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Chapter 11: Night dweller

Year 1864

Under the bright golden sunset and the spring breeze, doned in white and gold tunics, children ran everywhere as it was already time to go back home for those who were still too young to live in the Institute. The atmosphere around the magnificent white marble building was calm as always, its main installations surrounded by parks full of trees as green as plants could ever be, with flat marble benches here and there for people to sit and relax.

The Arcane Sun Institute was located in the main island of the southern Sun Archipelago, and served as both a basic school of literature, magic, history and sciences for the young children; and a dedicated magic academy for those over 11 years old. From 15 years old, students were expected to enroll in the advanced levels of the academy and from there on live in the Institute full time up until they turned 18 for the majority who wanted to become sailors or warriors, or until they turned 21 for those few who took on the path of deep magic and decided to become academics. From there on, their paths would depend solely on themselves as they were no longer obligated to study in the school itself.

The coming of age ceremony was the same for everyone regardless of the chosen path. Sorcerers of the Sun were considered of age upon completing the most common advanced education and turning 18 in the same year; and during the ceremony under the early morning sky for the eyes of the public and their families they would receive their clan tattoo, the Sun mark. That year's ceremony had happened the day before, and a certain sorcerer was now lying over one of the park benches without anything else to do, looking up at the gold and orange-tinged clouds while grazing his fingers over the recent red tattoo on his right forearm. His brown eyes were trained to the sky, the light breeze blowing his rufly light brown hair in every direction.

A pair of attentive eyes located the young man lying over the bench, and before he could realize anything unusual or any movement there was a child standing right next to him, staring at him so intently that he felt his skin jump when he noticed. It was almost as if the little girl was seeing something in him that intrigued and bothered her at the same time.

- Oi Timo, don't scare me like that! - he said in exasperation as he sat up in the marble bench, staring down at his little sister dressed in the same thin white tunic he had. She had long and straight brown hair and wore big round glasses with thick lenses, and held her school bag with both her hands. Tomomi was very small for a ten year-old, but her gaze sometimes made him feel like she had an entire universe inside that skin.

- You're just lying there doing nothing, I thought you might be sick.

- Not funny. Shouldn't you be on your way home, missy?

- I would tell you the same, but you're an adult now. Right?

Normally, he would laugh at such statements coming from the little girl... but this... Tomomi's voice felt different this time. He felt something akin to sadness in it. Something similar to when she lost her favorite doll in the sea a few years ago. Before he could say anything though, she spoke again.

- Yamato... Am I going to be alone now?

- What? Timo, just because I'm of age now it doesn't mean I stop being your big brother...

- But in practice it does. - the small girl pulled herself up onto the bench and sat by her older brother's side, looking down at the grass and kicking her feet in the air - You're going to be a lot busier now, you'll be a sailor. You'll travel all the time and see all sorts of places and I'll stay... here.

The utter depression he felt in her words wasn't something that he could say shocked him all that much. It had been a while since he first noticed his little sister didn't exactly fit in with other kids her age. She really did spend a lot of her time with him when she wasn't in school or buried in books about dragons or other creatures inexistent in their blessed sunny lands. But still, it shouldn't be normal for a child to be so depressed.