"We met for a reason, either your a blessing or a lesson"
The rain was coming down in thin needles, soaking through the scratchy fabric of Agatha's cloak. The trio had left the tavern and were walking down the slippery roads, wet stones shining in the light from the taverns across. Agatha had walked a bit behind the two, her eyes roaming the dark silhouettes of the buildings around her, fear and excitement a strange mix in the pit of her stomach. In just a few hours, her whole entire life changed right before her. Not only did she get another chance of redemption and safety, but she could finally have a new start at rebuilding her life that had only been broken from the start. Another chance of changing her name. Another chance of letting go of the past.
For once in her life, Agatha felt a burst of hope.
"The school isn't that far away"
Merlin called to her and brushed a few spots of rain away from his velvet purple cloak, with silver stars stitched across. His walking stick made a sharp sound against the ground as he bumbled along the path. Tedros was walking next to his mentor, as if he didn't trust Merlin enough to leave him along. Agatha studied the two for awhile, feeling a pang of jealousy and sadness that she had never felt such loyalty in her life. Not since the incident, not since Thorn.
Not since Thorn had betrayed her and left her as prey for the townspeople.
The group walked in stifling silence for awhile, sticking next to the walls and hiding in the shadows it provided.
"Now what exactly do you learn at this school?"
Agatha asked Merlin as they made a sharp turn to the right and walked towards the streets where wealthier people lived. In fact, Agatha had recognized the well built structures of shops and houses, a distinct piano melody floated through the streets. A water fountain was in the middle, with a merman marble statue built on top of it, sprouting water. Unlike the less fortunate areas, the streets smelled unexpectedly nice, without a hint of horse manure that Agatha was used too.
"You learn combat training, literature, the study of living things, it's really training us to be ready for anything."
Tedros answered, casting Agatha a judgmental stare as if she didn't deserve a spot in such a high class school. Agatha fired back steady glare, waving away the doubt inside her. Did she really deserve it?
"In fact, if you exceeded at these areas, you could become a Leader, like me. We basically make all the decisions for the school and operate the high level missions."
Tedros continued, a proud smirk on his face before flashing a small silver badge that was pinned on his shirt. It was ornately carved with a diamond crest in the center and the magnificent engraved letter L in the middle.
"You don't show it off, acting like a peacock. I'm not a mirror!"
Agatha shot back, her voice dripping with disdain. Merlin chuckled silently underneath his breath and the smirk on Tedros's face vanished. He turned red and glared directly at her.
"Well..well at least I'm not some low level thief like you! At least I'm not a Shadow like you!"
Tedros returned, his voice steely with anger and disgust. Agatha took a step back, shaken to her core. She lost her stance for a moment before giving Tedros the blackest glare she could muster. He glared right back, his eyes drilling into hers.
"How..dare..you."
She whispered, her voice full of the anger and disbelief. She took a full step forward, determined not to lose and shoved Tedros in the chest. He didn't stumble, but the gesture was enough.
"Well guess what, Tedros. Let me tell you about the real world, okay? It's not some pretty picture or some fairytale where everyone is happy. The real world is ugly, it's full of suffering and nothing seems right. I live in the real world and you don't. At least I learned something about my life and don't live in some facade like you do. At least I'm not fake."
She stared at him directly in the eye and Tedros didn't break the stare and underneath the night sky, his blue eyes seemed to glow. The rain poured down around them as the two stared directly at each other. They were completely different, the exact opposite. She was someone from the streets and he was born in a life that never held the bitter taste of poverty.
"We're here!"
Both of them jumped and whirled to Merlin. But Merlin wasn't looking at them, he was looking forward, a excited grin on his wizened face. And Agatha figured why because what she saw in front of her took her breath away.
The building was huge, a magnificent domed building made with gleaming white marble and stone with other towers surrounding it in a circle, each one all built exactly the same. Each tower was made from marble, but with a different colored flag atop. The building at the far left bore a flag sashed with two colors, blue and white while the other towers had the colors green and silver, each tower had not only a unique color but a unique symbol. The tower in the middle was what seemed the most interesting to Agatha, for it showed no color expect for the big letter L stitched neatly in the middle. In front of the school was a neatly trimmed lawn, pruned trees lined in neat rows and silver gates guarded by guards. Agatha stepped closer and looked at the words engraved into the steel.
Light Society.
"We're here.."
Agatha whispered, dazed and breathless, taking in the grand sight. She glanced over at Tedros, who walked towards the gates with sure confidence as if being a Leader made him at the top. She couldn't help but roll her eyes ever so slightly. Agatha followed Merlin and watched as he signaled the guards, who both pulled the gates open and allowed them in. Each guard was dressed sharply in the standard Kingdom uniform, with their golden embroidered collars and sleeves and the badge of the Kingdom's insignia. It reminded Agatha of the Capital guards, who too bore the same outfit.
The three walked across the massive lawn, two water fountains stations beside them, with even more elaborate sculptures then the one Agatha saw in the streets of the wealthy people. She studied the sculpture closely and saw that it was a elegant swan, neck arched elegantly and wings spread out wide as if it would melt into a live swan and take flight. The other one was the same swan, expect it seemed to be dipping it's neck down and was about land instead of fly.
"What do you think, Agatha?"
Merlin glanced over and smiled. Tedros shot her a icy look and glanced away, no doubt still angry about their earlier fight. Agatha ignored him and gave a impressed smile at the old but wise man. They reached the domed building and started to walk across the stairs.
"It's beyond anything I've ever seen..."
She whispered breathless, looking at the intricate carvings on the marble wall, depicting swans flying and people celebrating. Agatha squinted closer and saw the the massive castle of the Kingdom standing on a hill, over the entire scene.
"All the students are expecting you and I know you must be tired, so I'll explain things in the morning. For now, you should get your rest."
Agatha felt a strange wave of nervousness inside her and glanced down at her tangled hair, dirty skin and drab brown cloak, clinging onto her body, still wet from the rain. If this was the first impression she made on these people, they would probably hate her as much as Tedros did. She watched Merlin grip the door handle and push it open.
A huge wave of jubilant shouts and talking immidantly erupted as the trio walked through the doorway. Agatha glanced around taking in the massive room with the banners of the different colors draping the walls around them. The whole room was expertly lit with a beautiful glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling above, she saw all the students gathering in a bumbling crowd all wearing similar similar white shirts grey skirts or slacks, but each one was accented with different colors from each of the flags. Agatha felt a red rash spread across her neck as stares and whispers flew around the crowd, no doubt talking about the legendary Shadow that Merlin chose and finding a dirty, scruffy looking thief who didn't look like anything like them. Because as Agatha made her way into the center, she realized all of these students were undeniably attractive, with unblemished skin, flawless hair and impeccable features. Why did Merlin think she would belong here? With these flawless idols?
"Students, I want to introduce our newest member of Light Society, Agatha of the Woods!"
Merlin declared, placing a protective arm around Agatha, no doubt thinking she would be a little bit over whelmed or scared by the sheer amount of attention. The whole group looked towards Agatha, who tried not to make eye contact with any of them. She could feel the stares all around her and the whispering was growing unbearable.
"Hi."
Agatha managed to choke out, pinning her eyes on the floor, feeling her neck grow redder. Merlin sensed her discomfort and decided to move things quickly.
"Now, Agatha here is tired and needs to settle down, so since she is now a student and would like a place to stay, who here would allow her to room with them?"
Merlin asked the crowd and immediately the talking began as students swiped looks at Agatha, who tried to look away in vain, as one blonde girl with alarmingly gold eyes managed to conceal laughter as coughing.
One hand raised from the crowd.
All heads turned as a girl stepped towards Merlin and Agatha, a kind smile on her face. She was extremely pretty, like a fairy with her golden waterfall of blond shiny hair and bright emerald green eyes, peachy cheeks and a small snub noes. She had arched delicate eyebrows and soft pink lips, skin smooth and fair.
"Sophie, I knew you could be so gracious and step up. A grand example as a Leader of this school!"
Merlin gave Sophie a approving smile and the rest of the crowd cheered and clapped. Agatha shook her head in disbelief, watching Sophie approach her, the smile on her face unsettling. Why would someone like her want someone like herself as a roommate?
"Hi Agatha, you probably know me as Sophie, I'm so excited for you to be my roommate! We also have another girl, her name is Beatrix!"
Sophie said and gestured over at the blonde girl who had laughed at Agatha earlier. Agatha's relief wilted into disappointment. Beatrix didn't seem to be all too happy with this situation either, as she gave Agatha a cold glance. Agatha glared at her and Beatrix looked away quickly.
"We're both Leaders, which is why we'll be living in the Leader Quarters and our flag is the white one with the huge L in the middle, which stands for Leaders. But I'm not sure what Rank you would be put in."
Sophie continued and gestured towards her uniform, which besides the standard white buttoned shirt and the grey skirt was the silver badge like Tedros's and white satin fabric accents over the shirt. She glanced over beside Agatha and smiled at Tedros.
"Hey Teddy, great work on the mission!"
Sophie cheerily said. Tedros gave a curt nod and walked away, his steps brisk and quick.
"What's up with him?"
Sophie asked, peering at Tedros confused. Agatha sighed inwardly, knowing she was the cause of that.
"Nothing, he's probably tired or something"
Agatha suggested.
"Should we start heading back to the room?"
"Of course, come on, I'll show you the way!"
Sophie replied and linked her arm through Agatha's, as if they were already best friends. Beatrix was following them at a close distance, talking to another tall, well built boy with dirty blond curls and a dimpled smile.
The students followed Merlin out of the grand hall, each heading back into their towers. Agatha followed Sophie as she talked about the classes and the schedules, half paying attention while thinking only about one thing and one thing only.
How long am I going to last here?
Hello everyone!
Finally, chapter 4 in all it's glory. I'm so sorry I didn't update. Gah, it's been quite awhile. But anyways I'm going to probably updating, so don't worry about that anymore. So this chapter was focused more about the school and what exactly it was. I loved creating this idea since it was so fun to think of all these cool ideas about the school, reminding me of Hogwarts and the towers at the schools for both Good and Evil. I decided to reinforce the idea of the towers since it wasn't mentioned much in the books. The next chapter would probably be about the classes and where everything starts to go very interesting ...;)! Follow, like and review, please!
-princessthornofcassia