Finn
When I agreed to Athena’s terms of being in her control for five days, I had envisioned them being as boring as the five days we had spent together in the Northlands.
This day, however, was turning out to be interesting and when we walked into the school building, I took it all in: the colorful paintings on the walls, the smells, and the sound of children singing that grew in volume as we walked closer to the source.
I stared when we turned a corner and saw at least fifty students standing up, swaying from side to side, clapping and singing. I was confused by the lyrics until I understood that it was math.
As if that wasn’t strange enough, the students seemed to be of different age and most of them were females.
I’d been part of the experimental school program that was unfolding in the Northlands, so this wasn’t my first time seeing girls. I’d just never seen that many at once and it was a glorious sight.
The principal, a short woman who had met us outside the school, smiled at me and said, “This is our KA group.”
“Your what group?”
“We test all children before they start school and group them according to learning style. KA stands for kinesthetic and audio.”
“So you don’t put them in classes according to age?”
She shook her head. “No, children mature and learn in different stages, and age is a poor indicator for what level they are at. Much of their learning is driven by their interest in a certain area.” She signaled for us to continue. “Tristan is in our VST group.”
“What does VST stand for?”
“Visual, Scribble, Teach,” the woman said. “VST kids benefit from seeing something, writing it down, and then explaining what they have learned. Tristan is one of our brightest students.”
“How old is Tristan?” I asked Athena.
“He celebrated his fifteenth birthday last weekend,” Athena said. “It was a very nice party.”
“Oh yeah? And did you give him a present?”
“Of course. I gave him a bonsai tree.”
I scrunched up my face. “What kind of gift is that?”
“It was on his wish list,” Athena defended herself.
Shaking my head, I mumbled, “He sounds like a really weird kid.”
“What was that?” The principal stopped in front of a door and turned to me. “Did you say something?” she asked and tilted her head with a sugar-sweet smile.
“No, I was just making a comment that all you women here in the Motherlands are beautiful.”
The little woman, who was no beauty at all, flushed cherry red and flicked her hair back with a soft “thank you.”
Athena elbowed me and shot me a warning look just before the door opened and we were in front of around forty students.
“May peace surround you all,” the principal said to the students. “As you may have heard on the news, five Nmen are visiting from the Northlands at the moment and lo and behold, one of them has chosen to visit our school today.” The principal looked like she was about to burst from excitement and pride.
I didn’t tell them it was Athena’s choice and not mine. There was no need to advertise that she had me in a chokehold because of that stupid curse.
My eyes scanned the room and when I saw a boy greet Athena with a subtle wave, I almost took a step back. It was like seeing myself at that age. His dark hair and those long eyelashes that I’d hated because they made me too pretty for a boy.
“I’m here to see Tristan,” I said and heard the collective gasp that went through the students.
Tristan sat up straighter, his eyes growing big as he pointed to himself. “Me?”
Athena stepped forward, and many of the children waved and smiled at her as if she was a dear friend. Some even bowed their heads to her.
“Good morning children,” she said in a velvety soft voice that made me look at her and wish she would use that voice with me.
“I understand that you would be confused about why we would interrupt you in the middle of your class. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Athena, the priestess who lives in the old mill outside of town.” She had their full attention and continued. “This is Hans, who is a mediator and assigned by the Council to be the escort of Finn MacCumhail, our guest from the Northlands.”
“How are you all doing?” I asked and lifted my hand in a greeting.
There was an excitement in the room and I didn’t know if it was because we had interrupted a boring class or because they were genuinely interested in my person.
“Tristan,” Athena said. “We went to visit your mother Karina today, and she made us promise to come by your school and say hi. She said you aren’t afraid of anything and that she thought you’d enjoy meeting an Nman in person.”
Tristan lifted his chin and smiled at me.
Athena gestured for Tristan to come up and join us in front of the class. The boy was quick to get up and moved straight over to stand in front of me. He was the same height as Hans already and it surprised me, because I thought all Motlander males were small.
“How tall are you?” I asked him.
“One meter and seventy-seven centimeters.”
“Sorry, we don’t use the metric system in the Northlands. Do you know how many feet that is?”
Tristan shook his head while I measured him against my own body. “You’re about five-ten; that’s pretty good. You’ll be my height when you grow up.”
“How tall are you?” Tristan asked, looking up at me.
“Six-two, which makes me one of the smaller Nmen, but what I don’t have in height I make up for in charm and brains.” I grinned.
Athena spoke up and encouraged the children. “Maybe you have a question for Finn?”
A girl wanted to know if it was true that there were no girls in the Northlands.
“About one million people live in the Northlands, but only one hundred and ten are females. That’s why they are all very precious to us,” I said and looked to Athena. “Now do I get to ask questions too?”
“Yes, of course.” She smiled and pointed to the children. “I’m sure the children are eager to answer anything you want to know about going to school in the Motherlands.”
I already knew a lot since I’d spent time with students at the experimental school in the Northlands. Ten of them were from the Motherlands and they had answered my questions already, so I decided to have some fun with these students. “Okay,” I said and planted my feet a little apart. “I wanna ask the boys how many girlfriends they have.”
The children started giggling and no one wanted to answer, so I put Tristan on the spot. “What about you? How many girlfriends do you have?”
He shook his head and answered with a firm voice. “None. And I don’t want a girlfriend either.”
More giggles and head shakes.
“Huh. You know what, when I first saw you I thought you might be my younger brother or something, because I swear you’re my spitting image when I was your age, but now I’m certain that we’re not related.”
Tristan just stared at me.
“Any male relative of mine would have at least one girlfriend,” I stated with a grin. “We’re born seducers, you see.”
Tristan bit his lip and opened his mouth to ask a question but the principal was quicker. “Did you ever meet Pearl Pilotti?” she asked.
“Sure, Pearl married one of my good friends, Khan. He is our ruler, you might have heard about him.”
The small woman looked star-struck as she fiddled with her hands. “I’ve read all the articles and seen the interviews. They make such a handsome couple.”
“Is it true that Khan is your ruler because he’s your best warrior?” a kid asked.
“Khan is amazing, but our best warrior would be his brother Magni, who also happens to be my closest friend. We’ve known each other since we were children and just for the record, he’s not just our best warrior. Magni is the best warrior in the entire world.”
“Oh my.” The principal blinked her eyes. “He sounds dangerous.”
I shrugged. “I don’t recommend provoking him, that’s for sure.” Turning to the class, I said: “I have another question. How many of you can walk on your hands?”
Three of the children raised their hands.
“Come on,” I said. “All boys in the Northlands can walk on their hands before the age of six, and you’re telling me only three of you can do it?”
“Why would we walk on our hands?” Tristan asked with a puzzled expression on his too-pretty face.
“Why wouldn’t you?” I asked. “It’s fun and it’s a great way to build body strength. I still do it all the time, do you wanna see?”
They cheered me on when I gave them a show designed for one thing only: getting their reaction when my shirt fell down and revealed my tattoo. I was a sucker for the shock effect it had on people and this group was my best audience yet.
“Oh Mother Nature, he’s a cyborg,” one cried out and others got up from their chairs to see better.
“What?” I asked when I got up on my feet again. “You don’t have cyborgs here?”
“Not real cyborgs. We only replace limbs and eyes, not internal organs. Is that legal in the Northlands?” Tristan asked, his eyes dropping to my shirt, which was now hiding the tattoo.
Hans and Athena were clearing their throats and I knew I only had a few seconds before they would reveal the truth.
“So what about brains, Tristan? You don’t have cyborgs with computers for brains either?”
“No,” he exclaimed with his big expressive eyes focused on me. “Only implants, but even that is restricted because of what happened during the Toxic War. I wanted an implant for my birthday really badly, but my mother wouldn’t let me have one.”
It was amazing how gullible the students were, and I had too much fun messing with them to reveal that brain implants were prohibited in the Northlands – and for good reason. Back in the middle of the twenty-first century when implants were first introduced it became a must-have operation in no time. Millions of people jumped at the chance to master unlimited languages and have instant access to all information from the Internet. But once the Toxic War broke out, the hacking began and viruses were planted in people’s minds resulting in violent rampages of murder, and an explosion in tragic suicides. When it was clear what was happening, people became frantic to get rid of the implants, but only a few succeeded.
“I can’t believe you’re a real cyborg. Are there many of your kind in the Northlands?” Tristan asked with awe in his voice.
Again, Athena cleared her throat behind me and I knew my fun was over.
Placing my hand on Tristan’s shoulder, I smiled. “I’m sorry, champ, but I’m not really a cyborg. I’m just having some fun with you all.”
“But…” His eyes fell to my shirt again.
Pulling it up, I gave them all a better look. “It’s just a tattoo, see?” I smacked my abs.
Tristan reached out and poked my skin. “I thought it was the real thing,” he said with disappointment.
“I know, everybody falls for it,” I said and laughed. “But you know what is real?”
“No.”
“My special talent of juggling with five balls.”
This time Tristan narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “How do I know you’re not lying this time too?”
“Because I would never lie about something as serious as juggling.”
“Prove it,” a boy from the third row called out to me, and the kids scrambled to come up with three apples and two oranges for me to juggle with, and applauded when I took a bow after my juggling act.
The principal allowed the children a chance to get a photo with me, and I noticed how many of them surrounded Athena and hugged her. While goofing around and shooting funny pictures with the kids, I overheard her talk to them about their families and it surprised me how they hugged her and shared details about their lives. I’d thought of Athena as a bit stiff with all her talk of proper communication and spirituality, but seeing her smile and laugh with the children was an extension of that sunny side that I’d experienced briefly after we meditated earlier today. She was so relaxed and free that it made me wonder what else I had misjudged about her.
After the photos were taken there was time for a few more questions, and a boy asked me to tell them what it was like to grow up in the Northlands.
“Well, we live in learning facilities from the time we’re three years old until we graduate school at the age of eighteen,” I said and bit my lip at the wave of memories that was pushing from the inside.
“We call our teachers mentors and they’re very different from yours.”
“In what way?” the boy asked.
“Do your teachers punish you?” I asked and the question seemed to confuse the students.
“In the Northlands,” I said and tensed up. “Students are disciplined using physical punishments if we don’t follow the rules or learn fast enough.”
“What kind of punishments?” Tristan asked.
Memories flashed in my mind but I couldn’t tell them what I’d gone through, and it wouldn’t be a true representation of the Northlands anyway. My childhood hadn’t been typical.
“Mostly spankings,” I said. “But we had fun too and we were always surrounded by our friends.”
“Did you have your own room?”
“No, not until I was an adult and by then I had gotten used to sleeping in a dorm and having others around me. It was almost too quiet to fall asleep without someone snoring or farting in the room.”
That last comment made the children laugh and for the next ten minutes I joked with them and had them in stitches when I told them about my shenanigans as a child.
“You should have seen my mentor’s face when he realized I’d swapped his shampoo for glue.”
The kids thought it was hilarious when I made funny faces and imitated Johnson’s hands stuck to his scalp. Luckily, we ran out of time before any of them could ask me how he’d punished me. There was no need to spoil the fun by telling them that I’d spent almost two weeks in the infirmary after that incident.