by W. M. Martin
As time marched on, the Avior enclave had received six more occupants, all of whom were new to the academy. Each with their own round, blue medallions with their respective totems emblazoned on the front and clasped tightly to shimmering sable cloaks. They were all so equally excited that the chatter amongst themselves created a deafening chorus of questions and stories of their individual journeys within the Nexus. Maggie was truly enjoying all of it.
A girl with wavy, red hair named Sara Carlson had received a totem that was a kiwi named Mikey. Her medallion had a small, round bird with a long, thin bill and it was standing in tall grass. Another girl, Kylie Hanson, had a totem named Augustus and he was an emu. Her medallion featured a large bird with long legs posed as though it were running past a woodland backdrop. There was Klaus Fischer whose totem, Lina, was an emperor penguin and his medallion featured a large, flightless bird standing in front of a large glacier. A girl with jet black hair, a fierce countenance and an obvious chip on her shoulder named Lucy Min, was talking about her totem, Maverick. He was a black crow with a sharp tongue. Lucy’s totem was featured tilting its head slightly while perching on a picket fence. Finally, there were the twins Lester and Thomas Baker. Their totems were both pigeons named Connie and Talia. The twins’ medallions each held the respective likenesses of two birds resting side by side on a windowsill.
Maggie was more than pleased to meet them all and show off her medallion all while going into vivid detail of her expedition inside the Nexus and meeting Elliot. Everyone listened intently and offered up similarities when there were some and got even more excited when it came to the differences. Having not yet learned to summon forth the corporeal forms of their newfound symbiotic companions, everyone was speaking on their totem’s behalf. Maggie found it strange, as did everyone else, that their totems didn't know each other considering that they were all conjoined within the Nexus.
“Elliot says that he’s “puzzled as to why we are now strangers after having been infinite multiples yet also a singular entity,” Maggie quipped. “Or something like that.”
Everyone looked at each other, entirely confused by what Maggie had just stated on Elliot’s behalf.
“Those were Elliot’s words, not mine,” Maggie quickly interjected with a grin.
“Maverick thinks your totem sounds stupid,” smirked Lucy.
Maggie got surprisingly irritated at Lucy and her silly little crow, Maverick. She sat forward on the sofa, a little too threateningly
and narrowed her sky-blue eyes.
Maggie said calmly, with just a hint of venom in her voice, “I think Elliot is perfect,” her tone unmistakably challenging Lucy, or anyone else for that matter, to insult her totem again.
Maggie could sense the pride that Elliot had felt when she defended his honor. Lucy met Maggie’s eyes, which shimmered with a furious beauty as though they were cut from the very sapphires that covered so much of the room that they occupied, by narrowing her own almond colored eyes that exposed her formidability and resolve. Lucy was not frightened by Maggie. Not even a little bit. Lucy relished conflict. She seldom tried to instigate strife, but it seemed to actively seek her out. Most times it found her and she welcomed the contention with open arms. Sara and Kylie shifted a little closer together on the edge of the sofa that they had been sharing with Maggie. The tension in the room was so palpable that it seemed to almost have a physical presence. The tumult felt objectively substantial. Klaus was in a luxurious recliner, wishing that he could enjoy it, but instead he was trying to keep the peace between Maggie and Lucy. He was failing miserably. The twins, Lester and Thomas were trying their level best to keep straight faces through it all.
“You shouldn't be so sensitive, Maggie,” Lucy quipped, “it was only a joke.”
“Yeah, see? It was only a joke. Let’s all just relax and enjoy the fact that we’ve all been chosen by the Spire,” implored Klaus, as tiny drops of perspiration began to form on his forehead.
Klaus was worried that if the altercation turned physical that they could all be expelled. Admittedly, he was completely unaware of the rules and regulations that governed the Kindred academy. Before Maggie could respond with the fact that she found Lucy and Maverick’s joke wanting, another girl walked through the great round doors and into the room.
“Hello, I'm Alice Pennington,” offered the most recent student to join Clan Avior.
She had a velveteen, melodious voice wrapped softly inside of a posh, English accent. She also had waves of soft strawberry-blonde tresses that tried very hard, but failed, to hide her eyes that looked like two swirling, hazel hurricanes. Alice’s entrance appeared to diffuse the tense situation. Lester felt a sharp pounding in his chest as Alice walked over to him and proffered her hand in order to introduce herself to him. Lester took Alice’s hand in his and shook it gently. He stammered and gave her his name. Alice could obviously sense that Lester was extremely enamored with her because almost as soon as their eyes locked, she looked away bashfully with a sheepish smile.
Lester stammered, “W-where are you from? You have a beautiful accent.”
Alice laughed at Lester with delight and replied, “Thank you, I like your accent as well. I'm from Plimpkins. It's a Haven in North Yorkshire.”
When Alice turned to shake Kylie’s hand, Thomas rolled his eyes and elbowed Lester in the ribs just before whispering sharply, “Good grief, stop it!”
After about two hours had ticked away, the ceremony in the main hall had concluded and the exquisite Avior residential community room was bustling with conversation and activity. There was laughter and raucous embellishments as many of the students were doing wild and imaginative impressions of their totems. Maggie and Lucy had come to an unspoken understanding to stay away from each other and the five other students who had witnessed the turmoil were glad for it.
“Greetings and welcome to the Clan Avior enclave,” came a rather loud voice from four floors above the bustling room of students.
Everyone stopped in their tracks and craned their necks, almost in unison, to see that high above them stood an older man in a long, black cloak. He leapt without warning from up above and dove down, headlong toward a clearing on the floor far beneath him where the students were congregated together. There was a flare of shimmering light that engulfed his entire body in midair and the flowing black cloak was immediately replaced by an elegant set of full body armor that held hues of blue. It blazed with an aura that looked as though it captured and held ransom every ray of available light within the vicinity. In the center of the cuirass was his totem medallion.
The stranger flipped forward through the air and landed on the floor with surprising force, but the ground on which he delivered such a powerful impact displayed no distress. He landed hard in a crouched position and as he stood, Maggie could tell that the helmet which covered his entire head was one solid piece and that it served as an integral part to complete the sum total of his armor. The helmet’s visor melted away into itself, revealing the newcomer’s visage. His face was covered by a well-groomed, gray beard. He had a blue eye and a green one. He also had a long scar that slid across his right eye, which was the blue one, and trailed halfway down the side of his cheek. He looked to be in his late sixties or early seventies. The helmet that was very much a part of his body held the countenance of an owl.
The stranger in the beautiful armor with hints of blue introduced himself, “My name is Mr. Cornelius Evans. I am the Head Instructor here at the Kindred Academy. As you can clearly see, I belong to Clan Avior just like all of you.”
Mr. Evans started toward the center of the room, right in Maggie’s direction. As he approached her, his armor looked as though it were melting off of him, coming together on his shoulder and forming into a brown, barn owl with a slightly blue glow around its feathery body. Maggie’s jaw, as had become her practice over the course of that evening, dropped in amazement.
The owl, now perched comfortably on Mr. Evans, twisted her head a little and t
hen said in a wispy ethereal voice, “This class looks promising. Don't you agree, Cornelius?”
“Indeed, Cora, I do,” replied Mr. Evans.
The owl named Cora said to Mr. Evans, “Tell them about the Legacies.”
“Ladies and gentleman,” sustained Mr. Evans, “Cora has just reminded me that tonight, for the first time in over two hundred years, the Spire has chosen not one, but two Legacies and both are now in Clan Avior! Ms. Lucy Min and Ms. Maggie Bennett!”
Everyone whispered in excitement. Maggie noticed that Lucy did not appear to be very pleased with having her name lumped together with her own. Maggie had no idea why the room at large seemed to be pulsing with enthusiasm by Mr. Evans’ statement. What was a “Legacy,” what made her one and why should she care?
CHAPTER THREE
Alice whispered excitedly in Maggie’s ear from behind her, “That is so amazing. You didn't let on that you were a Legacy, Maggie!”
Maggie whispered back from over her shoulder, “I don't even know what that means.”
“What?” Alice said, obviously very surprised and a little bit louder than she meant to be.
Maggie felt a twinge of embarrassment and was reticent to ask the very affable Alice about what exactly a Legacy was, so she sought out her totem.
“Elliot?” thought Maggie.
“Yes?” answered Elliot.
Maggie continued in her mind, “What's a Legacy? I feel like an idiot. Please tell me you know what it means.”
“I am afraid that I do not. I shall learn much of this world along with you. Our education shall be in tandem. I feel that our joint enlightenment shall be, without a doubt, the most exhilarating undertaking,” stated Elliot.
Maggie grumbled out loud, “Well, that's just great.”
“What is?” asked Alice.
Maggie replied with a hint of chagrin, “Oh, nothing. My totem, Elliot, was just telling me that he's excited to learn stuff.”
Alice nodded her head in approval agreeing with Elliot. Mr. Evans stood before Maggie and motioned for Lucy, who was leaning against the prodigious eagle head protruding from the hearth, to join them. Lucy rolled her eyes in complaint but complied with the non verbal order issued by their academy’s Head Instructor. With her arms crossed in protest, Lucy pushed herself away from one of the large sapphires comprising the room’s enormous hearth. She strode with slight indignance toward Maggie and Mr. Evans.
Lucy stopped just short of Mr. Evans and Maggie and turned to face the captive audience inside of the Avior common room.
Mr. Evans placed a hand on each girl’s shoulder and announced to the crowded room, “Tomorrow we shall begin your introduction into your Kindred studies. It will be difficult. Some of you will succeed, but most of you will not. Do not be disheartened by that fact. Your powers will grow in time. There are five essential skills required in order to become a Guardian. Each Kindred Clan is inherently more proficient at one of those skills, initially, than they are at the remaining four. Again, do not allow yourselves to be overtaxed by that fact. I can assure you all that the students from Sauropon, Secarn, Okeaous and Terran shall struggle just as much as you will in the beginning.”
Lester spoke up, “What are we supposed to find so relatively easy, Mr. Evans?”
Mr. Evans answered with one word and an imperious grin, “Summons.”
Alice smiled at Lester for being so intrepid. Lester noticed the pleased expression and blushed slightly. Thomas leaned over to his brother and made a mocking kissing noise by his ear. Lester, finding his brother’s shenanigans less than humorous, snuck a kick into Thomas’ shin to silence him. Maggie noticed the exchange between the two brothers and had to force herself to stifle a laugh.
Mr. Evans proceeded to ask, “Who here can tell me what a Legacy is? Anyone?”
The girl named Kylie stood up with an excited expression and blurted out, “Mr. Evans! A Legacy is a Kindred whose mom and dad were from different Clans!”
“Correct!” Mr. Evans stated before he progressed with a deeper explanation, “A Kindred whose mother and father are from divergent Clans is a true rarity because it is a near impossibility for opposing Clan constituents to produce offspring together. I repeat and emphasize, it is a near impossibility; not, however, a complete one. We have Ms. Min and Ms. Bennett here with us as verifiable proof of that fact.”
Maggie was embarrassed about being used as an example of proof that her parents were ever intimate and Lucy was growing visibly more perturbed with having to stand beside Maggie. Mr. Evans was clearly oblivious to Maggie’s mortification and Lucy’s derision.
“Lucy’s mother and father were from the Clans Okeaous and Sauropon and Maggie’s mother and father were from Terran and Secarn respectively. A true rarity to be sure. Absolutely fascinating and wonderful all at the same time. Alright, students, we shall begin your instructions tomorrow. Tonight, you will each be shifted through an omniport to your homes where you will bid farewell to your families for the next three years. You all may return home during the holidays to visit with your families if you so choose. Your families may visit the academy during the holidays if you decide to stay here. They may not, however, use their totems to create an omniport to this academy. They may come through any of the five omniports that are materialized and monitored by two of each of the enclave’s Chief Praetorians. The Praetorians stand guard outside of every enclave entrance and others in their guild patrol the Kindred Academy at all times. This is for your safety and is non negotiable.”
Mr. Evans was extremely serious on that point. He did not seem, to Maggie, like he was the type of person who would suffer foolishness. He was, thus far, kind to be sure, but there was a sternness to him, almost a sort of grimness, which clung just under the surface of his smile. Mr. Evans was affable, but he was certainly not going to be a pushover.
Maggie raised her hand slightly so as to ask permission to speak. Mr. Evans, who was still standing with Maggie on one side of him and with Lucy on the other, nodded his head toward Maggie. He was clearly pleased with her manners. Mr. Evans smiled broadly, giving her his blessing to ask a question. Maggie leaned in so as not to include everyone in the room with what she had to say.
She whispered to Mr. Evans, “I don't have any parents to go home to. I don't even have a home, well not really. I have a little cot and a huge comforter in the rear of a diner.”
Lucy heard this, but didn't acknowledge it.
“Quiet!” Lucy snapped.
“Excuse Me?” Mr. Evans said looking toward Lucy with a truly shocked and very frightening expression.
Lucy, for all of her bravado, sank down hastily at Mr. Evans’ side and stared up at him before apologizing, “I'm sorry, Mr. Evans. Maverick was being really loud and I couldn't concentrate.”
“Yes, well you'll learn to quieten him, Ms. Min,” Mr. Evans said placatingly.
Mr. Evans had quickly and clearly forgiven Lucy for her brief and minor kerfuffle. He looked over to her and gave a kind look of sympathy. He clearly understood how jarring it was for a young Kindred to suddenly have a voice in their head that was not their own. Mr. Evans smiled parentally at Lucy and then he returned his attention to Maggie in order to address her statement about being orphaned and homeless.
Mr. Evans placed a single, caring hand on Maggie’s shoulder and he offered thoughtfully, “You are not alone, Ms. Bennett. This shall be your home and we shall be your family.”
“Okay,” was all a gracious Maggie could say.
“Very good! Now then, if everyone will now please follow me, we shall return to the Macrocosm Chamber,” said Mr. Evans.
As the Clan Avior students formed a line by fours behind Mr. Evans, Maggie was joined by Alice, who was quickly joined by Lester. Kylie stepped forward and filled the fourth position in the front of the procession.
“This place is brilliant! This is all so exciting isn't it?” Alice asked Maggie in her beautiful and velvety English accent.
“It really is,” said Ma
ggie before continuing. “It’s just really kind of overwhelming. I honestly feel a little lost. There’s just so much to take in, you know?”
“Don't worry about it, we’ll help each other and figure all of this out, together,” Alice said in earnest.
As everyone made their way back down the long passageway toward the Macrocosm Chamber the raised murals were still swirling about and making beautiful lifelike representations of various birds. It was just as incredible to watch now as it was just a few hours ago when Maggie was making her way to the Avior common room. She was fairly certain that watching the scenes play out would never grow tiresome.
“I wonder who will be the first to summon their totem from our Clan. How about you, Lester?” asked Alice.
“I’d put my money on Maggie for the win; she is a Legacy after all,” answered Lester.
Maggie quipped with a smile, “I'm not a racehorse, Lester.”
Kylie, Alice and Lester all laughed at Maggie’s comment and the group as a whole were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Kylie interjected, “If you were then you'd definitely be in the wrong Clan!”
Everyone continued to guffaw and Maggie joined in with the laughter. When they entered the great chamber, the other four Clans’ students were already there and preparing to leave. The Spire was completely dormant, save for a minimal glow that would pulse gently every minute or so. Mr. Evans stepped aside and allowed everyone to move past him so as to head toward the wondrous bejeweled doors from which everyone had initially entered to begin the Appointment of Clans.
Mr. Evans waved and bid them all farewell, “I shall see you all tomorrow! Everyone should try to get some sleep because you will all need to be well rested as we begin our journey of tapping into our totems and learning to draw on their power, making it our own!”
Mr. Evans knew full well that not a single student would close their eyes that night. They would fight sleep, tooth and nail, to stay awake. This disobedience would be carried out in order to scheme with their new totems, trying in vain to formulate what would most certainly be an ineffectual plot so as to be the first to summon their totems. The lustrous doors parted and the students were greeted by Nancy Decker. She raised her right hand and a crackling omniport materialized beside her.
