Academy of Elements: Earth

Chapter 22: Blossom of Hope

Christmas stretches on, the dinner as fantastic as the breakfast. I'd sneak to the Academy tonight maybe to look in the library. I couldn't risk anyone finding out. True, I trusted Nora with my life, but if she was captured by some for just knowing that such a room existed... I shove the thought from my head quickly.

I'd have to be fast and quiet. The Academy wouldn't be locked, it never was, but Guardians patrolled the premises just in case a threat may prove itself, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were also inside the Academy making sure nobody was sneaking around.

Slowly I ease myself from bed and get dressed in some pants and sweater and quietly sneak from the dormitory. The night is cold, my body shaking as I walk through the forest, the only sound produced by the snow crunching under my feet. The lights in front of the Academy shine dimly, casting long shadows across the world, making rose bushes look like monsters, my body look stretched in all the wrong places. Silently I go through the back door, since opening the front door which was twenty feet tall would obviously attract attention. The cafeteria is eerily dark as I slowly walk through the tables and chairs which have already been returned to normal. I open the door, a low groan coming from it and step into the hallway. Like a ghost I slowly make my way into the hub.

A light flashes over my feet. Jumping back, I push myself into the shadow of a wall, the light illuminating where I once was.

"Who's there?" Barks a security guard. I hear the whine of a Lightning Rod as he steps forward.

If I got caught it'd be on the news...

I ice the floor underneath him and thuds to the ground. Quicker than I expected he starts to run after me. I turn into the cafeteria, the light flashing over the back of my head.

"Hey!" He shouts.

I wouldn't make it to the door without him turning on the lights...

Hurling myself over the counter the lights flicker on as I hold my breath. Hidden completely I crawl to the stairs and head down into the kitchens.

The rich smell of vanilla fills my nose as a fire crackles away. I had never been in the kitchen before, though it was almost exactly what I had imagined. In the middle of a long wall is a roaring brick over, more industrial metal ovens filling up the wall on either side of it. There a four different pantries, each dedicated to a different type of food whether it be grains, fruit and vegetables, meat, or desserts.

Certain foods already cook in the ovens, dim lights glowing inside of them. The food staff at the Academy consisted of Mherga Tjean, a chubby lady who was constantly yelling, and her ensemble of mainly Earth Elementals, or Randoms, people who couldn't be classified as an Elemental or Castour, but still had a grasp of Magic.

Despite not being able to get into the room, the night could still prove useful. A smile crawls onto my face as I notice the bottles of wine behind locked glass doors.

Picking up a bobby pin from the floor, I wonder if the Academy would notice if a bottle or two of wine was taken...