Nature Rules - 2022 WATTY'S SHORTLIST

Should We Stay Or Should We Go?

Mr. Cho leads us through the maze of Nakimu corridors to a room filled with a long table and layers upon layers of papers. He pulls out several pieces and lays them before us.

"These are maps," he says. "They show where the Aeternian powers used to be concentrated."

The maps don't make any sense to me or Crinae or Hyla. They are only marks, squiggles and dots and lines on parchment.

"I don't understand," says Crinae. "What are we looking at?"

"The lines are borders," explains Mr. Cho, tracing a boundary with his finger. "Did your parents teach you about countries?"

"Yeah," says Hyla. "My father did. He said there used to be lots of places with different names instead of Vesperia, one big place ruled by Sebastian."

"My Dad taught us that too," says Crinae. "Right, Naia?"

"Right."

There are words written on the map. The one that stands out for me is "Calgary." A blue circle encompasses the name. Mr. Cho tells us that in ancient times, each country used to have its own Aeternians.

"It depended on the area and what each country needed. Some countries were small and cold, like Iceland, so the people there needed sun in the wintertime to grow food. They had lots of Aeternians like Crinae.

"Some countries were dry and had deserts, like we have now. These people used Aeternians like Naia to gather water for drinking and planting. Canada, where we are now, was so vast and huge that it required many different Aeternians. People who provided not just sunshine but water, wind and fire."

"Can anyone control all four?" asks Hyla.

"Yes," says the teacher in a reverent tone. "Only one person and this one person is special."

"Who is it?" I ask.

"We don't know yet," answers Mr., Cho. "He or she hasn't been called yet by God."

"When will they be called then?"

"When the battle of good versus evil commences. It hasn't happened yet," says Mr. Cho before muttering, "Although I feel like it's already been fought 20 times over."

I'm not sure if I was supposed to hear that statement. I give him a quizzical glance and he shoots me a worried look.

"I'm a believer," he says quickly. "Sometimes it's hard to have faith in something when there's been so much hardship for many years. Let's study these maps and see what we can learn from them."

We pour over the maps pointing out place names that make us laugh like Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! or at how high the mountains are around our home settlement of 33. I had no idea how much elevation I was gaining on my walk to get water: 2087 metres!

I stifle a yawn and that starts a chain reaction that includes Mr. Cho.

"We've been here for a couple of hours," he says. "Thanks for being so interested in geography. I don't get to do this a lot and I thought it might come in handy one day. I didn't want to exhaust Naia and Crinae by making them use their abilities tonight. I've got a meeting soon so I'll see you later."

"Bye," we bid the teacher.

We should probably get back too.

"Time to go," I say to my sister.

"We can't leave Hyla," says Crinae. "She's sad."

Hyla cried a little bit. So what? Crinae and I not only lost our dad but our mom and our sister.