Year Four- Chapter 8- Modest Truth
Ushas walked down the halls of the Academy, glad that she hadn't gone home over the weekend, as most of the students did. Too many children, too much stuff, and too much chaos- that was the motto that defined her family. The quiet Academy was perfect. She had gotten quite a lot done with her roommate gone and out of her way. She finished determining the chemical properties of an unnamed substance that Borusa had given her, she finished the essay she owed him for contaminating the classroom, and she finished all of her classwork. Ushas was quite impressed with herself, she had to admit. She continued down the halls until she reached room 163. She smiled and pulled out a small device she had demanded Drax make the year previous.
The rooms in the Academy dormitories did not have normal doors. They would only open for the two who shared the room, and those that were programmed into a system. For example, teachers could open any door at any time, regardless of previous programming. But Drax had figured out how to override the system through electrical impulses, so Ushas gladly paid him in chemistry homework to make her the key to any room in the school.
And breaking into room 163 was just too much fun. Ushas knew that it pissed Koschei off more than anything else, but that was the fun of it. She clicked the small button on the metal, ovular device and opened the door without any issues. When she walked in, she was surprised to see the fourth-year sitting at his desk, his nose in a book. She paused.
"Uh… Hey, Theta. Didn't you leave?" she asked. Theta nearly jumped out of the chair at the sound of her voice. He let out a small breath when he saw who it was.
"Yeah," he said, looking back to the book. Ushas walked over to Koschei's bed and sat down on it.
"You came back early," she noted. Most students didn't arrive back at the Academy until later that night or early the next day. Theta glanced up at her and then tried to go back to concentrating on the words across the page. "Family troubles?" she asked. Theta immediately shot her down.
"No. I just wanted to get some work done." He unconsciously rubbed the now-purple bruise that stretched across his cheek bone. Ushas stood up from the bed and pulled over the chair from Koschei's desk, knowing full well that, when he got back, he would kill her for messing with his stuff.
"Yeah, sure. Did you fall?" she asked, looking intently at the bruise. Theta gave a quick nod. She rolled her eyes and sat back.
"You know, you could report him." Theta put his book down carefully and shook his head.
"Ushas, leave me alone… Please." Ushas frowned. She grabbed a book from the desk and started to flip through it. The awkward silence settled between them for long enough that Theta picked up his book again and started taking notes on a separate sheet of paper. Ushas kept glancing up, wondering what Theta was thinking. "Please stop looking at me," Theta added, finally. Ushas furrowed her eyebrows.
"You know, you look like you've been cooped up for a while. Let's take a walk," she said, grabbing his arm with a smile. Theta looked at the work on his desk and then back at Ushas. He gave no complaints as she pulled him out of the room and down the hallway. When they were outside, Ushas led him to the back of the Northern dormitory. The red grass had grown to knee-height and there were a few trees that had survived around the empty, untended area. Ushas walked into the shade of one of them and plopped down in the tall grass. Theta followed suit stiffly. "Something's wrong," she said evenly. Theta blinked.
"I asked you to leave me alone…."
"Yeah. But I don't listen really well. Especially when your dad's beating you up."
"What makes you think my father would do that? He's smart… and brave…" Theta tried to come up with more compliments, but stumbled to a halt. Ushas looked up to the suns and the clouds, thinking.
"Well, first off, at the dinner, you never spoke once, and he kept glaring at you whenever you fidgeted, or even breathed, really." Theta ducked his head away from her. "And the way he controls your family… Well, it was just obvious. To me at least. I can't speak for anyone else." Theta bit his lip and folded his arms across his stomach as he stared at the clouds as well.
"I deserved it," Theta said finally.
"I'm sure you did!" Ushas proclaimed sarcastically. "Did you breathe too much? Too loudly?" she asked. It was meant to be a joke, but Theta only heard the sarcasm and stiffened further.
"I did! I was disobeying him… and…" He got to his feet with a troubled look on his face. Ushas' expression softened.
"Okay, okay." She patted the spot where Theta had been laying the moment before. "Just calm down. I'll stop prodding." Theta deliberated for a moment, but finally returned the spot he'd been lying in. After a few minutes of silence, Theta finally spoke up.
"About Koschei…" Ushas raised her eyebrows.
"What about him?"
"How long have you known him?" Ushas frowned and thought about it for a moment.
"A long time…" she finally said. "Ever since we were little. We'd chase each other around his house since before the Untempered Schism. And he always beat me whenever we raced. He's one of the fastest runners I've ever seen…" Theta left her to reminisce in silence for a little while. The few clouds that were overhead drifted away, and the sun's light began to brighten.
"Someone said something about him… I was just curious…." Theta began, struggling with how to mention the subject.
"Yeah, people say a lot of things about him. Most of them are wrong," Ushas said, her expression darkening. "Just because he's the son of the Guardian, he gets a lot of rumours spread about him. It's always been like that." Theta opened his mouth to ask if what the Origin had told him was true, but then decided against it. It was just another rumour. She probably had told him that just to make him dislike his roommate. Most of his father's allies lied to him a lot. He knew that was fact. "What did they say about him?" Ushas asked curiously.
"Oh, it was nothing…" Theta said dismissively. "Just… stuff about his childhood… And some stuff about his family." Ushas frowned and turned so she could look at Theta.
"Seriously. Don't listen to them. They don't know anything about him. He's a good guy. He's just strong-willed. And different…"
"Are you and Koschei dating?" Theta asked, blushing. Ushas gave a strangled snort and then broke out into hysterical laughter. Theta began to become seriously concerned as her face became a deep shade of red, and she rolled around laughing for a while longer.
"No," she said after catching her breath. "He's a bitch. No way I would ever date him. We're just good friends." She sat up with a grin still on her face. "And he's not exactly a fan of… you know… commitment or anything." Theta nodded. He had figured as much. "But I am curious… What exactly did they say about him?"
"Nothing. Really. It was just stuff about his family," Theta lied again. Ushas rolled her eyes.
"You really should meet them sometime… Without your father watching you like a hawk. The Protector and the Guardian are great people. Some of the nicest I've ever met…" Theta nodded passively, trying to get out of putting himself in a situation to actually have to do something his father wouldn't want him to.
"Yeah, maybe," Theta said, looking at Ushas and then back to the sky. Ushas stood up.
"You don't have to do it if you don't want to. I was just offering. So… What do you want to do now?" Theta shrugged and stood up. He looked back to the dormitory building. He didn't really want to keep working; he had done most of his work earlier in the morning. "We could go talk to Borusa," she offered. At that, Theta perked up.
"Would we be intruding?" he asked. Ushas scoffed and shook her head.
"He only has ten students. I don't think we keep him that busy…" she said, starting off towards the library. "And if he is busy, he'll stop for us." Theta nodded and continued to look around the large campus. There were no other students around. A few teachers were sitting on benches talking with each other or working on papers for their classes. Ushas waved to some of them. When Theta saw his rhetoric teacher, he smiled shyly. The teacher nodded to him and went immediately back to the papers in his lap.
When they reached the library, Theta was surprised to find that it was actually relatively hectic. Students of all ages were sitting around tables and reading, taking notes, and quietly talking. Ushas opened the door to the room in the back of the library to see Borusa, his feet up on his desk, talking to Mortimus. Theta immediately took a step back after receiving a glare from the older boy.
"Thank you, Borusa," Mortimus said, his monotone turning icy. "I will see you tomorrow." He walked past the two in the doorway, intentionally bumping into Theta. Ushas turned around and, over her shoulder called,
"Watch it, loser." With that said, she walked into the room, pulled a desk up in front of Borusa, and sat on it. Theta followed her lead.
"What brings you here?" Borusa asked, taking his feet off of the wood in front of him.
"Theta and I were bored," she said with a glance to Theta who gave a small nod.
"Sounds like you need more homework, then," he joked. Ushas rolled her eyes. "Well, in a more serious direction, why did you think that I would be, to any degree, entertaining?" Theta looked around Borusa's room, surprised to see quite a few pictures of Earth hanging up on the walls.
"Have you ever gone there?" Theta asked, almost accidentally; he had been thinking about it, but hadn't intended to say it aloud. Borusa nodded, a smile forming on his face.
"It's beautiful on Earth. I personally like London, but most of my students would rather go to a more…' interesting' city. Their words, not mine."
"London is boring," Ushas said pointing to one of the pictures on the wall. "Look, it's rainy, cloudy, and just like every other city. Now ancient Egypt is a very different topic. One time, we went and we met the nicest couple… I can't quite remember their names, though… One of them started with an' h,' I think…" Borusa shook his head.
"You have no taste," he argued.
"As if you do," Ushas challenged, smirking. After a moment of staring at each other, Borusa turned back to Theta.
"So, I see you survived your first week with Koschei as a roommate." Theta gave a nod. "And you're still alive…" Again, Theta bobbed his head. "Impressive." Ushas furrowed her eyebrows.
"Yeah. The other one didn't last more than four days before he demanded a new roommate. And then the other one… That one was just plain stupid… He even tried to mess up one of my experiments. Yeah, he didn't last long either. To think about it, you're doing pretty well!" Theta decided it was a compliment and smiled at her. Borusa sat back.
"So, Theta, what do your parents do? I didn't get to talk to them at the dinner, if I remember correctly."
"Oh, my Father's a captain in the military… And my mother stays at home and works around the house. Takes care of the dogs… and my brothers. They're five now." Ushas sighed.
"Ugh… Five's the worst. They start thinking they have a sense of humour, they get into stuff they shouldn't, and they gain the ability to lie convincingly. Worst age." Borusa raised his eyebrows at the girl.
"You hate all ages of children," he reminded gently. Ushas shrugged and sprawled across the desk.
"Touché," she admitted. Theta looked down at the ground, suddenly remembering the splotchy bruise across his face. He was sure that Borusa had noticed; he wasn't stupid. And of course, that meant that he was drawing conclusions and making judgements. Borusa looked at the young boy, knowing that he was growing more uncomfortable by the minute.
"Ushas, I think the Deca should get together and eat in here for dinner, just the ten of you. That way Theta can get to know all of you better, maybe you all can all do some of each other's homework." Ushas opened her mouth to deny the accusation, but Borusa stopped her. "I know you do it, don't even try to lie." The girl closed her mouth grudgingly. "What do you think, Theta?" The boy nodded quickly and gave a thin smile. Ushas jumped to her feet and slid the desk back to where it belonged.
"Thanks, Borusa, I'll make sure the rest of them know," she promised, heading out of the room quickly with Theta following closely behind her.
Next chapter: Aberration
AN: I know the last four updates have been very quick, but that's because of standardized testing (meaning I have no homework...), so the updates will probably return to being once a week from now on. Sorry for being sporadic!
