Original Souls (A World Apart #1)

by Kyle Thomas Miller

  Andy brushed off his hurt, and turned back to his sisters. "What's this about a new roommate?" he asked, with a scrunched brow.

  They looked at him cross-eyed, and simultaneously folded their arms across their chest. Claudia didn't want to be the odd ball out, so she too folded her arms. If not a second off from the twins synchronized movement.

  "He's been asleep half this time and yet he heard more of the conversation than you!" Emmy stood up and shouted with a laugh. "You really don't listen at all, do you?"

  "I bet you he listens when Corinth talks," Emma said with a snicker. The three girls giggled. Off to the corner of his eye, Anvard noticed Corinth giggling too. But he didn't know whether that was a good or bad sign coming from the little guy he continued to try to get closer with. But the turquoise-eyed boy continued to push him away.

  Bang! Bang! Bang! A knock came to the door that caught them all off guard. Corinth looked around as if it were someone else's decision on who was allowed into his dorm.

  "Uh! Uh, hello?" the feeble boy called out in question of the unexpected visitor.

  "What are you doing?" Emma hit him on the shoulder while whispering.

  "I don't know, I'm not used to visitors," he said with a raspy, yet loud tone while ducking down.

  "First, why are you talking so loud? Second, you do know that they can't see us. Right?" She motioned toward the door with her hand. The large dark thing did appear to be sealed shut. Corinth looked around a little embarrassed, but figured she was right. It was safe to stand up.

  "What do I do?" while he asked that question, Claudia was already opening the door.

  "Hi, and who are you, might I ask?" She only cracked the door and stuck her head out.

  Corinth was nervous beyond belief. Every time someone had knocked on his door in the past few weeks, it was to deliver him bad news. Like this morning during Anvard's match, when the messenger kid told him that the committee cancelled the Deaves tournament.

  Claudia turned around from the door with a blissful smile. Her heart seemed to jump out of her chest. "Corinth, this wonderful guy says he knows you." The door opened up to reveal Evan standing beneath the archway.

  "Uncle Evan!" Corinth shouted, charging over to him. He heard that Evan was in Hyperborean, but he hadn't had a chance to see him the entire time. A white t-shirt and denim jeans did it for Evan. His mind was too far away to give a hoot about his usual fashion forward styling.

  "How’s it going?" he said with a big smile, then took a quick look around. "Whoa! You got a lot of friends, dude. And your digs, it's ... kind of cool. A bit small for five people, but still pretty cool."

  "No, they’re just visiting," Cory said, waving his hand at them all.

  "I know, dude," said Evan while venturing further into the already overcrowded, small, and junky room. "Now you should know by now that Sena. Hendrix doesn't like a messy quarters," he said while laughing at the dirty, oh so dirty room. He tried to avoid stepping on anything sharp. He wore flip-flops. He didn't want to be stuck with any sort of protruding things that may be hiding beneath the mounds of clothes casually tossed any and everywhere.

  "Yeah, that’s probably true," Corinth said, in the most nonchalant of tones, "but she's just a ministrant. I don't care what she thinks. It's my room."

  That rubbed Evan every which way but right. "Wait dude, you should be a lot more respectful of—" he forcibly stopped himself.

  All five kids looked at him, like he was an alien. Then, the truth alarm went off in his head. He forgot that Corinth didn't have the slightest clue that Hendrix was his grandmother. To hear him say that he didn't care about her opinion made him rethink his own attitude about Criston's constant insistence that she not be a part of their lives. All families have issues. But Silvia had changed so much, still Criston gave her no credit for it. Certainly, it couldn’t erase the crimes of her past. After all, she did say that Corinth was an abomination while in the womb. That is a bit tough to get over. But-at -least she’s trying, he thought. Then he let it all go as quickly as it came.

  "Oh, never mind me. You're right, it's your room. And it's your time here. So make the best of it, and worry about cleaning up the mess later." They all smiled. They liked the more carefree approach to their youthfulness. It sounded like a lot more fun. "But don't get lost amongst the junk in the process," he continued, pointing-a fatherly finger at all of them. He took the liberty of sitting himself on the edge of Cory’s bed. "If you get lost in the mess, you might end up throwing your life away. And trust me, that's not so much fun. It really is about finding that right balance," he realized some of his words were going over their heads, so he cut it there. Little did he know that he had an impact on them all the same. A small, but present impact.

  They all introduced themselves individually to yet another of Corinth's family members. Cory thought he'd be the odd one in the group. But it turns out they were getting to know him faster than he was tapping into their personalities outside of the confines of this boarding school.

  "I really came here, because I want to give you something." Corinth was seated beside him on the bed now. Evan pulled out a bunch of little cardboard rectangles from each pocket. "Uh ... uh, there we go!" One started to drift away from his grasp as he yanked it out of his pants pockets. He caught it up out of the air, and shuffled all of them together.

  "I recognize that insignia?" Corinth said in a questioning tone. Emmy recognized it too.

  "Yeah, you should!" Evan shared his nephew's excitement. "If you’re playing in a Deaves tournament you need to know the mainstays of the ELD."

  He sounded like a complete geek to Anvard and Emma. She was seriously reconsidering having a huge crush on him. But then again, his eyes are so shiny. She decided it'd be okay to like one geek per semester. And Evan was it.

  "Oh, wow! Is this your old deck?" Corinth asked, while gawking at the cards.

  "How could you tell?" Evan laughed, as a smile cracked on Corinth's face too. The boy looked at the cards like a hungry bear. "They're a little old looking and smelly, but I'm sure they'll help you do some damage on the Aurriculium board."

  "The what?" Anvard asked.

  "It's just the name of the board that manifests the personas of the Deave cards during a match," Evan said with a reminiscent smile.

  "Oh, okay." Anvard didn't feel any more enlightened to what they were talking about with that insider’s explanation Evan gave him.

  "Did you play here at the school," Emmy put to Evan.

  "Oh, no!” Putting his hand to his chest like; who—me? Not a chance! He seemed a little embarrassed. "I didn't go to this school at all," he looked around when he said it. His eyes showed how much he wished he could have. "I played on a local team though, in Graysonville, Draconia. That's where I grew up with this one's dad." He put his hand on Corinth's shoulder. "Cris hated this game. He thought the adlucinatio were cool looking," Anvard and Emma didn't know what they were, but they chose not to interrupt, "but he hated the general concept for the rest of it.‘Too many rules,’ he'd always say. He was more of a sports guy, like you." He pointed to Anvard. "By the way, awesome job out there today." Andy nodded with a gracious smile and blushed a bit. He enjoyed the praise. "I got into that game some, but this is where my heart really was." He looked down at the cards like he was parting with an old friend for good. He handed the well-stocked deck over to Corinth.

  "Thanks a lot," his little nephew was thrilled as he rummaged through the little cardboard treasures.

  "Of course, of course." Evan tossed his hair like always. And like always, Corinth put it back. "I won't be needing them anyway. Well, I haven't needed them in quite some time really. So it's no problem."

  Cory truly was thankful. He didn't like his own deck at all. The only card he managed to get that was worth anything, was the one Walker gave him the night they met. But this deck had some gems in it. Just the first couple of cards instantly revealed that to him. He saw unique cards and sub-unique cards. He couldn't find those
anywhere in the Refectory general stores. He and Emmy would eat lunch there then hit up all the shops surrounding and inside the cone-like structure that many students thought to be a weird design. But none of them had much of anything new to offer. The school hadn't had Deaves in so long that the vendors ordered less and less cards. They were hit unexpectedly with the influx of kids wanting to play the game again, so it was slim pickings to start.

  Evan looked down at his watch. "Wow, we've all got to get going?"

  "Going where?" Anvard asked first.

  "Well, I've got some personal stuff to wrap up. But aren't you guys going to watch Corinth play tonight," he sounded so certain.

  Emmy and Corinth looked to one another. "Sen. Gambit," Emmy started, "they cancelled the tournament this morning. We would have played then, but a messenger came to our doors and told us," she sounded bummed. She really wanted to test out her skills.

  "No, they rescheduled it." He looked at his watch again. "Honestly, I was surprised you were still here. I was sure I'd miss you. Their starting in like ... six minutes." Both Corinth and Emmy's faces dropped. "And by the way, call me Evan. That Señor stuff is for the oldies that look down on kids. That's not really for me."

  Emma and Claudia almost died when he said that. Together, competing to be the one he heard first, they said, "okay then ... EVAN!" Hearts flashed in their pink and purple eyes. As Evan's baby blues squinted, trying to tell if these little ladies were seriously swooning over a nearly thirty-year-old man.

  <*>

  "No time, no time, no time! No time to waste!!!" That's what Corinth kept shouting through the halls as he dodged students and ministrants alike. The fire torches mounted to the walls flickered against the shades covering them as Cory rushed by, taking South hall by storm. The silver dust in the stones twinkled with the light of the animal figures and historical structures that the shades on the torches projected.

  "Corinth, slow down!" Anvard shouted, but he and Emmy weren't listening.

  They ran passed teachers sitting on the benches outside of their offices. They were headed for the Atrium of the twelfth floor. The Olympia building had longer halls than the student’s dorm buildings, so it was taking awhile.

  "Didn't you hear your friend, child? Slow down before you hurt someone," a slender lady sitting on and ivory bench quietly spoke up. She looked to be working on a lesson plan for an upcoming class. She reminded Corinth so much of why he hated being in the Olympia building. His dorm was small, lonesome, and all the ministrants in the entire school surrounded him. He figured that all the teachers that lived around him on the twelfth floor must have forgotten what it was like to be a kid. Because they always stopped him from doing anything even remotely interesting when he passed them in the halls.

  "Of course, I'm sorry," he said while nodding. But he didn't bother to actually slow down. She shook her head, and then buried it back in the books on her lap.

  Speeding down the South hall, they found themselves in the student and ministrant packed Atrium. "Elevator, elevator please!" He said elevator, but his facial expression looked to be saying; bathroom, bathroom please. He looked like he was going to wet himself. He pulled on his black t-shirt, while crossing his blue jean clad legs. He looked around eagerly, like he'd never been in the area before. Though he used it several times a day to get in and around the massive-building that housed all the school’s classrooms.

  A few kids, being lectured by a ministrant, were sitting in the open common. They looked at him like he was a freak. He noticed them staring while their instructor droned on about math problems they failed to understand during actual class time. From a red couch with gold entrusted designs, they were so bored that they continued to focus on Corinth's awkward demeanor. He'd usually be nervous to call attention to himself, but this was a special case. Corinth flashed his eyes, raising both eyebrows at once, while smirking mischievously at them. He could simply walk away, but they were stuck there with their fruity, overzealous math whiz of a ministrant gnawing away on their unripe minds.

  He uncrossed his legs then began running around the huge circular room after he spotted what he wanted. Emmy was close behind as they ran for the very center. That's where the elevator was stationed. They needed to ride it down to the main floor. On the first floor, they would find the makeshift Deaves Chamber. A science ministrant's laboratory was commandeered to accommodate the need for a place to hold the tournaments. They made it. Corinth entered through the golden-door elevator, and pressed the black button with the gold number that read F1.

  "Hey, aren't you going to wait!" Anvard and the others called from the opening of the South hall into the Atrium.

  All the directional hallways poured into the center of each floor in the Olympia building. Kids and ministrants alike always filled that space to capacity on all floors. Coming from the East hall, Northwest hall, and all the other halls, trying to get wherever they needed to go as swiftly as possible. The entire building looked like twelve bike tires stacked on top of one another. A smart designed that worked seamlessly. Unless, of course, it was crowded.

  Which it was tonight. Students questioning their ministrants. And ministrants ducking their students. The twelfth floor of Olympia was supposed to be their sanctuary from those brats. But there was no escape, on account of those bridge-like sky walkways that connected the student’s dorm buildings to the twelfth floor of the Olympia building.

  Anvard, Emma, and Claudia got trapped in-between the masses of people. They walked too slowly for Emmy and Corinth's liking. Neither of them thought twice as the Atrium's elevator doors sealed. They were off to their first adventure into the world of Deaves. Unfortunately, without their cheer squad in tow.

  <*>

  When they arrived at the Deaves Chamber, they noticed some commotion. Neither had a watch, so they couldn't tell if it were already too late to enter, or what?

  "My laboratory was confiscated for this mockery!"

  "Yes, it was," came a silky voice from a rather sultry lady. She walked up behind the mad-scientist who was yelling at student spectators entering at the last minute.

  He turned around to chastise whoever it was that would be bold enough to challenge his fury. "How dare you speak to—oh my!" He hadn't yet met this woman, but still nearly every male ministrant at school had their eye on her since she joined the staff.

  Señor -Huntzmen’s wife was believed to be a gold-digger. Though the mere fact that she was better educated than her husband, and now worked at the same establishment, put a damper on that argument. Most simply couldn't believe that a woman of her youth and beauty would be interested in a doofus like him. He was charming, but a bit of a fuddy-duddy. Señora Mira had every man watching her every move. She knew that very well. She tried not to take advantage of it. Unless, of course, she was in a hurry. Which she was, so...

  "Please, don't be upset." She moved in close and gently placed her hand on his stiff shoulder. "We thought this room would be best because of its size and proximity to the main gate," every word she spoke was laced with a sweet harmony that made it sound as though she were singing. "After all, the children's convenience and enjoyment are us ministrants top priority, no?" She paused to allow him the chance to absorb this final moment he'd ever share with her. Corinth and Emmy looked on impatiently. Emmy even scowled at the thought of a teacher using her appeal to settle a dispute. The mad-scientist hadn’t yet responded. He couldn’t respond. "I think it is," was all she need say to sum up the debate. He was putty in her hands. In full compliance with anything she desired.

  Never having answered, he drifted away with trembling lips. Sena. Mira knew how to work a crowd, and an individual.

  "That was quite the display of lady like behavior," Emmy said as she moseyed over to her elder, whom she held no respect for. "You're a shining example to all the girls here at Aurora Boreal, you know that?" She folded her arms like some big shot. She had a knack for challenging authority figures. Just like her twin. But she usually had a more pio
us angle. Where Emma was more coming from the low-life thief kind of angle.

  Sena. Mira looked down to the pretty twelve-year-old, from just outside the dark brown double doors of the new Deaves Chamber. She chuckled at the sight of them both looking at her like she had ruined the planet with her appealing diplomacy. She noticed something peeking out of Corinth's pocket that piqued her interest. "I see you've got some Deaves in your pocket, little guy." She bypassed Emmy, walked over to Corinth and knelt before him. Her high heels were unforgiving, but she always liked to make a good first impression. "Here's a little tip for when we're inside playing this marvelous and very fun game." She motioned to the doors with her dark hair-covered head. She held both his shoulders while she knelt down in front him, looking him in the eyes with kindness. "Remember that it's just a game, sweetie."

  Emmy scoffed. "That's not very useful advice, you know? He'll probably lose with that strategy in mind," she laughed alone, because they both ignored her. This agitated her even more.

  Corinth was transfixed by the bewitching beauty of Helena Mira-Huntzmen. Her fluttery white dress and the black leather jacket she wore over it, made her look like an angel v. daredevil enigma. Her black hair and grey eyes sent out very studios vibes. But the beauty aspect to her features couldn't be denied. She was so soft spoken and smooth looking. Yet the edges of her personality seemed rough and virtually untapped. She didn't just simply receive all the attention she got. She commanded it. With her dark, alluring skin, she reminded him of a younger and more likable version of Sena. Hendrix.