Odyssey High: School For Enchanters

i. begin

Begin the story,
To enchant the enchanters.
And you will be amazed,
By the next encounters.

Kabanata 1

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Aeresthelle

Bumangon ako sa aking higaan at tinitigan ang alarm clock kong kanina pa nambubulabog saakin. I glared and touched it and it suddenly cracked and finally, unti-unti itong tumigil.

I sighed.

Well, Aere, that's the 9th clock that you broke this week.

Bumangon na ako at tumingin sa aking repleksiyon sa salamin.

I was never ordinary. Even nung bata pa ako I can feel that strange power cursing out from my veins. But I know no one will believe me anyway.

I was an orphan at the age of eight. An orphan that lost her way back home with no memories to remember. An orphan with no parents, no memories, and no place to call home.

Actually, diba kapag nasa ganyan kanang edad, diba dapat may maalala ka kahit kaunti lang. What happened to me was peculiar. It's like I died and suddenly, I was in that orphanage and the caretaker was talking to me and I stared at her, dumbfounded and without any memory before.

Gusto kong matawa sa sarili dahil parang na amnesia lang ako. Pero hindi eh, sabi ni Manang Lilia, yung caretaker nung orphanage, kumakatok raw ako sa pintuan nila at humihingi nang tulong. She said I was shouting some incoherent words. Pinagbuksan niya naman ako and then I lost my memory. Hell! I didn't even knew how to speak or write anything. It's like I was a newborn in this world at hindi ko alam ang lahat.

She gave me hope. She gave me a name. She gave me love.

Nagpapasalamat nga ako at mayroon pang mga taong katulad nina Manang Lilia na may busilak na puso. Siya yung kumupkop saakin nang mga panahon noon at itinuring niya akong parang isang anak. Itinuring niya kaming mga anak, ang mga kasama ko doon sa orphanage. She showed and taught me all about this vast world we are living. But it all went down one night.

I could still remember it. Every bits of what happened that night. It was like I was reliving the same thing over and over again whenever I recalled it.

It may be that I have this thing that they call a long-term memory.

That night was the first time I discovered I have an enchantment. Abilities that no human nor any mortal should have. Abilities I don't know what or how to control.

Natutulog kami noon kasama na yung mga kapatid o mga kasama ko sa orphanage nang biglang may narinig kaming pagsabog at pagsigaw ng isang pamilyar na babae.

Naalimpungatan kami at dali-daling pumunta sa kung saan nagmula ang ingay. At sana, hindi nalang kami pumunta. Sana tumakbo nalang kami upang maghingi ng tulong. Sana hindi na lang kami nagpadala sa kuryosidad.

Naramdaman ko ang paghikbi ng mga batang kaedad ko lamang at unti-unti silang tumakbo palabas. Nakakabingi ang mga tunog ng kanilang pag-iyak at ang tunog ng kanilang mga paa na nagmamadaling makalabas dito sa bahay kung saan kami nanirahan na ngayon ay tinutupok na ng apoy. It was like in slow motion. I cannot take my eyes to the girl lying in the ground, lifeless.