Sinclaire Academy: Untold Stories

Twentieth

Twentieth

If someone told Nikolai his life would turn out like this in a span of five years, he wouldn't believe it.

As he stared at the rubble where their small cottage used to stand, the bitter reality dawned on to him again.

Why did he come back to Asteria?

After traveling to so many places why did he suddenly find himself staring at the old ruins of their burnt village?

Pain, Nikolai thought.

The pain Nikolai badly wanted to forget but he pushed himself to remember. The pain reminds him that he was still human.

Yes... He was still human.

He was once a human boy living in a small village in west Asteria.

What's only left of the village now was scattered pieces of rubble and dead grass...

This is where he started.

This is the place where his life fell apart.

It was all because of that night.

Nikolai's fist clenched. He unfurled his silver wings and surged through the night.

The dark kept him alive all these years.

Tuwing feeling niya hindi na niya kaya, he'd just unfurl his wings and hide in the clouds. The humans won't even notice a thing.

The dark hid Nikolai's secret.

That's why Nikolai kept moving from place to place. Hindi na nga niya mabilang kung ilang pangalan ang nagamit niya just to survive.

He's only safe in human towns and villages all because they were ignorant. It's too risky to live in a place where his real idendity can be exposed.

Imagine a nine year old who just lost his whole family ran away from home, trying so hard to stay alive. He can still remember the tight twist of his heart as he ran farther and father away from the burning village... Leaving his whole family and life behind.

In the early weeks of being a runaway, Nikolai was clueless on how he's going to feed and fend himself. Until he learned the ropes to survive. It's been like that for the past five years.

Keep moving, Nikolai told himself.

Don't stop for anything. Nothing is more important than his own life. Because his family sacrificed themselves to keep him alive. Kahit na gusto na niyang sumunod sa mga ito, papahalagahan pa rin niya ang sinakripisyo ng pamilya niya.

His Mama told him he was speacial because of what he is. Pero sa kabila ng lahat ng nangyari, he can only think of his 'special' abilities as a curse.

Kapalit siguro ang pamilya niya sa kung ano man siya at meron siya ngayon.

Nikolai knew he wasn't human. Well part of him still is. But there are things only he can do and no one else can. He's sure no human has massive silver wings that unfurls and retracts whenever he wants to. Ilang beses na niyang tinignan ang mga nakakasalubong niya sa likod, checking for slits on the back of their shirts made for wings like Nikolai did to his. After years of checking sumuko nalang siya.

Sa layo na ng narating niya wala pa siyang nakikitang katulad niya.

He's been to more than a dozen of human towns. Hiding what he truly is was easy because he blends in fairly well. He took up different jobs just to earn and he doesn't want to admit it pero nag nakaw na rin siya noon.

Hey, a boy's gotta survive.

Hindi na niya mabilang kung ilang beses na siyang hinabol ng pulis and even a couple protectors who were on patrol. Pinapakawalan din siya ng mga ito nang malamang pagkain ang ninanakaw niya.

Ilang beses na rin siyang natulog sa kalye. With no pillows of blankets...

Yeah... Nikolai had it rough. Pinapaalala nalang niya sa sarili niya na patay na dapat siya kung hindi lang siya niligtas ng pamilya niya. The least he could do for them is to survive.

He gazed down at the twinkling lights of the small town of Asteria.

The place where their village used to be seemed like a dark part of the forest now...

Nakatatak parin sa isip niya kung ano ang itsura nito bago pa ito masunog.

Nikolai avoided thinking of the What ifs and What could have beens. He's not a fan of those kind of stuff. Returning to Asteria was enough to keep him going. Hindi na niya kailangan isipin pa ang mga posibleng mangyari kung hindi nasira ang buhay niya.

He landed in the heart of Asteria forest. He hid his silver wings and turned his hood up, letting his feet take him to the main town.

Nikolai kept his head down as he forged through throngs of people, his one hand inside his jean's pocket touching the shaft of his bronze knife.

Nikolai never travels without it. Now that he is back in Asteria, something tells him he might need it.

    Nikolai had enough money to survive till half of the year because the armory he used to worked at payed decently well for a small business. Halos ayaw pa nga siyang tanggaping ng may-ari dahil fourteen lang siya. He had to prove his skills to finally be hired.

Even if the armory paid well and covered almost all of Nikolai's meals everyday (He can even forge all his weapon ideas for free) he can't stay there forever.

Nikolai created a pattern to survive. If the town is pretty decent then he'll stay there half a year, if not then three months max then move to another one with a new name and a whole new identity.

Because he knew what tried to kill him was still out there.

Nikolai never settled down. Keep moving won't be his life motto if he did.

That night Nikolai found a place to crash without wasting money. All he had to do is hide in the forest and strap himself up a tree where he left all his stuff earlier before heading to the rubble.

Halos ilang araw rin siyang nanatili sa Asteria. Being back home comforted him for some weird twisted reason. Hindi rin siya magtatagal.

Nikolai decided it would be his last day in town so he had the liberty to treat himself a decent meal and relax in a cafe.

As the mid-summer sun kissed Nikolai's pale skin, he constructed a concrete plan on moving five towns away from here. He has to use normal transportation to get to point A to B dahil may madadaanang non-human towns. It will be too risky to fly. One of his fear is to accidentaly fly over a hunter's territory and get shot by an arrow.

Just imagining an arrow piercing his wings made him shudder.

The safest way to travel is by land kaya iyon ang gagawin niya.

Nikolai ran his hand through the smooth handle of his dagger.

His fingers curled itself onto it when the chair in front of him was suddenly pulled.

Then Nikolai came face to face with a girl with unusual violet colored eyes.