1985: Dawn of a New World (A Summoner Fanfic)

Chapter 9 - A Girl Shrouded in Mystery

Mark stood up and went out of his room with his demon following him.

He made his way to the hallway in front of the elevator, walked through it until he reached its end.

The floor at this level is made up of wood. The hallways in particular are painted in dark mahogany color. The floor is glossy perhaps due to frequent polishing.

The walls are cemented but decorated by wallpapers with the design of a natural wood cleanly cut by a lumber cutter.

The hallway is lit with dim blue lights from two continuous bar lights on each edge of the wall, connected to the ceiling.

A huge door similar to the size of the demon storage room but is painted plain white can be seen at the end of the hallway.

Mark opened the door, entering a slightly lit up large room with five sets of long tables, each with two benches on both their long sides with round chairs set on both ends. All tables are arranged at equal distances with enough space between them to fit three students walking side by side.

"Good morning Mark! You're even earlier than a bird!" A huge man wearing a white chef's hat, carrying a cauldron greeted Mark. He stands behind the counter and seem to be on his way to a single door, a few feet to the man's right.

"Breakfast will be served at zero six hundred if that's what you're looking for." The man smiled and continued walking to enter the room behind the counter.

"Uhmmm...I just need some water." Mark hesitantly asked as he slowly walked towards the counter.

"Well, the water jug is right there. Go help yourself kid!" A loud, yet cheerful reply from the man put Mark at ease as he walks to the jug, got a cup made up of steel from a set of it beside the water jug and filled it with water.

"And you might as well try to speak with her while you're here!" The voice of the man echoes from inside the room making Mark ponder of what he meant.

'Her? Who?' Mark looked around the room until his eyes stumbled upon the sight of a young girl around his age, sitting at a corner of the room, behind the table, farthest from the counter.

The girl is staring at him with eyes that seem to be observing him from top to bottom. The girl has black straight hair, that falls up to her shoulders. She wears big rounded eye glasses that makes it impossible for Mark to see her eyes clearly from that distance.

An open book rests on the table in front of her, with her hand holding a page with her right hand.

"You are Mark right?" The girl started the conversation with a bland tone yet loud enough for Mark to hear across the room. Her poker face gives him the creeps as if he's staring at a ghost.

"Y...y..yes. Nice to meet you uhmmm...." Mark stayed where he is. He spoke in a tone barely audible to be heard by the girl at the back of the room. He paused waiting for the girl to fill up his incomplete statement.

"Myrtle. I'm a student as well. I was just in front of you when you were introduced yesterday." The girl remarked in an eerie, dull tone.

"Ah sorry! I was kinda nervous yesterday that i really didn't look at anyone." Mark laughed mildly but ended up feeling awkward at Myrtle's lack of facial expression.

'Geez what's with this girl. Is she an android or something?' Mark forced a smile barely keeping his eye contact with Myrtle who seems to be doing good in keeping her straight look.

"No worries. That's totally understandable. By the way I think no one has informed you yet that demons are not allowed to be summoned while outside the summoning room. It may only be called when a teacher instructs us, or if we're in code red". Myrtle continued, her face as blank as her eerie speech.

"Ah sorry! I didn't know." Mark bowed down in embarrassment, looking at his demon. Myrtle's tone seemed calm but her blank face, lacking with emotions and a deep stare makes Mark feel like being pierced through his soul.

"Well time for you to sleep again little guy." Mark whispered, his hand shaking while trying to press the recall button of his SAT to reabsorb the demon to himself.

The demon's eyes gave away its feeling of disappointment as its body disintigrates and absorbed in the SAT's screen.

"That's alright as long as you make sure not to do that again. What kind of demon was that?" Myrtle seems to be asking a question but her face nor the tone of her voice doesn't put any inquisitive feel to it.

"Ummm...I don't know. I haven't seen nor read anything that would resemble a demon such as it. Even the doctor nor Ms. May can't recognize it." Mark answered anyway then suddenly realized that May never gave him a word that she doesn't know what the demon is.

"Well, what's its name?" Myrtle followed up, seeing Mark's confused expression after her previous inquiry.

"Well....I...haven't really thought about that yet. But since you mentioned it, I guess I'll start thinking of a name that would best fit him....errr...it" Mark rubbed his chin and rolled his eyes upwards as if looking for an answer at the ceiling.

"Snowflake. I think that name would fit best to it since it's as white as snow." Myrtle interrupted his pondering with some unsolicited advice.

"O...k... I'll definitely consider that as one of my choices. I..i..i..t's good though I like it!" Mark forced a smile followed by a few minutes of awkward silence between the two.

"Anyway, I'm going back to reading my book now. But if you would like to ask me about anything, feel free to do so." Myrtle broke the deafening silence with a tone that remained as bland as it was, waiting for Mark to respond.

"Y..y...yes of course...uhmm...no...I mean go on. Continue reading. I'm good." He again forced a smile, hiding the awkwardess he is feeling at the moment.

With that, Myrtle went back to reading without uttering a single word.

"She's really weird isn't she." Mark was shocked at a sudden whisper behind him by his right. He felt like his heart was about to fall out of his chest.

"But I heard that she's the top student here." Mark looked behind him and saw that its the cook that's whispering at him. "She has already mastered the four basic spells including telekinesis and that one hasn't been discussed yet."

Mark listened both enthralled and frightened of the facts, the cook shared him about Myrtle.

"She's practically a prodigy in demon summoning. She even has a level seven demon and two level fours, which she can simultaneously control with ease. You better pray the she would not be your opponent during the tournament or else..." The cook motioned his right forefinger in a way as if cutting his throat with it.

"Uhmmm...the tournament? What tournament?" Mark probed, taking interest about the tournament that the cook mentioned.

"Well sorry lad but I can't tell you anything further. You'll know about that when the time comes!" The cook started to place the plates on the counter's surface, putting a cup of rice on each plate.

Mark shrugged as he watches the cook prepare for their food. After several minutes, a loud buzzing sound echoed in the hallway signifying the start of breakfast.

Little by little, the silent room became filled with noises from footsteps, chit chats and even yawns from students who entered the room one by one.

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Next Chapter: There's a First Time for Everything.