DINNER was served at their common hall, the ground floor of the west wing. This was the only hall where both males and females of the dorm get to talk to each other. There were roughly a hundred girls and boys chatting in the common hall.
The food was superb and delicious but the serving crew was composed of Nursing Eries, helpers that are usually assigned within the house. Chloe saw some of those in Deirdre, helpers of rich Deirdre peasants. Their eyes were bulging out, their noses were large, and their lips were pouting. Their skin was blue, and they were full of wrinkles. Not a good sight while getting your food.
"Where's Lucian?" Chloe asked Barbie as they carried their trays to the vacant table at the center of the hall. Jucel tagged along, keeping her head down most of the time.
"They're going somewhere with our friends," Barbie answered. She put down her tray of food on the table and sat at the wooden chair. "Probably to check out some houses where we can stay."
Chloe just nodded her head and turned to the shy Jucel. She and Barbie found that Jucel was a resident of Graire City, just a few kilometers from Galenus. She stayed at the Palace dorm for the whole duration of her stay in Vestia and she's now in her third year. When asked about her age, Jucel silently revealed that she was only 17.
Chloe nearly choked on her food while Barbie blinked at their companion. Chloe was 17, and Barbie was already 19. Which makes Jus superior to them in intelligence. That explains a lot of books brought to their room.
"I see that you're into books, no doubt you were accelerated to the 3rd year," Barbie said with a smile. Jucel's thin lips curled into a small, shy smile.
Barbie suddenly leaned towards her and the silver-haired young woman leaned back in surprise. Barbie spoke in a hushed voice. "I saw a book that really caught my attention back in your room. It was entitled 'Identifying Witchcraft'. Can you tell me what was that about?"
Jucel's eyes widened and Chloe's eyebrows met as she turned her head to the former girl. "Identifying Witchcraft?" she asked, mimicking Barbie's hush voice as she figured out that it was confidential.
Jucel blushed at the attention. "W-Well... t-there was s-something that really bugged me when I-I was in my 1st year--"
Barbie stood abruptly which caught the attention of the girls nearby. She apologized and grinned at them before looking at Jucel and Chloe. "Let's talk in your room."
~O~O~O~
BARBIE went ahead in their room and waited for them to get inside before immediately closing the door behind them. She hurried to the shelf where she hid the book. "Now tell us what you know."
Although confused by Barbie's antics, Chloe put a hand on the frightened Jucel. "Don't worry. We'll keep this as a secret."
"Chloe, this should not be promised," Barbie told her and turned to Jucel. "This is going to be confidential. But you know this is a top matter. I will determine if it's something to be kept or something we need to tell the palace."
Jucel took a second in silence before nodding. They sat on the couch and Jucel started to recount her memories about the book. "Well... I-I was in a library of the Palace Dorm when I came across this book. I-I know that anything about witchcraft is p-prohibited in Demetrius b-but this I noticed t-that this one book was already b-borrowed. S-so I decided to create a copy of it."
"A copy?" Chloe asked. Nothing made sense anymore.
Jucel nodded. "I-I asked someone to make a copy of it. He w-was curious, too, so he complied. I-In exchange, he w-wanted to know about the book once I-I finished reading about it."
"Who's the guy?" Barbie asked.
Jucel put a finger on her chin, then realizing that she's doing it, she seemed startled herself. "A g-guy named Jared D-Dale. He's a t-the man with t-tan skin a-and athletic build. H-he was supposed to b-be in the second year. But he s-stopped in the middle of the 1st year so I-I guess he will take the y-year all over again t-this time, if he enrolled, that is."
Barbie pouted. "Jared Dale is one of my friends, best friend of my brother, specifically. He did stop two years ago, along with my brother. Personal problems, he told us before he went zoom out." She looked at Chloe. "You might meet him this school year. I heard from my brother that he's coming back."
Chloe pursed her lips. She can't make any sense of this talk at all. "Why was witchcraft prohibited in Demetrius?" she finally asked.
Barbie and Jucel looked at her. "You didn't know?" they asked in sync. Chloe nodded innocently. Barbie clicked her tongue and noted in her mind to ask Lucian later.
In the meantime... "Hwā banned the study of witchcraft from all academies in the Kingdom ever since the last Blood Star died. It was speculated that someone from Demetrius that wielded such power sided with the Kingdom of Illinor 50 years ago."
Chloe slowly nodded her head. "If such a thing was prohibited, then why did this book show up in the library of Krystalline?"
No one from the girls could answer the question.
~O~O~O~
THE NEXT DAY, Chloe, and Jucel decided to enter the academy together. Barbie had some errands to do so she wasn't able to be with them. Jucel, in her thick round glasses, was still shy around Chloe. The latter tried to open up to her - talking about Deirdre, the life with nature, and her life with her family. Jucel seemed interested, her eyebrows scrunched together and occasionally asking her, the Deirdre in particular.
When they entered the gate to the academy, Chloe was beyond awed. The school grounds stretched from yards to yards, with rose bushes and different kinds of trees everywhere. Outside the academy was all buildings, bricks, and you would scarcely see trees.
They have just entered the academy when Chloe saw something. Someone, rather. A group of girls surrounded three other girls and they were all trying to talk to these three.
Chloe stopped at the nearest bench and looked at them. "Who are they?" she asked as she gestured at those in the center of the flocks.
"Oh, t-they're the famous girls a-around here," Jucel answered. Her eyes became dreamy and hopeful. "One of them's a p-princess."
Chloe raised her eyebrows. "Really? Which one of them?"
Jucel turned to Chloe with a small smile. Knowing that this was Chloe's first time in Vestia, for sure she never had a chance to see the royal family.
Well, Jucel herself, too. She hasn't seen anyone of the princes yet. "T-The one with the pink dress. She's P-Princess Zillah. T-The other two are her friends, Marjien Zūng and Vivien Li."
Chloe focused her eyes on the tallest of the three girls, her gray eyes have gold streaks appearing unknowingly. Indeed, she looked like a princess. Her skin was fairer. Her eyes were the color of the crystal blue sea that Chloe saw at the West End fortress when she and her father go there to visit. The dark blue eyes seemed to change to light blue every time the light shines upon her. She has a silky straight black hair that reached her waist. Her aura was regal and poised, but she could see that every action was learned and scripted.
Her two friends are both tall and beautiful, too. One has a light brown hair curled and long while the other has a black straight hair braided into a bun. Their eyes were sharp and dark. Even if they were wearing dresses and walked like noblewomen, it is clear that they were more than that.
"They looked like the princess' female guards," Chloe said to Jucel.
Jucel tilted her head to look at the crowd. "Really? You can tell from this far?"
Chloe smiled. Oh, yeah... Jucel still didn't know about her sharp eyesight. Her family didn't know, either. She just discovered it when she turned 17 last year.
Chloe shrugged and continued her way to the academy building. Her new friend took one last look at the girls and the crowd before following the brunette.
~O~O~O~
LUCIAN went inside of his classroom and saw his friends already sitting at the far end near the window. As usual, he was just five minutes early before the class will start. He sat beside his only gal friend who frowned at him as though telling him that she needed information from him.
Barbie Lewelyn and Lucian Liu were best of friends way before he even entered Krystalline Academy.
"What now?" Lucian as he put down his bag beside his table.
Barbie raised an eyebrow at him and leaned towards his table. "You or your parents didn't tell Chloe about the prohibition of witchcraft in the kingdom, did you?" she asked in a quiet voice but enough for the two other men in front of them to hear what she was saying. These men had their heads lay on top of the table with their arms crossed as though they were sleeping.
Lucian's mouth opened and then closed. His handsome face looked confused and it's so cute to look at. "Why'd you bring it up now?"
Barbie rolled her eyes. "We will talk about it later. But we have to fill her this kind of information. She might not survive this academy if you keep her in the dark."
"Who's the 'she' that you're talking about?" he asked in a husky mumbling voice.
Lucian looked back at them and saw that the other two of his friends were looking at him and Barbie, too. The two glanced at each other. Barbie had her eyebrow raised which made Lucian sigh.
"Let's have lunch together later," he declared before turning to their professor who has just entered the room.
THE academy was full of chaotic students. There are some who had wings and they were chasing each other in the hallway, not caring if they crashed into the property of the academy.Chloe noticed that land origins are what distinguished every student, not by their elemental powers. They wore white robes with color and design at the back.There are three land origins that were classified in the Krystalline Academy: Deirdre with its inhabitants are called peasants, Markus with its denizens, and Vestia with its residents.Deirdre peasants are wearing a white robe with green and yellow linings that looked like vines with a circling one at the back of their robes and a parakeet bird at the center. Chloe knew that the parakeet bird was a common bird in Deirdre and it symbolizes stealth. Deirdre has been the only land associated with pure nature. No wonder it was designed like vines.Markus denizens had their robes designed with metallic gray. Two swords were cro
CHLOE went out of the Eshmirald Tower with her academic supplies. She was greeted by the blinding light of the sun as she stepped out of the shadows. Chloe had to cover her eyes with the back of her hand.She wondered who that man could be. He was acting mysterious when he saved her from that bully, Kirsten, and her friends but when they were gone, he was flustered."Chloe!" The said girl jolted from her thoughts and turned to that familiar energetic voice.Barbie was waving her hand from the distance while dragging the dazed Jucel with her other hand. Lucian and some guys were following the two girls. She could even see Zabdiel and Jared with them.Chloe noticed that one of them was a man with a white cloth covering his eyes. But the amazing thing was that this man was able to walk steadier without guidance.Barbie stopped at Chloe's side and quickly draped her free arm around the younger woman's waist. Chloe was taller than Barbie which made the
AT THE CENTER of the city of Galenus, the Krystalline Palace was glinting under the sunlight, flaunting the royal symbol of the main Capital of Demetrius. The walls that surround the palace were painted with silver and it was eight feet tall. Several Defense Krysts were stationed at each entrance with few Cimēræ accompanying them.Inside the palace, a man in his 20's was sitting on the stairs of the palace, putting on his black combat boots when the queen and her personal servants descended. The queen smiled as she made her way to her son."Ciaran, it's still early in the morning. Are you going back to the city of Markus?"The man was the 2nd prince of Demetrius, Prince Ciaran, but he was the 1st heir to the throne for several reasons. He stood up, fixing his belt on his white and gold suit before he faced his mother. He smiled softly at her, his emerald green eyes seemed twinkling. Some of his auburn locks are covering his eyes."I want to check on the progress my men made in Helengre
"HAVE you identified what caused his death?" Prince Ciaran asked Tara who checked on the dead Kryst they saw at the border of the forest. Drake and Theo went to bury the dead.The three Krysts were his direct subordinates and close friends. They were with the royal siblings since their younger years. This is why Prince Ciaran was more comfortable with them than anyone else in the palace, other than his siblings.Tara shook her head. For once her sleep-deprived eyes seemed alert this time. "The mist around the memories of the Defense Kryst was thicker than usual, Your Highness. But it seemed that the soldier was on the run. We can assume that he was attacked.""But by whom?" Ciaran asked, more likely to himself rather than Tara.Drake and Theo went back to them and they all set forth towards the gate of the fortress. As Theo and Drake opened the gate, Ciaran could already sense something was wrong. There was a faint smell of rotten things, and the fort seemed deserted.Ciaran unsheathed
CHLOE let out a loud gasp and closed her eyes tightly; a sharp scream escaped her throat.She waited for her body to smash against the rocky ground when a pair of strong arms caught her from mid-air. She instinctively clutched her savior's shirt. They landed with a soft thud. "Are you okay?" a concerned voice asked. She blinked her eyes open and looked up before her jaw dropped. He was looking at her with his thick eyebrows scrunched in obvious worry. He has that strong perfect jaws, and the perfect curved eyes... and those thin pinkish lips... "J-Jared..." she stuttered. She realized that she was still in Jared's arms. She scrambled off him and steadied her balance. "Y-Yeah... Thanks for helping me." His lips curled in a lopsided smile. For once, Chloe was mesmerized. His face lightened up when he smiles... even a little. His eyes gazed upon the branch then back at her. "What are you doing up the tree?" he asked. He still had that emotionless tone of voice that she knew would erup
SHE'S absolutely not going inside without Lucian. That was Chloe's decision. She knew that Lucian's room will be in the Opall tower so she tried to find him.With more than fifty rooms in the Opall tower, Chloe knew she will not be able to find him before the said interrogation ended. Nobody knows what will happen if she's late.Goodness! Where, in the name of Demetrius, are you, Lulu-chi? she nearly screamed in her mind.Chloe started to wring her fingers together at her back as she stood at the stairs inside the tower. If Lucian was indeed inside, he must know that she didn't arrive yet. He will come to find her."Hey," a smooth, manly voice called out from the entrance of the tower.Chloe turned to him, recognizing her brother's voice immediately. She instantly saw him because of his blonde hair, blue eyes, and the white cloth that was covering his ears."Lulu-chi! Where have you been?" she exclaimed.Lucian jerked his thumb at his back. "We had some errands. Barbie and the others w
CHLOE was terrified. Lucian was calm. And the Teachers were all harder to read.When Master Levi lost his temper, Chloe thought they were dead. It turned out that it was just his nature. Because after Lucian said that he already knew that their parents were suspected, he sat down and relaxed. Chloe didn't know what to do or say at all."W-what.." Chloe felt a stone on her throat and she was having hard time to gulp it. "What do you mean?""It's true that our parents are members of the Knights of Shaula. We were not lucky to enter this academy. We're privileged." Lucian looked at her with his blue eyes glinting. It held many secrets, enough to deem it as betrayal on her part. How much does she not know? "Our powers are not just any other Kryst. Combined by two Knights, we're above them.""Miss Chloe Liu," Master Hunn called to her softly. She turned to the old man. "We would like to talk to Lucian alone. You can leave now."The said girl hesitated. She slowly looked at Lucian. "Brother?
LUCIAN landed on the ground, butt first. "Aw.." He groaned as he rubbed his painful rear.Jucel landed more smoothly, doing a full turn before landing on her feet. "S-Sorry for that," she said as she helped him up. Lucian stood before he quickly scanned the field around them. They were in an open field, anyone could see them if they were just going to walk across the road."Where are we?" Lucian asked. His blue eyes were alert and narrowed, ready for any danger that might come to him."We're i-in a secluded field of Graire Province," she answered. He turned to her questioningly, and she pushed the rim of her thick eyeglasses up her nose. "You.. y-you were ready to kill me. I needed to bring you s-somewhere you can't use your p-power. You can't invade my mind, ei-either."Lucian inhaled sharply and tilted his head. His eyebrows are scrunched while his hands on his hips. "You seemed to know my powers more than I do." Why would I invade your mind when I can't even look through it the mome