Chapter 1
“Nina and Mira, are you both ready?” Chief B asked the two young girls of eighteen who nodded their heads, looking towards their father. He only ever looked at one proudly.
“Nina, make me as proud as I know you will. Not just your mother and I, but the whole land of Ahana. And you, Mira, you shall not let me down at any cost. You’re a camp grad now, so do me some service and act like one.”
Mira looked at the chief trying to keep her neutral face. Those condescending words had been a habit in her ears, yet she still managed to feel upset about such trivial things to this day. Feelings are supposed to be foreign to shinobis so showing any would bring disgrace. But she had already been labeled as such, so why even bother hiding them?
She had tried to be like Nina in his eyes unsuccessfully quite a handful of times. Both of them sharing the same womb together meant nothing to him perhaps, but to be fair, it meant nothing to them either.
She watched as her father took his position amongst the eight other chiefs.
Their kingdom Ahana, named after the great river Ahana found in the centermost part of their land, was a supposed place representing peace and justice. A place like home for all. It welcomed travelers and immigrants with open arms, yet she failed to feel at home despite being born and raised here, let alone for being a chief’s daughter.
“Let us begin the Luminum Ceremony.” All the chiefs said simultaneously. Mira felt more and more overwhelmed with each passing second. And to top all of that off, the acting like they were in a cult- with the chiefs speaking together and the people intently watching with all their attention- certainly did not help her with her anxiety.
She wished she could switch places with the people watching. Just standing and judging what she had done her whole life whilst watching the camp grads get assigned as students. Now she was a grad and she wanted to puke.
She turned to her much firmer twin and pulled on her sleeve.
“Which master do you want, Nina?” Mira whispered out of curiosity. She had never spoken out with such decency to Nina. Maybe it was the anxiousness talking.
Out of all the Masters standing in front of them, only one enticed Mira.
Kenji.
“Master Kai. He’s-.” Nina reluctantly answered. This was not the place to chat, but she knew her annoying sister enough to know it was better to answer her than to ignore her because she would not stop pestering her otherwise. But before Nina could finish, Mira fell forward feeling a push on the back of her neck. That shut Nina up really quickly. She straightened herself quickly and looked away from Mira in a frantic way.
The random slap only indicated that their father had noticed them speaking during the ceremony. Mira grouched in pain and looked at her dad, who was not even looking towards them, only proving to her further that his magic was incredible.
Nobody else seemed to have seen the young girl rubbing the back of her head other than master Kenji. Staring at the pitiful girl he realized, something about her enticed him.
Being born at the Nagami house automatically indicated a prodigy child. Unfortunately, Mira got the short end of the stick. And being the only one getting the short end, she automatically got the black sheep label. While everyone had hopes for Nina no one had any for Mira. Why should they even?
The Luminum ceremony taking place every year was one of the biggest events of the year in Ahana. The camp grads who have now learned the basics of being a ninja and all about magic, now jump into the practical world through this ceremony.
“Gianina Nagami.” The chiefs called out to Nina, who confidently walked in front of the river. Mira felt like she was going to faint. If tonight did not go according to her father’s will, she was going to get it. Even though everything depended on that stupid river, she had no choice but to take the wrath of whatever it decides as it’s supposed to reflect a person’s true destiny.
Everyone anticipated who Nina would get.
A perfect teacher for the perfect girl.
The river finally reflected back a picture of the senior rogom Kai. He was the youngest to reach the rogom rank which follows after rank hugo. Rogoms are the second most important after the chiefs. Kai was one of, if not the most, well respected, powerful rogom and was often even referred to as a legendary shinobi of Ahana’s. Even his older brother, Kenji, could not surpass him. Mira thus sympathized with Kenji. Being Kai’s brother did not come with an easy price. She knew how it felt because she was also stuck with an overachieving genius sister. It was as if she could see a future parallel to theirs when she looked at the two brothers.
Nina smirked and looked up at her new master and walked towards him to stand next to his three other students. Mira tried not to roll her eyes. Of course, she’s cocky about getting Kai.
“Mirabelle Nagami.” Chiefs announced. Mira wanted nothing but to walk into a black hole. Her father pushed her forward, again using his powers. Even from a few miles away he could do so with ease. It was the magic Nina inherited but Mira did not.
Impel, as the Nagami house calls it, enabled him to fight with an enemy who couldn’t see where he was attacking from. It was one of the treasured gifts inherited by all of their elite house. Then there was Mira, who could barely hit someone with her real hand let alone the invisible kind. No matter how hard she tried she could never find that gift inside her, thus concluding she hadn’t somehow inherited the power.
While looking at the river, she wanted anyone but Kai as her mentor because now he had Nina and the last thing she wanted was to be stuck on the same team as her sister. Her eyes fell towards team Kai again. This was the fifth one he attended since he inherited the rogom rank and successfully gotten the most students amongst all his peers as always. She had heard it had been like this in the past luminum ceremonies too.
She looked below at the image forming, replacing her own reflection under the moonlight.
“Kai.” She whispered, slightly horrified.
She had gotten Kai.
The one person she had hoped not to have. She turned to look at her father, who had a glare on his face. She knew what he was thinking. How had she and Nina both gotten the same rogom? If Nina got someone this good, Mira deserved someone that equally shit.
Ahana is a biased river, as Mira liked to call it. It gave stronger rogoms the stronger students and weaker ones the weaker students instead of mixing it up to make it more well distributed. Even Nina seemed fairly offended by Ahana’s choice. Not only her and her father though, most of the people counting the chiefs looked somewhat surprised about it.
But the word of Ahana’s was the last word and thus cannot be overruled even by the chiefs, as their kingdom believed.
Mira sighed and looked up at Kai who was also looking back at her curiously. His platinum blonde hair was shining under the moonlight alongside his somewhat calm leaned back posture. Does he think she should not have been on that team too?
Mira gave him a small nervous and crooked smile and walked towards him. She was the last camp grad called upon and so the ceremony was over. She looked at Kenji’s empty side with no pupils and frowned.
As always.
Kenji had not received a single student since he had become a Rogom. Mira could see her future shine through her eyes every time she looked into those sad eyes. She felt terribly sorry for him. However, her consideration was not helpful, Ahana always had the last word.
She felt a sudden force at the back of her head, and not the kind her dad gave. It pushed her body forward as she was clearly caught off-guard. She turned around rubbing her head after barely being able to balance herself when seeing her sister and the others walking away. She then saw her new teacher standing next to her with a pinky pointed towards her. Had he pushed her with that? The force she felt could not have possibly been from one finger.
She then realized Kai probably wanted her to walk with them. He stood still and observed her a little.
“You are very weak, girl.” He said, retracting his finger and scratching the back of his head.
She shook her head and glared at the ground. It’s about time for her to get over herself. So, she walked towards Nina and the others, choosing to ignore the insult.
She turned to look at Kenji another time. However, this time, his eyes met hers. He gave her a creepy smirk before turning around and walking away from the river bank. Sighing, she followed the others without any further delay.
