As his rise came to a halt, he reached his hand up to his face, rubbed his eyes, and sighed.
“Why must we make this ridiculous presentation?” he asked in a tired, soothing voice.
The Intel Director responded, “It is—”
“—tradition,” Grand Director Poicus scornfully finished Debo’s sentence.
Poicus tilted his head toward the audience and surveyed the mass of standing students. He then groaned, placed both elbows on the podium, and put his face in his hands.
“Sit down. I’m not one for theatrics and flashy presentation. I hate this tradition.”
The students sat. Bryson remained leaning against the back wall. A smirk spread across his face. Poicus was as blunt as ever. Bryson was sure that if it wasn’t for tradition, the Grand Director wouldn’t even be wearing his Director’s robes.
Poicus began the annual opening ceremony as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred. He welcomed the first years, went over school rules, discussed upcoming events for the first semester, and even told a few jokes that were questionable for some of the younger students’ ears. However, things soon became exciting.
“As we approach the conclusion of this exaggerated spectacle, residents of each kingdom will head to their respective wing of the school. Intel residents to the Knowledge Wing, Passion residents to the Emotion Wing, Spirit residents to the Spirit Wing, Adren residents to the Courage Wing, and Archaic residents to the Morality Wing. But—”
Poicus paused for a moment and smiled as he gazed throughout the assembly. “… We aren’t finished yet.”
Bryson’s ears perked up. His head had been tilting to one side as he had kept dropping in and out of a bored sleep. The only moment he’d been waiting for had arrived.
“Over the course of the summer, the Energy Directors have been straining relentlessly over a couple decisions that could, potentially, sculpt the future. I have been a small part in these decisions, providing insight when needed.”
Director Poicus reached under the podium and pulled out a glass of water. He took a sip then cleared his throat before continuing. “Ranks among the students are, typically, not something this school believes in. The only ranks that exist are those of a Director, Professor, and Student. However, there was a time once in the past when a higher rank among the students was granted.
“Thirty years ago, a group of five young men and women formed; one student per kingdom. Just like now, I was the one who triggered the founding of that group. It was a troubled time, as most of you know from countless lessons in history class and stories growing up. And though what you have learned only scratches the surface of that turmoil, we will not get into specifics here.”
The director’s face was grave as he delivered the climax of his speech: “Simply put, at the end of last year, the directors thought it wise to, once again, give birth to the Jestivan.”
The once motionless students began to stir and murmur. Everyone knew the childhood stories. They were a group of students who became something far greater. They were heroes, and one was a legend.
The Energy Directors motioned for silence. Poicus thanked them and resumed speaking: “Thus, we prepared. We sorted through countless candidates, weeding out students based off intangibles, physical abilities, leadership, strength of spirit, emotional stability, and many other factors. Of course it is impossible to find someone who holds all these traits, but we felt as if our decisions were right. In the end, we decided on ten students—two students per kingdom. Yes, ten. With what is looming on the horizon, we felt that five wouldn’t suffice. Ultimately, the decision for each kingdom’s pair was made by their Energy Director.”
Poicus spread his arms to his sides as he smiled down at the Directors. “With that said, I will allow them to introduce the second coming of the Jestivan.”
The butterflies swelling inside of Bryson’s stomach were overwhelming. He would soon hold the surname of ‘Zana’.
Debo was first to speak. “Members of the Intel Kingdom hold a brain unrivaled, Intel Energy unique to that kingdom only, and electrical abilities capable of, literally, shocking the world. With much deliberation, my first choice as a member of the Jestivan is the second daughter of the king of the Intel Kingdom and the younger sister of Princess Shelly—Lilu … Excuse me, I guess that would be Lita Lilu now.”
Bryson’s mouth dropped. They were going into this with a bang. Lilu was one of the more popular students in Phesaw, which was evident by the roaring of the crowd.
The sunlight that cut through the hole in the ceiling shifted toward the audience—now standing, as befits the presence of a Royal—opposite Bryson. He had a perfect frontal view of Lilu walking down the stairs. Her green hair split at her shoulders and cascaded down her back in waves, while a few strands fell loosely down her front side. A bright begonia was attached to the front of her hairline on the upper-left of her forehead. She wore a blindingly white dress with other, smaller begonias lining the straps that hugged her shoulders. It was a summer dress, reaching no further than the top of her knees. She looked every bit like the princess her older sister was.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she walked around the stage to the side closest to Bryson, where Debo stood waiting. She took hold of the Intel Director’s hand and he gently pulled her up. Blushing slightly and wearing a cute smirk, she handed him her letter. Bryson caught himself starting to blush too, and then quickly readjusted his stare downward in attempt to calm the rush of heat to his face. She was not looking at Bryson, and he had never met Lilu before, but the beauty of that innocent face was infectious.
The clamor began to die down as Debo stood behind his podium once again. As he ran his hands through his messy brown hair, he let out a sigh and said, “This next student was a very difficult decision for me. I knew he would be a good candidate, but I wasn’t sure what others would think. I didn’t want to be accused of playing favorites, which isn’t the case at all. Fortunately, Grand Director Poicus agreed that this boy was, in fact, the best candidate.”
Bryson couldn’t contain what he was feeling. It was time for him to follow in his father's footsteps—one of the original five Jestivan.
“This boy is a rowdy one. A boy who can be encouraged very easily, but on the flipside, can be discouraged to a point that makes you wonder if he has any spirit in him at all.”
Bryson frowned.
“However, his drive to become one of the most talented beings outside of the Light Empire and the massive amount of Intel Energy inside of him allow us to look beyond that glaring fault … which will still need to be addressed.”
Debo paused and, for the first time, looked directly at Bryson at the top of the crowd. The director’s eyes were gleaming of pride as he finished the introduction. “Please, welcome Bryson LeAnce into the Jestivan.”
Bryson shielded his face with his arm as the spotlight redirected toward him. The students turned around in their seats to get a better look. Hesitantly, he began to walk down the staircase that seemed to stretch on forever. He didn’t notice the reaction of the crowd, whether there were cheers or silence, for the anxiety swelling inside of him trumped any other sensation.
Lilu, daughter of a king and the younger sister of a princess, had handled this situation with complete composure, but Bryson wasn’t used to this sort of thing. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead and his legs quivered. It was just another example of Bryson’s scared interior conquering the hard outer shell he always tried to maintain.
But then it got worse. He closed his eyes and took one nervous gulp, and when he reopened them, he found himself in a place he had seen in many of his dreams. It wasn’t just one of his dreams—it was one of only two he had ever experienced.
It was peaceful. The air was crisp and the sky a deep blue—not a single cloud. He gazed straight above, knowing exactly what to expect. Pink petals danced in the wind above as he stared into the canopy of a cherry blossom.
Basking in the shade,
he leaned his head back until it rested on the tree’s base. His eyes closed for a brief second before opening again as he adjusted his stare downward. He was atop a hill that overlooked the entirety of Phesaw’s campus. Luscious green grass blanketed the ground surrounding him. He put his right hand in the grass and gripped a chunk of it … Soft, healthy.
Crowds of students, staff, and professors mingled on the grounds below. Based on their numbers, it had to be after-school hours. Alas, he already knew this. He had dreamt this same scenario thousands of times before.
Then he felt his head begin to turn to the left, and his heart began to beat faster. It felt like his neck moved at an abnormally slow pace. But then it happened.
Everything vanished into black, and the dream left him feeling the same way it always did … wanting more.
4
The Jestivan
As Bryson slowly regained consciousness, the blurred image of giant, empty blue eyes began to come into focus. It was Olivia, and she was grasping his arm as she slowly pulled him to his feet. A grunt escaped his mouth.
“The dream again,” Olivia said softly, holding Bryson’s shoulders to support him. Meow Meow’s gaze was stern.
“Migraine,” Bryson answered. “Go back to your seat.” He brushed free and continued down the stairs.
It was dead silent in the auditorium, and Bryson knew all eyes were on him as they questioned what they just witnessed. Did he go into shock from the overwhelming attention? If so, that didn’t look good for the Intel Director. Debo had just finished explaining why Bryson was a tough decision, and now this.
These thoughts made it difficult for Bryson to look in Debo’s direction as he approached the landing. However, as he stood at the stage’s lip, he looked up through his thick bangs to see Debo smiling back.
As Debo’s six-foot five-inch frame leaned over Bryson, the sunlight from the window above caused the director’s ear piercings to shimmer.
“Always making things a spectacle,” Debo whispered with a wink. “Hand over the letter, Bry, and go stand next to Lilu.”
Bryson walked briskly to his spot in front of the podium. He couldn’t tell if Lilu was worried or horrified. The only thing he knew is that he would jump off one of the kingdom’s cliffs for her heart. Below would be a vast meadow of all the different flowery scents, exactly like the perfumes that were hitting his nose as he stood a hair’s-breadth away from Lilu.
“… and now Lita Lilu and Zana Bryson will be taken below this stage where they will wait for the rest of the Jestivan to accompany them.” Debo’s voice beckoned Bryson’s attention away from his daydream, saving him from more embarrassment as he realized he was leaning so close to Lilu that he was practically sniffing her hair.
Without turning his head, Bryson glanced to his right. To his dismay, Lilu was glaring at him in horror. She grabbed the hair falling down her left side and swung it to the other side, so that it fell down the front of the shoulder opposite of Bryson. But this only made it worse. Now her bare shoulder, collarbone, and long, elegant neck were exposed.
He felt the floor beneath him start to sink. The crowd applauded their induction as they disappeared beneath the stage, but the ruckus was swallowed by silence as the floor closed above them.
Another minute or two of silence passed by until Lilu finally broke it. “You are friends with Director Debo?” Her voice was angelic.
Bryson cleared his throat. “I guess friends would be a part of it. We’re a lot of things. It’s a bit complicated.”
“Is that why you’re here?” she asked.
The question—which was more of an accusation—wasn’t unexpected. Being close with an Energy Director wasn’t something that many students could claim, and Bryson wasn’t mad at her for asking such a question. “I’d like to think that’s not the case,” he said. “You heard Debo say he had to consult with Grand Director Poicus, who agreed to make me a Zana of the Jestivan.”
“Director Debo,” Lilu corrected him, taken aback.
Bryson laughed. “I’m sorry. Habit.”
They were talking into complete darkness—cramped together, almost touching shoulders. After a couple minutes, the platform started to pass window panes that, surprisingly, revealed water and fish.
“Are we descending through the sea?” Bryson asked incredulously.
“It looks like it,” Lilu said. “We’ve been sinking for a while now. I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of the other pairs have already gone through their introductions and begun their descents.”
“If we keep going, we’ll end up on the underbelly of the island in the Dark Realm.”
Lilu laughed, then snorted a little bit. It was cute.
Several long minutes passed before Bryson and Lilu passed through the ceiling of a large room. A massive carpet lay at the center, but besides that, the space was empty. Once the podium touched down on the balcony overlooking the room, Bryson hopped off and stretched his back while letting out a groan.
Lilu stepped off the podium like the Royal she was, delicately placing her feet on the balcony’s floor, careful to not stumble in her pink high heels. They matched the pink begonia in her hair perfectly.
She and Bryson walked forward to the balcony’s railing that overlooked the empty room. Lilu placed her elbow on the railing and her chin in her hand. Bryson could feel her looking at him suspiciously from the corner of her eyes. He knew what she was thinking.
“I’m not mental, you know,” Bryson said. “I get really bad migraines. That’s all.”
Lilu’s eyes narrowed. “Migraine, eh? That was more than a mere migraine. It was like you became possessed.”
Possessed? Could that be it? Of course not.
Bryson laughed, leaning back with his hands still gripping the rail. “It sounds like you’re suggesting someone has the Voodoo Relic, and I know you would never do that. It’s impossible for anyone to have such a rare Ancient Piece, and even if they did, even the Archaic Director wouldn’t have the Archaic Energy capable of using it.”
“Do you think I’m that stupid? Of course that’s not what I was suggesting.”
“No, no, you’re not stupid at all.” He winked at her. “You’re in the top of the ranks for the Knowledge Wing, after all.”
She didn’t smile in response, but her expression calmed a bit.
“What did you see that made you think I was possessed?” he asked.
“The change in your demeanor. Let me show you.”
She walked to the top of the stairs and began to awkwardly climb down. She was nervous, hesitant, and uncoordinated. There were no signs of the grace she always walked with.
Bryson fought back a laugh. “You look like an idiot.”
That brought a real laugh from her. “Oh, really? Do you even realize who I am right now?”
Bryson thought about it, then blushed. “You’re mocking me!” he shouted.
“Therefore you just called yourself an idiot. However, you changed halfway down.”
Her jittery walk transformed into a purposeful stride. All hesitation was eliminated. She continued this until she came close to the landing. But at the fourth step above it, she put the back of her hand on her forehead, took a sharp intake of air, and fell into a crumpled heap.
“You’re quite the actress, Lilu.”
Standing back up and adjusting the bottom of her shirt, she replied, “Yes, well, I may have overdone it there.”
“May have?” Bryson asked with a smile.
They jumped as a spot in the ceiling rattled open. It was the second podium completing its journey from the auditorium high above. Bryson leaned with his back and elbows against the railing, eyeing the third and fourth Jestivan members as they sunk lower to the balcony. Lilu sat on the lower steps with her legs crossed, elbow on her knee and chin in her hand, lazily craning her neck to see who the pair was.
Bryson didn’t recognize the boy, but when the girl stepped off the platform, his mouth dropped in disbelief. She was on
e of the more familiar characters in school, probably because she wore the same outfit every day.
A burgundy bandana covered the top of her brown hair and her sweeping bangs covered her forehead and completely blanketed one of her eyes. She wore an oversized beige shirt that split in the front at her waist. It was so long that it resembled more of a dress. However, the shirt was so dirty and worn, comparing it to a rag would be more like it. And then there was her umbrella, which she always carried at her side. Her name was Rhyparia, and she was also shoeless, as always.
She returned his expression with a pout. “Shocked to see me here?” she asked rhetorically. As her face turned to disdain, she said, “Don’t worry. The rest of the school looked just like that when my name was announced. As if I could ever be deemed a lita. That arena was so quiet, I could hear my ears ringing.”
Rhyparia trailed off as she noticed that Bryson’s open mouth had yet to shut. She then glanced down the stairs to see Lilu staring at her—not quite as blatantly at least. She rolled her eyes and mumbled “Whatever” under her breath.
Bryson closed his eyes and turned to look at the boy. His hair was a deep black and a bit shaggy. While his hair was not long when it came to how far it fell down his back, there was a lot of it matted on the top and sides of his head. He wore a white robe with a rope tied around his waist, and though he was not shoeless like his Archaic Kingdom counterpart, he was the next closest thing: footed in sandals.
“Greetings, I am Agnos, resident of the Archaic Kingdom and seeker of the reason for our existence,” he announced as he extended his right arm toward Bryson.
Bryson returned the polite gesture by firmly grasping his hand. As the two shook hands, Bryson said proudly, “I’m Bryson LeAnce, resident of the Intel Kingdom and err …” He thought for a second to think of something else. “And seeker of the secrets to not making myself look like an idiot.”