Chapter II - Fated Meetings?
'RIGHT! Here you go!'
Frei cheerfully shoved Alicia into her new room. It was quite large, but not as large as her bedroom back in her home, and the walls are covered with bright baby blue wallpaper with starry motives on it and the furnished wooden floor is almost fully covered with a puffy pink carpet. On the ceiling, a large crystal chandelier hangs, and on the corners of the room, hanging on the ceiling, are four pots with pretty flowers inside them, creating a natural aura in the room. The large glass window was framed with beautiful golden Victorian frame, with silken curtains in bright purple color. Sitting next to the window, was a large, puffy sky blue canopy bed made of wood painted in shimmering gold.
'Whoa….' Alicia said in awe.
"Pretty impressive, eh?" Frei smirked and placed Alicia's room's keys on a small, brown furnished table beside the bed. "This is one of the reasons why we're the best school around! We got a ton of high-classed facilities in here, and none of them is second to anything else from any other school!" She said, puffing her chest proudly.
Alicia listened carefully to what Frei said while constantly nodding in acknowledgment, and she too, agreed that this school is indeed the best she has gone to……At least for now.
The school bell rang clearly across the dorm and caused Alicia to jump slightly in surprise. "Well, that's our cue! Best go and find your class now! Don't wanna be late in your first day, you know!" Frei laughed and patted Alicia's back. "Okay, time to go now, see ya at lunch!" With that, Frei burst out of the room in high speed, and Alicia didn't even have the chance to thank her.
Alicia stood in front of her door, with her jaw fell open as she gazed at the fading dust ahead. "She's sure is speedy…I didn't even have the chance to thank her." Alicia sighed and closed her room's door. She opened her luggage and took a sheet of paper consists a table of classes and a smaller sheet of paper consists her time table.
"Let's see……If I wasn't mistaken, I'm in Class D…." She said as her eyes are fixed on the table, which has the following classes: Class A, Class C, Class D, Class F, Class N, and Class V. "Oh yes, now, where's that…" Alicia searched for her time table and suddenly froze in her spot as she gazed at the tiny sheet of paper. A brilliantly large word (and a letter) was imprinted on the paper, as if it was taunting the poor blond girl.
On the paper, were the words "CLASS A" -- printed in extra size on the top of the time table.
Now, if Alicia can yell so loud, she'd probably be screaming in agony right now -- shocking nearly the whole academy. But no, she just fell on the ground, frozen, and merely stared at the tiny paper.
"W-w-what should I do….??!" She squeaked. "I took the wrong time table…! Ohhh!!" She clutched her head with her hands in frustration. "It's my first day and I made a mistake already?!"
The bell tolls again, and this time was a little louder, as if forcing Alicia to hurry up. Confused, she picked up several books randomly (since most of the books from the time table aren't available in her class) and rushed outside anxiously.
Several minutes later……
It doesn't take a perverted-crazy-alchemist (I know who you're thinking…) to figure out that Alicia is plainly, clearly, lost.
Anywhere she sees there's nothing but strange, wildly growing plants covered in long; some thorny or slimy with strange, gooey substance; thick vines. The place looks like a crazy, neglected green house of some sort, everywhere there was a row of large pots with different colored flowers, and there were three large fountains, each has strange, different colored, bubbling liquid and each has strange (and some sickening) smells. One of the fountains were filled with bubbling red liquid that smells like rotten water, the other was filled with glowing blue liquid that has a fragrant, soothing smell of a woman's perfume, and the last was filled with goo-like, odd-smelling liquid that's so strange that it can't be described.
Besides the fountains and the plants, the place seems like a normal garden. White slate floor with several bright marble pillars covered in vines, white garden benches that clashes with the green wild bushes behind them, a sundial made of beautiful white stone that sat beside one of the benches, and several tall lamp posts without any candles or lights inside the glass containers that stood on the top of the posts scattered across the garden.
"Wh-where am I?" Alicia whispered and looked around her as she walked all by herself in the bizarre greenhouse. "It looks like a garden of some sort….But what are these strange plants?" She muttered anxiously, and her eyes were locked on to a pot of strange plants with mouth-shaped buds. Curious, she knelt down to take a closer look on the plant. Suddenly, one of the plants opened its fanged jaw and let out a loud burp that surprised Alicia, and made her fell to the ground. Followed by the burp, a small, bird-like skeleton came out from the plant's mouth and landed on Alicia's lap with a soft "thump".
With a loud 'EEEEK!!', Alicia scrambled up and gathered her fallen books and ran away from the strange and assumed carnivorous plant with her eyes closed, and because she wasn't opening her eyes, she accidentally bumped into someone (or something) and fell to the ground.
"Oi! Watch where you're going, newbie!" The person whom she bumped into barked angrily. "What were you doing, running with your eyes closed like that?!"
"I-I'm sorry! I was so terrified by that strange plant from there so I wasn't paying any attention on where I was going!" Alicia apologized and picked up her books while huffing in anxiety.
She lifted her head to see the person whom she has bumped into, and she saw a girl, about her age, with very beautiful golden hair, deep azure eyes that looked kind but tough at the same time, and supple white skin. The girl as wearing a purple vest above her white blouse and her short purple checkered skirt almost fully reveals her thigh as she stood up. She looked rather annoyed because Alicia bumped into her, but she let out a sigh and helped Alicia picking up her books.
"Here." She stood up while clutching Alicia's books and handed them to her after shoving her pretty golden hair. "Be sure not to bump into anyone again."
Alicia nodded in embarrassment and received the books after muttering a tiny "thank you". "So…" The girl said, "You're new here, right? What are you doing here? This is Class F's greenhouse, and this place isn't available until the 4th period."
"Umm…." Alicia nodded her head. "Actually, I was….Lost."
The girl stood silent while eyeing Alicia, and after awhile, she groaned and slapped her forehead. "Grrr…Not again….." She moaned.
"Let me guess…." She slumped to the nearest bench and placed one arm on the sundial, with her eyes fixed on Alicia, giving a cold, but also mocking glare that makes her feel like she's being petrified by the girl's glare. "You've met Frei, who has been so "kind" to show you the whole place, but since she was moving too fast, you were unable to catch up with any nonsense that she blabbered, and then you ended up taking the wrong time table. Then, just as you found out your mistake, it was too late, and you, since that airhead didn't show you the areas really clearly, got lost and was frightened to death by that crazy nerd's Feather Digester?"
Alicia's jaw dropped. The girl seem to as if she had just read Alicia's mind very clearly, and recited everything in her memory in a more rude way of speech. Speechless, she nodded slightly.
The girl stood up and sighed. "Sheesh, that air head…" She mumbled. "She just never learns from experience." The girl took out a small notebook from her coat pocket and began flipping the pages. "Lessee…You're…..Judging from your appearance, you must be Alicia, the new girl Ruf said to be the new exchange student, right?"
Alicia had no idea about who the girl was talking about, but she nodded nonetheless. "Alicia from Class D, huh?" The girl smirks in amusement of something and closed her notebook. "Well, all I can say is this…You!" The girl snapped and pointed at Alicia, which made her jump and nearly drop her books again.
"Y-y-yes!"
"You are one lucky newbie, Alicia!" The girl lowered her finger and laughed heartily. Alicia, had no idea on what she was talking about, merely laughed timidly and nervously. "Actually," the girl stopped, "I was assigned as your tutor in your first days in this Academy. So, aren't you glad that I skipped the Archery class to slack off in this deserted freak-land? Imagine it, if I hadn't headed here, even if I had skipped the class, you would still be lost, no?"
The thought struck Alicia's mind quick like a knife. Well, that's one thing she's lucky at today. "Y-yes! Th-thank you so much, umm…" Alicia said timidly, then suddenly, the girl gave out her hand to her.
"It's Silmeria." The girl said with a grin. "You don't have to be so formal with me, just call me Silmeria, ok? Formality doesn't suit me well. But don't let the headmaster hear about this, OK? He's gonna kick my butt out of the Clan if he does."
Alicia smiled and took her hand. When she held Silmeria's hand, she can feel the girl's hand so firm and warm. Her strong grip reminds her of when she shook hands with her . "Thank you…Silmeria."
Silmeria smiled. The moment she held Alicia's tiny hand in hers, she can feel a strong, but tiny flame inside the girl's soul that she needs to bring out…Something that will bring the start of a very intriguing circumstance that will change the whole Academy.
'I wonder…..'
Alicia noticed Silmeria's strange expression, she asked her if she was alright, but her voice was so small that Silmeria barely heard it.
"S-Silmeria?" Alicia said louder.
Silmeria broke out from her thoughts by this. "Huh? What?" She muttered. "I'm sorry. I was….Thinking of something back there."
'Maybe….Just maybe…I'll check up on it later.' She thought.
"So!" Silmeria said with a start. "The first period is Materializing class, right? Well, again, you're lucky! The teacher's a softie! She won't punish a newbie for being lost! Like, a newbie in this Academy got lost for AT LEAST 13 times!"
Alicia's eyes bulged. "Thi---Thirteen times AT LEAST?!"
"Don't worry, that was when they don't use the "tutor" system." Silmeria laughed. "So, starting from last year, the headmaster ordered that every student must be accompanied by a tutor from each Clan, in order to help the student to get used to the surroundings. And this year, I was assigned to accompany you! Last year I was ordered to accompany a student named Aelia….Now she's in the Midgard Clan, and boy…." Silmeria sighed deeply. "A HANDFUL SHE WAS!" She bellowed in frustration. "It took me and my sisters and even Ruf to get her to attend the Magic lessons!" Silmeria slammed the sundial and caused a small crack on the sundial, and Alicia backed away from the angered blonde.
"SURE, she might hate that stupid, show-off-ish, and evil to the core old-timer, but that doesn't mean she can get annoyed by it! I mean, come on!! Psoron isn't like that! And THAT-THAT-THAT HARDHEADED ATTITUDE!!" At this, Silmeria roared into the sky and punched her fist high above. "She acted really cool when Lenneth dealt with her, and acted all obedient and nice when Hrist is on duty (don't we all?), but why did she has to turn rebellious when it comes to me?! And about RUF!!" Silmeria punches the nearby vase and it shatters into pieces, letting the icky, literally eyeful (no seriously, the buds are all human eyes) plant drop into the ground and eyes Alicia with its large, creepy eyeballs and Silmeria shoves her fist into the air, while Alicia slumped into the ground, scared of the sudden change in her new friend.
"Sure, there are more rebellious punks like that Kashell boy, whatever, but, before, Ruf has never been summoned to deal with newbies like that before! And-and-and…."
"Ahem, Silmeria, sorry to interrupt your self-arguing, but, isn't there, like something you HAVE to do?"
The girls turned into the other side of the room and saw a young man, wearing the same uniform as Silmeria, only he was wearing a vest in a deeper color of purple with matching pants, and on the lower part of his necktie, was a shining golden brooch shaped like a cross and a ring. The young man have deep emerald eyes and long, deep green hair that somehow makes Alicia jealous in the inside. For some reason, the moment Alicia casts her eyes on the young man, she can feel her heart thumping on the inside for some reason.
"R-R-R-RUF?!" Silmeria yelled in surprise and the tense atmosphere dissolves along with the young man's presence. "What in the name of Baldur are you doing here?!"
The young man grinned smugly. "Oh, it's nothing, just checking whose voice it is that echoed all the way to the Archery class…" He said teasingly, and caused Silmeria to blush heavily. "And besides….How many times do I have to tell you, stop calling me Ruf! It's Rufus!"
"Awww!" Silmeria whined. "But it's cuter than Rufus! You sound more like a little, obedient puppy!" She grinned innocently.
"What did you mean by puppy…?" Rufus groaned and slapped his forehead, then, he caught the glimpse of the frightened girl whose face flushed in deep pink. "Oi, oi, Silmeria, what's a kid from Class D doing here?" Rufus pointed at Alicia.
'H-h-how did he know that I'm from Class D?!' Alicia screamed inside her head. "H-h-how…Did you…?" She muttered timidly.
"Heh, easy." He chuckled. "Frei has told me about you. You're that….Timid girl who took the wrong time table with the weird name, right?"
'W-W-WEIRD NAME?!!?'
"Ruf, don't be so rude!" Silmeria cuts in, "Whose fault she took the wrong time table?! And besides, what's so weird about the name Alicia?!"
Rufus seems to be surprised by this. "Oh! So your name is Alicia? No wonder, because the name Frei told me was kinda funny for a girl's name…" He chuckled, and Alicia laughed nervously.
"What did she tell you, anyway?"
"Weell…. She said that today she made a new friend with a girl named 'Ali' (yeah, laugh all you want…) and that she has just noticed that she has given this girl here the wrong time table. So, as I went searching for this girl's room to give her correct time table, I heard you yelling around in the Class F's greenhouse, and I think it might be the best to ask help from the new kid's appointed tutor, so here I am. Although," he turned at Alicia, "it's more likely that you found the kid before we did."
"It's your fault." Silmeria pouted. "As a Clan leader, you should pay more attention to your subordinates! How can you let me skip the Archery Class, even though we're supposed to attend the class to--"
Silmeria stopped at this and clasped her hands over her mouth.
"Hoo…So you tried to skip the Archery class today?" Rufus raised an eyebrow and Silmeria blushed deeper.
"Y-YOU…" She snarled. "YOU WERE THE SAME, RIGHT?! YOU SAID YOU HEARD MY VOICE FROM THE ARCHERY CLASS, BUT THEN, YOU SAID YOU HEARD MY VOICE WHEN YOU WERE TRYING TO FIND ALICIA!" She bellowed, and her face was puffing red.
"At least I have a good reason for leaving class." Rufus shot back at her. "And besides, don't you think you've skipped the lessons one time too many, Silmeria?"
Silmeria pouted and crossed her arms. Her face was still red in frustration. "Okay, okay! You win this time! I'll go!"
Rufus smirked in victory at this. "Well, then, shall we go? Miss Silmeria Valkyrie?" The name seems to ring a bell in Alicia's head, and although she wants too ask the two about it, something seems to keep her voice from coming out.
Silmeria scoffed. "I'm flattered, Lord Rufus." She said in a mocking tone. "However, I'd like to escort this girl to her class first, and then I'll make my way to the Archery class. Now, if you please, the time table…" She reached out her hand.
"Oh, right." Rufus searched his vest pocket and handed a folded sheet of paper to Silmeria. "You'd better not run away this time."
Silmeria scowls. "Unlike a certain half-elf archer, I am the type of a person who keeps my promise!" She helped Alicia stood up and grabbed her arm. "Right, see you later, Ruf! Come on, Alicia!"
"Umm…Right…" Alicia whispered timidly and turned at Rufus, who was still looking at her with his deep emerald eyes. For some reason, their meeting today is fated, and their fates will intertwine one day…
…At the same time, Alicia can feel that she is blushing hard.
Sorry for the delay…Stupid exams.
Note to people: Baldur is Odin's second son from the Norse myth. He was loved by all of the Gods -- except Loki. The myth said that he was murdered by Loki. He made a magical spear from mistletoe (or an arrow). Then, he hurried to the place where the gods were indulging in their new pastime of hurling objects at Baldur, which would bounce off without harming him. Loki gave the spear to Baldr's brother, the blind god Hodr, who then inadvertently killed his brother with it. In another version, Loki himself killed Baldur with the mistletoe spear/arrow.
And note that I didn't hate Aelia or something…It's just fun to picture her hating Gandar and how the whole clan has to drag her to the class, since I used to know someone like that and I want to use her image for the scene. And I had fun writing Silmeria like that…
~Freya~
