“So, um, how long have all of you been together?” asked Elwin, sandwiched between Leonardo and Hina at the back of the tram, with Sandora seated farther to the side. She unglued her eyes from the window, returning her attention to Elwin.

“Us? We met on the skycraft to Aeternitas,” she answered. “A semester ago.”

“Only a semester ago?! Feels like we’ve been together for years,” interjected Leonardo. “Guess we’ve been through a bit, huh?”

“Yeah,” said Hina, bandaging a part of Elwin’s elbow which had scraped against the bricks. “Is that too tight?”

“No, it’s just right. Thank you,” replied Elwin, politely stretching his arm. “So... um, you’re from Aeternitas, right? What’s it like?”

“Like drinking from a fire hose,” said Leonardo. “Or at least, that’s what it felt like trying to forge our Quans before the foundation began. Having went through that, everything that comes after feels like a piece of cake,” he chuckled.

“You get to forge your own Quan? You don’t buy it or have it made?”

Sandora reached out to tousle Elwin’s hair. “Hahahaha, of course not! If it was that easy, Aeternitas would’ve fallen into obscurity long ago!”

“Heh, Sandora, you make it sound like the road there was smooth. Remember when we were fireblasting the ore? When you accidentally heated yours too much during practice and it rocketed outside to hit the headmaster?”

“And he personally climbed the ziggurat and marched into the forge to hand you your ore, with a hole sizzling in his robe?” added Hina.

“You guys are never going to let me live that one down, are you,” she jested, beginning to tickle Leonardo. “That’s like the fifth time you reminded me this semester! Kind of strange when you were all like – ‘Please sir, I made it with my sweat and tears!’ – to Quanmaster Montgomery when he made you re-do the disk during practice!”

“Ah! Ack! No more! I take it back! Why only me? Hina – ack! – added too!”

“Because you’re in my reach!”

“But your Quan turned out perfect in the end, didn’t it? Quanmaster Montgomery said yours was one of the finest he’d seen made by a first-year,” said Hina, trying to rescue Leonardo from Sandora’s relentless retaliation.

“Yours and – ack! – Maximus’s,” Leonardo clarified.

“Hmm...,” said Sandora, withdrawing her fingers and narrowing her eyes in a consular air, “well, well, well... for your well-timed respect, consider thy transgressions forgiven.” She, Leonardo, and Hina all stared at each other for a serious while, then they all broke into laughter.

“C’mere, you precious bundles,” Sandora exclaimed, embracing her friends deeply, Elwin in their midst.

Their friendship must run very deep, he thought, able to joke at one another’s expense and being able to laugh together in spite of it. He couldn’t imagine himself doing the same with... well, he didn’t have friends yet.

“So... all of you met on the skycraft?”

“You could say that. By accident. Everywhere else was full, and Maximus was in one of the cabins all alone, so Sandora joined him. Then I joined, and then Hina.”

“Ooh, so there’s four of you?”

“Mmhm, Maximus included.”

“And you’ve been together since?”

“Yeah.”

“But where’s he now?”

“Maximus said he had some business in the city, so we tagged along when the winter holiday hit. He said he needed to take care of some personal stuff downtown tonight, though.”

“And yesterday too,” added Sandora. “He looked tired this morning.”

“Oh, right. Was a bummer that we couldn’t extend our stay, so we had to move to a new hotel this morning. Gotta say, this city’s a bit pricey,” said Leonardo.

“Can’t help that Ascension’s long been the entrepôt between the Empire and our Republics,” analyzed Sandora.

“How does that make something pricier?” asked Elwin.

“Places where a lot of wealth flow through naturally have more affluent spenders,” clarified Hina. “Though there’s no rule that such wealth always reaches the hands of many,” she added.

“Where are you guys from?” inquired Elwin.

“Eltanis,” answered Leonardo. “The republic of great inventors.”

“The Republic of Heian for me,” said Hina.

“The Republic of Astinel,” declared Sandora. “Though my lineage is from Utopia. It’s interesting how that worked out, because Utopia was founded by people who splintered off from Astinel due to an ideological disagreement.”

“Also that ‘Utopia’ means ‘no-place,’ a place that can’t conceivably exist,” added Hina, a knowing gleam in her eye.

“Wait then... why did people choose it to be the name of a republic?” Elwin asked, puzzled.

“Are you sure you want to listen? It’s a long story!”

“Oh, I don’t mind,” said Elwin.

“Okay, here goes. A thousand years ago, during the time of the Second Republic, military service for everyone was mandatory. It was instituted to prepare the peoples against a future invasion from the Empire of Jin,” Hina explained. “But there were those who were ideologically opposed to violence and war. They voiced their concerns to Consul Astinel, the founder of the new republic, saying that they wanted to support their fellow citizens through medicine and rescue rather than by taking enemy lives. But Consul Astinel refused. He was the one who gathered the fractured remains of the First Republic and liberated all of Mythrise from Jin, after all. He insisted that everyone must learn to fight and learn to take lives to ensure their freedom.”

“Oh...”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Eventually, the argument came to an impasse,” continued Hina. “And Consul Astinel dared those people to leave if they wished and build a place where they wouldn’t need an army or violence to protect themselves, for such a place cannot exist. He dared them to found ‘Utopia,’ or ‘no-place,’ so to speak.”

“And that’s what they did. They founded a city-state named ‘Utopia’ as defiance to Astinel and the Second Republic in a lush valley up north. They never invaded nor forced another city-state into submission for their grievances, and earned deep respect by deploying their medical corps – finest everywhere – to assist in rescue operations whenever a disaster or a conflict occurred, no matter how far it was. Through diplomacy and trade, they found themselves on equal footing with the other city states in less than a century, and while they never fielded an offensive army, they did maintain a very effective defensive force that used the Arts of Air to break an invading army’s morale rather than obliterating them outright.”

“Wow, how brave they were to oppose the might of a consul like that!” Elwin exclaimed. “But wait – isn’t – isn’t Consul Astinel the person who founded Aeternitas?” he inquired, remembering what the Grand Bibliothecarius had told him that afternoon.

“Exactly!” said Sandora. “Do you know who liberated the continent the second time from the Empire of Jin and founded our current Unified Mythrisian Republics two centuries back?”

“President Andrew Hamilton, wasn’t it?”

“Correct. He hailed from Utopia, and was an alumnus of Aeternitas.”

“What did you mention your family name was again?”

“Guess.”

“...Hamilton?”

“Yup.”

The twists of fate dawned on him, and Elwin broke into laughter. To think that the descendant of a people that Astinel rejected would eventually honor his legacy in their own way, eight hundred years on!

Sandora looked up. “The weaves of history crisscrosses everyone. Nothing really exists in a vacuum. If you take a moment to realize why things are the way they are, perhaps you can unearth a solution to a difficult problem. Perhaps Consul Astinel – or should I say Headmaster Astinel – is watching us from the Elysian Shores, happy that Utopia came about. Glad that perhaps, there existed more than one way to safeguard the peoples of the Republics. Maybe that’s why we attend Aeternitas – to find those other ways.”

Elwin was thoroughly stunned by the depth of her enunciation.

So this is what it was to be a student of Aeternitas. Could he be anything like Sandora or the others next to him?

“Oh, um, can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead,” replied Sandora.

“You said you were ‘Artens’ of Aeternitas, right? Not students? What do you mean by that?”

“An Arten,” explained Leonardo, raising a single finger, “means ‘warrior of truth,’ or those who strive to learn, who strive to create, but are also able to fight. A warrior-scholar, or a warrior-artist, you might say,” he beamed, giving a thumbs-up, his teeth glinting in a confident smile. “I’d say that’s who I want to become – everything there ever was and ever could be!”

“Wow... so at Aeternitas, you don’t just sit in front of desks and...”

“That’s right. We don’t only attend Aeternitas to study, but also to get our hands dirty to create things, and train how to hold our own in battle.”

“All of those things! So that means the Aeternitas exam looks for –”

“Fishery Street! This is Fishery Street! Next up, Panascent Junction!” announced the conductor. It was just one stop away from home now.

“We should be getting off soon,” said Elwin. He was going to give his thoughts more time, and ask his saviors about the examinations after they finished their meal at The Marlin.

***

“Oi, get me another pint!” hollered an inebriated customer.

“Will be right there!” Anna hurriedly shouted from the back of the counter, carrying a metal rack stacked with a dozen plates.

“Where’s my cod, huh?” shouted one of the guests, pointing at his pocket watch. “I’ve been waiting for half an hour!”

“My stuff is burnt! You really expect me to pay when it looks like this? TERRIBLE!”

Elwin and his saviors from Aeternitas arrived to a truly chaotic sight at the Marlin. He dashed into the kitchen, hurriedly donning his server’s apron.

“What happened, mom? Where’s the extra hands?”

“Oh, oh! Elwin! Finally, glad you’re back safe. They told me they were going to come, but they must’ve forgotten. Could you help me with the soup, quickly? Tables four and five.”

“I’m sorry mom, oh the FOUNDERS forgive me for being late! I’ll get those to the tables right away –”

He hurriedly scooped the clam chowder out of the pot at a distance, suspending them into the air in spherical globules, and dropped them into the ready-waiting bowls. He raced them out, his hands in mittens, when a customer stood up without notice, thrusting the chair leg at Elwin’s foot, making the bowls fly out of his hands –

“Watch out!” shouted Leonardo, catching the bowls with a makeshift tray of forks, his Quan blazing. Some of the soup was about to spill over, but Hina coaxed them back up the sides of the bowl with her air. Puzzled gasps came from the crowd.

“Looks like you need some extra hands,” said Sandora, standing up. “Want us to help?”

“Huh, wha – but, but you’re supposed to be my guests! You said you were hungry!”

“Hunger can wait its turn,” she said, ruffling Elwin’s hair. “Can’t leave just the two of you to deal with everyone while we blissfully eat away, can we?”

“I – that’s –”

“Alright, crew, let’s get to work.”

“Aye-aye,” said Leonardo and Hina, standing up.

“Looks like the bowls are made of ceramic. Can you feel it?”

“Yep, it’s ceramic. A little more inconvenient of a melody to deal with than pure metal, but I can haul them just fine,” assured Leonardo.

“Great. Leonardo will help with bringing out the food and stacking the plates. Elwin,” said Sandora, turning to him at once. “Do you have enough plates for the night?”

“Enough plates – um,” he stammered, looking at the tables brimming with customers. “No, I don’t think we do.”

“Hina, wash the dishes in batches by sonifying the water. Get them out and dry in less than ten,” said Sandora.

“Brilliant idea,” she replied, nearly flying to the kitchen.

“I’ll help prepare the food. Could you brief us to the innkeeper?”

“Yes, um, of course!” said Elwin, taken aback by the surprising turn of events.

“Mom, mom, um, how do I explain – this is Sandora, Leonardo, and Hina. They’re from Aeternitas,” words racing from his mouth.

“From Aeternitas! Why, welcome, welcome indeed! Please, allow me to –”

“Your son invited us for a meal, but seeing the situation, we’re here to help. Our meals can wait.”

“Are you sure? You are honored guests, after all,” said Anna, almost dropping the grilled cod, which Hina caught midair with a bubble of breeze.

“Worry not, ma’am. We’ll take care of the stuff tonight as volunteers. Elwin, do as you always do.”

“I will!” he replied, finding a renewed strength in him. He and his mother weren’t alone to take on the world tonight. By a stroke of absolute luck, they had Artens from Aeternitas with them.

“Tables two and four, seared bass with butter. Table three wants fried calamari and chips on the side,” relayed Elwin to Sandora.

“Acknowledged!”

“Elwin, fetch three knobs from the storeroom!” asked Anna.

“On it!” He came back and handed it over.

“Nice,” said Anna, smearing the butter onto the sizzling pan.

“Right here, ma’am,” said Sandora, snapping her fire over the butter as Anna lobbed the sea bass onto the skillet. “Hina, we need four plates in three!” she shouted over the crackling of flames and sizzles of smoke.

“Already done, take these!”

“Thanks,” she replied.

Hina guided the smoke over to the smoke-eater on the ceiling, rushing it out to the chimney entrance above, returning her attention to the water in the sink.

“Whew, these mahn and frhi sure are hungry,” said Leonardo, hovering an enormous stack of spent plates next to the sink. “I guess the cold got to them, or they all worked today with fire and earth. Sorry for these.”

“Not a problem,” assured Hina. Elwin glanced over as she ladled the air above the sink with a quiet but continuous chant, and the water below began to hum and fizz with oscillating vibrations, droplets of water suspending briefly in the air in thin lines and falling again in a pattern shown in diagrams of his trigonometry books. He watched mesmerized as the buzzing water and detergent tore and scrubbed away the persistent scraps and charred skins of fish stuck onto the plates without Hina ever using her hands. Before he knew it, the plates were out of the sink, washed sparkling clean.

“How did you do that?” Elwin exclaimed, his jaw almost dropping to the floor. He had washed the dishes almost a thousand times, and even though his Maht was Water, he had to scrub away the plates with nothing less than a torrent or his cramped fingers.

“Through the power of sound, over which Air reigns supreme,” she answered. “Courtesy of Professor Irina at Aeternitas, at least for me.”

“Do you get to –”

“Elwin, the customers!” hollered Anna over the sizzling pans.

“Oh, yeah, I’m right on it!”

Wow, he thought, rushing out the kitchen. Something told him that what Hina was able to do just now was merely the tip of the iceberg.