Chapter 5

Cleora

11 years ago

Year 1902, Trojan City, Rajir

"They say when people die, they become stars in the skies and watch for their loved ones," a boy sitting on the grass while staring at the skies full of stars, said to his little sister, lying on his lap.

"Cai, Do you think Mama and Papa are watching us?"

He smiled, eyes twinkled by the luminescent lights of heaven above. "Of course, they are."

Cleora turned sideways to hug his knees as she shut her eyes in tears. "I missed them so much. I badly wanted to see them right now. I wish we could fly so we could meet them. "

The wind breezed, a midnight dance to the grass and trees. A silhouette of a bird flew through the moon, making his green eyes widened. "Cleora." Silence emitted after he called her name, watching how the eagle glided at the sky, flying with the stars. "We will meet them. I promise."

And that single promise changed the world.

Since their parents died, they inherited all their properties and the custody advised them to live in their mini mansion in Trojan City, where the news wasn't much spreaded so they could live normal lives.

The sun watched the busy street, filled with market stands everywhere and crowds were passing through in different directions for their morning routines. 

"Huh? Firaja Kingdom lost from Levithia Republic?" The man was surprised upon reading the newspaper.

"No! This can't be! This is fake news! There's no way Firaja would lose to Aruzas like them! I even took a loan just to bet on them! They should've crushed them with their flames and rocks!" Aruza were the people who were born without supernatural abilities called Razua.

"Well, admit it or not, they would be more powerful if only they didn't let go of the Garnaro clan from their country. I think the Levithia would then have no chance against them."

Cleora suddenly stopped upon hearing the conversation of the men in the newspaper stand. noticed her. "What's a matter, Cleora?"

"I wonder what they are talking about."

Her brother smiled. "My eight year old little sister is a curious girl, huh?"

She raised her chin to see him. "Is that a bad thing?"

Cairo giggled as he shook his head. "Rather, it's a sign of intelligence. They say geniuses are born with our father's blood."

"How about mother?"

"Well…" Cairo wasn't sure what to answer. "Their family runs the blood of warriors!"

"But our maids say she's a witch because she came from Malvado blood. I heard it while they were packing their things to leave us." Cleora bowed down to face the ground, tears were starting to form on her eyes. "They told us they would leave so we could preserve our inherited money rather than lose them in paying for their service. I wonder if they're just scared of–"

"Ssh… Those rumors aren't true." Cairo kneeled to level her face and dipped his finger to her mouth. "It's okay to wonder, right? But it's no fun if you focus on negativity." He stood up. "Why don't we just have a quiz bee? If you answered correctly…" his eyes navigated around until he saw the toy stand behind the newspaper stall. "I will buy you a toy!"

"Yey! A toy from big brother Cai!"

"First question, who is the most handsome in the world?"

"It's Cai!"

"How about the most beautiful?"

"Mother!"

"No! It's you!"

"Wow! It's me! I'm the most beautiful!"

"And for the last question…" Cairo guided her to the stand selling stuffed toys. "What toy do you want to have?"

Cleora's eyes sparkled as she scanned through the toys. Until she saw black round plushie with rope and fire on its tail. "I want this, Cairo!"

"So, you want the bomb, kid, huh? That's fifty piloncitos," the vendor said and exchanged Cairo's money. "May I ask, kid? Why did you choose the bomb instead of cute stuffed animal toys here?"

"I wanted to make a huge explosion until we're thrown into the sky and meet Mama and Papa!"

"And you know that won't really work, right?"

"Why not? Papa said there's nothing impossible in this world. And that's how his grandfather invented a mechanical horse."

"A mechanical horse?"

"Yes! A bicycle!"

"Oh! Do you mean you're from the Kright family?"

"Yes! Yes! And Yes!"

While they were talking, Cairo was starring in the newspaper, the highlight picture of the war–a man with a glider flying through the skies, armed with a rifle. The edge of Levithia's soldiers that won the war. 

The wind blew his brown hair on his forehead, revealing his bright green eyes, full of hope and curiosity. "A man could fly like a bird. I never thought it would be possible."

~

"Cai? What are you doing?" Little Cleora asked his brother. He was busy crafting on the table in the dark garage illuminated only by his mere lamp. The metal edges of equipment and scattered scraps gleamed yellow in its light. "It's so late. Let's go to bed already, please."

With a smile on his face, Cairo presented his craft. A miniature wooden cylinder with parchment wings framed by sticks. "Look at this, Cleora." He threw it in the air, gently gliding on the dark with only dim yellow lights, passing through the mountains of its own kind that were defects, until it landed on the floor safely with small wheels. "I've already made countless of it and this prototype has the most precise gliding angle!"

The little girl's jaw dropped, her brown eyes sparkled. "It's like a bird! A wooden bird!" Cleora quickly picked up the craft and flew it in the air again. She jumped many times out of excitement. "It really looks like a bird! You're a genius, Cai! It's amazing!"

Cairo smiled. "Really?" He lent her the newspaper. "I took inspiration from the glide fighters of Levithia I saw in this newspaper. Remember the war we heard about recently?"

"Yes! War! Explosions!"

The flyer miniature fell safely on the floor below Cairo and he picked it up, pinching it in front of his eyes. "Give me a year, Cleora. I'll make something big like this so we can ride together and bring Mama and Papa home."

Since that night, Cairo worked hard to perfect his miniature restlessly everyday. Cleora tried cooking unpeeled vegetables. Sometimes raw, and sometimes burnt. But what makes it consistent was, it was sculpted like the flyer his brother was making, enough to give them appetite and eating satisfaction despite the taste. 

Day after day, Cairo also used to go to the library, learning physics and mechanical engineering. It shouldn't be just gliding. It should flap its wings to fly! But that would be impossible. Then a fan in the library suddenly exploded due to overheating. 

"Hey! Your fan is broken! How could we focus on reading with this heat?" a university clad in black coat complained, stamping the wooden counter.

The librarian replied humbly, "I'm sorry. I already called an electrician but they say they can fix it by tomorrow."

"What? But we have an exam in the university tomorrow! I have to review now!"

Before they knew it, the fan started running again and Cairo was packing his tools to his satchel. "That was easy!"

The wind blew the scattered papers on the vacant seat and the university student quickly ran to collect them. "No! My reviewers!"

Cairo's eyes widened, his brown hair was blown by the wind as well. 

"The electric fan can make the papers fly," he said out of his thoughts.

When he got home, he rushed to the garage, impatiently putting his idea from his mind into reality. He incorporated a blower wheel, fueled by steam engines.

On his first try, his miniature exploded and Cleora filled so much fun on her chest. "A suicide bird bomb!"

Tenth times went the same, exploding after a few seconds to minutes, until gradually, the new problem was the enough force to make it fly. He made a ramp for it, but the body was still heavy to lift.

He remembered the papers blown by the wind in the library: the curves that made it go higher, spirally dancing in the air and gliding slowly before it landed on the floor. With enough width, weight and angle, it should let itself be blown by the wind and carry four people.

He remodeled the craft, turning it to paper based and wooden stick frames. On daylights, he never stopped crafting and testing countless times. And at night times, he wrote all he discovered and illustrated each renovation of the frameworks. 

Meanwhile, Cleora continued cooking different sculpted vegetables like flyers, rifles, bombs, and even trying to make a miniature of their parents one time, which she never tried again because they don't feel like eating their parents. When she's doing nothing, she would try to help, and ended up making bombs.

Until finally, he perfected the miniature. 

"Time to make a big one!"

And so, this is how the two siblings sparked a greatest transformation of the world; enslaved them down to the darkest path of reality.

When they almost crumbled to death by starving, seeking an investor to support their project and then lure themselves into the predator.

-inkofdeath