A piercing quietness welcomed me. I rubbed my eyes and looked over the couch to where Crescent was asleep. He was gone but had left remnants of his fur behind on the carpet. Nobody was in the room and it was already evening, the red and blues quickly fading to black. Lights were turned on from several neighboring houses, casting long shadows through the windows.
I leaned toward the coffee table and scoured for the remote controller that was left there, into my hand. Throughout shuffling through different channels, all I could think of was the test I had taken in the afternoon. What it had meant and what it would mean later on. I wanted to forget it and thank goodness I did when my eyes caught onto the news channel.
A woman in business attire appeared on the screen, her eyebrows drawn together tightly. I turned the volume a little louder. Drowning the buzz in my head.
"Raids have sparked rampant in the outskirts of Volvanic Acropolis by several different Auxiliary groups. Citizens were threatened to give information about a Phoenix Auxiliary and enticed to become Colludes. We haven't seen a Phoenix Auxiliary in ten years and we are unsure why they are looking for one now. To give more additional help to our police crew, please contact us immediately if you see this symbol."
I didn't pay any more attention to what she was saying when an insignia appeared on the screen in a box next to her. The insignia was stunning. A phoenix was etched with bold black lines, its wings enveloping a sun above its head and its tail curled in such a fashion that I imagine its feathers being soft to the touch. The eyes of the phoenix were only a thick slant, small and confident. What bothered me was the slash across the whole symbol, making it look like a rabid beast had torn through it.
"For the following video, viewers may find the footage disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised."
The symbol disappeared, replaced with a deathly scene. Most of it was hidden in shadows, but I could make out run-down streets as well as lights strewn across the ground with pixelated blood pooled all over. People shrieked, animals cried out, and it was all too horrible to see. I had heard this for more than a year now, but never had I heard the raids escalating to such intensity. The video held no hint of who the attacker was.
The video continued playing out. More screams. They hadn't seen a Phoenix Auxiliary in ten years? Wasn't that what that proctor-Logan-was talking about? Wasn't I a Phoenix Auxiliary?
Light footsteps echoed on the stairs. I turned off the television just as Sean came into the living room. His eyes searched for me. "What did you do?"
"Have you heard about the raids?" I asked, ignoring his question.
"There are more Phoenix Auxiliaries than just you, you know that? Even though it comes rarely, it's not just you."
Was this person only looking for one Phoenix Auxiliary? Many people out there would take the hit. I was only one person among a million. Of course, right? If I was born lucky with a silver spoon, there was no chance. I grabbed the arm of the couch above my head and squeezed it, relieving a bit of stress from my chest.
Such bad luck to be caught in such a scandal like this one. If police were desperately looking for this person, how come they hadn't found them already? Especially with wolf and dog scent, they still weren't able to catch them?
Training was only for a year. A year seemed so long yet was so little to get used to my animal. What if a phoenix wasn't compatible with me? It was so easy to fail during the year. My heart pounded against my chest. Nothing like that will happen to me. I have to make it.
A sudden musical tone split the silent night. My eyes jarred open just as Sean's head pivoted to the front door. Both of us, without a word, ran toward the front. Sean threw the door open, all the while my heart throbbed. People and animals were teeming outside, fast walking alongside each other down the street towards the same direction.
The night rush of air prickled my face as Sean shut the door. Crescent was right behind me, barking madly and snapping at my feet. My mom and Lien stood a little ways behind.
Sean motioned me outside. "That's the signal. Where's your suitcase?"
I widened my eyes and decided to search the kitchen for my suitcase, but I didn't go far. Crescent had already brought my suitcase for me and was waiting for me to pick it up.
"Go to the park," my mom beckoned. "Your instructors will be there. Train well okay?"
"Yeah," I nodded, instantly diving into my mom's arms for a hug. "Take care of Crescent for me, will you? Oh, and say hi to dad for me! Bye mom."
I stayed encased in my mom's arms until she had to push me away from her. There was a soft pat to my head before my mom grabbed Crescent's collar and pulled him closer to her. Lien stood next to her with her blue jay, looking at Sean and me with a sense of understanding. "Bye Lien," I said.
She replied back, "Bye. See ya Sean."
"See you."
Both Sean and I ran from the door and to the open, past some houses and into the park's cover of the trees. Once we saw some light from the canopies of the trees above, we stopped and took a short break. Sean kept on running soon after that and weakness devoured me as I released all of my strength to follow him.
The night was pitch black save for tiny stars way up in the sky. I fumbled through the trees, trying in vain to keep up with Sean's long legs. My boots squished through mud as the park's sprinklers erupted. In the distance, I could see shadowy figures huddled together at the edge of the park.
As we got closer, I saw a small man holding up a sign reading Marine Auxiliaries. I pointed to the sign and declared, "Sean, that's yours."
He looked at me, not sure whether to wait until my group showed up or to go ahead with his own. I kept pointing until he ran off and disappeared with the throng.
I breathed out. My vision blurred as I tread through wet grass, my lavender off-the-shoulder top almost sheer with the water and my black belt and straps tapping harshly against my thighs. I raced deeper in the park until I saw another group. This time I could see a man with light skin, holding up a sign that read Mythical Creature Auxiliaries. I tried to blend in with the crowd, slinking myself behind a girl who was a head taller than me.
A voice echoed across the park. It seemed that I had arrived just in time. "Welcome to your Mythical Creature Auxiliary cohort. I am Aaron Wright, your new guide throughout your training with your animals. If you have any questions, you will be asking me."
I ducked a little under another man's arm to get a better look at my instructor. The first thing that caught my eye was his haircut, chiseled and cut right to the head where there were only hair stubs. The brown in his eyes glowed a warm golden tone as the streetlights reflected off of them. But the gold was there only for a moment. The second I saw it, it was gone, returning to a dull brown.
He had no animal next to him. I expected him to have a dragon, or some kind of strange mythical creature next to him, but none. My teacher had no animal. How could a teacher without his own animal be able to teach others?
Despite his looks, his voice was surprisingly deep and warm, as if his lectures were intellectual and inspiring. He clapped his hands once and then brought his hands to his side. "I'm sure the siren was a good surprise for all of you. Makes moving days easier for you, doesn't it? Besides, you all knew training was going to come. This will all be part of the process, the journey."
He pointed to another bearded man standing next to him. The other man also had no animal and his presence hit me with a sense of familiarity.
"This is Mr. Hrodvitnir, my assistant. He will be aiding us during your time here." Aaron scanned our cohort. "Alright then. Follow me; we will go to our housing where we will be staying at for the remainder of the year. Center Assemblage will be somewhat different from Earth, so anticipate changes."
Aaron's introduction was quick and curt. He didn't need any more explanation. An indirect way of reminding us that we were on our own.
I didn't think we would have to walk that far to get to Center Assemblage, but we ended up walking for a very long time. Other students had recommended Aaron for us to take an animal transport, but Aaron insisted we walked.
Sure enough we walked. We walked through the entire night. Parks and cities passed us in a blur. There was a constant onlooking from strangers, curious about the large band of people walking together and moving in one wave.
The welcoming of the day wasn't apparent at first, but jarring when the sun began to creep above the horizon and the night began to disappear. My feet did most of the work for me, following after each step of Aaron's and the rest of the cohort. It was not all without complaints though. Complaints were all I was thinking about but everything I did, everything I said, would most likely impact the impression Aaron had on me.
Finally, the morning light trickled in the sky and the glow of yellow shone bright against the haze of the morning fog. The trees had disappeared, the cars only a muted hum. The landscape had become bumpier, more rugged while the sidewalks had risen to hills and the wandering people had decreased until it was only our group that was left.
The group naturally began to slow down when we entered in a barren location of the city. It looked almost like a scene of war. Columns and buildings were demolished into smithereens as if they had been exploded by some sort of gun powder. The powder of the paint and material had flaked off of them and attached themselves to the soles of our shoes while dry leaves swirled around in small eddies. Mess or not, war would continue, for as long as goals needed to be achieved. Just by looking at the dejected state of it all, mine seemed not far from that.
The crunch of plaster under our shoes was our only company, even the wind was lifeless and dry. Although lifeless, the scene was somewhat captivating, a capture of something eerie yet magnificent like a broken statue carved from white marble. We trekked until the group circled around a lonely glowing slab of stone. The slab of stone was stuck in piles of rubble, tilting from the sheer weight of gravity. In the middle of the stone was a symbol of a unicorn, reared up and poised in midair. It was so old that there were cracks running along the edges of the rock, shining an iridescent blue through each rift.
We gathered around Aaron who pointed at the rock. "Every time you see that specific symbol on a rock, you know it'll be the entrance to Center Assemblage. Let's go in. Everyone in a single file line. I will get in last," Aaron enunciated, glancing through the crowd and settling his eyes on me, but it was only for a second before he looked away.
It was a man with spiky hair-his pants hanging on his waist precariously-who was ready to go through the teleporter first. His lips curved up into a sneer and without warning, stepped up. His form shimmered, and a dash of light sliced the air with a sudden burst. I covered my eyes with my sleeves; the light so blinding that I had to half-cower, half-cover myself behind the person in front of me.
Very soon, the light disappeared and the man along with it. Aaron was already shouting for the next person to come up. I recognized the next man. His hair was soft and messy, and when the man looked sideways, the hair protruded further than his forehead and grew in a way where there were lesser and lesser hair until there was slight curls at the nape of his neck. Logan Adrian. My Auxiliary's Yearly proctor.
Logan was up next and his friend, Veronica, right behind him. This time he was out of his proctor uniform and was wearing a white button-up shirt, the cuffs pushed up to his elbows. The shirt was of a thin material, so it was easy to tell how tense his shoulders were. He was also wearing a golden belt that reflected a thousand beams, each trinket dangling from it sparkling blindly. A soft, thin scarf with dark bold lines hung from the belt down to his thighs.
His shoulders did not loosen as he stepped forward. And as he did so, something felt terribly wrong. Wind began to pick up. The colors of the sky turned a darker pink. Logan's body started to sizzle, and the rifts on the teleporter glowed brighter and blinked rapidly. When I concentrated a little harder, I noticed a smoky charcoal pen scribbling on his hand. Thick, red and black marks appeared on Logan's hands, but I couldn't make out what the drawing was no matter how hard I focused.
Logan stared at his hands, curiosity filling his eyes. He began to shake his hand, but the marks started to solidify. I heard a murmur somewhere near me. Then, they started to pick up, sensing the strangeness going on.
After a few more seconds, the strange glow diminished, the sky returned to its pale pink color, but Logan was nowhere to be found. He had disappeared. It seemed as if the teleporter had finally worked. The wind died down, settling my long hair against my back.
Veronica went into the portal without any difficulty. The light simply circled around her and as the beams went higher around her head, the rest of her body dissolved into nothingness until she was completely gone.
Soon after, it was my turn. The pebbles underneath were only a dull noise in my head as they crunched against my shoes. Everything after this would be my future. My shoes stopped by themselves in front of the teleporter. The wind had picked up again. I felt it through my skin.
And I knew it before it even happened. My body started to sizzle. It was cold but later it got hot, searing hot that I winced with pain. What was happening? I looked to Aaron for guidance, but I saw nothing except red. My hands started to burn, red streaks whirled and smoldered my hand and a part of my wrist, each streak more painful than the last.
I couldn't scream. I was too scared. Before anything else could happen, I passed out.