They all turned around and noticed their little friend standing on the steps. "Hey guys!" he said, and his voice cracked awkwardly, because he could now see all the tears in Emma's eyes. "Sorry, if I kept you waiting."
"No worries, let’s just hurry up and get on the chariot. It’s the last one," Anvard informed Corinth.
"Are you sure it’s the last one, because I just saw it pull off into the sky a minute ago," Corinth told them.
Anvard's face dropped. "What! And you didn't try to flag them down?"
Corinth got a little defensive. He didn't think it was his fault. "Well, I had no idea it was the last one. Sena. Hendrix walked me down here, but told me to skip the chariot that had just pulled up. Then she used some spell to get herself to the Pavilion quickly, because she's the speaker," he took in a deep breath. He rushed through the words so forcefully that all the oxygen left his lungs abruptly.
"I wasn't blaming you or anything," Anvard told him as he walked over and grabbed his hand. "I just don't know how we're going to get to the Pavilion now." He led Corinth out of the gazebo and onto the grounds that sparkled with silver pixie dust.
"Well, my dad said that when he went to school here— the kids always walked over there," Corinth offered that tidbit to the group with a hopeful shine in his turquoise eyes. He was suggesting that they suck it up, and just march their more than able legs over to the massive structure. He'd only seen it on that map that Emma stole from Bernard's office, but he could tell it was huge.
"That seems to be the only plausible way to get there," Claudia spoke up with her silky voice. She then galloped, in a not so silky manner, over to Corinth. She gave him an awkward hug. Awkward for Corinth, that is. Then said, "hi, again."
"You two already met?" Emmy asked.
"Well, sort of. It was while Emma was blubbering on the floor, but we still kind of met," she declared innocently.
Emma's heart didn't take too well to that statement, but her face told a different story entirely. She looked unfazed by the jeer. She just stood there with the faint remnant of a smile, as she fixed herself up. Utilizing the small mirror in her compact, she gazed upon her beautiful face, brown hair and flawless skin with pride. She was seriously considering turning over a slightly new leaf. Hearing those words come from Emmy's mouth made them all the more real to her. Her twin sister was the only one she truly respected.
"Okay, so Corinth, this is Claudia. She's me and Emma’s roommate. Claudia, Corinth. So, now you two have been properly introduced," said a formal sounding Emmy.
Corinth threw a clunky wave her way, and she smiled back graciously. Corinth thought she was absolutely beautiful, but her hair didn't quite measure up to his perception of beauty or normality.
Claudia was from Velocidad. A far off World away from Draconia. In Velocidad things moved very fast. The entire place was like one massive city-center. Everything was high-rise, and made of asphalt and steel. They had a city life mentality, and a respectful openness to self-exploration. Her skin was light tan. It almost looked yellow to Corinth, but he had certainly never seen a person in Draconia with purple hair. Claudia dyed her hair to match her eyes. She loved everything matchy-matchy. Her natural hair color was a very dark brown. Much better than purple in most people’s eyes, but she didn't care about opinions. But facts on the other hand. They were her sustenance.
She was a stone cold killer when it came to fact checking. She would challenge anyone on the integrity of their research, even Sena. Hendrix. And that's saying something. Her black rimmed wire glasses made her look very studious. But didn't exactly coincide with her eccentric fashion sense, though somehow her eclectic ensemble worked. She wore a purple plaid skirt with white stockings and a white and purple striped hoody.
A breeze blew by that made her shiver. "I am so glad I brought this jacket. If we're going to be walking there I don't want to freeze to death doing it," Claudia announced.
"It’s not that cold," Anvard corrected. "The firebirds that fly above the force field keep everything at a fairly constant temperature from night to day," he motioned to the sky as if there were actually firebirds to witness.
"Actually, Andy, as they call you…" He smirked, but was hiding how much it irked him for her to call him that. He didn't even like when his sisters said it. "That's a myth. No realistic evidence has ever been established on their existence."
"Well, why isn't it as cold as ice this far north. The Angora Mts. are just outside the school grounds on the far north side of Hyperborean. Everything outside the force field is frozen solid. But the mountain ranges that fall under the field are nice and comfy." He came in a little closer, emphasizing his next point. -“So, in your -expertopinion, what the heck is keeping this place from being a popsicle?”
"There's some real magik doing that. Not myths!" she insisted her own point as she stuck a scolding finger out at him, chiding him for feeding into legends.
"Ah," he knew he had her cornered now, "and is that magik known, or unknown?"
Claudia put that same finger she pointed at Andy, to the side of her mouth. She had a look that expressed deep thought, but she snapped out of the fogginess quickly. "Okay, okay, you're right. I don't have enough information to finish this debate. But I'll get it! I guarantee you that." She grinned and he smiled. But he really didn't care whether she followed through or not. He knew he was right, because he'd seen a firebird with his own eyes.
"Okay, I'm finished with my makeup, we can go now." Emma was back in control and ready move.
No one bothered to tell her that they weren't waiting for her, because they were afraid she'd burst into tears again. Little did they know that she was far passed whining over Anvard's personal problems. She loved Aurora Boreal, and was more than satisfied that they were transferred just in time for the start of the semester. She walked ahead of them all as they made their way from the Olympus Grounds, northeast to the Pavilion.
<*>
Meanwhile, the last students and staff alike were filing in through the gates of the massive structure. There was nearly no seat unfilled, except those not holding Corinth, the Fielders, and Claudia. It was a mandatory assembly. Meant to inform students, new and old, of the way Aurora Boreal functioned as a singular unit.
The beige, yellow, and black cylinder shaped arena seated tens of thousands, though only 8,200 students attended the school per semester. The other seats were taken up by staff and family members that dropped their children off, but couldn't just leave them. These types would miss their babies before they turned on the ignition to their car to drive out of the parking lot. Emotions were running high for a lot of parents and students. Even the staff was a bit high strung.
The academic faculty & staff had a peaceful early spring-break away from their work place, and most didn't want to return. Not to sniveling little rich kids, over intellectual scholarship recipients, or numb skulled athletes. They wanted to stay far away from the small World of Hyperborean. Keep to their hometowns in the Worlds they hailed from. But money makes everything go round. The positions they held at Boreal school paid handsomely, so there's always someone, somewhere, just waiting on a waiting-list to take their jobs. None of the faculty or extended staff ever forgot that key detail. They treated their positions with a precise diligence. Perhaps none more than Sen. Bernard.
He stood a tier below Sena. Hendrix as she turned, from reviewing a sheet of notes, to the podium and the large audience before her. She was in the center of a massive crowd in the bleacher seats, running the length of the Levantarse track that encircles the Pavilion field. The hologram screen behind her bore her forward presence. Large enough for everyone, from every angle in the stadium to see. This was to ensure that all students got a good look, once again, at who their Grand Ministrant is. Likewise, to see the presentation. Beginning now…
"Hello students, family members, faculty & staff. It is wonderful to see all of your shining faces here tonight."
She was surprised to hear cheers already rippling
through the stands like crashing waves in the ocean. The students were all amped up from their chariot rides through the sky.
"I am Señora Silvia Patricia Hendrix, but you can just call me Sena. Hendrix, the Grand Ministrant of Aurora Boreal. I don't know which is shorter, but we can work out the kinks on that over the semester." Some of the parents chuckled in their seats as things got underway. "I am your host this evening, and I hope that I do entertain. As this is as much a presentation of information, as it is to sell you on the marvelous experiences you can have at the greatest institution in all the Worlds." The speakers picked up her voice effortlessly as she tried to stay focused on the task at hand. Not worry so much about the gut wrenching feeling she had, which caused her to intentionally delay Corinth’s arrival.
While she gave the yearly remedial speech to the masses, dark things were afoot.
"Keep the perimeter tight, shoot anyone that tries to escape once the aerial assault begins," a voice of terror reverberated through the microphones of dozens upon dozens of men surrounding the Pavilion while Hendrix unknowingly spoke on.
Dark shadows crept along the walls, as the trees in the distance were jostled by gusting winds. The Squadron force deployed for this mission moved in a swift and synchronized motion. Each step they took denoted a specific intention. Twenty moved westward from the main gate. They were pushing toward the trees to make sure any stragglers that made it past the first wave, the ones who would blockade the exits, could be picked off easily from above.
A man with telling dark eyes knelt at the front gate. He put one of those black & blue eyes up against the split between the double doors. The gate was large and fearsome in size, yet seamless to open. He took a look around to survey the ceremonies. He then radioed in his report. "The place is jam packed right now. If he's at the school, this is where he'd be," he relayed to the man in charge.
A booming voice came back over the line. "All right, keep your eyes peeled. All of you! For the signal. Out.
"Roger that," came several voices over the intercom, all in a sullen tones.
All spoke their peace except the man at the Pavilion gate. Instead of an obedient 'roger that,’ he spat out a cigarette from between his lips onto the ground. He didn't bother to put it out. In fact, he secretly hoped it'd ignite another fire.
"Damn wimp doesn't know the half of what it takes to lead," he had a sickly voice and took shallow breaths. His neck was on the line, and he was actually nervous for this first time in a long time. He pressed the dark mixture that were his irises back up against the break between the gate's two doors, and waited for the signal.
"I was once a child," Sena. Hendrix reluctantly admitted. "That may be hard to believe for some of you youngsters sitting in the bleachers tonight, but I did serve out a childhood. As you do now," she spoke as if youth were a prison sentence, and not the bliss that most remember it to be. "I do understand how tempting it can be to want to exclude others based upon prejudices. There are so many cultures here at Aurora Boreal, and it would be foolish to think that some will not clash with others. It is inevitable. But we 'actively' choose to believe that there is room here for all walks of life, not just the domineering or narrow minded ones. The full staff and I will be working around the clock to ensure that we uphold the constitutes of diversity. We are all a part of one massive family now. The Aurora Boreal family. Those who choose to openly discriminate against people from other Worlds, with opposing views to theirs..."
She paused, as a chilled air fell over her, creeping down the back of her dark cloak. A thought occurred to her, as the screen at her back showed scenes of the exact acts she accounted in her address to the audience. She felt things that she knew to be bad omens filling the spreading void in her heart. Very bad omens! They carried a dark karma for one who lived out what they vehemently preached against. She spoke of upholding diversity, when she herself had been a boldfaced bigot at an earlier stage in her life. She cautioned herself as she knew that the true spectacle of the night had yet to begin.
"They will be removed without question," she continued, forcing her heart to believe the words she fed to the crowd. "If, of course, found liable for substantiated accusations against them," she added that for good measure. "Though these words should indeed echo in the minds of the students, as well, you family members and certainly the staff, please do not fret. Humans possess flaws, so you will make mistakes. But please try to think from time to time; What if I were faced with the challenges of the person I am so unnecessarily harassing? How could I ever stand up against such a barrage of hatred, when in reality, I haven't done anything to hurt another soul? Unless being born is a fault in some of your eyes? Being different isn't wrong, people. Willful murder, selfishly stealing, assaulting, and yes, sometimes even insulting people, those types of acts can be easily deemed wrong. But still questionable inside the confines of a logical mind. But what never can be wrong, is who you love and how you spend your personal time. We have laws that protect us from true dangers. From people who use their personal pain as excuse to lash out against others. So, considering these laws are firmly in place;why do we arrest one another’s natural behaviors?"
She had come full circle since she began her speech. This was the home stretch and she felt confident that she had actually reached a few hearts and minds out there in the crowd.
"This is the question I want us all to try to answer before our semester is through. Why? Why do we attempt to arrest the natural behaviors of others? And please, don't think that I'm naive enough to fall for the age old excuse; that the behaviors you most hate in others, are not natural, and shouldn’t exist for that reasoning. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I can pierce a heart or two just with my steely stare." She made a pout with her lips and eyes that shocked some of the returning students. They'd never seen her so loose before.
She was being modest. She knew that her intellect was through the roof. But she also knew how much people hated a know-it-all. So she played the game. And played it well. Most of the audience stood and applauded, while others still giggled at her attempt at a humorous conclusion.
When she stopped speaking, a blast sounded in the sky. The fireworks had begun! Students and adults alike all ran onto the expansive field. They wanted to get a better look at all the different lights and shapes that the sparklers took.
Corinth and the others could see the pyrotechnics in the distance. They were still a mile or two away from the Pavilion, but kept walking in hopes of catching the tail end of the festivities.
Then a most unexpected sparkler shot up into the sky. It burst into a thousand little incremental pieces of a larger structure, as did all the others, but this sparkler revealed an insignia. Very distinguishable from the fun animal shapes and landmarks that popped up before it. In the night sky, floated the Squadron badge. The eight-layered plateau that sat atop the oval shaped metal badges each Squadron member possessed. The eight plateaus represented the 8ights Council members positions. Each elected Chancellor from each World. Their seat on the Council was indicated by rank. With Draconia at the very top.
"If that's not the sign, then I'm not a Draconian," Geary said as he stood up from his crouched position at the Pavilion gates, and kicked the door in with the force of a superhuman.
Sen. Bernard turned quickly when he heard the loud bang. Squadron members poured into the school gaming arena like cockroaches. Dozens and dozens of men all holding automatic absorption guns. People screamed and started running across the fields like madmen. Everything went from a calm serenity to horrid chaos in a matter of seconds. People nearing the gates to escape were shot down on approach. The Squadron members all sported black eyes. Excepting Geary, who didn't quite have his bright blue eyes as normal, but hadn't gone fully dark yet. He must have only taken a small dosage of the El Muerte Vivo serum to enhance himself.
Sena. Hendrix turned to Bernard and yelled down to him from her podium. "Did you not do as I instructed!"
"Yes, I did," he
said quickly. "I was certain I achieved my goal, and was informed by an 'Evan Gambit' of precisely that."
Sena. Hendrix eyes didn't go as wide as one might expect. She knew Evan had been corrupted. And she knew this wasn't his choice. "So—Sebastian had no intention of being civil at all," she said.
"I apologize!" Bernard shouted up to her as he pulled his llave from his coat pocket. "If only I had known he was your son! I would have never filed that report!"
"I know," she said with a great deal of respect in her voice, as she watched innocent children be shot down because of her negligence. "I shouldn't have kept you in the dark for so long, my friend."
Sen. Bernard was already running toward the gates. As he did, helicopters pulled up over the mouth of the arena. The fireworks were abruptly interrupted and now ceased to sprout off any longer. The helicopters took place of the loud noises the firecrackers once made. But the sound they introduced was one of dread and terror. A single rope ladder was cast down, and a lone man began the long trek down from one of the copters that hovered at the relative heights of the Pavilion’s outer walls.
Original Souls (A World Apart #1) Page 24
