That was the first instruction I had received from the scroll—whose consequence was a quick action. I walked to the Supreme Harvester and held out the scroll to him. He refused to take it back, saying, “No, Haji. The scroll has found its rightful owner. I was simply a caretaker. I have nothing to do with it now.”

I turned my gaze to the scroll, which I clenched in my right hand, then looked back at Elder Zakai and asked him, “Who gave it to you, sir?”

“Destiny gave it to me, child.”

“Who is Destiny, sir?”

He gave an old man’s rough laugh and gently held both my arms just below the shoulders, “Haji. You don’t understand life, do you?”

He took me to a window along the balcony and pulled the curtain that had covered it to the side. Elder Zakai told me to look through the window and up into the sky, “Do you see those stars?”

“Yes. I see them, sir.”

“Good. You also see the moon, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I want you to keep staring at them until the sun rises.”

I nodded and watched him walk away and out of the library. The library had not been opened yet. Now I was the only person left. I kept staring at the sky as he had instructed me, but I also kept thinking, He could have just told me who Destiny was. Or maybe it’s a ‘it’…mmmm.

As I looked on, waiting for the sun to emerge, my head started tilting with tiredness. My eyes felt as dry as a sun-scorched desert. Each time my head tilted, I brought it back up. I hadn’t slept since my first class, and I had just spent a night in the library, surely I was tired. I decided to sit on the floor and continue looking up. However, my vision grew darker and darker until all I could see was complete darkness—I had fallen asleep.

—

“So, class, today we’re going to learn about the first harvester. Who can tell us who the first harvester was?”

“Yes, Derrick.”

“The first harvester was Noni Sao, sir.”

“That is correct. Clap for your friend, class.”

—

I finally woke up only to find the sun well overhead. The beams of light penetrated my eyes violently. I found myself at the same spot in the library but I was still lost and couldn’t remember how I got there. I couldn’t sight anyone except a small, human-shaped figure that kept growing as it got closer to me. Before long, I had recognized the figure to be Mrs. Klosé—a charming middle-aged librarian with long black hair and radiant amber eyes. She knew me just as well as I knew her—or so I thought—since I used to visit the library often.

Because the top section of the library wasn’t open until noon, I had slept up to that time before Mrs. Klosé woke me up after she found me laying on the floor, “Haji!”

My mind still trying to catch up, “Wh-what, Mrs. Klosé?”

“Did you spend the entire night in here?”

From there, I remembered what I had been doing before sleep stole me, Elder Zakai…he left me here.

“Yes, madam, I was doing research with Elder Zakai.”

She noticed the scroll that had rolled away a few centimeters to the left while I was asleep, “What’s that?”

She reached out to pick it up, but before she could lay her hand on it, there was a golden spark that flashed like a bolt of lightning between her hand and the scroll. She jumped back, drawing her hands which she had folded into fists to her bosom—she was almost swept off her feet from the trembling. The spectacles she wore had also developed cracks. I got up to grab the scroll off the floor, and I succeeded—nothing happened. She looked at me with a gaze that seemed to say, ‘Hey! How did you do that?’ But she couldn’t say anything. Although I was equally surprised and scared, I remembered what the Supreme Harvester had said about the scroll being with ‘its rightful owner’ Oh no. This is bad, I have to leave before anything else happens. I took off immediately before she had fully recovered from the shock, “See you soon, Mrs. Klosé.”

“H-hey!”

But it was too late, I had already left.

I sprinted to class but found no one there, What! There was no class today? I looked around and saw that one window of the classroom was left open, No, there was, and I missed it. On turning away from the classroom door, I heard my stomach growl. I tried to rub my tummy but found myself holding the scroll, It’s this thing again. Let me try to open it and see what it’s saying this time. I opened the scroll and tried tapping on it—it remained blank, so I closed it. Huh… guess I just have to get back to the dorms.

On reaching the dorms, I was just as exhausted and hungry as I was worried. I sneaked to the kitchen while no one was there to check for leftovers. In camp, all meals were taken at the same time, so if a harvester couldn’t commune with the others, nothing would be left for them. In rare cases where some food remained, it would be stored in basins, in the kitchen, for about three hours before being brought out to the fields and buried for composting.

I checked every basin for leftovers, but I couldn’t find any, the growling of my stomach kept getting louder. I walked out of the kitchen and found the other kids playing outside while the camp was busy as usual. The artisans were crafting rock and cedar pendants, along with metallic ones. The bakery was emitting a sweet aroma that made my stomach rumble the more. Steam vehicles were moving to and fro taking people around camp. Instrumentalists were also playing their flutes, marimbas and other instruments as they did every day.

“Haji!” Derrick called out as he ran to me holding a ginger fritter.

He was the slim boy who had complimented me on asking Elder Zakai a question at the feast. The boy had always wanted to befriend me, but since he was taller and older than me, I just couldn’t stand him. However, that day was different. I was hungry. I couldn’t afford to keep him off and keep starving.

I waved at him as he got closer with an emotionless smile, “Hey, Derrick.”

“I just wanted to give you this,” he placed the fritter in my hands, “take it, ” and then he ran off.

I hadn’t said anything when he was leaving, but the way he looked at me before handing me the fritter made me wonder, Haji, what’s wrong with you? You can’t even smile. Look at you; you don’t have any friends.

As much as I would have stayed worried, I ate the fritter and drunk a lot of water from a well at the camp square. I could see my reflection from the well—a little boy with big, bronze-colored eyes and short black hair. The sight of my childish face brought back thoughts I had long buried, If my parents were still here, I would have no reason to make friends.

About the same time, I saw another face from the well. It was Elder Zakai’s. I turned back and found him staring at me. I remembered the class I had missed and worried about the consequences I would face.

“S-sir.” I bowed my head in respect.

“Haji. Did you do what I instructed you?”

“No, sir. I fell asleep before the sun came up.”

He knelt down to my height and clamped my arms gently below the shoulders, “You finally understand destiny, don’t you?”

“W-what? No.”

“Child, you slept and the sun still came up. That is destiny.”

“Huh?”

“Staring at the sky couldn’t change anything. The sun would still rise,” He added.

My eyes shrunk in realization that, As long as it is time, the sun will rise no matter what. This means I can stop the Archharvester no matter what.

“…”

“Do you get it?”

I nodded.

“Good. When I was a kid just like you, I used to wander alone in the quarry sites of the mining province of Elka.”

“Sir, you are from Elka?”

“Yes. That’s where I am originally from. That’s where I found the scroll as well.”

I wanted to know more, but I also needed to know my status at the academy after missing class.

“When I was young…”

“Sir.”

“Yes, Haji.”

“I missed class today, because…”

“You are suspended.”

“Prepare to become a man.”