Sands Katsion (~CRK)
The Ancient Seal & The Book of Legends
CHAPTER 3: “THE ANCIENT SEAL & THE BOOK OF LEGENDS”
I approached the door, all the while making googly eyes at the peaceful yellow mansion’s elegant structure and of the panorama’s majestic scenery: lawn leading to forest—the trees concealing a secret. Once elevated upon the wooden steps, I knocked twice before resuming my thoughtful dreaming. The treeline transfixed my imagination and allowed it to run wild for a moment—a moment which was quickly interrupted by the careful, quiet sound of the creaking door and of a girl’s call.
“Hello?” The question was so soft that I couldn’t believe it snapped me out of my dreaming.
There in the doorway stood an angel. She towered over me like a gentle giant; her radiant purple hair cascaded down her slim, pale figure, and her equally flowing purple dress continued the pattern to the floor. Her eyes were the color of the sky, and her voice was calm—calm enough not to scare the birds away. Only occasionally did she speak in accent, and when she did, it was a slight English accent, which highlighted her hidden wisdom & propriety.
I couldn’t help but stare. A part of me knew she was my age, but the other part couldn’t believe it. She held within her the austere authority of a leader in disguise. She also looked a lot older, taller, and more developed than me. I would have said she was likely 16 already.
“Might I ask why you are here?” she questioned politely.
Frazzled, I attempted to explain my situation to her, “I—um—I’m Zeenith, but everyone calls me ZCN for some reason. I was told to come here to see the Leader, and…” Words left me. “I—a lot of weird things have been happening lately. I don’t know why. All I did was go for a walk!” Not only did I have no idea what to say, but I was afraid she’d suddenly lash out at me if I said something wrong!
She blinked and responded nonchalantly, “Oh, I see.”
“So…are you the Leader?” I questioned sheepishly, putting a hand behind my head, trying my best to still look cool like the “new guy on the block.”
“I? Oh, no. I am the Leader’s daughter. I am sorry if you were confused.” She readied herself for her formal introduction, “I am Calla Marie-Claire Bird. It is nice to meet you, Zeenith. Shall I call you ZCN?” She asked with a shy smile, as though concealing the fact that she’d like to be friends.
“Uh, sure,” I answered awkwardly. “What a name,” I thought to myself. For some reason, it sounded strangely familiar. In fact, everything about her was eerily familiar.
“Right then. Please come in, ZCN.” Opening the door, she waved me inside.
I followed the mysterious girl with the long name through the doorway into a magical world of royalty and fancy furniture woven in gold and embroidered with floral patterns. The hardwood floors were covered slightly with olive rugs, the walls were lined with oak woodwork and adorned with floral wallpaper, a wooden staircase spiraled toward the heavens, and the rest of the ground floor drew one’s eyes to the back room by the kitchen—the Leader’s office.
What a house… I thought as I spun in circles, capturing the view. I wished I lived in a place like this… Everything shone and resonated as though the house were constantly polished.
“In here, please, ZCN,” Calla’s soft voice managed to snap me out of my daydreaming once again, and I followed the trail of her billowing dress to the Leader’s office.
As I followed without a second thought, an argument ensued in my head. You idiot. What if she’s the ‘bad one’ the Gatekeeper was talking about earlier? I shook my head incredulously at myself. No way! She’s way too nice. Indeed, kindness seemed to emanate from her. That couldn’t be possible. Let’s see what the other two are like. Either way, I kept on my guard as I turned the corner to the adjacent room.
The Leader’s office unfolded before my eyes. Bookcases overflowing with thick books lined the walls to the far left, a wooden workdesk stood in the middle of the room, its surface littered with papers containing scribbles and type. An older man with short brown hair barely greying sat in a comfortable leather chair behind the messy desk. Turning in his seat, the man faced Calla, and he set down his pen and a stack of papers before turning to me. It was then I knew I’d found the actual Leader.
“This is ZCN,” Calla began. “She just arrived in I*V City and would like to ask you something.”
Now in the presence of the real Leader, I was still at a complete loss. After all, I had pushed away to the life of a recluse for five years. I resumed the “too cool for school pose” and started awkwardly, “Um. Hey, Mr. Bird. I—”
“It’s nice to meet you, ZCN,” he hopped up from his seat quickly. “Sorry for interrupting, but I need to tell you something, too.” He shook my hand as though we were business partners. With that, the dignified man of night-colored eyes that streaked golden like stars called out for his other two children.
As soon as Mr. Bird yelled, Calla stood in front of the wall like a painting. In moments, the other two kids walked in and stood beside her in the same proper manner.
Yep, I commented to myself, this must be a royal house. There’s no way I’d do that.
On Calla’s left was a boy about my age, though he seemed much younger because he was short, cute, and quite shy. His skin was a chocolate brown, a contrast from the girls’ pale complexions, and he was dressed in black dress pants with a t-shirt. Raven-black hair swept over his head and to his forehead, and brown eyes wandered curiously around the room. His eyes were full of mystery and emotion. They reminded me of something that made my head start to sting.
To the shy boy’s left was a taller girl (not as tall as Calla Long Name) who appeared the most teenager-esque of the three. She carried herself in a rebellious way, showing off her sense of style revealed in her fashionable punk clothes. Her hair was red and wild like fire; her eyes glinted like embers behind their bright pink façade. I already felt a kinship with the way she carried herself.
The firey girl whispered to the boy, “Try not to be so shy, 5.”
The boy (5, I presumed) just as quietly responded with an “OK…” before continuing his rapid, nervous investigation of the room. Each time his eyes met mine, he’d smile before fleeing his glance to the floor again.
“ZCN,” Mr. Bird spoke out, “these are my three children.” He pointed to Calla and said her name.
“We have already met,” Calla smiled.
“5,” Mr. Bird pointed to the boy.
The little boy’s eyes caught mine again, and he smiled more widely as he lingered on my face seconds more before retreating to his now normal routine of scanning the room.
“and Ima,” Mr. Bird finished, pointing at the rebellious girl.
“Wassup?” Ima asked without a care.
Looking at the three of them together, I lingered on the thought the Gatekeeper instilled: which one is the bad one? Calla was too nice, 5 seemed too shy, and Ima I believed I could relate to. It was too hard for me to comprehend; I set the thought aside for later.
“Now, ZCN, if you’ll just follow me, I’ll try to answer all your questions.” Mr. Bird stood from his chair and motioned me to the other room. “Don’t worry. You can trust me.”
With a small puff of air, I braced for the unknown.
He walked toward the basement; his entourage followed him, and I along with them. Ima sprinted down the steps, Calla followed slowly, and 5 stood aside as though pretending to hold the sturdy, unmoving door open for me. After I stepped downstairs, he followed closely beside me as though he were afraid of the shadows in the dark.
Descending the rickety steps, we reached a clearing, and Mr. Bird switched on the lights. The added luminescence did not lighten the mood any; I immediately felt sick to my stomach. The dreary basement had been converted to a lab and a study with many worn-out books drowning in dust banished to the corner shelves. A fancy supercomputer took up the front wall, and a metal chair stood solemnly atop a tattered rug across from the computer. I shivered.
The three lined up against the wall in the same order as before: Calla, 5, Ima.
For a minute, I was sure I’d landed in the Twilight Zone.
After tinkering with the computer keyboard, Mr. Bird instructed, “Go sit in that chair, ZCN.”
Of course he meant the only creepy chair in the abysmal room.
I couldn’t help but squeal to myself like a pig. Cautiously, I approached the chair as though it were going to attack me like some rabid power animal. Visibly shaking, I was drawn in as my eyes intently focused on it, as though hypnotized through my own fear.
“Oh, just sit in it already!” Ima’s “reassuring” words only deepened my discomfort.
Slowly, cautiously, I swallowed my fear and sat. Once comfortably in the seat, I heaved a sigh of relief and reclined.
I did it! I thought triumphantly. You idiot. There was no way it was gonna—
SNAP. Built-in handcuffs captured my bony arms to the armrests. Yelling, I struggled to wiggle my arms free.
“Don’t worry. Those are just there to keep you still.” Mr. Bird’s words didn’t help either.
Am I imagining things or did he just have an evil grin? I whimpered internally. What if that guy was lying? What if they’re all evil?! I continued struggling, though at an increased intensity.
“Now, ZCN,” Mr. Bird’s tone suddenly became calm. Or maybe I just caught the patience in his voice. I tend to be unnecessarily paranoid at times. “Could you tell me what kinds of strange things have been happening to you lately?”
“Well,” I meekly replied, searching for the right words, “as soon as I left my house to walk around Wonder Prairie, a Maleconsai chased me to the farthest parts of the prairie. I didn’t think they even existed.”
The three kids whispered among themselves, probably also surprised by the appearance of the fabled ninja.
I continued, “Then someone told me to go to I*V City, so I did. Then, the gatekeeper guy told me to see you!”
“I see…” Mr. Bird mused. “Then what was it the Maleconsai wanted of you?”
“I dunno. He took all my hair off and then grew it back again!”
“Really?” he asked, intrigued. He returned to the computer, and after he pressed several buttons, the projector illuminated and awaited a picture. Once the projector was lit, Mr. Bird walked to me and handed me a weird-looking helmet that matched the eeriness of the chair. “I’m going to put this on your head,” he said. “It won’t hurt, but it’s a little heavy, OK?”
Mr. Bird placed the metal hat on my head, and a strange multi-colored drawing manifested on the blank, lit canvas. The picture resembled a picture from a day-care finger-painting class—perhaps a stroke of “brilliance” for modern art. Squinting, I looked at the rendition from all angles, finding nothing each time. The children stood perfectly still, captured in a strange awe.
“Is that supposed to be my head?” I asked aloud.
“Do you know what this is?” Mr. Bird asked me.
I thought he was supposed to be explaining things to me… I complained internally.
Moments after that question wafted through the dark recesses of my mind, a subconscious force yelled, “The Fighting Style Seal of the Ancients.” I repeated the outburst in real life, thus surprising everyone—including myself.
Who was that talking just now? My mental conversation with myself continued. She sounded so… Confident.
“Yes, this is definitely, without-a-doubt, the Fighting-Style Seal of the Ancients,” Mr. Bird declared with a very serious tone.
The children agreed quietly in their own ways, still lost in the moment like they were witnessing the birth of a legend.
5, as if struck by inspiration, procured a large, seemingly old book and leafed through it.
“The what?” I asked aloud, still completely confused.
Having heard my plea for knowledge, 5 shuffled to me, and he carefully set the book atop my lap. As I squinted my eyes to read, he surreptitiously pressed a button below the armrest that retracted the restraints. I was happy to have my arms and wrists back. The chair was really cold!
He pointed to the heading, which had the strange name of the thing on my head printed in bold.
The page explained everything in a simple manner:
The Fighting-Style Seal of the Ancients is a rare seal used to contain the powers given to the vessel of the Angel of Battle. Its unique pattern represents the powers the vessel holds.
I stopped after that, for I feared this new information would only raise more questions. Though, reading it was a comfort, like it reminded me of something I already knew. I was happy to see there was a definitive guidebook made on all this.
The ancient tome contained many tokens of information, creating a gold mine of knowledge. Picking up the heavy parchment pages, I let them run through my fingers to the back cover—the paper was sturdy, yet flimsy, as though they had been sitting hundreds of years but a Divine force kept them from crumbling along with time. It was the treasure trove that could solve all my problems and alleviate all my confusion. I had to read more. Closing the book, I perused the cover. Raised letters spelled “The I*V Book of Legends” and set the title upon a higher level than the leather cover. The book itself was in great shape, though time set its course upon it just the same. A few watermarks struck the pages, and some fading gnawed at the cover.
Before I could open the book again, Mr. Bird snatched it from me.
“Be careful with that,” he said. “It’s important.”
“Uh, s-sorry,” I don’t know why I apologized. It could have been the fire dancing in his eyes as he spoke. Or the fact I was always drawn to keeping info books for myself.
“ZCN, are you far from home?” Mr. Bird asked, concerned.
“Well, I suppose so.” If I tried, I could have made it home before dark, but I was too emotionally exhausted to try.
“I would like it if you stayed in the city for a while.” He halted the computer’s operations.
“Really?”
“Do you have any gems on you?”
“Not very many.” I hardly ever carried money around with me; after all, I was practically poor. From my pockets, I manifested a couple light-colored gems set in pink and green.
“Hm… That won’t be enough for Seed Hotel…” he mused. “You’ll have to go to the hotel near here. They’re right down the road you came from.”
“Lemme guess, ‘You can’t miss it,’ right?” Finally, I felt in control.
“No, you could actually miss it quite easily. Why?”
My spirits sulked, “Nevermind.” Getting up, I moped across the room.
“Wait,” Mr. Bird commanded, “5 will take you.”
5 and I mirrored each other’s surprise. I can take care of myself! Besides, I didn’t want to be a burden to him. He seemed like he really didn’t want to be bothered.
“No, that’s OK. I—” As soon as I tried to speak up for myself, Mr. Bird stopped me, defiantly and sympathetically.
“No, ZCN! I don’t want you to get kidnapped…or worse.”
The shivers returned. Is this whole “seal” business really that important? I asked myself, and I received no answer.
“Besides…5 may not be able to use USG because of the incaronsai present in it…”
Him, too… I thought in empathy. Finally, someone understood just how dramatic my life was. I thought I was the only kid in the entire universe that wasn’t in USG.
“…but he can protect someone he cares about.”
Finally, the shy boy spoke a word. And not only that, it was a yell. “What?!”
“He speaks!” I yelled joyfully.
His face flushed, and he took leave behind me.
Mr. Bird’s plan had worked.
Finally, the fresh evening air caressed my face and tussled my hair, making it look like waves upon the ocean. A deep breath of air filled me, and my spirits lifted. I never liked being cooped up indoors—let alone that dungeon of a basement.
5 walked slowly beside me; he held his hand to his side, only inches from mine, as though pretending to hold my hand. Now in the open air, he, too, felt comfortable enough to converse with me. He lowered his shoulders and tossed his head back to catch the sky.
“Try to keep up,” he instructed somewhat playfully, making only brief eye contact for the exchange of a smile.
I could finally identify his soft, low voice; it was gentle and suave, undertoned with a slight Mexican accent; it almost made him sound romantic. The majority of his sentences consisted of only one word, however.
“So…where’re the hotels?” I asked to start said conversation.
“Hotel…”
“Huh?”
“There is only one.”
“OK…So, where’s the hotel?”
“Here,” he pointed toward a box house containing four floors and four rows of windows.
I had flashbacks; it was the Newcomer Haters’ hotel. I froze in panic.
“Is something wrong?” 5 asked compassionately.
“N-no. I-it’s just…”
It was too late. I was found.
“Hey! It’s the newcomer!”
My scream resounded through the still night air, sending flocks of birds on their way.
“I thought we told you not to come back!” another one of them yelled.
Crouching, I braced for impact.
Vases raised, they aimed for my pathetic shield.
All the sudden, the world stopped a moment and listened.
“Stop.”
The Newcomer Haters lowered their vases and stared at the little boy in disbelief.
“5…?” I said, peeking from my tucked-over position.
“It’s OK now,” he told me. “I’ll handle this.” He acted oddly confident as he stood in front of me, barely taller than me in my crouching position.
Suddenly, a flash of realization and embarrassment burned through me, and I stood up, brushing off my clothes. Standing confidently and aloof, I refused to admit the situation hurt me. What came over me so suddenly to act so cowardly?
The elderly woman in the middle confronted 5, “What are you doing here, Leader’s son?”
It dawned on me. I was surprised of 5’s confronting them because of his being shy; they were surprised because he’s the Leader’s son. He must not go out much. Odd considering how comfortable he seems outside.
5 replied bashfully, concealing a hidden authority, “B-because…I’m her escort.”
The topmost woman was not afraid, “Well, I don’t care he’s the Leader’s son! Hit ‘em both!”
I squealed, ducking down once again.
“It’s OK.” He laid a hand on my back. It felt so warm.
5’s voice suddenly gained an authoritative tone, “I said ‘no.’ Now…Go on.”
“Me?” I squeaked.
“Yes, you,” he teased. He offered me his hand. “Go inside. I’ll make sure they don’t hurt you, OK?”
We locked eyes. A warm feeling tickled my insides, causing all my muscles to relax. An even stranger feeling disconnected my consciousness from the fabric of reality; the whole world dissolved around us. The setting sun seemed more beautiful than usual. His hands were so warm against my frigid skin; when I pulled away, it felt as though I were parting with a summer breeze. Once I’d learned of my odd sensation, I pinched myself, prying my eyes from him. Suddenly, every trace of whatever I had experienced faded away like a whisper.
The sensation reminded me of the fading memories from earlier. Empowered, I tried to grasp them yet again, but the mental barrier proved even stronger than before. My head twinged with pain.
I regained my composure steadily and breathed a disappointed sigh. “OK…Bye.”
I almost hated to leave him there.
“Farewell.” He winked, his face and his eyes both smiling brightly. He did a graceful turn and strolled toward home.
Before I could react, the topmost woman threw a vase straight at him.
He halted, turned, and snatched the vase from thin air. Without even looking.
We all stared jaw-dropped.
Gently, he set the antique upon the ground before resuming his leisurely jaunt home.
The topmost woman growled at him as he giggled.
And so, off he went, did that strange boy. The sunset unfurled around him in the distance, and for a second, a hazy version of myself walked alongside him. I shook my head from the illusion and headed inside the hotel. Slinking through the halls, I avoided the angry elders and plopped into bed. Lying safe in bed, I reflected on this strange day that just dropped down and sat itself upon me. Everything was once a simple comfort and so very predictable. Now, after the fact, I had no idea what awaited me tomorrow. I knew I hadn’t seen the last of Call, 5, and Ima, but a part of me wished I could continue the journey alone. I was never one to stand alongside a group unless they were just there to reassure me how awesome I am. Finally, the weirdest day in the history of my life would be ending with a good night’s sleep.
As a myriad restless thoughts reigned over me and I dissolved into subconsciousness, the first of the stars began to shimmer in the sky. Among them all, the brightest is the fabled I*V Star, the symbol and very livelihood of I*V. It’s even on the flag. I was always told that when the I*V Star twinkled, something magical just happened. That night, it dimmed and flashed, just as though it were winking.