Where Destiny Lies

N | 2

THE TRAIN GLIDED smoothly along the tracks, carrying the Essos' sibilings toward their destination. Navalia sat beside the window, gazing out at the passing landscape, her thoughts reflecting on the events of the previous night.

Her brother, who was sitting across her, seemed hesitant to broach the topic. Their interactions, more often tha not, were filled with unspoken words and unexpressed emotions.

"I still think you were just nervous to come back." He leaned back, his brow furrowed.

Navalia's gaze still fixed on the passing scenery, her eyes unseeing. "If you say so."

"I sensed no nuances, no anomalies in the energetic emanations," Nero paused, carefully choosing his words. "You've always had a unique attachment to your arum—"

"If you're just going to dismiss my concerns," Navalia's eyes narrowed, her tone sharp as she interrupted him. "Then there's no point in discussing it further."

Anyone any how sensible could grasp the weight of their unspoken emotions heavy on tehir shoulders.

"I know Prugonia can be harsh, demanding even," Nero continued, trying to bridge the growing divide between them. "Believe me, I've been in your shoes—"

"Oh, you." Navalia scoffed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "The golden boy has never been on my shoes."

Nero was known throughout their homeland as a remarkable student, the epitome of skill and control. Returning to Prugonia Academia held a certain allure for him—a spectacle he craved, a stage where he thrived on attention. And Navalia knew it all too well to feel any empathy for her brother.

Silence enveloped the compartment as Nero's mouth hung slightly open, unable to find the right words to assuage Navalia's concerns. Deep down, she understood that he would cling to the notion that her unease was nothing more than nerves. But, deep within, she knew that her arum was not mistaken. Some unseen force had shattered the natural equilibrium, unsettling not only the energetic balance but also her very being.

The intricate web of energy that connected all living things had been tampered with, disrupted in a way that spoke of a malevolent presence lurking in the shadows.

Gazing out the window, the passing landscape blurred into an indistinct tapestry of greens and blues. The sight, once a source of solace, now seemed distant and detached, a mere backdrop to her thoughts.

She longed for someone's understanding.

Nero did not question her when she rose from her seat and silently slipped away.

Navalia ventured through the narrow corridors of the train, trying to keep her balance as the machine swang back and forth over the trails. She glanced through the compartment windows, scanning the faces, hoping to spot a specif someone.

Navalia did catch glimpses of others she recognized as students of Prugonia Academia. Seeing them stirred a mix of anticipation and familiarity within her. The idea the academic year had finally began sunk in.

In one compartment, a group of students engaged in lively conversation, their laughter eachoing. Yet Navalia's eyes settled on Aceline Lemaire, her best friend.

Aceline's radiant smile and animated gestures drew Navalia's gaze like a beacon. The moment after their eyes met, they were embraced in a tight hug. A surge of warmth enveloped her being. As they finally released their embrace, their smiles mirrored one another.

"Your hair looks messier," Navalia breathed out a laugh. Aceline's blonde locks, wavy and untamed, shimmered like spun gold in the morning sunlight. The wind played mischievously with her hair, tousling the strands and creating a delightful wilderness that matched her spirit.

She laughed as well, a melodic sound. "It is like a mane, innit?"

"It adds to your charm." Navalia grinned.

"Oh, how much I missed you during winter," Line took Nava's hand to lead her away from the other students, so they stood in close in the narrow hall. "I thought you'd be on the next train."

"I was enlisted to next, but I anticipated. I had to," Nava continued, her voice hardening.

"Something felt off, Line. My arum... Yesteday something changed."

Aceline's eyes widened like pools of moonlit crystal, as though she had stumbled upon a forbidden subject. In that fleeting moment, the color seemed to drain from her cheeks, leaving her already-pale skin even more ghostly.

"You weren't meant to feel't," Line whispered, her voice barely audible above the gentle hum of the train. Her words carried a sense of urgency, as if she feared others might overhear their conversation. She leaned in closer. "Your arum, I mean. I don't think't had any corelation to energy."

Navalia's brows furrowed, her mind twisting in confusion. Aceline's usually melodious voice now held an anxiety that sent shivers down her spine.

Realization hit her. "You felt it too?"

Line pressed her lips together in a fine line, a telltale sign that she was struggling with the truth. After years of friendship, Navalia recognized this gesture, knowing it as a sign that Aceline wanted to hide something. "Barely," she finally admitted.

"Bullshit." Navalia retorted, crossing her arms. They were so close that the movement caused their arms to brush against each other.

"Yes, Nava, I did," Ace's eyes darted away, avoiding her friend's gaze. "But before you ask me, I don't know what't was, what caused't, if't mattered. Nothing, ok?"

Navalia couldn't let it go. She reached out and grabbed Aceline's arms. "What did you see?"

Aceline looked at her in the eyes again, a mist of fear covering the icy blue color.

"Loud glimpses, flashes of places. Not the usal uncut and soundless scenes. They have been this different all winter."

"Your never wrote about any of this."

Winter break was mandattory, so every student had to leave Prugonia to go back to their homes at the end of the year. But Aceline e Navalia had their agreement, to every now and then keep in touch through letters. They'd write about the most silly conversations to the most important meetings. Line not mentioning the sudden change in her arum expression tasted bitter in Nava's mouth.

Aceline looked away again. "I didn't want to worry you," she mummered softly. "I thought't might pass, that't was just a passing quirk."

Navalia's grip on Aceline's arms tightened, not out of anger, but out of a fierce protectiveness. "Line, you hate secrecy. So don't be a hypocrite, okay?"

Aceline's shoulders tensed, her eyes flickering between a defensive stance and a vulnerable surrender.

The compartment door suddenly swung open, breaking their conversation. A strange student left his seat and went the other way, not before tilting their head to the side, as if trying to make sense of their closeness.

"This is no place for this conversation," Aceline untagled from Nava's arms.

"We'll talk better after the banquet." She stated and the other nodded in agreement.

The weight of last night's events lingered in Navalia's mind, but she found solace in the fact that her brother was wrong and she wasn't alone, more unsettling it sounded. Though the meaning of it all remained veiled, she took comfort in the reassurance that wasn't merely her arum playing tricks with her mind.

And what now troubled her was the fact that her best friend had also felt whatever it was, but both still had no answers. They were in the darkness, and she feared they might wander through it without a guiding light.