Heaven's Shadow

Chapter 3 | Academy

At the start of September, Remigius's mother and Caius took the AirRail with him to head to the main station in the City—early, around 6 in the morning. The original plan was to ride with the Claritys, but his mother insisted they send him off on his first day at the academy to show the family pride. If his father hadn't been too drunk to get out of bed, the sentiment would have been sweet.

Despite that, Remigius smiled to himself when Caius gaped at the airship floating in the sky. Pointed, white sails embroidered with gold patterns swayed in the wind as ramps extended from the ship's deck. One of the oldest Zenith families, the Estelles, ran the air transportation in the Heavens for centuries. With their air Ivions, they powered the engines of the ship to keep it afloat and gliding through the sky. 

Remigius had dropped his packed bags on the carousel conveyor belt at the airship station. It wasn't too much, only a suitcase and a bag carrying his clothes and a couple of books that would last until winter break. When he finished packing, his room appeared the same, like bones stripped from the inside—unnoticeable unless you take a closer look within the skin. It was a definite contrast to Yun's bare room, deprived of everything, as he insisted that he might want to finish the puzzle collecting dust on the top of his bookshelf at the academy. 

Students his age climbed up the ramps after hugging their loved ones goodbye, while the older students rushed up, greeting their friends who arrived from earlier on their train. The whole station bustled with excited chatter, heartfelt tears, and sparks of Ivions. 

Remigius ignored the pointed looks his mother got from the scars on her face. 

"Look!" Caius tugged on Remigius's school uniform, washed and ironed to perfection, to grab his attention. "It's the aviators."

Zeniths with leather-brown uniforms walked along the quarter deck, watching students enter the lower deck of the ship. Remigius bet that some of them were from the Estelle family.

If Caius had an air Ivion, he had wished to become an aviator or an airship engineer. His brother's dreams were impossible the moment he carried no Ivion, and his illness only obliterated all his hopes to Hell. To cheer him up in their younger years, Remigius lifted Caius on his shadow Ivion and hovered him around their yard to let him play pretend. He stopped once his father caught them and accused him of corrupting his brother with demonic powers. 

"Caius," his mother said as she reined him in before he could go sprinting up the ramps to the ship. "It's time to send your brother off now."

"Oh..."

It was no secret that Remigius knew his brother was upset. When his acceptance letter was announced, celebration and excitement clouded any other emotions from sprouting. A couple of weeks later, Caius sulked and dragged his feet around the house. Remigius mistook his grumpy attitude for the side effects of his medicine, but once they reached the airship station and Caius clung to his arm, he assumed incorrectly. 

Being alone in that house was insufferable. It was better to have someone with you to bear the silence.

"I'll write," Remigius told them, though he tried to direct it more to Caius. "Don't expect a letter this week." He suppressed a wince from the way he phrased it and at the frown on his brother's face. Before he could elaborate that the mailing between the Suburb District and Zenith's Academy was slow, his mother spoke. 

"Study diligently." His mother smiled. Although she was smiling, the words set a heavy burden on his shoulders. 

He nodded and then turned to Caius, who was still pouting. 

"Don't sulk," Remigius whispered to him. He bent down so he could be eye-level with Caius, and he hated to admit that he didn't have to do that much bending. His brother was hitting his growth spurt, something Remigius hadn't quite hit when he was Caius's age. It still didn't stop the urge to ruffle his brother's head.