The Fabulous & The Ancient Artifact

Part 4: Omens

The unknown figure on the other side of the stairs startled the three sitting in hiding, but the adrenaline surge dissipated quickly. The short outline blocking the light flowing in from entrance to the area under the stairs was neither Mr. Mauro, the P.E teacher, nor Mrs. Odete, the school janitor. It was someone Eric, Sofia, and Júlia felt relieved to see. It was only Cauã, holding an old broom in his hand.

"Hmm, isn't he the boy who is always being sent to the principal's office?" Júlia asked in an almost mocking tone, looking at the black boy from head to toe, still holding the piece of parchment.

"Yes, that's Cauã. He's our neighbor." Sofia smiled.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Cauã Travassos!" He bent forward slightly, extending his hand outwards to Júlia. But she looked at his hand, and then she glanced over at the broom, and just gave him a faint smile.

"What are you doing here, Cauã? Shouldn't you be in class?" Eric asked suspiciously.

"Mrs. Conceição kicked me out of the classroom. I had to go see Mr. Nélson."

"Jeez, again?" Eric rolled his eyes.

"Yep! Hey, can I play with you? This game looks pretty cool," Cauã inquired as he walked over to Sofia and propped the broom against the wall.

"No! You're stupid. You can't even read well," Eric snapped harshly.

"I know how to read. It's just sometimes I find it difficult to read certain letters. I just can't focus. I'm hyperactive; I get a little distracted is all."

"A little?" sneered Eric. He turned to Júlia and continued. "Júlia, one time, Cauã was playing street cricket with us on the street where we live. He was the batter, but he couldn't hit a single ball. He got distracted by something around him every single time." Thinking of something else, he quickly continued. "Not to mention the time when he tried to say the name of our street, which is named after Brigadier Luís Antônio, and he said Briga-duís Antonier. That was hilarious."

Eric was laughing at the memory while Júlia was trying to understand what was so funny about that. Sofia saw Cauã's face fall right in front of them. Although they lived on the same street, Eric and Sofia seldom played with Cauã, because he never had any cool toys and could never focus during games with teams. He was usually left on the sidelines to watch while the others played.

"Eriiic, just let him play!" Sofia pleaded.

"I said no," he said flatly.

"Eric," Júlia intervened when she saw just how disappointed Cauã was. "Why don't you give him the reading challenge on the parchment for us to see whether he is able to decipher what's written? If he can do it in less than seven minutes, which was how long it took your sister to do it, then he can play. How about that?"

"Good idea, Júlia!" Eric agreed, trying to get on her good side.

Despite him still feeling embarrassed and a little upset, Eric ended up going along with Júlia's suggestion, while Sofia grinned from ear to ear.

"So here it is, Cauã. Read the welcome parchment from Aca.L.An.Tu.S." He passed the parchment from Júlia over to Cauã.

"Wait, what is Aca.L.An.Tu.S. anyway?" the he interrupted, the off-white parchment contrasting with his dark hands.

"It's the Academy of the Legendary Angels of Tutelage in the Southeast," Eric explained matter-of-factly. "It's a school for tutelary guardians, or guardian angels. That's the place where the annular children go to study when they turn eleven."

"Annular children?" Cauã asked, confused.

"Yes, yes. They are..." Eric began to explain with very little patience.