Lumina Academy: Light and Shadow (Realm Series #1)

Chapter 7: Lara's First Day

Chapter 7: Lara’s First Day
 
Nang na sa tapat na kami ng classroom ng Betas ay biglang humarap sa akin si Genevieve at nagsalita. “Ready?” Tanong niya sa akin ng nakangiti.
 
Ngumiti lang din ako bago tumango. Kinakabahan akong humarap sa madaming etudyente—sa mga bago kong kaklase at idagdag pang hindi sila pangkaraniwan katulad ko.
 
Hinawakan niya na ang doorknob at handa na sana para buksan ang pinto ngunit bago pa mabuksan ni Gen ang pinto ay may biglang nagsalitang lalaki mula sa likod namin kaya sabay kaming napalingon dito.
 
“Ms. Taylor, get in first,” I saw a handsome teacher who’s wearing eyeglasses which made him look handsome even more.
 
Tumingin naman sa akin si Gen na parang humihingi ng pahintulot kaya ngumiti at tumango lang ako sa kaniya. Tumingin naman siya sa teacher bago nagsalita. “Okay po, Mr. Evans,” wika niya at bahagya pa itonh yumuko bago nauna ng pumasok.
 
Mr. Evans… our teacher in history.
 
Humarap naman ako kay Mr. Evans at ng magtama ang mga mata namin ay bahagya siyang ngumiti sa akin. “Stay here until I call you, Ms. Ford,” saad niya kaya tumango na lang ako bago huminga ng malalim ng pumasok na siya sa loob.
 
***
 
Ingrid Genevieve Taylor
 
Nandito na ako ngayon sa upuan ko malapit sa bintana at walang katabi. Loner ako dahil ayokong maki-pagkaibigan sa kanila dahil masyado silang bully but thankfully, hindi naman nila ako binu-bully. They are just treating me like I am not existing and it’s not bad though.
 
Nang nakaupo na ako ay siya namang pagpasok ni Mr. Evans kaya napaayos naman ng upo ang mga Betas na kanina lang ay nagkaka-gulo. Sanay na ako sa kanila at bawat umaga ay ganito ang bungad sa akin.
 
Mr. Evans put his book in the teacher’s table before facing at us. “Okay, class, I think, you already know that you have a new member,” panimula niya at napansin ko namang nagkatinginan ang mga classmates ko at napansin ko pa ang ibang mga babae ay napairap pa sa hangin.
 
Attitude.
 
“Ms. Ford, please come in,” sabi ni Mr. Evans at nagulat naman ang lahat ng estudyante dito sa loob ng marinig ang apelyido na binanggit niya.
 
Sino ba namang hindi, eh, apelyido lang naman iyon ng isa sa makapangyarihang teacher dito sa academy na matagal ng hindi nagtuturo but she’s still famous until now. She’s known as one of the former member of Alphas and many students adore her.
 
Bumukas naman ang pinto at pumasok si Lara na hindi nakangiti but she has a soft face—panira lamang ang kaniyang salamin na suot na pinapa-panget siya. Pero ayos lang ‘yan, hindi naman pwedeng lagi na lang siyang maganda, ‘no! Hmp!
 
“Please introduce yourself,” sabi ni Mr. Evans.
 
Alam kong kinakabahan siya dahil ayaw na ayaw niya sa introducing yourself but since she’s a transferee, she can’t do anything about it but introduce herself to everyone.
 
“Lara Ford. 17 years old. Ice user and sub-power is time manipulation,” pakilala niya at gusto ko na lamang matawa but I stopped myself. Baka magmukhang tanga lang ako kaya ‘wag na.
 
Pansin kong namangha naman sila sa kapangyarihang taglay ni Lara lalo na sa sub-power niya. May bigla namang nagtaas ng kamay, at kung tama ang pagkaka-alala ko ay Mark ang kaniyang pangalan at isa siya sa mga bully.
 
Tumango naman si Mr. Evans sa kaniya kaya tumayo naman si Mark para magtanong. “Are you related to the Ford family?” Tanong nito and curiosity is all over his face.
 
“No,” she answered—clearly shutting down Mark’s curiosity.
 
Madami ang napataas ng kilay dahil sa sagot niya at tila gusto pang magtanong sa kaniya but Mr. Evans already spoke. “You can sit beside Ms. Taylor, Ms. Ford,” Mr. Evans said stopping his students from asking again just to fill their curiosity. Naglakad naman patungo kung na saan ako si Lara at ng makaupo siya ay siya namang nagsalita muli si Mr. Evans. “For Ms. Ford, I will introduce myself to you,” he flashed his daring smiled na ikinatili naman ng mahina ng maha-harot kong babeng kaklase. “I’m Gregory Evans, your History teacher,” pagpapakilala ni Mr. Evans habang nakatingin kay Lara at bahagya pang yumuko sa kaibigan ko.
 
Napansin ko pa ang pagtataka sa mga mata ng mga classmates ko kaya palihim na lamang akong napailing. Lalo naman no’ng nakita ko ang masamang tingin ng mga maha-harot kong babaeng classmates sa kaibigan ko.
 
Tss. You do not know who’s this girl beside me, Betas.
 
***
 
Hope Lorelei Lara Sapphire Watson 
 
After Mr. Evans introduced himself to me, nagsimula na rin siyang mag-klase. “Today, we will tackle about the supreme guardians—the legendary guardians,” panimula ni Mr. Evans at nakuha no’n ang lahat ng aming atensyon. “First is, Aslan, the lion guardian and also known as the ‘King of the mythical guardians’, he is too powerful because he can control all the elements we have, but some say that his power is unknown. Only the summoner knows it and he is the most fearful guardian aside from Ajax,” what he said is true. No one can determine what’s his real power aside from his summoner—aside from me and all I can say is that… he’s too powerful that he can destroy something if he wants to. You will feel his intimidating and overflowing power and if you are not powerful enough to handle it then you will feel weak.
 
“Next is Arang, the nine-tailed fox—guardian of the earth. He’s a warrior guardian and his move wasn’t normal anymore. Hindi mo siya basta-bastang masusugatan at bago mo pa magawa ang bagay na ‘yon ay baka patay ka na. He’s can also suck your soul from your body ng walang kahirap-hirap. Even you are the most powerful immortal, if Arang decided to suck your soul, you can not escape anymore,” he once did that when I was chased by the hybris demons. He sucked their soul and the poor hybris demons’ body looked gross after what he did.
 
“Next is Penelope, the golden fire phoenix. Her fire is one of the most powerful fires in this world. No one can match her fire—no one can kill her fire and she can raze hell if she wants to, together with Ajax. Her feathers are gold as the golden fire was dancing gracefully around her body,” I’ve seen Penelope’s fire once and it was so beautiful but dangerous, just like her.
 
“Next is Nixie, the unipeg—the hybrid guardian. She’s an air and water guardian and legend said that she’s the most beautiful guardian and next was Penelope. She’s just like Arang but she’s not sucking soul—only Arang can do that,” that’s right, Nixie is the most beautiful guardian that I have but she’s also dangerous when mad.
 
“And here comes the electric siblings—Zephyr, and Sarafina. The lightning guardians, but Sarafina can also wield basic water elements, so she’s also considered as a water guardian. Among the two, only Sarafina is long-tempered, unlike her brother. Zephyr, is short-tempered that’s why he is also feared by many. Their power is too powerful and dangerous that’s why I’m warning you… don’t let their power touch you but it’s impossible, just don’t reach their limit—don’t make them mad—especially Zephyr who is a short-tempered guardian because if you did reach their limits, they won’t think twice to use their deadly power to you,” I agree with Mr. Evans.
 
Kahit mahaba ang pasensya ni Serafina ay mayroon ding hangganan ‘yon. Sa totoo lang, siya ang pinaka-kinatatakutan kapag galit. Naalala ko pa no’ng kwento sa akin ni Fina na hindi sila hinahayaan na magalit and immortals always pleases them, especially, Zephyr. Those siblings have once lived here together with the immortals but it was thousand years ago.
 
“And last but not least, Ajax—the blue dragon. He is the most powerful guardian among the others, legend said that Ajax was the original king of the guardians before he passed his throne to Aslan and no one knows his reason,” Ajax, minsan ko nga lang siya mai-summon dahil sa sobrang lakas niya. My guardians are all powerful, especially, Aslan ngunit mas nahirapan ako kay Ajax. Talagang tulog ako ng ilang araw no’ng nai-summon ko siya.
 
“They are the six supreme guardians and you shouldn’t underestimate them. They are powerful than you think, even powerful than the most powerful immortal because if you’re one of the sacred, you are considered as a powerful being. Sacred ones were the first ones who lived in the magical world and underestimating them or treating them badly comes with the greater price…”
 
Sacred ones… ang mga nilalang na unang nanirahan sa mundong ito. But some places are sacred too and this academy is one of them—next are the kingdoms and they were called as an institution before immortals named these institutions. But some specific immortals will rule these institutions—the immortals who were blessed and chosen by the deities themselves and their lineage can only rule these institutions.
 
That’s according to my Nana.
 
“But let me ask you, do you ever know about Titiana and the pixie princess, Merlia?” He suddenly asked. May nagtaas naman ng kamay kaya tinanguan siya ni Sir.
 
I didn’t expect that Merlia will get mentioned here.
 
“A legend little creature that also a guardian but she wasn’t like the supreme guardians. And Merlia, the daughter of Queen Clarion but no one knows what she looks like,” the woman said.
 
Yeah. Tati is like a small creature immortal at magkasing laki lamang sila ni Merlia. But I wonder why they do not know what Lia’s look like. Is she hiding too just like Tati?
 
“Yes. Merlia is the daughter of Queen Clarion but she’s still mysterious because no one knows about her identity—about what she looks like but she is not a legend like Titiana. She is just a mysterious princess that came from the tribe of pixie fairies that turned into a guardian,” bahagyang naningkit ang mga mata ko dahil sa panghuli niyang sinabi. “And Titiana, a legend that no one can show evidence whether she’s real or not,” he seriously said. “The books said that Titiana is a little creature and the guardian of all abilities but up until now, she remains a legend but some are believing her existence.”
 
Kung alam niyo lang.
 
Napansin ko namang puno ng kuryosidad ang mga mukha ng mga classmates ko habang tila malalim ang kanilang iniisip. Nagkatinginan naman kami ni Gen bago siya kumibit-balikat. She also know about my guardians kaya ganito na lamang ang reaksyon niya.
 
Ano kaya ang magiging reaksyon ng lahat oras na malaman nilang totoo siya?
 
“Before we proceed to our next topic, do you have any concerns about what we discussed?” He asked his students while looking around until someone raised his hand—a lady who has short hair. “Yes, Miss Robertson?” The lady that he called stood up.
 
“Mr. Evans, if that guardians you were talking about is powerful, then the summoner is also powerful too? Do you know who is their summoners? Or any signs about him or her?” Tanong nito and I saw how Mr. Evans smiled because of her questions.
 
They only have one summoner, dear.
 
“Good question, Miss Robertson,” he stands up straight while still crossing his arms in front of his chest. “The supreme guardians are too powerful and you all know that when we are summoning our guardians also needs a lot of energy—it depends on how powerful your guardian is. Paano pa kaya kung ang guardian mo ay isa sa kanila, you will need a lot of energy—you have to be powerful enough to summon the supreme guardians,” I unconsciously nodded because of what Mr. Evans said.
 
Pero automatic naman na ‘yon. Kung mahina ka, hindi mo makakayanang ilabas ang guardian mo, kahit hindi pa ‘yan isa sa mga supreme guardians. Kung malakas ka na, ibig sabihin lamang no’n ay kaya mo ng ilabas ang guardian mo ng walang kahirap-hirap.
 
“The academy is still searching for the summoners since not even one of the Alphas are the summoner of one of the supreme guardians. As of now, we still have no sign,” Mr. Evans continued at nakaramdam na lamang ako ng kakaiba sa kanila ng banggitin ni Mr. Evans ang salitang Alphas.
 
Something is wrong between them.
 
We heard the bell rang kaya nag-ayos na kami ng gamit. “Review for tomorrow’s quiz, Betas. The coverage of our quiz for tomorrow is the discussion today,” Mr. Evans said before saying goodbye and taking his leave.
 
Paano naman kaya ang quiz dito sa history?
 
“Tara na, Lars!” Yaya ni Gen at tumayo na siya’t hinila ako.
 
Matagal-tagal ding hindi niya ako nahihila kata dapat masanay na ako ulit sa kaniya dahil madalas na ulit ‘tong mangyayari. Habang naglalakad kami ay kinuha ko naman sa bag ko ang schedule ko at tinignan ang schedule namin.
 
History – 8 o’clock – 9 o’clock AM
Potions – 9:10 – 10:40 AM
Power Control – 10:50 – 12 o’clock
Lunch – 12:10 – 1 o’clock PM
Guardian Summoning – 1:10 – 2:40 PM
Hand to Hand Combat – 2:50 – 4 o’clock PM
 
Wait... WALANG RECESS?!
 
Magtatanong pa lang sana ako kay Gen ng maunahan na niya ako. “Wala talagang recess dahil ang kinain nating breakfast ay may kasama ng magic—magic na ginawa ng mga Epsilons para hindi tayo magutom at sa lunch na lang tayo kakain para hindi na kailangan ng recess. Don’t worry, it’s good to our body naman,” ngumuso na lamang ako ng bahagya bago napipilitang tumango.
 
“Oo na. Pero mabubugbog naman tayo pagdating ng hapon,” nakanguso ko pa ring wika sa kaniya.
 
“Yeah. At talagang magkasunod pa ang subject na guardian summoning at hand to hand combat,” ngumuso din siya habang ako namay ay napa-isip.
 
Am I going to summon one of my supreme guardians?
 
Napansin ko namang napapatingin ang mga estudyante sa amin or should I say, sa akin? Hindi ko na lang sila pinansin at nagpatuloy na lang sa paglalakad. Hindi ko naman sila mapipigilan, eh. May mga mata sila but it’s rude kaya! Hmp!
 
“Edi, palagi kayong bugbog?” Curious kong tanong. Hindi naman kasi nabanggit ni Mimi o ni Nana ang tungkol dito, eh.
 
“Hmm… you can say that. Especially when our teacher from guardian summoning collaborated with our teacher from hand to hand combat. Talagang mararamdaman mo ang pagod tapos kinabukas may quiz pa sa history na isa ding pahihirapan tayo!” She even stomped her feet on the ground while pouting.
 
“Paano ba kayo nag-ki-quiz dito?” I asked while we are still walking.
 
“Masasabi kong mahirap—lalo naman sa history. Gwapo si Mr. Evans, oo, at mukhang maamo ang mukha pero napaka-demonyo niya kapag nagpapa-quiz!” Mahina lamang ang boses niya na tanging kami lamang ang nakaririnig. “Yung quiz na hindi ka makaka-kopya! Hmp!” Pagpapatuloy niya.
 
Natawa naman ako dahil sa sinabi niya ngunit hindi ko maipagkakaila na bigla akong kinabahan. Nana and Mimi never had a chance to tell me about those things, lalo naman ang ipa-experience sa akin ang mga bagay na ‘yon kaya kinakabahan na ako ngayon pa lang.
 
Nang na sa hallway na kami ay wala nang masyadong estudyante. Sa tingin ko, na sa loob na ng aming classroom ang mga kasamahan namin—gano’n sila kabilis. Naiwan na lamang kaming dalawa sa hallway at dahil ‘yon sa pagdadaldalan naming dalawa.
 
Habang naglalakad kami ni Gen ay may naramdaman akong malalakas na enerhiya na nagmumula sa likod namin pero bago pa ako makalingon ay hinawakan ni Gen ang kaliwa kong kamay at naramdaman kong nanlalamig ang mga kamay niya. I looked at her bago ko naramdaman ang pagsabay ng mga malalakas na enerhiya sa amin and from my peripheral view, nakita ko ang isang grupo na binubuo ng mga lalaki at babae. 
 
Medyo binagalan naman ni Gen ang paglalakad kaya napatingin ako sa kaniya ulit at ginaya na lang ang ginawa niya at hindi na nagtanong pa. Hanggang sa naramdaman ko ang mga mata nila sa amin ngunit hindi ko na lang sila pinansin—hindi na lang namin sila pinansin because that’s the best thing to do right now.
 
To avoid the top students in this academy.
 
But while we’re trying hard not to be noticed by them—that’s when one of them talked. “Oh, look who’s here!” Awtomatikong natigil kami sa paglalakad—pati na rin sila at ramdam ko ang mga tingun nila. “A Betas member—the pale one and…” it was a man who talked and looked at us mockingly—especially when his eyes darted to my direction and continued what he was supposed to say. “… a nerd.”
 
Dahil sa sinabi niya ay napataas na lamang ang aking kilay. Sa nakikita ko mula sa lalaking kaharap namin ngayon at sa nangyari kanina ay tila mayroon ngang hindi pagkaka-intindihan ang dalawang grupo. And because of their misunderstanding too, nandito kami ngayon—iniinsulto ng isa sa mga Alphas.
 
Hindi na lamang namin sila pinansin at napagpasyahang tumalikod na lamang sa kanila. It’s not a good idea to talk back. At saka, utang na loob! Gusto ko lang naman magkaroon ng magandang first day! Ibigay niyo na para niyo ng awa!
 
Pero hindi pa kami nakaka-hakbang ng bigla na lang hinawakan ng lalaking nagsalita ang kanang braso ko at sapilitang pinaharap sa kaniya kaya napilitan kami ni Gen na huminto at humarap sa kanila. The way he grip my arms make me winced a little because it was too tight. He also harshly pulled me back to face him and I don’t like what he did but I control myself.
 
Bigla namang humigpit ang hawak sa akin ni Gen habang napansin ko namang natigilan ang mga kasama ng lalaki dahil sa ginawa niya sa akin but none of them tried to stop him. Bigla namang ngumisi itong lalaking kaharap ko at muli siyang nagsalita habang ako naman ay pinanalangin na sana huwag lumabas si Zephyr ngayon.
 
“You two seems weak…” he commented but his anger is coming from something too deep kaya inintindi ko na lamang. “And you don’t have the rights to ignore a royalty like me, Miss Nerdy,” sabi niya habang nakangisi pa rin at halata mong nagpipigil lang siyang sumabog.
 
His grip tightened even more but I prevented myself from reacting. I kept my poker face while looking into his eyes. His red eyes made me sigh—calming myself before closing my eyes.
 
Hindi niya kalahi ang mga 'yon, Lara… calm down.
 
Nang makumbinsi ko na ang sarili ko ay dinilat ko na ulit ang mga mata ko at buong tapang na sinalubong ang pula nitong mga mata. “Get off of me…” mahinahon kong wika bago pilit na inaalis ang kaniyang kamay sa aking braso.
 
Ngunit hindi ko pa naaalis ang kamay niya sa braso ko ng marinig kong nagsalita si Gen. “We’re s-sorry, Prince C-Chris. We didn’t m-mean it…” utal na wika ni Gen at medyo yumuko pa ito.
 
“Chris, that’s enough,” said a man but this Chris didn’t listen.
 
“Your sorry is not enough,” sabi ng nakangising lalaking ‘to kaya bigla namang napaangat ang ulo ni Gen at namilog ang mga mata ng dahil sa gulat.
 
“T-Then wha—” hindi na pinatapos ng lalaking nagnga-ngalang Chris si Gen sa pagsasalita ng bigla siyang sumabat.
 
“I want you to kneel,” matigas na utos nito sa aming dalawa ni Gen.
 
“Chris, I said enough!” The man said again and the other Alphas tried to stop him also but this man is too stubborn and even grip tightly my arm.
 
I can not interfere because I am too busy blocking my guardians. They can’t just appear here at gumawa ng eksena. Baka mas lumaki lang ang bagay na ‘to.
 
“W-What?” Gulat na tanong ni Gen dito at hindi siya makapaniwala.
 
“Kneel,” madiin nitong wika and I just snapped.
 
I can’t take it anymore. Kaya naman kahit bawal gumamit ng kapangyarihan ay ginawa ko pa rin. Nag-init ang parte ng braso ko na hawak niya kaya mabilis siyang bumitaw. He hissed at mayroong paso ang palad niya. Alam kong mas lalo siyang magagalit pero ayaw niya akong bitawan, eh! Hmp!
 
After what I did to him, I spoke—making them stare at me. “What if… we don’t want to?” I said while looking at the man in the eyes seriously—making sure that he will feel goosebumps even I am wearing this eyeglass as my disguise.
 
Second period pa lang pero nasira na kaagad!
 
***