Chapter 1: The Day Before Everything Changed

I awoke this beautiful, warm summer morning to the sun peering in through the curtains of my window, gently caressing my face with it’s warmth, songbirds twittering a song as sweet as apple crumble on the tree branches right outside my bedroom, and a wet, leathery tongue lathering my face in drool. My auntie Rose’s golden retriever Iisa had decided to be my alarm clock on my day off, her tail wagging like a windmill during a tornado. I guess auntie had to leave early this morning, leaving me to be the one to take Iisa on her morning walk… and probably make breakfast for my four cousins. Oh well, this is how it’s been for a long time.

I eventually decide to gently swat Iisa away from my face, causing her to leap off my bed, so that I can sit up and watch her twirl in a few quick circles before yipping at me to hurry up. Iisa is the only true early riser in this household, the rest of us run on her time most school-less days. I quickly grabbed the hair tie off my nightstand, twisting the longer top half of my hair into an absolutely abhorrent bun. I would have probably sat there for a few more minutes if Iisa’s yipping hadn’t turned to barking. I whiningly shush her as I slide out of my bed, stretching my arms above my head, hearing several uncomfortable pops and cracks. I hum to myself as I remake my bed, contemplating whether or not today would be a binder or bra day. As I was getting dressed, I decided on a binder with a flowy floral shirt, to match the season. Based on the amount of sun coming in from my window, I could tell it would definitely be a hot day, like most days in a Yellow Region. 

After making her royal majesty Iisa wait long enough while I made myself proper to leave the house, I pulled on my sneakers on and grabbed for her leash, clicking the clasp around the link on her pretty pink collar. I’m just glad Iisa acts just as royal as she’s treated, slowly trotting alongside me as we make our way down the street. I love taking Iisa for nightly walks, rather than morning ones because, yeah, this is a great way to wake yourself up before a busy day, but what you do more than anything while out on a morning stroll with your prize pooch is awkwardly nodding and waving at all your neighbours and fellow dog walkers as you moozy on by, just trying to mind your own business. I like some of my neighbours, like Mrs. Wiillowdale, who is always baking fresh goods for her large family, walking past her house is like walking into a cake shop, it smells so sweet and fruity. Or Mr. Juniiper, who’s always sitting on his porch reading the daily news while sipping some peppermint tea. He usually tries to wave at me, but his house is on the left side of the street, so he’s always in my blindspot. He’s starting to realize that I can’t see him and will call out a ‘hello’ but at this point I should also realize he’s always there. 

“Good day Tyler,” I hear him say as the scent of fresh brewed tea hits my nose and the sound of flimsy thin papers being folded up. I turn my head to be able to see him, spotting him sitting in his usual porch rocking chair, his newspaper folded on his lap.

“Morning Mr. Juniiper, anything interesting in the news?” I ask, Iisa taking a seat between my legs. I guessed she realized these conversations with Mr. Juniiper can take a bit, I think she’s just happy to be out of the house. 

“Nothing much exciting today, besides the article about the God Empress’ daughter being old enough to now test for magic tomorrow, it’s all most newspapers have been talking about since her fourteenth birthday… Aren’t you fourteen, Tyler?” 

“I-” I had to pause for a moment to count in my head, my birthday was on the seventeenth of this month, and I was born fifteen years ago, which definitely means I am fourteen, “by the summer breeze, I test tomorrow!” I exclaimed a bit panicked, “I totally forgot, I’ve got to get home and find the raesdios I was gifted last year and-”

“Well, with so much to do, you better get you and little Iisa home, quick quick, hurry along kid, you’ve only got all day.” He said, breaking though my chain of thought with some logic.

“Right, of course! Thanks Mr. Juniiper!” I called before turning on a dime to head quickly back the way I came, hearing a soft ‘anytime’ from him as I did. Iisa seemed more happy than not for me to be speeding down the street as she leaped and bounded beside me, trying to bite at the leash so she could walk me back home. I end up just leaping over the front gate, Iisa doing a little show jump to follow suit, it was much faster then unlatching it and the re-latching it. Auntie Marjorie was upset with me the first time I leaped the gate with Iisa, something along the lines of “why did I pay for a fence to keep Iisa in if you’re just going to teach her she’s able to jump over it”. I’m just lucky Iisa is a good girl, otherwise I’d be the one needing to chase after her every time she used the skill I taught her to escape the yard. I feel like Iisa would use a far more eccentric escape method anyway, it’d be more like her. 

Before I head into the house, I release Iisa from her leash and let her zoom around the yard to get out the energy still there from not entirely finishing her regular morning routine. I hurried  my way up the stairs, skipping steps on the way up before bursting through the door, kicking my shoes into the pile to the side of the door and tossing Iisa’s leash onto the coat rack. I then had to pause, breathe, and then remember I have to wake up and make breakfast for my cousins before I start worrying about other things. I’ve got the whole day, no need to panic and forget my other responsibilities. My raesdios should be in the back of my closet, where I put it, a year ago. It’s not like I’ve worn the traditional outfit only worn on one particular day, once in my life, there’s no need to stress, I know it’s there. After calming myself, I went to go knock on my cousins’ doors. It was a good time for everyone to be awake. 

“Wake-y, wake-y, come guys, the sun is shining, the day has started,” I call as I knock on Mathiieu and Daiisy’s doors before continuing down the hall to go get the youngest, Lavender and Henrii, their twins and only six years old. While Matthiieu and Daiisy,  twelve and eight respectively, can dress themselves. Lavender and Henrii, though, are still trying to figure out how shirt holes work and usually need a little help getting into day time clothes. “Come on sleepy heads, there are so many wonderful ways to spend a day but in bed can’t be one of them.” I chime as I walk into their shared room, finding Lavender struggling to fully pull her blanket to the head of her bed and Henrii dressed rather well on his own. They stare at me with doe-eyed shock as I stand in the doorway to their room. “What’s with you two, up and already dressed, like a pair of bustling field mice ready for the day.” I say with a soft chuckle as I lean against the door frame.

“Ma said we gotta start being more grown up for ourselves,” Henrii said as he pulled at the miss-buttoned straps of his small, black, linen smock dress,

“Yeah, cause Ty’s gonna be goin’ away soon…” Lavender adds as she flattens out her blanket over her bed. I couldn’t stop myself from sighing softly at the situation before kneeling down to fix the buttons of Henrii’s outfit.

“There’s no need to worry, Temporiana isn’t that far away, so if I do get into a magic school, I’ll still be able to visit during the holidays.” I say to comfort them,

“But Ty is special,” Lavender says

“Yeah, Ty is spe-chal,” Henri adds, copying his sister, sort of. 

“Ty’s gonna go to Nobi and they're gonna live far far away,” Lavender continues, a frown across her little mouth,

“Yeah, sure, that might happen, but if I get into Nobilitentia, then my family comes with me, so don’t worry about that, I’m not going to be going anywhere too far.” I say, smiling widely as I watch her expression turn to a giggling smile, Henri stands with a confused look on his face for a moment before joining his sister in smiling. “Now that that’s solved, let's go see what Mathiieu has started for breakfast, shall we?” I add as I get to my feet and then turn to face the door so I can lead them down the hall. 

I could smell the soft fragrance of oil and hear the sizzle of something being fried as I headed towards the kitchen with the kids in tow. I swing the kitchen door open to find Mathiieu making sweet potato pancakes using the leftovers from yesterday's supper. Daiisy stood beside him, meticulously pulling pieces of bacon from each other and putting them up on a tin foil lined baking sheet. Time really has gone by fast over these last couple years. I've been living this life so long that sometimes I start to forget what life was like before the accident. What a terrible thought to think. This isn’t the time for selfish thoughts like those. I get Lavender and Henrii on to the stools that stood around the kitchen island before reaching for one of the multiple aprons that hung from hooks on the wall, looping the top over my shoulders.

“What can I do to help?” I ask as I walk around to the other side of the island, standing beside Matthiieu. 

“I think we can manage,” Mathiieu tells me, not looking up at me from the bowl he was scooping the mix out of to form little potato patties. “I’m making the boxty, Daiisy’s making bacon, the rice cooker is going and I can make eggs fine.” He explained.

“Oh, well, alright,” I said with an awkward chuckle, taking the apron off and hanging it back up, looked like I wasn’t needed here. “I’m just gonna be in my room looking for my raesdios, if anyone needs me,” I say as I back out of the room, shooting unnecessary finger guns into the room before rounding the corner and speeding off to my room. I shut the door, leaning back against it and sliding to the floor. They’re all growing up so fast, soon they won’t need me to be around, but I guess that’s just how life goes. I’ll be testing for magic tomorrow, so I guess it’s actually a good thing that I know they’ll be fine without me, since Auntie Rose and Auntie Marjorie are working a lot of the time. At this point, I’ve probably been forgetting that I test on purpose because I just hate change so much. My life’s already been derailed so much, some consistency would be nice. I’ve just got to think positively about what could happen tomorrow. If I succeed, I’ll learn magic, that’ll be super cool, I’ll have to figure out how to make friends though, I haven’t been so good at that here in Eanium, and if I don’t get magic, I’ll just stay here, continue with normal school, I’ll get a job, start a family or something, life will go on either way I guess. The Selection Ceremony really does bring about a lot of life changing situations for a fourteen year old to face on their own with no real choices in the matter. Everyone from class is probably super excited for tomorrow, for their parents to watch them blossom into someone important, I don’t really get to have that. I love my Aunties and cousins, but it’s not the same as if my parents were there. Auntie Rose likes to tell me that they’re always watching over me, as if that’s supposed to be comforting, at least when they were alive, they couldn’t see every time I messed up or sat around nervously wondering what would become of my life. I know she means well though. 

“Hey, Tyler?” I hear from the other side of the door, it was Mathiieu. I scramble up from the floor and crack the door open to look at him. I was about to ask him what he wanted but before I could he just sort of pushed his way in and walked over to sit on my bed.

“Hi, hello, welcome, make yourself at home,” I say, closing the door before turning around to face him, “what’s up?”

“We need you around,” He answers, straight to the point I guess.

“Ah, thanks? Good to know?” I answer, making him sigh as if I’d just said something stupid. What a bratty tween he’s ending up being.

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“Ma and Marjorie told us all right before your fourteenth birthday that we’d all have to start contributing to this household since you won’t be here after tomorrow. We let you do anything more than walk Iisa and we get a talking to about how “we need to be more self reliant”. Ma thought you’d be happy with less work around here so you could hang out with your friends, which you don’t have.”

“Um, ow,” he wasn’t really wrong though.

“I’m not saying it’s your fault, you’ve basically had to raise us, you didn’t really have the time. They told us not to say anything but with how dreary you’ve been acting while hiding in your room, I couldn’t let you leave thinking that we didn’t need you around, because I know that’s what you’ve been thinking.” He says, staring me uncomfortably in the eyes, well, eye. I couldn’t help but sigh, leaning back against the door,

“I really should stop forgetting you’re an empath,” I said with a soft laugh, “but I don’t get why they’d be so certain I’ll be leaving after tomorrow, there’s like a seventy-five percent chance I won’t even get into a magic school, that’s a pretty high chance I’ll still be here, though it’s not really a bad thing to learn self reliance in the long run.”

“I don’t know, Ma was just very certain that you would be leaving after the Selection Ceremony. Just don’t tell her I told you this and quit acting like we hate you. By the way, breakfast is ready.” he says before pushing himself off my bed. I open the door for him, following him out,

“You do make great boxty,” I say, nudging him in the side as I follow him to the kitchen,

“Thanks, dad taught me well,” he said, returning the nudge to the ribs as we rounded a corner to go stand around the kitchen island to eat breakfast. The eggs were fluffy, the boxty crispy on the outside and sweet and soft on the inside, Daiisy didn’t burn the bacon this time and the rice was perfectly cooked. It was the perfect thing to help restart what began as a hectic morning. 

After the meal was done and the dishes were placed in the sink for Daiisy and Mathiieu to wash, I let Iisa in from the front yard, watching as she trotted in and sat herself by the sink, expecting any of the scraps to go to her royal highness. Daiisy scrapped the remains from Henrii and Lavender’s unfinished scraps into Iisa’s dog bowl before placing the dish on the floor and the plates into the soapy water filled sink. Iisa sighed a thanks and then dug into her food. I helped the twins down from their tall stools and onto the floor before they ran off to the living room to watch some form of educational cartoons about friendship and teamwork. I didn’t really watch those a lot as a kid, Dad watched plenty of poker tournaments while Ma was out of town, he taught me how to play when I was old enough to hold cards. Dad, I, Mathiieu and Uncle Noah used to play a lot during family reunions. Dad never liked crowds like Ma did. 

I wrinkled my nose slightly before stretching my arms above my head. I wonder what I would do today as my possible last day of normalcy. I could… um…  well, I should start by brushing my teeth and washing my face, good hygiene is a good way to make a start to a good day, and so I head off to the bathroom. The bathroom was well kept but also lived in by seven people, so I wouldn’t call it spotless. The floor was cold tiling covered somewhat by a fuzzy blue rug, off to the side, between the toilet and sink counter, sat a little white step stool for the twin’s to reach the sink so they can brush their teeth on their own. There’s a tub by the back wall, a cabinet just beside it stuffed full of mismatched towels of varying levels of friad, a few hooks on the back of the door to hold used towels so they can dry. The sink counter top has the usual things, soap dispenser, tubes of toothpaste, a face cloth, a scattered amount of toothbrushes of varying colours. Mine was the yellow one with a picture of a bumblebee at the bottom. I brush my teeth while staring myself down in the mirror, looking at each of my features, even though I see them every time I look at myself. My fair skin, my freckled face, my bow shaped pink lips with upturned corners, my upturned button nose, my almond shaped eyes, one of which looked pink and fleshy on the inside while the other looked like your run of the mill brown eye. I have long lashes and thick brows, a round face shape with three linear birthmarks running down the left side of my face, running across my missing eye as if it’d been gouged out in a past life, Ma used to tell me that I must have been a firesome warrior before the current life I’m living. I doubt any warrior could have reincarnated into a coward like me, but it’s nice to remember how highly my mother thought of me. I lean down to spit the foam from my mouth into the sink, turning on the tap to rinse it down the drain and clean off my toothbrush. I then straightened myself out, placed my brush back into the cup I pulled it from, then looked back in the mirror out of habit, but… 

 

 I found myself staring into the eye of someone else

 

They looked just like me, but they weren’t me. We had the same hair colour, but theirs was longer and intricately braided with different coloured ribbons and wooden beads. Their shoulders were broad and muscular, while mine are slender and scrawny. We shared the same face shape, the pattern of freckles across their face were indistinguishable from my own, but they looked older, like an adult but also not quite. They had the same markings down their left side, but instead of the marks being like wine stained skin, like my own, they were true battle scars that cut down from their face to their neck. I felt like I knew who she was, or at least that I should. She stared back at me with a kindness I don’t think I’ve seen before but her whole demeanour also held an intimidating strength that made me tremble. I couldn’t look away, I couldn’t break eye contact. I wanted to leave, I wanted to run away, but as the thoughts of panic raced through my mind, she leaned forward and spoke.

“Find the shepherd, save him.” Her voice was soft and melodic, though fear was mangled in with her words. I wanted to respond but as I opened my mouth to do so, the mirror shattered. Silver painted glass fell into the sink and scattered onto the floor. In some of the larger pieces I could still see myself, this time, it really being me who was staring back. I stepped back, my back hitting the wall and I let out a breath as if I’d completely forgotten to breath. I slide down to the floor, my hands running through and pulling at my hair. What in the world just happened? What did I just see? Who was she? Who’s this ‘shepherd’? Why would I have to save him? This day is just getting weird.

As I sat there, trying to calm down and grasp what just happened, I felt something wet dribble down the back of my hand and I looked over to see red. Blood was leaking down from my knuckles where pieces of metallic glass shards stuck out of my skin. Had I broken the mirror? I don’t even remember swinging, I didn’t do anything besides try to respond. I didn’t feel the pain of my fist cracking through glass or anything like that. I’d punched a mirror before, I know the feeling. Well, I can’t have the others thinking that I broke another mirror, so I quickly got to cleaning the glass off the floor and countertop. I picked up the glass with my bare hands, since it would be easier to explain that I, in fact, did not punch the mirror if I bandaged up both my hands. I will probably get yelled at for being dumb enough to pick up glass with my bare hands, but at least I won’t get another self esteem talk from Auntie Marjorie. She really likes to ramble and I didn’t need that after whatever just happened with the mirror lady. I will have to come up with a better lie than ‘the mirror just shattered’ but I’ve got a bit of time before I need a good explanation. I got everything cleaned up,  got myself cleaned up, then silently snuck back to my room before Mathiieu could figure out something was wrong. 

I can’t believe this happened, I can’t believe anything happened, what actually happened? Is the thought of my life changing so drastically messing me up so much that I would hallucinate and then jab a mirror? No, no, I’ve been stressed before, I’ve been far more stressed before and nothing like that has happened. So, okay, it’s not stress, it’s not in my head. Then what? What? What? What? What? I asked myself this over and over as I paced around my room, picking up things to put away as I moved. If this wasn’t my imagination, could it be a spirit playing a prank? It has been recorded that spirits are most visible in a reflection. No, I’ve never had the gift for seeing spirits like mystics or temple members, and I’m not an empath like Mathiieu so spirits aren’t attracted to me. Also, spirits don’t look so human, at least they don’t based on depictions in my textbooks. Maybe a soul that didn’t make it to the Spirits’ River? Nah, that wouldn’t account for why she looked just like me, as far as I know, I don’t have any ancestors that were warriors, and if a soul wanted to visit me today of all days, why couldn’t they have been my Ma or Dad, or even Uncle Noah for spirit’s sake? I flopped down onto my bed, my head spinning, wishing I could just restart the day. I curl myself into a ball on top of my sheets, maybe a quick nap will help clear my head.

“Tyler Avery Iino, did you break the bathroom mirror!” I hear as I’m aggressively woken up from my nap to Auntie Marjorie throwing open my bedroom door so quickly that my nicknacks were knocked onto the floor as the door rammed into my dresser. Well, there goes my chances to come up with a good excuse for why the mirror’s broken. I could only sit there stammering before spitting out a meek ‘no’. I then watch her gaze trail from my face down to my bandaged hands, she moved like the wind getting from the door to my bedside, kneeling down and grabbing hold of my hands to look at the bandages, “by the curses of the Conqueror, gods bless this household, what happened this time."

“I don’t know, the mirror just broke,” I responded, making her squeeze my hands,

“Glass does not simply break, Tyler, if you’re having issues, you have to talk about it. Taking your frustrations out by-”

“I didn’t break it!” I snapped at her, pulling my hands away. It’s not really like I could give her a believable answer anyways. What am I supposed to tell her, hey, a weird mirror person that looked just like me but wasn’t me gave me some cryptic message then shattered the mirror. Yeah, that’s totally believable. I watch as she stands, her brows furrowing,

“Don’t you raise your voice with me,” She snapped back, “I get that you’re stressed about the Selection Ceremony and the idea of leaving, but that’s no reason to lie and lash out, and hurt yourself.”

“But I didn’t break it,” I argued, my voice crackling.

“The mirror wasn’t broken this morning when I left and you’re the only one with bloody hands, I’m not trying to make you feel bad about it but you can’t lie like this.”

“I’m not lying!”

“You know what, fine, fine, if that’s how you want to act, you can spend the rest of the night in here and you can eat your dinner in here as well. You can come out when you feel like telling the truth or you can sit on your fibs all the way till the Selection Ceremony tomorrow!” She snapped before leaving and slamming the door behind her. I couldn’t help but grab the nearest stuffed toy to me and hurled it at the door, just for me to watch the door swing back open just as fast as it shut, “oh, so you’re throwing things now? You’re too old for this Tyler, too old! You can sit in here, alone, and think about your actions.” she said before shutting the door again. I rolled my eyes and flopped back on my bed, wanting to scream. I lie, I'm in trouble, I don’t lie, I’m in trouble. There’s no winning when she gets involved, she’s not my mother, she’s barely my actual aunt. She acts like her word is law, at least Auntie Rose listens before immediately jumping to the thought that I’m hurting myself on purpose. Maybe getting out of here wouldn’t be so bad for me.

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