Polarized

Polaris's Final Incarnation

A youthful-looking robed man with wavy silver hair and golden eyes walked into the library. He wore a feathered white-and-gray cloak over his shoulders, and two more feathers stuck out of his hair. "Is anybody here?" He asked. The man then turned his gaze towards the couch in the center of the room, startling at the sight before him. "Lucian?"

"Yes Noi?" Lucian asked between mouthfuls of potato chips. The other spirit lay on his stomach, propping himself with his elbows while his feet swung in the air, sprawled over a book, some tissues, and a storm of snack wrappers. He had a head full of flame-colored hair, a freckled face, a pair of forest-green eyes, and a red cloth tied around his neck, but his most striking aspects were not any of these things, but rather his dragon-like features which distinguished him from normal human beings. In addition to his two wings flopping on the couch, Lucian had a spiny tail and a pair of horns protruding out of his head. One of his horns had a crack through it.

Noi sighed. "Please clean up after yourself. I don't think the humans would want you trashing their library."

Lucian rolled over on his back, his left wing drooping on the floor. He placed his feet on the armrests. "Do I look like I care what some humans think?"

Noi chuckled. "Classic Lucian," he remarked. "Anyway, pick up your garbage. I have something to tell you."

Lucian gathered his stray wrappers along with his empty chip bag and disposed of them after closing his book. He then brushed his crumbs off the couch and plopped himself onto it, landing in a somewhat more sightly position than the one he was in before. "What?"

"It's about the last child," Noi replied. "According to my visions, she should be arriving at Avriya today."

Lucian tilted his head. "She?"

"Yes, she." Noi confirmed. "The last living incarnation of Polaris is a girl."

***

Skye walked into Silver Run's courtyard wearing Newham's school uniform, consisting of a navy-blue blazer, a black tie, and a plaid skirt with dark gray leggings. Ivan wore a similar outfit, but the skirt and leggings were replaced by a pair of pants. "What did you do today?" Ivan asked Skye. "Learned anything cool with your aura?"

"I learned how to breathe!" Skye announced, laughing awkwardly while Ivan gave her a blank stare. "I know, I know, it doesn't sound like much, but according to Hyacinth, controlling your breathing is necessary for controlling your aura."

Ivan facepalmed. "See, this is why the beginner's group sucks. They don't actually teach you anything. It's just breathing exercises, facts, and memorization. All theory and no practice, and the theory part isn't even that interesting."

"Oh." Skye's face fell. "Just as I thought I was being productive."

Ivan sat on the fountain's edge and checked his smartphone. "We have another hour until the ferry leaves for Winterbay. Wanna walk down Main Street?"

"Sure," Skye agreed. "Also, I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere?"

***

Skye and Ivan sat at their table in Cafe Sepia, a cozy place with reddish-brown floors and potted plants by the shop window. Skye was doodling away in her notebook with her earphones plugged in, and Ivan sat with his elbow on the table, his chin resting on his hand. Skye's turkey sandwich, which just got served to her, lay untouched on her plate beside her notebook.

Suddenly a robed stranger approached Skye and Ivan's table, and Skye removed her earphones. The stranger had golden eyes and wavy shoulder-length hair with two feathers sticking out of it. "Excuse me miss," he said to Skye, "may I have your sandwich?"