Year one

  The first-year students are in the Great Chamber standing in front of Acrona's colossus, with even a few white-toga-draped senators and brown-cd Brothers and Sisters from probably each temple, sitting in attendance.

  All of us ''fledglings'' wear downy, dark-green, linen long coats—with the lining of slippery mbswool—and pleated breeches of the same color. Our long-sleeved shirt is made of finely woven wool and it is a lighter green with that stylized phoenix embossed above the left breast, now covered with an unbuttoned below-the-knee coat. The phoenix looks like the tiny version of the one seen on the facade's banners, with one-half gray and the other violet and there is a delicate bck outline around it. Both sleeves of the tightly woven coat feature the same insignia.

  Facing us all from a dais, Chairwoman Zaria utters the words of our oath and we all repeat them while our echoing voices travel to the furthest reaches of the rge, every-shade-of-red, sky-dome:

  ''I will never bring shame upon myself nor will I abandon the comrade at whose side I stand, but I will fight and serve our city and our Academy, alone or supported by many. I will not leave my valley diminished in any way but greater and better than when I received it. I will obey the Senate and submit to the established ws and all others which the people shall harmoniously enact. If anyone tries to overthrow the constitution or disobeys it, I will not permit him but will come to its defense, alone or with the support of all. I will honor the religion of my ancestors. Let the Supreme Goddess with her first daughter Goddess Theia and her second daughter Goddess Acrona be my witness.''