LIRA: Book I

CHAPTER TWO: The Journey

Zamboanga Peninsula was once attached to the rest of Mindanao. It was said the country was once under the Spanish rule long before the Great World War, and Spanish influence reached further south that Zamboanga was at one time referred to as Asia's Latin City. However, during the middle of the twenty-first century, the whole world was in a state of uproar when series of calamities happened. One of these tragedies was the terrible earthquake that hit most countries and cities. Mindanao was greatly affected. The once 7,107 Philippine islands were reduced to a fraction due to the strong tidal waves that engulf most islands. Zamboanga was also detached from the rest of Mindanao and it was soon called Isla del Sur.

After the Great World War, when most countries and her people start to build new lives, the Philippines also made a foot step forward starting with renaming its country to Filipinas. This served as a reminder for every Filipinos to leave the tragic past behind and move forward. The three major group islands were renamed based on its location: Northernland, Middleland and Southernland. The Caste System was then introduced.

However, no written records of events prior to the Great War, were left. These were just stories handed down from generation to generation. As the people moved forward with their lives, history was almost forgotten.

***

The sun was about to set as it surrounds itself with shades of orange and red, reflecting its artistic color on the blanket of sea below. A slight sea breeze swept around Lira as she stood on the borders of Paseo del Mar—a place overlooking the sea and lined with modest shops—and watched the horizon before her. Life on the island is so much simpler yet it was tough for a girl her age. At the age of seventeen, she already worked part time in a canning factory after she attends school in the morning. It was not an unusual scenario as it was common among kids her age from the lower caste to work to help the family. After finishing junior year, children from the Third and Fourth were not expected anymore to advance further to senior year as there were not enough teachers across the country to accommodate the children. Furthermore, most children would rather work for a living than stay inside a classroom learning things that will not help place food on their table.

But Lira dared to dream. And even though that dream was beyond reach, she would not cease to dream and claim it. However, she had a lot of issues with herself she needed to work on: her cowardice over going on an adventure, for one thing. So she mentally convinced herself not to pull herself down. The mere fact that she already accepted the invitation to Imperial Academy proved that, well, she does have the courage to embark on a journey.

"Arrgh! Stop it Lira, you're already here, on a journey. You can do it. You don't have to be afraid if you're alone," she mused. "There is no backing out now."

Earlier, she said her goodbyes to Auntie May and Claire as well as to Claire's parents, Uncle Ned and Auntie Ann. Lira then visited the Fort Pilar Shrine near the Paseo, which miraculously remained standing despite of the series of calamities and tragedies it had witnessed.

Lira was now aboard a magnanimous ship that would take her and nine other chosen students towards Northernland where the Imperial Academy was situated. They would be sailing across the vast sea for three days before they would reach their destination. Tomorrow, she heard from one of the ship's crew, they would dock at Middleland port where ten more chosen students await their ride. Lira didn't mind the lengthy trip at all. After all, she lived most of her life in Isla del Sur and a change of scenery was quite a blessing, actually.

Her companions didn't quite agree with her, though. The moment they boarded the ship, all she heard from them were complains. Well, mostly it was the girls who made the complaints. The boys didn't give much worry about their long voyage. She would have snapped at them to shut them up. Fortunately for them, she wasn't that kind of person. Nor does she want to offend anyone, let alone a group of girls from the First, who would probably even the score by reminding her to know her place. Ah, the perks of being poor.