Year Five- Chapter 21- Hydrochloric Acid
Theta sat on the bench under one of the Academy's many silver trees. He smiled to himself as he saw a couple first-years walk by, obviously confused and overwhelmed.
"Where is the Maths building?" one of the children asked to someone in the back of the group. After a silence, Theta decided to help out.
"It's to the south, across from the Arts building." The children stopped walking and looked at him.
"Oh... Thanks," a younger girl towards the back of the gaggle said.
"No problem." As the group went on their way, Theta began to scan around the grounds for something else to do. The only thing that caught his eye was a small girl sitting on another bench nearby. She looked familiar. It wasn't her familiarity that surprised, Theta, though, it was her skin colour. His father had said previously that all of the Southerners had been deported over the summer. Koschei had mentioned something similar, at some point, as well. After a moment of curiosity, Theta couldn't stand it any longer. He stood up and walked over to her, clasping his hands behind his back nervously. "Hello," he addressed. She tore her gaze up from the book, startled. Her bright blue eyes widened in recognition. She let the book fall into her lap, the pages flipping closed by the breeze. Her hands moved in front of her quickly. "Um, I don't speak sign…" As Theta trailed off, he realized where he recognized her from.
"You were in the riot!" he exclaimed, a little too loudly. She nodded. "Were you okay after that?" he asked after a moment's pause. She nodded again, a small smile playing across her face. "So… How do you like the North?" At that, her face fell. She shrugged off the question and closed her book carefully, her gaze sliding to the ground. Awkwardly, Theta motioned to the bench. "Do you mind if I sit?" She shook her head, still refusing to meet his gaze again. After a moment of awkward silence, the boy sat down, angling his body so he could talk to her easier. "Is… there another way to talk to me?" There was a pause before she nodded. She opened her book and pulled out a pencil from a fold in her robes. She looked at Theta expectantly. "So, where are you rooming?"
I have no roommate assigned to me. Theta looked up, thinking. He knew that Millennia had a roommate already. Ushas, however, had accidently spilled chemicals on the last girl and was currently without a roommate.
"Hey," a boy called from across the small walkway. He looked to be in his seventh year. He was leaning against a tree, a malicious grin playing across his face. "Hey, whore, if you don't have someone to share a room with, mine's open." He winked and waited for her response. Theta noticed the girl's sudden blush and how she tried to make herself smaller. Theta knew what that felt like.
"Shut up," he demanded to the older boy, standing up. Theta was aware that he was good foot shorter than the seventh year, but he didn't care. The older boy pushed himself off of the tree and raised and frowned.
"What did you say?" he demanded.
"I said to shut up. She hasn't done anything to you, so just go away!" The boy strode closer using his height to try and frighten Theta.
"Do you know who I am?" he demanded, hands balling into fists.
"A bully?" Theta asked, suddenly unconcerned with the boy's size. He stepped to the side in an attempt to get the seventh year away from the Southerner.
"I am Torvic Halath." Theta blinked.
"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" he demanded. There was a moment of silence before Torvic threw the first punch. Theta ducked and slid to the side, avoiding the blow entirely. He had had plenty of experience with dodging blows."Leave her alone," Theta hissed, grabbing Torvic's arm and trying to wrench it behind the boy's back. Torvic used his other hand to grab Theta's neck and grasp it tightly, not enough to suffocate him, but enough that Theta's face grew red quickly.
"Put him down." Torvic turned around to see Koschei standing nearby, arms crossed.
"Why should I?" Torvic asked, hauling Theta off of the ground by his neck. "He's so small. I could just break a few bones… leave him with a couple reminders of what you get when you mess with upper-years…"
"Do that, and I will make sure that, for the rest of your life, you'll be curled in a ball in a sanctuary, screaming at fears you never knew you had, and talking to people who never existed." As he was talking, Koschei's eyes became rimmed with gold and his expression became more and more dangerous. He took a step closer. "Now, put my roommate down." Torvic dropped Theta to the ground roughly.
"I'll see you around, mutt," he snarled to Theta before walking away. Koschei got to his knees beside Theta, expression changing drastically from previous. He looked at Theta with concern. The girl, too, moved over, obviously worried for him.
"I'm okay," Theta said, immediately coughing. Koschei shot a glare up at Torvic before helping Theta back to his feet.
"Why did you pick a fight with someone two times your size?" Koschei demanded protectively, almost as if he were chastising Theta.
"He was harassing her," Theta explained, motioning to the Southerner. Koschei looked at her and raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Shit, Ghost, you're not supposed to be here this early…" Koschei held a hand out to her. "I'm Koschei Mekail, son of the Guardian." She nodded and shook his hand.
"That's your name?" Theta asked, trying to smile at her. She quickly scrawled in the back of her book,
My name is Ennaila Luacia, but my Northern chosen name is the Ghost. Theta nodded respectfully.
"Then, hello, Ghost." Koschei looked back to the Northern Dormitories and then to Ghost. "Oh," Theta said, "Ghost needs a roommate. Isn't Ushas open? I know she won't be rude to her… Well, ruder than she normally is." Koschei didn't seem to hear Theta.
"I heard you're a telepath. Why are you writing things if you can just communicate that way?" Koschei asked, not unkindly. Ghost erased the last thing she had written and then added,
I will not enter someone's mind without permission. Theta smiled at her.
"If it means you can talk easier, go ahead. I don't think I'll care. My father says that there's not much in there, anyway." Ghost's eyes widened, as though she did not understand the joke.
"And you have my permission," Koschei added to Theta's statement. Ghost closed her book and pocketed her pencil.
-Hello,- she addressed, projecting it into both of the boys' minds. Koschei gave a small smile and shook his head in amazement.
"That is incredible." She blushed and simply turned her gaze to the ground. Koschei put a hand on her arm and motioned to the dormitory with his head. "Let's go see if Ushas doesn't mind sharing a room with you. Which I'm sure she won't. As long as you don't touch her chemicals." Ghost looked confused, so Theta elaborated as they started off.
"She's a chemist. A really good one, too, but she does a lot of experiments in her room, as well as in her classes." Koschei opened the door to the dorm and held it for the other two. Ghost shook her head slowly.
-Prydon is very different from my school in the south,- she noted.
"I can imagine," Theta said, glancing at the room numbers and trying to remember exactly which one was Ushas'. He had been with the Deca for a year and he still couldn't remember where everyone was.
"She's upstairs," Koschei reminded. Theta, who had never actually been there more than twice for a few Deca meetings, was still trying to sort out where exactly everyone was in the dorm. He knew that Millennia was on the bottom floor, along with Rallon and Mortimus, and Koschei and himself. Other than that, he had very little idea of where exactly the other members of the Deca were. After climbing the stairs, a message box bumped into Koschei. He grabbed it and scanned the message. "Really?"
"What?" Theta asked, trying to get a look at what it was.
"Apparently I still have to put in my request for a roommate. I'm assuming you don't want to move?" Theta nodded vigorously. "Then I'll go and take care of that. You go see if Ushas will room with Ghost." Theta nodded before Koschei walked back down the stairs.
-You do not need to trouble yourself…- Ghost tried to argue. Theta shrugged.
"It's not a big deal at all. Besides, having a great roommate is always a plus. And I think you'll get along with Ushas well. She talks a lot, and you don't. She's a bit obnoxious, and you're not… I think you two will work well together." Ghost simply nodded and looked ahead with worried eyes. Theta finally found Ushas' room after a few minutes of searching up and down the hallways and sniffing around for the tell-tale chemical smell that leaked out from the door. "Ushas," he called as he knocked on the door. There was a moment before the door opened, and Ushas poked her head out.
"Yeah?" she asked before her she spotted Ghost. She bit her tongue from asking about the small girl from the South was doing in a Northern school.
"Ghost needs a roommate. And so do you," Theta pointed out, not even attempting to be subtle about his approach. Ushas raised an eyebrow and opened the door further.
"Well, come on in," she offered. Ghost walked in behind Theta, looking generally overwhelmed and nervous. Ushas glanced around the room at the notes and beakers that covered every flat surface. "So, Ghost, if we shared a room, you couldn't touch anything. You see that green liquid over there?" Ushas pointed to a vial held over a flame on the desk on the far right. "If you shake it, it will create an explosion of photons that will permanently blind you through the rest of your regenerations." Ghost's eyes widened to an almost unnatural size.
"Ushas, don't scare her, she just needs to find someone to share a room with who won't treat her badly." Ushas looked at Theta and then at Ghost.
"Why doesn't she talk for herself?"
"Because she's mute. But if you give her permission, she'll communicate with you through her mind…" At that, Ushas' interest was piqued. She smiled and immediately began rummaging around her desk for a note paper.
"Go ahead," she offered to Ghost. "Talk to me!" Ghost looked to Theta, who promptly shrugged.
-I am not a science experiment,- she replied to Ushas, projecting it in nothing more than a whisper. Ushas stood there for a moment, completely uncomfortable with another presence in her mind. Ghost noticed and rescinded the connection quickly.
"Yeah, you sure aren't. That's creepy... Borusa says I'm not allowed to test with Time Lords." She paused, considering it. She had no problem with the Southern at all, other than the fact that she wished she didn't have to share her room with anyone in any case. "Sure, I'll keep her." Ghost gave a small smile at Ushas' scientifically contained enthusiasm. Theta looked between the two girls and nodded to himself.
"Well, I'll leave you two to work out all of the kinks." Ushas smiled to him and nodded.
"Sure. See you two at the next Deca meeting," she offered as he headed for the door. Ghost watched him leave, wishing he would stay. Ushas held a hand out. "I'm Ushas Imassa. And it's very nice to meet you, Ghost."
Next Chapter: Lost Souls
AN: Thanks for reading, and I would always appreciate reviews and alerts!