!” I call back. I had stopped flying and was hovering, admiring the forest from afar, just able to make out one parvoinaizè in the center of the forest, grander than all the rest of the trees.

  A sharp pricking sensation hits me in between my wings, and I can tell with nearly one hundred percent accuracy that Gyllien’s sitting in that parvoinaizè tree. This is weird; I don’t have an affinity for wood.

  I would call it intuition, but that seems too coincidental. According to everything that’s happened in the recorded history of Zicarna, I should not be able to sense Gyllien’s presence. Although, now that I think about it, I’ve always been able to sense Safeyya’s presence as well, since she became the Lightning Tune, but I just figured that was some sort of sibling bond we shared. Maybe it wasn’t… considering I am able to sense Piero as well… maybe something else is going on.

  “Hey,” I address Melandria and Klaryk as I catch back up to them. “Have either one of you ever had a conversation with the twins before?”

  Klaryk looks back and stares at me as if I have seven heads. “Of course, we’ve both met Gyllien and spoken to her at length. Multiple times. She used to have Theodora’s spot in the Council until she resigned five years ago. Are you daft?” I hadn’t actually forgotten that bit, I just didn’t know how advanced the two of them were in their training while Gyllien was still in the Council.

  “I’ve spoken to Genesis as well,” Melandria speaks up from my other side. “Though I don’t believe that Klaryk has. Genesis is an interesting personality. He reminds me of Klaryk, actually, except that he’s severely less prone to violence.”

  “What can I say?” Klaryk chuckles from my right. “I do enjoy my violence. It makes life more fun. Power is exhilarating. You can do anything you want in this world if you are powerful enough.”

  “Uh… right,” I mumble, worrisome. Thankfully he’s not as stupid as he sounds. All we need is a few power-hungry idiots in this world and it would erupt into chaos.

  Flying over the trees a little less than halfway into the forest, I see just how incredible this landmark is. Not to mention how frighteningly large the parvoinaizè is. It towers above the rest of the trees, and now that I’m closer, I can see that it’s centered between two large lakes. The lakes run circles around the tree’s base like a giant infinity symbol.

  “It’s so beautiful,” Melandria says from my left. “Hey!” she yells. “Let’s have a little fun. I bet that I can make it through the trees to the base of the parvoinaizè before either of you numbskulls. What do you say? Losers pay the winner 100 lenum?”

  “Hah! You bet your ass, girlie. There’s no way I’ll lose to you two,” Klaryk laughs.

  “Sure,” I say. “We may as well amuse ourselves while we’re here.” I’ve barely finished speaking and the two of them have already taken off ahead of me, dive bombing into the trees below. Not exactly off to a fair start — what a surprise.

  I wrap my wings around myself like a cocoon and plummet toward the ground. I kick up a gust of wind beneath me to stop myself from hitting the earth
, but once I’m level with it, I pivot forward and start flying again. Klaryk is in the lead, as Melandria underestimated a low hanging branch of a shoardez. She takes a second to shake the sharp bristles out of her hair and wings as she flies. Then she rounds another tree and I lose sight of the two of them.

  The wind rushes through a pair of kornishaan branches and caresses my face. It’s a sweet, tickling sensation. It reminds me of home: youth; serenity; compassion; love; possibility — all the things one could ever ask for, delivered in a nanosecond.

  The wind coaxes me, guiding me onward. I hear Melandria laughing in the distance, presumably having passed Klaryk in the dash toward the parvoinaizè. I hear the distinctive grunt of an alidark, and notice a rather large one leading its offspring in the direction of one of the lakes. They saunter by, in single file, with another adult following up in the rear. I land on a branch and stop to watch them carry on, but the rear-guard spots me and squeals loudly, signaling the others to run faster and take cover. He stands on his hind legs and paws at the space in front of him, baring his fangs. I raise my arms defensively, but we don’t have the same form of communication and the gesture goes unnoticed. He starts to charge in my direction, which won’t particularly help him at all, so I just jump off the branch and fly away from them. One more dismissive grunt calls after me, followed by silence.

  A forceful gust of wind hits me dead-on, halting me in my tracks. I tap into my affinity to get a judge of the surrounding area but don’t sense anything abnormal. Still, the wind continues east, beckoning, so I follow it. At this point, I figure I’m not going to win the race anyway.

  Heading east, I spiral sideways alongside a smaller parvoinaizè with apricot-colored blossoms and stop short on the other side. Hovering in front of me, with three sets of light green wings, is Genesis. And I almost barrel into him — what a way to make a first impression. But how come I didn’t know he would be right here?

  His light brown hair is cut short and brushed over to one side. His smile is quite nice, and his verdant green eyes are calming. Gazing into them results in a restorative effect, releasing the anxiety I was feeling up until this moment. His lithe frame is built for agility and his specialty, sensory reception. His six wind wings immediately stand out, but they are attractive with the rest of his features. He has plucked some feathers from his wings and made bracelets and anklets out of them. His voice is tranquil and soothing as he greets me.

  “Good day, Selvyn. My name is Genesis Hazeldine. It is nice to finally make your acquaintance — a shame that this is the first instance of it happening.” He points to a patch of bare earth beneath us. “Shall we proceed onto the ground?”

  “Good afternoon, Genesis. It is indeed such a pleasure to meet you.” He holds out his hand and takes mine in his, shaking it firmly. His grip is powerful and deceiving for his body type. “I’m sorry for almost barreling into you just now. For some reason… well, I couldn’t tell that you were in the vicinity.”

  He shrugs. “No worries at all, my friend. That wasn’t an accident on your part. I purposely kept my location separate from my body.” I stare at him, dumbfounded. “You look confused. I solely have the ability amongst Tunes to maintain discretion regarding my location. I just allow the wind to carry my information to another place — I am the Wind Tune, after all.”

  “I did not know that was possible.”

  “Quite so. Anyway, I did not expect you to know. That was the point; Gyllien and I thought it best if I spoke to you for a few minutes alone and this seemed the simplest way. Now, are you traveling with any other wind wielders?”

  “No,” I say. I’m not sure why he’s asking me.

  “Alrighty,” he says, closing his eyes. “Then see for yourself.” A few seconds pass by and then a strange sensation begins washing over me, like plant tendrils slithering all over my body, swarming their way toward my wind wing. That sense of Genesis being located in the distance begins to wane, and I can sense his presence closing in on us — which is even more strange, as I’m currently staring at him. It’s like there’s two of him, in a way.

  “Um, this is a very uncomfortable sensation,” I stammer out in his direction.

  He laughs wholeheartedly at me, clearly enjoying the look of me squirming on my feet. The wind finally comes around back to us and deposits his presence back into his body. Once he stops laughing, he addresses me again.

  “Awkward, I know. I’m sorry. Truly,” he says solemnly, and it seems like he means it. “There’s no other way for me to do it.” He looks toward the massive parvoinaizè where his sister awaits. “We’ll only have a few more minutes to ourselves before your comrades begin to wonder what’s keeping you. Is there anything in particular you would like to talk to me about?” His eyes widen suggestively, and it suddenly seems as if he can peer into my soul, searching for my most private thoughts.

  “Well,” I take the Sais off my back and hold them out to him, encouragingly, “I’ve been wondering how to make better use out of these.”

  “Ah, yes, the Sais of Zulena. Your sister Safeyya let us know that this is why you wanted to have a chat in the first place. Quite the craftsmanship there. My sister and I have not seen them for a few years. But we will be discussing how to use them with Gyllien in just a few moments. Let’s talk about some other matters of importance. Those that perhaps,” he nods suggestively to one side, raising his shoulders in the process, “You would not want to get back to the Council in Belarin. I am a resident of Belarin as well, having been born there with my sister, but as you may not be aware, I am not bound by the same rules as you and your comrades. Nor do I have any intention of discussing our chat with anyone but my sister. As the first ever born dual-affinity wielder in known history, and someone who can brandish these swords, we have nothing but the utmost respect for you as of now. However, whether you keep that respect in the future is in your hands.”

  His words seem heartfelt, and I do feel as if I can trust him. That begs the question though, what exactly should I ask him?

  “Well,” I say. “I know you said we’ll talk about their use soon. But do you know how these ended up in a cave underneath the Waterfall of Makoro?”

  “Ah.” He smiles brightly at this. “Well, that is simple, my friend. We placed them there when we became Tunes, quite a few years back now. Lux Chanteraì, the Water Tune, found them amongst some ocean debris and was afraid they would fall into the wrong hands. She recruited our assistance, and it took the three of us utilizing our affinities at our maximum strength to be able to drag them to their hiding place. As for why Makoro? It is a special place in Lux’s heart and soul, and she is there frequently.”

  “But…” I start to contradict him. “I don’t want to question your story, but how could they fall into the wrong hands if no one could control them until me?”

  “My dear lad,” he sighs dismissively. “You are forgetting some fundamental information about these weapons. By whom were they made?”

  “Well, the Sais of Zulena were made by… Zulena? Yes?”

  “Of course. And who was Zulena?” he asks me.

  “She was arguably the first Metal Tune in existence,” I respond.

  “Yes, and unless you have been living under a rock, you would have noticed something vital that has happened within the past few years. Of course, the Council has tried to keep the information at bay, but for the most part, it has become public knowledge. The current Metal Tune is… well, unpredictable, to say the least.”

  “Right,” I say, not following him. I look down at the Sais and it clicks. “I see. If the Sais were created by the first Metal Tune, then there is a considerable chance that the current Metal Tune would be able to wield them.”

  “How astute! That’s why Lux decided to hide them.”

  “But — wouldn’t the Metal Tune simply be able to find them by sense? They can track elements in trace amounts, and this is a large quantity, as you can see.”

  “Well, Lux put up a protective film around t
hem to dull the metals emanating from within the cave,” he says. “She visited Makoro at least twice a week to make sure it was still functioning. As to why the Metal Tune did not find the weapons amongst the ocean debris, that I cannot say. I do not know the answer. Though now that the weapons have been removed from their shrouded hiding place… I’ll just say that you should be careful from now on. She may be able to sense the blades outside the barrier.” He turns toward the parvoinaizè and takes a few steps forward, extending his wings in the process. “Anything else? We should be going.”

  “Wait!” I yell a bit too loudly. “Sorry,” I tone down the decibel of my voice. “This is a bit awkward to ask. I’m able to sense your sister as well. I mean, I know that we are — were — supposed to meet at the parvoinaizè, but I can sense her presence there, as I can sense yours. I can also sense my sister, the Lightning Tune, and Piero, the Ice Tune, who is new to our city. Do you know why I’m able to? It’s abnormal, isn’t it?”

  He turns around slowly until he’s facing me again. His expression is not discernible.

  “That, I am afraid…” he begins, “Is another question… I… do not have the answer to.” After a pause, he resumes his normal speech and tone of voice. “I am truly sorry I offered to talk with you, and yet have no information to provide to you. However, this is something Gyllien will be very interested in, and the two of us will get to the bottom of it. I warn you — it may take some time.”

  “That’s alright, Genesis. I appreciate your time. And thank you for looking into this for me. Let’s go meet the others.”