Instinct

Chapter 3 -- Crimson

The rain wouldn't let up the entire time Madi and I walked. Instead it began to intensify with the torrential downpour as we got closer to the seven towers. Almost like a drum roll gaining in speed and aggressiveness for the final conclusion. Or rather the start of a new one. Lightning cracked a flash of roots upon the sky that was soon followed after by a ear-splitting boom of thunder. The gusts of wind whispered into my ears, almost as if the air was trying to talk to me. I could feel my short hair become firmly pushed down by the rain to press against my forehead and the back of my neck.

I looked over to see that my sister was still holding me close, almost forgetting that her tender and warm arm was carressed around the back of my shoulders. A shiver followed along my spine making me realize that I was still uncomfortably cold. Rain streams ran along her face like the condensation collected on any heated area. She too had her hair pressed down like a wet mop, seemingly more erratic with the length of her hair compared to mine.

"This rain just isn't letting up, isn't it?" I said out loud to compensate for the continuous patter of rain.

"Not the least bit" she responded.

"Don't you think it's ridiculous that they're going to be doing the ceremony today? We still have to go to the Honorary Circle outside of the towers".

She cocked her head to the side. "I didn't think of that until now" Madi furrowed her eyebrows. "And now that I think of it, it seems a tad bit absurd if they followed through with it. Maybe they'll move the last part into the inside. I mean. You're telling me for almost a thousand years our ancestors never once thought of enclosing that area. It never rained when they had a ceremony? They must have some kind of covering system... something. Or even an indoor Honorary Circle".

"Yeah, not necessarily the brightest idea they have considering the complexity of Zykard as a whole" I laughed. "And sadly I don't think they have an indoor Honorary Circle. The outside one we've heard about has just been around since the beginning of our history. The Circle is something everyone goes to after their final tests. It's been tradition".

"Fair enough" she shrugged and shouted over another boom of thunder, wiping her face of the rain for the moment, even though it was pointless.

'Thank the Gods I'm not an avid user of makeup, or else today would be rough' I thought to myself.

Madi stopped suddenly, looking upwards in what looked like... contemplation? No. Admiration? It was something determining, deep in thought. Almost reminiscent if I saw the glint in her shielded eyes for a moment. I decided to stop staring at her and take into account the structures in front of us.

We finally made it. The towers in front of us rose multiple stories high, dominating most of the view. I shielded my eyes with my hand as an awning to fully take into perspective the gargantuan spires, reaching into see if I could feel whatever Madi might've been feeling.

Nothing

'Reminiscent. That was it. That must be what she was feeling. Reminiscent of a site we'd seen so many times in our lives that we took for granted. Those towers were just always there, since the beginning of my life, since the beginning of Zykard's history. They served as our routinely stop in progression into making us more adept adults capable of keeping the city breathing long after our parents moved on into the afterlife. And now it'd all be over today. We'd go in, test our skills one last time, and be admitted into the city as one. Never to step foot into those places again'.

My deep thought was interrupted as I could see a dark silhouette spin around in the midst of the fog and rain out of the corner of my eye.

Madi and I broke our frozen state and continued walking. As we got closer I could recognized the figure as it became more noticeable with their features being unraveled from the engulfing fog.