Stealing Icarus - Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Shravya’s POV: 

Long ago, before the Shining War, stars used to light up our world. Children used to come out and set out telescopes to gaze at the beautiful orbs in the sky.

Then the Enchanters came. They made the stars even brighter, using their magic. They would practice for hours, making the passersby gawk in awe. However, the Elders didn’t approve of the magic. In fact, they despised it. The Elders gave the Enchanters an ultimatum. Leave our city or our forces will make you. The Enchanters refused to leave and the Shining War began. 

The Enchanters won, due to them having the obvious advantage. Magic. They trapped all the Elders and their people in one city, which became Magellan. 

However, the Elders made a school called Magellan Academy. In the Academy, they trained the students to fly. To fly spaceships to escape their confined city. The graduates of Magellan Academy would fly in space and try to find a way out of this cursed city. 

Eventually, they found it. A small bubble of space that turned into a leeway. However, all this flying in space was doing horrible damage to the atmosphere. The stars were dimming. They estimated that it would be only a few months before we wouldn’t be able to differentiate night and day. 

The Enchanters, sensing the damage, came back to Magellan, and over the course of a few years, using their magic, they took all the stars from the sky. 

Except one, the only star they left unharmed was Sirius, and that became our sun. That one star was invaluable and we used it for everything. While the Enchanter’s city, the City of Luminance was glowing, Magellan was fading away. 

Now, the message from Principal Williams says that we have to steal a star? They didn’t even let us finish introductions before dropping this giant bomb on us. 

Nate was staring at his phone, and suddenly he punched in a few numbers and his phone started ringing. Who was he calling? The person on the other side picked up.

‘Hello? Principal Williams? What do you mean by this message?’ The phone was on speaker so we all heard what she said next, 

‘Exactly what it said. Alpha Squad has to steal a star from the City of Luminance. I don’t care how you do it, just get it done.’ Nate sputtered and said, 

‘Why?’ We heard Principal Williams sigh on the other end before she says, 

‘Because Sirius is dying. Without our sun, we will all die and the Enchanters aren’t going to give us another star. They want us dead. No other Alpha Squad has returned from this mission and your squad is our only hope because, in two months, Sirius will burn out.’ Principal Williams cut the call and the room became so quiet we could hear a pin drop. 

Nate was running a hand through his hair and Nithya was on her phone, researching something. Everyone else was deep in thought. How could we steal a star? We weren’t allowed to use magic! What on earth could we possibly do? 

Finally, Nate opened his mouth and said, ‘Okay everyone go to your rooms and pack all your necessities. We meet back here in thirty minutes. Understand?’

A feeble, ‘Yessir,’ went around the room and we all went our separate ways. I put my phone in my pant pocket and walked out the door. 

I cleared all thoughts of stars out of my head and walked in silence through the halls. I basically grew up here at Magellan Academy. As I walked, I ran a hand against the wall and stopped in front of my dorm room. 

Nate had whisked us away before we could watch the Beta and Gamma squad results. I swing the door open, and my roommates immediately crush me in a hug. It’s like they were waiting in front of the door the whole time.

Once they let go of me, my roommates Jenavive and Emma, were both sniffling and wiping away tears. 

‘I’ll miss you guys.’ I say. Jenavive starts talking about space power lines and if I’m able to call them from space. I’ll find a way to talk to them. I scan the room and see all the pictures that we’ve taken together. 

The principal’s words come back to me. ‘No other Alpha Squad has returned from this mission.’ I might never see Jenavive and Emma again. I might never see my parents again. I bit my lip and pulled them back into a hug, momentarily comforted. They are stiff in surprise, I wasn’t much of a hugger, for a moment and then they hug back. 

Then, I remember that I came here to pack. I pull away and clear my throat. 

‘I have to...pack my clothes. I might not come back.’ I say. They nod solemnly. We all knew that the Alpha squad had to do something dangerous, but never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed it was anything close to this. 

I bit back the tears that were starting to form at the corner of my eye and walk towards my bed. I reach from under the frame and grab a duffel bag. It was the one I used when I came to Magellan Academy five years ago. Now I was using it to leave. I grab it and go to the bathroom. I throw in folded pairs of pants, shirts, jackets, and some toiletries. 

Then, I come back to our room. I set the bag on my bed and go through my bedside table. Only necessities, I remind myself. I put a framed picture of my family and friends. Then, I fastened a blue crystal bracelet that my mother gave me, around my wrist. I open the last drawer on the table and grab a carefully sealed bag of chemical tablets. I throw in a notebook with scientific data and a flying textbook on top of the clothes. I grabbed a portable charger and a pair of earbuds and shoved them in a pocket of the bag. I unplugged my laptop from its place on my table and wrapped the charger around it. Then, I put it in the bag. That’s pretty much all I need. 

Since, I still had a rough 20 minutes, before Nate needed us back, I turned around to my friends and asked,

‘One last hot chocolate?’ Their somber expressions, lightened as they nodded their heads. Emma had never tasted hot chocolate before coming to the Academy since her mother basically sheltered her from the world, so Jenavive and I made it our mission to show Emma what she missed. The hot chocolate was the first step towards this, and our chef made the best. I hefted the duffel bag over my shoulder, since I didn’t have enough time to drink hot chocolate and run back to our room, and unlocked the door. 

…………………….

‘Emma! Stop throwing marshmallows at me!’ Jenavive yelled. We had ordered our drinks and to make the wait more bearable, Emma was throwing marshmallows at us. 

I caught one in my mouth and threw my hands up triumphantly. They laughed and Gabby, our chef, signaled that our drinks were ready. 

We took the steaming hot drinks and went to our signature round table. Steam was rising from the dark blue cup, and white marshmallows bobbed on the surface of the dark brown drink. I blew the top of the cup and lifted it to my mouth. I had a pretty high heat tolerance since my mother had always made hot and spicy food since I was young. 

We went down memory lane, as we drank our hot chocolate, talking about all the good memories we made at the Academy. 

I bid my goodbyes and walked towards the room where Nate had said. I pulled my grey jacket closer around me and shivered. The only noise that accompanied me as I walked towards the room was the squeaking of my sneakers. 

When I finally arrived at the room, I swung the door open and went inside. Everyone except Jay was already here. Nithya was talking to Nate about something related to the ship and set my duffel bag on the floor. I walked up to Nithya and listened to what she was saying. She was talking about extra fuel tanks and how she couldn’t find them. 

Then I remembered where those were located. I cleared my throat and said, ‘I think I know where they are?’ 

Nate sighed in relief because he had no idea about what we were talking about and said, ‘Great! Could you help Nithya find them?” 

Nithya smiled and said, ‘I’ll take you to the ship!’ I followed her as she walked out of the room and out the back door. She stopped in front of a giant ship that had the name Alpha, written in gold lettering against the blue ship. She opened the door to the cockpit and gestured for me to go in first. 

I ducked my head under the roof of the door and climbed the stairs. The cockpit was already on since Nithya was previously in here. I looked around for a small grey door that was supposed to be located to the right of the pilot seat. Finally, I found it, hiding behind a box of comm sets. I opened the door and made a come here motion with my head. Nithya walked over and slapped her forehead. 

‘I swear I looked there.’ she said. I laughed and she said, 

‘We should probably distribute these to the team.’ pointing towards the box of comms. 

‘Yeah, we should.’ I agreed. She grabbed the brown box and we both climbed down the stairs. 

By the time we came back to the room, Jay had arrived and he was talking to Lucia about their hair. Jay had orange streaks in his hair and Lucia had a purple-blue ombre at the tips of hers. 

We distributed the comms to the team and I hooked it on my ear. Nate tested it, making sure it was working, and once that was set, it was time to fly. 

I looked around the room. These people were my new squadmates. Scarlet was sitting cross-legged on a box, talking to Rani, and Monsieur Jerry was fiddling with something in his hands. It looked like a mini-helicopter? Nithya was texting someone on her phone and Nate was checking if everything we needed was here. 

Nate nodded to Nithya and I, telling us to show the way to the ship. We open the passenger door and make sure they are all situated before we close the door. Then we go back to the cockpit and sit down in our seats. 

Since Nithya was flying first, she sat down on the first seat, and I sat down on the second. In front of us were screens, levers, and buttons. My pilot training kicked in and I was beginning to identify all pieces. Nithya turned the comms on, and said, 

‘We will start flying in a few minutes, please make sure your seatbelts are fastened.’ I start to hear footsteps coming toward the cockpit and I turn around to see Nate coming up. He stands behind us and gives us a thumbs up. 

‘You guys will do great! Start us as soon as you are ready.’ We nod and smile. Nate walks back to his seat, and Nithya asks, ‘Are you all ready?’ 

A collective ‘Yes’ goes around the comm set, and Nithya turns the ship on. I pull the black lever down, and Nithya sets the ship to fly. She turns to me and nods. 

I go to the comms set and say, ‘Ready for liftoff.’ Nithya presses the gas, and slowly we start to move across the ramp. I watch through the window as my home for the past five years grows smaller and smaller.