VII | THE MELTING POT
The journey took a lot longer than Kael anticipated. They had taken three days to reach the port city of Aquamarine, then they had to take a stomach-lurching day trip on a ship to Saphir island. As the first time he'd travelled away from his home country, Bijou, Kael was understandably miserable on the rocking vessel.
Kael slumped over the ledge of the ship, awaiting one more urge to release his stomach contents into the salty sea below. The ship rolled over churning waves, igniting the urge. With one more lurch of the hull, Kael had what little was left pouring out the side of the ship.
Kly gave him a sympathetic rub on the back. "You okay there, little buddy?"
Kael groaned in response. "Are we there yet?"
"Just a little more. Look. The sun's coming up."
Kael forced himself to raise his eyes to the horizon. Pink and orange rays streaked through the sky, and the tip of the giant round ball peeked from the line that separated the sky from the sea.
From far away, he could see fins of small whales breaching out of the ocean, black against the soft morning glow. He smiled despite the growing discomfort in his gut. Somehow, setting his eyes on the picturesque scenery helped him ignore the nausea, albeit only very slightly.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Kly said, leaning his elbows on the ledge. "I never get tired of it."
Kael straightened his back and held back the urge to gag. "Yeah, it is." He breathed in the salty sea air, and let himself relax as the humid breeze swept through his black locks. He made a mental note to cut his hair sometime in the near future.
"Look," Kly pointed ahead. "There it is. Saphir Island."
Kael forgot his nausea at the sight of a growing strip of land. Bright green trees lined the beach, but they weren't big enough to hide the tips of towers from beyond. As they neared, Kael could make out small moving dots of people bustling about the port.
Multiple ships lined the harbour, all of them different depending on the country they'd sailed from. Kael had never seen so many foreigners in his life.
"Wow!" he breathed. He saw a slender ship with bright orange sails that resembled fins reach its destination. A wooden ramp fell over from the ship's starboard side and rested on the dock. From it, Kael saw a stream of colour move onto the island. All the passengers had hair the colour of depth. Blue, green, even a few violet.
"Looks like the Oracheans have arrived," Kly said with a small smile.
"Oracheans?" Kael said. He vaguely recalled the word from schooling though he wasn't entirely sure if he'd learned about them at all.
"They're people from Orachea, a country far east, characterised by their gold-tinged skin and blue hair. Though, as you can tell, not all of them have blue hair. If we compare them to Bijou, it's like how most people have brown hair, but there are a few who have blond or red hair."
"Hey, look! It's the bluebirds!" a crewmember near Kael said, also noticing the orange sails. He waved, obviously recognising the crew in the Orachean ship.
"Bluebirds?" Kael said to Kly.
Kly chuckled. "I'm not sure when they earned their nickname 'bluebird,' but I believe it started by a miscommunication between Bijou and Tunbora, a country up north. Apparently, a few hundred years ago, Bijou had been trying to take over Tunbora, but Orachea also stepped into the battle for land. A general from Bijou wanted to plot with a chieftain of a region of Tunbora, but because of language barriers, they had difficulties describing the enemy. Eventually, a bluebird landed on the sill of the chieftain's window and that's what the Oracheans have been called to this day. It's just a story, though. I'm not entirely sure where the term originally came from."
Kael watched in wonder as the last Orachean stragglers left the ship. His own ship finally reached the harbour. The crew pulled at ropes, communicated through brief hollers, and slowed the ship down. After lowering the ramp, the captain bade goodbye to all the passengers of his ship.
Kael followed Kly, lugging his bag behind him. Kly, noticing the struggle, picked up Kael's bag. The captain grinned at the brothers as they left.
"Hope ya enjoyed my lof-ly ship, my boys!"
Kly nodded politely and passed. Kael felt relieved when he finally reached solid ground, expecting the constant rocking to finally cease. However, when he stepped onto the wooden docks, he felt his legs go weak and an unexpected lurch sent him toppling down to the ground.
Kly turned at Kael's yelp and laughed. "Looks like you got sea legs. Don't worry. It'll go away. Come on, let me help you."
He held out his gloved hand, which Kael gladly took. His head spun, and the illusion of the ship's motion made his stomach churn again.
Groaning, Kael followed Kly into the city. He was glad to find that walking helped him find his bearings much faster. He now took the time to study his surroundings.
Buildings loomed on either side of him. The sidewalk was wide enough for people to barely graze past each other, and a wide breadth of a brick road allowed for cabs to pass in two lanes. He noticed that small alleyways opened up between the tightly-packed houses and stores.
"So this is Isla Stadt," Kael observed with wonder. "The only city on Saphir Island."
"It is," Kly replied. "The so-called melting pot of all cultures. Which is largely due to the fact that it holds the only caster academy in the world."
"That's amazing." Kael noticed a blue-haired woman dusting her laundry. A man with light brown skin approached her, holding a little girl on his shoulders. She was obviously the offspring of the two, as she had inherited her mother's blue hair and father's brown skin. For some reason, Kael thought of Afia, the infant who bore his mother's name. A pang of homesickness attacked him as he watched the blue-haired woman scolding her husband, who was now spinning in circles and causing his daughter to squeal in delight.
He noticed a few more families with a similar mixture of different cultures, though plenty of families that didn't intermarry were heavily present as well. It was obvious that people from Bijou were the most common, probably because it was the closest country to the island. Not to mention that the island was technically under Bijouan jurisdiction.
After walking through the busy streets filled with temporary stalls, storefronts, and apartments, the brothers stopped at a cab station.
They signed their names on the administrator's logbook before being led to a cab awaiting them outside. It was a small machine, stocky and heavy. The driver's seat was in the middle, right in front of the passenger seats. Kael could see a picture stuck next to the steering wheel, no doubt of the driver's family.
The cab driver opened the passenger door for the brothers and proceeded to stuff Kael's luggage into the trunk of the car before entering the driver's seat.
He grabbed a dirty hat that rested on the small ledge just below the slanted windshield and put it on.
He inserted a key with a with a head of a small round jewel in place of the traditional flattened end. Wisps of white energy swirled within, trailing along the ridges of the key and into the ignition. When the driver turned the key, the car coughed before coming to life. Satisfied, the cab driver finally went went on the road.
"You boys headed to the academy?"
"Yes, we are," Kly replied.
"Heard yesterday's exam eliminated more than ninety percent of the students."
"Really?" Kly didn't seem surprised, and Kael worried that the exam might be more difficult than he anticipated. "How many passed?"
"Out of more than three hundred, only twenty-one. So I've heard."
Kly whistled. "Sounds about right. We've cut down the number of students that can attend this year to five-hundred."
"Seems a bit harsh, don't you think?" The driver made a turn onto a dirt path cutting through the trees.
"I guess so." Kly rested his elbow on the window. "But with all the new applications flooding in, the academy really can't handle more students. There are barely enough dorms to hold them. Not to mention the number of mentors we need."
The driver grunted and shifted in his seat. "Seems like we need more academies. We're running out of space here."
"It is a small island," Kly pointed out. "And the founders never would have thought that the academy would gain so much recognition from all over the world, especially with caster guilds cropping up everywhere."
"Ah, the traditional method of apprenticeship," the driver remarked. "Brings back plenty of memories. Why not stick to that?"
"We need more casters," Kly answered without pause. Clearly, he enjoyed talking about history. "Apprenticeships take too long, and a mentor typically takes one student, two at most, at a time. When phantoms increased a few decades ago, the world drowned in blights. There weren't enough casters to fight back. The founders needed a better way to increase the number of casters, and an academy was the solution."
The driver sniffed. "Still seems like an easy way to get money to me."
Kly smiled. "I'm just telling you the facts. You're entitled to your opinions."
Kael swallowed, suddenly feeling jittery. He wondered what the exam would be about. Would it require him to know the historical facts Kly seemed so well-versed in? He had barely paid attention to those in school, focusing more on casting than facts.
"Kly," Kael voiced in a slight whisper. He wasn't sure if his brother heard him over the steady rumble of the engine. "Kly," he tried, a little louder.
"Did you say something, little buddy?" Kly said, glancing Kael's way.
"Do we need to know those facts for the exam?" Kael asked. "I mean, I know it's kind of cheating to ask you and all, but I barely passed my history and science classes in school. I'm surprised I even got a scholarship based on my grades."
Kly's lips twitched. "I can't say, little buddy. But I'll give you a hint. You're more than capable of passing the entrance exam with what you know now."
Kael breathed a sigh of relief. "If you say so."
The cab pulled up in front of a blue gate taller than the watchtowers in Paraiba. Solid concrete walls loomed at least a meter higher than the gate. Kael gawked at the silver decorating the rim of the doors and criss-crossing the wood. Three giant letters gleamed across the middle of the gate, spelling out the acronyms of the school: S-C-A.
The cab driver dropped Kael's luggage on the dirt and nodded politely when Kly dropped a few coins as a tip.
Kael, now standing, still couldn't believe how huge the outside wall was. He snapped out of his awe when dust flew up from the cab's departure. He coughed, then looked at his brother.
Kly grinned with his hands in his pockets. "Well, little buddy. Welcome to the academy. You're in for a fight."
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A/N
Ahh! We're finally at the academy! You'll finally get to meet a few more important characters in the next chapters, and I promise you they are crazy! Well, at least a couple of them are. XD
Thank you for sticking with me this far. It really does mean a lot, and I really hope you're enjoying the story. I'm still not sure if I'm satisfied with where it's going (though that's a problem in the later chapters, so no need to worry about it yet!), but I think it's coming along just fine! :D
Anyway, be sure to vote and comment if you liked it. I really do enjoy reading any comments that come my way, so don't hesitate to state your opinions!
I'll see you in a few! Bye!
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