Amity

Chapter 29: Wayward Marketplace

Who was that evil woman that replaced Mrs. Gladestone? Dré asked himself as he slumped into the elevator. His arms felt like they had been placed in a juicer, and to make matters worse, he still had two more classes to go to. His throat was dry; he craved for something to drink. He figured that he had enough time to get a drink, since he had a little over forty-five minutes until his next class.

The elevator stopped with a ding before the doors slid open. With a groan, he made his way down the hall connecting the two towers. His mind was empty, with only the words "thirsty" and "drink" popping up every now and then.

There was a dull buzzing from the students as Dré lumbered down the narrow hallway. As he grew closer to the end of the hallway, the buzz grew into a dull chatter. What's going on out there? He peeked his head out of the corner, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Inside the foyer were about a dozen students chatting with each other, each in a different color tunic. Most were in red, while others were either in navy-blue, emerald-green, white, or stone-gray. Apart from that, everything else seemed normal. Or, at least, normal in the sense of this school.

"What happened to you?" he heard Megumi say behind him. He turned to see her walking towards him, drinking from a green bottle. She had the same color tunic as hers. A black sword was sheathed in the scabbard on her waist. He didn't care about that for the moment, however. The tantalizing sight of a drink made him salivate.

She looked at him, puzzled, before she looked at the rectangular, lime-green bottle in her hand. "Oh. Are you thirsty? Want the rest?" she asked, waving the bottle in front of him with her tongue sticking out.

Don't have to tell me twice, Dré thought as he snatched the bottle without answering and chugged the rest of the contents, not caring at all what they were. It tasted slightly of sour melon with what Dré hoped was fruit pulp flowing with the drink. She pouted. "Dude. I didn't say all of it."

"You didn't specify, either," Dré said as he wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand. She stared daggers at him.

Dré felt his head immediately cleared before he had a chance to put the bottle down. He felt the strength returning to his arms, as if he hadn't taken Mrs. Gladestone's class yet. "What was that?"

"Fruit of Marathon nectar. Uncle Ichi bought me some from a store called First Steps. He said that it's supposed to replenish your strength like that fruit you ate at school yesterday."

"Is that so? I might have to get me a bottle then."

Megumi was silent for a moment. "You know, you're right. Come with me." She grabbed Dré's arm and pulled him towards the foyer.

"Hold on, where are we going?"

She stopped and turned towards him. "Have you been paying attention to anything I've said?" Dré gave a nervous chuckle as he looked away. She sighed as she said, "I'm going back to the marketplace to get you a bottle of nectar."

"Is it alright for us to go there alone?" he asked as Megumi began pulling him again.

"I donno. Should be."

They both slunk out of the academy and walked down the cobblestone path to the large gate. She stopped him before they reached a small building and put a finger over her lips. Stay here, she mouthed before going ahead, crouching as low to the ground as she could. Dré figured it was somewhat pointless considering how short she was, but for the sake of his own neck, he decided to keep the comment to himself.

Once she made it to the shabby-looking shack, she peeked inside the window before she waved for him to follow. Dré walked towards her, keeping low to the ground as he went.