In Plain Sight

Chapter 3

Serena's POV

Wow! This place so beats the houses back at home! Well, maybe not as snazzy as the palace in Silvan, but hey, still impressive! Just then, I heard laughter.

"Joke boy, you're lame!" Someone said. I turned to my left to see two kids bullying a boy in a blue and purple beanie. I marched over to them.

"Hey!" I shouted. "Pick on someone your own size, or if you want a fight, come at me!" The two boys turned to me, then burst out laughing.

"Like a petty little girl like you can do anything. Watcha gonna do, twirl around?" One snarled. That was it. I ran over to them and kicked each in some not-so-sunny spots, then jumped in midair, did the splits, and crashed my heels down into their backs, denting their fancy armor. As I helped the other kid up, people started to crowd around the scene of the two bullies sprawled across the floor and whimpering. I smiled.

"What's your name?" I asked. The boy sighed.

"Jestro." He replied. "I'm training to become a mime and joke comedy jester here." I smiled.

"That's actually pretty cool. When I think of jesters, mostly people trying to juggle and spin plates comes to mind. Nice to see that someone thinks of a different act." I stated. Just then, we heard a fanfare, and Jestro pulled us both to one knee in a bowing position.

"The king," He hissed in my ear. "He's here." I averted my eyes up to see a man wearing all blue and white faux fur with peach colored hair. I had to stifle a laugh at how his crown dropped when he bowed to us at the top of the stairwell. He grumbled and pointed to me, then the crown. I walked to the crown and tossed it up to him, but he fumbled with it in his hands and it dropped in my hands again.

"Catch it!" I told him, tossing it up again. This time, he didn't even bother to, and just let it drop in my hands again.

"It would be a disgrace for me to touch something from a miner girl, of all people. A miner girl! Take it; I won't be needing it anymore after it has been touched by your dusty hands. I rolled my eyes at him and turned around, only for a gentle voice to tell me to stop.

"Toss it up here; I'll catch it for you." She said. I shrugged and tossed it up to her, who easily caught it  with her hand and flashed me a smile. I smiled back and headed back to Jestro, who was looking at me with a confused face.

"Miner girl?" He asked skeptically.

"I'll tell you later." I told him, and the confused look on his face disappeared. As the king spoke, I got an idea and focused on the metal armor stand behind him. We Silvana were actually natural psychics, force wielders and aura users, although I was still trying to get the hang of all three powers without them spiraling out of control and lashing out at certain people. To my surprise, it worked.

The armor creaked as the visor slammed down onto the helmet and the helmet creaked from the force of the impact. The king shrieked and jumped a foot into the air.

"POSSESSED ARMOR STANDS!!! THEY'LL TAKE MY SOUL!! SOMEBODY SAVE ME!!!" He wailed. We all burst out laughing, even the queen.

"The crown bumped it a bit while I was holding it, dear. That's what caused the armor to creak and the visor to slam down. Keep in mind dear, you really shouldn't watch Ghostbusters at night." She explained. The king's face flushed red with embarrassment as he realized he had made such a fool of himself. He chuckled nervously, then turned back to us.

"Well, here are the rules in the Academy," He started to explain. "Rule One is to not bully any student here. I assure you, you do not want to be on the bad side of the freshman girl who beat up those two over there when she saw they were bullying a younger jester trainee. Seems she doesn't approve of such acts of jealousy and hate. Rule two is to not sneak around at night; we dim the lights and lock the doors, so if you are outside at that time, you might be locked out until morning or a teacher notices. Also, it is very dark in the halls at night, so we don't want children tripping over armor stands or bumpy parts of carpets and getting injured, and even if the school may not be as big as the castle, it still is fairly easy to get lost in when you can't see. Rule Three is to treat your elder teachers with respect; they could be doing something else right now, but they chose to teach you instead, so please do not disappoint them. Rule Four is to try to get on class in time; most teachers close their doors after the bell, and most of the time you can't access it from the outside. Also, you might be wasting valuable learning time. Rule Five is very important; never go out into the woods alone. If you are to go out alone, you must inform a nearby teacher so they know where to look if you do not return in time. Also, you might want to bring an experienced kid from the third level and above, or someone who knows how to survive in the woods and is exceptionally good in fighting, or maybe you might just find a Silvana in the woods. It is not wolves or bears or even venomous snakes that we fear; it is a vicious, bloodthirsty, horrible, malicious, ruthless, murdering man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if it means wiping out an entire civilization." Dread seeped into my soul. Please don't be who I think it is, please. . .

"Who is this person?" A red haired girl next to me asked. "I mean, if he finds us and tells us his name, then we need to know if it's a trick or not." The king sighed.

"He destroyed an entire kingdom and wiped out its kind out of his lust for power." He claimed. "Known amongst most villagers, he is feared."

"Still, that really doesn't give us a name." Jestro pointed out.

"His name is," The king said. "Malcolm Vairocana, the destroyer of Silvan and slayer of Silvana." He spat out like poison, pure hatred displayed on his face. Many older students gasped. Terror and rage clutched at my soul, two thoughts of either running away as fast as I could back to Nothing Hill or going out to face the wretched maniac to get revenge for my people and my parents. We gave that brat a home, a life, a job, a place with the royal family, and he backstabs us over greed. Just then, the king spoke up.

"Well, that concludes it. I must say, I am grateful for your safety and that Malcolm hasn't torn apart anyone's fam—"

"He tore apart mine." I hissed, venom in my voice. Everyone turned to me.

"What was that?" The king asked. I sighed.

"When I was seven, Malcolm came to my parents' house for information on the Silvana and their weaknesses." I fibbed. "My parents, being close to King Alan of Silvan and the good-hearted people they were, refused to."

"Then what?" A gigantic kid nearly twice my size with a black Mohawk asked. Tears threatened to leak out of my eyes.

"He killed them in cold blood." I told them. "My parents told me to run, but I hid instead in the backyard, up in a tree hollow. I saw what happened. I really wish I didn't."

"What happened?" A fiery orange haired boy from behind asked. The blonde boy from earlier on the bus today smacked his arm.

"Dude! She just said that she wish she didn't see it! Why make her recall the events if she hates them?!" He hissed. I smiled. The king cleared his throat.

"Well, now that there are no interruptions, I must tell you something; there will be one dorm per five or six students. There are a few rooms in each dorm; two or more for boys and girls to sleep in, capacity of two children each and preferably in separate rooms, four bathrooms, two in the separate  sleeping quarters and two outside the sleeping quarters, a lounger room, a game room, and a private room to study. Your roommates have been pre-assigned to you, courtesy of Merlok and our Queen here. Please: if you dislike your roommates for some apparent reason or if you are rich and you hold a grudge against lower-level kids—"

"Like how you refused to take the crown from the girl when she tried to hand it to you just because she was a 'miner girl'?" The blonde boy accused. The king looked down in shame as the queen spoke up.

"Well, it's about time someone said that! Am I right or am I right?" She joked. Everybody laughed and cheered as she mock bowed. We were then ushered to our dorms by squirebots and adults. As I was ushered with Jestro, I turned around to see the blonde boy wave at me. I smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

Maybe the Academy wouldn't be so bad after all.