Sedrais Academy

Chapter 6

   "You're late."
   "You only said to meet after school. You never mentioned a time," Aster drew closer, hands held tensely at her sides. Avaraina's eyes flicked to her hands. Aster followed her gaze, and shoved her hands into her pockets.  
   Avaraina's gaze softened, "Aster-"
   "Don't," She murmured. Aster knew what Avaraina wanted to ask. And she didn't know if she could answer.
   "I'm sorry I wasn't there," Avaraina met her eyes. Aster blinked at the honesty she found there.
   "Why do you even care?" Aster snapped. Even if she was telling the truth, what good did it do her? "They're all gon-" Even as she said it, her face paled. But she pressed on. "They killed them all. What could you have done?"
Aster was dimly aware of Avaraina stepping closer, but she didn't care. The pain was almost unbearable. Ash had been the best thing in her entire life. And he had been murdered just like everyone else.
Even though they had turned on her, or left her, they'd didn't deserve it.. because in a way, he had done the same... despite his promises. Yet for him, it was her fault. Somehow the realization hurt worse than anything else.
   "Nothing," Avaraina answered too softly. "There was nothing I could've done. And maybe that's why I came back for you," Avaraina said softly. Aster slammed the door shut on her memories. She found the woman's gaze. "And to fulfill the promise I made to...to him."
   "What?" Aster's voice was little more than a whisper. What was she talking about? What promise?
   "Do you remember when I left?" Avaraina asked. "When your brother came up to me that night, he didn't do it for me." Aster could only watch as tears filled those beautiful eyes. "All he wanted was for me to be there for you if he couldn't."
  
     ~~~~~

   Akelox paced back and forth. Despite Aster's dismissal, he had followed her to the roof. He just couldn't shake the memory of her face when that lady grabbed her. And she had been silent throughout their detention. He growled lightly, and forced himself to lean back against the wall.
   "Akelox?"
   Akelox looked up, pushing off the wall. "Headmaster," He muttered in response.
   "How come you're still here?" Masheriex fixed him with a stare. Akelox stared right back.
"I'm waiting on a friend."
Masheriex feigned an apologetic smile. "Oh, my bad. I hadn't realized you had one."
Akelox glared at the Headmaster, quickly remembering why he was so annoyed by him. Masheriex smirked at him, before nodding towards the stairs.
"The witch, is it? Miss Raven?"
Akelox hesitated a moment, before he nodded, gazing at the stairwell.
"She's quite something, isn't she?"
Akelox's head whipped around to look at him, eyes flashing. "What is that supposed to mean?" He growled.
Masheriex only lifted his eyebrows, a dangerous smirk tugging at his lips. He stepped closer to Akelox, eyes glowing. "Now aren't you awfully protective," he purred. "Didn't you just meet the girl?"
The hair on Akelox's neck stood up. He hissed at Masheriex, claws forming-
"Akelox?"
Akelox looked at the stairway quickly, retracting his claws. "Aster," he greeted. With her was the lady from earlier. Avaraina. They seemed closer than they had earlier.
Aster looked at Masheriex. Akelox wondered what she saw there, in the headmaster's eyes.
Masheriex lifted his chin almost imperceptibly. Akelox knew what was coming moments before he spoke.
"Now, would you care to inform me of how two young witches found this school?"
Akelox was not prepared for the way she froze so completely.

~~~~~

"I want everyone to leave the room. Leave the subject to me."
"Of course Ma'am. Everyone, please leave the testing chamber."
The boy didn't know where he was. What was happening? Everything was so loud...
A loud tapping noise filled his ears, and he winced.
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
He tried to open his mouth. He didn't know if he had succeeded or not. He was so very numb.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"If you can, I want you to open your eyes."
That idea hadn't occurred to him. He struggled for a moment, trying to force open his eyes. After a few attempts, they opened. He found himself suspended in a glass case. Water encased him, and so many tubes were connected to him. Where was he?
"How interesting... I wasn't expecting your eyes to change..."
The boy's attention turned to the woman standing in front of him. Her face was kind enough. But something in her eyes sent shivers through him.
"Can you see fine?" She asked. Her voice was clear, despite the water. How was that possible...?
"Well?"
Now that she mentioned it, something did seem off. Half of his vision was just... missing. He blinked several times. The patch wouldn't go away. He stared at the woman, eyes wide.
"So you can see.. but something's off, am I right?"
He tried to point as his right eye, but something held his arm back. Wires?
"Oh, it might help if I brought you out."
Just like that, the water drained out with the flick of a button, and tubes disconnected from him. He almost fell. She unlocked the case, and opened the hatch. This time, he did fall. She made no move to help him as he looked up at her. She only crouched down in front of him.
"Can you speak?"
Speak? The boy opened his mouth. Nothing came out.
The woman shook her head, sighing. The boy tried again, and a soft whisper came out. She looked up quickly. "What?" She said.
"Where... where am I?" He asked. The words felt foreign on his tongue. What had happened to him? All he remembered was going shopping with his brothers... He froze. His brothers.
"I'm afraid I can't answer that," she replied simply. She then stood, and offered him a hand. He took it, and she pulled him up. His legs felt so weak. "I'm going to let you go. But you cannot tell anyone what has happened."
He nodded. He didn't even know what had happened. In fact, his own name had only just come back to him. Marin. That was his name.
The woman smiled. Fear spiked through him.
"There's only one thing I need to do," she said. Marin looked at her now open fist. She was holding some sort of device. "Hold out your arm," she continued. He wanted to refuse. But he listened. And tried not to scream as she embedded the device in his arm.