"Caelum, wake up." A piece of chalk was flying at me. I could have simply dodged it, but that would've drawn attention. I let the chalk hit me in the forehead. My blue hair was tinged white from the chalk hitting me in the forehead, my blue eyes were peeking through my bangs, and I sat up. I got a couple of laughs and a couple of scoffs from my classmates.
My name is Rain, or better known now as Caelum. I was a slave up until I was 8 years old. It's been 2 years since I killed the Victoria family. I did leave one alive, and she's been traveling with me ever since. She was the youngest of the children, she was the same age as me. The reason I left her alive, she wasn't involved with anything the family did. Anytime the family came down to beat the slaves they had in the cellar, she was nowhere to be found. Ever since then, I've been living with the guilt of killing the girl's family. I try to think of it as something along the lines of "I'm a justice fighter, fighting evil with evil", sort of thing. I decided it was probably better to hide my identity just in case any cousins of the Victoria family or bounty hunters are after me. So now I'm just trying to live a normal life in school.
"Caelum?" Sophie, the Victoria girl I'd left alive, spoke up from beside me. She had long blonde hair that went down to the middle of her back. It lined her face perfectly, parted down the middle so you could get a clear view of her dark blue eyes.
"Hmm," I respond simply.
"You just zoned out looking at the board."
"I wasn't zoned out, I was paying attention very intently, just like you should be."
She scoffed and remarked, "Says the guy who was sleeping in class."
The teacher must've heard us because she threw another piece of chalk that landed right on my desk. "Would you guys mind sharing what is so important that you'd talk over me?"
I clapped at how precise the chalk throw was. "Impressive, Miss May. Your chalk throw was so precise."
"Why than-", she started to say thank you but stopped. "Flattery won't get you anywhere, Caelum."
"Right, sorry, Miss May."
She continued teaching. We were learning about sword play, which I was interested in because if bounty hunters or other members of the Victoria family were after me, I'd have to get as strong as possible. That's the reason I was so tired, I was up all night practicing my sword skills.
Eventually, school ended. I was walking towards the training ground when someone called my name out from behind.
"Caelum," The voice was soft. I turned around to see someone I didn't recognize, but she had our school uniform on. When I turned around, she continued, "Are you on your way to the training room?"
"Yeah, I am." She closed her eyes and smiled.
"Why don't we train together?" She was still smiling.
"Well, I don't even know you." She was shocked for a moment.
"Oh my… my apologies, I'm the student council president, the name is Arya Ferth." She had a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes this time. It was practiced; I'd seen this smile many, many times in these past two years.
"And what does the student council president want with someone like me?" I responded. I was ready for anything to happen but not what she said next.
"Your name isn't Caelum, right. I've heard a story about a boy named Rain, who, just like you, has blue hair and blue eyes, and he killed his slave owners. No one knows the reason, but I suspect that boy to be you. I've never met anyone else with such a description other than you."
I wasn't shocked because I was the only one I've ever seen who had blue hair and blue eyes. "I've heard that story too, but it happened in Victoria, that's a long journey even by carriage, I'd say about 2 weeks."
"Yes, but it's been 2 years since it happened, anyone could've made it here from Victoria in that amount of time."
"While I do match the description, the world is big, it could've very easily been someone else."
"That is true, which is why I want to get to know you, and if it were you, find out your motivations for killing the Victoria family. I just want the truth."
I let out a long and deep sigh. I didn't respond, but she continued talking. Most people backed down when I denied it, but Arya was insistent. She was peeling my defenses down layer by layer. It was an unsettling feeling.
"From the story I've heard, he was a kind boy; besides, he was only 8, I don't think he would've known what the word slave meant. There are only two other options." She paused for a couple of seconds before continuing. "He either went mad because he was overworked, or he saw something that made him furious, furious enough to kill an entire family."
"I still don't know why you think it's me, I match the description, but Sophie is the youngest sibling of the Victoria family. Why would she hang around the person that killed her family?" I should've thought about that before saying it. There's one reason why she would hang around me: revenge. She seemed grateful, though, as if she knew what her family was doing and thought it was wrong.
"Revenge," Arya responded exactly how I thought she would. A single simple word.
"Does she seem like that kind of person to you?" I asked her in response. She put her hand on her chin and thought about it.
"I haven't talked to her at all, but now I have reason to." She emphasized the word "now". "Also, even if it is you, I'm not gonna kill you, I'm not related to Victoria's in any way, and I'm not a bounty hunter, so don't worry."
"Alright, are we done here?" I asked. She pondered the question yet again and nodded. I turned around and headed to the training ground as originally planned. As I walked away, I could feel her gaze on my back, like a blade ready to cut my spine. She wasn't done with me, not by a long shot.
Arya Ferth
I watched Caelum walk away. He was calm during the conversation, which was throwing me off. He must've had this happen so many times. When he disappeared around the corner, I turned around and headed back to the student council office. I called Sophie Victoria to the office, and a couple of minutes later she arrived. I wanted to confirm my suspicions about Caelum immediately. The door to the student council office opened, and Sophie walked in.
"You wanted to see me… student council president?" She paused in the middle, not knowing what to call me.
"Yes I did, and please just call me Arya," I said simply. She sat down right across from me, and I cut right to the chase. "So your-"
"If this is about my family, I don't want to talk about it." She cut me off. Her eyes darkened. I guess it won't be that easy. But I pushed harder anyway.
"I just want to know about the boy who did it. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I'm curious." She waited for a little bit, and her lips parted, but no words came out. "Let me put it more simply: is Caelum Rain?" She looked shocked, but she quickly regained her composure and her eyes darkened even more.
"No," she paused for a moment, her voice was sharp, but that pause made me wonder; there was also a flicker in her eyes, was it guilt? "I get he matches the description, but there could be many people in the world who match it as well."
I watched her closely. Why would she feel guilty? If Caelum is Rain, then why is she defending him so adamantly? Did she want her family gone that badly, and for what reason? Were the Victoria's that bad? Is there something the public doesn't know about them?
"If Caelum is, in fact, Rain, I'm not gonna hurt him; in fact, I want to help him. He's having a hard time coming to terms with what he did. I was also a slave in Victoria, although by the time he did what he did, I was already at this academy." She looked at me confused, then she had an understanding smile, as if she knew why I wanted to help.
"Fine, yes, Caelum is Rain, the reason he killed my family was because they would beat and defile any slave that they took inside the house to be a maid or butler. They had them hung up by chains in the cellar. It was horrible, when Rain showed me I puked so much that I was dry heaving, I had nothing left to puke up." She gagged even thinking about it. She was looking down the whole time while speaking, and when she looked up, she asked me something. "Do you maybe have a trash can?" I pulled a trashcan from under my desk and gave it to her. She puked up the lunch she had earlier in the day. I sat there and waited until she was done.
"And he saw all of this at 8 years old?" I asked. I must've had a horrified expression on my face because Sophie spoke up.
"That's the same expression I had at the time, and yes, when he was 8. I feel sorry for Rain, but that's not why I was defending him. I think he did the right thing, killing my family. They were evil, he only did what any person would do, but I hate the fact that he was only 8 and he has to live with that now for the rest of his life. Please, I beg you Arya, help him face his past, help him overcome it, help him take steps forward, help him return to the kind boy he was once, show him that he wasn't wrong." She started crying towards the end.
I smiled at her and with the utmost confidence in my voice I replied. "I will help him." I got up and patted her shoulder. "He won't carry this burden alone anymore." I resolved myself even more. I was going to help Cae- no, Rain overcome his past. I couldn't do it myself though. Sophie has a much bigger role in this than she thinks. She might be able to help him with a simple sentence. "I don't blame you.", is all she has to say. That's something she has to do without outside help. Or maybe she does blame him a little bit which is why she hasn't said it to Rain yet.
"Thank you." She wiped the tears from her eyes and got up.
"One more thing, Sophie. Why don't you tell him that you don't blame him?" I asked in a soft tone.
"I'm not completely sure, I don't blame him. I mean he… killed my family, but he did the right thing, and I know he did so, I don't know why. Maybe I blame him deep down in my heart somewhere." She had a sad smile, and her voice broke a couple of times.
"Why don't you go back to the house? I'll come with you." I smiled.
"I think that's a great idea, and with you there, it'll give me the motivation." Her sad smile turned into a genuine smile, and her eyes lit up.
"Are you free tomorrow?" I asked.
"Tomorrow?" She pondered it, and after a few seconds she answered. "Yeah, I'm free."
"Perfect, I'll see you tomorrow." After that, she made her way out of the student council office. My hunch was right, Rain is disguising himself as Caelum. I will help him overcome this, and maybe after he does, he won't have any qualms about doing it again. After all, my family is still slaves. Rain thinks he can run from this, deny what he's done, but… no slave is truly free until the chains are shattered—not just the ones on our wrists, but the ones wrapped around the world.