Chapter One:
Confidential (Ha! Not anymore…)
Student Profile
Property of Sentra Dome Academy
Exclusive Quality School for Shadows
Year Filled: 2008
Name: Ariana Geramayne Deronada, Princess
Special Abilities: Pending
Birthday: December 7, 1993
Class: Grade 6
Class Rank: 1
Biological Parents:
---Domovoi Philip Deronada---
---Elizabeth Athena Deronada---
Biological Siblings:
---Alessandra Garnette Deronada
---Caesar Deronada---
< Sentra Dome Student, Co-captain of Soccer Team and Co-Captain of Baseball Team… see student profile “Caesar Deronada” for more information>
---Ramon Deronada---
< Sentra Dome Student, Co-captain of Soccer Team and Co-Captain of Baseball Team… see student profile “Caesar Deronada” for more information>
Educational Markings:
Healing: No Grade, See Attached Mentor’s Report
Warrior Abilities/History: 100
Mind Abilities
---Predicting: 99
---Mind Image-Reading: 99
Physical Education
---Flying: 99
---Balancing
…on Water: 95
…on Skies: 95
---Sports
… Flying: 99
...Basketball: 99
...Baseball: 99
...Football: 99
...Soccer: 99
...Tennis: 99
…Running: 99
...Swimming
---Underwater Breathing: 99
--- Strokes: 97
--- Speed: 100
---Transportation: 100
---Dueling: (Slashed out of the Curriculum)
...Sticks: 100(Slashed out of the Curriculum)
…Manual: 100 (Slashed out of the Curriculum)
…Swords: 100 (Slashed out of the Curriculum)
Music: 100
Arts: 94
Invisibility: 100
Object-Manipulation
---Floating: 99
---Disappearing: 99
---Shrinking: 99
---Expansion: 99
---Coloring: 99
Force fields and Defense: 100
Enchantments & Spell Casting: 100
Element Manipulation
---Fire: 98
---Water: 98
---Earth: 97
---Sun: 99
---Skies: 94
Time: 95
Emotion Control: 90
Invention: 97
Anatomy: 99
Mathematics: 99
Language
---Speech: 100
---Writing: 100
---Reading: 100
Signed by: Anna Theresa Hidalgo, Principal
---This is strictly confidential, for the student’s guardian and the Sentra Dome Academy Staff only---
Confidential? Right. I was sneaky, and often reminded and rewarded myself of that gift through my naughty plans and evil schemes. Earlier today, I sneaked into the File Room of Sentra Dome Academy, spending half an hour copying my grades manually and satisfying my curiosity concerning my grades. I was rewarded as my Class’s Top 1, but also labeled as the “Talent less One” because I didn’t have “Abilities”.
Sure, my grades were tolerably high (except for Healing), but there weren’t any subjects that I showed most potential for. For everyone who knew me, I didn’t have any specialty.
This was a very bad thing when you thought about it, because here, in our world, your Abilities were the basis of your occupation. Your excellence and potential for those Abilities were the basis in which others will judge you, and not your overall presentation.
Intrigued, I checked my Student Profile to see how I scored.
Well…not exactly.
Sure, I was intrigued, but a part of me went through all that trouble and rule-breaking for the thrill. Who knew? If someday, I bragged about my most recent achievement and nobody believed me, I could then have a written proof ---the copy of my Student Profile. No one outside the school except your parents was allowed to see your Student Profile, and the papers were not taken outside of the Office. This was my written proof that I did sneak in the File Room, passing all the cameras and guards UNTRACED.
I smiled my twisted smile as I slipped the paper in my bag and followed Petunia, one of my guards, to the black car that took me home every day.
Tomorrow was the last day of school, and I had more plans up my sleeves. No more studying. That gave me more time and more chances with my naughty plans.
Being wild was in my nature, and even though it was against the name and the responsibilities I carried, being wild was rooted deep inside me already, like it was part of my system.
But before I start talking about my evil plans or my evil schemes that lead me to trouble, let me first introduce myself.
I am Princess Ariana Geramayne, the Princess of the People of the West, called the Shadows. I am the youngest daughter of King Domovoi Deronada and Queen Elizabeth Athena. Who are we? We are Shadows, ruling over peace-loving, skillful, and gifted people, our fellow Shadows. We live by the west side of our world, the Crubete xa Miranha, or when translated into modern language, “Land of Magic”.
In the olden times before the current civilization, our world was at war. The west side fought with the east; the north fought with the south. Our side and our breed were and still are famous for stealth. We were able to see in the dark as good as we saw during the day every first and second week of the month. We were silent, we were swift, and we could easily blend in with the darkness. That was where our name started.
When the war stopped and peace has once again reigned, we, the Shadows, did not mind the other People, as they did not mind us. We got out of each other's ways and lived inside our own boundaries, but the name and the reputation of our excellence in Stealth and in war still lived on, just like the stories and the lessons learned during the war.
When the war stopped, the Warrior Abilities and the Stealth Abilities were not very much sought after anymore, seeing that there was no more war. Because of that, we studied the art of stealth only to preserve our most distinguishing quality and our culture. Most of our time was devoted to expand where our wings would carry us and would perk up our ways of living; we were also specializing in Mathematics, Mind Abilities, Defense, Sports, Force, Animals, Earth Elements, Astronomy, and many more.
My three other siblings have inherited different SA or Special Abilities---Alessandra, the eldest, got my mother's Mind Abilities and my father's Mathematical Abilities. For her Mind Abilities, she could become a Philosopher, Psychic, Soother, Therapist, Doctor, or a Psychologist. For her Mathematical Abilities, she could work in the Economy Department, Business Department, Inventory Department, Philosophy Department, or start an independent business.
Ramon and Caesar, the twins, got my father's Warrior Abilities and Sports Abilities---they could both run on water, fly through self-generated winds, and even transport. Transporting, however, was not very suggested, seeing that it caused internal bleeding and for people to get lost and transported to all the wrong places. With these Abilities, they could become messengers, spies, observers, or athletes.
An Ability that ran through my father‘s blood that sadly, none of us has appeared to have inherited was his Healing Ability. It was not that common anymore because the Healers during the times of the war were persecuted by the enemies because they gave the warriors more chances of getting back on their feet. Since then, only few were left and not everyone was trained. The war left a lot of scars and hatred in them and the only way to release the inner powers of healing, according to the Law of El Curativos, was by having inner peace and abounding love. That would be a problem because the People have lost so much during the war. So like I said, the odds of finding Healers were extremely rare. Even my father wasn’t able to release his Healing Abilities, only his Healing Traits like patience, fortitude, open-mindedness, and tolerance. The only fully effective and living Healer I ever got the chance to speak to was my Healing Sensei, and she was getting older.
I, on the other hand, have fully inherited the WA, or the "Warrior Abilities". Fully inheriting only one Ability was extremely rare, almost impossible. It was a freak of nature, something that others didn’t even consider. My full inheritance of the WA was only my own theory, but I was so sure of it. Nobody would believe me, but the most important part was that I believed in myself. Seeing that there was no war, there was no way for me to show my Warrior Abilities. I felt it , though. It was in me. Unfortunately for me, I was the only one who felt that talent. I was, therefore, often called "the talent less one" by everyone who has heard about me. And because I was the youngest of the ROYAL family, I was heard of by everyone. Sigh. Talent less .My deepest and darkest secret was that most of the time, when I saw my other siblings and saw how others, especially my mentors and my People referred to me as "the talent less one " behind my backs, I found myself wishing for a war so that I may become, for the first time, the hero. The hope. I never felt that, but I want to feel and kiss that uplifting glory everyone else seemed to be savoring. I wanted that...I NEEDED that. Of course, I never told anyone. Obviously, only a selfish ruler would wish for something bad for her own people just for her own glory and fame. This was pathetic and mean, I knew. I felt guilty, but what could I do? Deep inside, I knew I was talented ...I knew I could shine, if only I were given a chance. One chance. That was all I was really asking.
The Law of the Guerra stated in the ancient books a lot of facts that made me even more assured that if given the opportunity, I could become a warrior despite my being a female, which was not a widely accepted tradition of being at war. I knew I could become the best warrior when the time comes. I could beat all the odds.
The story that changed me and almost everything I knew of was very much like a horror story, only this time; this story didn’t start with, "It was a dark and stormy night." Only the opposite. This "horror" story took place during summer, when all of us kids came swarming out of the school doors and cherishing the highly anticipated summer break. I was one of those kids. I sprinted towards the isolated area---the lake. My closest friends, Kyra and Jazz, ran with me. I thought that something that set them both apart from people, though the other People may be extremely nice to me, was that Jazz and Kyra understood me, looked at me, and believed in me not as a part of the royal family but as Ariana. As me. Plus, they didn’t believe that my elder siblings were any better than me. Like me, they believed that their talents and abilities were distributed differently than mine, but they believed that I was just as good.
We set our bags on the roots of the apple tree, and just like that, we were swimming on the lake. It was stunning there; it was so rustic, so unrefined. That place implied tranquility and privacy, and no one was nearby to jeer at me. I was away from those scrutinizing eyes…
Or at least I wanted to think. I was never allowed to go ANYWHERE without “bodyguards”. My father insisted that I never leave the castle (also overly protected and monitored by robot-like guards) unless I was accompanied by at least 3 guards.
Even when I was 3, I knew that this was wrong. I used to lie down on the carpet inside my father’s workroom, screaming on top of my lungs that I didn’t want guards following me around. I didn’t want anyone to see me with guards. Eventually, my father agreed to order my guards to not be too obvious. “Don’t frequently remind her that she has guards. Stay with her, but be subtle. Hide. Don’t let her peers see you following her”, he said.
Since then, my guards have just been in the corners, following me, but barely anyone but I and they noticed. Stealth set us apart. Stealth fell under Warrior Abilities. I was good at that, too.
Jazz, Kyra, and I started drying ourselves and eating snacks.
“Next year’s gone be different.” Kyra said.
“How could you say that?” I asked, thinking that the only thing that could ever make my life different for the better was a war. And if life was going to get worse, somebody please shoot me.
“We’re going to be high school students, silly!” she squeaked. Kyra was the oddball. She was eccentric and always had energy. ALWAYS.
I rolled my eyes. “Is that going to make such a big difference?”
“Oh, yes it would.” she said in a mystical voice, her mind wandering somewhere very far away.
“I highly doubt that.”
Jazz laughed. “Oh, I don’t know, Ariana. High school is going to be fun. It’s so promising--- more activities, more opportunities,” She was the insightful one and balanced Kyra out. Being perceptive, she saw these things, of course. More activities, more opportunities. She was always so careful and thoughtful.
More opportunities for my siblings to shine and me to live up my name as the Shadow. Perfect, perfect. “Ugh.”
“Cheer up, Ariana. You have us. Don’t mind how others compare you to your siblings. They don’t know you. ”, Kyra said earnestly, her head bobbing up and down, her eyes still wide with excitement for I-don’t-know-what.
I smiled. “Thanks.” My two best friends often reminded me of those words, and that constantly gave me my sanity.
Jazz was about to say something when suddenly a 6 footer, shaven, man tapped my shoulder and said, “Princesa, we have to go.”
It was one of the guards. His name was Razzi, and he was the head of my guards. He was the one I was fond of the most.
“Why?” I asked. “It’s not even dark. It’s not yet time for my curfew, isn’t it? ”
“No, safety as usual. Something came up. We have to get you back to the castle.”
I raised my eyebrow. “And them?” I asked, nodding towards the direction of Jazz and Kyra.
“Already taken care of. Guards are following them. No need to fret… ”
Silence. I considered what he said.
“And no need to argue, Ariana.” He continued knowingly, his eyes boring into my expression.
I smirked sheepishly. “Okay, okay. Coming. Bye, Jazz. Kyra, bye. ”
He read right through me. He always did.
They nodded, and I, with guards surrounding me that I could no longer see where we were going, headed towards the black car waiting for me.
“As fast as you can to the castle, Divo.” Razzi ordered the driver.
We passed by the green pastures, my school, the wooden houses, then the cemented houses, the fields, and the children playing. We were driving too fast that they all looked like colorful, tiny, moving, dots.
“What’s going on?”
Razzi simply looked at me and jerked his head. “We are nearly there already, Ariana. Your father wants to see you. ”
“Is there a problem?”
His voice, which I always remembered and characterized with caution and control, spoke once again. “Yes, you could say that. I’m not authorized to inform you regarding that matter. You know that, Ariana. ”
“Hmm.” It was so hard to persuade guards. They were like robots. Convincing them was unreservedly impossible.
“We’re here,” he said as the car slowed down, the main gate closing behind us as we entered the garden. The car came to a full stop when we finally reached the underground parking. I was only allowed to load and unload the car there, for safety purposes, as usual.
“I’m hungry,” I said, to no one in particular, hoping to let Razzi hear that and for him allow me to eat my meal first. The dinner today was steak, grilled and smothered with mushroom gravy, paired with chunky mashed potatoes. Yum…
“Save your appetite for later. Your father needs to see you now. ”
I scoffed , my mind still on the gravy and the steak. “Fine, fine. You’re so obsessed about my safety. It’ll surprise you one day to find that I have died of ulcer.”
Razzi made these funny sounds with his knuckles. “Not funny, Ariana. Hurry. ”
I shot him with another of my petulant, morose, I’m- not- happy- about- this- face, and went to hurry to my father’s office.
The door was already ajar, my father looking apprehensive as he greeted me.
“Ariana, something came up.”
“Yes, I could see that.”
Silence.
“Still sarcastic, are you, honey?” He took a gulp of iced water.
“Father, I‘m going to shut up. I promise you. For once, you don’t have to worry about my tantrums and me going all hysterical. I’ll behave myself. Just get to the point. ” Steak was still in my mind. Food, oh food. I had a certain passion for food.
His hands were shaking. I had never seen him act that way before. “Ariana, a war has once again begun.”
My jaw fell. I didn’t expect this. This was definitely more important than I thought, more important than steak. “Political war, or...” My voice trailed off meaningfully.
“The war between the four sides of the Miranha, my child.” He paused, waiting to see my reply. If I had tantrums and became hysterical, he’d save the rest of the news for tomorrow, and send me to my room to calm down.
I held myself together. “How?” I managed to mouth. This was the start of something big … something either extremely beneficial, or extremely deadly. This might be my chance. I had to calm my heart down which was too excited.
He started pacing around.
“Okay, then. Let’s see what you know about History. The rest of your siblings have already been already informed. ” He shook his head. He did look stressed. “They seemed to know nothing. Not even the names of the other People. What has your Warrior Abilities Class been teaching you? ”
I smiled. Oh, yeah. Finally, a time for me to prove myself. I sat up straight, excited.
“The People of the East are called?”
“Delestes.”
“And what is the name of their land?”
“Delestia.”
“They are known for?”
“Their brilliance in medicine.” I answered eagerly.
“The People of the North are?”
“Atsileas.”
“Known for?”
“For Philosophy and their significant ideas.”
“They live in?”
“Atsilea.”
“The South?”
“Earthians. They are the best in manipulating Earth Elements. They live in Earthia.”
“Good, good.” He said this not with sarcasm, but surprisingly, he seemed genuinely pleased. This was something new for me, because I barely pleased anyone.
“No one else was able to answer those.”
He was in deep thought, and he suddenly stopped pacing to eye me like he never did before, again, evaluating me, my face, as if trying to read what was on my mind. A humor-filled grin swept across his face. “Of course, now I understand.”
My heart began pumping faster. Could this be what I was waiting for? What was it that he understood? Why I showed no excess talent in my other classes? Could this finally be my chance?
“Understand what?”
“Say, what do you know about your History?”
“Er…. which part of History?”
“Never mind. I figured something out, Ariana.”
“What’s that, father?”
“You don’t show Abilities in other classes, do you?”
I smiled patiently, knowing that the criticisms must have been hard for my father, too. “That’s old news, father.”
“It might be because your Abilities are not put in the classes you are taking.”
I grinned, my eyes a little watery. This was a solemn moment. For me, at least. “That’s what I thought before. I refused to believe I didn’t have Abilities. I’m a Warrior, father. ”
His smile was different this time, as if he, too, was about to cry. As if. “I refused to believe that you didn’t have Abilities, too.”
We were both silent, then he regained his equanimity. He spoke quickly. “Well, back to briefing you, then. The Delestes have recently been attacked by a fatal virus that killed a quarter of their population. Our Scientists and Philosophers are theorizing that they themselves inflicted the problem they are facing right now. They think--- they are not yet sure--- that they might have created this virus when they were trying to make a medicine. ”
“I don’t see how this affects us so much. I mean, I feel bad for them, but it has been ages since we have made any sort of contact or transaction with any of the other People. How does this affect us? ”
“Good question. I’m coming to that.”
“The Atsileas are still ambitious, ruthless, greedy, selfish, and they had an idea. They were already more superior to the Delestes, but they also wanted to be greater than us and the Earthians. So, they colonized the Delestes after fixing the problems with the virus. After they had a war with the Delestes, they took the remaining population as slaves and workers. They also took the Delestes’ land. Now, because of those slaves and extra workers who are not given any salary, their production rate has increased the standard of their lifestyle a little higher. Their Defense and Attack became harder to beat. Now, they dream even higher. They benefited from the Delestes. The Atsileas wanted more. The Atsileas has seen their continuous advancement as an asset, especially at war. They became even more ambitious. The east is now ours, their king thought. We could easily beat the Shadows and the Earthians, now that the force of the Delestes and the Atsileas are considered as one. So now, there is a war between the Earthians against the forcefully combined power of the Atsileas and the Delestes. It has been a year now, and the Earthians are holding up great. They use fire, wind, water, ice, to block away the enemies and to injure them, but the enemies have found ways. They always do. So now their places are violent, and even though it would take much before the Earthians finally loose, their forces are getting weaker. It is only a matter of time before the enemies beat the Earthians. Then, we’ll be next. The odds won’t be good for us. That would then be 3 against 1 when that time comes. So I found a way. We needed to take action right now, while the Earthians are still strong enough. The Atsileas and Delestes are gaining up on the 2 of us, one at a time. One is nothing against the 2, and three is nothing against one, but together, when we, the Shadows and Earthians join forces, we could save each other’s people and put an end to the soon-to-be war before it gets out of our hands. We both benefit. I sent this offer to the king of the Earthians. He was more than happy to sign the contract. It has already been announced to the Earthians, and they took it well. Now, it is time to tell my people of the war we are about to join.”
I was staring at him, open-mouthed the whole time as he spoke. He never paused until he was finally done. He seemed to be fighting the urge to not stop and to brief me as fast as possible.
“I’m sorry. I know you deserve more, but now I have to go. I‘m going to break the news to the head of the Departments and the other leaders. We are going to announce the news to the people on Monday, while everyone is at work, and also on televisions and radios. ”
“That’s alright, father.”
“You may leave now. Razzi’s just waiting outside. ”
“Alright,” I said, getting up from my seat.
As soon as I went to the door, my father spoke once again. “You’ll have to come back so we could run some tests on you. I’m going to get a Philosopher to clarify if you fully inherited Warrior Abilities.”
“Alright.”
“And Ariana?” This time, he was so red and now, and he was really crying. “We estimate after a year, during the start of the next summer break, the war will turn to us. When that time comes, during , like I said, the start of your summer break next year, I’m going to send you away, to a safe place somewhere with the Earthians. They have a safe place for you there. They would protect you and your siblings because that was part of the contract. ”
“What?!” I almost screamed. I gasped, and hurriedly continued, “No, no. Train me. Let me be in charge of the war. I could fight, fight for my people. I could win the battle for you. I’m probably the only one who has inherited Warrior Abilities FULL.” I knew I was about to be sent out again, so I had to do this rapidly.
My father’s voice was still calm, his posture composed, as he spoke once again. “Ariana, you and our people are in jeopardy. Look at what you’re asking of me.
I was about to say something when a sudden knock on the door stopped me. As expected, two guards entered, looking pointedly to my father. They were waiting for his instructions. He cleared his throat and turned to one of the guards.
“Razzi, lead Ariana to her room. I want at least five guards in her room tonight. Stay with her until they arrive. Her usual set of five guards, if you please, Razzi. There are more than enough patrolling around the castle?”
Razzi nodded steadily, as if the answer to this question was immensely obvious. “Naturally,”
My father was satisfied. “Good. Your set of guards has not even once let me down…yet. Report to me as soon as the five guards arrive. ”
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