And we're back to writing after months! I love grad school /s (kinda /s).

Funny enough, as I'm updating this chapter, I'll be returning there tomorrow.

Super-Jacin-t: Part Six

Andromeda Academy, Luna

And as if nothing happened, classes were back in session at Andromeda Academy. Lucky for Jacin, he finished his required readings and aced the pop quiz. Their teacher purposely gave them said pop quiz since he knew that students would try and use the earthquake warnings as an excuse not to complete any schoolwork. Jacin would never think of doing such a thing, but some of his classmates and neighbours in the dormitories tried. Stars, that was probably why the faculty agreed to do the pop quizzes. As if the military will one day excuse them from drills cause of some small trembles in the ground.

If only he didn't have to sit through a grainy video in every class. It's an old procedural video with scratchy footage which was definitely some VHS turned digital poorly. There's the epileptic quality in special effects and cheesy acting about earthquake drills.

Given that most of the students in Andromeda Academy will be serving in some form of the military with the possibility of humanitarian aid missions, none of this is new information. In any foreign language class, the video was played in said foreign language.

Right now, in his international law class, he's sitting through this video for the 500th time. He has it memorized. He could recite it in his sleep and he has slept through it in his public policy course. On his pop quiz for European History, one of the questions was to list the steps for what to do when an earthquake commences. He could almost picture the lady in business attire in the video telling it to him.

"Everyone should take cover under their desk and hold on to a sturdy piece of furniture, stay away from windows and glass, and avoid heavy bookcases that could fall. An evacuation plan may also be followed when safe to do so."

Once the earthquake drill video ends, Jacin squints his eyes as his teacher turns on the lights again. He stretches, rolling his shoulders back. Jacin turns and sees Kinney sitting beside him. He hasn't even registered that the video ended but is still tapping his pencil against his knee. Iko is in the row next to them, hunched over her readings for her Surveillance Tours course later. Another section of the course who had their class earlier had a pop quiz so she was cramming.

When Iko looks over at Jacin, she winks before turning the page in her textbook.

-o-

After lunch, the three of them sit in the library for a free period before their next course. They mind their business at one of the tables, all with assignments out and Iko still looking at her Surveillance Tours readings. If without hearing conversations about the videos they're watching in every class, it would almost be a normal school day at Andromeda Academy. Jacin can't help but wonder if any of the other non-militaristic schools are watching the earthquake drill videos once let alone at every hour of the day.

"If I have to write a paper on the goddamned earthquake that never happened, I'm going to take a leave," Kinney groans. "I could act it out at this point. Stars, it's a lot of common sense." He clears his throat. "If you see sparks on exposed wires, do not go near them. Watch out for the sprinklers in case they're activated."

"Beware of elevators," Jacin continues, copying the same monotonous register as every actor in the video. "If you're trapped in one, remain calm."

"I swear, it's common sense," Iko says, turning the page in her textbook. "I'm going to fail this since it's not common sense."

She picks up her water bottle but it suddenly jolts in her arm and spills all over her textbook. Iko groans as Kinney and Jacin move their things to avoid them getting wet. She throws some napkins on top to start to clean up the mess but a slight rumbling sound fills the room catching everyone's attention.

"How did that even happen?" Iko whines.

Before either of them could respond with some snarky response, the rumbling grows and everything starts shaking around them. Cadets rush to take seats or find better cover. Earthquake. It's definitely a real one now. Books on shelves skitter and displays jitter before falling off their stands. Jacin and Kinney shove things in their backpacks as the fire alarm goes off and the library goes dark. Suddenly, it's like they're all robots initiating autopilot.

For Jacin, everything goes silent in his mind and then his world around him shakes. The video he's heard all day plays in his head on a loop, every warning and reenactment is suddenly in crisp picturing. Where are his parents? They're also at school today? He has to find them. He has to tell Winter he loves - Lights from people's phones catch his eyes, coming from every direction in the library. Jacin whips his phone out, unsure who to try to text first, but he drops his phone somewhere in the mess when something lands on the table in front of him.

Jacin jumps back a little, immediately throwing himself on the floor. He crawls under their table where Iko and Kinney are already huddled together. Instinctively, he puts his arms above his head. There's thumping all around from books and nearby shelves which make them cower closer together. Both Jacin and Kinney sandwich Iko, towering their bodies over hers as her hands grip both their uniforms tightly.

The cacophony of sounds pound against his skull so much that he only wants to scream. Iko starts praying to the stars and Jacin's grateful that they weren't sitting next to the Encyclopedias of the World or else that would've broken the table protecting them and crushed them. He meets Kinney's eyes for a moment, his own fear reflecting on him.

And then, it's silent. Not even the alarms. Not even breathing as they all look at each other, trying to make out expressions in the dark. Neither of them move as if they could.

It wasn't that long but so much damage must have been done in so little time with so much power and intensity.

"Oh stars, am I bleeding?" Kinney asks, touching his cheeks.

"No, those are tears," Iko responds, wiping them away. "You've been crying on me."

"No," Kinney states, "probably water from what you spilt on the table."

She snickers. "Sure."

"I think the volcano blew," Jacin whispers.

"Lava can't travel that far, can it?" Iko asks softly.

Kinney shrugs. "I wasn't listening to the volcano lecture in any of my classes."

"We'll be fine," Jacin reassures though he isn't so sure of his words.

"I love you two," Iko says, still gripping them tightly.

"Same guys," Kinney adds.

Jacin nods. "Yeah… I lost my phone somewhere."

Kinney snorts a laugh despite their current condition. "We're goners if Jacin's worried about his phone. Not like he'd have the service to text or call anyone. He loves us."

"Shut your spades. We'll be fine. This is a military school, probably the safest place to be."

Iko sighs. "As the video says, we're better off on the top floor. But I don't get how that would be beneficial if the building collapsed. Thankfully, we're only five floors here. How long do you think we'll be under here?"

Kinney shrugs. "Based on what I remember from the video, they'll be checking if another episode will commence shortly before trying to do a search and rescue."

"…so we'll be here a while."

"Looks like it."

"At least we're together," Jacin murmurs.

"We love you too."