-"There are things that have to be left behind, but there are also those that must not be abandoned. It is the work of the wise to identify the wheat from the chaff and separate them."
*Alto*
[Seven days until the test]
"Bye, Mom, Dad," I said, ruffling my blue hair to hide the strands of hair that were poking up. I made my way toward the white door on the other side of our small apartment. "I'm off to Kyuu Seishin now!"
"Be careful, Alto," my mom said.
"I'll be fine. I'm traveling with Arima, and Ulissis, after all." I smiled as I waved goodbye.
"Wait," Dad called out. He looked at me with stern eyes and held out a crimson wand. "Take this."
I reached out for the wand but stopped. "Father...this wand. I can't take it."
My father closed his eyes. "Please, child. Take it. It serves little purpose here other than to gather dust."
I took it and raised it towards the dull light of the old lightbulbs. "Thanks for giving this to me, Dad." I clenched the wand tightly. "I'll be sure to return it once I'm done with my magic studies."
My father's stern red eyes lightened up. "You don't have to do that. Now, go on and get going. Your friends are waiting."
I stored the wand in my black duffel bag. Tiny tears threatened to trickle down the sides of my eyes. "Bye, I'll write you letters once I've arrived," I turned away to keep them from noticing I was crying.
My father chuckled. "Please work on your writing first, Son. It's atrocious."
I rolled my eyes. Way to ruin the moment, Dad!
***
Arima and Ulissis waited for me on the bottom floor of the old apartment complex we called home.
"Finally, what took you so long?" asked Arima, her hands on her hips. Today she had her dark silver hair tied back in a ponytail.
I rubbed my eyes and smiled. "Sorry, my parents were being a bit emotional."
"At least you got to say goodbye to your parents," Ulissis said. His brown eyes gazed up at the old cement complex.
I gulped. Perhaps I shouldn't have said that. Ulissis' parents worked during the day so of course, he wasn't able to say goodbye to them.
"You at least got to say goodbye to your brother," I said.
He frowned. "Yeah, but it feels bad to leave Enji all alone."
"Mom will probably still check up on him like usual."
Ulissis smiled. "Miss Opus really is a nice lady." He rubbed his stomach. "We probably would've gone hungry until Mom arrived if not for her."
I laughed. "With your growling stomach, people would probably have thought a monster had gotten into the apartment."
Ulissis elbowed me. "It's not that loud!"
Arima patted Ulissis's back. "It is. Now, come on, you two! We've got to hit the road today if we hope to make it on time for the ceremony.
Ulissis put back on his hood and smiled. "Alright."
We walked to the nearest coffee shop a mile away from our apartment complex. The aroma of coffee brewing mixed with an old dusty smell struck us as soon as we entered. Sitting at a counter near the window were a woman who seemed to be in her late teens and a girl around our age.
The woman grinned upon seeing us enter. "You three must be Alto, Arima, and Ulissis, right?" She took out three cards from her blue coat. "I'm Sonata Key. I'm going to be your homeroom teacher in Kyuu Seishin, as well as your travel companion." She side glanced at the girl. "This is Vermeil Amber, she's from Harun."
I stared at the woman, shocked. It was the same white-haired girl who I had met two nights ago!
The blond girl she had introduced stood up and bowed slightly. She patted the ruffles of her white spring dress down. "Nice to meet you."
"She's so pretty," Arima said. She glanced around at the old coffee shop. The wooden floor was losing its maroon paint, revealing its original light brown color. The ceiling tiles were coming off due to age. Not to mention the smell of the place mixing with that of the coffee. "We should've met at a nicer place."
The elegantly dressed Vermeil chuckled. "Don't worry. This place is fine. Everyone is friendly."
Ms. Key smiled. "I chose a spot where I knew the clients." Her smile faded. "Other spots in this town are pretty dangerous for someone dressed as nicely as you. At best, you'll face harassment."
Vermeil formed silver crystals over her hands. "I can handle myself if it comes down to a fight."
Ms. Key stood up. "Well then, now that you three are here we can hit the road again." She glanced up at a small white bus parked in front of the shop. "Right on time, our ride is here."
The four of us followed Ms. Key onto the bus. Sitting in the driver's seat was a handsome white-haired young man. The young man eyed us as if trying to see if we were who we claimed to be, as we took our seats.
"Thanks, Haroun," Ms. Key said. "I'll take over from here."
Haroun gave up his seat to her and sat down next to Vermeil.
*Vermeil*
"So, where are we heading now, brother?" I asked the older boy.
My brother took out a map from the back of the seat in front of him. "We're heading to Sera to pick up Sarah Shui."
I chuckled. "I can't wait to meet up with my old friend." My smile faded as I looked out at the old buildings. Sefa had a lot in common with Sera apart from their similar names.
Haroun poked my face. "Hey, are you alright, Sis?"
I rubbed my eyes. "Yes. Why do you ask?"
He opened a bag of barbeque potato chips and smiled knowingly. "You seemed upset. Were you recalling the past?"
I touched the window as we passed by a slum. Kids were playing soccer on top of the rubble that was once a sidewalk. Glass littered the streets, while stray cats ran loose. The kids stopped playing as one of the cats hissed at them, its eyes mad.
However, the cat advancing toward the kids wasn't what had caught my attention the most. A couple of teens no older than us were making their way toward the kids. One of them held out something to one of the kids, who simply shook his head at them.
The guy grunted and grabbed the kid by the collar of his shirt.
"Stop the bus," Alto shouted.
"Did you forget something, again, Al?" Ulissis asked, laughing.
Arima pointed at the teens outside. "It's not that. Alto is trying to play cop again."
Ulissis gasped and turned to look at Alto who was already outside. "Al!"
"Stop, guys," Alto said, as he nonchalantly slipped his hands into the pockets of his coat. As soon as he said those words, the teenager dropped the kid to the ground.
The young man gave him a disgusting smile. "Ah, if it isn't Alto. Where have you been, man?"
"Hey, man!" his accomplices echoed.
Alto closed his eyes and removed his hands from his pockets slowly. He formed a pair of fists and rushed at them. "Don't talk to me as if we're friends!" Lightning crackled in his hands just before he punched several of them in the face. "You should know not to mess with him! Especially considering who his older brother is!"
"Alban?" the guy hissed. "That wimp hasn't even reared his face at the bar. Chances are that he had the earth swallow him after what happened to his gang."
"Alto," the boy who was getting picked on said as he tried to crawl over to him.
The teen who had threatened him pulled out a knife and held it against the kid's neck. With a smile, he backed away.
"This is bad," Ulissis said as he watched from inside the bus. He stood up. "We got to help them!"
Ms. Key inched forward. "Right, this has gotten too dangerous."
"Alto and the kids will be fine," Arima said. She grinned as the sky overhead rumbled.
"Come to me, bolt from the heavens! Take the form of a dragon!" Alto chanted. A lightning bolt in the form of a light-blue dragon rained down from the sky. Alto motioned the beast-shaped spell to strike down all of the other teens, while he advanced toward his old friend.
As I thought, Alto was strong.
"Brent, let go of the kid," Alto said as the smell of charred clothes started to cover the area.
"Boss, give it up," one of the grunts said. The grunt dropped his head down. Glass from one of the hundreds of broken bottles littered on the floor cut his head slightly.
Brent snickered. He tossed the boy toward Alto. "I don't need a child to defeat you. "All of you kids, scram! I got more important business to do. I'll talk to you later about joining our gang."
The children ran away, leaving their friend shaking. Alto patted the boy's head. "Don't worry it'll be alright. Go home, Jet."
The boy with piercing black eyes looked back at Alto's former friend as stones rose around him.
"Move aside, brat!" Brent unleashed his wave of stones on them.
Alto pushed the terrified Jet out of the way. Lightning struck the flying rocks, reducing them to what looked like charcoal. Fists hit Brent on the chest before he knew it. He spat out blood as he landed on the concrete wall behind him.
Alto turned around and saw the lonely Jet shaking.
"Jet," Alto said as he turned around and patted his head. "It's alright now, Brent and the others are taken care of." He glanced behind him, at the boy who like Alban had once been his friend. He was still awake. "What became of you, Brent?"
Brent narrowed his eyes as he clenched his side. "Shut up! A goody two shoes like you would never understand." He looked down at the white powder on the ground. "The only way we can survive in this rotten country is through illegal means. Even if that includes recruiting five to six-year-olds into our group, we will do it. Alban and the others learned that, but I'm not sure why you and your friends haven't."
"My brother?" Jet asked, startled.
Alto took a deep breath. His still intact lightning dragon vanished. "Do you truly believe that load of bull? Sure this country is messed up, but giving up on trying to change it is not going to make things better." He walked over to the bleeding boy and extended his hand. "Listen, at least don't mess with children anymore. They don't deserve to be exposed to this kind of trauma."
Brent grinned. "Alto, you really are a good kid. I almost feel bad for doing this." He pulled out a knife and threw it at the blue-haired teen.
Alto rushed forth and caught the knife in his hands and threw it into Brent's left arm, pinning him to the stone wall.
Brent chuckled as he closed his eyes. "You truly are a strong one, Alto."
Alto narrowed his eyes. "You bastard. I gave you a chance to repent, yet you go ahead and pull this!" He ran over to Jet. "Jet, let's get you home."
Jet shivered. "I-is he dead?"
"I don't know, nor do I care," Alto said, turning away.
I furrowed my brow. Was that really the case? His contorted brow and quick glances told me he had mixed feelings about leaving Brent pinned to the wall like that.
Alto ran over to the stalled bus. "Ms. Key. I'm going to go take this kid home. I'll meet up with you at the entrance to the highway."
"If you think that you can make it in time then sure," Sonata Key said, smiling. "Just be sure to give me a call so that I can stop the bus."
"Wait, can you really catch up to a bus?" Jet said, looking over at the young man. "I know you're super cool, but-"
Alto hunched down. "Sure I can. I am a lightning mage after all! Catching up to buses, and passing closing gates is what we're masters at."
Jet snickered. "Yeah, right. Even with magic, those things sound difficult to do."
Alto chuckled. "Climb on my back and hold on tightly. I'll show you it's possible."
Jet held onto Alto's back as tightly as a five-year-old could. Alto and the boy vanished from view in a wave of lightning.
"Should we just wait?" Ms. Key said, scratching her head.
"Go on ahead," Arima said, leaning against her seat. She grinned. "He'll catch up to us. I know it."
"Alright," Ms. Key said as she lowered the cell phone in her hand. "Haroun, can you form prison cells around those guys before we leave? The police will take a while to get here."
Haroun snapped his fingers. A cell made out of ruby red crystals manifested around the fallen gangsters.
"Brother, can you heal the guy pinned to the wall?" I whispered.
"You sure?" Haroun asked.
I nodded. Even if Alto didn't care for his friend, I hated to see people die. Even if they were criminals. But, maybe that was just the idealist in me talking again. But even in the face of such depravity, I had to hold on to what I believed was right.
**Solar Note: Again, thanks for continuing to read. If you enjoyed the chapter then please vote and comment :). Think that Alto will be able to catch the bus on time?**