In a world where select few can manipulate Yin and Yang energy, equilibrium has been maintained by fair treatment to users of both sides. In recent years, however, this delicate balance has been threatened by extreme beliefs. Those who have the powe...
Cover picture is of what I imagine Tomokai looks like! See below for his attire.
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The rain was still beating steadily the next morning. I stood awkwardly at the front porch with a backpack slung over my shoulder, the trunk at my feet. Pa and ma stood together at the door. His face was serious - as always, and her face was worried.
"Take care alright? Write to us once in a while," Ma said, reaching to give me a hug.
My arms carefully wrapped around her smaller frame. I've grown taller than her, I noted distractedly. Taller and bigger than her and pa too.
"I'll be alright. Take care of yourselves. You're not getting any younger. And the weather is only going to get worse from now on, the Communion says," I insisted, unwrapping myself from my mother's embrace and giving my dad a brief hug.
"If you want, there will always be place at my port for you," Pa said. At this stage, I could just train a parrot to repeat the same words to me. The soft rumbling of a Zidan, saved me from having to reply. I nodded at my dad and reached down with my left hand to tug at the trunk, and turned to the Zidan - it looked almost like the nib of a marker, streamlined and sleek. It stood probably a good meter taller than me, with a black top and white bottom, and the surface was unmarred except for a Yin-Yang symbol in the middle.
"See you, pa, ma." I grunted as I jostled the trunk down the front porch and into the rain. Rain splattered against my face as I clumsily made my way toward the vehicle.
There was a soft hiss as a rectangular door ejected from the smooth surface of the vehicle and glided open. A man in his mid-twenties wearing a black and white cap stepped out from the vehicle and in front of me.
"Here, allow me," he grinned and winked, extending his right fingers towards the trunk. The long sleeved shirt he was wearing rode up his wrist with the movement, exposing a white tattoo - a comma with a black dot in the middle. His fingers twitched and a shimmer of something enveloped my trunk, pulling it from my grip and into a little drawer that appeared at the side of the vehicle. A soft gasp came from my mum, and my dad sniffed noisily.
Ah, show off. Yet I myself could hardly wait to be able to do that. I smiled and muttered my thanks to the man, realising that I was no longer being pelted by rain. There was a dome-shaped vacuum surrounding us, the droplets pelting off an invisible shimmer. He reached up to remove his cap, revealing long brown hair that was tied in a careless ponytail.
"Hi Aletheia - I'm Tomokai, but you can call me Tomo or Kai. I'm your escort to the Congregate." Tomokai introduced himself formally with a flourish of his cap and a bow.
"Good day Madam, Sir. Tomokai at your service. I would like to reassure you that your daughter is in good hands. I was from Minato before joining the Congregate. We take good care of our new entrants." He continued as he turned to face my parents, placing his right palm over his left breast and bowing, the formal way to greet elders.
