Death is the Key To Power

CHAPTER THREE: Griffith Peak Academy

Yet again, Fernando had unintentionally fallen asleep in the moving limousine. This time, he was awoken by the feeling of unexpected cold air hitting his face. He slowly awakened, his hazel eyes fluttering open before being met with the sight of a dirty blonde boy all up in his face.
Mason.
"Ay! Sleeping Beauty's awake!" Mason grinned widely and pulled Fernando out of the limousine door. He was met with a cold breeze blowing against his body, he shivered. He was definitely wide awake now.
"What the fuck-" Fernando's eyes gazed up at the sight in front of him...A castle? No, it was Griffith Peak Academy. it looked more like something that Dracula would probably live in. He felt like this castle probably belonged in some part of Europe, definitely not any part of North America.
His jaw dropped at the astonishing sight in front of him. This was where he was going to be living for the next few years? He definitely did not regret leaving home now.
"Cat got your tongue, Sleeping Beauty?" Miri was adjacent to Fernando, her lips curving into a small smirk as she eyed the awestruck boy. The rest of the group, excluding Mason and Miri, had gone ahead and went inside to wait for the remaining three due to the freezing cold. Mason was unfortunately still grasping onto Fernando's arm, even having already pulled him out of the limousine, he didn't let go.
"It's a beauty, am I right?" Mason let out a soft chuckle and let his eyes admire the beauty of the gothic architecture in front of him. "I'd never thought I'd see a castle like this, especially in North America. Not a bad surprise though, I love this type of stuff. Reminds me of home."
Fernando didn't question Mason's remark, he was still in awe of the literal castle in front of him. He had never thought he would ever see a castle in the entirety of his lifetime. Good to know that his thoughts were proved wrong for once.
"Is this motherfucker still sleeping? He isn't responding." Miri snickered and waved her hand in front of Fernando's amazed eyes, "Earth to Fernando! You in there?"
Fernando snapped out of his daze and rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh, shit. Sorry for zoning out like that. It's just that this castle...this academy is so amazing. So...So beautiful. I never expected to be able to see a place like this in person."
"It's alright, Sleeping Beauty. We all thought the same. But, now we're in the present and we've got people waiting on us. Can't leave them waiting, alright? Let's go." Mason's grip on Fernando's arm was still intact and strong. He now led Fernando to the grand entrance of the gothic-style castle. They had previously been parked in front of the castle and they were now crossing the stone bridge leading to the grand door, assumed to be the entrance to the castle.
Fernando didn't mind letting Mason drag him to the entrance, or rather he didn't notice because he was still in awe. Miri followed beside the pairing, her pale-skinned cheeks, and nose red from the ruthless winter cold. She shivered slightly as her strawberry blonde bangs fell over her face. Her only protection from the cold was her thin jacket. What a poor choice of clothing today.
The three arrived at the grand door where Fernando slipped out of Mason's tight grasp and excitedly pushed open the door. The two behind did the same to avoid the door locking them out and quickly slipped inside the grand castle.
The grand castle did not look like a grand castle from the inside. Fernando had been click-baited. He whined in disappointment as he looked around the modernized interior of the castle. It was decorated with scattered lockers and beige walls. The floors were made of sturdy ebony wood which Fernando kicked his foot on.
Having looked around more, Fernando noticed that it wasn't as modern as he originally thought. There were still hints remaining of the original castle's design, like a huge chandelier in the lobby of the castle. In the lobby, there were two visible floors. There was a circular balcony above the group and around the breathtaking glowing chandelier. The stairs leading to the second floor were nowhere to be found in Fernando's vision. The castle was humongous, so the flight of stairs leading up to the countless upper floors was most likely located nearby.
Fernando's eyes landed on the rest of the group chatting against the wall in a hallway. He glanced back to Mason and Miri, "Hey. Let's go meet with the others?" The two nodded in agreement and they soon hurried over to the group.
Minh and Aidan were leaning against the wall, already chatting though they had just met. Minh was the more reserved one, he listened more, while Aidan spoke more. Neither of them minded that.
Aidan was the first one to greet them, "Hey! You got Sleeping Beauty to wake up? I'm impressed." He was holding more bags than he originally had. Across his back, he had his own heavy bag weighing on his large back filled with his possessions. In his arms, he held Fernando's navy blue bag. Fernando hadn't even thought about his bags, but now that he had the chance to see them again, he was happy.
Fernando ran over to Aidan and took the heavy bag out of his arms. His eyes wandered across Aidan's bulky muscular arms before they gazed back to the navy blue bag he had just taken. He quickly stepped back and flashed a crooked grin at Aidan, "Thank you for holding my bag... Aidan, was it?"
"Yeah, it's Aidan. It's no problem, Sleeping Beauty."
"Sleeping Beauty? Why is everybody calling me that now?" Fernando groaned, but he shook off the name and leaned against the wall. Mason walked over with his backpack hanging off his right shoulder, a smirk plastered on his face.
"Heya, Sleeping Beauty." Mason laid against the wall beside Fernando. Great. Just when he thought he could have peace, that moron had to come and disturb it. "Hey. Why's everybody calling me that?"
"Cause you wouldn't wake up, no matter what we tried to do." Mason chuckled lightly and turned his head to look at Fernando, "But, you look well-rested now. I take it you had a good nap?"
Fernando nodded in response, his lips curving into a small warm smile, "Yeah, it was a nice nap."
"Good to know, Sleeping Beauty."
"Don't call me that."
"No problem, Aurora."
"Nevermind. Sleeping Beauty is way better."
The two burst into laughter, the rest of the group eyeing them with annoyance.
"Alright. Let's head to orientation so we can get our lockers and dorms." Miri spoke up like the leader of the group, gripping onto the black handles of her backpack.
"Dorms? I had a question about that." Fernando spoke up, "Are we sharing?"
"Sharing? Unfortunately, the school does not have enough dorms for every student to reside alone, so some students will be sharing. Same-sex though, so don't worry about ending up with a girl." Miri explained as she led the group through the corridors of the academy. She seemed to know a lot about the academy already. She certainly did her research.
"Oh, alright. I just hope I'll go solo." Fernando crossed his fingers, hoping he wouldn't get stuck with rooming for someone for the next few years.
Unfortunately for Fernando, not all wishes come true.