Loud sirens rang throughout the dorms. They were followed by collective groans. Even twelve plus years of the same routine did not ensure that all of us took the alarm well. I reluctantly hauled my butt out of the bed. Walking out of the room I immediately made eye-contact with Noah. We had about a three second stare down before we both took off in the direction of the showers.
Here in the academy, we had to wait our turn in line. First come-first serve has been the washroom policy since forever. Here, no hierarchy mattered. A seven year old could get in front of me and I couldn't do anything about it.
That said, I come back to my original point. Noah and I have been hall-mates since forever (twelve years actually). The first one who got to the showers would have to yield their position in all lines throughout the day. It was a little something that we did to keep us on our toes.
As we rounded the corner to the shower, He noticed that I was a tad bit ahead of him. " Where's Raven? I Haven't seen her all day"
"We've only been up for fifteen minutes jackass. What's the date today?"
"It's the 24th."
"Oh that's when Rave has her test. " I stopped in my tracks as I realized what I said.
"Her test!!!!. It's in ten minutes!." He continued.
We were so close to the showers. We looked at each other, then towards the quickly building up lines. A huge collective sigh ensued. We took off to the opposite side of the academy.
Sure enough, cool as a cucumber (NOT) there was Raven Collins. She looked at me, then Noah and then our Pj's.
"You forgot didn't you?"
"We gave up tradition for you?" I offered weakly. Noah backed me up with an innocent smile.
Miss Ava walked out with a clipboard." We're ready for you Raven" she said, flashing her a warm smile
She took a deep breath, and we flipped her a double thumbs up. And with that, she walked into the Sim room and we got back to the lines.
After a grueling two hours of training for us, and the test for Rave, we were free to have breakfast.
"UGH. I'm totally sure I messed up in Eihwaz. I ABSOLUTELY cannot believe that The Lake got the better of me. I was so sure. I was SO sure that the lake screw up was enough for them to pull me out but they let me go till end time."
"Woah. Raven Collins. Please do remember to breathe." Noah slid in, placing his tray in front of the Melissa. Melissa was the chef. The only person who spoiled us in this humongous academy. She held a special place in all our hearts
"I see Noah's ahead Lu"
"NO COMMENT Mel." I replied before she could come up with another snarky comment.
A sudden clearing of throat sliced through our bickering. Clearing of throat was a sign of authority in the academy. We looked up only to find The one and only Enigma, Staring right back at us. In a flash the whole cafeteria was in attention.
"Evans, Collins, Jackson. Follow me. I'd like to have breakfast with you. In my lab. 5 mins. I'll be waiting." with that, he walked back out of the cafeteria leaving our jaws on the floor in shock and terror. Shock because it was probably the first time that Enigma himself had spoken to any of the trainees. Terror because well. All three of us were just done with our test. Results were results. The terror would always remain.
"I knew I messed up. I should have thought faster. What if we get kicked out? I knew that making it till end time didn't mean anything, I-"
"Shut up Rave." Noah clipped. "I'm sure it's nothing worrying" he continued in an unnaturally high pitched tone.
We gave our trays back and quickly ran to the administration block. One elevator ride and a short walk down the hall found us standing in front of a simple plain door with a black plaque that read "ENIGMA (Head Scientist). I stepped forward and knocked
"May we come in sir?" I asked as a gently opened the door. He motioned for us to come in. At once I noticed that we were not alone. The whole board of scientists had assembled. Now I was worried. I decided to cut to the chase.
"What's going on sir? Are we in trouble?" I asked in a small voice.
"Quite the opposite actually Miss Evans. You see, the three of you have surpassed expectations. And the timing couldn't be better." Enigma said with the ghost of a smile on his lined face.
"What do you mean sir? Timing? I don't understand" Noah asked echoing our collective confusion.
"Take a seat you three. We have something to tell you"
We remained standing. Respect always outweighed courtesy.
"Very well. I'm sure you know our history and the reason you are training to become collectors." Enigma started. We nodded as indeed we did know the reason. After all, How could we not know?
"What you don't know, is that Akuno has begun preparing for war. Since he could only get his hands on the Sword of Zlatan, he's begun to resort to different tactics. Finish us first. Collect the relics without hindrance later. " Dell, our lead strategist continued.
"WHAT!!!! What about the citizens? They are innocent. Thousands will be caught between crossfire. We need to warn them now. Get everyone to the bunkers before it's too late." Raven exclaimed, fury laced through her voice.
"No" I cut in. "That would simply spread panic. Akuno is already widely feared as it is. Spreading news of the war would only cause more chaos. Also. he conveniently happens to have the Sword of Zlatan. Even if the best of us tried to stop him, we would fail miserably against the power of Akuno and the sword combined. Our best bet is to get that sword out of his hands"
"Very good Evans. But that's not all. You see, this war is the final war. If we loose this, there is no more Panagea. I think you know what I mean." Dell continued.
"I don't understand ma'am" Raven asked.
Enigma looked up. There was no smile on his face anymore. "It means, that you are the last collectors in this academy"
It was safe to say, that shit had officially hit the fan.
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Well, that's that. I hope you liked the chapter. Once again, Thank you for giving Relics a read.
-Yours truly, Lilempress
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