The Odum district market came alive with the rising sun, everyone unpacking their stuff and opening their stalls, kids on their way to fetch water from the riverside to power their toys. The sunlight blessed that morning, vendors going about their business and singing their working tunes as usual. Very peaceful and serene, like the ocean surrounding them. Well, that was until a boy's shouting was heard, when the sun was fully up and the market was fully awake.
"Herh! Ayim!"
He was already past before the words finished forming.
The second warning came from the bofrot seller who was frying the day's stock. Ayim had almost hit the frying pan. "You erh, one day you'll fall inside the oil and hurt yourself!"
Truth is, that could never happen to Ayim. "Sorry Wofa Nii! They are calling me again, I don't know what we did this time!!" he shouted as he glided through the market square.
Ayim had been navigating Odum ever since he was old enough to fly without supervision, which was when he was twelve years old. There was no way he could cause any destruction in the market. He was just that guy, and today, that guy was late.
Maame Aba's basket of one man thousand sat directly in his path. He saw it. He calculated. He decided he could make it. He almost did.
Almost.
The basket did not fall. This was a miracle. But it tilted at an angle that made Maame Aba spin around and direct the full weight of her gaze at him like a weapon.
"Ayim!"
"I see you, Maame Aba, you look wonderful!! I'll come and buy some after the meeting!"
"Your mother raised you better than this!"
"Oh Maame! I am late, that's why! I am way better than this! Ajeiiii!" he exclaimed.
The children nearby erupted. One of them, no more than six, pointed and laughed so hard he had to hold his own stomach. Ayim winked at the boy as he passed.
Elders, zero. Children, always.
He banked left at the junction and dipped below the rope bridge connecting the Fon compound to the Asante compound. His wings spread full. They were silver, and as wide as the Abissa channel, and the sun caught them beautifully. Everyone saw it. The old women shook their heads. The boys and girls jumped and reached up making noise. The men showered him with insults.
He did not slow down until the palace came into view, ancient and heavy, built from black coral that had been standing longer than anyone could remember. The doors were already closed.
He was late. "Chai," he said as he landed with a swoosh.
He fixed his clothes. Breathed once. Pushed the doors open.
Inside, eight faces turned to look at him, and out of the eight, four were his.
Sena sat with her arms already crossed. Ayim could tell she was annoyed at him for being late, so he gave her a wink and a tiny grin and mouthed "sorry." Joojo was standing in front of the window, watching the sailors test their new fishing inventions outside, focused expression on his face, unbothered by Ayim's arrival. Ayim went and patted his back. Idowu, against all reason, was grinning with all his teeth, and jumped on Ayim immediately, giving him a pat on the head. "Chale, next time you're late I'll beat you up." Ayim laughed, hiding his fear. Last of the four was Nandi-Ore, wearing her black and red boubou, kohl lining her eyes, looking as miserable and unbothered as ever. She walked up to him, patted his shoulder as if consoling him for something terrible, then walked back to lean against the wall.
The other four were elders, playing Oware while they waited. Ayim went to where they were seated and greeted them, shaking each hand from right to left, as was customary in Befa. When he settled down, Elder Segun stood and clapped once. At the sound, the guards at the doors pulled a lever, and the floor beneath them descended slowly into an underwater chamber, glass walls alive with bioluminescent sea life, Adinkra symbols carved into every surface.
"Let's take a walk," Elder Kwarteng said.
"Again."
The gang and the elders walked in silence for a while, admiring Befa's underwater technology and magic. It sure was beautiful, everything in that chamber. Even though they had been there multiple times, it never seemed to cease shocking them. They were on their way to the old stool room, which had been renovated into their official disciplinary court.
"Nandi," Elder Womegah said as they walked. Nandi-Ore's hairs stood when she heard her name. She knew what she had done. "Yes, Elder," she responded, walking forward to catch up with them. "What happened last night, between you and Agya Efo?"
Ayim was confused. Nandi wouldn't have beaten anyone up again, would she? Especially not Agya Efo. He was the undefeated Dambe champion, but Dambe was not legal in Odum. Idowu made a stifled laugh as they entered the stool room and took their seats. Joojo flicked his ears. "Ow."
Ore began to speak. "I went to the Osaro district and engaged in the Dambe championship. And won."
The gang turned their heads at her. "Eiii!" they all said simultaneously. Ore looked big and strong, she was, but no one expected her to engage in such acts. The gang wondered what their punishment would be this time.
"Ore, ever since you started walking with these people, you are changing. I won't force you. We have already advised you to be careful who you walk with, and now you see what you have done. You are lucky though. We don't like Efo, he's a cheater, so we won't punish you."
The gang sighed with relief. Sena playfully pushed Ore. Even Joojo smiled. Idowu was playing with his fingernails, and Ore still looked sad.
"I'm sorry, Elders. I won't do that ag—"
The vision took Ayim without warning.
Fire first. Not the kind they sat around to share news, this was ugly, the collapsing fire of something being destroyed. Buildings he had never seen before, strange and tall, collapsing. A bridge collapsing. Screaming everywhere. Then more chaos, flashing through like a dream that wouldn't slow down. Helping hands turning into fists. People fighting each other, faces full of anger and hatred and jealousy. Then the ocean, and that was familiar, something that calmed him, until the surface broke. It was not a whirlpool or a big wave. It was a hand. A giant hand rising from the water, ancient and terribly familiar. The world he was seeing was one he had never seen before. He did not understand any of it, but he saw it anyway. The scene shifted back to the chaos and the screaming. They were wailing for help. They were calling him. In the vision he looked up and saw familiar figures, with two that were not familiar at all. He knew the figures were from Befa, but he did not know who they were.
When he came back, the elders were staring at him. Everyone was. Sena's hand was on his arm, steady. Idowu was no longer smiling, his face full of concern. Joojo looked shocked. Ore was stunned, and she could see the fear in Ayim's eyes.
"What," Elder Segun said slowly, "just happened?"
Ayim looked at Sena, then Elder Segun, then the rest of them, then his own palms.
"I don't know. We have a problem. And it is not us."