Long Forgotten

Chapter 10) First Day

Esula POV-----
Itai... I rubbed my head. Where am I? I open my eyes to see myself in my room. I turn and see Celest snoring on her bed. It's 6:37. Why am I up so early? I get up and stretch. Mind as well get up and go for a jog.
"Celest, Esula! Wakey wakey! First day of school. Don't be late!" Arazu sang from downstairs. Oh. Oh, yeah. Memories came flooding back. When I found out I actually got in, when I yelled at everyone, when I think I fainted. I sighed and got ready. I went down the stairs and yawned. "Morning Esula! Are you excited?" Arazu asked.
"No. I don't even have supplies," I replied.
"Celest and I got it all."
"I have a question."
"Ask away."
"Why was I accepted?"
Arazu giggled. "I found a certain letter in the magic chute a while back. It said something like 'a student, who came in eigth, decided to enroll into a different school, so Esula Kumo, who came in sixteenth place, will be accepted into SKA.'"
Wait... That day, I heard the chute "Ding", but didn't get it. That was probably it. I'm such an idiot... "So-" I began.
"Come on. We can chat later. Eat up and we'll zoom on to school in a bit," Arazu cut me off. I'm going to assume school starts at like 7:00 something. Celest and Steacho come down and we eat a delicious breakfast of homemade cornbread made by Arazu. That calmed me a bit. On the way to school, Arazu told me where the Empresses go. Other info will be given by the teacher there. Shortly, we arrived at the school. "Class begins in six minutes! Don't be late! Have fun!" Arazu reminded before rushing to her classes.
"Both your homerooms are in the right wing. Follow the signs. If you get lost, ask someone," Steacho said calmly before speed walking down the hall.
"Okay... Let's start searching," I said to Celest, "You're in Room 412 right?" She nodded. "I'm in 302. Tell me when you see a sign," I tell her. We head down the hallway to the right. "This wa-" I bump into someone. "Hey you! How dare you get in the way of Folia Sei? Girls!" I hear footsteps and finally look up. My eyes widened. This Folia Sei girl looks exactly like the girl in my dream. Long purple hair, two minions following her, one with short blonde hair and an orange headband, the other with pitch black hair. Folia continues, "Teach them a lesson."
"Hai," her minions respond. I'm sensing some pretty powerful magic. Wait! Are they really going to attack me?
"Oi! You're breaking rules!" An unknown voice pipes up. Too late. They launch their attack at me. These student are bullies. And I don't appreciate bullies. From Steacho, I learned that there is a power, called Nightmare Curse, that allows someone to control someone else's dreams and turn them into nightmares. One of Folia's minions uses Nightmare Curse. Arazu taught me that empresses are known for their speed and quick reactions.
"Water art: Shield!" I harshly whispered. My shield blew Folia's minions' attacks into magic particles. I also might have accidentally blown the guy who tried to save us away as well. Oops..
"Rather feisty one this time," Folia said to the girl with the headband.
"Isn't that right?" she replied. This time? Do they choose victims to bully? What?
"We'll come back for her later. Let's go Reki, Queah," Folia said before whipping around and leaving. I lowered my hands and turned around to see Celest healing the guy who tried to stop Folia.
"Ow..," he rubbed his arm. I think he hit the wall...
"I'm so sorry!" I apologized.
He looked up and smiled, "Nah that was pretty cool. Are you a Water Empress?"
"Uh- yeah! How did you know?"
"Just a guess."
"Oh."
He stood up, "Ethel Hio. I'm a student here. This is my second year here."
"Esula Kumo, new student. I came in fifteenth place for the exam... My sister Celest," I waved to Celest, "came in fourteenth," I explained.
"Oh cool! I came in fifteenth last year," Ethel said.
"Um, if you don't mind, will you show us where our rooms are?" Celest said, keeping an eye on the time.
Ethel nodded, "Sure. What rooms?"
"412 and 302," I told him.
"Room 302 is upstairs and 412 is right here," he answered, pointing at a door a few yards away.
"Thank you so much!" I thanked Ethel. Celest thanked him as well and slipped into Room 412.
I was about to head to the stairs to search for my room when Ethel asked if I needed help finding the room. Having absolutely no idea where my room is, I gratefully accepted his offer and followed him upstairs. He stopped in front of a door labeled '302 Empresses'. I thanked Ethel again and opened the door. The room was quite lively, about twelve or so girls meeting and reuniting over the summer. This is the first day for everyone...
"E-eto are you Esula?" A timid voice asked. A familiar girl was standing behind me. Hmm.. I think her name was Neogi Guddnusyer. Neogi had short light blue hair and a pair of glasses covered her brown eyes. She came in fifth.
"Neogi Guddnusyer was it? You were fifth in the exam. That must mean you're pretty strong! What kind of empress are you?" I eagerly asked, glad that another new student was an empress.
"U-uh, I'm not that strong... My instructor was just nice... I'm an Ice Empress," Neogi said.
I held out my hand, "Esula Kumo, Water Empress. Glad another new student is an empress. I hope we can be good friends this ye-" Neogi crashed into me and wrapped her arms around me.
"T-thank you! I'm really scared and I really need a friend. And I found a really nice one! Thank you!" Neogi sniffled. I think she would have been sobbing if we weren't at school. The room quieted as a middle-aded woman entered and stood in the front of the room. Neogi and I hurriedly found seats next to each other in the front. "Welcome back students," she began. "This year we have two new students in this class, so will you please introduce yourself? Hmm Neogi Guddnusyer?"
"H-hai!" Neogi stood up. "Neogi Guddnusyer. I'm a Ice Empress and I hope to make new friends this year!" she said.
Our instructor spoke, "Nice to meet you, Neogi. Alright.. Esula Kumo?"
I stood up. "Esula Kumo. Water Empress. I also hope to make new friends," I said as I scanned the room. My eyes landed on some familiar, cold eyes. Folia. Folia Sei. I began to panic. Why is she here? She's also an empress? I lowered my head and sat down quickly.
"Nice to meet you, Esula. Well! To begin, my name is Teri Amat. Ms. Amat. You will receive a couple forms in a moment. Please have them signed by your guardian by tomorrow," Mrs. Amat said.
I look over at Folia's direction and see her staring at me with an evil smile. I don't think I should be this scared of her! My heart is beating and my eyes cloudy. I zoned out for a bit. What am I doing? Just a bully shouldn't scare me like this! My head starting hurting. I don't know why, but I was terrified. Absolutely petrified. This isn't supposed to happen! Something- no someone is doing this to me. This is horrible. Someone is controlling my sense of fear. I put my head down. I was sweating like crazy. I think I feel myself traveling somewhere else. Help, was the last thing that went through my head.
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~Next~ Chapter 11) Bad Luck