PART III

XVII

My final exams started the following Lunasday. Needless to say, my humiliation and fall from grace had left a huge dent in me, so my heart was not in my work, nor was my concentration there. I slipped up on basics in my Advanced Mana Development exam, I did not finish my essay for my Yamauchian Studies exam, my brain refused to recall quite a number of Moogle and Matangese words in my Great Forest Languages exams, and my expression and tonal quality was mediocre for my Music exams. I think it was one of the worst times I have played the potosa.

Immediately after final exams was the Seniors’ Ball. It was held at the old Anero Hotel before they moved, also run by the company that owns the inn, Kor Undi. I remember being fitted out for a suit and, as usual, they had forgotten about my tail. My suit was adjusted at the last moment, and I was able to put it on for the first time two hours before it began.

Xenophobic Pandoran girls are not inclined to finding any sort of appeal in a Yoshi, as I had discovered when we had occasions with girls’ schools. Therefore, I had no date. Nase had a girl, whose name I don’t remember. So, the whole evening basically ended up with me sitting at our table in the back corner, sipping fake aluponatyso (sort of like champagne), and looking across the room to the dance floor, where all the humans, girls and guys, were happily moving about.

It must have been about half an hour before Nase, Randi Wipu, and Jema Patati came over to the table again.

“Hey, Dy, what are you doing there?” Jema asked.

“Nothing,” I muttered, as I took another sip of the fake aluponatyso, then wiping my mouth with my napkin.

“Come to the dance floor, Dy! You’re missing out on a good time!”

“I don’t care,” I sighed, leaning back and closing my eyes.

“Dy, come on!” Randi piped up. “It’s fun! You know that!”

I opened them, sat up a bit straighter, looked at Randi, then across to the dance floor. “They’re all Pandoran girls,” I said. In our group of friends, “Pandoran” implied all of the accompanying xenophobia and shunning.

“I know,” Nase answered me.

“Why aren’t you with them?” I asked.

Jema rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. “They want to hang out among themselves for a while. Don’t ask me why, girls are strange.”

“We’ve probably been dumped,” said Randi, “but…well, my date’s a bit…eh...how do they say it?”

“A lullabud,” Nase answered. “Looks pretty, but bites.”

“That’s it.”

I sighed again, and swept my hand across the view. “They all are.”

“Come on, Dy, don’t be so–” Jema started.

“They’re human, Jema! Look at me! ‘Turengato-lon-go!’”

I picked up my drink and downed the rest of it in one shot.

“I’m going home,” I said firmly.

“Dy,” Randi moved beside me, preventing me from leaving, “they won’t let us out until it’s over.”

“I’m leaving when everyone else is, Randi. No, what I mean is, home. Yamauchi. I have an aunt who lives in Yoshiville, I’ll stay with her, get a degree at a university there, then after that, get a job, get a Yoshi wife, have some Koyoshies, because here, here, I have absolutely no chance of it.”

There was silence for a few moments as I stared angrily ahead of me.

“When did you decide that?” asked Nase.

I looked at my watch. “About twenty minutes ago.”

Jema sighed. “You’re just upset, Dy, come onto th–”

“Don’t I have a right to be?” I asked. “I was humiliated before the whole school and Grammar by my childhood bully whom I thought was out of my life years ago, I absolutely sucked at my finals, I have no date because they’re all Pandoran, I’m never going to have a family on this planet because I don’t think my genes and human, Matangese, Moogle or anyone else’s genes mix together, my friend died before my eyes, his father abused me, I have an uncle and aunt whom I’m never going to meet because they died, probably my cousin as well, and then I lost my brother when I was mere inches from saving him…oh great, I’ve started to cry…”

I plopped my head onto the table and started sobbing. Randi patted my back.

“We know you’ve had it tough, Dyluck,” Nase said. “But, tonight’s meant to be a celebration. School’s over. We go out tomorrow night as men–”

“And Yoshi,” I reminded him.

“–And Yoshi,” he continued, “to make our claim on life. Fresh start.”

I sniffed, lifted my head, and wiped my eyes on my napkin. “The only way I’m going to have a fresh start is if I get off this planet,” I said, sniffing again. I took a deep breath and placed the napkin beside me. “I’ve had a lot of pain on this world, all burdens on my shoulders. Yamauchi is the place for me to begin again. I’m going to get there before the Pandoran Army finds me and I have to deal with people like that lieutenant.”

I didn’t end up going onto the dance floor. Nase, Randi, Jema and I just talked the rest of the evening away.

The next day, the final day, was quite a simple affair: turn up, go through the routine of graduation for an hour, then go home again, and get ready. Being a potosa player, I had to go to City Hall in Pandora early, go through the routines for the evening, sound check and everything. Because of my poor exam performance, and the now obvious upset about the fight with Dogo, the solo I had intended to do was given to someone else in the orchestra’s performance by Syoro Ariupos. I had nothing to do in the potosa ensemble except to play.

The night came, and there were speeches, prizes awarded, more speeches by the officials of the organisation who owned Luka College, and then the orchestra performance. It went alright, or at least I played alright.

Syoro Apos’ speech, and some more prizes later, there was the potosa ensemble’s performance. First piece, I don’t remember, but it went fine. Then came the second, a rendition of Phantom and a Rose, the song that I always associate with my loss of Ark. I was placed in the seconds and, as a result, I had to play Ark’s part.

We started off alright, went through everything fine, and then we reached Ark’s part. My fingers slipped, and my breath was uneven as I tried to keep my emotions in check. I was in the front row – everyone saw it, everyone saw who made the mistake, everyone saw the tear go down my cheek. I guess I’m lucky everyone didn’t suddenly go “Aww” or something like that.

After the performance, Syoro Ariupos took me aside backstage. “What, by Drepatos, happened to you in Phantom?” he hissed.

“Syoro, that’s the song I auditioned with back when I started at Luka,” I answered.

His eyes grew calm and caring again. “That’s right. I see. End of school emotions.”

“No, Syoro Ariupos. That song, I associate with Ark’s loss.”

He paused, and then nodded. “In that case, you did very well to hold it all in. Here, you’d better go and take your place for the Senior Presentation. Best of luck for the future, Dyluck.”

“Thank you, Syoro Ariupos.”

And so, the Senior Presentation happened. I was called up as part of Dryad Tabonopo (we’d come third that year, much to Sylphid Tabonopo’s disdain as we beat them), walked across the stage, took my references and certificates and everything, and moved back to allow the others through. Naturally, I stood with my friends, we gave our creed that we were now men (I said “Yoshi”), and then, that was that. I was free of school.

Our group of friends celebrated our school-leaving with a trip to Tasnica – we’d saved up all year. Jema had relatives back home that we stayed with, and they were kind enough to allow us to stay for a pittance. It was there that I fell in love with Tasnican food, tasting the genuine article, not some Pandoran emulation. We saw the sights, took pictures, went to the beach a lot and when we came home two weeks later, my skin was orange and pink from the sun.

It was then that the nervous wait began for our final results. It was also then that I discussed my plans with my parents. They were nervous about money, but they, somewhat begrudgingly, agreed. I wrote a letter to Aunt Tia giving my intentions; she wrote back and said that it was fine with her. That took about two weeks, thanks to the warp.

With that settled, we visited the Mushroom Kingdom Consulate in Pandora City two days later – the Yoshi Archipelago had not yet set up any sort of embassy on Fa’Diel, therefore, Yoshies went to the Mushroom Kingdom one.

Firstly, they had to determine what nationality I was, exactly – I hatched in Pandora to dual-citizenship parents; therefore, I was solely Pandoran. This had already been worked out for my trips to Yamauchi and Tasnica. Because I didn’t have my parents’ benefit, I decided that I would apply for dual-citizenship.

Enter red tape. The Consulate had to talk to the Embassy in Matango, who then had to talk to the Kingdom Department of Immigration, who then had to talk to the Yoshi Department of Immigration. We were kept informed as to what was happening with my question until it left Fa’Diel. As official, state correspondence gets priority in the warp, it took two days for it to reach the Kingdom Department. However, because it was correspondence between two countries, it took longer for it to get to the Yoshi Department, and back to the Kingdom Department, then it went back through the warp, to the Embassy, to the Consulate, who then gave me the forms the Archipelago had sent, and the accompanying information, ten days after it all began.

Firstly, I would have to live in the Archipelago for a year, cut short from the usual three thanks to my parents. Secondly, I would need to be there for a reason – application for university studies. And thirdly, the Kingdom of Pandora would have to agree to dual-citizenship, so, the Mushroom Kingdom Embassy would be acting as messenger between the two.

One of the problems with this was that my results had not yet come in so that I could apply for a position at a university. I looked at all of the universities in Yoshiville over the Interworldnet, and settled on the University of Yoshiville. Once I had my results, I would contact them.

I informed the Consulate of this, and they told me to start filling out the forms, and they would send it all off for processing – I had a grace period of three months to apply for a university in if my application was approved. I filled them out, and sent them off. I was feeling quite happy. I was going home. I went to bed with a smile on my face, probably for the first time since before the fight.

I slept in the next day. I was woken up to my mother knocking on my door. She opened it enough for her to put a letter on my dressing table, right beside the door, before she closed it again. Half-asleep, I got up and walked over, and picked it up.

It was a large envelope, with my name and address typed on the front, along with a big red “DO NOT BEND”. I looked on the back, and there was nothing but “E.P.D.P.Ch.” printed on it. It took a moment for it to sink in: all official governmental letters had these letters on it, standing for “A Duty for Pandora’s King”.

I’d never received an E.P.D.P.Ch. letter before. Bemused, I took it back to bed, snuggled down in the covers, and opened it.

Out slid a number of sheets of paper. I discovered why the sender did not want it to be bent: it contained my Certificate of School Completion, which displayed my final results.

Looking at it woke me up. “By the Elementals…” I whispered.

My poor effort in my final exams had really affected my final results. While I will not detail them here, I was not pleased with what I saw.

“Damn you, Dogo,” I muttered.

I put it aside and read another piece of paper. It was headed with a crest of a sword in a stone, with waves parting to either side of it – it represented Pandora, and could be seen in most crests throughout the country. However, the more I looked at its blue and whiteness, the more detail I noticed. An axe lay before the stone. The crests of each wave turned into a bow with a drawn arrow. Beneath it was not the usual motto of Pandora, “The Lowlands of High Virtue”, but one that read “To Protect Peace to the Last with Duty and Honour”.

Beneath it:

Dear Mr Yoshi,

This letter is to inform you that by your 54.62% selection percentage, you have been conscripted into the Pandoran Army to serve one year’s worth of national service. Your service will begin seven days after receipt of this letter. You shall present yourself at Pandora Castle, Pandora City, at noon on this day. If you hold dual-citizenship with another state recognised by the Kingdom of Pandora, please bring details of your dual-citizenship so that you may be excused.

I thought about my friends at that moment. All of them had dual-citizenship. Should they also receive a letter like this, all they had to do was wave their passport and they would be free. I then thought about my application, and if it would have any bearing.

Please note that you may bring a bag, no larger than a small hiking backpack, of personal belongings of inoffensive material and civilian clothing. The Army shall supply you with your required equipment. No prior purchase of goods is necessary.

Failure to present yourself shall bring about a fine of 525 Lucre. After seven days of this date, should you still fail to present yourself, you will be brought before military court with a charge of desertion. Customs officers at border checkpoints have been instructed to prevent conscripted soldiers from leaving the Kingdom of Pandora. Arrangements with the Cannon Travel Network have been made so as to prevent issuing of tickets for travel by it. Should you manage to leave the Kingdom of Pandora, authorities in other countries will seek your arrest and deportation. The Army brings to your attention that should you have any current applications for emigration from the Kingdom of Pandora, or should you make any such applications within the next seven days, will be suspended until you have completed your national service.

The Army looks forward to your honourable duty to protect the Kingdom of Pandora to the last.

It was signed with some official’s name that I didn’t care about. I picked up the bundle of papers and threw them on the floor. I sank beneath the covers and cursed through my tears. I cursed my friends for being able to escape conscription. I cursed the Pandoran Army for picking me. I cursed myself for my rotten luck. But most of all, I cursed Dogo. Just when I thought it was all over, it would be starting again.