The Key

Prelude

My world. Well, our world, actually. It consists of people. Here, people are determined of their life by their personalities. To be exact, your personality determines who you are to be in this world. And I am a Sage.

My type, the Sages, are not likened in our society. We are like a ticking time- bomb. We are a visible threat to the very balance of our society. In order to ensure the public that we are perfectly normal people and not a life- threat, we appointed white as a dress- code colour. I find it comforting and reassuring when I was a twelve- years old but now, it seems the colour highlighted us in a way as a must- avoid kind of people. I feel discomfort and eerie in a way. Ironically for the colour, we are like prisoners, with the colour as our prison. Talking about being detained, we are as of current time, are not allowed to go out late at night due to recent cases where Sages are attacked anonymously and that is really terrifying if one of your classmates happens to be a victim and my heart sinks when I visited her yesterday.

If you are in a wonder, yes, we are divided in school by our personality. (Yay!) This is done to ensure that the classmates will be more comfortable with one another. Yes, more comfortable but it does not ensure complete comfort as even if you have the same type of personality, our sub-personality will not be similar even.

The most grueling part in school life is our final year examination. Basically, our examination is once in our school life but it is a real pain. During our final year, at the beginning of the semester, we will be sorted into a team. It is not like any ordinary team. Your team will consists of the four different personalities which is basically all the oddest people you've ever imagined. Practically, the team is designed to ensure the dynamic elements in order for the team to function.

To let you know how much our personalities govern our life, our last name represents the personality we are. So my name is Ammara Sage. Sage represents the house I am in; the Seers. So my friends' name and also fellow classmates are Tariq Sage, Amira Sage and others. That's how everyone are recognized here. By their personalities. We are given our last name at the age of 10 through a test. I don't remember the test because the test was done without us even knowing it. The authority determines it so pretty much nobody knows of what the test is about. It's so confidential that not even Zayana Guardian; our President knows of it. The Seers sure are a scary bunch!

In a school, everyone are known by the houses they're in. So every batch has four classes Seers, Emissaries, Shields, and Voyagers. Mainly, Sages are only taught of numbers and only a bit of language elements in our school syllabus. For some reason, they are afraid of the eloquency of words that is a special trait of Sages as it is connected in some way with an old legend. As my family tree is a dynamic one, where all type of Seers are intertwined inside my family, I am exposed to a broader sense of the most elite class in my society. The advantage of this in a way, for me, is having a Highbrow uncle who feels the need for me to be exposed to language when he said that he saw my eyes twinkled excitedly when seeing a book full of sentences at the tender age of four. In a way, he has helped me in language exposure where in every New Year family gathering, he smuggled a few books in every presents that he has given me. I owe him a lot.

I am not a good achiever in school. Overexposure towards numbers seem to be causing me a headache. I need extra classes to catch up with the others. As a Sage, it is important to excel in numerical field but I only managed to be decently doing well in class.

As much as the first test comes as a surprise, suddenly, today, every students are called to the Town Hall for team division rite. It sure helps in a way that I had a proper sleep last night. Now, I don't feel good. That lunch of fried squid isn't helping. "Mom, of all the days, why squid?" I muttered. "Ammara Sage." My name has been announced. I took a card from the machine slot. I go to the front table and muttered "47". "Room 439, right that way, you go straight and turn left at the hallway, dear," said the staff warmly. Warmth is not what I need right now. Can I go to the ladies for a while? I don't feel good. Urgh. I put whatever strength that I have to my feet and start to drag my body to the direction of the said room. My walk takes a long time. The hallway sure is a long way to go. By the time my mind starts to wander around, I have only reached Room 400. And then my mind suddenly goes blank. Pitch black. My body feels numb.

After a few moments, I hear faint whispers. The white light is blinding my eyes. This smell. Come on...not the hospital. Of all days available, this happens today? I feel frustrated and embarrassed at the same time. I might have caused quite a scene. After full consciousness hit me, I see a few familiar faces there...and I saw a glint of an unfamiliar pair of eyes, which turns away as fast as I managed to notice it. Mysterious, in a way. I try to trace the figure of the eyes which is instantly crowded by an overly worried mother, my homeroom teacher, Miss Ayda Sage, the doctor and a few classmates. After an explanation by the doctor, my condition turns out to be a case of random panic attack, which is weird as I am a much composed person with no medical history. Well, I guess I can't blame the squid. Sigh.

"Well, Ammara, as you are unable to attend the rite, I have managed to convince your group mates to come here and introduce themselves to you. They are so cooperative and happily accept my request," beamed Miss Ayda.

"Ammara, my name is Basyira Legate, this is Zayn Herald and this is Tia Magnate," the soft- featured figure said with a shy smile on her face. "Nice to meet all of you," and in a motion, I swiftly gets out of the bed and greets them formally. They seem flustered and shocked by my action considering my petite stature which unbelievably swift enough to pull that stunt. That stunt is normal, for me but a shock to many because the place setting highlighted my capability unnecessarily. But at least, they know how excited I am to be a part of the team.

"We have decided to pick you as our leader then," said Tia. "Wait, what?" I am confused. On what... "Seeing your athletic ability and attitude, you are the right person to lead us," she said, a serious face is masked on her fair face. "As always, your observation is spot- on!" Exclaimed Zayn. This bunch of people...how...repulsive.