Chapter 7: No answers but theories
"Experts have yet to fully understand the Great Barrier – which has been stopping any interactions between the different Worlds for several centuries now – works. But, with the help of several statements from witnesses who actually did witness the Barrier opening, it appears that the first stage of the barrier's opening is, according to sources, a number of "earthquakes" at different places, closely followed by "a purple ("purpura") light in the sky for a short moment". That light seems to be followed by torrential rain and thunderstorms for several days, alongside tsunamis. Some reports also speak of weather acting strangely (snow in the middle of summer reported in Rome, hot temperatures reported in most European and South-America countries)."
"Okay, the weather is gonna suck, got it" Sebastian said. "Then what?"
"Nothing." Alden said, looking at the book. "After that they talk about what the Mayas thought about it. Weren't you listening, Seb? The Great Barrier is opening again. I mean, there was an earthquake and a purple light, right?"
"Yeah," Nathan admitted, "but the weather is still normal."
They all turned to the windows near them, and saw that he was right: the sky had a normal greyish color, and dusk was close.
"We should look in other books," Sonia suggested, and Mina nodded.
"Sorry to disappoint, but the library is about to close," Raphael said, looking at his old watch. "That will have to wait tomorrow."
Sonia looked a bit disappointed but nodded.
"Let's put them back."
Since the books Raphael and Mina were carrying belonged in the same shelf, they walked in the same direction. They chatted a bit, and put the books back in the right stack. It was easier for him, as he didn't have to hold out his arms, but of course, Mina had to pick books that belonged in one of the highest stacks. She thought about using magic, but magic was forbidden outside of classrooms, and she heard the librarian coming their way. Sighing, she grabbed a book and got on her tiptoes. She tried to put the book back where it belonged but for some reason, the book right next to it – a book about mythology – didn't seem to want to move.
"Oh, come on-"
Forcing her tiptoes to get higher, she tried to force the book, but suddenly no longer felt stable anymore.
"Oh, my-
She felt the books slipping from her arm and expected to hear a heavy sound but instead of hearing anything, she saw Raphael agilely getting down, and a second later, all books were in both his hands.
"Nice catch, Raph'" Mina whispered, impressed.
"Thanks, I- I didn't think I could catch them all."
Mina took the books back, and Raphael helped her put them back. She thanked him, and they caught up with the others. After a moment spent in the girls' room, it was already time to go dinner. All students chatted and ate as if nothing had happened, and when Mina noticed that the teachers still looked somehow worried, she knew something was up and made a mental note to talk to the others about it later. They went back to their rooms after saying good night to the boys – Seb winked at Mina after kissing on the cheek and she felt her face become pink – the girls put their pajamas on, and at the exact moment Mina went to close the shutter, lighting stroke and it started raining.
When Mina, Roxanne, Kenna and Sonia woke up, it was still raining. They went to have breakfast in the canteen next morning, and they found only three boys out of four.
"Where is Seb?" asked Mina in a but more abrupt way than she wanted.
"Was tired," Raphael said, his mouth full of eggs. "Should be here soon though."
A bit more reassured, Mina looked around for Max but couldn't find him. She seated next to Sonia, and was filling Kenna's glass with orange juice, when she saw a silhouette approaching their table.
"Morning", Sebastian grunted, a hand on his neck.
He looked much paler than usual and very tired.
"Are you okay, kitten?" Mina asked him, taking his hand.
"Yeah, dude, you look sick." Alden said.
"Yeah, I- I just feel tired."
Mina let go of his hand to put her own hand on her best friend's forehead.
"You're burning up!"
"I am?" Sebastian asked in a sleepy voice, running a hand through his back hair.
"Yeah! Eat and then go see the nurse"
"Nah, I'm fine. It'll pass."
Mina gave him an annoyed look but after a few seconds of staring at her, Sebastian sighed.
"Fine, Mina, I'll go see the nurse at lunch if I still feel sick."
Mina nodded. She knew Sebastian was stubborn and wouldn't change his mind.
"Does it hurt anywhere?" Roxanne asked.
"Not really."
Neither Mina nor Seb finished their plates – she never had much appetite, and he wasn't feeling well. Once they all finished, they headed to the school's gymnasium for their P.E Class under the rain and the grey sky where purple shades were still visible. The Gymnasium wasn't in the courtyard, but was down a little hill instead. Once they were dressed up, they met their P.E teacher, Mr. Fields, a tall man in his fifties who wore a jogging at all times and didn't care much about the official program.
"Morning, gents. Glad to see you all again. We'll do a bit of basket today."
Some excited mutters were heard, and Mr. Fields seemed please to please the students.
"Alright, go warm up."
They obeyed, and Sebastian, who was still pale, was allowed to stay on the bench. Mr. Fields let them assemble teams of 7 or 8 student and assigned each team a different color – blue for the team Mina and the others formed. They trained by themselves first – Mina had a hard time focusing, as she would always take a quick look at Sebastian, fearing that he would just faint.
"Come on, Mina, Grey isn't gonna die. Focus." Nathan snapped.
"Shut your mouth." She said without even looking at him.
Soon their teachers announced matches and Mina's team weren't bad, winning most matches. After a moment, Mr. Fields whistled to announce the end of the class and went to see how Sebastian was doing.
"You did great," said Seb on their back to the castle. "I saw most of your matches, and it was good."
"Thanks, man."
While they went up the small hill, Mina Sebastian's hand and smiled. He looked back at her and immediately gave her a tired but sincere smile. He knew exactly what she was thinking about: the small hill was where they spent countless nights confiding in each other and bonding. Their next class was Universe Class, and Mina was really looking to this one. The class was to take place in the C building, and they arrived just in time. Mina tried again to convince Sebastian to go see the nurse, but he refused, assuring he was feeling a bit better. The teacher, Mrs. Stanton, arrived, her long red hair put into a bun. Mina shared a look with Roxanne, and she knew they both noticed how their teacher's smile was more nervous and serious than usual. Like the other teachers, Mrs. Stanton greeted them and shared her joy to see them again. She explained the program for the year, and gave them their books. Mina wanted to ask her about the purple light, especially after what they had read in the book, but didn't dare.
"Psst, Kenna."
The blonde, sitting beside Nathan, turned to her.
"Ask her about the purple light." Mina whispered.
"The what?"
"The purple light."
"Do it yourself!"
"No, you do it."
Kenna sighed but raised her hand.
"Yes, Kenna?"
"Excuse-me, ma'am, but I was wondering if you could tell us about yesterday's purple light. I find it fascinating, you know." Kenna added.
She had a honey voice and a bright, innocent smile, and Mina had a hard time not to laugh. Their teacher hesitated.
"Well, it's normal for you to ask yourselves questions. And I sincerely wish I could answer them, but I'm afraid that even if I had answers, I wouldn't be allowed to give them to you. But I want to know that there is no need to be worried."
"Why could you not?" Nathan asked.
"Because the Magic Government wouldn't think it's none of young students' business. I might not agree, but I would obey. For your sake."
"So there really is something behind all of this?" Mina asked, raising her hand.
"I'm sorry, Mina," Mrs. Stanton said with patience, "but like I said, I don't have answers to give you. We don't know anything about the purple light. However, if you want to talk about the earthquake or anything else, please feel free to come to me. I'd more than happy to help you. Now, if you don't mind, we shall get our attention back on the class."
The next class was Language Class, and it went smoothly, with Mr. Norwood's usual jokes and a lot of mythology and history. He let them go ten minutes early, and Mina and Roxanne waited in the corridor for the others.
"Mrs. Stanton was acting weird, wasn't she?" Mina asked.
"Obviously." The blonde answered.
"Mrs. Roth and the others must have asked the Government questions, and either they got no answers, or got answers but are forbidden to tell anyone." Mina suggested, and her friend nodded.
"Honestly, they could just tell us. Or the public, at least. If it's something dangerous, we're allowed to know it."
"Does the Great Barrier being open count as dangerous to you?" Mina laughed.
"Well, we don't know what we can find in them, so, yeah, maybe." Roxanne laughed too.
Kenna and Nathan arrived at that moment, quickly followed by the others. Sebastian was still looking paler than ever, and finally accepted to go to the nurse's office. They all went with him to the first floor of the building B. The Nurse's office had two rooms: a small one where the school's nurse, Mrs. Albinson, examined her patients, and, behind a door, a big room where numerous beds where students could heal and rest. Mrs. Albinson was a short and slightly plump woman with brown hair and red glasses. At the moment she told Sebastian to sit down one on the bed in the first room, Mina noticed something on the side of his neck.
"Seb, does your neck hurt?" she asked abruptly.
Sebastian looked at her, a bit confused.
"I mean, now that you mention it, the left side hurt a bit…"
Mina leaned towards him, and saw a kind of green wound which looked weirdly familiar. Sebastian put his hand on the wound and cringed.
"What the f-"
"Mr. Grey, please."
"Sorry. Does it look weird?" he asked the nurse.
"I would say yes but I'll have to look for some information about it. You have fever, so you'll eat something and then sleep. I'll let your teachers know. The others, you can go have lunch."
"Can't we stay with him?" Mina asked with a sad voice.
"At least for lunch, please." Raphael pleaded. "He won't be nice for him to eat alone."
The nurse sighed.
"Fine. Go lay down on a bed, Mr. Grey, I'll be right back. Don't make too much noise."
She left, probably to get Sebastian a plate of what the canteen had prepared for lunch, and they followed her orders. Sebastian laid down on one of the beds – there was plenty of those, since he was the only patient. He closed his eyes and Mina couldn't help but to caress his cheek gently. There was a TV in the room but it wasn't on. Raphael asked Sebastian if he wanted to watch it but Sebastian answered that he'd rather have complete silence outside of their conversation. Mrs. Albinson came back with Sebastian's lunch. He sat on his bed and started to eat slowly, probably not that hungry. After a short moment, he stopped moving, his fork in the air.
"What is it, pal?" Raphael asked, a bit worried.
"My hand…is shaking."
All of them put their eyes on the boy's hand, who was indeed shaking, so much so that Mina doubted Sebastian could put any food on the fork without it falling back into the plate.
"Try to relax," Nathan suggested, serious for once.
"It's probably the fever," Kenna said.
Sebastian raised his shoulders, frowning, and managed to eat. They all chatted and once Sebastian was finished, Mrs. Albinson nearly threw them out, saying Sebastian needed to rest and that could came visit later in the afternoon. On their way to the canteen, Mina suddenly took Roxanne's arm and took her aside.
"What is it?"
"Fever, paleness, hands shaking, green neck thing," Mina enumerated. "Does it ring a bell?"
Roxanne stared at her, not entirely sure what Mina meant.
"Harry."
The blonde girl stared at the brunette for one second and then had a smile.
Hi guys, hope you're you're all good and safe! Thank you for reading! By the way it would be to have some feedback on basically the whole thing, especially if the story is going too quick or too slowly, if the chapters are too short or too long, etc. So feel free to give me any feedback! Much love ^^
