For All Those Sleeping [Editing]

Determination

 Chapitre II

Part 1

It was already seven in the morning, and I needed to get moving. I yanked the rough laces of my boots so suddenly that my mother, who was clearing the kitchen table, jumped with a start. By now, it was an indisputable fact that she had grown more mentally and physically frail over the years. Miss Caché was still her best friend, so it wasn’t helpful that she wasn’t a heap of fun either.

“Is there something wrong, Sierra?” she asked after composing herself.

“Oh, nothing other than the usual,” I muttered.

When your best friend leaves at such a young age, you’re supposed to grow up sad or eventually accept it. Instead, it left a permanent scowl on my face. It’s been six years since he left all of us, and six years of pain and irritableness has been cruelly flowing through my veins. That wasn’t the only thing though; there’s a reason why I say “all of us” instead of “me”. Fear circulated around the streets of Regium like the flu. It was a black cloud that dusted every corner. The only benefit was that my dream was more accessible afterwards. Armes, noticing that citizens of Rois were scared for their safety, allowed people living in Rois to be accepted into their school for Knights. Those living in Armes were originally the only ones allowed to become Knights since it was where their race reigned.

“Well you’re aiming to fix that error, aren’t you? You’re lucky Armes isn’t charging us anything and is letting you stay here instead of moving.”

Yet again noticing the time and knowing that I was probably about to get irritable soon, I left the house with a single low goodbye. The windy air attacked everything outside just in case anyone forgot that the season was fall. I know I said that I wasn’t upset about Leo, but that isn’t very truthful. To this day, I actually haven’t been able to move on; I just decided to hide away my emotions and look strong. If Leo was capable of leaving me, why couldn’t I do the same just as easily? I knew why though: everything reminds me of him. Whenever I walk to the transport de personnes (or TDP for short) stop every morning, I remember all the times we ran down the sidewalk.

When I boarded the TDP, it was already filled with people from my training class, and other classes. I grabbed a handrail that was connected to the ceiling of the vehicle, and prepared myself for the tug of inertia as it pulled away onto the street again. No one talked to me during the trip, so I absentmindedly stared out the window, not thinking about anything in particular, but was observing the trees. Sometimes I looked at the trees, sometimes through the trees. However much I tried to stop, I knew I was silently but desperately looking for a fire igniting among the saplings.

A lot has changed in six years. The educational system and ways of thinking stayed the same, but there were improvements within houses. More buildings in Armes and Rois were made out of brick instead of wood. Inside these new buildings were lights that used electricity instead of candles, ovens with stovetops instead of fire, indoor heating and plumbing. There were TDPs with engines to get around faster and clocks to more accurately tell time. Crumbling roads were paved over with smooth, black stuff called “asphalt”. Factories were gigantic buildings filled with steam and tons of machinery - most people worked there nowadays, and it was the only reason we had all of our new improvements. What was left of the Nouveau Royaume called it the “industrial age”. It was more progress than what was ever made in my mother’s lifetime, so I was appalled that how many breakthroughs the younger generations had made.

Camellia, my exceptionally good friend, was right outside the doors when the TDP arrived at the station in Armes. She was a Noble, but for some reason, she grew up in Armes. I tried to think nothing of it, but the integration was certainly odd. Even though she was training to be a Knight, she was exceptionally good with medical related issues. We walked into the school together - speechless and just enjoying the presence of another sane person - and entered the changing rooms. Each day all students were required to wear our assigned armor, the only exception being if we were sitting in a classroom.