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I dont have wings

  I don't have wings, but I'm flying through the blue sky.

  I see the sunrise while still in the air through the cabin window, it's extremely beautiful.

  I'm flying for the second time in my life, to the city of Venice to meet my two new teachers.

  After hearing the announcement that we'll be landing soon, I take off my glasses, wrap them in a cleaning tissue, and put them in a small case.

  I can't see very well without them, but there's only so much safety.

  I buckle my seatbelt and wait while I look out of the window.

  I see the great sea and, in the distance, the city on the water, one of the wonders of engineering.

  The sound of the plane's turbines is clear, but my ears focus on the sound of the air as the plane descends, 74.5 tons of steel descending from the sky and landing on earth, with little roses to contain its speed, it's exhilarating just to think about.

  When the plane lands, I feel a thud and then it begins to slow down.

  A minute and a half later, we're in the arrival area.

  I put my glasses back on and wait for the mess to stop.

  I think as I wait, grabbing from my backpack a letter of information I received about my teachers, unfortunately it doesn't contain a description of their appearance.

  "How am I supposed to find someone if I don't even know what they look like?" That's not even the worst part, the last four students of these two died in promotion exams.

  Of course, Aldwin became a knight in just 5 years, a record, but their other student is holed up in a random village in a forest in Norway!

  I think and get up, take my suitcase from the storage area above and direct myself to the exit, a tunnel that leads to another tunnel and then to an exit hall.

  There are several benches, a hot dog cart and, on the other side, a large window overlooking the sea.

  I buy a hot dog and go to one of the benches closest to the window, where I sit down to watch the sea.

  It's 7:20 in the morning, the meeting time at the airport isn't until 7:40, so I can give myself a bit of time.

  The beautiful view of the sea is only compromised by one thing: the sea is beyond the airport runway, but it's still fun to see planes departing and arriving.

  "I wonder how she's doing..." I take my cell phone out of my pocket and turn it on.

  After 30 seconds, I open a messaging app and send one to someone, along with a photo of the sea in the distance, then I look at the time.

  "7:38! Damn, I got too distracted!" I scream in despair and get up, grabbing my suitcase and running out of the arrivals area.

  It takes me 10 minutes to complete the immigration process, I'm already late and I haven't even met my teachers yet, I'm screwed!

  I desperately run through the airport until I reach the outdoor parking lot, where we were scheduled to meet at 7:40, but it's already 7:48, what a shame, luckily the concealer shoes are working, so no one looks at me like I'm crazy.

  I walk around the parking lot looking for someone who looks like, I don't know, an exorcist or a baptizer, how the hell am I supposed to find them!

  I've seen people getting into cabs, others getting on a tourist bus, and some getting a lift from relatives, but nothing that looks like what I'm looking for.

  "An?" Something strange, it looks like an optical illusion.

  I focus my eyes in one direction to see better, my vision clearing on the target.

  I manage to see a tall man with brown hair and a green T-shirt, who is leaning on a car reading a gossip magazine.

  The car behind him is completely silver, but the wheels are strange, they look like they're made of stones.

  From a distance, I can identify the numbers 2, 4 and 8 in sequence on the wheel, in front of 2 there's a strange symbol that I don't recognize.

  As he's the only stranger there, I approach him, since he probably is one of the teachers.

  The man lifts his face, stopping from reading the magazine and starts to look at me, my eyes widen, the shoe didn't work for him, that's who I'm looking for!

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  Before I can take another step forward, the man does a hand sign and the door of the car opens by itself.

  "Get in the car, Saulo, we are late," he just opens the driver's door and gets in the car without waiting for me to reply.

  I swallow dry, take courage and get into the car.

  As soon as I close the back door, my eyes almost pop out of my face, extreme nausea hits me as the interior of the vehicle transforms.

  From the outside, the car is a mere Fiat 147, an old and unimpressive car, but inside it's much bigger.

  Leather seats are spread across the side of the vehicle, between the rear and the driver's seat, a small window separates the driver from the rest, a minibar is inside the two seats, and in the middle of the place is a box with my name written on it.

  "What was that?..." I settle into my seat, still dizzy, until the man's voice answers my question.

  "I put this car together using Yesod, Binah and Hod, so it has a much larger interior than the outside, as well as altering the perception of those outside, very useful," I can hear a proud tone in the man's voice, clearly pleased with his creation as he starts the car's engine with the key.

  "Oh, excuse my manners, my name is Seth, I'm an Exorcist and one of your two new teachers, nice to meet you," the man starts to drive out of the parking lot calmly as he speaks.

  "Nice to meet you, Mr. Seth, I'm Saul, an adept, I'll be in your care," I get up and pick up the box.

  "Before you open this, tell me, what is your specialty? Mine is in Kabalah," I raise my face and look at the glass, ashamed to answer.

  "I... don't know how to do anything very well, unless you need me to break something..." I bow my head in shame.

  "That explains your low marks in the exam, you passed by half a point, didn't you?"

  I lower my head even more.

  "Don't worry, we'll find something you know how to do," he takes a strange turn with the car and we leave the street, i raise my face in fear.

  "Sir, where are we going?" I approach the front and look through the driver's window, we're heading for the water.

  With the greatest calm in the world, the man replies - "You noticed the symbols on the stone tires, didn't you?"

  I don't answer, I don't even know what they are, I sit down on a bench and fasten my seatbelt.

  "That symbol was the Sefira Hesed, a symbol that governs the waters of the surface," he steps harder on the pedal and shifts into gear, accelerating towards the water.

  "What are you getting at?" I grab my suitcase and open it, taking a piece of wood from one of the compartments.

  I feel the air go out of me, we jump into the water, then a thud... where's the thud and the sound of water?

  I look out of the window and I can see that the car is moving quickly over the water, as if it were a solid concrete road.

  "Using Hesed and the numbers 2, 4 and 8 in sequence, the tires of this car use water as a booster and road, managing to ride on it while the water itself provides movement, thus avoiding wasting gasoline and directly polluting the water," he explains everything, and my mouth drops open after listening.

  "How come I didn't hear about this before?" I scratch my forehead, confused.

  "Patent pending, take the objects in the box," he replies as he drives, he seems very used to driving on the waters of that sea.

  Inside the box is a sheet of paper, a badge and a necklace with the word ????????? written on it.

  I read the text on the sheet of paper, a prayer.

  "What's that for?" I ask him, confused.

  "The necklace will let us know if you're safe and where you are, the paper is a prayer to apply to your glasses, the badge is a surprise," I manage to see a little smile on his face.

  I reread the passage a few times, it's Luke 22:19.

  "A prayer for memory?" I think aloud.

  "Exactly, your problem was learning, so my sister has prepared something to solve it" as he finishes speaking, he takes a sharp turn and I almost fall off the bench.

  "I see..." I take my glasses off my face and hold them in both hands, then start repeating the passage out loud while focusing on the glasses.

  "This is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me," once, nothing.

  "This is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me," a second time, nothing again.

  "Kid," - I look forward again when I hear myself being called.

  "Close your eyes and think of them as your eyes," - he slows down, probably to give me more time.

  The first lesson should be to be able to do this before we arrive at the target location.

  I think as I close my eyes.

  I squeeze the temples of my glasses with my fingertips, remembering my lessons, and take a deep breath.

  In order to summon the power of a prayer, you must allow air to flow openly through your lungs, this is the minimum requirement to become a Priest.

  With the air in my lungs, I begin to repeat the Bible passage, the air coming out according to my words.

  "This is my body, which is given for you," I can feel a small source of light hitting my eyelids.

  "Do this in memory of me," the glare increases, my eyelids shut tighter, but then I hear a scream.

  "Put your glasses on!" it's Seth's voice.

  As he commands, I put the glasses on my face and then I feel a great headache coming in.

  For a moment, all the information I've ever absorbed in my life floods into my mind at once: the day I was born, the time in the cradle, my first words, my sister's birth, me playing with friends in the village, memories flood into my mind until they lock onto one scene.

  My little sister is lying on the ground in front of a grotesque creature, a mixture of bones, soot and tree hooves, its eyes are green like poison, my sister's blood is dripping from its left hand.

  Before I can say anything, a voice echoes through the place, a light appears illuminating the dark, dense forest and a prayer is being chanted.

  "Your word is the lamp that illuminates my footsteps and the light that clears my path," - the creature, the Lich, raises his hand and fires a blast of putrid energy, a death spell, but a slash of light tears that energy apart.

  A tall, white-haired man wearing a cassock appears.

  In his hands is a large halberd glowing like a torch, the man charges at the creature and then the scene is cut.

  I find myself sitting in the car seat again, confused and with a lot of pain in my head, then I feel a crash from the car, we drive over a wave.

  "Is everything all right? The memory prayer must have been too much for the first time," - Seth's voice is concerned, unfortunately he can't just stop the car in the water and help me.

  "This... it's okay, just a few bad memories," I sit down on the bench and look at the sheet with the prayer, surprised at how powerful it is.

  "Don't feel bad about it, it happens to everyone," we're finally approaching land, at the moment we're circling a large straight island, I can see from a distance a sign that reads Lido.

  "The first time you apply this prayer, your memories come back all at once, even the ones you're trying to hide, the benefit is in improving your ability to remember," we circle the island and make a right turn, then head straight on.

  "Where are we going anyway?" I look out of the window and can see several houses, then we pass in front of a beach next to a casino.

  "We're going to Fort Malamocco in Lido County," I see Seth grab something, stick his left hand out of the window, and put it on the roof of the car, the sound of a police siren then echoes.

  "There have been two murders, we've been tasked with investigating the body, we'll find my sister Cassiel at the scene," he moves his left hand to his mouth, coughing as he covers it.

  "Murder? Lucky me, my first day and I already have to deal with dead people!" I think as I settle back into the passenger seat.

  Realizing it's supposed to be a disguise, I clip the badge onto my brown T-shirt.

  After a few more minutes, we arrive at the edge of the Malamocco fort, a small two- lane harbor is expanding into the water, the car heads towards the dry land between the two harbors, climbing onto the land, the larger harbor is surrounded by police, there are four vehicles on site, and again my vision is obscured as I look at something.

  Seth parks the car next to the vehicles and gets up from the driver's seat, getting out of the car.

  He moves towards the obscured spot, I have to focus my eyes for a few seconds before I can see, then I see a tall man with gray hair and skin wearing a cassock, I blink twice.

  The second thing I see is a woman with red hair and a burnt face sitting on the grass.

  She's reading a ridiculous news magazine, and I manage to read on the cover something about UFOs in San Michele cemetery.

  Next to her is a packet containing four pots of pudding.

  The redhead raises her face and looks at Seth and me, squints her eyes and gets up from the grass, picks up the package and walks over to us.

  "You're late, there's time to start investigating, the civilians are almost finished," the red-haired woman then stares at me.

  "Is this the boy?" - I take a step back, afraid.

  "Yes, sister, be kind to him, he managed to complete the first task," Seth turns to me, a gentle smile on his face.

  "With a pathetic result, apparently," the redhead forces the magazine into Seth's arms and grabs the glasses from my face.

  She whispers a few things, a faint golden light surrounds the glasses and she puts them back on my face. I don't have any memories flowing this time.

  "Now eat this," she hands me a pot of pudding, leaves one with Seth, goes over to the gray man and hands him one too, then starts eating hers.

  "Should I ask?" I stare at Seth, confused.

  "The gray man is the gargoyle that protects the Basilica of St. George the Greater, his name is Assan," Seth explains.

  "I was going to ask about the pudding," I say awkwardly.

  "A, my sister likes to start a job by eating some pudding," he opens the pot and starts eating with the plastic spoon, I just eat in silence.

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