These Worlds

Chapter One

The dark-haired boy slammed his hand against the monitor, cursing under his breath and causing the holographic screen to flicker twice.

"Easy does it," Aerin mumbled, wishing she'd spoken more quietly only after the words had left her mouth.

The boy turned his head towards Aerin, eyes narrowed. His voice didn't hide the fact that he was peeved. "Alright genius. Why don't you try? Instead of just sitting around like-"

"Focus, Jesse," Aerin stopped his oncoming tirade, jerking her head pointedly towards the holoscreen. The boy, Jesse, glared at her for a second before turning his attention back to the task at hand. Aerin shook her head as she shifted to a more comfortable position leaning against the desk.

The Arkheia was rather quiet that afternoon.

Aerin poked her head out of the alcove they were in and glanced around. Aside from a small handful of Initiates gathered around one of the long central desks, and the occasional figure wandering between the tall shelves nearby, the large hall was empty.

"Hey."

She spun her head around at Jesse's voice.

"Focus."

Aerin just rolled her eyes in response to his jeering tone.

"Find anything?" she asked, leaning forward to look at the screen.

"Other than more emphasis on the importance of discretion? No."

Aerin let out a breath in resignation.

"Forget it," Jesse began shutting off the system, "I've had enough of this."

"I was hoping to walk away from this little session with something useful."

"We've been at this for at least four hours-"

"Three, actually."

"Whatever." Jesse brushed past, tossing a datachip into the air. Aerin caught the small device half a second later with a swipe of her hand.

"You want to keep looking? Then go for it," he snapped, leaving the alcove.

"No, I don't want to keep looking." Aerin replied, annoyed, as she followed behind him.

As they were leaving the Arkheia Aerin glanced to the side, where she could see the Keeper, an older intelligent-looking woman, at her station in the centre of the hall. The woman's thick grey hair was pulled into its usual low bun. She glanced in Aerin's direction, noting Jesse's purposeful stride before meeting the girl's eyes. Aerin gave a halfhearted smile in casual farewell, and the Keeper smiled back.

Walking behind Jesse, Aerin watched his back as they made their way through the halls. It's a good thing she was a fast walker, or otherwise she wouldn't be able to comfortably keep up with his quick stride.

Jesse was dressed in his usual all-black attire, and his boots made almost no sound as they hit the stone floor. The tips of his shaggy black hair only just brushed against the two swords strapped to his back as he walked.

Aerin tilted her head slightly to the side, observing Jesse's movement. She'd grown quite accustomed to the scene before her, so she didn't usually pay close attention. But watching him walk in front of her - aside from an obvious feeling of recklessness in his steps - she decided she would describe it as... graceful. Graceful - in an intimidating, frustrating kind of way.

Only, 'graceful' and 'Jesse' shouldn't belong in the same sentence - graceful was just too nice a word.

Aerin suddenly opened her mouth to say something, then decided otherwise. She wasn't really in the mood to make him more irritable than he already was today. Instead, she simply kept her mouth shut and walked onwards, fiddling with the datachip still grasped in her fingers.