CAMILLA

Name: Shira Omuraliev

Id number: -05

Birth: October 19th, 1991

Arrival: February 4th, 2000

Gender: Female

Room number: 5

Nationality: American

Specialities: Transformation

Languages spoken: English.

History: Born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania to Aibek and Azra Omuraliev. Has two siblings, her twin sister Dinara and younger brother Devin whom she has not met. Started using her powers in late 1999 and joined the Organization a couple months later.

That was all that stood on the first page in the book. Two pictures were plastered on the left side of the page, one of a young girl that must be Shira when she arrived. The other looked as if it could have been taken yesterday. She was wearing that same gold eyeliner and her short black hair looked wild. I stared at the pictures for a long while, looking at her smile, her eyes, her hair. Young Shira had long, straight black hair. There was something about these two pictures that irked me deeply. Maybe it was seeing a younger version of somebody I had just met, making her somehow seem more real. This picture of Shira from years ago was proof that she was a person with a life and a story to tell. She had big teeth and was wearing a red t-shirt with butterflies on. She was just a kid, and already she had come to this place. Already she had begun controlling the world around her. She had grown so much, still looking at the newer picture, it was clear that she was still young. There was still a child inside of her, longing to be set free. I saw it in the way she lined her eyes in that shimmering gold, the way her hair had both grown shorter, but also wilder.

There was more to Shira than I had first thought. I needed to know who she had been four years ago when Javier and Miriam were killed. I needed to start somewhere, I needed to dig deep into everything about her if I wanted to know if she could have done it, and as I had just learned a few hours ago, nothing was impossible.

When I heard knocking on my door, I was sure it must be Shira. She had shown me around yesterday, so why shouldn’t she also be the one to check up on me today? However, when I opened the door, I wasn't greeted by a black bob cut, but a cloud of golden curls. Erika was fidgeting with her silk skirt as I looked her up and down.

“Good morning,” She said cheeringly. “It’s time for breakfast, then we’ll begin lessons”

“Lessons?” I asked bewildered as I followed her down the hall to the elevator

“Didn’t Shira mention?” Erika asked me. “Well, you are supposed to receive lessons by everyone, starting with me today”

“For the whole day?”

“No, you’ll get plenty of free time to roam.” Erika answered as the doors opened to the Kitchen and Common Room. “But after dinner we have obligatory training on floor 14”

“What's on floor 14 again?” I asked as we sat down by the kitchen table.

“That’s the maze,” Erika said. “Adi and Shira are turning it into a city so we can practice urban combat and chase.”

“Is it really clever to make everybody compete with each other?” I asked as I sipped the mug of coffee Erika had handed me, then I continued, clarifying: “After yesterday’s dinner?”

“Clever? No, not if you asked me,” Erika answered truthfully. “Necessary? Yes, if you asked Adi”

“How long till I’ll meet your leader?”

“Depends,” Erika said with a sly smile, a beckoning for me to remember a conversation we’d been a part of a few days ago. “Adi is a busy man, but maybe if you ask nicely he’ll let you visit him in his workshop”

“So your leader is too busy to meet your newest member?” I asked, then leaned over the table to punctuate what I was about to say. “Or does he just not care enough to bother?”

If you asked me, I wouldn’t be able to tell you how I knew to strike where I did. The truth is, I sensed something about Erika and the way she said Adi’s name, like she was uttering the name of a god long forgotten. She was the only one who said his name like that, like it meant more than any other word in every other language. It made me believe that she felt strongly about the guy. It made me think that if I ever said something rude about him, she’d take offense to it.

That’s why I let my mouth run.

Erika smiled at me, unbothered. The only thing indicating her irritation was her fingers that wrapped a little tighter around her own mug of coffee. “Adi cares, but he sometimes gets a little stuck in his study”

“Why don't we go down and visit him, then?” I asked with no idea of why I was going this far to meet another new face when I was already exhausted from all the new faces I had met.

“Like I said,” Erika chirped. “We would have to ask nicely”

“We are not allowed in the workshops?”

“We are not allowed in his workshop.” I could see the gentle lines and sweet smile begin to fade on Erika’s face, into a tired annoyance. A triumph. She continued: “And why do you even want to visit him so badly? You’ll get your chance soon enough to see him”

I didn't know why I wanted to see him. To see who was the mastermind behind my kidnapping? To meet the most powerful of the most powerful? Adi was their leader, he must be more powerful then the others, more wise. Or maybe I just want answers.

I don't have any questions on my mind, I am perfectly question free. I am the only one who knows who I am. Still I seek answers, seek purpose. A reasoning.

I don't know.

I don't know what I am seeking, I just know that I have been grasping towards something my entire life and being here, seeing magic unfold inside of myself, it all makes me feel like I am close to finding what I was looking for all that time. I desperately want to close my hand and feel my own life inside of it, and I thought Adi might be the key for me to do so. When in a castle, you go to the king for purpose, not his servants.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“I just do,” I tell Erika, a truthful lie. The kind of lie I have a talent for telling.

“Let’s wait till after your lesson” Erika said with a force behind her words. I close my mouth and look down into my food.

The entirety of Floor Ten is dedicated to training. There is a big empty room with swords and other tools for fighting are lined along the wall. Inside another room is a swimming pool, which I found strange, seeing as we are surrounded by water already.

We entered a small room with a round table in the middle and a whiteboard covering an entire wall.

“Sit down, please.” Erika said, so I did. “Welcome to your first theory lesson.”

I got up right away. I am not here to listen to Erika ramble on about magic while I just sit quietly. I wanted to practice, I wanted to use magic.

“Camilla sit down, please” Erika said again, still with that polite tone but now with more power behind it, so I sat down. I didn't mean to sit down, it just sort of happened. I look up at Erika and she is smiling at me, all sunshine and goldm and I want to tear the smile of her face. I was beginning to figure out that Erika’s smile was unwavering. I knew I was getting on her nerves, I could see that clearly in the way her hands gripped the back of the chair she was standing behind, but still she continued to smile at me.

“I don't want to be here,” I said plain and simple.

“You’ll get to use your powers for the rest of your life,” Erika wheddled. “But it’ll be easier if you know what you are doing. This isn’t just fun and games. We are born with the power to tamper with the universe, don't you think we owe the world to be careful with those powers?”

I didn’t care about the world, I just wanted to know myself. I didn't say as much to Erika but instead folded by hands and waited for her to get on with the lesson.

The lesson lasted until lunch, with no breaks. It was easy stuff, mostly Erika talking about how our powers and the universe works, with only a few mentions of the kind of missions the Organization sent it’s Tethered on, but for a girl like me who has not been in school for four years, I was suddenly reminded of how hard it is to sit still and listen for a prolonged time.

According to Erika, the magic we used was the thing that bound the universe together and made things happen. It’s that happening that we control, that we use to run fast or swim further or light up the world. Few people have this power, and it is unpredictable who gets to be born with the powers. She said the last part like she was answering a question I had yet to say out loud, and when she did I realized it was one of the questions inside of me. Why was I picked? Why me?

The Organization is a funny thing to me. It’s old, older than I can properly grasp, and it’s sole purpose is to protect humankind. That means also protecting Earth. The Organization is led by an elected Tethered, that being the mysterious Adi at the moment. Adi, born in 1770, is the oldest member of the Organization, but he is not the oldest known Tethered.

Erika explained that it takes time to learn new powers, which is why it’s a general rule that the older a Tethered is, the more dangerous.

“But age isn't the only thing that makes us more powerful.” Added Erika. “We all have a bucket, which we use to draw magic from the well of the universe. Imagine if you used your bucket, but gave whatever was in it to someone else. Someone who already knows how to drink the water.”

“Sounds very wise,” I admitted “But I don’t really get it”

“Well,” Erika offered “Point is we can boost each others powers. It’s usually done by physical contact, like holding hands. It’s one of the reasons the Organization is so effective. Drifters have to rely on their own powers and knowledge, but we can share those things.”

“If that’s true, how are the Drifters even benefiting from being alone?” I speculated aloud.

Erika’s eyes lit up. “That is a good question. Why stay alone when you could work together? Why wander the earth, older than any other human around you; lonely. Why do that of your own free will when it’s so easy to reach out your hand to people like you?”

She knew that I knew the answer, and I did. I was alone too, maybe not for as long as some of the Drifters around the world, but that hardly mattered. Fact was that I ran away because I wanted to be alone, because I wanted to be free. They all traded power for solitude, a choice that might sound ridiculous to most people who didn’t know that solitude is sometimes another word for freedom. I knew now that I could not stay here. I am a creature who feeds of freedom, who always shys away from people. I had to stay for a bit, at least until I figured out how to use my powers, then I’d run away and make a life of my own. Alone.

“I think you know the answer, don't you?” Erika prodded.

“I do” I said simply

“People are predictable,” Erika continued on with her lesson. “And we, the Tethered, are still just people. Some of us need connection to other human beings to feel alive, and others can only be themselves when they are alone.”

I couldn’t help but tune her out, focusing instead on the glass from where I could see the deep of the ocean. It was light outside again, like the ocean lit up with the sun, even if the actual rays of light could not reach this far underwater.

“What happened to Javier and Miriam?” I cut in. Erika looked taken aback for about half a second, then she composed herself.

“They were found dead.” She began, careful with her words. “First it was Javier in Germany. Him and Zeph were on a mission and they had split up for a bit. Zeph said when he came back to their camp, Javier was laying in the snow with a knife in his shoulder and his heart bigger than his head; murdered by another Tethered.”

“And Miriam?” I asked when Erika stopped.

She smiled and looked down at her own hands. “Miriam was our leader. Brave, smart, funny. Lynn found her dead right there,” She pointed towards the seafloor that I could see clearly through the glass. A single stone was raised in the water. “There had been an earthquake. She was laying on the ground, her hands gripping onto the stone and her lungs shattered.”

“And you don't know who did this?” I asked

“You know we don't,” Erika pointed out.

“Yes,” I admitted. “But I want to find out who did it”

Erika looked me over, then shook her head. “You are in more danger than any of us. You can’t even control your powers properly, how are you supposed to defend youself from a murder? Take my advice and keep your head low while you train”

“Okay” I lied. Erika eyed me again, unconvinced, but still she continued with the lesson.

Erika takes me down to the 13th floor, which is a giant garden. The walls here aren't glass, but mirrors, making the garden seem endless. There are areas where vegetables and herbs are grown in rows, and even a section of fruit trees standing in line like a mini orchard, but the rest of the garden is an overgrown mess. Erika leads me towards a giant willow tree beside a small lake, and we sit down to eat our lunch.

Earlier today I decided that I would investigate Shira. A big part of me didn’t believe she could be the murderer. She just seemed too innocent, too carefree, but my life had taught me that you never knew just what people could be capable of. I wondered, not for the first time, if you could read it on my face how many people I had killed, or if I still had some of my innocence left.

“Can I ask you something?” I started out.

“Of course.” Erika said, looking out at the lake. There must be some sort of artificial light source hidden over us, because in that fleeting moment it looked like Erika was sitting underneath the sun, her hair ablaze in the spots where the light shone through the leaves over us.

“What does ‘transformation’ mean? I saw it on Shira’s page in that book”

“Oh, it's her powers,” Erika explained, turning towards me. I wish she would have kept looking out at the lake, because with her eyes on me I felt exposed, like she could read all my secrets. She properly could. “She has the ability to transform one thing into another. Like, wood into stone or lead into gold.”

I thought about Shira and her gold jewelry. It must be real gold she wore, real gold made by herself. I recalled Erika telling me about Javier’s death. His heart had grown bigger, until it couldn’t fit inside his chest. Shira was familiar with manipulating objects. It wouldn't be out of her capabilities to ruin organs. The mental image of Shira stabbing another person and making his heart grow felt wrong. Still it did not feel impossible.

“Was her and Javier friends?” I asked Erika.

“Kinda,” Erika answered. “They weren't anything special. Javier spent most of his time hanging with Zeph or Aiden, and Shira was mostly found down in the workshops with Adi. But that didn't mean they werent friends, ya know. Everyone here are friends”

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Everyone here were friends” Erika reiterated. “Believe it or not, we didn't used to be this messy. We used to be friends. We had movie nights and we went clubbing each friday. Of course none of us are in the mood for those things since they died.”

“Do you think Shira could have done it?” I asked, the words out of my mouth before my brain caught up.

Erika laughed, shortly. “No, have you met her? Shira couldn't even hurt a fly, as if she would even stand a chance against Miriam.”

“Was Miriam strong?”

“The strongest” Erika sighed. “She was old, very old.”

“But Javier? Could she have done that?”

“I don't see why you are interested”

“Precautions” I said, simply.

Erika looked at me then, and I wished that I had never asked her anything. She looked right through me and it made my soul shake. “Don't try to play detective, Camilla.”

I left with the sound of my own name ringing from her lips.