Into Another World (The Lost Souls Trilogy)

-White Tulips and Yellow Orchids-

After a while the sky darkened into a dark indigo, with the exception of some clouds, and snow, making everything bright.

Alyona slept off her anger and Aoi drew on the foggy window with her index finger. Canada peeks in, catching Aoi's attention.

"Oh sorry... I didn't know you were awake." Canada immediately apologizes.

"It is fine, time zones are different." Aoi nods at him, motioning for him to sit down.

Canada sat down beside her on her bed. "Really, I never meant to hide that from you guys."

"I think you need to apologize to Alyona more than me. I kind of knew already, you two aren't very good at being quiet. I know a lie when I see it." Aoi sighs as she stops drawing on the window. "She also said she knows a... strana? That's what she calls it. Russian I think for the country."

"Oh? That's interesting..." Canada hummed to himself.

"Her mother knew him? That's all I can remember her saying."

Alyona stirred on her bed and rolled over, facing them with her eyes open. "You guys are too loud."

"Right uh, sorry," Canada said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's okay, I was waking up anyway..." Alyona sat up, swinging her feet. Canada nods.

"Nice of you to join then," Aoi giggles. Alyona smiles. "Did you sleep well?"

"Kind of..." Alyona shrugs. "Did you even sleep?"

"Nope." Aoi shakes her head.

There was still awkward tension between the three of them, which made the room silent. Finally Canada spoke up.

"I know this is dumb to say, but we should put that whole lying part behind us and start in a clean, new slate. Sounds ok?" Canada asked, smiling at them kindly. Aoi and Alyona both nod in agreement.

"You have to promise not to lie to us ever again." Alyona holds out her pinky again, but this time for Canada.

"Ok." Canada nods, pinky promising with Alyona, who was smiling in the moonlight.

"Anyway, we should all try to get some rest, you two will go to an orientation for school in the morning. All of the micronations and countries go, to keep a low profile, kind of fun huh?" Canada stands up before leaving Aoi and Alyona's room.

"We already have to go to school? Wow," Aoi said in a surprised tone.

"Yeah, it surprised me too how fast you guys got enrolled, usually it takes way longer," Canada said. "I'm gonna go to sleep now, goodnight."

Canada leaves, closing the door behind him as he headed for his own room. Aoi and Alyona stared at one another after he left.

"So... School huh?"

"I guess so. I never really had school..." Aoi shrugged.

"I didn't either... my mom homeschooled me, we were too far away from any school." Alyona yawns.

"Well, I guess this will be new for both of us, huh?" Aoi hums.

Alyona nodded and went back to sleep, curling up under her blanket. Aoi tried to sleep too, staring out the window into the night.

The sun rose up and crept through the window, waking the two sisters up.

Alyona was the first to wake up to the sweet smell of warm, fresh pancakes from downstairs. She goes downstairs to find golden colored cakes stacked neatly on a plate. Canada was in the kitchen, cooking the pancakes on a large pan, humming quietly to himself.

"Utro," Alyona said, sitting on a stool at the counter. Canada jumped and turned to look at her.

"Ah, morning Alyona, how did you sleep?" He asked, turning back to the pancakes on the stove.

"Good." She poked at the stack sitting next to her. "What are these?"

"They are pancakes, you never heard of these?" Canada asks. Alyona shook her head. "Well, prepared to be amazed. Everyone says I make the best after all." Canada laughs with confidence. Alyona raises an eyebrow, but grabbed one of the pancakes on the top of the stack, and takes a small bite out of it.

Aoi stumbles downstairs and joins Alyona at the counter. Canada gives another plate to Aoi and starts cleaning everything up. Aoi doesn't question the pancakes and eats them right away.

"We'll leave in an hour," Canada said, dumping all the dishes into the sink. He sits on the couch and turns on the tv, scrolling endlessly through the channels. Kuma hops on the couch and snuggles up against him. Aoi and Alyona nod as they ate their pancakes.

"These are good, what are they?" Aoi asks, glancing over at Alyona.

"Pancakes," she answers, then takes another bite.

Aoi and Alyona both finish their breakfast, Aoi takes their plates and sets them in the sink, then goes up to their room. Alyona sat with Canada on the couch.

"What are you watching?"

"Anything that looks interesting," Canada said. He flipped through a few more channels. Alyona nods silently as they looked at the channels.

Forty-five minutes passed and nothing had sparked their interest. Canada checks his phone and sighs.

"Time to get ready, we have about 15 minutes until we have to go."

Alyona nods and goes upstairs to hers and Aoi's room. Aoi was sitting in front of her mirror and brushing her hair. She looked at Alyona and tied her hair back up in a long ponytail.

"We should get going, Canada said we have about 15 minutes," Alyona said as she stood next to Aoi, patting down her hair neatly.

"Alright, give me a second." She put a small pin in her hair, and stood up grabbing her bag. Aoi nodded at Alyona and headed for the stairs.

Canada stood by the door at the bottom of the stairs as they came down. All four of them got inside the car and buckled up as he began driving off to the school.

The two girls looked out their window as they watched people pass quickly by them, and eventually fade into dots in the distance. Kuma sat in the front seat licking at the cold window, and Canada tapped the steering wheel as he hummed to himself.

They arrived at an enormous building with brown dusty bricks decorating the outside of it. There was a royal blue flag with a cream colored moth embroidered on it flying on the flagpole, just beneath a large canadian flag, which was underneath a much larger blue and white flag.

Canada parked his car near the front in a labeled parking spot, and they all went inside.

The school was much larger on the inside, and had the faint smell of old dusty books and vanilla.

The three of them followed Canada to the main office, where they got everything they needed, and a form for their uniforms.

"You'll get six regular uniforms, one for each day of the week, and one extra just in case. When winter comes around you get six winter uniforms." They lady handed them both folders. "These are your classes too, and a map of the school."

Aoi sat down in a chair, and began reading through her schedule. "We have pretty much the same schedule." She said, comparing hers to Alyonas.

"We like to keep people together, this school is really only a front for countries to seem like normal students since a lot of them look around that age, although your classes were chosen based on your needs." They all headed for the office doors. "And Canada you know how people feel about Kuma running around the school."

He sighed. "He'll be with me the whole day, don't worry, besides, it's not like anyone will notice us."

Alyona gets cut off guard, staring at a person outside in the window. The stranger seemed to recognize them, staring them down with their indigo eyes.