GLASS || The Catalysts Series, #1

XLIV || Unexpected Visitors

The students who were spectating in the buildings before are enthralled by the sudden shift in atmosphere, and the dangerous prospect of each building's destruction. They are anxious, but also eager and anticipative of such a spectacular. Unfortunately, their vision is often obstructed by various things: explosions and the aftermath of them, and often the unpredictable shift in the atmosphere pushing them back and having them to balance their own two feet.

In the heart of the Academy, in the medical wing, Neesha has no clue of what's unfolding in the courtyard until the very moment the building finally gives in to shaking and perhaps even sinking a little. The first thing that crosses her clever mind is the conclusion that they are either under attack, or the duel is happening this very instant.

And since Arcane Academy is technically impenetrable, the latter is definitely the reality.

Destruction on the Academy's building externally will never be enough to make the structure budge, and by the time it has taken minimal damage, it is already on its way to repair itself. It doesn't take an idiot living under a rock or someone new to this Academy like Lena to figure out something big is going on, and since it's Neesha, she figures the duel that will go down in history must be happening.

She also figures that Caelus must be back, because Nova's explosion alone is insufficient to rattle the building this way. She stops to ponder the possibility of this for a moment, to consider Nova's ability of destruction. He is powerful, after all. But Caelus is in a different league—and since Nova will not use his abilities to full scale without reason, or specifically, without a challenger such as the Ace himself, Neesha further affirms that it is Caelus' doing. The result of such a destruction is potentially combined together with Nova's supernova. Ultimately, they make a perfect destructive duo.

Neesha is sitting on the edge of the bed in the medical wing, but as soon as she feels the quake, she is up on her feet. The room doesn't have any windows because it is in the heart of the Academy, but it does have an imaginary one in one of the four walls: a glass pane that shows a digital view of the towering skyscrapers in the City of Leatia. Perhaps it is meant to keep the people here company.

But there is also another special function. Neesha walks over to it and swipes her palm briefly through the surface. A random corridor of the academy appears, with students filing in and out of classrooms—only, the students are somehow in a rush, pushing over each other as they, mostly, exit the rooms. Neesha frowns as she slides to finger over the image, and another real life visual appears. This time, it's of the Academy's courtyard.

When she can see nothing but multiple craters in various locations, some looking new because of the smoke billowing from them, she is both worried and yet excited for Lena. Neesha is scrutinising the battlefield to no avail when suddenly a light tap on her shoulder jerk her attention away from the screen, and she is startled. She looks to the source, who timidly shies away and back up to the bed.

Sumiye sits quietly at the edge of the bed, observing Neesha. Her eyes are wide alert, the rather tousled twin braids of hers framing her very pale skin. She isn't exactly hurt, only petrified from the match against Arven—a match she didn't even volunteer for to begin with. Neesha has accompanied her—and others—to the infirmary to make sure she's taken proper care of, because the girl is simply too fragile.

Compared to Clarice with a very bloody nose and Reyes with many bruises, Sumiye has nothing but untidy hear and flecks of dust and dirt over her face. Her usual neon coloured headphones are gone, too, and it's a little strange to see her without them. Neesha had asked her to return to the classroom along with Reyes, but petite girl had only shook her head aggressively as a no.

While Neesha understands Clarice's reluctance to return as a sign of her pride, she doesn't seem to know what Sumiye has to lose. She's always been this shadow, and the other girls that give her a hard time are in the other classes, so she shouldn't need to worry about any of those when she returns to their class. She'd sit there and mind her own business as per usual, giving not a care to the world.