The Great

Evay Maver: I woke up in the hospital bed and saw the light shining through the curtains. The day seemed quiet enough, the cool winter light felt gentle on my face. Then I saw my friends, and their faces were mixed with joy, worry, and something in between. I started to stir and Lila grabbed my hand. “Are you finally awake? Evay, are you ok?” Her voice was gentle and calming as always but panic seemed to cut through her words. Aurora looked especially worried as she kept playing with her hair—something she always seemed to do when she was worried. She looked at me with a look I hadn’t ever seen her out on before. She was scared. She finally took a step towards me and sighed. Relief and stress seemed to emit from her body as she sat down in a chair beside my bed. Geon smiled and bonked me on the head. “Well, I guess that’s good. His head is still rock-solid.” I laughed and Lila giggled a little.

“Yeah well, I guess that’s a good thing right?” I looked at the three of them and knew what was happening. They wanted answers. What I did, what I said, what happened, it was all a mystery. Come to think of it….I was a mystery. I hadn’t told them my hometown, my age, my family, my powers, nothing. Then with this stuff happening they needed to know. “Ok. I can’t really explain….much. But, I will tell you guys anything I can.” They looked at me for a second until Lila spoke up.

“Where do you exactly get your powers Evay? I mean, Akasa couldn’t negate them and the sheer power of your attacks in your other form are incredible. Too incredible..since I can use my liquor based abilities to heal people I can see the flow of energy that liquid produces very well…and I can’t see any of it when you do anything.”

I braced myself. “Well….ok. Firstly, my age. I know it’s kind of weird to start with that but I feel like I should start from the top. I’m thirteen, not fifteen,” I think I am at least, “I didn’t want to tell you guys since you know…rough experiences.”

They all listened. Their faces didn’t change, they didn’t look in horror, thankfully, my friends were good listeners.

“I…..I’ve never really known where I come from. My memories are really jumbled…I know I come from the country, I know I have powers, but I can’t really figure out anything for sure. There’s this girl I keep remembering, I have these dreams, sometimes my personalities switch ... .It's all…so messy. I can’t really say for sure…but I have no clue what I can do. I got into this school since I have a really rare blue print. That was what those extra classes were for. I don’t know anything…and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Lila was first to speak. “Well...none of that really matters. It sounds like you may have some form of memory loss…..You’re still sticking with us though…and you’ve never acted extremely weird, so you can trust us. You know that right?” I looked at them and I didn’t really know what to do. I couldn’t tell them everything. It was true, I had some memories from my childhood that I had locked away so long I had almost forgotten them. I had a lot of questions…but I couldn’t tell them about my heritage. I wasn’t ready for that, and they would never accept me. They were good people but this was different. The class system had been around so long that it was basically law. Even good people do bad things when bad things are all they’ve ever known.

One of the council members motioned to my friends at the doorway, “You all need to go back to the campus. We need students to help with some cleaning up. You can stay Maver”. They slowly got up to go. Lila gave me a small smile and walked away, Geon still looked like he was thinking about what I had said, but he gave me a nod and went off. Aurora went to stand up but I saw her wince. She had been covering up a wound on her leg, a nasty red gash that ran along her thigh. The councilmen noticed right away, “Maple, sit down. You’re excused.” He left and we were the only ones in the building.She sat on the stool and looked as calm as ever. Her auburn brown hair soaked in the light and her beautiful eyes set themselves on Evay. She looked a little flustered but seemed more concerned, “You’re okay right? Nothing broken? I think your face is a little pale…you might need some water”. She examined me like a broken chariot and her analytical eyes bore into my body. My face went a little red. She put her hand over my chest and looked like she was feeling for any injuries. She concentrated as she gently moved her hand along my stomach and my arms. I forced myself to not say anything, but it felt like I was going to burn up.

“Well that’s good. Nothing irregular with your breathing, nothing that’s cut.” She noticed me and my flustered face and she immediately pulled her hand back. She looked embarrassed and she quickly played with her hair a bit before looking at her own injuries.

I softened up a bit, “Hey, that looks pretty bad, you should rest. Call a doctor, you need help too”. She nodded but I could tell she had more on her mind.

“Evay ... .I've always trusted you but I need you to tell me more. I want you to be able to trust me…we need to be a team and well….I want to know a little more about you.” She looked at me with her intent eyes. She looked determined and ready. Her hair was a little messy as rough strands and fuzzy chunks came up all over the place, but she still looked really cute.

“Ok…what do you want to know?”.

She began to speak. “You talk a lot when you go into that form—Gold’s Veil? You always say stuff that doesn’t make sense. It’s like you’re a totally different person. Why is that? Who is this Kessler guy you were talking about?”

I looked at her and gave it my best shot. “Kessler…I said his name but I wasn’t thinking. It’s like I was watching myself do things…like someone else was controlling my body. But from what I remember, Kessler was like a little brother, he annoyed me. He wasn’t someone that felt threatening, just troublesome. It’s also weird since I’ve never had a little brother.” Aurora looked like she was in deep thought.

“Why did you say his name?”

“Because—” Something clicked in my head. “He was the one who did it. The one who started to destroy the campus.” Aurora looked a little puzzled but she didn’t look totally skeptical.

“Evay..are you sure? You knew who did this?”

“Well yes, or the other me does.” She once again went into deep thought and then faced me. She looked much more worried, like she was about to tell me when I would die.

“Evay..have you ever heard of the old legends?”

“No..what are they”

“The stories about the Primordial ones, the gods.”

I looked at her like she was crazy, “The what?”

Aurora looked at me and started to explain. “Not gods, not really. They’re called symbols. Beings so powerful that they were here when things began, and will be here when things end. They were rumored to have been created out of the first drops of liquor in existence—the elixir of life.”

“Um…this is really…weird”.

She went on. “These beings were made out of the very liquor that creates all the universe, all existence, all life. The same liquor that manifested itself onto the Earth–the thing that gives us our powers. These symbols represent the very ideals of our human society. These beings were worshiped in the old days as gods, but as people got stronger and stronger, and we began to learn more about ourselves, these beings became more of a myth. But some people still believe. I don’t really, but Kessler reminds me of one of those beings. My father used to read me those stories when I was little and Kessler…sounds familiar.” She looked a little sad when she said father. It made me want to ask her more, but I decided that could come later. She continued, “I remember this story of how he was a younger symbol. He liked to kill things and inflict severe pain and I think he once hunted a man who stole his ancient robes for an entire century…He was the symbol of—“

“Kessler of Ventona, the symbol of vengeance.” As soon as I said it I was surprised. Aurora had the same expression.

“How…how did you know that?”

“I don’t know.”

“And what’s Ventona?”

“I—I think it’s where he comes from. His birthplace”.

She looked confused, “How can a symbol have a birthplace? I mean where are these beings even born? In the hospital? I doubt that.”

The idea seemed funny enough, an all powerful being born on a hospital bed, but I knew that wasn’t true. It was weird, I knew a lot of things but not the reason behind why I knew them. I spoke up, “Symbols are born through time. The ideas and emotions of humans create them, and the more influential and powerful an aspect of humanity is—the more powerful the symbol representing that idea will be.” Aurora looked shocked but seemed to follow. “I think that there are four main symbols, the original beings who have existed from the beginning. The symbol of wealth and power, the symbol of time, the symbol of creation, and….well, I forgot the final one”. That was weird, I really feel like I should remember this one. I continued. “Then some more symbols were born later on. Kessler is a relatively old and powerful symbol—I mean revenge has been around since the beginning, but I think there are older and more powerful symbols.”

“Like what?” Aurora looked intrigued but she was also bleeding really badly. For the first time in a while, I tried to get up. I winced as I felt my strength sap out from my body. Dots danced in my eyes as I almost fell but Aurora caught me in her arms. She looked concerned and gently leaned me against her body. “You shouldn’t try to stand.” Her voice was soft and full of worry, but I persisted.

“You’re going to need help on your leg, and I’m the only one here so…no worries”. I gave her a smile and she reluctantly let me go. Her sweet scent and touch encouraged me as I knelt down and looked at her gash. I had bandaged and treated plenty of my own wounds in the village and as a peasant it was the one useful skill we had—knowing how to treat maimed people with minimal supplies.I grabbed a bandage cloth from the table and went to work. I washed out the cut and put the white bandage cloth on her legs. I wished I had a magic healing leaf like Professor Vylen but those were probably in short supply, and not meant to be used for non-life threatening injuries. I kept wrapping around her legs and tried not to get distracted. Her thighs were quite lean and muscular but also soft and warm to the touch. Her olive skin shown in the light and her athletic body made my mind wander places….That’s really creepy. Stop. I snapped out of it and finished wrapping her legs. She looked slightly more at ease and gingerly touched her wound.

“Thanks, I owe you one. More than one actually.” She laughed softly and stood up. She wobbled a little but I figured she’d be fine. I collapsed into my bed—realizing how much just kneeling had sapped my energy. Aurora looked at me with a caring look. Her lips curved upwards into a gentle arc and her eyes were warm—as warm as a fireplace on a cold winter day.

“You always look out for me so thank you. I’ve never said this but I never really got along with a lot of people. Lila was always the more social one with the friends and the…boys.” She looked a little nervous, which was weird. She was our leader, always so sure of herself, now not so much. “I think you’ve helped me with my problems though..so I owe you my gratitude.” She moved a little closer to me while I was in my bed, completely exhausted. “Tell me about those ideas of yours later. I’ll check back on you. I promise.” She gave me a hug, a long and full one and then let me go. I watched her walk out the hospital doors.

She was the most beautiful girl I ever knew.