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His eyes watered as he tried to keep his eyes open.It was proving to be an impossible task.The class was supremely boring.In a bright cuboidal room, Mr.Alagson, their history teacher drawled on and on as thirty other students tried to suppress their yawns. He could feel himself drifting on and off into dreamland.

Aran could see last night's football match replaying in his head as he stared ahead at the blackboard.Only he himself was playing in place of one of the players.He could see himself,dark hair with tan skin and light brown eyes in a white jersey,with the gold cup raised as thousands of fans chanted his name.

A sudden kick to heels from his friend in the seat behind, jolted him back to the real world.

Mr. Alagson,was staring at him with a dissapproaving frown on his face.In fact everyone was staring at him.

Their history teacher was a middle aged balding man with a protruding belly preceding his body.He stood at the dais holding the textbook in his hands.

"Well,young man,we don't have all day",he said.

Oh,boy. It looked like he had been asked a question. The only problem now was he did not know what it was.

He frantically searched around hoping to get any hint from his classmates.Finding the same blank look on each face,he resigned.

Keeping his head down,he asked politely,"Could you please repeat the question,sir?"

The teacher sighed,"Aran,how many times do I have to tell you to concentrate in the class?"

The boy simply hung his head to act like he was ashamed while a small voice whispers in his head that it was Mr. Alagson's fault for making the class so boring.

He could feel the cold stare of the man on his neck.Finally the man seemed to give up and said,"Fine,what is the Demon Accords?"

Thank god,he knew something about the Demon accords.Everyone knew about the demon accords.Their country was built on it.He closed his eyes trying to recollect it.

"They are about stopping the wars and fighting."

"And?"

Aran looked up feeling a bit confused.And what?

"Nothing,sir",he said.

The man shook his head,clearly disappointed by the answer.

"That is a very crude answer, Aran. Any child in Cireen could give that answer." He looked around the class and asked,"Can anyone provide a better answer?"

A hand shot up and Aran turned to see a tall boy smirking at him. He had never liked that pompous kid.Thought too much of himself.

Mr.Alagson, pointed to him,"Yes,Bryan. Go on."

The boy stood up and answered as if he was reading straight from textbook,"The Demon accords state that use or research of nuclear weapons or any forms of lethal weaponry as a national offense.It also ensures peace between the ten stated."

He stopped looking around as if building up suspense,"The most important feature however is that under no circumstance, one should breach the shield around Cireen, citing the Wilds as dangerous."

Their teacher clapped his hands,"Very good,Bryan.Both of you sit down.You may do well to take a leaf out of Bryan's book,Aran."

The tall boy sat down with a look of smugness that Aran could not bear.He could feel his stomach gurgling in embarrassment.

A tiny girl at the front desk raised her hand.

"Why is it called the Demon Accords,sir?"

He moved to the board and wrote a single word in large bold letters,gaining the attention of the entire class.

DEMONS.

"The reason for the accords itself was the mysterious appearance of these creatures. They​ are not actually demons but these creatures are extremely dangerous. Thus the name. They are the reason humanity has had to live in Cireen. It is said that 500 years ago, humanity had populated a large portion of the world."

Aran thought that was fascinating. All the books talked of a time man could freely walk the earth and go anywhere they liked but now there was nowhere else other than Cireen.Though it was a pipe dream, because no one could ever leave the Country.

The girl raised her hand again. "Is it true that another sanctuary exists outside of Cireen?",she piped.

The whole class leaned in for this question. Recently rumours had been spreading around that another safe zone existed. Most likely it was an hoax,but it had managed to rile up the imagination of the youngsters.

The man scoffed,"Please do not believe everything you hear to be the truth. The survivors​ had been barely able to build Cireen and it's defences. It is very unlikely that anyone else could have achieved the same feat. Anyway open page 32 in your textbo-"

"Excuse me sir?",a voice squeaked from the doorway.

Mr.Alagson gave an irritated look at the mousy boy standing in the doorway.

"What is it,boy? Can't you see I am teaching a class,here?",he growled adjusting the belt holding up his tummy.

Mr.Alagson was not an easygoing teacher and hated it when people interrupted him during class hours. He believed it gave students too much​free time and he compensated for it by using up their intervals.So the whole class let a silent groan.

The boy was nervous as he answered,"I am sorry,sir but the Principal has called in,uh..Aran Nnoitara from this class,sir.He is to go to his office immediately,sir."

Aran hurried out of the classroom, into the empty hallways. The only reason someone was called out of a class was if there was a call from his parents. Worried it might be something serious,he became too preoccupied,letting his body follow the familiar path. Before he knew it he had already reached the principal's office.

It was the only room in the corridor.A nameplate introduced it as the office. Two chairs had been placed outside.

He could hear voices from inside.Curious he stopped his hand before it reached the door and leaned in. He had learnt long ago that adults had a bad habit of keeping secrets and the best way to find out things they did not want to him to find out was by evesdropping.

"Are you sure you want this one?He is very average you know. No extra curriculars,no sports. Even in his class he is not among the top. If you want I can show you some of our best.",he heard the Principal's coarse voice say.

Even if it were true,it annoyed him that the principal spoke like that way about him.

"No,it is him I want. As to why, I am not at liberty to say.",a woman's voice answered.

"All right. If you are sure.",the principal said,his tone dissapproaving.

The good news was that it seemed like it was not an medical emergency as he had feared. The bad news was that it looked like someone he did not know had come looking for him.

He knocked twice and entered. The room was well furnished.A huge table separated the two people sitting in the room.

The principal,Mr.Kolna sat in his usual place in front of the portrait of the world.Thin and old he did not exute much of a presence. The middle aged woman on the other side however was dressed sharply in official clothes. She smiled as he entered and offered him her hand.

"It's nice to meet you,Aran."

The principal cleared his throat and announced,"Aran meet Ms.Maya. She is from the government . She says she has something important to discuss with you.I will give you some time to talk until your parents get here."

And with that he rose and left the young man alone with the stranger.

If you would like to know more about what Ms Maya wants with Aran please press the star button.