TORIN YOUTH – CHAPTER 02: THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

After his encounter with Helia earlier...

In his room, on the top floor of the insula he lives in, Atreus hurries to gather his things for the academy.

“Because of Helia, I need to stop by the bathhouse and run the risk of being late for school,” he grumbles.

He grabs a shirt hanging in the window of his room.

He packs a change of clothes in his satchel as he passes by his father, who appears to be asleep on a floor mat with empty bottles of wine spread about around him. His back is toward Atreus as he faces the wall.

Atreus tells him, “I’m going to school, Father.”

Before walking out the door, he pauses, sadness weighing on him.

He sighs and explains, “I know how you feel about me trying out to become a Legionnaire Specialis. But if there’s any way to redeem our family name, becoming an elite soldier and killing that Vixen has to be it.”

His father remains still and silent.

Atreus promises, “I swear, I’ll fix this. I need you to trust me.”

The young man leaves the apartment and travels down the many flights of stairs, heading to the bathhouse in a hurry.

His father sighs quietly, hopelessness making his eyes heavy.

At the Bathhouse, Atreus sets his clothes on a stone bench and begins to wash himself off.

Through the large opening in the ceiling over the pool he washes beside, he can see the stars fading with the light of the rising sun.

He thinks to himself, “I remember how scared I was entering the class for elite Legionnaire candidates—impostor syndrome at its worst.”

The memory drags him back four years, to the military academy at Campus Taiyo.

“I was only fourteen,” he thinks, “but everyone knew who I was... unfortunately.”

In a classroom with wooden rows of seats, Atreus sits in the middle section alone. Most of the other students appear to be avoiding sitting next to him.

Only a brown-skinned girl with windswept black hair sits somewhat nearby. Her violet irises remain fixed on him—not with suspicion, but with curiosity... and something warmer.

It is a look the boy is unaccustomed to.

The last student enters through the door on the right side of the room, making the class size twenty-four. 

As Atreus fiddles awkwardly with his stylus and wax tablet, something strikes the back of his head.

He looks down and finds a grape rolling across the floor.

Atreus turns. A curly-haired brunette girl sits a few rows back, lounging in her seat and smiling condescendingly as she plucks another grape from a cluster in her hand.

He picks up the grape and flicks it back at her.

It hits her square between the eyes and bursts on impact.

Her face flushes beet red in anger.

Atreus smiles, satisfied.

“Atreus,” the teacher calls. “A young man already on a slippery slope would do well to tread carefully.”

The warning is stern—but unlike so many others in Atreus’s life, the teacher doesn’t seem to be holding his parentage against him.

Atreus winces, acknowledging the truth of it.

Gasps, laughter, and whispers ripple through the classroom, forcing the instructor to raise his voice for silence.

The man is powerfully built and conspicuously not dressed in the traditional teacher’s tunic but in legionnaire attire. He stands in the center of the floor, before the rows of seats, with a ceramic pot of water at his feet, and introduces himself.

“Welcome to your orientation,” he says. “I am Titus Maedi, and I’ll be your primary instructor for the next four years. You’ve all been selected for this special training because you’ve shown great magical potential—potential that could make you Legionnaire Specialis, which are the elite-level special forces.” 

As Titus speaks, Atreus’s attention drifts to the far left end of the front row, near the window.

A beautiful, strawberry-blonde girl sits there, a bow adorning the back of her hair.

"Oh gods... it’s her," he thinks, momentarily forgetting where he is. "Rhea Taiyo. The Golden Child of Torin City."

The realization settles heavily in his chest.

"I can’t believe we’re in the same class."

Meanwhile, in his right hand, Titus holds up a crystal the size of his thumb for the class to see.

“You all know what this material is, right?” he asks. “It’s a Caeli Crystal shard, and a piece this size would be commonly known as a Focus Crystal. This material is found in abundance here on this island, aptly called Crystal Island.”

He watches his students’ faces to ensure that they are paying close attention.

He continues, “As your history teacher can probably tell you better than I can, it’s said that the crystal formations on this island are created when the heavens touch the ground beneath. I don’t believe we really know what causes them to form. What we do know for sure is that this material is the best conductor of energy we’ve ever seen.” 

Titus closes his hand on the shard, and his hand begins to glow with a soft blue light.

The water within the pot at his feet rises up like a snake being charmed and begins to follow the motions of his open hand.

“That means, to varying degrees, this material allows us Torinians to manifest our innate magical powers,” he explains. “Becoming elite Legionnaires means you have demonstrated extraordinary magical prowess and have overcome all the challenges that this training has to present. And I’ll be transparent with you: should you all choose to take the final test, some of you will not live to return from it.”

Some students appear optimistic and excited for the challenges ahead.

The brown-skinned girl with windswept black hair grins widely and clenches her fists as if she can’t wait to start combat training.

Other students appear to be dreading it, such as a tall blond-haired youngster with a broad build.

Rhea Taiyo, doesn’t appear to be concerned at all. She looks determined and confident.

Atreus, however, is very nervous.

The memory fades.

"I was sure that no one else wanted me to be there, and I was starting to feel the same," Atreus thinks to himself, relaxing in the pool of hot spring water beneath the open ceiling.

His head rests on the marble edge of the pool, and his eyes are closed as his face points up at the sky. The sky is now well-lit by the sun, and there isn’t a star to be seen up there.

It suddenly dawns on him that he’s been there too long. “Oh crap, I dozed off!”

He scrambles out of the pool to get dressed, putting on his sandals first.

Panicked, he makes the difficult decision to leave his satchel and other things behind.

While leaving the bath house as he hops with one leg in his pants, still mostly naked, nearby women gasp and cover their mouths and eyes at the sight.

After clumsily fitting both legs into his pants, he’s ready to put his past four years of training to use, channeling his innate magic.

He darts through the streets at tremendous speed, causing some people to react in awe. 

“Hey, WATCH IT,” one man yells.

“Wasn't that the Speros family brat,” a human-sized harpy asks, perched on a lamp post featuring a large caeli crystal atop it.

Atreus runs topless, dragging his shirt along in his hand.

“I can’t believe this is happening. Of all the days to be late, I pick the one when the final trial teams are being decided!”

As the academy comes into view across the grounds of Campus Taiyo, Atreus steels himself.

"Physically, I’m spent. But this is when years of psiki training come into play. I can push myself further."

His pace quickens as he digs deeper.

He remembers the first time he was taught what that power could do.

Four years earlier, in the academy courtyard—

Titus has his students seated around a large circular sandpit, while other classes train in nearby sections of the courtyard.

Titus says to his class, “This innate magic we possess, we call it ‘psiki.’ And there are ways we can use it without Caeli Crystals. A master of his or her psiki can multiply their strength and speed many times over. It’s not enough for you to learn how to use a weapon; you must become a weapon.”

Titus continues, “Let's start with a little grappling exercise. Before you can learn to wield fire and lightning to take on giants twelve times your size, you’ve got to learn to beat someone your own size.”

Titus looks around at his students. “I need two volunteers.”

Before the words are fully out of his mouth, the eager brown-skinned girl with windswept hair springs to her feet and raises a hand.

“ME! PICK ME!” she pleads.

Titus smirks and accepts her as the first volunteer. “Alright then. Step into the center of the ring with me.”

The girl skips through the sand to the center, grinning ear to ear.

“Tell the class about yourself, young lady,” Titus says to her.

“The name’s Bia Pallas,” she proudly exclaims. “I got four older brothers, and I’m here to prove that I’m tougher than all of them by passin’ that final test!”

She smiles sweetly at her classmates and adds, “Oh, and I LOVE to wrestle!”

Titus chuckles at the spirited girl.

“I need another volunteer,” the instructor says.

Bia doesn’t wait for anyone to speak; she already has someone in mind. She points at the tall, blond-haired boy with the wide build. “GIMME THAT ONE,” she says, grinning. “He looks really strong!”

The boy is surprised to be chosen. He points to himself. “Me?”

Bia nods emphatically.

“Okay,” the boy says hesitantly as he stands up.

As he walks toward the center of the sandpit, Bia asks him playfully, “What’s wrong? Someone as big as you don’t like fightin'?”

“I fight when I have to,” he responds gently, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully.

Titus then says to the boy, “Introduce yourself to the class.”

“I am Leon Alexander Gaudius,” the boy declares. “I wish to become a Legionnaire Specialis to protect those I love.”

Titus nods. “That’s a noble goal.”

As this goes on, Atreus’ mind drifts. His eyes fix on Rhea sitting on the opposite side of the ring.

He’s smitten by her.

"She is the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, he thinks to himself. She’s like an angel. I wonder if she’d ever consider a boy like me…" he thinks to himself.

Sitting next to Rhea is the curly-haired brunette girl who threw the grape at his head earlier. She notices Atreus looking at Rhea and gives the unaware girl a slight nudge with her elbow.

Rhea looks at the girl nudging her, who points at Atreus across from them.

Rhea’s eyes turn to meet Atreus’.

Her eyebrows furrow in disapproval of the boy. Clearly, she wants nothing to do with him.

Atreus, realizing that the girls have caught him staring, quickly averts his eyes. Inwardly, he is both embarrassed and devastated by Rhea’s response.

"Of course. What was I thinking?" he says within himself.

In the center of the ring, Bia and Leon prepare to lock arms in competition.

Titus advises them, “This isn’t a real fight, so don’t get carried away. Is that clear?”

Both students nod.

“Begin,” Titus says, as he steps aside to watch them carefully.

Bia and Leon grab hold of each other. It becomes apparent that Bia truly does have wrestling experience, as she almost causes her bigger opponent to lose his balance and fall over.

They grab at each other until they lock hands.

Leon uses his physical strength to try to force Bia down to the sand.

A grin widens on Bia’s face. She doesn’t appear to be struggling; both their pairs of feet sink deep into the sand, which vibrates with the power emanating from their bodies.

“This is fun,” Bia says, giggling. “I wish we could go all out.”

Titus speaks to the class during the match. “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting them to stalemate,” he says, smirking. “But this is perfect. It seems Bia here is already adept at using her psiki to increase her physical strength. She’s able to hold her own against someone twice her size.”

Bia looks Leon in the eyes and says excitedly, “He’s still holdin’ back. I can tell,” daring him to wrestle her with all his might.

Titus interrupts. “That’ll do for now. You may both have a seat.”

Bia pouts. “Aww.”

She then reluctantly releases her grip on Leon’s hands.

Titus speaks as both students take their seats on the grass outside the ring. “I look forward to seeing what you’ll all be capable of after four years of training—if you don’t drop out, that is.”

He continues, “Granted, everyone is different; you won’t all excel at the same things. Some of you will be stronger,” he says. “Some of you will be faster.”

The words of the teacher stay with Atreus till present day...

“No matter how strong you get or how swiftly you move, endurance and courage will be what decides the outcome.”

Atreus moves at high speed along the cobblestone streets until his feet reach the grass surrounding the academy. 

Once through the doors, he staggers in exhaustion through the halls of the building.

In his classroom, sixteen students are already forming their groups.

Titus speaks sternly, warning the students to choose wisely.

“Understand that the choices you make today are literally life and death,” he says. “If you do not wish to be a Legionnaire Specialis, you are free to leave this room now. You’ll be able to serve in the Legion and show your devotion to the people of Torin and your Queen Ourana in other ways.”

He paces the floor slowly, and with graveness in his voice he continues.

“But if you wish to take that extra step and go through this trial, you will be throwing yourselves deep into the unforgiving wilds and meeting the gigantic predators where they live. Don’t choose the people you’re willing to live beside. Choose the ones you’re willing to die beside.”

After that frightening warning, four students walk out of the room.

The remaining twelve students form three groups of four.

Some of the students jealously look over at Rhea, desiring to be on her team.

Rhea sits, legs crossed, patiently waiting with her teammates: Leon, Bia, and Kore, who nervously fiddles with her curly brunette hair.

Titus writes the names of team members in ink on a long sheet of parchment and says, “Once your names are written, your teams are finalized.”

Lastly, he begins to write the names of Rhea’s team members.

Kore wrings her hands and sweats profusely; her heart pounds within her chest.

“I can’t do this,” she whimpers.

“You can’t do what, Kore?” Bia asks her.

Titus calls out, “The third and final team is made up of Rhea, Leon, Bia, and—”

Before he can write and call out the last name, Kore yells, “Stop!”

Titus stops his pen and looks up at Kore.

The terrified girl cries, “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”

She quickly leaves her seat, goes down the wooden steps, and leaves the classroom.

Rhea, Bia, and Leon are left stunned.

“I can’t believe this,” Rhea says.

Titus sighs.

“Unless you can find another teammate, I’m afraid I can’t allow you to participate in this year’s trial. Going out there with anything less than four members is suicide.”

Just then, Atreus staggers into the room, completely exhausted, still clinching his shirt in his hand.

“PLEASE… wait,” he begs.

He leans against the wall to prevent himself from falling over.

“I’m not too late, am I?” he asks.

Rhea gasps and turns her head toward the entrance to see Atreus; her eyes widen with dread.

Titus chuckles at the boy’s last-second timing in amusement.

“Fate must be on your side—you’ve made it,” he says. “Barely.” 

He writes Atreus’ name down on the list and declares, “The final team is made up of Rhea, Leon, Bia, and Atreus.”

Atreus smiles with relief. “Thank heavens,” he pants.

Students around the classroom give him disapproving and envious glares.

Rhea stands in stunned silence, her mouth agape and eyes wide as she contemplates how dire her situation has become.

Leon and Bia, who both seem far less mortified than Rhea to have Atreus as a teammate, look at their shocked companion.

“Um, Rhea,” Leon says. “Are you okay?”

Rhea whispers, “This is a disaster...”

(NEXT CHAPTER)

A rough concept sketch of Bia.