Immortals Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Soft music filled the spacious room mingling with sweet birdsong. Dawn, a sixteen year old girl sat Indian style on one of the many large cushions scattered on the smooth black wood floor. She smiled as she gazed at the wall sized scene showing her a beautiful range of mountains and trees. The soothing fragrance of herbal tea filled the room. The faint light of morning from the image was the only illumination in the room. Dawn took a sip of her tea, enjoying the stillness of daybreak.
Then, without warning, the tranquility was shattered. Lights flicked on, glaring harshly and rock music blared from a room down the hall, the bass sending vibrations through the apartment. A door slammed and the volume dropped slightly. Dawn sighed and stood up as another girl entered the room, bedraggled and frizzy brown hair hanging down into her face.
“Good morning, Ember,” Dawn’s soft voice was barely audible over the music and she received only a grunt by way of response.
Ember slumped into a chair at a table in the open dining area and buried her face in her folded arms. Dawn crossed to a sleek coffee machine on the counter nearby and began preparing a mug of it as she tried again.
“Did you enjoy yourself last night? I heard from Chris downstairs that his dyad, Jose got into a fight down near one of the Nott recreation centers.” Her dubious tone said exactly what she thought about the “recreation centers.” “Apparently he came home with a severely fractured wrist.”
A trace of a smile appeared on Ember’s face and her blonde friend sighed.
“Please tell me that wasn’t you’re doing.”
The brunette looked up, grinning openly.
“He hit first,” she gestured to the bruise along the underside of her jaw.
“But still,” Dawn murmured, “I feel that I’m partially responsible since I did not instruct you not to fight… Perhaps I should bring him some of my baking later today.”
Ember snorted rudely, “He’d just slam the door in your face and cuss you out. Besides, Nott are supposed to act like this. Remember, we’re all insane!”
She pulled a wild, crazed expression before laughing at Dawn’s surprise.
“Gotcha.”
Dawn looked prim and sighed, “I sometimes wonder how anyone ever expected me to balance you out...You’re just so impulsive!”
Shaking back her tangled hair, Ember stood and walked to the couch, vaulting over the back and crashing on it with the remote. “What’s life without a little adventure? Besides, being impulsive is good, I like being surprised.”
“That’s what worries me…”
Ember chuckled and flicked a switch on the remote, switching the wall-sized image of the mountain to a live broadcast.
“It has been two thousand years since Earth was struck by meteorites, activating the buried warheads that ripped our world apart,” A deep, mournful voice spoke as images flashed by on the screen. Lush fields gave way to barren, scorched wasteland, great cities labeled with strange, foreign words: London, New York, Tokyo; the list seemed endless and each was in a state of horrible decay. Buildings collapsed in on themselves, water flooding the streets, rusted iron support beams clawing the cloud choked sky like emaciated hands.
Ember rolled her eyes and raised the remote to switch the channel, but Dawn quickly cried: “Wait, today is the Celebration of the Medic! We must watch this.”
Groaning, Ember set the remote aside.
“But why? They show this all the time in our history classes, even if you weren’t paying attention you’d know it!
“But everyone will be watching it,” Dawn said. “If the Medic decided to show this today then he must have a reason.”
She walked over and waited for her brunette friend to move before sitting down comfortably against the cushions.
“...believed this was the coming apocalypse, for approximately one third of human-kind was annihilated in the ensuing chaos and famine and then others fell to a parasite spawned from the nuclear waste from the warheads. None seemed safe from this wave of death that threatened to extinguish all human life.”
Images of sick people, covered in blood and diseased, decaying skin, their eyes sunken and blank. Dawn gave a little cry and hid her face, covering her mouth as if she would be sick and even Ember looked a little grey at the sight but looked resolutely ahead of her, facing the screen unflinchingly.
“But when all seemed lost, a hero stepped from the shadows and established order in the midst of chaos.”
A symbol blazed to life on the screen, vivid against a black background. A silver syringe imposed over the blood red image of a rifle, a symbol of the Medic’s triumph over the chaos of war and death.
“He gave no name, but set about his task of healing the sick and tending to those suffering from starvation by creating new systems for food distribution. To the world, he became known simply as “The Medic.”
Dawn clasped her hands rapturously over her heart and sighed admiringly. Ember rolled her eyes, “The man has enough admirers, he doesn’t need another…”
“Eager to put his brilliant mind to even greater use, the remaining political leaders of the world were determined to bring The Medic back to their home countries to restore their lands. Mild debate turned into heated arguments and soon the countries teetered on the brink of war so soon after they had escaped the terror of near annihilation.”
Video clips of a badly mildewed and crumbling courthouse filled with men and women clearly agitated, some gripped knives at their waists others talked animatedly, waving their hands and gesturing wildly to a man in a white coat, his face in shadow. Ember leaned over to Dawn and muttered,
“Twenty bucks says you have that picture as the screensaver on your phone…”
“Shh!”
The voice sounded again, this time a little more hopeful and admiring.
“In order to stop the impending disaster, the Medic proposed a new system of organization. To prevent people from suffering at the hands of evil workers, our savior created the Harmony System. Everyone was to be paired with a their opposite personality in order to create a perfectly balanced society. Two categories, light and dark; Luca and Noxx. The system worked and has been a success for over two thousand years.”
The images of hardened, diseased people faded to show matched men and women talking pleasantly as children played happily below the proudly waving flag bearing the symbol of the Medic. Ruins faded and were replaced with tall, shining buildings surrounded by perfect green fields and beautiful parks. Lower buildings soon were replaced by taller ones, each ring of buildings increasing in height, all climbing to the pinnacle, and awe inspiring tower of gleaming silver emblazoned with the Medic’s symbol on all four sides.
The image was a familiar one. It was the city Ember and Dawn lived in, Khinas, City of the Medic. The capital of the remainder of human civilization.
“Today the world celebrates this hero who has guided us for so many years. May he continue to rule us for many years to come.” Intoned the voice before the screen went blank.
Ember tossed the remote aside and stood up, stretching.
“Boring! Honestly I wouldn’t mind some variety at the very least, not the same thing day after day…”
“You should show more respect,” murmured Dawn as she also stood. “Come, we need to prepare for the ceremony at the city center. Get yourself cleaned up properly, I’ll do your hair once you shower.”
Ember scowled and looked as if she would very much like to refuse, but finally turned away.
“Whatever you say…”
An hour later, an irritable Ember sat on a stool by Dawn’s bed as her dyad sat behind her and brushed out her long hair. Now that it was properly taken care of, her brown hair shone with a red gleam like polished mahogany. With skilled fingers, Dawn braided Ember’s hair slowly.
“Why do you hate the Medic so much?”
Ember gave a derisive laugh,
“Let me think about that...he gives Noxx a curfew every night-”
“Which you always break…”
“He makes it so we’re set apart so we don’t taint your precious Luca innocence-”
“For good reason, the old shows that you watch-”
Ember bit back the correction that rose up inside her, getting to her feet and pulling her braid out of the blonde’s hands, undoing her work.
“Honestly Dawn, I’m sick of being looked down on by all the higher ups. If Noxx are supposed to balance out Luca and vice versa, I don’t see why we aren’t seen as equals!”
But inside, she knew why. Dawn did too as she didn’t meet her eyes. Noxx weren’t meant to balance Luca. Luca were meant to make sure that Noxx didn’t destroy the fragile peace that had been created.
Ember made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat and forced herself to relax, at least outwardly. She shook her head irritably,
“Nevermind. Forget I said anything. You know it’s just the…” She trailed off with a despairing gesture towards her head.
Dawn’s eyes flickered with sympathy as she gently pulled Ember back to the stool and sat her down to restart her braiding.
“I know Ember. It may not be your fault that you were born a Noxx, but you shouldn’t challenge our city leaders. You know that as well as I do. The Medic-”
“Don’t speak of him!” Seethed Ember. “Just because you’re madly in love with that- that tyrant, doesn’t mean I also think he’s perfect! Curse him and his blasted Harmony System!”
Her voice shocked, Dawn cried:
“Don’t you dare speak like that! If you were overheard-” She broke off with a shiver and recited with the reverent tone of a person praying, “Preserve the order, keep the peace; know your Medic never sleeps. Good or evil, light or dark-”
“Stay in line; play your part,” Finished Ember resignedly.
Smiling kindly, Dawn twisted her friend’s hair up into an elegant knot at the back of her head and held it in place with a single pin. Then her eyes lit up with an idea and she reached into the drawer of her nightstand. From a bag of crushed red velvet, Dawn withdrew a comb carved from white ivory and tucked it into the braid. The white was a stark contrast to Ember’s otherwise dark attire.
“There. Now you’re ready to be seen in public.”
Ember looked at her reflection and shrugged. The black silk dress was belted around her waist and fell to her knees. Black leggings clad her legs and black combat boots were laced on her feet. The ivory comb was the sole light colored item on her person. But even so...
“Not terrible I suppose.”
Dawn beamed, knowing that this was Ember’s way of saying how much she really did like how she looked. Always the tough one.
“Let’s go.”
As Dawn got into the glass elevator that would bring them both to street level, Ember paused to give herself one last look in the mirror and smile. Then she dashed to the elevator, leaping inside just a second before the doors shut on their apartment.
1 comments:
This is GREAT! I love the idea of the two opposites balancing out each other... and now I need the rest!! :) Keep writing!!
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