The Silver Lining

Chapter 2

Rali's first class was at 10 a.m which according to the god like, all wise, senior of Astra was a great deal. Especially for a magic course. Rali walked with a bounce in her step as she worked her way around tired students. She sipped on her iced coffee, something Astra had picked up for them as a 'good luck gift' just as she had when they had been starting as freshmen four years prior. 

Rali hardly noticed the smile on her face as she ducked and dodged around and away from student to student, winding her path right into the door of her  Magic Study course. And peering in, she saw a fair amount of other students most of which seemed to know each other and as Rali stepped in mindless chatter stopped and Rali's heart leaped into her throat.

"Oh, you're our new classmate." A white haired girl piped up, and Rali nodded, her legs readjusting to bolt if need be, "I'm Shiri. Welcome to class, we're all former students from Starlight Academy,  you know--" 

"The elite school that teaches gifted students in Millennia that's extremely hard to get in and pass, we all know Starlight Academy." A blue haired girl interrupted, "Ignore Shiri, she's gloating, I'm Ocean, you're Rali, right?" 

"Uh...Yeah..." Rali managed to get out, forcing her shoulders to relax, well that explained why they all seemed to familiar with each other, Rali just hoped they didn't try to attack her, "I thought all the Starlight Academy students were forced into their own classes? Why am I here?" 

"Oh, one of our classmates hasn't come to school in awhile, we needed another person, so welcome!" Ocean chuckled, adjusting her glasses and flashing a pretty smile.

"You say that as if we've replaced her with this girl." a voice grumbled,  and Rali's eyes slipped over to a bright orange haired boy who bared a grimace on his features, next to him was a curly haired blonde girl who seemed concerned.

"Pyro--" the girl reached out to touch the boy

The boy jerked away, "Not now Starla..." he said in a low grunt as he dragged his feet over to Rali, Rali wasn't short by any means, but this boy glared over her, "You will never be her... Don't get the wrong idea..."

Rali had two older brothers, both of them weren't cruel but they could be scary, Rali had dealt with angry customers and people threatening her to draw them, but Pyro had a searing rage building within him, dulled by the soothing words of his classmates.

 "Pyro, she's not going to try to be. But you need a sparring partner, and Milkway thinks that this girl can help you become better." Ocean tried for one reason or another the boy backed off, shooting a final glare towards Rali before retreating to the blonde girl who looked to Rali. And for a moment Rali felt something flow through her before vanishing. Rali shrugged as a spry old man rushed in.

"Hello-hello-hello!" the man greeted nodding thrice at the students, "Find your seats now! My name is Milkway, as most of you know, it's good to see all of you healthy and happy." 

Milkway's lecture was far more intense than Rali was prepared for, she had expected to have some greetings and a meet and greet but not for this class, their instructor, Professor Milkway, decided it best to assign a paper on who they thought they were with lists of hobbies and other basic questions you'd ask on the first day of school but in essay format. After his explanation he handed out syllabuses  and immediately went over a lesson that Rali would have been on for a week back in highschool. 

After that first interaction, her classmates hardly associated with her aside from the occasional talk about class and death glares from that Pyro go. Rali wasn't ignorant of the pitied glances she got walking into the room, Rali knew she was in someone else's spot, a spot that she hadn't proved herself to fill. It wasn't for a few months before Starla approached Rali after class. Right as Rali was in the midst of finding the last page of an assignment she wanted to turn in.

"We need to talk." Was all the golden haired girl said and walked out, to which Rali followed, dropping her work to tail the girl; none of the people in this class had made any sort of effort to speak with her, and Starla coming out the blue to talk to her wasn't something she expected to endure. 

"Oh, alright? What about?" Rali asked as they stepped into the hall.

"It's about Lavender." Starla answered, spinning around to meet Rali head-first, "Or you would know her as the girl your replaced I suppose." 

"Lavender is her name?" Rali asked and the girl nodded.

"Yes, I can't give you the full details of who she is because frankly my own soulmate would ring out my neck." Starla admitted, "But I think you should at the very least know why Pyro treats you so...aggressively." 

"Okay..?" Rali agreed slowly, "What happened between them?" Especially if it was something that would warrant Pyro killing Starla who Pyro looked at as if she was light of his life. 

"She was like a younger sister to Pyro, they bickered and fought and were rivals in every sense of the word, except for one, they were friends, really, really good friends." Starla started, "Lavender was smart and supportive, kind if a little aloof, but Pyro trusted her with everything, secrets, gossip, help on the next assessment."

It was painfully clear that Starla too loved the girl, and Rali couldn't blame her, at least not much, these kids went to the same school, had the same class and teacher for over 5 years, that had to have been enough time to get a close bond.

"Pyro and Lavender were a force to be reckoned with, her wit mixed with his power made for a deadly combo, won every sporting event ever if they did it together, but a little under a year ago she suddenly stopped coming to class." Starla admitted, shooting her gaze to her feet for a moment before lifting her dark gaze to Rali's, "Milkway won't tell us where she is, all he's told us of it is that she's not in a good place..." 

"Not in a good place?" 

"If I had to guess that means that she's been kidnapped, one thing Starlight doesn't advertise is that their students are usually kidnapped for their power. And I'm under the impression that this has something to do with Lavender's hiccup in finding her soulmate."

"Do I want to know what that means?"

"It means that she can't dream Rali." Rali let out a cry at the sudden new voice and figure that walked outside of the classroom, and this one was none other than the wild-haired pretty boy Pyro. He had a scowl on his face as he usually did when Rali was in his area but his eyes weren't  dark with rage. 

Rali's world crumbled at that comment, she...she couldn't dream either? That was awful... Rali knew what it was like to lack the ability to see into the past of someone you'd love so very dear... 

"I-I can't dream myself..." Rali answered, "It's hard... But, what does any of that have to deal with your missing friend?" 

Pyro's eyes squeezed shut, his fingers curling tightly into his palm, "We just wanted to let you know that you will never be her. That she's one of a kind. That she means so much to us--" 

"We don't expect you to replace her, you won't be her and you aren't trying to be." Starla said, bringing her arms to clutch Pyro's bicep, Rali assumed it was to calm him down before he but Rali's head off for asking a question. "But you are in our class, just... Know that you're at risk, we can't guarantee that any of us are safe after her sudden disappearance. Just... Be safe, alright?" 

Rali blankly stared as Starla pulled away Pyro down the hall and into the yard of the campus. It wasn't that Rali was surprised that something awful had happened to a former member of this class. It was more of that she wasn't alone... Of course people before hadn't had dreams, but those stories had only been for those whose soulmates had died. But on the day they died or the day some were born in some cases saw the last thing their soulmate ever endured.

The hospitals always kept records of mental waves to tell if they had dreamt, but for Rali, there had never been a dream... And maybe, just maybe... she wasn't alone.