Dzidzor woke up with nausea and a headache. In fact, saying that she had woken up implied that she had slept; she had not. Bright and she spent the entire year preparing her for her graduation into the 5th level. Although things didn’t go as smoothly as she wanted it to- Caleb tried to get under her skin, Esi wanted to talk to her, the teachers and the general population of Wagadu kept quizzing her on what she did to skip levels that fast and the numerous invitations to join the social circle of the students of Wagadu- things actually went particularly great. Bright was a great and a thorough teacher and she was glad Nkosi had referred him to her. She had been writing this exam every day this week and today being Friday, it was her last paper. She was excited, relieved and mostly scared but right now, all she wanted to do was to get this over with, as this was the last level of formal education and jump straight into what she had been tasked to do.
She looked across her room to the painting she had hung up on the wall, a painting of her hunter. Not a day went by without her thinking about him. It had been about 3 years since she had last seen, touched or even talked to him. Even with modern technology and all, not a single call or a single text. It took her long to accept it and even though it made her very sad she knew that he had abandoned her and done so for good.
It made her think what then was the use of rescuing her? Or the use of taking such good care of her, giving her life meaning and let her develop strong feelings for him only for him to abandon her in the end? Sometimes she wondered if it would’ve been better if he had left her with her family? She shuddered at the thought. She missed him but if his ultimate plan was to save her, show her what love felt like and then leave her, it was much better than the alternate. Besides she had more important things to think about, she had an exam today that would determine if she was worthy of the Level she was in.
She was ready in 30 minutes due to her fashion choice of keeping her hair cropped and putting on the first things she saw in her wardrobe. A simple shirt alongside her everything-matches-with-this black skirt was enough to cover her body to permit her write the exam and back.
Bright was already at the exam center when she arrived and she was 2 hours early. He whisked her away, against her will, to catch breakfast before the exam because “you cannot write a life changing exam on an empty stomach”.
He took her to one of the popular breakfast joints and ordered millet porridge for the two of them with egg sandwiches. She tuned out Bright’s constant drawl about her needing to pick a profession soon as she was soon at the end of the studies. It was impressive how much he believed in her, even she didn’t believe in herself like that. She saw her reflection on the glass table and still couldn’t believe how she had matured and grown so beautiful over the years. She tried not to think about her past so much, but now it seemed to come to her whether she wanted to or not. She would just be tormented by memories of the beating and the raping and the ridicule and scorn to add to the wound and she felt out of touch with things around her. What if she were dreaming? What if she had died and then this was paradise? Or what if she was in a coma and this was a long beautiful dream her mind had manufactured for her?
“Eyy this girl isn’t even listening to me, why am I wasting my time?” She wouldn’t have heard this statement either if he hadn’t pinched her to get her attention.
“Sorry, there is a lot on my mind” She leaned back and stretched.
“No no! The only thing that you should be worried about is this exam. Look you have to kill it and then you need to choose a really prestigious career path out of this…”
“it’s like you want me to tune you out”
“Dzidzor,” he said drawing his chair closer to her “the last time anyone chose all the electives to study was one hundred and fifty years ago. Just think about the significance of this. Not even Nkosi did all the electives, he just chose two!” he held her hand and she admired his passion, she wished she could be as excited about her whole life the way he was “Dzidzor, you are going to be a star. No, it’s already happening, you’re already a star!” he pointed all around them to the eyes that were directed at her since she entered.
“I am kind of trying to avoid them…” Bright made a scoffing sound with his lips.
“Not all of them wish your downfall, they actually admire and adore you. Many people want to even be your friend huh?” Dzidzor kept on frowning “I know you don’t trust people but at least try” Dzidzor still looked unwavering “Esi has been asking a lot about you” when Dzidzor frowned even deeper he prodded “Come on forgive her! What did she do, cheat? Lie…”
“She’s not my girlfriend!” Dzidzor all but yelled,
“But you want her to be…” he added smirking.
“I’m not talking about this!” Dzidzor put her hands over her ears and closed her eyes. Bright put her hands down and then yielded in.
Finally, their meal came. Bright waited for the waiter to leave before speaking,
“Heard from Ametor Lisa yet?”
“Nope, he comes when it’s very needed, he’s not one to pay social calls. I suppose I’m doing the right thing right now by learning hard” when she noticed how Bright was staring at her, she asked him what was wrong.
“It’s just that, well, you seem so casual about this. The great Ametor Lisa speaks to you and you are acting like it’s another Wednesday”
“He actually prefers Lisa”
As they were eating, a group of five kids approached them. They looked no older than 15 years of age and looked very nervous the boy who was apparently their leader cleared his throat to get their attention.
“What is your business?” Bright asked.
“We just really want to speak to Matseꬼuadzↄ” Dzidzor cringed at that nickname people had decided to call her, which meant “Impossible” in Èʋegbe. Apparently, she was a folk legend, an impossibility and people used that to inspire others, or prove the power of having the headmaster as your friend.
“She has a paper, maybe later”
“Please, we beg you!” Bright looked warily at Dzidzor.
“One minute”
“Thank you, sir!” They chorused, the leader begun “Why did you choose all the electives, aren’t we expected to just choose one?”
“I like all of them” was the simple answer. Another one swiftly asked.
“What do I have to do to make sure I become impossible like you?”
Dzidzor sighed, these people have no idea what they were talking about. Do they think people just woke up in the morning and then decided to give up everything just to skip levels?
“Just study, what they teach in class, what they teach outside class, even if it’s higher than your level, open it and learn” the answer she gave did not seem to go down well with these students which made her smile a bit.
Many of them were clamoring to ask questions but Bright told them that there was space for only one more. A short stout girl among the group stepped forward.
“After this will you go back to your family to help?” Dzidzor got startled as soon as she heard the word ‘family’. Bright begun to drive them away but Dzidzor had other plans. She grabbed the girl by her arm and latched on. The girl begun to sweat with fear. Everyone knew just how powerful she was, and although most were exaggerated, it was still by large very true. For her to ask Dzidzor about her family was a test of her values because everyone knew how she disowned her family at her inauguration ceremony. Her family never visited her either so it seemed the family was cool with it as well.
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As upset as Dzidzor was, Dzidzor decided to milk some fear out of this girl. Just to teach these people a lesson. She was not a figure head or a figure to emulate. She was not a pawn to be moved about a chessboard or anything. She had been abused and used most of her life and vowed that she would never face such treatment again without a fight.
“What do you mean ‘go back to my family to help’?” the girl squirmed within her grasp but answered.
“From what I’ve heard they have sunk deeper and deeper into sickness, poverty and curses”
“What makes you think I do not know?” Tears begun brimming in her eyes. “It’s always the girls” Dzidzor snarled “Why must it always be the girls?”
“Okay Dzidzor let her go” Bright said with forced cheerfulness, but Dzidzor could tell there was an edge in her voice.
When Dzidzor let her go, the skin where her hand had been was darkened, leaving a black smoking scar, the shape of her handprint. The girl let out a shriek of horror.
“Next time you put down another person deliberately, next time you open your mouth and talk about something that is not your concern, that will spread and your beautifully well-kept skin will be as dark as the dark side of the moon”
She let out a wail and then run away. The other boys just stared at Dzidzor until their leader lead them away from the eatery. Dzidzor let out a sigh and then continued eating.
“Dzidzor that was horrible! That poor girl…” Bright begun.
“I don’t even want to hear it. Did you hear what she said?”
“She was just talking and you… you cursed her”
“Maybe you want some of the curse too” Bright side.
“She wasn’t right, but neither were you. How…”
“Do you all really think I am trying to be right? Or follow some broken moral code you all seem to be clinging to even though it is dirty and tattered in a thousand ways? That girl was horrible, I don’t care if it was ignorance, ignorance kills. Besides, that agreement is easy to counter. I just gave her some very valuable homework. She wants to skip levels, I just helped her to, you’re welcome”
With that Dzidzor left money on the table and then got up from the table leaving Bright alone with his thoughts.
The paper took three hectic hours and Dzidzor came out of the exam room with sweat pits over her pits and back. Dzidzor knew there was foul play- the exam was almost impossible to answer if the only material you read were the ones provided by the school. Luckily, she didn’t and she had a god on her side.
Bright was reclining in one of the waiting rooms within the Red Hut. He was watching a movie on his laptop. As soon as he saw he shot up, his face expectant but when he saw her his expression mellowed.
“They don’t want me to go to level 5” Dzidzor plopped down on the seat next to him. Luckily, the room had an air conditioning unit so she closed her eyes as the cool air evaporated the sweat.
“Relax, relax. What makes you say that?”
“The exam was so hard. The questions aren’t even from the books provided or even any book from the library”
“So, you weren’t able to answer it?”
“Of course, I was,” Dzidzor scoffed “but my main concern is why make it so hard?”
“Going to Level 5 is a big deal, if you had listened to what I was saying all this while, you would know why it was so difficult. I wouldn’t worry much though; you were able to answer the questions”
Dzidzor was inclined to believe Bright, however she somehow knew that things weren’t as clear cut as they seemed.
Wagadu ran such an efficient system that exam results could be accessed a few hours after the paper and so after 2 hours, the financial secretary, Mrs. Boadi approached Dzidzor and Bright that she was being invited to meet the council.
“Meet the council? But why?” Dzidzor tried to get Mrs. Boadi to tell her what she knew but she just repeated the message and then left.
“Okay I believe you now” Bright said already up from his seat “They definitely do not want you to be in Level 5”
The council room was wide and circular, like most of the official rooms in the Red Hut, however it was also transparent. The walls facing outside were made from transparent clear glass giving the room the feel of a software company and not a school for the magically inclined.
The council was seated behind a large brown semi-circled desk with carvings of weird symbols and magical animals. The council consisted of 8 people, 4 people of each sex and each wore identical black robes lined at the extremities with kente cloth with unique symbols embroided in different colors at their left breast. She did not recognize most of the council members, well she didn’t recognize any of them, except Nkosi. Nkosi’s robe had white scales embroided on it, the ancient tool used for measurement, she wondered what that meant. It was then that she realized that Nkosi being part of the council was the only way he would’ve been able to stand up for her and avoided her meeting with them. She also knew that his efforts this time were ignored meaning that there was something she should’ve been very scared about.
There was a lone chair that faced the council and that was the seat she was directed to sit.
“Dzidzor Agbemayor” one of the female council members called. Dzidzor flinched at hearing her full name. It sounded foreign to her, as if it was someone else’s that she was borrowing for a while. Normally, she would ignore the people who called her by that name, however this time was different so she looked up at the woman. She looked to be in her fifties, her hair done in a modest salt and pepper bun and spectacles with modest make up. Her embroidery which was done with red thread was a snake coiled around a staff that she knew to be the international symbol of doctors. The woman kept staring her down, expecting Dzidzor to reply. When she did not the woman cleared her throat continued, “Do you know why you are here?”
Dzidzor turned to look at Nkosi and they locked eyes immediately. She could tell he was willing her to speak to say something, anything. She humored him when she saw the dark circles around his eyes.
“No please”
Finally satisfied, the woman asked another question, “Did you cheat on the exam?”
The question seemed stupid to Dzidzor because even if she had, why would she admit to it? But looking at Nkosi she stated simply “No I didn’t” The council members looked about themselves chuckling and whispering like ladies in a salon.
“Before I continue Miss Agbemayor,” Dzidzor flinched again but the woman continued nonetheless, “Do not think that we are blind to what is going on, especially the events transpiring around you” the woman waited for a while before proceeding “Since you set foot here, we have kept a close eye on you. Ever since you denounced your family and have been skipping Levels despite missing classes. Everything about you is suspicious, everything about you is wrong. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Dzidzor smiled and shrugged. “What exactly do you want me to say? I’m gifted so what, it’s a bad thing?”
“We know you are an initiate young lady” the booming voice of one of the council members said. He looked about 70 and had yellow embroidery of a brain on his robe.
Dzidzor begun to get fed up of these old stick ups “And so? It’s not my fault Ametor Lisa chose me? You’re going to bully me because a god chose me? Seriously?”
“You will respect your elders Miss…” the old man begun but Dzidzor cut him off.
“No. I am not that, I am just Dzidzor, I’ve said this several times”
“Watch your tone!” the red doctor said.
“No, you watch yours!” Dzidzor stood up and the council members began yelling at her simultaneously.
Dzidzor felt her stomach shift and a pressure on her chest and then she begun to smile,
Lisa was coming.
She saw red and instead of fighting it like she always did, she let him through willingly. She felt her hands being lifted and a wind like the one she had never felt before flowed through her hands towards the council members. They yelped and then fell silent, most of them clutching the table and each other. The fear danced in the room like the displaced papers and items that had flown off due to the wind. She wanted to dance with them, but Lisa was not much for dancing. The only one who seemed to have his cool was Nkosi.
“I get tired” Lisa begun through Dzidzor, her voice about two octaves below her normal “of you humans and your irrationality when you attain power. A sliver of power and control gets into your fingers and all you think about is to use it to your own gain.” Lisa led Dzidzor close to the table till she was able to hold it and smelled the fear off the council members “This one was abused mercilessly by the one she called father. Beaten and raped, shunned. And many of you knew him, and her. Lekke,” Lisa gestured to the red doctor “Mawuli,” he gestured to the yellow brain “Gedeon, Kwesi and Edward,” he pointed to the gray Ying and yang, orange star of David and green tree respectively “You all looked on for one of your own to face such pain. Normally I would not care, but her cries touched me the most and let me give you a prophesy on her behalf. Everything you touch will turn to dust; bad luck will be your teacher…”
“Ametor Lisa, I implore you!” Nkosi interrupted, throwing himself to Dzidzor’s feet and kissing it. “I beg you to do these people no harm. Laying a curse on them will only make Dzidzor’s stay uncomfortable, not just in Wagadu but the world. I implore you to spare them!”
There was a moment of silence where Lisa stared deep at Nkosi, a silence only broken intermittently by whimpers and hushed whispers of prayer. Making a decision, Lisa moved his feet from Nkosi’s grasp.
“Very well but do tell them. The day of redemption is coming, may they not be caught wanting. 8 shall stand on that day and judge on behalf of my brothers and sisters. The unworthy shall be destroyed by the sun and moon, thunder and lightning, iron and war. The forests shall turn against them, sacrifices carried and the water shall swallow it in its belly. Love and passion will turn into anger and hate”
And with the ominous message, Lisa withdrew with such a force that Dzidzor fell to the floor shaking and quivering. Nkosi rushed to her and held her up to lead her away.
“What…”
“No don’t talk, let’s go, okay?”
Dzidzor simply nodded and followed him. Looking back at the council members, she saw fear and confusion in their eyes.
No one had to tell her that she was no longer welcome in Wagadu.