SHADOW || The Catalysts Series, #2

VIII || Placidity

Three days later, Lena finds herself dreading the end of classes, something she never thought she will feel.

She can barely keep her eyes open, much less focus on the lecture going on. Thankfully, it's just Technological Studies—while she isn't at all familiar with the advanced technologies of the City of Leatia, she's rather convinced that she'll figure just any device out if she probes all the available functions or buttons at random.

Gods, she chides herself, biting her lip to keep herself from dozing off. Their screens are rather translucent, meaning to say that since she can see past the blue digital pane containing her notes for the class, the professor will also take notice if she simply rests her head. There's no such thing as holding up the book and nodding off while looking like you're so full of it. Those are the traditional days.

Lena decides to busy herself with various buttons, minimising her notepad. She clicks a button at random, trying to force something interesting to her curious mind to rekindle it.

The main screen of her digital dashboard is still mostly empty, and she is curious to see how her personal particulars are going to be reflected if she isn't wondering about when it's going to be updated. Admittedly, she often finds herself pondering about her own academy rank, power scale, and ability class—maybe she wants to feel fully integrated into the Academy after all. Maybe then she can really feel at ease with the students here.

The few short weeks that Lena experienced in Arcane Academy were all filled with adventure and even tension. While she had managed to be involved those events alongside the students who are always here, and she still sees herself as a newcomer.

And as days pass without any closer to bringing the missing students back, she refuses to be relived.

Lena usually allows time to pass as she stares past her visions on the glass to daydream by staring at the fields, but she can't do that now without remembering Roen's words about his passion for soccer.

The bell rings without Lena noticing, and she only startles when a hand softly knocks on her desk, followed by soft thud of something hitting her head.

"What are you spacing out for? Classes are over," a voice behind her says. There is only one person in the seat behind her.

"I'm not a bookshelf," Lena protests, hastily shutting her window down. On cue, Caelus appears beside her, holding a book he's just lightly hit her head with. "What are you doing?"

Caelus sighs, and Lena looks at him irritably. While Caelus is infuriatingly calm on the outside, he secretly has an extremely short attention span. Even as she discovers his tiny habits, that doesn't make befriending him any easier. Lena hasn't a clue as to how to deal with someone so coolly unbothered every single second of his life, with zero to negative responsiveness.

"Let's wrap it up for today so I can finally leave," Caelus demands, ignoring her previous statement completely, the book he hit Lena with in one hand, still threateningly in range of knocking her head again at any given time.

Lena stands, pushing the book and Caelus' hand away. Only as she is level with him does she realise the shadows underneath his eyes, the dark circles obvious when she looks closely. Whatever statement she was just about to come up with dies in her throat as she takes a better look at Caelus.

"Caelus, you look... tired."

He says nothing for a short, quiet while. Then he irks her again by commenting, "Maybe it's because of you?"

Lena walks past him, purposefully bumping into his shoulder and leading them out of the classroom. "To think I actually cared for a second there—guess you're fine, Mister I'm-too-cool-to-respond."