Invitation

I please the man to come in and have a seat. "Do you want a cup of coffee or tea?" I offered the man.

"Just tea, please." The man responded while taking off his robe and hanging it by his right arm. His actions are quite elegant, and I am amazed... Ah right! The tea. I dashed along the corridor to the kitchen and begged Ema to bring our guest a cup of warm tea.

"What? Someone from the academy?" She blurted out and quickly buried her mouth with her hands. She was as taken aback as I was.

I returned to the living room and sat across from the man, who I haven't ask for his name. "So you said you came from the academy, Mr. …?" I asked the man. How can I forget to ask someone's name just because I was taken aback by his remarks? I hope he doesn't think I was rude.

"My name is Asher. I am an instructor at Orion Academy at Velerian, one of the three academies." Said the man, again with noble and elegant remarks.

Ema comes out with a cup of warm tea, places it on the right side of the table, bows in reverence, and walks back. And just as she was about to turn into the corridor, I stopped her and asked her to have a dinner first with Creny. I'm worried the talk with Mr. Asher will take up part of our dinner time, and I can't leave Ema and Creny waiting.

"Um, Mr. Asher, are you sure you're looking for me?" I said. I need to make sure that Mr. Asher is looking for me or not; after all, I only awakened three weeks ago, so how has someone from the academy come looking for me? It's definitely not me that Mr. Asher is looking for, just someone with the same name as me.

"Pretty much. Axel Ellena." With a confident grin, Mr. Asher said. Of course he is… Wait, that's my name, he's looking for me? How come? "I've learned that you awakened three weeks ago. But, according to the reports I've read, your hair is supposed to be raven, not white."

"Ah, about that, I was told there's some sort of side effect from my awakening." I said. But wait, that's not what important right now. "Mr. Asher, how come you are looking for me? I just awakened three weeks ago, and if you do have a report about me, I'm sure you knew that I don't have any combat experience." With an awkward smile and a scratch of the head, I inquired.

About awakening side effects, it happens sometimes. Given the situation in which ordinary humans awakened their special abilities after successfully assimilating with the Ether around them. With that sudden surge of power their bodies bound to be affected. Though the side effects varied from person to person.

"I do have some files, and I am aware of your abilities." Mr. Asher said as he sipped his tea. The steam from the tea cup filled the room. "Could you recounts how your awakening was?"

"About three weeks ago, I happened to hurt my wrist at work. The wound heal normally, or so I thought. Two days later, the wound reopened and bled out golden or something, before hardening. But I could still change its shape at my will. So, I don't know for sure whether it is a hard or fluid object." And when I finished recounting my story, Mr. Asher snickered.

"I see. Just as I thought, you are not aware of Ether's properties. We have numerous theories regarding Ether, but none of them are complete; there are many mysteries surrounding Ether that we have yet to solve. However, according to all of our theories, we can only process Ether outside of our bodies. That means we cannot use Ether to manipulate a body part or something inside our bodies. And what your awakening did was the complete opposite of this theory, where your 'golden blood' is a product of you manipulating the Ether within your body. But, it could also be the true nature of your Ether; we don't know for sure yet."

I've read the 'fundamental Ether Theory' book, but I've never heard of that theory before; is it because it's only the fundamental book? But, anyway, is that a bad thing? Or is it dangerous?

Mr. Asher chuckled, his gaze fixed on my perplexed expression, as if he knew what I was thinking. "Don't worry, As I previously stated, that is as far as we know, which implies that we may not have discovered it yet. But, back to the case, it also means you have something special, a one-of-a-kind ability."

I can't really take in what Mr. Asher have said, it's too sudden for me. "But is that enough to get me to attend the academy?" I inquired. I mean, could I really be the only one to do that? "How can I be that special Mr. Asher, when I'm just a nobody?" With an uneasy chuckle, I said.

"You don't have to be somebody to be special. Even ants can have queen. Everyone have a fair share of opportunities, and this is yours." Mr. Asher answered. He smiles warmly that immediately warming up the entire living room.

Our shadows lengthened as the night creaping, Mr. Asher took his… I'm not sure how many times he sipped his tea, but he seems to like it. And uh, I'm not sure how to react to this anymore. I'd always wanted to be an Inhuman, but that was a long time ago, when I was eight or nine. It comes from my desire to protect Ema and Creny as their big brother, as well as our late mother's frequent requests to me, asking me to always protect my younger siblings ever since she brought home Ema and Creny.

Right, Ema and Creny don't share a blood relations with me, they were adopted by my mother from Temismere, they were victims of war, an orphan. When I was eight, my mother who was back from working as a healer brought Ema along with her. Ema was only seven at the time, and she was always clinging to me when she first came, calling me "Brother" with a blush all over her cheeks — ah, I missed those days. And two years later, just a few months before my mother passed away, she brought Creny home, who was only two years at the time.

"Could you please give me some time to think, Mr. Asher? I think I should discuss this with my siblings." Said I. And I have. I still want to protect them, but at the cost of leaving them?

Mr. Asher simply smiled, stretching his cheeks back and closing his eyes. "Of course, I will, even if you didn't asked." Then he takes one last sip of his tea before putting on his robe from his right arm. "Please give it some thought, Axel. Your siblings, they need someone who could protect them in this uncertain time. I will be waiting for you in the west wing hangar until 08.00 PM." He lowered his head and left.

***

I returned to my seat as soon as I saw Mr. Asher out, thinking back of his remarks. In the midst of my contemplation Ema came, sitting next to me. "You should go," Ema said. "Not for Creny or me. But for you."

For me? Is it truly the right thing to do? I'm not sure. I can only fidget my fingers and stare down so low that I can't even see Ema's face. "It's okay. From now on, you can rely on me. Creny and I will be okay." Ema continued. Her face is warming and reassuring, unlike her usual grumpy face and furrowed brows — I told you, she has a sweet and loving side.

"Is it really okay? How about work? I can't…"

"I found one. You know, you always told me to stay at home and look after Creny, but I just can't. And, since mother passed away, you've always given us everything we need, ignoring your own needs and even overworking yourself. I know you're doing more work at school because Creny has been whining about attending school. And I've told you many times that I can help you with work, but you always stopping me."

Ema's voice pierces through the room, and I can even hear Creny's small footsteps heading towards the living room. I knew how Ema felt from the start; I'm not sure why, but I can't bring myself to rely on her, and maybe that's why she constantly has that grumpy look with furrowed brows, and I hurt her in that way. It's not that I don't want to, but…

"Axel, mother didn't leave us for you to take care of us alone. She wanted for us to rely on each other." Ema's voice back to how it used to, with a reassuring face and a smile. I haven't seen her smile in a long time — except for that times Creny did something 'unusual' that she can't help but blurted out her laugh and smile. "Now, Axel, please don't waste any more opportunities just because of me and Creny, not this one."

Mother? Is it really alright? But… I really want to protect them… "Alright. I won't." I said, making a big decision not just for myself, but also for my siblings.

After that, Ema and I talked about many kinds of tings for the first time in a long time. She told me what kind of work she'll be doing. It turns out that Ema has been accepted as a kitchen assistant at a neighboring stall, which is good because I knew Ema liked to cook looking at how she usually cooked some side dish even if we had the delivered one.

Then Ema revealed that she's planning to move out once I went to the academy, leaving our house, where the three of us grew up with our mother's memories. "I'm going to look for a smaller house with just two rooms for me and Creny; the rent would be much lower than this one." She said.

Midnight swiftly creaping, Ema went back to her room, and I went to my room with Creny, and I was unable to respond to Ema's later remarks.

***

Morning sun rising from the east and slipping through the crack on the window, the light fell down on Ema's face. She sleeps comfortably... But we need to hurry, it's already 07.15 PM. "Ema! Get up! Come on, we need to hurry if we don't want to be late." I said, shaking Ema's foot.

Ema quickly up, she can't even have her arms stretched up, her eyes swollen, trying to look at me with a her head leaning and tilting. "Ah, right, you're going to the academy this morning *yawn*" She said and putting her feet out of the bed.

"Not me. We are going!" I exclaimed. I thought about this all night that I didn't get any sleep. I can't leave my siblings alone in here, can I? If Ema is going to move out, why don't the three of us do the same and have a new start? "Come on, come on! Get yourself ready! We can't be late."

"What?!" Ema cried, puzzled. "We're going? "How about Cren..."

*Bam*

"I'm ready! Let's goo!" Screamed Creny, barging in after he slammed the door. His tiny hand fisting up in the air, looking all tidy with a red bag ready on his back