Prologue Part 1: The Sleep Before The Big Day

Ajax Leonid wakes up at 6am, thirsty for a glass of water. Ajax is lying on his twin size mattress on his back with his head on a slightly flat pillow. He's covered up to his waist by a thick white quilt. He reaches for the bedside table to the left of his bed for his water bottle. He shakes it slightly to loosen the mini bubbles that formed on the inside of the bottle while he was asleep, removes the cap and slowly and comfortably drinks the lukewarm water to parch his thirst. He savours the water flowing down his throat, enjoying the taste.

You really love the taste when you're thirsty huh...

Ajax looks to the right of him and sees his study table with his laptop on it as well as the entrance to his room still closed. Ajax sees the window to his room to the left of him. He sees the light of early day seep in past his blackout curtains. It should be a warm mid-June morning without any clouds or rain; he had checked the weather on his phone before he went to sleep to confirm it and by the looks of the soft yellow light streaming into the room, looks like the forecast was accurate.

It's brighter than he would like however because he has to go back to sleep immediately. Ajax is a normally a young man with medium length black hair parted in the middle and combed cleanly to the sides but at the moment his head is frizzled and messy. His normally clean and dry tan skin is slightly sweaty from the insulation provided by his large blanket... and possibly nerves.

Ajax absolutely has to get a good sleep for today. Ajax is in the 12th grade right now and today is the day of his 2nd semester English test. This is a rare in-class exam compared to normal exams that occur in-between Monday of next week and Monday of the week after, the so-called exam week. During the exam week, students only show up for days where they have an exam, most occurring either at 9am or 2pm with no other classes taking place the rest of the day.

This english class however bucked that tradition and held their exam on a normal school day before exam week. Ajax doesn't really mind this however because if the english exam was during exam week and too close to the dates of his other exams it'd be an even bigger pain for him.

I wonder if that's what the teacher was thinking?

Ajax is a high school student living in the suburbs near the city of New Amsterdam in New Amsterdam state in the Federal States of Great Britannia. He lives in a middle class home with his mother, his younger sister Rita and his best friend Shaula Seikennith who's in the same grade as him. His father was relocated for work temporarily and, in order to keep his job and help support the family, lives in another city for the time being.

Ajax has to get a good mark on this test which counts for 45% of his English grade. He has to keep his 12th grade average above an 87%. If he doesn't do so, he would be dropped from the university he was accepted to just two months ago in April. If he doesn't do so, he won't be able to get the life he wants and he'll disappoint his parents. His parents who love him with all of their heart, his parents who both work hard for his success and the success of his sister, his parents who agreed to help his friend Shaula through a rough time in her life by letting her stay at their home.

Ajax starts to get nervous. If he doesn't do well in this english test, he will face regrets and hardship, he might be dropped from the program and--

Ok, enough of that, back to sleep.

Ajax tries to go back to sleep, worried that he won't have enough sleep to be in peak condition for the test. He tries to go to sleep... he tries to go to sleep... but his anxiety is like a giant blocking his descent down the stairs into slumber.

20 minutes of anxiety pass as Ajax tries to get to sleep. Nothing seems to work. He thinks about Shaula who shares the same English class with him.

I bet she's sleeping like a baby without a care in the world. She's normally perfect academically, I can't even picture her getting below 90%.

*sigh*

Ah! What if I visualize myself doing well on the test? I read somewhere that visualization stuff like that helps!

Ajax calms his nervous mind and tries to picture himself succeeding. He imagines himself sitting next to Shaula in the usual english classroom and writing the test. He imagines the teacher looking at his paper and, after a quick skim of his answers, placing it back on his desk and stamping a red "100%!" on it.

A bit cartoonish but it gets him into the right frame of mind.

After about 2 minutes of continuous visualization, the mental picture gets clear enough and the visualization exercise serves its purpose, effectively calming his nerves. Now Ajax can get to sleep.

Finally, sleep! Let's go, sleep!

In order to hurry the process up, he pictures himself in a fantasy-like scenario. He found this way effective to get his mind into sleep, it was like counting sheep to him. He thinks about what would happen if fantasy beings appeared in real life in his city.

Ajax pictures a subway car with a number of people sitting down and a few people standing holding onto the fixed poles in the train car trying not to fall while the train is in motion. Ajax is also there on the train, standing strong.

He has a scenario he liked to envision for the past few nights to get to sleep. He once again imagines it. This scenario is one where Ajax grows a large pair of wings on the train while it is moving over a bridge and flies out the train doors into the sky. He likes this kind of scenario for the shock on the bystanders on the train. They must be thinking they're seeing a divine being, someone beyond their comprehension; or alternatively, they must be thinking they're seeing a mutant with an ability they don't have. He also enjoys the wings because he can indulge another fantasy. Flying in the sky like a majestic angel or a spirit. A very fantastical scenario indeed.

Ajax pictures himself standing on the subway car and taking off his jacket and backpack in preparation to unleash his wings. He removes his white tank top as well and pictures his fantasy body as if it were chiseled out of marble (Hey, a man can dream, right?). He pictures the violent action of his back sprouting wings: the skin on his back opens up as the wings erupt from them covered in blood, flapping themselves dry and clean when they're exposed to the air. The muscles on his back are at the same time shredded by the escape of his expansive wings and then immediately replaced by new muscles that can perfectly controlling his feathery wings. His back would also heal to incorporate the newly formed wings as well leaving not a cut or scrape. It would appear as if he had always had this perfect pair of feathery wings, as if he was always an angel.

Would it look cooler if the wings were black or white? Red? One pair of wings or two pairs?

Ajax then imagines the looks on the faces of the passengers of the train car, wondering who he is, what he's doing.

Is he a mutant? Is he an angel?

Ajax continues the scenario by picturing the bridge that the train would normally pass over towards the downtown area of New Amsterdam and he imagines wedging the subway doors open while the subway rushes over the bridge.

The passengers would fear that kind of thing, right? They'd think 'Is he an angel. Oh my god, he's opening the door. Is he crazy.... he's... flying...'

Ajax drifts off to sleep fantasizing about nonsense like this with a subtle smile on his face. It will be his last dream while remaining on this world.