Project J and the Time Walker

Chapter 1 We Made the Scariest People on Earth Mad

Chapter 1
We Made the Scariest People on Earth Mad

S A L L Y

My mind was fried the moment Harvy made his next move. As I stared at the knight he moved to counter my army, cold sweat was starting to build up in my forehead. I swallowed my own saliva as I stared at Harvy’s coal-black eyes.

I focused my gaze into my own army, thinking for a next move. I was not really the type of woman who liked strategies and stuffs like that, but I really wanted to improve my skills, especially that my pride was on the line.

“There!” I moved my bishop to trap his knight, which made Harvy cradled his head.

I sighed in relief after I learned that he was having a hard time. I puffed out my chest with joy and smiled on the pieces in the board.

“Oh men,” Harvy whispered in despair.

“What are you two doing?” Ronnie walked towards us while chewing a piece of cookie.

The smell of freshly baked cookies ran through my nostrils. My stomach rumbled as I stared at Ronnie chewing his snack. I swallowed my saliva after I licked my lips in hunger.

As I tried my best to fight one of my arch nemesis—hunger, the warm and cozy sensation surrounded me like a blanket. I covered my mouth as I yawned. The lights that were coming from the chandelier above us was both lighting and heating up the atmosphere. My eye lids felt heavier for every second, making me forgot my hunger.

“Sally, wake up! What are you guys doing anyway?” Ronnie asked again.

I sleepily looked at Ronnie and answered, “We are just playing chess.”

“Are you guys alright? Do you both have fever or something? I can’t think any reason why would you guys want to use your heads.”

“There!” I looked at Harvy who completely ignored Ronnie and moved his knight to avoid getting eaten by my pieces.

“They are just play because they both lose to Henry when they met a week ago.” Calyx walked towards us while he was carrying a plate full of cookies. “I bet they both want to establish back their reputation, so they are practicing to play chess.”

My eyes widened after I saw the plate of cookies. I immediately left the match and ran towards Calyx. I then showed my cute puppy-dog eyes, but he just replied me with his awkward smile. He handed me the plate and I immediately filled my stomach with it.

Thank goodness that I’m so cute!

It was our last day of our spring break, but our schedule was still packed with sorts of stuffs. Unlike other schools, Nightingale Academy begins our school year in the first day of summer and it ends in the first day of April. Because of that, we only got two months of spring break and three weeks of Christmas break.

“Come on you two. We still need to finish our work here before the class starts tomorrow. May needs us.”

Hearing May’s name brought me back to the harsh reality. A curve of sadness conquered my lips as I remembered what happened to May, after Adrien defeated Fredica. It had been almost three months since the incident happened, but my memories were just as fresh as ever.

If my memories are still fresh, it pains me to wonder what is going on in May’s mind.

“Let’s go.” Harvy packed the chess pieces back in the board as he plastered his emotionless face expression before the four of us walked towards May’s chamber.

All of us were affected about what happened. Even Ronnie and Harvy both became more serious about things. Calyx, Adrien’s best friend, cried for whole day when he woke up in the Southern Academy’s clinic.

Speaking of Southern Academy, the Diamond Joint Training continued after we got kidnapped by the champion of Death. In the end of the event, it was declared that Southern Academy won.

“Here we are.”

I looked at the oak door in front of us with my eyes filled with curiosity. I knew the castle was filled of a lot of elegant stuff, but this door was top-class. The door wasn’t filled with much designs, but its simplicity was elegant on its own way.

Calyx picked up the golden bell placed on the table beside the door and rang it three times. The door suddenly opened by an attendant wearing an elegant grey robe. Her white hair was bundled behind her head like a bun. She seemed to be in her late forties and she was about as tall as my shoulder.

“It’s my pleasure to see the rest of you here. I’m really worried about Lady May. I beg you to bring her sprit back to normal.”

I could sense the worry in her voice, even though her face was wearing a fine smile. Her appearance and worry gave me the nanny vibes form the movies I watched when I was a kid.

“We will do our best,” Calyx replied with a smile in his face.

The attendant nodded in response before she guided us inside of May’s, or should I say Lady May’s chamber. Here in the castle, it was important to keep our posture intact since May’s mother was present in the castle. According to August, the queen was a lot stricter and harsher than King Alfred.

The chamber’s walls were painted using high-quality white paint, making the whole room looked a lot cleaner and fresher than the ones in our dorm. There were beautiful tapestries and paintings in the room, but the one who caught my attention was a painting about an army marching towards the Nightingale Academy.

“Oh my god,” I whispered after I swallowed my saliva. The painting looked very realistic, to the point that it even gave me a weird tingling feeling in my whole body.

“May I ask what are you feeling, Lady May?” Calyx politely asked.

“I thank you ever so much for your concern. I’m quite fine, so you and your friends don’t need to worry anymore.” May plastered her peaceful smile that almost tricked me for believing her.

May was wearing a white robes with a shield with two flying hawks in each side—the emblem of the royal family of Freyd and the country. The robes was designed with beautiful-golden threads, woven in the cloth like a bunch of birds flying in the white sky.

“Lady May, our ears are open for your problems,” August worriedly said as he stood beside May’s bed.

His tone of voice made me remember the time King Alfred sent an invitation to us. The moment Professor Villa and Luke learned about it, they both trained us brutally. It was certainly something that sometimes gave me nightmares.

“I understand your concern, but worry not. I’ll be fine soon.”

The rest of the remaining members of club (including Riesa and Mike) was present in the chambers. It had been three days since we arrived her in the castle, but we only made a little progress in May’s conditions. Honestly, I felt a little useless because I couldn’t help May much to stand again on her own.

As I continued to think about how I useless I was, I noticed Cadence’s lifeless eyes. I knew Cadence was well trained by Professor Villa to hide her emotions, but those lifeless eyes were much colder than the ones she had before we got kidnapped by Fredica.

Death really traumatized Cadence, to the point that she couldn’t even properly lead the team. With Adrien now gone and Cadence being traumatized, Calyx was stressing out.

Calyx tridd led the team with his own ways. Unfortunately, it looked like he was going to collapse sooner or later. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, while his hair was messier than before, even after we groomed ourselves.

“Excuse my rudeness, but the king wants to talk to your classmates, Lady May. He said that it is urgent and he wanted you to stay here and rest for now,” the attendant politely informed.

May sighed. Knowing that she had no chance arguing his father, he let the rest of us went towards King Alfred’s office. We followed a male apprentice attendant with brown hair, who was wearing grey attendant robes. I guessed that he was in his was at the same age as me. And I had to admit, he was kind of cute.

Scratch that thought, Sally! You are not here to look for cute boys! Plus, you already got your Finn to focus on.

As we walked towards the office, I could sense the others were fixing their cloths and appearances. They were probably scared of getting the queen mad because of their appearance. All of us were wearing our best cloths, which were a lot, lot better than the ones we wore the last time we came in here.

When we arrived at the front of the door of the king’s office, the apprentice attendant picked up the bell on the top of the table and rang it three times. The door then opened by another attendant wearing the same robes. He was in his twenties and he had blond hair and grey eyes like Fredica.

“Follow me, young ladies and gentlemen.”

We did as the attendant said and followed him inside of the office. The office was much bigger than May’s chambers. In the center of the room, I saw the king sitting in his chair with a rectangular desk in front of him. Behind him, there was big bookshelf filled with books and documents. Besides the bookshelf, there were bunch of box filled with documents.

Darn! It looks like the king really is having a hard time with all of the weird accidents happening in the country.

“Your highness, your visitors are here.” the attendant said after the apprentice attendant who escorted us left the room.

The nine of us get in our knees and bowed to show our respect. The king then raised his right hand, ordering us to stand up. We did as he ordered and looked at the king.

The king’s blond hair looked much longer than the last time we saw him. His bright-blue eyes were lifeless just like Cadence, probably worried about his only daughter’s condition.

“Everyone except Skyler and May’s schoolmates leave the room.”

“As you wish, my king.”

King Alfred’s retainers left the room, leaving us with the king and the first prince. The prince still looked handsome as ever. With his blond hair combed towards the right side and his bright-blue eyes, I doubt that there was a girl who could resist his charming appearance (except Cadence obviously).

“What do you want from us, my king?” Calyx politely asked.

“You don’t have to act that formal here, young man. My beloved wife went out for a tea party with the four governors of the five regions. Plus, we are the only ones in here,” the king said. “As you know, May is suffering from depression because of Adrien’s sacrifice. I just want to thank you personally for helping my daughter—I really mean it.”

I felt really honored for earning the king’s thanks. On the other hand, I realized something really harsh. I might not be as wise as Adrien when it comes to deduction, but I still had my brain. With a little deduction and theories forming in my head, I figured out why the queen truly went for a tea party.

“It is because of us that she went for the tea party, isn’t it? I know the queen is blaming us for May’s depression and she hates seeing us in here,” I asked.

The king lowered his gaze and looked at Skylar, who was sitting in front of his table. The king slowly nodded as response, which answers the questions running in my head.

“She wanted to transfer May to Southern Academy since it is where she finished her high school. May didn’t like the idea, which resulted my wife to think that you are influencing our daughter.”

The others seemed not surprised, knowing the fact that we couldn’t fight back against the queen head on. Honestly, I felt a like we were the reason why all of this happened. If we didn’t let May joined the club, then she won’t suffer this depression.

“But, I honestly think that you guys are influencing her in a good way. May is finally showing her true smile to us since the day she joined your club. So if you guys need any help, I am always here to give you my support.”

“We are honored,” Riesa thanked.

To be honest, I was a little bit jealous of May, who had a family that loved her so much. Even though I knew that Mom and Dad loved me so much, it still doesn’t changed the fact that I was just adapted.

I never saw who was my parents or if they were alive. According to the nun that took me to the orphanage before I taken by Mom and Dad, I was lying on the streets without any memories.

After I was adapted by Mom and Dad, they treated me as if I was they real daughter and I wasn’t adapted. I knew this and because of this, I loved them very much. Unfortunately for me, there was this feeling inside of me that told me that I didn’t belong to their family.

“There is also another reason why I called you guys in here,” the king said, which returned me back to the reality. “A few minutes before I called you in here, I received a massage from Professor Villa, summoning the nine of you back in the academy. I don’t know why he is summoning you back, but I guessed it is just as important as I rule the country.”

His words made me fell into a deep thought. I wondered why did the professor summoned us in here. I betted it was something important, but I was so curious on why he called us back.

The king gave the letter to Cadence, who just stared at it with her lifeless eyes. She then faced the king and replied with a simple nod. “We will return to the academy after—”

RING! RING!

All eyes then darted on Cadence’s phone.

“May I answer this call, your highness?” Cadence politely asked.

“Of course.”

Cadence picked up the phone and even it wasn’t on speaker mode, I could here Professor Villa saying the words: “Return back to the academy as soon as possible. We have a theory about Eve and Luke’s sudden appearances and we need the nine of you to test if our theory is correct.”

I felt a thousand daggers stabbed my heart after I heard Professor Villa’s wrath. The others (the king and the prince included) seemed to be shocked as well, except for Cadence who remained emotionless. I swallowed my breath as I started to imagine what would happen to us the moment we stepped in Professor Villa’s office.

While everyone tensed up after hearing Professor Villa’s, I noticed something very, very strange. I noticed a weird glowing guy floating in the air who was facing us in the other side of the window. I tried to rub my eyes, but when I looked at the spot where I saw the guy, he wasn’t there.

I really do have bad eyes sight sometimes, I thought before I returned my gaze on Cadence who was holding her phone.

After Cadence calmly answered the phone and told her Dad we were on our way. She then faced the nine of us and said, “There’s no point in delaying the inevitable. We are going to return to the academy, right now.”