While the city of Turan looks amazing from the outside, once you heading inside it turns into a thing of disappointment. Many homeless people line the cracked sidewalks, sitting in complete contrast to the large bright buildings that surround them. Most of them insist that I should give them money, saying that one Munny wouldn't push me any farther from my authority. I ignored them, shrugging them off as they grabbed onto my legs in a desperate attempt to guilt me. The road looked awful friendly in terms of walking during all this, but the speeding cars and blaring horns said otherwise. Only a few more blocks, and I would be home.
I arrived at the Academy promptly an hour from when I had left. The huge towering doors in front of me bared the same symbol as the one on my belt. I removed the symbol from my belt and held it to the door, which unlocked upon it's touch. I stepped inside.
Barren. I couldn't believe it. The inside of the Academy stood dead. Normally, happy apprentices and Masters would greet me with a smile as I walked in, taking a break from their discussions and daily plans. Now there was none of that. Instead, the bodies that should be welcoming me were now lined along the walls, crumpled in death. I went into shock on the inside, but refused to show it on the outside, as it would distract me from seeing what had happened. I broke into a sprint and ran down the corridors, turning at each corner, ignoring the fallen bodies, begging for some kind of movement to cancel out my pounding heart.
"Hello?!" I screamed. "Is anyone still alive?! Hello?!"
No response.
I continued running and shouting until I couldn't withstand it any longer. My legs fell out from under me and I crashed down onto the floor in a broken heap. Tears streamed from my eyes, despite my desperate attempt to hold them back. My home, the only home I had ever known, was now as barren as the desert I had returned from. No life was shown throughout the halls, the life of the Academy had been replaced with death. Thoughts of Ven and Aqua passed through my mind, and suddenly I realized they were still alive. I could think of them, see them clearly in my mind. They were still alive. But where?
I stood up and pulled myself together, forcing my mind to ignore the bodies that lined the halls. My body moved in sync with my mind, strutting back towards the entrance of the Academy. I forced open the doors and raced through the city, towards the desert. And then it hit me. I stopped in the middle of the city, letting the noise continued rushing past me.
Aqua had been whispering on the phone, telling me that Ven had a cold. But Ven was fine when I had first left. Master would have forced Ven to train, cold or not. He never let up on training. I pondered over the possibility that Aqua had been trying to tell me something. Tell me what was happening back at the Academy while I was in the desert. But what was she trying to tell me? A vibrating in my pocket broke me from my thoughts. I retrieved my cell and flipped it open. "New Text" flashed on the screen. I pressed "Open".
"Icelands, Terra. Think next time.
-Aq"
The realization hit me slowly. The Icelands, the far region past the desert. So apparently since Ven had a "cold", they were in the Icelands. I texted her back.
"Be more descriptive next time. Thanks.
-Terror"
I continued my course to the desert, planning on how to get to the Icelands. The Icelands were guarded by the Olan, the protectors of the region. They were difficult to get past with a partner apprentice, more so alone. But I knew what I had to do. I had to get to the Icelands. I had to find out what happened at the Academy.