5. The Dining Hall
Charlie realised his mouth was hanging open. Again. Embarrassed, he shut it quickly, hoping no one had noticed.
The room was even bigger than the one they had just come from. A large arching roof similar to that of a cathedral curved high above, a painting on the ceiling like those of the churches of Venice. The five elements were prominent, painted interlocking in the centre. Around these, other powers were depicted in some way or another; so many that Charlie was transfixed, just trying to set his eyes on a single one. There were so many, and they were so diverse... His neck had begun to ache from staring up at the towering ceiling.
Large arrays of swords ornamented the walls, the shining titanium mirroring their surroundings. These swords each had a plaque above where they were hung, naming the original owner of the weapon. In the centres of the hilts, there were empty sockets, the use of which was unclear.
Hundreds of the golden orbs of light floated in the air, bobbing about gently. It was strangely calming to watch them just floating with no purposeful movement. Their shapes wobbled a bit like when a bubble was caught by a gentle gust of wind, in a jelly like way.
A huge chandelier glittered in the centre of the ceiling, the diamonds hanging from it casting rainbows of colour across the hall as the flickering candles of every shade danced on the candlewicks. The candles had no melting wax, no sign of decay at all, yet they burned on. The candle wax clearly didn't waste away. Ever. The dazzling diamonds on the chandelier sparkled, throwing the light into all corners of the room, lighting it up like nothing else could.
Rectangular tables with five seats at each were laid out around the room, in neat, precise lines, with exactly two metres between each one. They were simply set, with basic cutlery and plates and white tablecloths just begging to have something spilt on them. Seated at these tables, there were at least a thousand, if not more, pupils, all chatting and laughing as if all this was normality. Which it probably was for them. Many of them had turned to stare at Charlie as he had entered with Feriador, and a loud chatter had started. The word “elemental” was repeated a lot, and he had a feeling that he was the subject of many conversations and the object of many prying eyes. Instead of looking at the floor, as his instinct was telling him, Charlie stared right back at the students.
The pupils were all wearing long sleeved black jumpsuits, like some kind of secret agent might wear. Or an assassin. There were stripes along the sleeves and down the sides of the body, and with a quick glance, Charlie noticed that the colour of these stripes varied. He also noted that pupils wearing the same colour tended to sit together. Occasionally, students of different colours were sitting together, but generally it did seem that the colours were separated. He wondered what they each meant. Charlie looked down at his dirty, torn, ordinary clothes and suddenly felt very conspicuous. He held his head high, but was still very conscious of his state of hygiene and cleanliness. If only they had given him something else to wear, other than the clothes that were charred and dirty from his explosion.
At the far end of the hall, a large, carved fireplace, as tall as two fully grown humans standing one on top of the other, held a fire that crackled cheerily. It was made of white marble, and set out in front of it was a deep red hearthrug, occupied by a large sleeping shape. Some small double doors sat subtly in the far right corner of the hall near the fireplace, barely noticeable with all the other things that drew Charlie's attention.
Before the fire place, on the red hearthrug, multiple pentagonal tables were occupied by whom Charlie could only assume were teachers. The tables were in a row, just as neat and precise as the rectangular ones. The central table was host of the four other teachers Charlie had met in the White room. Professors Jiplock and Ilino were talking to Maximus, whilst the other one, Professor Merryweather, was staring vaguely off into space. The side of the central pentagon that was in the centre, nearest to the fireplace and facing the rest of the hall, was empty. A large, wooden chair with bear claws carved into the armchairs and a pointlessly large back was tucked in here. This, Charlie presumed, was Feriador's seat. It was a rather big chair, like a wooden throne, except for the carved lion feet that supported it.
