Army Of The Immortal // Sebastian Morganstern

Chapter 1

"You can't actually be thinking about doing that." A tall, black-haired boy looks up at Catherine, who is standing on a beam in the training room above him, arms crossed, lips set in a thin line. "We aren't supposed to be up there unless it's for training purposes."
She waves a hand at the boy and scoffs. "Seriously, Way. What could go wrong?"
"Everything could go wrong!" He throws his hands up in the air and walks over to the wall, beginning to climb the ladder that leads to the beams. Reaching the large beam that runs across the center of the massive room, he begins to walk out.
Catherine backs up and smiles playfully, tilting her head. "You are not going to get me off of here."
Way looks down at the large distance between the beam and the floor, and then back at Catherine again. "I'm your parabatai, Cath. I'm supposed to protect you."
Catherine reaches up and absentmindedly brushes her fingers along the rune on her collarbone, a habit she fell into ever since the ceremony.
"You're supposed to protect me, so protect me from down below, in case I fall." While speaking, she ducks her head and shakes her hair out of her eyes, gently placing her hands on her hips.
Sighing, Way walks back to the ladder and climbs down, jumping once he is close enough to the ground. Walking underneath the beam, he follows Catherine as she jumps and runs along the skinny, yet sturdy piece of wood. Stopping, she crouches down and grabs the wood before stepping off of the beam, swinging her feet beneath her.
"Look, Way! One hand!" She looks over her shoulder and blows her hair out of her face, smirking at Alex who covers his face with his hands from down below. She knows her foolish behavior irks him, but his reactions are just too precious to give up.
"Stop it." His voice is muffled as it floats up to the top of the room to where Catherine is hanging.
The door to the training room creaks and a head pops in. "Catherine," Samantha's stern voice fills the room as she steps inside, her long floral skirt brushing the floor. Her hands sit on her tiny waist as she looks up at Catherine disapprovingly. "What did Mother tell you about—"
"Climbing on the beams, I know." Catherine lets go of the beam and Samantha lets out a tiny squeal of surprise as she lands gracefully on the mat. Catherine internally pats herself on the back for landing perfectly in front of that snob.
"Just like your father..." Samantha murmurs under her breath.
"You don't have the right to speak of my father." A pang hits Catherine's chest like a train and she glares and snarls at Samantha before Samantha turns from Catherine to Way. "Make sure you two are both in the dining hall in forty minutes. Mother wishes everyone to wear formal attire."
With that, she sweeps her skirt behind her dramatically as she exits the room.
"I swear, she thinks she's all that because her parents runs the institute. I'd love to just kick her petty little—"
"Catherine." Way looks at her and raises his eyebrow, but Catherine knows that Way feels the same way, he's just better at keeping his thoughts to himself when he wants to. Catherine rolls her eyes before grabbing Way's wrist and pulling him out of the training room and down the hall.

Catherine shoves open the heavy, wooden door to her room and flops down on the regal, wooden bed. Way moves a pile of books off of the comforter to clear some space before he jumps next to her and leans back overtop of Catherine's legs on his elbows.
"How can you even sleep with all of these books lying all over the place?"
Catherine shoots him a don't-try-and-change-the-subject look before propping herself up on her elbows so she can see Way instead of the ceiling.
"But seriously, Way. 'Mother wishes everyone to wear formal attire'? Who even speaks like that anymore? It's not the 1800s."
Way can't help but leave out a sharp bark of laughter as Catherine mimicks Samantha with a high-pitched British accent. Trying to suppress any further chuckles, he ends up snorting which causes Catherine to laugh. She has always had a laugh that was contagious, and within seconds both Way and Catherine are clutching their stomachs, doubled over in laughter. Wiping tears from under his eyes, Way stands and places his hand on Catherine's shaking shoulder.
"I'm going to go get dressed," he speaks between shaky breaths while he attempts to keep himself from bursting into laughter again. Catherine waves him off and he leaves the room, seeing Catherine stand from the bed and walk over to her bathroom before he shuts the door.