"Don't move," quietly said the lady. "Answer my questions." Myelin didn't know what her deal was, but he could tell she was dead serious.
"Go ahead," said Myelin. Off in the distance, under the shade of a luscious tree stood three other people he could only assume to be bastions as well. They each hovered over the handles of wooden swords. To their side was a clearing in the greenery that led to the city street. What're they so freaked out about?
"Where is the other?" she said, her frizzy hair flopped around her face and covered her eyes with each passing breeze.
Myelin raised his brow. "The other what? I'm new here, take it easy on me," he said. She didn't like that answer, flaring out with a maroon energy that chilled the air.
"You take this seriously. We know what you are," she said, somehow getting colder and quieter with anger.
"Right... You mean my brother, Atal," said Myelin, his eyes drooping to the floor. Part of him wanted to escape what had happened—after all, maybe Atal did make it out—but that lunar officer said something else. I need these people and I need this school if I wanna get him back. "He held back The Governor and sent me here," said Myelin, now clenching his fists.
The lady lowered her sword and removed her energy. "So then, you're Myelin Arzani?" The people under the tree sat back and let go of their swords as well.
"Yeah, Myelin, that's me." Myelin held back his tears; that would've been a little too embarrassing of a first impression for him.
"Myelin, did you and your brother happen to go into the moon's caves recently?"
"Yeah, we did. There's an alien inside of me or something... but I don't know if my brother made it out. Please, help me! Any of you guys, I know you're all strong!" said Myelin, now starting to taste the salt in his mouth. He went over his whole story, start to finish—only pausing to make sure he wasn't about to cry.
The lady didn't budge, not physically or emotionally. "Myelin, The Governor has fled from the moon, and from what the sources say, Atal was with him. We'll do what we can to find your brother, believe me we don't want him in their hands—but you're going to have to wait and leave this to us," she said. "But you applied to the school, didn't you?" Myelin nodded.
"All you should be worried about is making it in the front doors then. The mission behind you and your brother is classified business; maybe once you get to the school we can fill you in." The lady broke out into an awkward smile. "By the way, the name's Mentor Twine. I teach at the academy." She extended her hand. Myelin shook hands; she had an awfully tight grip. Something told him that Mentor Twine wasn't a people person.
Twine took out a thin roll of cloth out of a satchel that hung from her side. Now that he paid more attention to it, all the bastions carried that same satchel—it was small, red, and hung on each person differently. Mentor Twine rolled the cloth around Myelin's shoulder.
"Hey, watch it, lady! Do I look like a mummy to you?" he said.
"Your shoulder, it's wounded," she said. "I'm surprised you didn't notice."
Myelin peered over to the blood-soaked sleeve around his shoulder. "Woah, woah, woah! I didn't even feel it!" That's why the officer on the ship was so surprised; that armor bucket didn't miss his shot.
"Hm. That's a lot of blood, but the wound has been practically sealed," said Twine. "It could be because of that mind demon inside of you. I'll have to take this with the others." Mind demon? What did she say?
It was then that a young boy about Myelin's age with buzzed hair and a darker complexion like Mentor Twine's came in from around the corner.
"Is this a classmate?" he yelled from across. Mentor Twine motioned for the boy to come over. His clothes rippled with the wind. He wore a black thobe; Myelin had seen some people on the moon wear those before, usually people from Mercury. It was a long flowing robe with a few buttons from the neck to the chest. The thobe hung from his torso all the way to his ankles. Face to face, Myelin could see the excitement in his eyes. Pfft, has he never made a friend or something before?
"Glad you could make it here. Myelin, meet Dambe Iysa. Dambe, meet Myelin Arzani. You two will be in the same grade, classes, and everything. Dambe, go ahead and show him around the city, get him prepared," she said. Myelin decided to save his questions for later; Twine didn't seem to care about Myelin's questions at all—more so she wanted to get on with her mission.
Dambe led him out of the clearing and into the city. Myelin took in the sights; the buildings were so circular and tall. There was shrubbery and fresh air in every pocket. Best of all, there were no random advertisements in his feed.
"Say, Dambe, you from around here?" asked Myelin.
"Only been in Khyber for a few months," said Dambe. His smile erased as he jumped into the air. Myelin traced his new friend's sightline to below him, where he saw Gatito trotting around.
"Bad cat! Sorry, I know, this thing scared me too. It's called a cat—"
Dambe laughed. "Obviously I know what a cat is, but it came outta nowhere! Don't worry about it, I just get scared a little easy."
"Scared a little easy? Don't ya think the whole bastion career and stuff might be a little too much for you then?" said Myelin.
"Well, Valor can get scared about all the tough guys he has to fight, but he never backs down!" said Dambe.
Myelin's jaw dropped. "No way," he said, "are you a fan of Valor too?"
"Of course, he's only like the coolest tuned fighter in the whole wide world," said Dambe, shrugging his shoulders.
"You're right... I'm kinda scared of some things I have to face myself too. I just gotta be brave like Valor is," said Myelin, nodding his head. "So, Mentor Twine said I needed some stuff to prepare. What did she mean?"
Dambe smirked. "Nothing much honestly. We head around town, grab the coolest sword we can find, and make it to the school for the welcoming ceremony tonight."
"No freakin' way, we're gonna get one of those today?" said Myelin, hopping around on his feet across the sidewalk.
"Ha! Not only that but you can get 'em in any style you want. Mentor Twine had the standard normal-looking one, but I wanna get one that looks sick as I carry it around."
"Y'know I never saw Valor use a sword though," said Myelin, holding his index finger and thumb to his chin.
"If you're strong enough, it doesn't really matter what you fight with, I guess. Boy, what would I give to know what it's like at the top like that," said Dambe.
"Power really does mean everything," said Myelin.
"Well there is wisdom, strategy, and philosophy," said Dambe in a mocking tone. The boys let out a hearty laugh together. He's starting to warm up to me. I could get used to it here.
In the clouds, Myelin could see purple bird-like creatures the size of a bus soaring with seemingly normal gray hand-sized birds. Dambe told him about which creatures were aliens and which were from Earth. The big purple ones were aliens called violet raptors; the small gray ones were called pigeons. On the streets, four-legged creatures of all shapes and sizes hopped around. There were other cats; Myelin was surprised to learn from Dambe that even the cats came in different shades. Gatito didn't get along with the others though; he would receive hisses from each of his distant cousins passing. Gatito did seem to get along more with the scaly quadragons, like dog-sized snakes with the legs of a horse.
Dambe stopped and pointed to a short white building, overrun with moss and vines, tucked between massive skyscrapers. "This is the swordmaster's residence. You ready?"
"Born ready. I could use an evil-slicing sword right about now," replied Myelin.
As they entered the building, Myelin first noticed the smell. It smelled of rotting wood and dust. Yuck. He took a good look around; the building was about 3 stories tall with a spiraling staircase in the center stopping at each floor.
"Uh, hello?" called out Dambe, to no response at all.
Then came the squeaking of the polished railing as a slightly old man skidded his way down. He leaped off the end and stumbled forward, crashing into a wall full of weapons. He stepped back and looked at the boys. "Very fun, but I would not recommend it. A bad ending ruins a good journey—that's what the old swordmaster told me 50 years ago. If you work hard on something but mess up in the end? Boom! The whole thing might as well be screwed," said the swordmaster. "Now, how may I assist the two of you?"
"We're new recruits for the university, need the coolest looking swords ya got!" said Dambe, eyeing the racks of weaponry above and around him.
"Cool, my friend, is subjective. Give me an idea," replied the swordmaster.
"Something sleek, yet big. Y'know, so it's easy to chop up the baddies but not too clunky to pose with," said Dambe. Sleek yet big? Isn't that contradictory?
"Hm, yes I have something in mind," said the swordmaster. Nevermind then. "And for you?" he asked.
"Well, I guess something that's strong," said Myelin, shrugging.
"Yes, yes," said the swordmaster, stroking his beard. "Come with me to the third floor."
Carefully walking his way up, Myelin was sure to avoid the railing the swordmaster's butt was all over. "Bastions, hm, it's an honest profession to most. Fear, battles, winning and losing, however, are all things you only understand through experience. With each, by your side will always be your sword—the only thing truly at your command," said the old man, trudging up each step.
"So our choice of sword is important," said Dambe, cheerfully holding on the railing as he skipped his way up.
The swordmaster nodded his head. "Mhm, of the utmost importance."
"Why're they all made of wood? It can't be strong at all," said Myelin. Can't imagine the splinters I'd get on my hand either.
"The answer is simple: Do you know what your soul energy is?" asked the swordmaster.
"Not at all, not even the slightest clue, zero idea—"
"Alright! I get it, I'll explain it for you from the start," said the swordmaster. "Soul energy comes from within, it's the energy of your life and soul. If you seek a weapon as strong as you are, an energy that can conduct and concentrate your power, it has to take and retain this energy of yours. Metal isn't alive, it can conduct all the electricity it wants but not soul energy. Wood comes from the living trees we share our planet with, as alive as can be. It'll conduct as much soul energy as you want it to!"
"What's electricity gotta do with this?" asked Myelin. Learning wasn't his strong suit.
The swordmaster huffed. "Stick with wood and you're good, okay?"
"OK," responded the boys.
They reached the top of the staircase, racks of weapons were wallpaper on this floor. Every sword took on a unique shape. One looked like a question mark, another had a forked edge. The old man knew right away which rack he was looking for, and unsheathed a sword from it. It was sleek and narrow from the bottom, but midway through the blade it casually grew larger—the tip having a rounded yet sharp appearance. A leather grip was fitted on the handle.
"The ida design is the fit for you." He handed the blade to Dambe.
Dambe balanced the wooden sword in his hand, struck a couple poses, then got to swinging it around. "Hmph, a little heavy on the other end but... I love it!" he said, chopping up the air like it was his worst enemy.
Dambe bumped his elbow onto a rack. A white sword fell off its spot onto the floor. It was visibly sharp, but only on one edge which curved backwards. A guard protruded from the bottom to the top of the handle on the edge side. I like this one.
"There's no way this one's made of wood," said Dambe, poking the fallen blade.
"It's not... The shape is that of a saber but it's a failed project nonetheless," said the swordmaster, picking the sword up. The old man burst into a weak dark green aura, clearly out of his prime. "A human's soul energy can't travel up this blade," he said, his glow only surrounding the leather grip but not the saber itself. "This sucker's from an allisnake's fang! Taller than this building I tell ya."
"Hold on, old head, I got a proposition for ya," interjected Myelin.
"Go on," said the man.
"This allisnake thing, that's gotta be an alien, am I right?" said Myelin. The swordmaster nodded. "What if I told you I got an alien inside me right now!"
Dambe snickered, then went wide-eyed when he processed what Myelin just said. "You don't mean... you were the mind demon Mentor Twine was talking about!"
"Well yeah—is that a problem or something?" said Myelin, raising his brow. Why the heck do they keep saying 'mind demon'?
Dambe shook his head and stuttered for a few seconds before he could speak. "No, not at all, y'know me I get scared kinda easy, remember?" he awkwardly chuckled.
Myelin opened his mouth to bare his nonexistent fangs. "Boo!" said Myelin, lunging forward.
Dambe jolted. "Alright, alright I'm a little scared, don't ever do that again!" A smile escaped Myelin.
The swordmaster held out the allisnake blade to him. "Be my guest," said the swordmaster.
Myelin took the pleasing offer, grabbing onto the handle like it was his destiny. It was all perfect: the way it fit into his hand, the traction, the weight, even the style. Time for the test. A surge of blue engulfed him, Myelin concentrated the flow to leave up his hand. The blue surrounded the white tooth like a silhouette, the same way it does to everyone. C'mon it's gotta fill in the cracks too. Myelin focused on his palm. The blue crept into the sword, aligning itself into geometric indented lines. The cave walls. He pulled his energy back in, and sighed. I should be excited right now. The memories drained his happiness nonetheless.
"Honestly, I can't say I'm not jealous. It looks sick!" said Dambe, hopping from one leg to another.
Myelin manually stretched out an unwanted smile. "Thanks, Dambe."
The swordmaster clapped his hands. "My, oh my, color me impressed mister demon-of-the-mind-boy! Shall we put it to the test?" he said.
"First of all, don't call me that. But yeah sure, why not?" said Myelin.
Dambe shuffled his feet. "I mean sure, yeah, let's do it."
The swordmaster's fingers went into a frenzy as he pulled out a neurattachment hologram screen filled with techno nonsense. "Very well. Let the games begin!" With that, the swordmaster dramatically struck the last key.
On the first floor, two flickering holographic men resembling a younger swordmaster pranced to the stairs. Dambe and Myelin took a good look at each other and nodded, exploding into their colors.
"You ready Myelin?" said Dambe.
"Like I said, born ready. By the way, I dig the yellow energy, it looks cool," said Myelin.
"Right back at ya, blue's really your color!"
The holograms began pouring in, each carrying a plain wooden sword. Myelin knew Dambe wasn't going to rush in first, so he took the first move. He swung at his target full force. Clang! Swords collided. Myelin pressed onwards. The holographic swordmaster began to give way, leaning back. He could see Dambe keeping his distance from his target, fast on his feet and sluggish with his hands—Myelin's opponent slipped out. He stumbled forward before blocking a surge of hits.
"Try this on!" Myelin swung, careful with his control. Clang! He jumped back to avoid another stalemate. The hologram pressed onwards. Myelin blocked and dodged every attack coming his way, each margin more narrow than the last. Before he could even reason it out, his street fighting techniques kicked in. Myelin buried his hand into the fake swordmaster's stomach. The hologram paused then swung again. "It's only programmed to recognize swords, haha!" croaked the real swordmaster.
Myelin found himself back to back with Dambe. "We're really in a fix now!" said Dambe.
"We got this, I'm not losing to that old man!" said Myelin. The holographic men flurried hits onto the boys.
Clash after clash, Myelin could feel his arm wear and tire. I have to settle this fast! With the next swipe of the hologram, he hit as hard as he could—staggering the fake swordsman. "Gotcha!" Myelin brought his sword from low to high, dragging across the hologram.
"Winner!" shouted the befallen hologram.
"Game over!" shouted the hologram behind Myelin; he found Dambe on the floor.
"Not bad... both of you," said the old man.
"Aw crud, how am I supposed to be a bastion if I can't beat a stinkin' game!" said Dambe.
Myelin extended his hand out for his friend. "That's what we're going to the school for, right? Who knows, maybe you'll get better at it than me."
"Right," said Dambe, "how much for the swords will it be? I can pay for both of us." Is he rich or something? Myelin was going to interject, but he had no money himself.
"Not a thing boy! This place is a service to the bastions, I could never charge two children!" said the swordmaster. He handed the two a pair of custom leather sheaths to clip to their waist and hold their swords.
The boys nodded. "Thank you!" they said, making their way back out to the martian heat.
Myelin jumped at the sudden appearance of his orange companion. "Geez, I don't blame you at all! He just pops outta nowhere!"
Dambe crouched and slowly lowered his hand onto the cat's orange coat. "Does he have a name?"
"Gatito, it means little cat in some language—not so sure which."
Dambe stood up, standing at the same height as Myelin. "If I can ask, why... where... how did you end up with the demon of the mind possessing you?" he asked.
Myelin looked at his new sword. "It all started back on the moon," he began, the two of them walked onwards to the school. "You see, me and my brother were gonna come here together. Leave that dusty rock for good! Things didn't turn out so well. The Governor basically kidnapped us, and showed us the alien king corpses. Their hearts just kinda melded into us. There was some guy, a bastion from here maybe, who died to save us. Even after all that... The Governor took my brother and fled the moon, and I had to flee by myself."
"Y'know I kinda had a rough trip here myself," said Dambe, kicking red rocks across the sidewalk.
"Tell me about it," said Myelin.
"Well, uh, I can't really say too much—I don't even know how much I know! But at least we got each other, right?" asked Dambe.
Passing by them, a festive parade of floats. Confetti popped, and holographic giant creatures glowed as they hovered on the floats. A float labeled allisnake had the creature on full display, it graciously slithered with great whiplike movements.
"Yeah, we got each other... Dambe do you ever feel guilty though? Guilty even to be happy or excited. Who knows what's happening to my brother right now! Do I even deserve to smile?" said Myelin, left to stare at the sky as the parade moved on. He never noticed the sun was blue here, nor had he noticed the red tint in the sky until now. "Man, I don't even know how I'm allowed to feel."
"Obviously you can be happy and have fun! If I found your brother right now and I told him you're just miserable all the time would he be happy? My mom used to always say, it's best to try all that you can and worry nothing more past that. So let's just focus on the path ahead of us for now," said Dambe.
"Thanks Dambe, you're the first friend I made here... heck you might be the first friend I ever made on my own," said Myelin.
Dambe smirked. "As cool as I am, it might surprise you to learn that it's the same here for me," he said. They laughed out all their troubles and trauma, only left with the happiness they acquired today.
"I got one last question for ya," said Myelin.
"Shoot away," said Dambe, fidgeting with his sword.
"Instead of saying one of the alien kings, you guys said the demon of the mind. Who is this guy, and why is he a demon? Not to mention what's this got to do with the mind?" asked Myelin.
"I'm not one hundred percent clear on this but," said Dambe, "he's a demon cause he's legendary for his crimes against humanity. This demon caused much torment long ago in human history. As for the mind, I think his powers revolved around the brain or something."
"The brain? That sounds lame, what am I gonna do? Lecture people?" said Myelin.
"Ha! You joke but history says otherwise," said Dambe, pointing his sword at Myelin.
The two continued walking, the martian oasis city got colder and colder as the blue sunset smothered the red sky. The very concrete and metal of the buildings made a lightshow of color, bright yet not intrusive to the eyes.
"Oh great, here come the advertisements, right?" groaned Myelin.
"Ads? Nah, it's bioluminescent bacteria," said Dambe.
Myelin looked at him blank faced. "Bio-luma what now?" said Myelin.
"Basically tiny living things that glow are spread all over to light the city—like the greenjellies on the moon. Do they really blast you with this many ads on the moon!" said Dambe.
"Yeah, is that not normal?" asked Myelin.
His friend shook his head. "Back home on Mercury we used to get a ton of ads too, not here though. They do some, but only in their proper places," said Dambe. He pointed to an intersection where holographic ads for kitchen appliances and neurattachments floated about. "See, they're not crazy here. I like this planet, I feel it kinda cares more about the people."
"Like they should!" said Myelin. "This place is a paradise compared to Neo York. I'm excited to start university too! Training's gonna be tough I know, but we're tough too. We got a history of trouble and swung a sword a few times, I bet that'll make us ten times stronger than the other kids!"
"Ha! I feel bad for them, they're sitting there waiting for competition but don't know what's gonna hit 'em! Let's speed it up though, I heard the welcoming ceremonies got the best food you'll ever taste," said Dambe. "You might handle a sword better, but I'd like to see you try and beat me in a race." Dambe burst into a sprint, turning into a streak of yellow light.
"No fair, you got a head start!" yelled Myelin, sprinting after his new friend in a blaze of blue.