Their Second Name is a book that has been slowly circulating throughout Meranthe- Typically from hand to hand, there exists a half-dozen copies in circulation though it has not quite been 'published' officially, per-say, prior to now that is. With copies of the book starting to circulate more freely and so, too do these copies find their way to meranthe's still-active libraries in time. It's more public than some other biographies- And this is intentional, on account of the authors intentions. The contents of this book will be contained here-in for ease of reading. Eventually, at-least.
Foreword and introduction
Their Second Name
My name is Elisha Arabal and this is not my story, it is, however, my story to tell by virtue of a promise I made to Them.This book is a biography of one Kateto Espero— Or as I know them better. and as I prefer to remember them, Nightingale. My first friend. My mentor- My parent.
'It did hold meaning after all. A point of symbolism, as the nightingale was always such a beautiful bird to me. Singing their songs in the night, to make even the blackest dark not feel so scary.' —Nightingale, 2173
When the world is at its most bleak. When good people you love die around you, we all do things we wouldn't otherwise. We make mistakes. These mistakes aren't impossible monoliths to overcome, though they may appear that way in the moment. It is never too late to turn back and do the right thing No-matter how it may feel, no-matter how it may seem. Nobody truly is beyond redemption.
If you come away from this story with only one message, please let it be this— Please keep hope! This story is told to preserve memory and pass it on. So that others needn't despair in these same ways.
Chapter 1: Powerlessness
Their Second Name
To be well and truly powerless is a feeling that comes about naturally in most people's lives; it's familiar to many of us. Though experienced in full by a select few. Life does not pull its punches, we are taught to be thankful for each day as it happens for the next is not guaranteed, truly nothing in life is. While often-times we have a choice in how we wish to respond to things. This is not always true. There are times such a choice is not presented, you have no option but to accept what life, or fate has forced upon you. When that choice is stripped away from you, and you lose your ability to navigate as you wish? That is when you will feel truly powerless, the feeling sinks in, deeper than marrow.
Some of us, however. Never had a choice to begin with.
Kateto Espero began their life in Goldlight, somewhere around 2125 [1] their first writings came much later than simply their birth, early on in life they despaired not having access to magic, blocked circuits from a young age made Kateto think they weren't a magi. Kids are cruel beings and they noticed this weakness within them. Forcing Kateto to learn such an adage first-hand. They suffered relentless bullying from their peers, enough to turn the stomach. Live rats would be thrust upon the felinae while they teased them jeering and laughing all the while- 'Because they were a cat', obviously. Dead birds tucked where they'd least expect to freak them out when found It grew to the point where they decided they'd rather live on the streets than within the orphanage— even in the middle of the Atrellyan invasion the treatment had grown so unbearable that they'd have rathered the streets than another day in that place.
The struggle to survive on the streets was a very real one at this point in time, so many people were falling on hard times, there were so many displaced and orphaned that a single one like Kateto saw very little chance of standing out from the crowd- They were powerless, as they had been their whole life. But the current was shifting, and their fate was changing. Kateto discovered the smallest of openings in their blocked circuits. Something they were able to open up properly with effort.
The world stretched out before their eyes, the colors shone a little more vibrant and the unseen became visible. Someone who had only known a lack was suddenly booned with excess. The powerless became the powerful.
1 It's very hard to ask your parents these things