Deitne Academy: Aligning the Stars

The Lantern

Samuel sighed, sitting inside of the classroom. Ashling and Cassidy had decided to go to this event-thing, and had convinced him to join them. In all honesty, the only two reasons he wanted to go were to make sure Ashling would be okay and to catch Cassidy being an idiot.

Coral, Cookie and Ashlyn had planned out a study session for the entire class. They were very sociable... There were clear factions in the class, the three most popular, the 'flower group' as Samuel called them, the library people, the loners, and finally him, Cassidy, and Ashling.

Samuel's eyes drifted across the classroom before resting on the girl a few seats away from him. He often found himself looking at her, thinking. He never really saw Trixie with anyone besides rare occasions where she spoke with Echil. Perhaps Echil would of convinced her to attend the session just as Cassidy and Ashling did for him?

He looked back down at his desk, returning back to his work.

As the bell concluding dinner rang, the crowds began to shuffle out of the cafeteria and towards their dorms. All but Samuel and his class went a different direction, moving to the library. Samuel walked in silence as he listened to the chatter of fellow students. Some were excited with high spirits, others skeptical, and some were silent.

As the group entered the library, Coral quickly grabbed everyone's attention, "Hello everyone! Glad you could all make it. Me, Cookie, and Ashlyn have been planning this for a couple of weeks and we are so happy that we've managed to make it happen. If all goes well, we could make this a regular?"

The crowd nodded and smiled, a response that made Coral beam with happiness, "Great! Now, Ashlyn has set up an area for us all to work in near the books on forestry. Hopefully this can help you all out for upcoming assignments and such."

As Coral began to walk off, the people followed right behind her. Samuel admired her work with others. She made a good leader. As the group found their way to Ashlyn and Cookie, Samuel could only appreciate the view. Desks, chairs and bean bags had been set up for the entire class, some bookmarks poking out of the shelves to signify where certain kinds of books were. It seemed that Cookie had also helped with the decorating, as lanterns, plants, candles, and even fairy lights were strewn across the area. There were 'Ooo's and "Ahh's all across the crowd.

Coral quickly spoke with Cookie and Ashlyn, all hushed, before the other two stepped forward to meet the crowd, "We have set this up so that one large group can sit together, a couple of smaller groups and some individual workspaces for those who want to work alone," Ashlyn kept her composure while speaking, hands interlocked.

"Hope all of you can have some fun! But uh... this is still a library, so if you guys can keep it down a notch that would be great," Cookie smiled at the crowd, her joy and energy seeping into everyone. Even Samuel.

As the group dispersed across the space, Samuel quickly noticed his siblings already with a few others. Ashling was with Luna and Kyoka, and Cassidy was very busy with his perfect roommate. He should of supposed this would happen. 

Samuel looked around the room for a space of his own before noticing Trixie sitting on her own by the edge of the space. She was already heavily invested in whatever she happened to be reading. 

Without thinking it through too much, Samuel took an empty chair and sat next to her. Trixie's head swiveled to face him, her expression one of shock and confusion, "Uh... why are you here?"

"..." It was then that Samuel realised he hadn't a single reason. He sighed, "Well, you looked lonely. I won't disturb you, if that's what you're worried about."

Trixie tried to combat this reasoning but couldn't find anything of use, "Alright then."

And with that she returned to her book. Samuel pulled one out for himself and began to read.

"I'm guessing you don't really need this session, right?" Trixie seemed quite sure of her assumption,  and for a good reason.

Samuel chuckled, "Of course I don't. But who am I to pass up an opportunity to see Cassidy like this?"

Trixie looked over her shoulder, the light from the tables lantern flickering in her dark eyes, "That is fair."

"Why are you here then?" Samuel asked, "I don't suppose you'd need this either."

"I was bored, so I thought I may as well," Trixie shrugged, returning to her book once again.

Samuel nodded, "Smart. Those three outdid themselves, huh?"

Trixie took a little while to answer, gazing around the room, "... Yeah. They did. I don't know why, but subtle lights are just so comforting..."

"They really are," Samuel smiled, his eyes following the strings of fairy lights, "So, I never really got to know you, huh? Who's your patron deity?"

Trixie took a hold of her dark purple pendant before answering, "Grimland. Yours?"

"Hiraeth. I suppose that means you have to steer clear Kyoka," Samuel nodded over to the teenager sitting with Ashling and Luna.

"Ha, yeah," Trixie smirked, "No clue what they have against Grimland. It's really not that bad, right?"

Samuel nodded, "Right."

The two continued conversation for quite a while, both slowly warming up to one another.

"Flora is nice, though. She understands," Trixie finished up her sentence before yawning.

Samuel chuckled, "Tired?"

"A little," Trixie smiled, staring into the lantern in front of them, "It's getting late, isn't it?"

"It sure is," Samuel agreed his eyes stuck to the pages of the book.

Trixie muffled another yawn, shutting her book. She slowly made her way to resting her head on Samuels shoulder, eyes shut. Samuel froze, before chuckling to himself and finished the chapter.

Note: I FINALLY properly included Coral. She still has more to do in this story, but I'm glad she got some attention. Again, this story isn't meant to include everyone because it just wouldn't work well. But even if a certain character doesn't get many lines, I'll try to mention them at the very least.