Myelin wouldn't dare move. He could only listen to the drifting of the thobes in the wind.
"Muzahrib, get off him or I'll end you right here!" said a shivering Dambe.
"Do you know him?" asked Myelin, but the other two boys were honed in on each other.
"Oh, the coward can speak now?" said Muzahrib, his sword getting a little too tight on Myelin for comfort.
Dambe surrounded himself in bright yellow and held out his sword, but the way the tip was moving it was like the sword had a mind of its own. "Why did you come here?" he said, his arm flailing with nerves at this point.
Muzahrib scoffed. "I could say the same. I'm not here for you... yet. Just some routine business. Now, my turn. Why should I let you live?" He slowly turned his cyan-filled sword to Dambe with calm precision. Between the teeth of his grin a few laughs escaped. Muzahrib's eyes narrowed onto Dambe like a snake. Muzahrib's presence was like a cool steady freeze compared to Dambe's unstable warmth coming in waves.
A bright ball of blazing red came from ahead of Dambe; the heat of a fireplace on steroids pumped the air. Myelin squinted to see Noor standing in the middle of it. She had a scowl on her face that showed she wasn't messing around. "You didn't forget about me did you?" barked Noor.
Muzahrib took a small step back, and then another slightly further than that. "I didn't realize a sister is here as well. It seems this party is a little too big for my taste. I'll be back for you, Dambe." With that, the kid leaped into the air—flying from windowsill to windowsill until he disappeared across the rooftops.
Myelin looked down into his hands. Did I never have my aura out? A sense of shame washed over him. Even Dambe was ready to fight, and I was just sitting.
Dambe dropped his sword, fumbling to pick it back up. Noor stepped up to lend him a hand.
"How do you know this guy?" said Myelin, still standing in the same spot he was. "I think after that we deserve an answer."
"Another Mercurian bastion, from the east. I'm from the west. That kid is a killer, a good one at that. There's no doubt about it... he probably wants to kidnap me and crack all sorts of info about me, torture or anything, he'll do it," he groaned, his hands now gripping onto his head.
"Then how'd he know you were here?" said Noor. "You're that bad at covering your tracks?" She furrowed her brows.
Dambe grimaced. "Listen to me, I just don't know! Maybe he's here to cause trouble..."
Myelin realized everyone needed to de-escalate. He stuffed his hands back into his pockets and smiled. "Let's calm down. OK, so we got a murderous kid on the loose after us, but..." He paused, and looked around the alleyway.
"But, what?" said Noor.
"I dunno, I didn't think this through to be honest," said Myelin, throwing his hands out in a shrug. "Whatever then, let's get going. We can report this to the bastions tomorrow or something."
She flipped the end of her scarf around her neck. "Consider yourselves lucky I was here. I woulda kicked his sorry butt up his brains."
A groan came from the man who was seemingly knocked cold. His head limped over to the side. Great, another problem to take care of.
And so, Noor pulled up the emergency services on her neurattachment, waving her hands in the air as she filled out a digital form. A squad of officers stomped into the alleyway after a long twenty minutes of silence, taking the man back out into the bustling city with them. Myelin and Dambe headed to the Khyber continental, while Noor went home. The three of them talked only quietly to arrange plans to meet outside her house before the exam.
In the hotel room, Myelin hopped into the bed closer to the window, where the regally designed blanket and mattress were so comfy he could've sworn it put him in a coma.
Myelin woke up to his skull being shaken around like a carton of milk. Maybe I should change my alarm. He shot out of bed; Dambe did the same. They both had a mixture of seriousness and excitement stirring on their faces that had each of them know what the other was thinking. "Exam day."
Dambe sprinted to the closet, changed his thobes at light speed, and slammed the door back open. He kept the same dark collared style as before. He must love that fit. Dambe tossed him a gray pair of clothes that seemed like a thobe, but slightly different. "Here, you need some new clothes."
"Thanks, but uh, this isn't really my style," said Myelin.
"Dude, those stink. We can get you different clothes later but I'm gonna flunk if I smell that," said Dambe.
Myelin shut the door and shuffled his way into the soft gray uniform. It was another article of clothing found on Mercury; he had seen some people wear it back in Neo York. Shalwar Kameez. Kind of like a thobe, but two pieces of clothing. A pair of baggy pants and a flowing torso piece that only goes halfway down the legs. It was baggy and loose, still, it felt a bit too hot and irritating for Myelin. He decided on rolling up his sleeves and leaving a few buttons open for style. He popped out and spun around for Dambe to see. "Whaddya think? Do I rock it or what?"
"Ha, of course a Mercurian's clothes are gonna fit on a real Mercurian. C'mon let's head out to Noor's place," said Dambe, pointing his thumb back to the door.
They left the perfume-scented building and went back out to the bustling streets. A creature that looked like a 4-foot-tall snail shell rolled past Myelin. "Woah, I feel like I'll never get used to seeing this kinda stuff. Heck, I'm not even used to the open sky yet."
"Yeah, you saw the clear domes they used in Mercury in that video yesterday, right?" said Dambe, reaching out into the air. "You can see through 'em but to even breathe the same air as the clouds. Man it's like there's a direct line from the sun to me, it feels amazing!" He clenched his fist and brought it to his chest. "We're gonna pass today, for sure."
"Right," said Myelin, nodding his head.
They reached an area fenced off by a spiked gate that threatened to spear even the sky if it came down into the neighborhood. "This outta be it." A holographic phone floated between the two of them, buzzing. Myelin jerked his head to the phone. "You take it, Dambe."
"What do you mean I take it, why don't you take it?" said Dambe.
Myelin pouted and crossed his arms.
"Okay fine, you pick up the phone but I'll talk," pleaded Dambe.
Myelin smiled and strutted forward to pick up the line. He snatched it and held it, arm outstretched for Dambe to take over. Dambe smiled, shook his head no, and pointed at Myelin. Myelin's eyes shot open; he lost.
"Um... Hi, this is uh, Myelin, I'm here to see Noor... um, for the bastion academy uh, um, hello?" Myelin could feel beads of sweat building up on his forehead. His eyes darted to his friend and back to the gate.
"Oh dear, I hope you're enjoying Mars, Myelin!" said a familiar robotic voice.
"Bert? Is that you? What're you doing operating a fence, you get demoted from pilot or something?" snorted Myelin.
"I see the city hasn't changed your attitude yet. And, no, I didn't lose my job. I control all the transport systems of the city. That includes this fancy neighborhood fence too," said Bert. The gate swung open from the middle out. "Your request was approved. Now get on with it and don't cause any trouble."
"Wasn't planning on it," said Myelin, tossing the virtual phone aside.
"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" said Dambe, leaning down to Myelin's height.
The boys aimlessly walked down the neighborhood, admiring the grand arches supporting the multi-story buildings these people called homes. "She said her house was number 220, right?" asked Myelin.
"...I thought it was 224," said Dambe, pausing to think.
Myelin looked at the house markers digitally covering the driveways. They were roughly in between their two guesses. "So now what?" said Dambe.
Myelin threw his arms into a shrug. "Can we call Noor? That's not gonna bother her, right?" he said.
Dambe raised his brows and aimed his eyes at their corners to show he was thinking even harder now.
Twelve houses down the road, a door slammed shut. "None of this is going to bring him back!" yelled an adult man's unsteady voice.
"How many times do I have to say it for you to understand? It was never about him! It's about who I am, and I'm gonna be the strongest!" screamed back a familiar voice.
"This job, this work, this life—none of it has to do with you! It's a tragic field for men with tragic endings, just like your father and now just like your brother, is that what you want? Fine, we thought we could finally give one person in our tree a safe life but even you still want to rush out to die. Go ahead and die in a man's profession as the strongest!"
"I will, and I won't come back—not for any of you!" yelled Noor, as she slammed the door shut behind herself, and walked away with a loud stomp on every step. I guess she knows about her brother now, yeesh.
The two boys stood as Noor approached with her head down and her anger hidden behind the scarf giving her shade. She didn't say a word as she walked in between them, moving onwards to the campus. Myelin and Dambe turned to one another, giving the same look of bewilderment.
Six feet dragged through the city in silence. Screeches and chirps darted from rooftop to rooftop all singing the same tune, no matter the species. Myelin wanted to sing along, but it didn't seem like Noor was in the mood. Dambe's mood soon fouled out too, replaced with jittering legs and grinding teeth.
Myelin wasn't thinking too much about the test, more so what lay beyond it. Mentor Twine, she purposely wouldn't let me in on the scoop about my brother. Pass this exam and she can't stop me for nothin'. Hold on Atal, it's only a matter of time before I got ya!
"Y'know it's awfully stupid they make us do this test even after we came all the way to the school and got our fancy swords 'n all that. Who do they think they are?" said Myelin, kicking a stone along as he walked. Shoot! I wasn't even thinking and I broke the silence.
Noor turned a blank face to Myelin. "It's a hard job. You think they'll hand it to the first kids that come ask? We gotta prove ourselves, show we're the toughest around," she said. Noor took a deep breath. "Look, I know ya'll heard that back there... just forget it. We need to move ahead. If we're gonna save your brother and get stronger this is the only shot we got. Dambe, you just tag along I guess."
Myelin and Noor let out a small laugh, not the gut-wrenching type but more like a friendly chuckle to say everything is going to be alright.
"Real funny, but you said it yourself, they're not gonna make it easy on us. Hell, what about after that? Then nobody's gonna take it easy," said Dambe.
"I don't know about you, but nobody has been. Life's crap and people make it worse, but this is our chance to take on the world—" said Myelin, who then got a faceful of dirty cloth stuffed into his face.
Towering above him was a big, balding, burly man with the composure of an elephant on roller skates. Myelin took a step back, while the man drifted side to side. Myelin could smell where he had been; his stench reeked of alcohol and illusive drugs that stained the shady areas back in Neo York.
"Hey! Watch it kid," he beckoned.
Myelin was ready to throw his palms up and profusely apologize.
His dark eyebags got bigger as the man squinted and looked carefully at each kid. "Eh, I didn't think this was allowed around here," he said.
"Allow what?" asked Myelin, in a sense of disarray at what he was getting at.
"Myelin we should get going," said Noor with Dambe nodding in agreement.
"We got plenty of time, what's the rush—I bumped into the poor guy lemme hear him out," said Myelin, confused by his friends' clenched teeth and hurried attitude. I guess I'm the only one who isn't scared of a little test or anything.
"I didn't quite think they allowed a load of Mercurians to try out for the bloody academy! Ain't you people the problem they're outta solve?" growled the man, who then pushed his way between Myelin and Dambe, onwards with his own life like what he said was some inconsequential fact.
Why that old piece of crap! I'll show 'em a real problem! Myelin already had the tension in his arms and legs to launch after him. Dambe, however, put himself in front of Myelin.
"Hey, it's not worth it," said Dambe.
"Newsflash, if you're gonna fight every person that disrespects you, you're gonna be fighting for a long time," said Noor.
Myelin's eyes strained as the man walked into the distance, probably never to be seen again. He's just gonna say something like that and get away with it? And they're acting like it's something normal?
"Are you trying to tell me this is normal or something? He just tried to diss all of us! Why the hell do they throw 'Mercurian' like an insult, huh, what's so bad about us?" he said.
"Welcome to the real world, Myelin. People don't like Mercurians, nothin' new. Did no real info get to you on the moon?" said Noor, twisting around to move onwards into the city. "Learn to get on with your life. Can't make everyone love you."
"Well what do they have against Mercurians? That faded old man could barely walk and he could still remember to insult us. That ain't right. I don't care if it's normal for you guys cause it's not for me," said Myelin, moving along with his arms tucked in a tight cross.
Dambe shrugged. "You saw the presentation councilman Cain was giving yesterday. The war is a Mercurian problem that's gotta be solved by the whole solar system—with that people like you, me, and Noor end up here... but then there's also people like that damn Muzahrib. To them we're just all pooled in together," he said.
Noor turned back to the boys. "So when you end up fighting guys like that all the time, to them you become another reason why Mercurians are all troublemakers. When I'm the best bastion around, though, then they'll start talking differently. My family always got a lot of respect for our strength. I figure if I'm number 1 they got no choice but to respect all of us," she said, winking before she turned back around.
Soon enough they arrived at the clearing of green meadows and low-rise campus buildings. Myelin hadn't noticed it before, but scattered about must've been dozens of bronze statues. Each one held a different face, but the same fancy suits and stern look encompassed them all. Myelin looked below at the gold plate's inscription lying at the pedestal of the nearest statue. Head Councilman Cain. Slayer of kings.
"One last question before our exam today, if y'all don't mind," inquired Myelin, looking coy as ever.
Dambe and Noor looked ready for the question, but words ran dry as anticipation took them to their boiling points.
Myelin notioned to the plate. "Slayer of kings eh? Does that got something to do with the mind demon king of the aliens guy?"
"Who do you think beat the two alien kings? It was Cain and his brother, the head councilman of Earth. Needless to say even the brothers had their own falling out," said Dambe. "I bet he's your ticket to sorting out your alien junk."
The three of them puffed air as a semi-laugh. It was now or never, no more room for nerves; the time to fulfill their ambitions had come.
"Right, then let's get on to beating this entry test... for my alien junk," said Myelin.
They passed by the bronze statues of other councilmen and councilwomen alike through the courtyard. The doors of the cafeteria up ahead were swung open as kids flushed their way in to test their might.
The cafeteria was once again overflowing and spilling with kids their age galore. Just about everyone found themselves sitting in the same seats as they did the previous days. Noor, Myelin, and Dambe made their way to the seats they met in the day before. It's only been a day on this planet and I've already made two friends... amazing.
When Myelin turned to what was a rather empty table yesterday, he saw the three rainbow-cladded siblings lounging around. Jace, Lizzy, and Arcti—the councilman's grandchildren—each one looked stoked to be there, no sign of worry but plenty of confidence. Noor dropped down into her seat next to the siblings with a loud flop as she hit her chair. Myelin did the same. Dambe looked around and slowly lowered into his seat.
"You guys gonna move or what? I don't like being this close to lames like you guys," said Noor.
"Shut it. Our seats got swiped. You think we'd wanna sit next to you idiots and lose brain cells before the exam?" said Lizzy, sharply flipping a tuft of her hair with attitude.
The four boys surrounded their crucible each with melodramatic emotions painted all over their faces. The chatter of every team across the dining hall had the force of one roar as the air humidified and vibrated with each and every person jittering about.
The kitchen was closed over and no holograms floated about. The ambience was dead, and the crowds slowly simmered to silence as everyone found their seats. There's even more kids here today than yesterday...
Dambe tapped Myelin's shoulder. "Out of all these kids are they really only going to take enough for three mentors, what's that like nine of us? That's insane," he said, fumbling his fingers over the palm of his sword.
"How're they even gonna sort through us? Man, I came here for answers and all I got are questions," groaned Myelin, throwing his arms over his head for support.
"I'm sure we're all going to do amazing!" cheered Arcti. Jace slapped him in the nape.
The doors of the cafeteria swung open once more, where the councilman Cain, Mentor Twine, The Swordmaster, and Mentor Copias strutted down the middle of the hall like a catwalk. The head councilman had lost all of his charm and smile on this day, replaced with a more grim look of superiority. The quartet of school administrators made their way back up to the podium.
Councilman Cain tilted his neck each way with a loud crack, and then planted his hands onto the podium in front of him as he overlooked the crowd. "Today marks the start of this month's entrance exam for the Khyber City Bastion Academy. In this crowd, I see plenty of promising candidates who think of themselves as failures... and plenty of failures who think of themselves as promising candidates. As I mentioned previous, only those fit to be the best of the best shall be given a spot. We will weed you out thoroughly, and if everything goes right... most of you will be gone."
The councilman laughed from his throat, along with The Swordmaster slapping his knees, Copias holding his belly, even Mentor Twine was smiling. Sadistic... they're happy to weed us out like that?
"I won't waste anymore of your time; plenty of you will be sent home very soon. Why don't we start off with the test of strength? There's about 500-ish of you all, I'm guessing. What a pleasantly large interest group! We'll take the strongest fifty, the rest will fail."