Chapter 4: The City of Obsidian

“I just don’t understand why I haven’t been Marked yet.”

I fought back the urge to roll my eyes at my fifteen-year-old sister Addison as she once again pouted at the dinner table. She sat back in her chair, her arms crossed defiantly over her chest. Her chicken pot pie sat untouched on her plate, even though it was one of her favorite dinners.

My mom sighed, one of those oh-my-goodness-I-can’t-believe-we’re-talking-about-this-again sighs. “Honey, you know it’s just random. Nobody can control when you’re chosen to be Marked.”

“I know,” Addison whined, “but I’m one of the few people in my grade that still doesn’t have one. It just sucks to be left out.”

“I know it’s hard,” my dad chimed in from the other side of the table, a sympathetic expression on his face. “But your time will come, Addie. And when it does, it’ll be one of the best days of your life.”

I choked on my bite, drawing everyone’s eyes to me. As my eyes watered, I managed a small “sorry”.

“But Evie was Marked when she was just 9. And you guys both got yours when you were in middle school. It just doesn’t seem fair.” Addison’s shoulders slumped, and she gave in, clearly more sad than mad at this situation.

I felt sorry for her in a way, understanding what it feels like to be left out of the norm.

***

As I was reading later that night, I heard a light knock on my door. Addison poked her head in after a moment.

“Hey. Are you busy?”

“No.” I put my book down. By her expression, I could tell she wanted to talk, so I motioned for her to come over. She sat down next to me, crossing her legs and looking at me with the most intensity I’d ever seen from her.

“What did it feel like?” she asked.

“What?”

“Getting Marked. What did it feel like?”

“Oh,” was all I could say at first. I was tempted to just give her an amplified version of what happened, telling her everything she probably wanted to hear just to make her feel better.

But I’d lied enough. That story was one thing I could tell truthfully.

***

ELEVEN YEARS EARLIER

I stepped off the plane and clutched onto my mom’s hand for dear life. That plane ride was the most unsettling thing I’d ever experienced. The plane was tiny, with no windows except for by the front of the plane. The ride had been bumpier than any flight I’d been on at the time, and even more unsettling was the fact that I had no idea where we were or where we were going.

That was the thing about Obsolis: nobody besides the people that lived there knew where it really was. And the people that lived there were sworn to secrecy, and never left the city unless to take a plane to go pick someone up for their ceremony.

Everyone had been telling me that the Marking ceremony was one of the most amazing moments in someone’s life, and after that plane ride, I didn’t see how that was possible at all. That was, until my eyes adjusted and I could look around me for the first time.

I felt like I had been transported into some kind of dream world. The sky wasn’t the blue Arizona sky I was used to. It was a deep purple, almost like the moment between a vibrant sunset and pitch-black night, except it was still somehow light enough to where I could see everything in front of me clearly.

Not so far in the distance, I could see the tall, black buildings that soared up into the sky.

We’d made it to Obsolis: The City of Obsidian.

I’d heard many stories about Obsolis, and its obsidian buildings and violet sky, but it was hard to picture growing up. Even though everybody knew it existed somewhere in the world, there was no photo or video proof of it. There were only drawings that people created after their one and only visit.

Even then, nothing could’ve prepared me for the actual place. It looked like a painting; like I somehow had fallen into a picture. There was no way a place like this existed when everything else in the world was so…normal.

There wasn’t much time to revel in the beauty of Obsolis before my mom tugged me down the path toward a man that waited beside a car. He was in a pristine white robe, and his head was completely shaved. I knew from the stories that he was a Follower of the Divines, the magical beings that Fate spoke through. They gave everyone in the world their Marks.

“Hello,” the man began, his voice calming and polite. “My name is Rivan, and I will be escorting you to your ceremony today.” He bowed his head at my mom and I and opened the back door for us to climb in.

I allowed my mom to tug me into the car, because I was still in too much shock to really move.

I looked out the window to the streets of Obsolis and tried to take everything in. After all, I’d only be here once in my life, unless I came to escort my kids one day to get Marked before the age of ten. Apparently after that age, kids didn’t need their mother’s hand to hold onto so tightly that it turned white. They weren’t like me in this moment.

Since we were much closer to the obsidian buildings, I could see how—when the light hit the stone in a certain way—there was this beautiful purple that would break out, just begging to be seen.

The streets were empty, minus the occasional Follower here and there. It made the town even more eerie.

Finally, we pulled up to the large dome in the center of the city: The Temple of the Divines. It was, of course, made entirely out of obsidian, and any windows were covered by some darker sheet from the inside.

Rivan opened our door and walked us to the front of the temple. I’d been too distracted by the magical and unrealistic city that I was in to even consider being nervous for my ceremony up to this point. Now, though, as we stood right in front of the doors, I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking.

My mom must’ve noticed, because she bent down to be eye level with me. “It’s okay, Evie, you just have to breathe. It’s just going to be a little sting, but then you’ll feel okay again. I know you can do it. You have to be strong right now, Evie.”

She kissed my forehead, and then nodded to Rivan. She stood back up, and then motioned for me to go inside.

“Go ahead, Evie. I’ll be right here when you’re done.”

I kept my eyes on her the whole time, until the door closed behind me. I was alone.

Candles with violet flames were strewn out everywhere: on the floor, on the ceiling, and even on the walls. The rest of the room was practically empty, minus a rug and cushion in the center, a small table with what looked like tools on it next to the cushion, and a woman.

She stood facing out, on the complete opposite side of the room than me. She wore a long, white dress, one that billowed around her feet. The edges floated above the ground, as if being pushed by a breeze of some kind, but I didn’t feel anything.

“Evangeline Whitman.” Her voice echoed across the room and sent chills down my spine. It had somehow been so loud, and yet felt like a whisper on the back of my neck.

“Please take your seat,” she continued. Her back was still to me, but she motioned toward the cushion. I made my way over and sat down.

After a few moments of silence, the woman finally turned around, and I stifled a gasp.

I hadn’t known what to think about the stories of the Divines, the Vessels of Fate, but it hadn’t been the fact that their eyes weren’t eyes at all.

Still in the shape of eyes, and in the places where eyeballs belonged, were two vibrant star sapphires: blue all around, with what looked like a silver star in the center where the pupil would normally be.

I tried not to stare too long at the Divine, but I couldn’t look away from those eyes. After only about three strides, though, she was standing between me and the table with the strange looking tools. She moved around some things, and then finally turned back toward me.

In her hands was what looked like an obsidian pen of some kind, and what dripped off of the tip was a dark, thick liquid.

I gulped, not wanting her to see my fear, but her perfect facial features remained stoic. Without warning, she grabbed my left arm and pulled it toward her.

“Evangeline Whitman,” she began. “It is time for us to bestow upon you the Mark for which Lady Fate has deemed yours. She sent me her vision of your future, your happiness and love. And then she sent me this Mark.”

The Divine brought the pen down onto my arm, just below the crease of my elbow. I held back a cry of surprise at how hot the liquid was as it dripped onto my skin. ‘You have to be strong right now, Evie.’

Then the Divine began to draw.

“This Mark will lead you to your happiness. The one bearing the twin of it will be your soulmate. Lady Fate has chosen this Mark for you. You and only one other person in the world will have it. Together, you will find eternal prosperity.”

Her wrist moved quickly and prevented me from seeing what she was drawing. Her eyes were closed tightly as she drew. I bit my lip as my eyes began watering from the uncomfortable sensation.

“Let Lady Fate guide you through your journey to happiness. Let her warmth flow through this Mark and into you, leading you to the one you are meant to be with. For She is with you now.”

The Divine raised the pen at the last word, and the pain was gone instantly. She glided back to her spot by the window without another word.

My arm tingled, and it felt like a jolt of electricity had gone through my body. My heart started pounding in my chest, but I wasn’t nervous or scared anymore. Instead, I felt warm, calm. I felt like I’d been wrapped in the comfiest blanket in the world.

I looked down at my arm, at this design that would forever be a part of me, and I smiled.

***

PRESENT

“I was excited,” I told Addison to finish off the story and sum it up. “It was amazing, feeling like I was being set up for the rest of my life in that moment.” As I thought about that sensation, the one that I’d had right after I’d received my Mark, it seemed oddly familiar. But I couldn’t place it.

Addison had listened to me the entire time, and her eyes widened at certain parts out of curiosity.

She was silent for a few moments, before saying, “What changed?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You think I don’t notice that you always cover up your Mark when you can? Or how you look like you’re going to vomit anytime anyone brings up Fate or soulmates, or any of it? How do you go from being so excited to that?” Her words weren’t accusatory, merely curious. Still, I cursed myself for making it so obvious.

“Well,” I began, now just eager to end this conversation, “eleven years is a long time. I guess I just ran out of hope a while ago.”