“Once upon a time, we were called humans, living far below on the planet's surface, but our greed and hatred got the best of us. Those who survived the wars and pain of that age split into three peoples, changing themselves into something greater to avoid the poison on the surface.

The Basilian, changed to adapt to the earth and went deep down to stay in the old cities. The glaucians took to the sea, living deep under its waves in the water’s that once were deemed undrinkable to our people. And the Icarisians… that's us!” I poke my brother in the cheek and he giggles in response, half asleep from our bedtime story.

I stand up, tucking his wings under the blanket as they poke out at the sides, not fully able to control them yet, and pull it over him, covering him just up to his eyes. “And we will keep going tomorrow when you're not about to pass out”

I hear a groan from under the sheets as he turns and protests sleepily. “But I don’t have class tomorrow… and you need to tell me about the monsters or I won't be able to sleep…”

I sit back down, running my hand over where his stomach is. “There are no monsters in this story Swift… there is no such thing as monsters…”

He looks away sheepishly, pulling himself deeper into the blankets, knowing I'm not going to like his next words, “Yeah but… dawn-son said there are…”

I sigh and stand up again for the second time, this time as slight anger and disappointment flood through me, dawn-son… why him. “What have I told you about hanging around those adults? Also, dawn-son chose to drink and hang around street corners over education, he wouldn't know his tailfeather from his cro- Ugh just please swift… it’s bad enough he’s trying to wed me.” I strut my way to the door, my claws clanging on the metal, my brother seeming to prefer it that way than to the carpeted floors. From behind I hear a small ‘sorry’ from under the pillows, my hand on the door I turn around briefly, “Sweet winds swift”

I pause briefly until I hear my brother's words, “Sweet winds Gale” I close the door behind me, sighing as I look into the night sky, the sparkles barely visible above us from the lights of the city. A warmth emanates from the engines holding us aloft, while the wind, cold and taunting brings clarity to the mind. Thinking back to the nights I had slept outside just to feel the warmth below us, the feeling of the living city that supports us.

In the distance, a familiar sight arises, off the fly ramp, his legs dangling off the side my grandfather sits and waits, as he always does when something important is coming up. To talk, to reminisce… to ponder on the coming days. I push out my wings, feeling any sores and uncomfortable parts as they gather behind me, trying to get that perfect crack in the bones to fill me with serotonin.

My grandfather's voice flowed with the wind, guiding me rather than telling me what to do, “You shouldn't do that you know, it’s a bad habit, you wouldn't want to become like this old geezer would you?” I scoff and approach, bringing my right-wing into my hands and preening them with my fingers.

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Sitting down I dangle my claws off the edge, the cold of the winds below caressing the squishy parts of my feet as the three front claws on my left clink against the ones on my right. “According to the council becoming you would be seen as a blessing, whereas staying myself would be a crime~”

He huffs and mutters for a second before responding, his talons twitching as he thinks as if they were tapping on the ground. “Yes my child but the council is still set in the old ways… something that in part is my fault… but I am trying to change, for you, and the betterment of our city.” I nod and breathe in the wind, feeling his tension next to me.

I let myself fall backward, catching on my wings, as I lay them out to my sides, wrapping them around my body, the slight pink giving off a shine from the house lighting. “You know… Swift was saying the kids at school are telling him that I can’t be a keeper… A woman and one that doesn't want to get married to a man, how scandalous for our household~”

Grandfather laughs, trying to hide it with a scoff, and then sighs sadly. “My son could have changed their minds… or at least his wife pushing him, but then we wouldn't even be in this mess since you would just be an apprentice and not working the machines all by yourself… ahh I’ve become useless in my old age.” I put my hand on his wing, grizzled and wilting, the edges of them turned grey with time.

My voice breaks, touching the minuscule feathers under my eyes, brushing away the tears that were caught by them. “I miss them… Swift was young when they left… but I see him in their room sometimes… just sitting in there in silence… He doesn't like to talk about them, I worry for him… especially since he keeps hanging around Dawn-son… that spoiled brat of a man-child!”

Grandfather mms in response, nodding his head. “You take after your mother so much Gale… just as Dawn-son takes after his tainted father, bastards beget bastards hah.” I laugh out loud, hearing my voice carry on the wind into the city below. We talk for a time as I watch the lights of the city, our ‘house’ at the highest point. Below us rings upon rings of the city, in the very middle of the city lies the council chambers, with us being at the edge but up high. Same with the houses of the rest of the council.

This city is old, so much breaking down and needing fixing, the people seem to be the most in need of it. With everything going on the city needs so many tiny adjustments from us, the work room of the keeper full of machines that need monitoring, that shows everything about the city. Too high, too low, tilting, too fast or slow, trying to keep the city going. So much time spent on the city, yet so unappreciated. On the council of six but the weakest of voices, each other member of the council being backed by huge families and workers, but the Keepers… it’s a one-woman job, despite being essential.

We end our conversation on the same thing as I utter the words “It’s just tradition… it’s not like theres anyone else for the job?” Grandfather laughs again, this time in a taunting way.

He responds in self hatred, seething with resentment, “They don’t even think it’s much of a job in the first place, despite our line being of the first of the city, we are it’s keepers, it’s guidance, we are the ones who have generation after generation for thousands of years made sure that the city stays exactly where it is in the sky!”

Huffing and puffing I hold him close, the heat of his body causing me worry, his heart already being weak from old age. “I know grandfather… I know… tomorrow we will talk to the council… we will not give up our families right, I will be the Keeper of Icarus six, if its the last thing I do.”