ACADEMY OF LIGHT

by RAVENC JAMES

  “Great idea.”

  To ensure no book was left unread, I included the help of Grinlock. She pointed to me all the books she had read so as not to include them in our list of unread books. She also helped by reading the books on our list. Thus, we began searching for that one book.

  I read ten books, they read one. We assigned a wall. Mine was fourth and fifth walls. Grinlock was reading the books on the second wall while Venir was covering the first wall. We then convened from time to time to talk about whether we found it. We all ended shaking our heads. We resumed our search. I finished all of the books on my walls and went to the third wall to read the books that Grinlock said she had not read yet. When I finished them all, I went to the first wall and read the books Venir had yet to read. This I also completed. With growing frustration, I went to the second wall. Grinlock finished almost all the books on that wall except for five more.

  I gulped.

  This was it. One of these five books had to be the book to summon the Focus Room. With bated breath and nervous excitement, I started reading them.

  One down.

  Two down.

  Three down.

  Four down.

  I gazed up at the top corner of the wall. That would be the last book that none of us had read yet.

  I hovered toward it, reached out with my shaking hand. I closed my eyes and then opened it. The title on the cover said The Dimensions.

  The book discussed how Ether had many dimensions and that these dimensions were like the different layers of Ether that could only be seen by an archangel-level navi or by the creators themselves. There were no directions as to how to get there. They existed—the book seemed to emphasize. When I finished reading it, I turned to them, who were all staring at me with hopefulness in their eyes.

  “This is not it,” I said with a defeated voice.

  “So how could they go to the hidden rooms if they didn’t know how to summon them?” Grinlock said. Her voice was soft and cracking a little bit.

  “Maybe the books are not here?” Venir said.

  I glanced in his direction. He tried to look optimistic about it, like trying to brush away the glum that befell us.

  “And if it’s not in the next house, then maybe in the next, and then the next,” he said, his voice gained its strength at its every word. “Maybe this is it. This is part of learning, of growing up. Maybe the darkness is part of the Academy. It’s a riddle, like you said, the Great Riddle that one has to solve. We will never know unless we finish every single house in the academy.”

  Positivity won us over. Grinlock resumed her reading, and Venir returned to his. And I? I waited. I hovered beside Venir or behind him. Or on the other side. We went to the garden sometimes to take a break and then went back in for him to finish his book.

  Grinlock said her farewell as she proceeded to the next house. Although I had enough navi to qualify for the next house, I remained by Venir’s side. The only good thing about it was that this time, he did not complain.

  I saw Tarain arrive at Rebu.

  “The Salsu books were terrible, terrible,” she said, and I laughed because I understood what she meant by that.

  Sometimes I would go to the garden alone and play with the water fountain or play with Sylfur. I would summon the Rood and then create a star and then send the Sylfur to destroy it. This was one thing I learned about silver energy. It was good at destroying the energy bonds.

  Then I would come back to check on Venir.

  I saw him progress from one wall to another. Slowly and patiently. I hung around, hovering nearby, sometimes closer while I told him a story, talked to him. I saw him sleep a few times and thought that he must have seen me sleeping too.

  I saw a few angels enter the House and others leave. But I remained by Venir’s side. Then the time came when my patience was rewarded. Imagine my reaction when he closed that one book he read, put it back on the shelves, and turned to me with his winning smile and said:

  “I’m ready when you’re ready.”

  CHAPTER 11

  With my wings wider, my flying to the next house was more enjoyable and exhilarating. Venir still showed difficulty in hovering when he tried doing it my way. I could barely contain my amusement as I watched him stagger midair like he was bouncing from one invisible step to another. Looking frustrated, he stopped from trying and started flying the way he usually did—that is, by propelling himself up to the next level in one quick and giant leap.

  The second house, the House of the Celestial Knowledge, resembled the first one. The whole structure was made up of pearly white marble with a ceiling that looked like a sky. It was divided into four spheres, much like the first house, going from the ground to the highest part of the building. Mashsphere was the ground floor with green-plated books; several miles from the ground was the Minsphere with yellowed-plated books; then on top of it was the Salsusphere with blue-plated books, and then lastly the highest layer was the Rebusphere with red-plated books.

  Just like the first house, the angels needed to fly higher to read the higher books. But I was wiser this time. I intended not to skip a book unless it was one of those considered mystery books. I was also planning to wait for Venir so that we could fly together to the next sphere.

  The second house turned out to be full of practical information. We learned to manipulate the air around us to send messages. This kind of communication was called air-stream. I would go to the garden while he stayed inside the library, and then we would send messages through the air back and forth. We had a blast trying out this new knowledge.

  “Let’s go over to the Metropolis,” I said through the air-stream.

  Other than the possibility of learning about summoning the Focus Room or about the darkness, the second house also had the back door to the Metropolis.

  “So you want us to locate it?” The air-stream carried Venir’s voice to the garden.

  “I’m sure it’s in the garden,” I answered.

  “But what if it requires rare or valuable knowledge found only in the higher spheres as entrance payment?” he answered back.

  “You’re right,” I answered. My voice reflected my disappointment.

  It did not take long before Venir’s voice once again floated through the air. “Come inside. I have an idea.”

  As soon as I was within hearing distance, he started telling me about his plan. And I was listening to him while hovering in the air cross-legged.

  His plan was very simple. He would sort out all the books for both of us from hard to easy. If he could not read it, he would give it to me. Then, he would read all the easy books, and we would both start with the same wall. This way, we would make sure we would not skip the essential books.

  After several readings, we finished the first wall and moved on to the second. Halfway through it, and while I was reading a book called Memor, Venir randomly said that he was going to the garden. Alone.

  I put the book back on the shelves to follow him.

  “You don’t take a break when you’re in the middle of reading a book,” he said. His voice had a mild tone of reprimand to it.

  Although he was right about that, I didn’t appreciate him telling me what to do.

  “Watch me take a break then and have a grand time about it,” I replied with a huge fake smile on my face.

  “Well, can I at least have some alone time with myself?” he answered with an equally huge fake smile on his face.

  His words were hurtful. They made me pause a little bit and evaluate our friendship. Was he bored of me? Didn’t he like my companionship? Was he looking for a new friend?

  Still nursing the sting in my heart, I shifted my attention back to my book. And also, because I wanted to hide the little tears that started to well up in my eyes.

  “I’ll be back,” he said. His voice was soft this time. He took a few steps toward me, leaned over, and kissed my cheek.

  The kiss felt nice and lessened the sting of his words. When he left, I t
ried to focus on the book in my hand and not on the lingering warmth left by his kiss on my cheek.

  The book I was reading turned out to be interesting. Memor was a kind of energy that could record information, events, experiences, or memories. You could attach it to an object, and wherever that object was, it would record everything it sensed. This reminded me of what Grinlock told me about the air and water reporting back to the Communication Garden. This would mean that the energy Memor was everywhere. So how did I summon one? I touched the screen of my book, and it turned to the next page. I was still reading it when Venir returned, looking worn out.

  “Here,” he said. On his open palms were red and green berries. They were my favorite.

  I took several of them and ate them.

  “It’s good that you’re here,” I said. “Memor is an energy that can remember everything. You need to help me summon one.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “How?”

  “I don’t know much about measurement, and I remember you liking this subject so much. So, tell me. What are these? Es Naranza, imin Blo, and min Gel?”

  “What are they supposed to be?” he asked.

  “They are the elements needed to create a Memor,” I answered.

  “So Memor is not a natural energy?”

  I wondered it myself. “The book says it is. But it does not show how to summon it by itself.” I tapped the screen of the book to flip to the next pages. Then I went back to the page where the directions were written. “These are the only directions given on how to make one by mixing these three energies.”

  “All right, es means three, so that means three Naranza, imin is seven, so seven Blo, and then min is two, so two Gel,” he explained.

  As I was having a tough time refraining myself from running to him and kissing him, preferably on the lips, I tightened my grip on the book and fluttered my wings instead.

  He smiled. “So, go. Make yourself a Memor.”

  “No, Ven. We’re going to do it together.”

  After we learned how to make a Memor, Venir increased the number of times he strolled in the garden for his personal ‘me’ time. I was starting to suspect he was meeting someone there, which made my stomach churn just by thinking about it. But that was his request, so I was trying very hard to honor it.

  When we flew to the next sphere, we used the same strategy. He would sort out the books from the easiest to the hardest. He got the easy ones. I got the hardest. Wall after wall, we progressed faster. We actually made a good team. Then we proceeded to the third sphere, the Salsu—my hated area. However, the measurement lessons in the second house were less boring than the first house. It discussed how different kinds of energies could create another energy. It was hard for me to remember ingredients simply because I had not mastered measurement terms in the first house.

  “Why don’t we use the Memor to remember all the ingredients for us?” Venir suggested.

  I was so thankful for his cleverness that I made not just one bracelet laced with Memor energy, I made two. One for me, and another for him. I saw the blush creeping up over his face when I gave him the bracelet. Then shyly, he handed me a white bracelet.

  “You made me one too?”

  “I was trying to replicate your necklace with a bracelet to give it to you. And then I added the Memor after I learned how to make one.”

  Then it dawned on me why he was looking haggard after going to the garden.

  “So, every time you went there by yourself, this is what you were doing?”

  “I’m not really good with the energy-wielding thing, and I wanted to surprise you with it,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

  Venir had a way of making me lose any self-restraint, and because of that, I blamed him for it. I blamed him for the loud thudding in my chest and my ears. I blamed him for this irresistible urge I felt, which I expressed by hugging him so tight. I blamed him for the urge to kiss him on his lips. And when he kissed me back, I blamed him for making the kiss last a little longer. My heart was racing, my body tingled, my stomach fluttered—all of these I blamed him for.

  When the kiss ended, he chuckled, and I felt offended by it.

  “Why are you upset?” he said, confused.

  “Because you’re laughing.”

  “Because I’m happy?”

  Oh. And so I started laughing with him. We were still laughing when we flew up to Rebu, the fourth sphere.

  Using our system of reading, we read a lot of books and advanced quickly. When we finished the third wall, we decided to take a break and go to the garden.

  Venir and I strolled in the garden, enjoying the soft and unobtrusive air while throwing furtive glances at each other. I caught his glances more than once. And when his face turned red, I giggled in amusement. Because he wore his emotions on his face, I could easily tell if he was upset, confused, or embarrassed. I knew he was confused as to why I was laughing at his embarrassment. What made it a lot funnier was that the flowers, with their vibrant, glossy textures and seemingly innocent beauty, mimicked my laughs.

  My teasing might have been unnecessarily long, and the flowers may have made it worse, so much so that Venir stalked away from us.

  “Hush!” I reprimanded the flowers, and they quickly quieted down. I then followed where Venir went.

  Most trees in the garden were huge and bulky, and they sprawled on the ground, heavy with kalaskig. They were always crowded with angels wanting to taste their fruits. But there was a section in the garden where angels rarely traversed, for it had a copse of scrawny kalaskig-barren trees. You could barely see it if you were standing at the center of the garden, for it was blocked by tall bushes.

  It was here where I found Venir. With his back toward me, he was looking at a tree and was so enraptured by it that he did not even glance my way as I walked near him.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, curious about the tree that fascinated him so much.

  “I think I found it,” he said, and this time he turned his head toward me. His grin was huge.

  “What did you find?” I asked as I stepped closer to stand beside him. I examined the tree and saw nothing but scrawny bark with a couple of leafless and dry branches.

  “Look at the ground,” he instructed, pointing at a spot by the foot of the tree.

  I peered down and saw leaves covering the ground.

  “Look harder. Focus your eyes on that spot,” he said.

  And I did. I stared at that same spot, a few inches from the foot of the tree. The leaves still looked the same, but, as he instructed, I kept my gaze trained on it. And then something happened.

  It first appeared as if the leaf-covered ground was the bottom of a clear pool of water. It took me a while before I realized what I was staring at.

  “It’s the door,” I said; my voice filled with awe.

  “I think we should start the trade now before it disappears,” he said.

  “How do we do that?”

  “Look at the leaves.”

  The leaves on the ground did not make sense. They were not dry or dead. They still had the luster and vibrancy of life. But why were they on the ground as though they had fallen from the branches? I turned my head to him and grinned. Together, we both said.

  “Rulmond.”

  Rulmond was a token object that recorded pledges or promises. Now that I knew about Memor energy, I believed any object could be a rulmond, as long as you laced it with Memor.

  Venir bent over to collect a few leaves and gave some to me. I started speaking to the leaf the knowledge that I thought worth trading. Venir made his own pledge as well. And then we put the leaves back to the ground. They sparkled before they vanished. But the door did not open.

  “It might not be enough,” he said.

  I used my knowledge of the Navi and its author’s name to trade. But it didn’t seem enough.

  “The more the knowledge is shared, the more its value depreciates,” Venir explained. “Is there something you
read from one of those hard-to-read books that you haven’t shared with me yet?”

  “Have I shared with you about the different dimensions?”

  He looked surprised before he shook his head. And so, I picked up another leaf and started discussing what I knew about it. When I was finished, I dropped the leaf; and as soon as it hit the ground, it disappeared. Then, the water reflection started glowing.

  Venir thrust his arm through the glowing light, and the part of the arm exposed to the light disappeared and then reappeared as he pulled his arm back.

  “I think the door is open.”

  “So, does it mean we have to jump?” I asked.

  Venir answered my question by jumping into it, and the glowing door swallowed him in. With my heart throbbing louder in my ears, I, too, jumped.

  CHAPTER 12

  I found myself flying in the sky, and below me were several glittering spherical-shaped buildings made of gemstones—ruby, sapphire, and emerald.

  “Ori!”

  Venir was flying toward me. I grabbed his outstretched hand, and together we descended into the Metropolis.

  I could not contain my excitement when we strolled along the streets. Several angels did not pay us any mind as they went on their businesses. The round-shaped buildings turned out to be stores that sold items made by angels: diamond-memory frames where happy memories were displayed; floating kalaskig holders, which followed wherever one went; a crystal ball as a communication device; and several more.

  “Do you think that beats air messaging?” Venir asked as we stared at the crystal ball in awe.

  “Do you two want to try it?” the vendor said.

  At our nod, he showed us how the device worked. The vendor gave Venir a stone that said “kilo” and then told him to go outside the building. The vendor then turned to me and instructed me to say the word “kilo” to the crystal. As soon as the word “kilo” left my mouth, Venir’s head appeared inside the crystal.

  “I can see you!” Venir said to me.

  “I can see you too. Your head is inside the crystal!”