Moho (Part One: Rise of a Symbol) (2 page)

“Cosmo! Cosmo! Cosmo!” the crowd starts chanting. Thunderous applause erupts.

The man thoroughly enjoys the attention. He waits until the last clap has faded before he raises his hands and the chants stop.

“Welcome to my very own cyclical selection here at The Spring. Let me congratulate you on your decision to watch me as I might select one
— or maybe all — of our five begging contestants. Each of you has the chance to join me and become an Islander. So don’t disappoint me. Awe me. Convince me that you deserve a place on Cosmo's Islands. Let's get started — my time is as rare as my talent,” Cosmo says before he finally lowers his hands to roaring applause. I don't applause his narcissism, though.

Aleeya greets Cosmo and introduces him to the small group she was talking to earlier. They seem nervous but Aleeya smoothes over any uncomfortable moments in the brief meetings. He is about to leave when Aleeya points towards me and the two approach me.

Cosmo is holding his head up a little bit too high so that I’m wondering whether he is looking at me, at Victor right behind me, or at the sky above us. His steps are energetic and his posture is pristine. His whole body looks trained from head to toe. Dense, short hair covers his head. The man looks incredibly healthy, strong and powerful.

“Cosmo, I want you to meet a very, very special person,” Aleeya tells him. Her voice indicates a sense of anticipation.

Cosmo shakes my hand forcefully but keeps looking at Aleeya, waiting for my name.

“This, Cosmo, this is
,” she says hastily and pauses to take a deep breath to collect herself. She's so giddy all of the sudden. Then she stares back right into his eyes and adds slowly, “This is Moho.”

For a brief second Cosmo keeps shaking my hand with his signature smile on his face. Then something clicks for him. He lets go of my hand and his mouth and eyes open in disbelief.

"Are you alright, Cosmo? You look so powerless all of the sudden?" Aleeya asks with concern. His intense eyes wander between me and Aleeya a few times. Then he walks away in silence.

“What was that?” I ask Aleeya.

“A peculiar little man,” she answers with delight as she is rubbing my back. “Let’s take our seats. The show is about to begin,” she says with a twinkle in her left eye.

We sit down and so does everyone else. Cosmo takes his place on the opposite end of the plaza. No one is sitting near him. Only the thick fog with all the various animals from The Spring is behind him. It’s an impressive composition. He knows how to present himself.

“I won't ask you to begin," Cosmo says in a derogatory tone. The glow in his face is gone. His head lies in his left hand; his right foot is moving up and down.

A young man steps forward and clears his throat. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and stretches his arms away from his body. His fingers are spread wide as if he is grabbing something much too big for his hands
— and then, absolutely nothing happens. I look around and observe that everyone, even Koko, stares at the man with anticipation.

After a while the slight breeze from the ocean turns into a strong wind. The gray sky turns darker, the few rays of sunshine disappear
, and heavy raindrops hit my face. The crowd starts applauding but Cosmo appreciates neither the rain nor the applause.

“Stop it! You’re getting me wet!" he yells. "Next.”

The young man opens his eyes, lowers his arms and steps back into the row of contestants without saying a word. He looks heartbroken and utterly exhausted.

“So …,” I begin but I need another moment to find the words, “so Cosmo is looking for …”

“The selection is supposed to separate gifted navees from the rest,” Victor explains.

“So… so this guy is not gifted?” I wonder.

“I think he clearly is. But the Cosmo's Islands are named after Cosmo and he disagrees.”

“Poor guy,” I sigh.

“Ah, who wants to spend time with Cosmo anyway.”

Victor is probably right. Getting selected and being forced to spend time with this moody narcissist may indeed be more of a punishment.

Next, a little girl steps forward and walks straight up to Cosmo. Her confident posture and quick but numerous steps tell me that she is unaffected by the fate of her predecessor. She bows to Cosmo who looks away on purpose. Seemingly unfazed by Cosmos disinterest, she squats down and pushes her hands against the ground. Almost instantly a big, fat worm the size of her comes crawling out of the soil. It crawls through the crowd and as it passes us I notice that it looks and moves like a caterpillar. It is made of pure soil and keeps losing little rocks and dirt as it makes its way full circle back to Cosmo and the girl. And indeed, it is a caterpillar that now transforms into a cocoon. The crowd applauds but the girl doesn’t seem finished yet and confidently signals the crowd to stop. She has her eyes and hands fixed on the cocoon. Then the cocoon cracks open and a big butterfly crawls out of it, spreads its wings and takes off. Like the caterpillar and the cocoon before, the butterfly consists entirely of soil, apparently controlled by the little girl. She lets it fly around the plaza and dirt keeps falling off its wings and drizzles down on the crowd.

“She has to get selected,” I say to Victor.

“She should. But so many equally impressive hopefuls have come before her who didn’t get selected,” he tells me.

And as if he had foreseen it, the misfortune happens. The butterfly approaches the little girl and is about to land in front of her when Cosmo, who still isn’t paying attention, gets up and crashes into the landing butterfly. It bursts into thousands of chunks
of soil, covering Cosmo in a thick layer of rocks and dirt. Cosmo is paying attention now. The crowd goes back and forth between nervous laughter and gasps of shock. He shakes off the dirt. The little girl is so startled by the accident that she just stares up at Cosmo for a while. Then, she runs into the arms of a woman in the crowd.

Cosmo looks around, anger and dirt covering his face. His power that appeared protective and enviable before, feels hostile and dangerous now. And it is scary. I can outright sense how everyone fears his wrath.

Then, in what feels like a very gutsy move, the third contestant, an old man, steps forward to demand his turn.

Silence.

“Ares, you have proven unworthy more times than I’m willing to remember. And this is not going to change today - or - any - other - day,” Cosmo responds. His eyes wander through the crowd before he locks eyes with Ares.

“Look at you 'Cosmo' … all puffed up in your fancy costume these days,” Ares says slowly with disdain in his face “But you and I, we both know
—”

“That you won’t get selected, correct,” Cosmo counters quickly.

“What about her?” Ares asks as he points to the little girl. “And him?” and points to the young man next to him.

“Neither. Based on unparalleled discipline, unbreakable perseverance and enlightening adaptability, I select…” he declares and looks right into my eyes "Moho.”

Silence.

What? I look around, wondering if anyone noticed that he was looking at me when he announced his decision. Unfortunately, every single one of them did and none of them seemed to understand it either. Cosmo doesn't know how to process his own decision either. If it wasn't for the palpable tension all around me, I'd think this was a prank. Part of me wants to walk over to Cosmo to get an explanation, and there is a short moment when I could, but that moment passes. Within the blink of an eye he turns into pure light, shoots up into the grey sky and disappears in the same jaw-dropping fashion in which he first appeared. Gone.

Ares’ eyes and mine lock for a moment. He is still furious, but he also seems a bit jealous now. I’m a little afraid that I will get to feel his wrath, now that Cosmo has vanished. But then he turns around and disappears into the fog without saying another word.

Guilt settles in my mind as the uncomfortable silence continues. Nobody appears excited about my selection and I don't blame them. There are at least two people here with otherworldly abilities which, for whatever reasons, transform the ground below and the sky above us. They aren't good enough for Cosmo's Islands — but I am? I don't think so. Incredibly poor judgement on Cosmo's part. And what was I even selected for? Discipline, perseverance, and adaptability? How does he know that I possess those qualities when even I am unaware of them?

I turn my head to Victor in the hope for guidance, but his previously comforting aura is gone. His face has hardened and the warmth in his eyes has faded. I don't see anger in him, though. He stares across the plaza, straight into the fog. It’s almost as if he is deeply sad because he had been rooting for an entirely different outcome.

“What a surprise!” Aleeya exclaims in excitement. “Getting selected without doing anything at all. He must see something very special in you!” she says, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me a little as if she is trying to wake me up. Well, at least someone here is excited.

“Let us get started, my dear. We have a long journey ahead of us,” Aleeya says,
before getting up and offering me her left hand. I look at her demanding hand but I don’t feel like taking it. None of this here makes sense or feels real. For some reason I feel the need to talk to Victor about this situation.

“Victor,
” I begin.

“Yes, Moho,” Victor responds in a short tempered voice before he takes a deep breath. He can barely look me in the eye. There is an uncharacteristic sense of seriousness in him.

“So, what will I do now?” I ask. He rubs and squeezes his knees.

“You will figure it out,” he snaps. He doesn’t let it show and yet he does care deep down.

“You were the one who carried me out of The Spring when I was too weak to walk myself and fed me when I was too weak to eat myself,” I remind him.

“Yes. But you’re all grown up now, aren’t you?”

“What would I do if I didn’t leave?”

He doesn’t answer for some time and just stares into the fog instead. Then he shrugs and suggests, “Be a Springhelper. Follow the other people into the fog,” before he says, “stay with me…”

Silence.

“Oh, Victor, my dear, you don’t want Moho to regret such a silly decision later on,” Aleeya says with concern in her voice but impatience in her increasingly antsy hand.

“No, I don’t want Moho to regret this 'silly'
decision,” Victor clarifies.

“Exactly. Cosmo’s Islands is such an exclusive place full of unique people like you. You will adore it,” Aleeya promises.

And then I start to miss Victor. For some inexplicable reason I feel that Aleeya is right and I take her hand.

As we are walking up the hill to the birds, I bump into Victor and he bumps into me more times than either one of us can blame the barely slippery ground. Aleeya goes on and on about … I actually don’t know. All I do know is that my heart is heavy. My breaths are deep but ineffective. My stomach is fuzzy and my skin is freezing. But my brain is clear. Determined. Excited.

Aleeya gets on a bird and asks me to join her but I’m not ready yet. Victor looks at my face and I look at his face until he breaks the silence.

“Here, I want you to have this,” he says and takes out a small, golden-white stone. It's slightly transparent and glows. The light and temperature immediately remind me of The Spring. Victor takes it with both hands and with a sudden move of his big thumbs, the stone breaks into two pieces. He inspects both pieces and puts the bigger one into my right hand.

“That is a Glowing Stone, a Springstone to be precise. You won’t find many of them. Don't lose it,” he says.

"I won't," I respond and fail at the attempt to smile. His eyes alternate between the Glowing Stone and me for a while before he hugs me. As I’m buried in his big arms, I notice how protected I feel
— and somehow I get the uneasy feeling that I won’t feel this protected ever again.

After hours of nothing but the deep, blue sea below us I finally spot a big landmass on the horizon.

“There it is,” I say
, relieved.

“No, my dear,” Aleeya gently denies. "There it is," she explains and points to several tiny, barely visible spots in the sea directly below us. The bird agrees and slowly descends in circles onto a broad, sandy beach.

I get off the uncomfortably bony bird and stretch my sore body. The beach is filled with other oversized birds but their feathers match the sand so perfectly that one could mistake them for large piles of sand. It's like we landed right inside their dorm since they are all asleep, missing out on this beautiful late afternoon. The sun is beginning to set and its warm light shimmers in the feathers of the birds while a light breeze carries the sweet smell of the ocean over the beach.

I don’t notice that Aleeya and I aren’t alone until she carefully leads me to a girl sitting in the sand.

“I want you to meet Maya,” Aleeya says.

But the feeling isn’t mutual. Maya ignores us. Or she doesn’t notice us
; it’s hard to tell. She seems to observe something with great interest and excitement, and yet her eyes are completely closed. For a second I think she is dreaming, but her upright position and sporadic mumbling suggest otherwise. The wind blows strands of her straight hair back and forth across her face, but she isn't bothered. She is so lost in whatever she is experiencing that Aleeya eventually snaps her fingers directly next to her left ear to get her attention — and she gets it.

Maya opens her eyes immediately and looks around, quite lost, like we woke her up too early in the morning. She gasps when she sees us and stands up straight.

“Oh, how unprofessional of me. I apologize,” Maya quickly says and starts blushing. She wipes the sand off her long dress and straightens her hair, which is pointless because the wind keeps ruining it. But she keeps straightening it. “I have been waiting for this moment for such a long time.”

“Me, too,” Aleeya sighs. I don’t know what she means by that and neither does Maya. “But the wait is finally over," Aleeya claims and turns to me before she adds, "Maya will be your tutor during your time at Cosmo's Islands.”

“It is my distinct pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Maya says and shortly presses her forehead against mine without making any other physical contact.

“Yeah… nice to meet you, too,” I respond slowly
, wildly confused by her behavior. She does smell great, though.

“She will take it from here. I'll see you two at the ceremony,” Aleeya says and walks towards the dunes.

Silence.

Now awkward silence. And more awkward silence.

I look at her, waiting for her to 'take it from here' but she just frowns. Then she stares at me and squints, as if she is questioning my presence. Looks like I have to be the proactive one.

“So…” I begin and smile. She suddenly refocuses her attention and smiles back.

“Pardon me. I had planned a highly informative arrival experience for my first turn as a tutor. I was going to give you a perfectly balanced tour around Cosmo's Islands with stops at some of the most famous sites to satisfy your curiosity, but also with some stops at the meaningful sites where I could shine as your tutor with a blend of highly witty and simultaneously very insightful anecdotes about the historic and educational elements of the Islands.  But you were so, so very late and we cannot miss the Springday ceremony. Mh… disappointing. I am such a disappointment,” she says.

“Wow! You’ve given this a lot of thought. But I’m fine. I didn’t develop any expectations to disappoint
,” I say supportingly.

"Are you certain? Cosmo's Islands are so famous and yet almost no one has ever set
foot on them. You must have so many questions."

“Actually, I do, but not about the Islands. What I’m wondering is, well, what were you doing when we arrived?”

“I was watching your selection on MNOP,” she says casually as if this answers my question. She starts walking towards the dunes and I follow her.

“Sorry but what is MNOP?” I ask.

“It’s short for Memory Network of Persadia. All memories navees make that they don’t consider private are on there for most people to watch. It’s quite unusual that Cosmo didn’t require a presentation of your skills.”

“So it has happened before.”

“Not since The Second Dark Time. That’s what made people curious. Billions of navees have watched the memories of your selection already."

“Billions?”

“Yes. Actually, now that you mention it, in a way you are a famous site of the Islands yourself now.”

“Famous for what? Cosmo’s questionable judgement?”

“It is not wise to underestimate Cosmo. There is no one like him.”

“That could be said of anyone. However, at least we have seen one famous site today.”

“Oh, that was quite funny,” she says without a smile.

“That was the intent,” I say with a smile.

We now reach the dunes and leave the birds behind us. Maya keeps straightening her hair and the wind keeps ruining it. It’s adorable that she cares that much but I also want to release her from her trouble.

“Hey, don’t worry. You look good,” I assure her and grab her hand that is touching up her hair. And she feels amazing. Her skin is so soft. Really, really soft. She stares at my hand grabbing hers and I quickly let go, wondering if that was too much.

“So, I’m sorry to have more questions but what is The Second Dark Time?”

“Oh, feel free to ask whatever you want to know. Answering your questions is one of my functions as your tutor,” she explains. “We use the term to refer to the period of human infiltration and the resulting outburst of violence on Persadia. But like the first time, The Spring freed us of the invaders by taking away their light. Unfortunately, some navees, especially
—," she says. She suddenly turns pensive and adds, "young ones did get entangled in the disorder of the time and lost their lights as well.”

I can’t claim that I understand all of it but the somber note she ends on signals me that this is not the moment to ask for clarification.

“I don’t want you to misunderstand this and I liked it — in a way — but what were you doing when we met?” I ask and she frowns, so I add, “With your forehead?”

“Oh, I see. This is the most common greeting on Persadia. We call it hongi. It means 'I trust you'. Or 'I open my mind to you'. It’s very easy to access someones mind when you're that close to it. Touching someone else’s forehead signals them that you are willing to let them know your thoughts, your memories, and so on.”

“Interesting.”

“Is it? I mean
, how else would you greet someone?”

“Depends. Shake hands, I guess.”

“Shake hands? What a strange idea,” she says, before she holds her hands in front of her face and starts shaking them. “Like this?” she asks seriously and observes her shaking hands. “Ah, fascinating… what does it mean?”

Wow. Where am I? Is this really happening? I let her shake them a little longer.

"No, like this," I say as I stop walking, stretch my arm out towards her, and shake it a little. She looks at it, stretches out her arm towards me and shakes it a little next to mine but without touching my hand. Her helplessness is adorable and bewildering at the same time. So I grab her hand and squeeze it lightly to end this weirdness. “Like this,” I clarify and let go off her hand.

“We didn’t shake our hands,” she complains.

“We don’t need to," I say. To be completely honest, I forgot to shake hers because I was so distracted by her. "It’s more about the physical contact."

“Physical contact? What would that be good for?”

“Well, I mean, it feels good, doesn’t it? It makes you feel more connected to the other person.”

“Connection through physical contact? Fascinating,” she says
,  and she even means it. “Moho, I must say, I have never heard of people like you. And you know so little about us. What part of Persadia are you from?”

“None. I was created in The Spring and shortly thereafter Cosmo selected me.”