Sybil Of Swords

Six swords, three Acquirers, and two days to complete the mission. Seems low odds for success, but we’re professionals. There is no way we’ll fail.

I met Aleck and Katalina when we were entered at five years old to be trained. The Masters ripped us from our families and destroyed anything unique about us. The girls were separated from the boys and we were given drab clothes and matching haircuts. No one slept that night in the uncomfortable canvas cots. The evening was filled with sobs and cries for mothers. I didn’t cry. I knew why I was here, and it wasn’t because of the war. Many of the other kids including Katalina were sent to be trained because their family was in a financial crisis because of losses from the war. But I was sent away because of my sister. My mother had three boys, my brothers, and one girl, my sister. The day the Masters found me sneaking about town trying to earn a bit of money for myself, they brought me to my house and asked my mother if I was her son. I remember the feeling of absolute loathing towards my mother when she shook her head. After that day my life became a nightmare, only this nightmare you can’t wake up from. The only relief I got was when I met Aleck and Katalina, two days after we were taken to the training camp. The Masters grouped us, a mass of filthy children presented before men and women in flowing golden robes, flawless hair, and perfectly done faces. From the scroll clasped in one of their perfectly manicured hands, they read off every name. Each child came up, tear-stained cheeks, puffy red eyes. With a steady hand, a Master with dark hair carved a number into the back of each child’s hand. Out of four hundred kids, we were marked as 1, 2, and 3.

***

Six years of training amount to us going on an impossible job. A week ago Aleck, Nicholas, and I were chosen to do a job. An impossible one at that. Of course, Nicholas would say that it’s no problem, but it is, in fact, a problem. The job we’re supposed to do has been on the to-do list of the Masters for a while now, but every team they send hasn’t returned. We’ve been told the basics in our brief last week. Impossible areas, high security, and the small chance that the things we need to get are nonexistent. Of course, we haven’t been told yet what we are acquiring. Nicholas is confident we will pull through, unlike so many before us. Aleck is planning ways to get out of doing it, though none of them will succeed. I am… skeptical, or at least observant, as I was when I met the boys.

Numbers 1, 2, and 3. Every group of firsts has received special training so they can go on special missions. As luck may have it we were the firsts of our group, set to graduate in six years. The training was demanding and exhausting, and more than any of us had ever done. When we trained, we trained alone. Away from the prying eyes of the other students. When we ate we were at the mercy of their disapproval, of their whispers and gossip. According to the snippets of conversations I’ve overheard from the older kids and the Masters, I am the first girl to become a first in centuries. The last one to be chosen had been written down in the history books as one of the most powerful, one of the most successful Acquirers in the world. And after she graduated and completed her first real job, she left the camp and lived her own life. That’s my plan. Once we get back from this job, I’m leaving and I’m going to go down in history as the second most powerful Acquirer in the world.

As soon as I turned five I was turned over to the training camp. We needed financial aid after the war that broke our family. My father was the main source of our income and after he died we spent lots of nights hungry. my mother had only her children to support her, and as soon as I was eligible to enter, I did. A quarter of the profits from each of my jobs is sent to my family, and when I was in training a rationed amount of food was sent every month to them. It’s not much, and I still feel like I can hear my little sister crying at night, but it’s the best I can give them. And when I return from this mission they’ll live in comfort for the rest of their lives.

***

Six nights until the job. Though it feels like it will go by much too fast. I try to keep my mind on training, following the Master’s instructions as they prepare me for the worst of conditions. The job is a myth, so many leave awaiting glory and never come back. How do they know it won’t happen to us. They do. The Masters don’t care if we live or die, they just want money. But if anyone ever said that to them… I shudder at the thought. I’ve heard that a lot of the students will leave as soon as they can, but when the time comes I don’t know what I will do. Of course, I don’t want to be at the mercy of the Masters, but they feed us every day, something that might be hard to compete with once you don’t have someone to provide it for you. Of course, I may not be here to enjoy their half fine food for much longer. I just keep thinking there must be a way to get out of it. Katalina just keeps telling me that when you’re picked as a first, you can’t get out of anything. That there aren’t any replacements for us. If one of us dropped dead right now, the other two would have to stay behind and serve as Claimers for the rest of their lives, and I know how much both Katalina and Nicholas need this. Both for glory and their family. I can’t bring them down just for my own gain, it wouldn’t be fair considering everything they’ve done for me. I was picked on during meals, and I didn’t have the strength or the courage to stand up for myself. But they stuck their necks out for me, and I owe them. Nicholas tells me I’m weak, Katalina says I’m stronger than I think, I’m not sure what to believe at this point. All I know is that this mission has never been completed, but that’s only because they never had us.

***

“Swords, Katalina. They want us to get swords.” The look on Katalina’s face hits me like a punch to the stomach.

“You knew? You knew and you didn’t tell us?” Her voice is strained, tears well up in her beautiful hazel eyes. It makes me want to apologize, to get down on my knees and beg forgiveness, but I can’t show any weakness. The Head Master trusted me with this information and even just telling Katalina a slight clue to our mission could be a punishable offense. I shield my face from any emotion.

“The Head Master made me promise not to explain anything to you, so I’d say be glad I told you anything at all.” She looks taken aback, betrayed. But before I can falter and tell her everything she nods her head curtly and walks away, her long dark braid swinging back and forth. I want to reach out and grab her hand, to call her back and apologize. Instead, I turn my back on her and make my way to the barracks. As a first, we are separated from the rest of the students. We have our own dorms, though I share with Aleck. Of course, sleeping with him is much better than what Katalina does. Every night she draws the curtains to her dusty solitary room and every night the doors are peeked through as students watch her sleep and whisper about her. I understand their curiosity, Katalina is the first girl to be chosen as a first in a long time and some say she has a part to play. But Katalina is just Katalina, beautiful, smart, clever Katalina. As I reach the barracks I realize that of course, Aleck has made camp there for the day, attempting to hide from his life. When I step through the door I dodge my head to the side as a knife flies through the air at my head. It lodges itself in the wall.

“Oh, it’s you,” Aleck says with a sigh.

“Who else would it be?” I ask, shrugging off my camp issue coat.

“I don’t know, maybe a Master telling me that we’re leaving for the mission early and Ill have been caught off guard and completely unprepared.” I smile as I unbutton my shirt. Aleck worries too much. Even though no team has ever returned from this job, people have whispered that we are the best team of fists ever in the history of the camp. Of course, it’s just rumored, but I have confidence in us. Katalina doesn’t think that’s enough.

“Don’t worry. I just had a meeting with the Head Master, and we aren’t leaving for another three days.”I slide into my bed and look up at the ceiling, imagining myself drowning in the glory that will be showered on me when I return.

“Nicholas, I’m scared.” Aleck whispers. I look over at him, his hands wring his blankets tightly, his blue eyes shiny with tears.

“We’ll make it back. I promise.” He relaxes his hands a bit. The truth is I’m scared too, but I can’t tell him that.

***

After everything we’ve been through together, Nicholas still keeps secrets from us. He thinks that just because the Head Master favors him he has to be a perfect boy for him, a star student. Before we started going on jobs he was a rule-breaker, he was the boy who snuck extra servings of dessert at dinner. That was the boy I became friends with. Tired and betrayed I walk to my sleeping quarters, where I know I won’t get a lick of sleep. No matter how hard I try, I can’t block out the sound of shuffling feet the constant stream of chatter, whispers, murmurs about me. It’s as if they think I’m not human and that I don’t need to sleep. I wish I could just sleep with the boys. The Masters act as if they’re doing us a favor, that they’re sparing us from the humiliation of seeing each other shirtless. As if I’ve never seen Nico and Aleck without shirts. Half the time in training they’re shirts lie forgotten on the ground. Besides a bit of humiliation is a small price to pay for a good night’s sleep.

Curled up in bed I can hear the people arrive. Unnatural. Unfair. Strange. Mistake. Failure. The hurtful words hit me and sink in. I’ve heard them enough to be immune to their meanings. When I first arrived I would cry my eyes out every night. Tired, unable to sleep, and wishing for home but knowing I couldn’t go back. My mother needs me to do this, all I can hope is that she and my family are doing better than when I left. I only wish I could see them.

Without thinking I get out of bed and slip my feet into my soft leather boots. With quiet movements, I open the door and sneak past the group of people outside. The walk to the boys’ barracks is short, but the night air is cold and by the time I reach their door, I’m shivering. I give a quiet knock, knowing they’ll hear me. A few short moments later Nicholas opens the door. His eyes don’t look tired, but his hair is wild compared to his sleek do he does during the day. I resist the urge to reach up and smooth back his bangs.

“Katalina?” He says putting an arm over his bare chest. “Couldn’t sleep?” I shake my head. He opens the door wider and lets me pass through. Even though he likes to follow the rules, he would never question my decision to come to sleep here. I slip out of my boots and line them up against the wall next to Aleck and Nicholas’. Nicholas rubs the back of his head as he gazes at the two lonely beds, one occupied by a sleeping Aleck.

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” I say already walking to a corner, but Nicholas puts his hands on my shoulder and redirects me to the bed.

“I’ll sleep on the floor, its time you get a good sleep.” Without another word, he curls up on the ground next to the bed. I bury myself in the warm blankets and hand the pillow to Nicholas.

“Good night.” He whispers, and I can almost hear the smile in his voice. I try to focus on the warm bed, the silent night, the peaceful sound of Nicholas’ rhythmic breathing as I fall into a dreamless sleep.

***

When I wake up from the awful dream I was having, I’m surprised to find Katalina sleeping in the bed next to me, Nicholas is sprawled on the floor next to her. As I wonder about this strange situation, Nicholas stands and stretches. He gazes at sleeping Katalina with what I can only describe as longing. Then his face snaps back to its serious state, he looks at me and presses a finger to his lips, silencing the question forming on my tongue. Quietly he slips into his training uniform and gestures for me to do the same.

The air is cold in the early morning as I follow Nicholas to the lake at the center of camp. The lake isn’t big, the deepest it gets is to your chest, but it’s clean and refreshing in the summer. It’s too bad I won’t be around for another summer. We sit down on a log and look out at the still water. Our breath turns to fog in the chilly air.

“Katalina couldn’t sleep last night, could she?” I say, not looking at Nicholas.

“No. It seems to be getting harder and harder the closer the mission gets.” He looks down at his hands.

“About the mission…” I start.

“I know what we’re acquiring.” Nicholas cuts me off. I turn to look at him, not sure I heard right.

“What?”

“I know what the mission is.” He bites his lip, looking almost ashamed.

“You do?”

“Yes. The Head Master told me in the meeting I had after you guys left the briefing. They want us to get swords. I don’t know much else but that’s what I can tell you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I just, I didn’t want to get into trouble.” He looks at me, asking for forgiveness. I know it’s hard for him to show weakness when he’s grown up where he had to hide it. I nod.

“It’s okay. Thank you, for the information.” I take a deep breath. “I’m going to get some food.” He nods and looks back out at the lake.

“I’m going to wait for Katalina.” I nod. I know he’s thinking of the job, like all of us. It’s hard knowing there no escaping the inevitable, but also that we have no choice and that we never will as long as we’re here.

***

To Be Continued...