by EJ Wozniak
“Wow, you guys already fixed up a lot of it. I just wanted to make sure you and your mom were doing alright and to see if you needed anything.”
Lumen could see Sofia’s dad looking through the passenger window and waving as if to signal he was there to help if needed. Lumen got the sense he meant it.
“Oh, we are okay. Thanks, we appreciate it. Sorry again about everything.”
“Don’t be sorry! I had a lot of fun, I wasn’t lying. How about you come over this week on Friday? I can take you somewhere.”
Lumen felt himself turn pink, and he could feel his cheeks get warm. He wondered if that would ever stop happening.
“Yes,” was all Lumen could manage to stammer out.
Sofia smiled, gave him a quick hug, and jogged back to the car through the light snow coming down.
Lumen could hear her dad say, “Are they okay? Do we need to bring them anything?” and Sofia telling him a couple times that it was okay and to go.
By Sunday, the backyard looked almost back to normal except for a few burn marks on the fence. Alice decided she would keep it for now as a reminder of how lucky they were to still have the house.
An officer came by on Sunday to ensure there wasn’t any missed damage. It was the same one that did the questioning on the night of the fire. The officer assured them they were working as hard as they could to find the arsonist. They had a few suspects but nothing concrete, so they placed a patrol on the street in the meantime to keep watch at night. Lumen left the room and was pretty sure he heard the officer ask his mom out on a date. Lumen didn't hear his mom’s answer but decided he didn’t want to know.
Sunday night rolled by, and Alice ordered pizza because she was too tired to cook. It was a lazy Sunday night for them. Lumen decided to finish the puzzle he and Sofia had gotten halfway through. Doing so reminded him of his date on Friday coming up. It was going to be a busy week for Lumen.
After the puzzle, he decided to head to his room to practice with a glass of water. He was able to make it vibrate quicker than he had been able to before and it was taking less effort. Alec hadn’t told him anything yet about where to go or what to bring. The ring on his finger was hardly noticeable. It felt like it belonged there. He wondered if he needed his “safe place” set up yet. After the fire, Lumen wasn’t sure if his house was the best idea.
After some thought, Lumen decided to go to bed. He would rather be well rested for tomorrow than to stress about what he did and didn’t need.
* * *
The day came and went as usual. Alec came back to school. Apparently, he had decided not to limit his options and would keep going to school for the time being. Lumen wasn’t sure what he meant by that but agreed he should stay in school. No bullies today, Lumen thought to himself as he got to school. Lumen was pretty sure they were giving him a break on their parents’ orders since his house almost burned down. He saw Sofia twice, and both times they hugged and asked each other how the day had been thus far. Lumen felt it was natural and liked how it had been going so far. Both times Alec asked when Lumen was going to ask her to be his girlfriend.
“You better ask her quick before I make a move.”
“Shut up, Alec,” Lumen replied quickly as Alec laughed.
Lumen had to plan that out. The thought of asking her to be his girlfriend made him nauseous. It was way too much pressure.
When he got home, he found money on the kitchen table, meaning Alice was back at work. Lumen was okay with it tonight; it was a perfect night to disappear for a few hours to Bonumalus.
He went to La Dernier Piece, of course, and had his favorite meal. He headed home and decided that he would dress extra warm because he figured he would be in Entropolis for his classes. Lumen looked at the time.
“7:33.”
He figured now was a good time. He decided to head to Allister’s cabin. Alec still hadn’t told him where to go, and he forgot to ask.
He bundled up, opened a window, checked to make sure his ring was still on his index finger, told Wrigley he would be back and to “be a good dog”; he jumped through.
* * *
Lumen landed in Allister’s cabin. No one was there.
“What the . . .”
The fire was smoldering. Where was everybody? He had no idea where to go and decided to wait it out. Lumen walked to Allister’s study area. He looked down at his desk and saw what appeared to be his latest drawing. It was a remarkably realistic drawing of Allister sitting by the fire with a black cat wearing a red vest sitting by his feet. Lumen assumed it was Janis. He wasn’t sure if the drawing was any good or just plain weird. He set the picture down and looked at all different sizes of frames filled Allister’s pictures that lined the wall. There were a lot of him and Janis as well as him with some random people he had never seen before. One picture featured a lady with what appeared to be tree roots for clothing. She had brown skin and bright brown eyes that glowed in the sunlight. She had rosy cheeks and just a couple freckles on each of them. Her long black hair was held back by some sort of bandana. She had her right arm around Allister, and with a large wooden staff in her left hand. Lumen could see some sort of very intricate design carved into the staff. There was a bald man on the other side of Allister. He was wearing a darker shade of a saffron robe with a red sash across his chest to his stomach that had a black symbol on it near the shoulder. Lumen recognized the symbol from his ring. It was a black circle with three vertical wavy black lines in the middle. The robe went down to the man’s ankles, and he was wearing worn, strapped sandals. It looked like he was missing a front tooth, but he had a friendly face. His skin was tan, and his left ear was pierced with a red gauge, while his right ear had a hole where a gauge may have been before. The three seemed friendly with one another. The detail in the drawing was meticulous and intricate. Allister really was a phenomenal drawer.
At that moment, Allister walked through the cabin door holding some logs.
Lumen jumped and tried to act like he wasn’t just snooping around Allister’s study.
“Well hello there, Lu. What are you doing here? You’re going to miss the orientation.”
“I’m not sure where to go. Alec never told me . . .” Lumen felt he had done something wrong and was pink again.
“Oh that, Alec. Great kid, can be very forgetful sometimes. Have to keep on that one,” Allister chuckled as he tossed the logs into the fireplace, snapped his fingers, and a fire ignited. He turned and looked at Lumen with a soft smile. Lumen felt a familiar warmth and couldn’t help but smile back.
“Oh right, here you go. I’ll be down there soon to speak with you all. Excited to kick off the new year. I think we have a lot of bright students coming in,” Allister said as he waved and opened a window. “Off you go.”
Lumen waved awkwardly to Allister and stepped through.
He emerged into an area with a large group of boys and girls who were dressed like Lumen. They stood in a shallow quarry made of light-colored stone, surrounded by four pillars that held up a giant piece of circular stone. There was something completely different behind each pillar. Beyond one of the pillars was a heavily wooded area made up of more shrubbery and plants than Lumen had never seen, aside from his time on Mighty Falls Island. There were a few wooden cabins, covered in ivy, near the quarry but beyond that was heavy forestry. Behind another pillar was a vast desert. There was sand as far as Lumen could see, with only a few huts distributed in the landscape. The huts, Lumen guessed, were made of different colored sheets of metal. At another pillar contained an area that seemed to be covered entirely in clouds—Lumen couldn’t see what was on that side. The fourth and last pillar stood at the forefront of an area that looked similar to Entropolis. It was a snowy environment with some pine-looking trees and a mountain far in the distance. Everything was covered in snow. There were a few cabins here as well, all of which had icicles hanging from the roofs.
Lumen found it odd that these areas were not separated by walls or barriers of an
y kind. It was like an imaginary line had been drawn between the four areas. The snow touched the sand of the desert, the sand of the desert bled into the clouds, and the clouds poured just slightly into the forest. The quarry appeared to be where all the lands met.
Alec approached Lumen.
“There you are. I was wondering when you’d show up.”
Lumen scoffed at Alec.
“You didn’t tell me anything, man. I went to Allister’s cabin. Luckily he showed up to open a window to come here.”
Alec gritted his teeth together.
“Oooooo, my bad. I forgot, had a lot going on the past few days. Well, follow me; come meet your fellow Eauges. Oh, and welcome to the Paxum.”
Chapter 10 - Class Begins
L
umen followed Alec through the crowd of people. Most looked like him: not from Bonumalus. There were a few that were dressed oddly, in Lumen’s opinion. He noticed a couple of younger children dressed like the Eauge people of Entropolis, with the ragged maroon and wolf-gray scraps of cloth sewn together with large boots. Lumen thought they were overdressed; it wasn’t even cold in there. He passed by a young girl that was dressed like the bald man from Allister’s drawing. She said goodbye to her parents, who were bald and dressed like the man from the picture. Lumen wondered if all their people shaved their heads at some point as the little girl’s head was not yet shaved. He passed an older man saying goodbye to a young boy, both of which had what appeared to be tree roots grown over their bodies, seemingly functioning like clothing. They looked similar to the woman Lumen saw in Allister’s drawing. The boy started to cry, and his father walked away. He stood there with his outstretched hand, reaching for his father. A woman dressed like him came over to console him. The built, brown lady, covered in tree roots, picked him up and said something that made him laugh. She turned toward Lumen, and he recognized her from the drawing. She was just as beautiful in person. She held out her staff in front of the boy’s face, and a small flower grew from it. The lady plucked it and handed it to the boy who laughed, appearing to have forgotten that his father left him there.
Lumen continued following Alec and got close enough to ask him a question.
“Hey, who is that lady? I’ve seen her in Allister’s drawings before.” He pointed to the lady holding the boy.
“Oh, that’s Sasha. She is the head of the Liros at the Paxum. Allister is good friends with the three other leaders here.”
Lumen looked at Sasha one more time, who was also looking back at him. She nodded in Lumen’s direction. Lumen didn’t know how to react, so he looked back toward Alec and continued following him.
They approached a group of four standing together. It looked like they either came here by themselves, as Lumen did, or their parents had already left them. They were all dressed normal in Lumen’s eyes, which made him feel comfortable.
“Hey gang, this is Lumen. He will be training to be an Eauge as well. Let’s not be shy; let’s introduce ourselves.”
Lumen turned towards a boy of Asian descent standing with his hand out.
“Hi, I am Yu Shi. You are . . .?”
Lumen grabbed Yu’s hand and shook it.
“Lumen, I’m Lumen Haaken. Nice to meet you.”
Lumen turned to the next person.
“Hi, I’m Till. Till Rief. Nice to meet you, Lumen.”
Till had a very welcoming smile, and it made Lumen blush slightly. He couldn’t help but think she was very pretty. She wore a sundress with sneakers and had wavy blonde hair. He wasn’t able to say anything back to her, nodded, and moved to the next one. He felt his ring warm his index finger.
“Hi, I’m Lumen.” Lumen held out his hand to another boy in the group.
This boy was slow to grab Lumen’s hand back and shook it very briefly. Lumen looked at him, but the boy looked away. He seemed angry about something.
“That’s Chester. He doesn’t talk much. Don’t worry about it,” Alec told Lumen.
Lumen shrugged and turned towards the last person.
“Hi, I’m Lumen.”
“Nice to meet ya. I’m Lucy.” Lumen thought Lucy looked a bit quirky. She had a fanny pack on with a flannel tied around her waist. She wore a tee shirt with a band name he had never heard of, The Horses. On her shirt were three horses playing instruments, dressed in human clothing. She had the same shoes on as Lumen.
Alec stepped into the middle of the circle they had created.
“Great, now that we are all acquainted, let’s check out where you will be training to start. Let me be clear, most of us will only learn here,” Alec pointed to the pillar in the Paxum that led them to where the snowy expanse was.
“You will have a few classes in the other areas, but don’t get used to it. Most of us here are only capable of mastering one skill. We can’t all be the great Allister Allvetande. Trying to juggle more than one can be overwhelming and ultimately lead to you being unable to master anything.”
Lumen was okay with that. Being able to move water like he had seen Allister and Alec do would be rewarding enough in itself.
They approached the pillar. Lumen noticed the intricate carvings on the pillar. He noticed the symbol he had seen on the flags in Entropolis. There were several people carved into the pillar, people Lumen had never seen before. They were all dressed similar to the people of Entropolis. Toward the bottom of the pillar were the words Intuition & Compassion engraved.
In that moment he felt a rush of the air around him move. It felt as if the air was continuously vibrating around him. He looked around. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. He looked behind to see Allister standing in between the clouds and the desert areas, a step above the quarry where most everyone else was. Janis stood on his hind two legs on Allister’s right. And to the left were the two others from the drawing, Sasha and the bald, extremely tan man. Lumen was curious if the man had ever heard of sunscreen and if his skin had begun to turn to leather.
Allister held out his hands. Lumen was pretty sure Allister was making the air vibrate around him. Allister spoke.
“Welcome to the Paxum!”
His voice boomed through the quarry. It sounded like he was speaking through a microphone. Lumen looked around for speakers but couldn’t find any. Till tapped him on the shoulder.
“It’s the air; he’s knows a trick to make the sound amplified by vibrating the air. Pretty cool, ain’t it?”
Lumen blushed again.
“Yeah, it is.” He got a warm feeling in his gut.
The room erupted with cheers after Allister said this.
“Quiet down, quiet down. If you don’t know already, I am Allister. I am the head of the Eauge group. I want to welcome everyone here; we are all very excited to get this new year started. I want to tell my fellow Eauge that we are known for our intuition and compassion. That is something we pride ourselves on. Let us not forget the longstanding traditions, but also let us not ignore what lies ahead. The two will meet in a time and space that requires both, and we must not be ill-prepared.”
The people in Lumen’s group started cheering and clapping. Lumen half-heartedly joined in. He was sort of put off by the statement and wasn’t sure what that could possibly mean.
“Very kind of you.”
Allister nodded toward the Eauge pillar.
“To my right is Janis. He is head of the Aeris caste.”
Janis stepped forward and waved. A group of people standing near the cloud area erupted with cheer. There were more of them than there was in the Eauge group. Janis spoke without an accent.
“I look forward to working with you all! I can’t wait to get a new year started. We have some exciting new individuals beginning here today. I look forward to teaching you all, as well as learning from you.”
The group cheered again.
“We, as the Aeris, are intellectuals and curious of our surroundings. Let us remember that as we move forward to always use our strengths to help ourselves, as well as those around us.”
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Janis stepped back, and the group by the cloud pillar of the Paxum erupted into cheer again. Allister put his hand out to the left of him, and Sasha stepped forward.
“Hello, my friends.”
The group by the forest pillar erupted into cheer this time. Again this group was bigger than Lumen’s.
“I am Sasha. I will be working with the Liros group for the most part. I want to remind everyone here that we are all friends. We are here to not only master our own abilities, but also to learn to work together and in harmony. We are practical and grounded individuals. We stay within ourselves to bring out the best. Let us have a great year.”
Sasha stepped back, the group by the forest erupted in cheer, and the bald man stepped forward to speak.
“Hello all, I am Aiden.” Aiden had some more flare than the other introductions and shot a few flames above his head by thrusting his fists upwards.
The group by the desert erupted into cheer, more so than the other groups. Lumen felt a wave of warm air come from their direction.
“Thank you, thank you. I want to reiterate what Sasha said. We are not only here to master your own skills; we are here to learn from one another, to work with one another, and to learn each other’s past to keep us from repeating the bad while continuing to embrace the good. Let’s not forget to have fun either. Us Ignous are full of enthusiasm and inspiration; we must use them for the greater good. Thank you.” He shot another flame into the air. Lumen thought he was obnoxious.
The quarry erupted with cheers, and Allister signaled for them to quiet down.
“I want to introduce you to one more person before I let you go for the night.”
An older gentleman, wearing an odd suit, stepped up the quarry to where Allister was standing.
“This is Pare Bant. He is on the board of Imperiums.”
Pare thanked Allister and took off his top hat. The man had just a few wisps of hair and patted down the few remaining. He adjusted his tie, which appeared to be made of ivy. Lumen was confused if the man was from Bonumalus or just trying to fit in.
