Disclaimer: I do not own Radiata Stories, Felix, Marietta or any other character in the said game. So please, do not sue me for theft.
A/N: The big part of this chaptered that is italicized reperesents a flashback.
Marietta entered the automatic door, carrying her books in her arms. Class hasn't started, for Derek was still not present. Faraus was already there, sitting in his usual place. He was always this early, as if someone will take his seat in the lab. Marietta took her place beside Faraus and settled her books on the round table in front of them. Faraus wasn't saying anything, like there was no one beside him. Marietta looked at him and saw that he was reading his textbook. Faraus would read a bit from the book and then jot down something on a piece of paper afterwards. Marietta leaned over a bit to see what he was reading. The book looked solid, with a hard-bound cover. Marietta could make out statements about the balance of the manipulated element and the strength of the staff. She then realized that Faraus was reading his copy of Elemental Manipulation Advanced. Oh right! We do have an assignment on elemental equations! Marietta thought, snapping her fingers. Boy…it took me a long time to figure out the proportional movement strength and the amount of elemental ore to perform the Water Blast spell! Marietta smiled at her thoughts. She then went through her pile of books to take one last look at her homework before passing it to Derek. Heehee, I'm so glad I did my assignment! I don't know what I'll do if I forgot…it…? Marietta's train of thought immediately stopped when she didn't encounter her Elemental Manipulation textbook. She looked through her books once again, but didn't find the said book.
"Oh no! No, no, no!" Marietta panicked. Faraus stopped his work and looked at her with a wry expression on his face.
"Hmm…" Faraus muttered, raising an eyebrow at Marietta, who was still busy fidgeting. Marietta groaned heavily and slammed her face on her books. But then, a thought struck her. Didn't she just drop a book on her way down to the B1 research lab? Yes, and what a fool she made of herself! Marietta jolted her head immediately and snapped her fingers after recollecting her thoughts.
"Of course! The book I dropped is still there!" Marietta exclaimed, but was soon feeling pretty silly about her self. Oh yeah…it's still there…WHY DIDN'T I PICK IT UP EARLIER? Marietta rolled her eyes as she stood up from her seat to collect her forgotten book. The door automatically opened itself for Marietta when she stood near it. But then, before she could take any step further, she was stopped by Derek who was standing directly in front of her.
"And just where do you think you're going, Marietta?" Derek asked, his eyes half-lidded. He just came down the stairs to his class. Marietta shrugged her shoulders, making Derek even more suspicious.
"I was just, err…getting my book from the, um…stairs." Marietta stammered, pointing a finger at the staircase behind Derek.
"Your book?" Derek asked in distrust, his face getting more cynical.
"Uh-huh. It fell off my arms when I was headed for class and I forgot to pick it up." Marietta said honestly, but Derek just wouldn't believe the story. Who could blame him? Forgetting to pick up something you just dropped is pretty hard to do.
"Right. Nice try, but I don't give bathroom breaks during my classes." Derek said flatly, walking past Marietta. He noticed that Marietta's hair wasn't in its usual style. "If you want to do your hair, Marietta, I suggest you fix it after Elemental Magic class." Derek added, settling his books and teaching manuals on the little table beside the chalk board. Faraus cleared his throat, but was obviously trying to stifle a chuckle. Marietta looked at her shoulders and saw her red hair draped over it. She frowned and tried to haggle with Derek over giving her a permit to leave.
"Please, sir! It's something for our Elemental Magic class." Marietta said. Hehe, now he has no choice. He's gotta let me out. She added in her thoughts.
"What is it?" Derek asked, not looking at Marietta and was browsing through his books.
"It's…erm…my assignment for today." Marietta explained, locking her hands behind her. Derek didn't say anything else other than a dull "Ah". "So, I really need my book, because my assignment's in there." Derek stopped flipping the pages of his book and looked at Marietta, who had a hopeful smile on her face.
"No." Derek said shortly before getting back to his reading. Marietta was truck dumb. "Your lack of responsibility needs to be remedied, Marietta. And I hope this incident teaches you well."
"B-But-" Marietta retorted, raising a finger.
"No buts! Your negligence brought this upon you. So if you mind, take your seat so we could begin!" Derek snapped, slamming his book close. Marietta dismally nodded and dragged herself to sit on her chair. Derek faced the board and started to write something on it. "'No buts!'? Tsk, yuck...that sounded so cliché." Derek grunted angrily under his breath. Marietta heaved a heavy sigh. She spent her night sitting in her desk, trying to figure out the proportional balance of elements, with only a dim lamp for a companion. She then started to mutter unintelligible sounds under her breath, probably cursing herself of being totally clumsy and distracted. Derek finished with the board and turned to face his class of two people.
"Good afternoon, people." Derek greeted Faraus and Marietta. "Today, we are going to discuss the equal properties and proportional balance of elements." He paused and looked at Faraus, then at Marietta. "Now, I gave you something to do yesterday, right?" Faraus nodded.
"Yes…" Marietta responded glumly.
"Alright then." Derek said, clapping his hands. "Since one of you had an attack of acute irresponsibility," Derek looked sharply at Marietta, who again had slammed her face on her books. Derek sighed and continued. "I expect to have only one assignment for today. Faraus, please hand over your paper." Faraus stood up and handed his paper over to Derek. Marietta didn't seem to notice. She was upset about many things. First, she spent her night doing that brutal assignment. Second, she forgot to pick up her book when she dropped it- which was like an automatic response of anyone who happens to experience dropping something. And third, all that work went down the drain. Marietta's exasperated moan was muffled by her book.
"Marrieta," Derek's voice rang in her ears. Marietta immediately pulled herself together and faced Derek.
"Yes, sir?" She asked politely, but was still feeling pretty down.
"You can submit your assignment tomorrow," Derek said, putting Faraus' work in a book. "But your grade won't be the same. Even if your work is A plus material, there will be some deductions to pay for your carelessness."
"O-OK. Got it." Marietta stammered. Derek nodded and got back to his lesson. Marietta and Faraus listened to Derek as he directed methods to calculate the stable proportion of elements and avoid grave mistakes.
"If you are trying to perform a spell which has high water concentration and then an earth spell with an even higher one," Derek paused to let out a small laugh. "Then prepare to do some major mud mopping. Instability of elements can lead to disastrous results, so it is important to mull things over and stay alert." Marietta and Faraus listened carefully, each jotting their own notes.
"And when I say alert, there is no margin for clumsiness." Derek said. It was as if the words hit Marietta hard on the head. She looked at Derek who looked back at her. "Got that, Marietta?"
"Uh-huh." She answered, looking up to Derek and brushed back some stray hair from her face. Marietta looked at her watch. Time seemed to fly so painfully slow. Marietta pouted and just hoped for class to be over.
-----
"This just isn't my day." Marietta said, looking at a piece of paper in her hand. She finally had the chance to go and fix her hair. Marietta went straight to the girl's room after Derek's class and spent her stay there pulling her red hair into two tight buns. Well anyway, She just came from the Star Tower research lab on the first floor, from her golem creation class. It seems that her luck just isn't cooperating with her today. After that little incident with Derek and her elemental balance assignment, Ursula just didn't leave her alone during golem construction class. Marietta looked at the piece of paper again. Written there were big, angry letters forming the word "DETENTION".
"Gee…now I have to stay an extra hour in here…" Marietta uttered. "I didn't even know that the Institute GAVE detention."
"Well, you do now! Hahahaha!" Johan remarked as he came from behind Marietta and walked passed her. Marietta's face creased in an annoyed frown, crumpling the detention slip in her hand. Marietta watched as the green-clad boy disappeared from her sight when he entered the auto-door. Marietta stood there for a few seconds with a frown on her face.
"…Ooooooohh! That guy just ticks me off!" Marietta screamed, pretending that she was strangling Johan. Why wouldn't she be mad? It was entirely Johan's fault why she was sent to detention. It was still so fresh in Marietta's memory, and she hated every moment she remembered it.
Marietta arrived in the first floor lab to find that class hasn't started yet. There, on one of the seat of the round table, sat Johan, who was busy doing something with an oily bug- something which Marietta didn't want to know. Ursula was by the chalk board, organizing today's lesson in a chart. She didn't seem to notice anyone coming and going in the room and was totally absorbed in her work. Marietta sat in her seat next to Johan and put her books in front of her. On the round table were several items, which included bottles of ether, some animal hair and jars. Marietta looked at the corner of the chalk board and saw a semi-erased message written there.
"Quiz today on golem movement and mobility…" Marietta read adjusting her tiny glasses a bit. "Oh yeah…oh, this is going to be one bloody test…" The students who pass Ursula's classes can be counted with human fingers. She gives exams so brutal, that procrastinating before them is complete suicide. Coming to Ursula's classes unprepared is a dangerous thing to do, so students know better than to slack off and horse around. With one final stroke, Ursula pulled the chalk away from the board and faced her students.
"One, two…aren't there three of you in my class?" Ursula counted, seeing that one of her students is missing.
"Franklin's out today." Johan reported, raising a hand. "He said he's sick."
"With what?" Ursula asked.
"Acute acne and pore congestion." Johan finished, trying to suppress his laughter. "He came out from the restroom screaming about he couldn't show his face in public again." He added. Marietta bit her lip so that she'd avoid bursting in laughter. Ursula rolled her eyes.
"Well, if you see Franklin, tell him that he's going to get more than a zit on his face if he keeps on skipping my classes." Ursula said to Johan, who was too busy laughing to listen. She then looked at her two remaining students. Johan stopped laughing and was now wiping tears from his eyes, while Marietta was staring blankly at her, her face without that usually happy glow. It was the only thing amiss. She had her red hair styled in their usual buns, her tiny green glasses were sitting comfortably on the bridge of her nose and her uniform was wrinkle-free. The glow of her face was the only thing absent. Ursula then started to brief her class on their exam for today.
"Okay then. As you all know, we have a scheduled exam about golem movement today." Ursula said, looking over at the corner of the board. "I won't be giving any review before the exam, for I expect that you both have studied for today."
"Oh, I studied alright!" Johan has a reputation of being a liar. Not to mention being a sleaze, a jerk and a rat. Johan shouted it quite confidently, but there was an uncertain crook in his smile when he said it.
"Me too!" Marietta said, somehow regaining the composure she lost from her last class. Johan then stuck out a tongue at her and taunted Marietta.
"No you didn't!" Johan said while his tongue was stuck out. Marietta glared at him.
"You'd better put that thing away." Marietta hissed, looking at his tongue. "It might attract flies." Ursula noticed the building tension between Johan and Marietta and decided to start the exam before anything else happens.
"Ahem," Ursula cleared her throat. Marietta and Johan both jolted upright and listened to what their professor has to say. "In front of you are the materials that you will be using for today's exam. I expect you to create a golem that has excellent agility and can perform difficult body movements." Ursula then saw Johan raising his hand. "Yes, Johan?"
"So, you want us to create a golem that can do somersaults, or roundhouses?" Johan quipped, laughing to himself afterwards.
"If my standards demands it, then yes." Ursula said forebodingly, glaring at Johan. The boy was surprised to hear that kind of answer and just stayed quiet. Marietta somehow smiled at this.
"Now class, what I expect to see in your work is not the size of the golem," Ursula said, taking an immobile golem she created from one of the shelves. She then put it on the table and poured some ether inside it. A reaction then occurred and within moments, the golem started to move and nimbly did a backflip. "But its ability to execute agile movements that golem's can't normally do."
"Wow…" Both students said in awe, seeing the golem do a cartwheel. After the little demonstration, Marietta jotted last minute notes and formulated calculations, while Johan sat complacently, still playing with his oily bug. Ursula looked at the clock above the chalk board and waited for the hand to strike 4:40. When the hand was a few seconds away, Ursula faced Marietta and Johan to give last minute instructions.
"Please clear your desks of unnecessary objects and get ready for the exam. I demand there be no cheating during the test.." Ursula said to both of them. "The moment I catch you in the act of leeching, your golem will automatically be graded zero and you will be sent to detention." Johan gulped. "You have 30 minutes…begin!" Ursula said, giving the "go" signal. Marietta and Johan gathered their respective materials and quickly got to work. Marietta was a bit sure of what she was doing. And why wouldn't she be? She always listens to Ursula during discussions and reads her golem books arduously. Marietta smiled as she formed the golem's frame from the provided wire. Johan, however, was already struggling with his golem. He squirmed nervously in his seat and was looking at the materials. He didn't know what to use first and didn't know the first step in making a golem. Johan glanced sideways to Marietta and saw that she was forming the golem's frame from the wire.
"Is there a problem, Johan?" Ursula asked, catching Johan looking at Marietta's work.
"Uh, no! Not at all!" Johan lied, a big foolish grin taking over his face.
"Then eyes at your own golem." Ursula said as she squinted in disbelief. Johan did what he was told.
"Hmm…this frame will increase speed, but will reduce the golem's strength needed to perform body movements…" Marietta muttered under her breath, surveying the metal frame she made. "What if I tweak it…" Marietta said, twisting the arms of the frame into the shape she wanted. "There, perfect!." She said proudly. Johan looked over to her and started whispering to her.
"Hey…hey, Marietta…" Johan murmured, trying to steer clear of Ursula's watchful eyes. Marietta looked at him with an annoyed scowl. "What's the first step?" Marietta ignored him and continued to work. But Johan was persistent. "Hey…what do I do with the wire?" He hissed. Marietta's narrow green eyes widened in irritation.
"Could you leave me alone? I'm working here!" Marietta whispered vehemently. Ursula heard Marietta's hisses.
"Marietta! Mind your own work." Ursula snapped at the redheaded girl.
"But Johan, he-" Marietta cut herself off when she saw Ursula's deadly stare. If Derek was a strict teacher, Ursula's a different story. Marietta frowned at Johan, who smiled at her mischievously. Marietta put her books between Johan and her so the little toad couldn't see what she's doing. Johan tried to look over the pile of books and then started to pester Marietta again.
"Hey, hey! Marietta!" Johan's whispers seemed to penetrate the wall of books. "Do I pour the ether on the golem or inside it?" He asked. Marietta's hand rolled into a fist, as she shut her eyes in exasperation.
"Shut up!" Marietta hissed back at him, but it was loud enough for Ursula to hear.
"Would it kill you to stay focused on your own work?" Ursula suddenly barked at Marietta, which caused her to jerk nervously.
"But Johan won't stop bothering me!" Marietta said, standing up and pointing to Johan. Ursula's face was blank. She looked at Johan and saw the boy quietly working on his golem.
"And the thigh wire is twisted with the, shin wire! And the shin wire is twisted with the, leg wire! " Johan sang innocently, acting like he's got nothing to do with what's happening. He then looked at the two women who were surveying him. "Oh, hey there! What do you think of this frame? Does it make my golem look fat?" Ursula then directed her attention back at Marietta, who was dumbstruck, but was completely infuriated.
"You were saying?" Ursula said bluntly.
"But he…I…he kept on-" Marietta said, pointing at Johan, then at herself, then back at Johan again. Ursula and Johan looked at her, both raising an eyebrow. Seeing how the sly weasel got away with murder, Marietta just stayed silent and got back to her work.
"One more fracas, and it's off to detention with you, Marietta." Ursula said warningly. But then, her voice became soft and somewhat caring. "Try to avoid anymore commotions. You cannot afford to get a zero on this exam." Ursula finished.
"OK." Marietta had no choice but to agree to her professor's wishes. Marietta then started to mold the clay plaster around her wire frame and gave the golem its physical features. Marietta took great care of molding the arms and legs, for they are important in optimizing the golem's movements. And just when she thought the nuisance has died, Johan's voice came to pester her once again.
"Hey, Marietta! Do really need to follow the wire frame? What if I don't want to?" Johan asked his stupid question. Marietta did her best to shut out his voice from her head. The redheaded mage didn't say anything and continued with her golem. "Hey, Marietta! Marietta! Marietta! Marietta!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!" Marietta muttered to herself every time Johan called her name. It was working pretty well at this point. Ignoring Johan was not easy, but it was the only thing she can do to focus on her work. Marietta then finished the clay around the golem's frame and was now ready for chemical synthesis. Marietta made sure that the clay layer was not too thick or too thin, as it could constrict the movements or allow too much mobility that could spin the golem out of control. She put in the animal hair inside the hollow golem and got the ether ready for synthesis. Going back to Johan now. He was still not working well on his golem and just finished a measly percent of his work at this point. Time was running out fast, and Johan knew he was getting left behind. He took a quick look at Marietta above the pile of books and saw that she was getting ready to pour the ether on her golem.
"Marietta! Help me out here!" Johan hissed, trying to get Marietta to come at his aid.
"That's your problem. Leave me alone, Johan!" Marietta whispered back, handling the ether very carefully. Johan grumbled unintelligibly under his breath and looked angrily at Marietta.
"...If I can't finish my golem," Johan whispered noxiously, taking out something from his pocket. It was the oily bug that he was playing with earlier. "Then you won't either, Marietta." Johan then released the oily bug on the floor, near Marietta's chair. The bug crawled up the cylindrical seat and up Marietta's uniform. The oily bug slowly inched it's way into her clothes.
"Easy now…easy, Marietta…" Marietta said to herself, trying to avoid her clumsiness from kicking in at this very crucial moment. "Not too much ether…not too much…" Marietta found herself chanting that phrase, as the ether from the flask flowed in a steady stream into he hollow golem. "Easy…easy…what the…WHOA!" Marietta dropped the bottle of ether on the floor, shattering it in a loud crash. Marietta lost balance on her chair and fell on her back.
"Marietta!" Ursula shrieked, running over to her student. Johan laughingly watched, as Marietta struggled on the floor. The ether spilled ether on the floor then emitted a horrible toxic smell, which was filling the room quite fast. Ursula knew that the students' health were the first priority.
"Marietta, Johan, out! OUT, NOW!" Ursula yelled at her students, pointing to the door. "What are you waiting for? Get out now!" She helped Marietta up on her feet and told her to vacate the lab. Johan hurriedly dashed out of the room, now feeling nervous rather than amused. As Marietta got up and ran, the weird, crawling feeling in her back disappeared. The oily bug dropped out of Marietta's uniform when she stood up and ran out of the lab. Johan and Marietta waited outside the lab along the stair landing, both still nervous of what happened. Ursula was still in the lab, and hasn't come out yet. Marietta was engulfed in shock, as Johan still found room to annoy the hell out of her.
"You killed Ms. Ursula, Marietta!" Johan said, eyes wide. "You killed our golem construction professor!" At this point, Marietta could no longer hold her frustration. She grabbed Johan by his collar and looked at him with flaring emerald eyes.
"You…little…weasel! You put the bug in my shirt!" Marietta screamed at Johan. Just then, the auto-door of the first floor lab shot open and out came a cloud of pinkish-purple smoke. Ursula emerged from it, wearing a gasmask. She swatted some pink smoke away from her face and walked over to Marietta and Johan.
"Ms. Ursula!" Marietta and Johan said in unison. Ursula took off her gasmask and took in a gust of air. The surrounding atmosphere smelled of ether.
"Well, looks like we won't be using this lab for a while." Ursula said, looking back. There were clouds of pink smoke escaping from the exhaust slots of the auto-door.
"What will happen to our golems?" Johan asked. Ursula sighed. She then looked at Marietta.
"I'm just going to base your grades on your recitation." Ursula said. Johan said nothing. "As for you, Marietta…I am sorry to do this, but you cost yourself and your classmate a very important part of your grade."
"Yeah, Marietta, you did!" Johan taunted, but was then stopped by Ursula. Marietta frowned at him.
"But something crawled into my shirt! It took me by surprise!" Marietta explained. "It was Johan's oily bug!" She said, pointing to Johan like a little girl. Johan acted as if he hasn't done anything.
"Was it my fault that you played with my bug during our test?" Johan asked angrily. "No! So this is your fault! You're so clumsy, Marietta! You ruined our lab!" Johan added.
"Why you little-" Marietta was then stopped when Ursula handed her a piece of paper. "What's this?"
"Because of what you did to our lab, your disruption during our exam and for accusing your innocent classmate of something he didn't do," Ursula started to explain to Marietta what the paper is. "I am hereby sending you to detention, Marietta." Marietta's world crumbled right in front of her.
"WHAT?" Marietta shouted in disbelief. "I haven't done anything! If there's anyone to be sent in detention, it's him!" Marietta retorted angrily, pointing a solid finger at Johan.
"That is enough!" Ursula interrupted, blood flooding her face. "That is enough out of you, Marietta. Now, report to the detention room after your school hours." Marietta didn't say anything, but it can be seen from her face that she was very angry. Veins in her cheeks were engorged with blood, making them very red and irritated. Her narrow green eyes flared wildly, losing their cheerful shine and was now filled with frustrated glints. Marietta nodded to Ursula and didn't say anything more. She looked at Johan, who stuck out his tongue at her. Marietta gritted her teeth at him.
"Goodbye, Ms. Ursula." Marietta said. Though angry, she didn't forget to still respect her professor. She turned her back on Ursula and Johan and went out of the Star Tower, head full of frustration and fist full of unreleased tension.
Marietta headed to the reception area to ask Roche where the detention room was. Marietta went to the lobby to see Roche browsing through the Vareth manuscripts in the drawers. Marietta walked up to her. Roche noticed Marietta standing beside her and saw that the girl isn't too happy and cheerful.
"What's wrong, Marietta?" Roche asked concernedly, seeing the frustration in Marietta's usually happy face.
"Can you tell me where I can find the detention room, Roche?" Marietta asked exhaustedly, leaning on the drawers. Roche almost dropped the document she was reading when she heard Marietta say the word "detention".
"Come again? Did you say, 'detention'?" Roche asked in disbelief, adjusting her swirled glasses. Marietta nodded. It hurt to talk. "You? You in detention?"
"Yes, Roche. Me in detention." Marietta responded bluntly. She really didn't want to keep up this little word game with Roche. All Marietta wanted to do now was to end this day and sleep in her bed. "So, could you please tell me where the detention room is?"
"Oh yes. Sorry. It's just that, you of all people…" Roche said, not able to look at Marietta.
"Yes, yes, I know. It's not really me to hang out in detention." Marietta took the words right out of Roche's mouth. "So…where is the godforsaken detention room?"
"It's on the second floor. It's the room beside Mr. Cecil's desk." Roche said. Marietta smiled weakly and thanked her.
"Thanks, Roche." Marietta said, walking past Roche, who still couldn't believe that Marietta was sent to detention.
"Marietta!" Roche called after her. Marietta did a quick turn around and asked what's wrong. "I just can't believe you're in detention!"
"You'd better believe it." Marietta said unemotionally, finally climbing the stairs to the second floor.
-----
Marietta reached the second floor landing and saw Cecil seated at his desk. He seemed so preoccupied with something he is reading on the desk. He didn't notice anyone on the second floor and was busy reading the thing on his desk.
"If I increase the slots for element ores in the staff, then there will be room for multiple spells." Cecil mumbled, trying to design a new prototype for a Vareth staff. "Gah, no! That will make the staff unstable!" Marietta didn't say anything. She looked over to the other side and saw that she was directly in front of an auto-door. There was sign hanging on it which read, "Detention". Marietta always noticed this door, but never really knew what it was for. It always had a barricade in front of it. She then wondered if they opened the detention room just now because she got sent to it.
"Haha, silly me. I really gotta stop these weird thoughts from invading my head." Marietta chimed, smiling to herself. Marietta took a deep breath. She has never been to detention before. But what was there to be afraid about? Vareth Institute only has a handful of students, and she knew them all. Marietta then smiled at this thought. Instead of feeling nervous, she was pretty confident. Marietta stood in front of the auto-door, and instantly, the door opened upwards. She walked into the room and saw that it was very different from the research labs in the towers. There were ten seats; arranged in two lines and five rows. There was a big desk up in the front, and a large chalk board behind it. On the board were poorly written letters saying the words, "Keep quiet and listen!". The chairs, the desk and the big board were all in front of Marietta. There was someone seated in the very last seat of the first line. From the red color of his uniform, Marietta knew who he was.
"Newcomer, yo." Ernest said in a garbled manner after hearing the auto-door open. He turned and saw Marietta behind him. "Redhead chick…yo." Vareth's resident rocker greeted.
"Hi, Ernest." Marietta greeted back, raising a hand at him. Ernest said nothing, but had his usual twisted smile plastered on his face. Marietta figured that all that head-banging and rocking out Ernest has been doing finally landed him in trouble. Marietta looked over at the desk and saw that someone was sitting behind it. Marietta couldn't see the person's face, for he was reading a big book which covers his entire face.
"Sit in the front row, if you please." The person said. His voice seemed so familiar. Marietta raised an eyebrow. She reluctantly went to the front row and sat there. Marietta continued to observe the person behind the desk. He wasn't moving. He wasn't even turning the pages of his big book. Marietta then looked at what he was reading.
"Elemental Manipulation Advanced, Volume 2." Marietta read. She then remembered her little lecture about responsibility given by Derek. Marietta was still frustrated over that. "You know…I dropped a book just like that earlier, but I forgot to pick it up. It's pretty stupid…"
"You don't say?" The person behind the book said, his voice seemed a little happy for Marietta. Marietta frowned.
"And then Sir Derek won't let me retrieve it. And now it's gone to who-knows-where." Marietta said bitterly, pouting and folding her arms across her chest. She then looked at the book once more. It seemed so familiar. It had a white streak across the spine, just like her book. "Hmmm…that white streak…it's just kinda like my book, you know."
"Really?" The person asked, and was then followed by a soft chuckle. "What if I told you that this was yours?" Marietta was immediately struck by this statement. The person closed the big book and put it down on the desk. Marietta's eyes widened the moment she saw just who she has been talking with. His shiny silver hair was totally unmistakable, and his perfectly carved face was a complete giveaway. He smiled at Marietta quite happily, as the girl was still surprised to see him.
"Felix?" Marietta almost choked and ate her words. Felix let out an amused chortle. Marietta couldn't explain it, but why this much surprise? I mean, it was just Felix…but the again, Marietta somehow knew that Felix…was more than a mere "just".