The Elixir

~Chamber

Lysabel mumbles her apology as she bumps into a couple of upperclassmen. The two girls smile at her sympathetically, then continue their conversation. Lysabel blows a strand of hair from her face as she winds her way through the Academy to her next class. She hasn't been at the Academy long, but the workload has already started to pile on. She and Xara are often up late at night, helping each other study. Vieva is usually nowhere in sight, much to Lysabel's relief.

She takes a sharp left, ducks around more upperclassmen. Lysabel's cheeks blossom with red as one of the more attractive ones stares at her, lips quirking up at the corners. She puts her head down and increases her pace. The upperclassmen terrify her.

She squeezes through some more people and banks left again, sighing in relief when she sees the hallway relatively empty. Sometimes, the hallways can be claustrophobic. Dillian Goldbane's grizzly lumbers past her, snuffling as he does. She can't recall its name. It's not a strange sight, to see familiars roaming in the halls. It's encouraged to keep them in the stables on the field, but most students choose to let them wander the Academy and the fringes of the Nyx Woods.

Lysabel's own grizzly, a hulking thing she named Jupus, is spending his name romping through the Nyx Woods. In the broad daylight, the forest is near harmless, especially for a bear with fangs and claws. But at night, that's when the woods change, and earn their namesake.

Lysabel passes a door that's slightly ajar. She grinds to a stop, frowning. She's by far not a curious person, content with what she has. But this seems peculiar. She squints at the small crack beyond the door. There is no light, and after staring intensely for at least a minute, she blinks, lets the moisture return to her eyes.

Lysabel takes a step back, looking shrewdly in both directions. There's no one in the hall. Inhaling deeply, Lysabel shoulders her book bag higher up her arm. She has to be discreet about this. Something about this dark passage gives her the feeling that she isn't supposed to have seen this.

The warning bell tolls somewhere in the distance, and Lysabel's mind scrambles back. What is she doing? She's going to be late! Lysabel scolds herself as she gently edges the door shut. Where her common sense went, she has no clue.

"Miss Axelane?"

She jumps.

Professor Mevoirent arches a bushy brow as Lysabel fidgets. Fear and tension merge to create a nasty feeling in her gut. She's never done something so daring. She groans in her mind. One week at Ruxnorth and already her record will have a blemish.

"Miss Axelane?" repeats the professor, voice growing sharper. Lysabel starts, realizing with an icy chill she hadn't responded.

"I'm sorry, Professor, I think I got lost. This school is so large!" Lysabel titters nervously, trying to calm her panicked breathing. His eyes narrow, flitting briefly to the door she had just closed.

After scrutinizing her for minutes, he nods sharply. "Get on, then. You'll be late."

"Thank you, sir," she breathes, almost sobbing in relief when she's out of the professor's sight. She flings the image of the door out of her mind. It will cause her nothing but trouble. Her mother would throw a fit if she learned Lysabel had gotten in hot water with a teacher. The two of them are on strings as it is.

But one question brands itself in her mind.

What was Professor Mevoirent doing in this quadrant of the school? His section is on the other side of the Academy, and there's nothing in that hall but ongoing classes. What could he have possibly been doing there?

✡✡✡

Orsella fold her paper into a crisp rectangle, then rolls it up. She clicks her tongue and calls over her familiar, a grizzly that goes by the name of Yosa. The bear snorts warm air on Lysabel's arm as she passes. Like Orsella, Yosa is a sweet thing.

Orsella flips open the carrier attached by ribbon to Yosa's neck, snapping it closed and patting the bear's haunches.

"Go on, then." Yosa mewls lightly, then trots clumsily out. Orsella watches her go, then turns to Lysabel, a pretty smile on her face.

"You wanted to ask me something, Lyssie?"

"Yes." Lysabel hesitates. Orsella is innocent, almost to the point of naivety. What would she know about secret doors?

"Out with it! I have work to do!"

Lysabel sighs. "Do you know of any secret doors, any secret chambers in the Academy?"

Orsella sets down her textile, sighing. "You really must cease with this nonsense, Lysabel."

"It's not nonsense!"

Orsella crosses her arms. "First, you strike up a discussion about the mages with Father. Now, you think the school has secret passages?" Orsella peers up at her sister in concern. "Shall I take you to the infirmary?"

Lysabel hops off the bed, glaring at her sister. She grabs her coat.

"You know what? Forget I even asked."

Orsella slips off the pristintely kept bed, smoothing out the wrinkles left by Lysabel.

She doesn't even notice Lysabel slink out of the room. 

>>AUTHOR'S NOTES:

hi everyone, happy Thursday! I'm going to keep this short, because I have to take my dog to the vet. He's been sick for the past two days, the poor puppy. knowing him, he probably at a bug;P

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! i kind of wanted to enforce that Lysabel isn't judge a crybaby, she is an important part of this story. She's kind of the person that incites interest in this for the rest of the group. As for Orsella, hey, I can't blame her. sometimes, ignorance is bliss, right?

peace&love,

raniaditi