Shattered ✓ (BxB)

Three: Obsidian

    I lay on my bed now, just staring up at the ceiling. I bite my tongue. Am I a failure?, I question myself.

I shake my head. "No. I can't be." I just can't.

My golden eyes are wide. And out of the blue, I shutter.

I sit up abruptly. And stalk toward the bookshelf.

Here I have a old history book. Well it's not that old it's only from 2997 -- three years ago.

I skim through the pages. I stop on one. It reads 'the homosexuals would use pride parades to help not forget their past'. I read on. So, I'm not ill?, I ask, with wide eyes.

─┉─¡! • !¡─┉─

It's test day. I'm shaking as I write down my answers.

One question asks, 'do you find yourself attracted to people of the same gender'.

I lie and answer no.

─┉─¡! • !¡─┉─

Finally the day has come -- ceremony day.

I'm extremely nervous. I get up bright and early to change, shower, and then eat.

Once I sit down at the table, Sam is smiling at me.

"Are you excited for this?" Sam asks.

I shrug and lie, "Yeah."

Sam looks me right in the eyes, "Remember, don't mention the phase."

"Yeah. I won't mention the phase," I say, half tempted to roll my eyes.

And once we head out to leave, Olislavia calls out to me, "I hope you get everything you want."

"Me too." I say.

─┉─¡! • !¡─┉─

My family takes a seat in the crowd and smile to me and Sam.

Sam and I sit down in the chairs.

"Before we start the ceremony, we must pray to our savior…."

After the prayer, everyone said, "Amen."

I didn't bother to say that.

The announcer smiles to everyone. "Now let us begin." She squints at the piece of parchment with everyone's names. "Akthinsky, Josef."

A boy steps forward to receive his information.

Time is flying by, fast.

"Greene, Izak."

A boy with dark skin approaches them with shaking hands.

In a matter of time we hear, "Song, Leopold?"

An Asian boy stepped forward and received his information.

"Viktorovskaya, Ivana," the announcer calls.

A girl, who doesn't have the normal hair cut for females, steps forward. Ivana has short hair and is wearing a huge hoodie.

The announcer seems almost weary of her.

"Vladimirov..." The announcer trails off a little. She almost seems to add an 'a' at the very end, making it almost seem like 'Vladimirova'. She blinks a couple of times in complete and utter confusion. Finally, she says the first name, "Gabriel?"

A boy with dark brown hair and purple eyes steps onto the stage. He's wearing a bulky jacket as if he's trying to hide something from the crowd. His face is a little bit femininely shaped for a boy.

Not bad, I think to myself.

"All though you have no spouse yet picked, your job will be decided on your behavior in the next few days."

There was a small amount of gasps from the crowd. No decided spouse or job by the time of the ceremony marked that kid as a troubled child. Trouble children were more often than not, locked away and detained by Daskanalasć's government.

But now that I think about it, Gabriel didn't say amen either. Strange, I think.

"Volkov, Anastasia."

This one I don't pay attention. I'm far too busy shaking. Come on you can do this. My hands are sweating.

"Yakivev, Obsidian," I step toward the stage.

That girl, Anastasia, looks upset. She looks right at me.

My heart rate is elevated.

The woman on the stage smiles at me. "Do you swear to our lord and savior that you will stick to the rules of Daskanalasć?"

"Yeah," I nod.

"Then say it."

"Say what?" I'm confused.

"Say 'I swear to our savior to uphold the way of god at uttermost importance." The woman clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

"I swear to our savior to uphold the way of god at uttermost importance." Those words sting my tongue--they're like acid to me. I wouldn't be surprised if my tongue was scarred, burned, and bleeding by the time the ceremony was over.

"Good." A smile. "Now, Obsidian, your job will be for you to be a guard for the Tsar!"

There is cheering in the crowd. They seem to be happy for me... Though, I'm not very happy about it.

The woman continues, "And your spouse will be...Anastasia Volkov!"

I look right over at the girl with blue hair--and in unison we mouth, "I'm so fucked."