This is what all of Anthenium saw at 1000 on the News Report. Families of Tokrial excited to see their seventeen son or daughter, brother or sister heading out. Families of other towns anxious to see if their sibling or child would be called to gather their Charm.

Cal couldn't believe it. She'd be heading out on a journey to find her Soul Mate. Her sister bounced up and down on the couch screaming with joy while her father turned to her. "Now, I want you to know if you aren't happy with your Soul Mate-" "Then immediately head to the city hall and request a change" Cal cut her father off. "Good girl." He kissed his daughter on her forehead. "I'm going to miss you so much. Go and gather up your stuff," he said. Cal nodded and headed to her room, high fiving her little sister on the way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leo smiled when he got the call. He'd be getting his Soul Mate soon. She'd be on her way, looking for him. He couldn't wait. He decided to head out and do some dangerous climbing to capture a picture for his soon-to-be girlfriend. "Don't die! You wouldn't want your girlfriend to find you a splattered heap on the ground!" his sister warned. He chuckled and rubbed her hair on the top of her head. "Don't you worry 'bout me, little sis. Worry about the spider on your pillow." "WHAT?!" she screamed in rage, she punched him in the arm before speeding off to her room.

James was packing his things he would need for the journey. Water, food, clothes...and his art stuff. Once he closed his pack, he went to check on his sister, but of course caught her sneaking 4 or 5 bottles of liquor into her pack. "Ashlyn, I've told you many times. You're too young to drink," he said, sighing. "Aw, but I like my drinking," she complained, pouting. "Especially Sake. Love me some Sake." James just sighed and went back over to his room to finish packing as he left his sister to pack her things.

Alastair scowled as he shoved things into a backpack. He didn't very much like the idea but what could he do? He liked the idea of his sister finding her soulmate even less. He could hear her humming in the room next to his. He was happy that she was happy, no mistake about that but he...he worried about her. A lot. He just didn't want to see her get hurt and he only trusted himself to keep her safe. How was he to know that her soulmate would take care of her? He sighed as he continued to pack things. Autumn had been smiling all day. She was nervous, very much so but she was also a tiny bit excited. She just hoped she liked whoever her soulmate was. She paused, thoughts turning to her twin. She knew his opinion on the whole Ceremony matter. She just hoped that whoever his soulmate was would be able to handle him. Her brother could be a bit...much..at times. She resumed folding clothes and placing them into her pack. When she was finished she went to her brothers room and knocked. He opened it, also sporting his pack. He gave a small smile. "Ready?" He asked. Autumn nodded. "Yup!" With that the twins headed out their door and made for the square.

Cal gathered up some clothes, money, her lyrics notepad and her writer's journal. She walked back out into the living room, kissed her little sister and her dad, and began to walk out to the square. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leo began to climb their snazzy apartment building to the top. He made sure to have a strong grip and he got to the top. He sat down, taking lovely pictures of the ocean.

It was not an exciting day in the Rivers household. It was just another ordinary one, for any display of excitement would be intensely shameful for all involved. Aeriana's backpack lay in the middle of the family room. Her mother, father, twin brothers, and twin sisters stood in a semicircle around her. On the floor, laid out in neat rows, were all of the things Aery would need for the journey: Water bottles, changes of clothing (professional clothing, knee-length skirts, nice slacks, pressed blouses, tights, and her dress shoes,) and granola bars. "Aeriana." Her father's voice came to her quietly. "I know you will have skill and cunning in your journey and a logical choice in your soulmate." It was the closest thing to a loving farewell that Aery would get. Knowledge, rather than wishes, skill and cunning rather than luck and logic rather than happiness. That was what her journey was about. Not luck, not happiness, and certainly not love. "And I know you will have success in all of your future endeavors." Her mother said, her voice shaking a little. "We know you will have excitement and recklessness!" chorused her brothers. Only sixteen, they had yet to mature enough to appreciate the solemnity of the day. Or any day, for that matter. "I know you will find LOVE!" said Myranda. Aery tucked her shock at her sister's statement behind a perfect mask; Myra also chafed at the academic, reserved life her family preached, and didn't get the idea of love being shameful. "And I know that you will be... ready for everything that might come your way, with wit and cunning and grace." Again Myra tucked a smile away as her littlest sister offered her grace. Like a ritual, Myra packed her bag. In a way, it was a ritual; a ritual that two sets of twin brothers before her had done. But she was the only one in the family to do it alone. Still, like a ritual, everything had a proper order. With her bag packed, each of her siblings came forward and put a small unwrapped box in her bag, a gift from each of them as Aery set out on her new life. Annalyn snapped the buckles on Aery's bag and gave it to her, then hugged Aery. It was the only real display of affection that their parents had allowed, one hug each on every Ceremony, and Aery was shocked and ashamed to admit that it made tears start down her face. Each of her other siblings, then her mother and father, gave her a hug, and Aery walked out the door, rather hurriedly, afraid she would break down and sob. But she held it together. She walked to her laboratory, the only place where she was able to really think calmly, and went inside. She tried to give herself busywork, mixing suspensions and starting bunsen burners, but it did nothing for her mind. And her mind! It was in tumult, however she tried to calm it. Aery didn't want a soulmate. She didn't want to be so openly emotionally tied to anyone. She just wanted to devote her life to science and not have to worry about love and caring and... and raising a family-- No. No. Get. It. Together. Get it together, Aery. Get it together, stay in control, you've had seventeen years of practice at it and now you want to fall apart because of one new thing? Get it together. And she felt better about it, especially when her suspensions changed colors.

Max bit at his finger nails, scared to see the girl that he would spend the rest of his life with- or not even. She could hate his guts, she could think he's weak and-. He sighed. There was no reason to fret, if she didn't love him she didn't love him, it wasn't his decision. Sometimes Max thought that the whole Ceremony thing was kind of silly, and this was why.

Cal arrived at the town square shortly, as her father was a Commslator. A man directed her inside the town hall and she sat down, setting her backpack under her chair. Not before she got out her writing journal and began to write about her journey so far. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leo stayed until sunset, taking photos of the sea.

Soon the twins arrived at the town hall and were directed to go inside. There was only one person there that they could see. Alastair directed his sister to a row one back from the front and the siblings took a seat. Alastair took out a medical book he had been studying and quickly became immersed in the pages. Autumn gave her brother a fond smile as she took out her sketch-pad. She flipped to a clean page and began doodling the first thing that came to mind. Lines and curves flowed together and soon the sea began to take shape. She bit her lip, concentrating as she detailed the waves. She made a curve sinking into the horizon and to the side she drew a sail boat. She drew her figure and paused, gazing at the space next to her. She left it blank, deciding she was going to add a person there later. She then began adding designs to the sailboat, wondering what her soul-mate was going to be like. What were his interests? His hobbies?

Aery decided that her laboratory endeavor was foolish. After exploding three test tubes over the bunsen burner and dropping a fourth, she was convinced she just had to suck it up and go to the Town Hall. She cleaned up the spilled chemicals, scolding herself for her clumsiness (She'd not dropped a test tube since her first real project when she was thirteen!) and inattention. Then she went and checked her appearance in the mirror, straightening her collar and re-parting her hair, and then walked with purpose across the town square and into the town hall. She was the fourth to arrive; she signed in and found herself a seat in the first row. Rather than read a book, as was so tempting, she produced her holographic cube and started working on the design of an antibody that she was attempting to perfect. Just because she wasn't actively working didn't mean she couldn't still work on her projects anyway. Annalyn had business to attend to as well. "Father, Mother, today I must attend my job at the Factory. If I may be excused?" She asked, a little bit abruptly but still (barely) politely enough. Her father said, "Of course, Annalyn. But whatever you do, keep in mind our family pride." "Of course, Father." She turned and walked quickly from the room. As soon as she got to the factory and signed in, she went to her workroom. There was a pile of charms left on the table, charms that she had made that needed to be boxed for shipping. One in particular caught her eye, a (seemingly) plain wire one in the shape of a musical heart (an inverted treble clef and a regular bass clef forming a heart shape.) This one had been her creative mastermind; when the couple it was meant for got close together, each heart would start electrically sparking with multiple colors. She quite adored making crafts like this, especially where it would be well-fitting. The one this was destined for, a boy named James Hunter, was a musician and an artist; she figured it would appeal to him. But something was wrong. Though there were two hearts, there was no "assigned to" label on the second one. She stared at it for a while, until she remembered how there were unequal numbers in gender this year and one person would have to wait until next cycle. But not really, because there was one too many girls in Annalyn's year... She pocketed the second charm. Even if it cost her her job or her ranking in society, she would be James's soulmate, because he didn't deserve to be without one. And anyway, it was an adventure, and she'd never been on an adventure before.

Akira packed a few required things that he needed on his drive towards Tokrial. He locked the door to his lab and walked to the more housey part of the area. There he grab his gun and slid it into his rench like back pack. Akira zipped the back pack and walked towards the exit of his house. He stopped and looked at the pictures of his late mom and dad and waved good bye. He locked his house door and jumped onto his motorcycle. His motorcycle darted towards Tokrial going at 75mph. He planned if he ignored the speed limits and the stop lights he'd be there in 30 minutes.

James went to get Ashlyn from her room, but found her already drunk. "Ugh...Dammit Ashlyn! No drinking before the ceremony!" He started to walk towards her. "Hand over the Sake!" "No." "Hand it over..." "No!" "Don't make me grab the baseball bat again!" With that, Ashlyn grabbed her bag and ran out the door. "Nobody is gonna take my Sakeeee!!!" James grabbed his bags and chased after her. "Dammit sis!" He chased her all the way to the town hall before they had to stop, and they were directed to their seats.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A young man, looking to be about the age of 21, walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He had on regular old teenager clothes. "Hello, I'm Arashi. Most of you know me; I'm the mayor of Tokrial. I'm here to give you your Charms and to instruct you." He sat down at the head of the table, pressed a button on his inside of his jacket and a young girl walked in with folders. She too closed the door behind her. She looked to be about the age of thirteen. She walked around the table, placing a folder in front of each teenager. "Inside each of these folders is a picture of your to-be Soul Mate along with information about them including their name, rank, job, etceteria. And your Charm. As you all know, The Journey is filmed to the point where you meet your Soul Mate. "When you meet your Soul Mate, please act how you will now. Act as if you are just meeting them. "My advice; take the trains, check how much your Charm glows, and remember that there are cameras. Any questions?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cal was confused. It was all an act? Teens would know who their Soul Mates were all along? She opened her folder and found the picture of a blonde boy with bright blue eyes whose name was Max Lynx. He was a Enchain, a Mechanic. He looked kind and happy and Cal found herself smile a little. "Do our Soul Mates know who we are?" she asked. "No, they do not. Their reactions are pure," Arashi stated.

Ashlyn opened her folder and giggled. "Ooh. I got a cutie," she said, looking at the picture. She looked over his information quickly before closing the folder. James just took a quick look over the information he got, but stayed quiet.

Akira opened his folder and starred at it for quite awhile. "The woman in this photo is very beautiful." He thought. " I just hope she fells something similar towards my characteristics." He looked around the room to spot her out and he found her. He quickly reverted back to the folder blushing heavily. "Damn...it....just calm down." He continued to read through her information.

Autumn tucked her sketch pad away as the mayor walked into the room and took a seat. She waited nervously as a small girl came in and handed out their folders. She stared down at it for a few moments before she took a deep breath and flipped back the cover. Her first impression of her soul-mate was that he looked very kind. A small grin made its way over her face as she began to read his information. His name was Leo Evans, he was a Genucer. She smiled even more at that. At least they would have something to talk about. His job was a Photographer/Landscape Designer. Overall he looked very nice and Autumn was excited to meet him though she was still really nervous. Alastair raised an eyebrow at his twins expression before he opened his own folder. Hmmmm....At least she wasn't ugly. Aeriana Rivers, Commslator, Chemist and Professor. Hmmm..at least she won't be boring. Maybe. He then flipped the folder closed again, glancing at his twin again. She smiled back at him.

Arashi noticed that some of the Charms were glowing. "If your Soul Mate, is infact here, then please stay behind. I take it no one has anymore questions, so if you aren't someone whose Charm is glowing please leave on The Journey. Remember my advice, and be on your way. You may take your Charms, but please leave the folders here. May there be luck to those in finding their Soul Mates," Arashi said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cal nodded, closing her folder. Not before she snuck the picture into her pocket though. She couldn't wait to see her Soul Mate, she could already notice her feels becoming greater. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leo began to climb down. He got back into his apartment, and looked over the pictures. He chose the first photo, and printed it out. He then framed it beautifully.

Aery had barely taken a glimpse at her folder before she slammed it closed again. Her charm was already glowing fairly brightly, as she was sitting just about right in front of her Soulmate; there was no way out of this. She got a grip on her emotions (the damned things were deliberately TRYING to shame her, it seemed) and flipped it open again long enough to register who her Soulmate was. Alastair Eirwen, a physician. He was kind of nice-looking. No, Aery, it's not about attraction, you don't WANT to be attracted to him. Attraction is an emotion and is therefore bad; the only thing you want in your life is the no-nonsense logic of the scientific method. No messy human emotions, certainly no messy human relationships, just the cold acutely tangible matter of science. Stop. Analyze. Consider. Act. Review. Stop Analyze Consider Act Review. Over and over in her head, her mantra, until she could put everything under her mask and turn in her seat to smile politely, if blandly, at Alastair. "Hello. Are you Alastair? I believe you and I have been matched." She held up her brightly glowing charm, an enameled representation of a strand of DNA, as evidence. Annalyn was terribly nervous. She'd just messed with the system and apparently not been caught. She had handed all of her charms over to be delivered and had seen all of the non-matched ones leave the town hall, which meant that James was probably going to be looking for her. And no one had stopped her. The charm felt very heavy in her pocket. But she forced herself to act confident, like she wasn't breaking the rules. If you act normal they'll think your normal. She thought it to herself over and over again as she walked through town, not even noticing as her charm started glowing as she made her way towards the crowd still leaving the Town Hall.

Autumn looked down at her Charm, which remained dark. She heard her brothers teeth grind together and she turned, the words "Are you okay?" dying on her lips as she saw her brother holding his brightly glowing charm. His eyes meet hers, distressed. Alastair knew there was a high chance of them being separated on this Journey but now that he was faced with it, he didn't want it to happen. Autumn gave her brother a tender smile and wrapped her arms around him. "I'll be fine. Promise." She whispered in her ear. He held onto her tightly for a few minutes before slowly withdrawing his arms as if the action caused him pain. Autumn gathered up her things, kissed her twin on the cheek and headed out if the building. Alastair watched her until she disappeared then all his breath whooshed out of him. He barely heard the voice address him and he turned, seeing the girl from the picture. His eyes dropped to his Charm, which was glowing as bright as it could before his eyes drifted back to her. He was silent for a minute before he replied in a quiet voice. "So it seems." Autumn boarded the train and picked a window seat. As the locomotive began moving, Autumn immediately took out her sketchpad and began drawing her soulmate. She had memorized his image and was now copying it down in her pad. One eye was kept on her Charm though, watching it for signs of when to get off.

Just after James and Ashlyn left the Town Hall, he noticed his charm started glowing. "Hm...my soul-mate is nearby," he mumbled as he tucked his charm in his pocket so Ashlyn wouldn't see and freak out. She was happily skipping along, giggling like a little girl, while James pulled out his sketchbook and turned around, drawing the people that were still in the town hall, starting with the two Soulmates, Aery and Alastair.