In Plain Sight

Chapter 5

Serena's POV

I was paired with this girl called Macy, the princess of Knighton. Bet you Merlok did this on purpose, since we're both royalty. Curious about our other roommates, I walked down to the living room with Macy to see the boy from the bus, Jestro, this gigantic kid with big biceps, and a ginger haired boy. I waved. Macy ran over to the ginger haired boy.

"Aaron!" She shouted, hugging him. He blushed and returned the hug. I went to the boy from the bus.

"I. . . didn't really catch your name earlier." I told him. He smiled.

"Lance." He said. Aaron turned to him.

"Aren't you going to tell her your last name?" He asked. Lance shook his head.

"My parents didn't sign me up for the Academy, actually." He confessed. "Two nights before I left, they sold me to Monstrox." I gasped.

"You mean the warlock that buys and ships kids to that rust-feeding coal face Malcolm?" I exclaimed. Aaron turned to me.

"Did you just use Silvan swears?" He asked. I grinned.

"Like I said, my parents were close to the royal family of Silvan." I repeated. "Usually we'd visit their castle." Aaron just shrugged.

"No, it's just that my parents said that all the time. Most of them were pointed to me, like 'I'd Lead Mist you of my own free will' and 'Go bathe in Mercury'." My eyes went wide. They seriously said that to him?!??! That's worse than aiming cusses at a baby! Macy spoke up.

"Won't Lead Mist poison you?" She asked. I nodded.

"It's one of the worst insults ever to say to someone in Silvan, especially your own child." I informed her. "It means you wish that person to die a suffering death. Go bathe in Mercury is worse. That's basically telling someone to go commit suicide." Aaron nodded.

"I actually cut myself because they said those for a while." He admitted. "Anyway, back to you Lance." Lance nodded, then continued.

"The next night, Monstrox packed a suitcase full of clothes for me." He told us. "He gave me a holorail ticket to Knights' Academy, then told me to run there. He told me not to worry about the woods, that a Silvana lived nearby. Also, if I didn't make it, then to run to Nothing Hill as fast as I could, since a man named Tony and a miner girl named Seri lived there. I wanted to run there since I knew the way, but chose here because there were more people to help me. I got onto the holorail just in time. And that was when I first met you." He turned to me. I smiled.

"It was when you turned around and heard me singing one of my favorite songs, then tossed me some mints, wasn't it?" I pointed out. Lance blushed.

"Yeah." He stated. Macy giggled, then we all told stories and introduced yourself. Turns out the big guy was named Axl Diggeron, and his family owned an inn called the Ox's Might. I explained that I was from Orreville, my full name was Clarissa Serenity Moorington, but I was called Seri most of the time. Aaron gasped.

"Y-You're the girl that Monstrox told us to find!" He exclaimed. "Seri Lapis!" I nodded.

"When my parents died, I ran for Nothing Hill and bumped into Tony Lapis, a miner there." I told them. "He was the closest to a father I had left, so I just adopted his surname. I basically just mined a lot there. It was fun, seeing other's faces every time I found jewels and gold." Just then, the horn blared.

"Dinner, youngsters!" The Queen's voice blared through the speakers around the school corridors. "There's steak and mashed potatoes with corn on the cob and gravy waiting for you in the Commons! Hope you like it!" I smiled.

This would be one fun year.