I had nothing to say to that except, “Sorry….”
Alistair asked smoothly, “You told us once you knew him for ten or so years. Is that true?”
I hesitated before replying, “I’ve known him since I was five. His family and mine were close. But after his parents died, my family turned their backs on him. All of a sudden, he wasn’t good enough to be my friend.”
Alistair muttered, “That’s a little harsh.”
I nodded weakly. “Even so, we remained close friends until last year when I became an Aventis.”
Alistair leaned in toward me. “So why did your folks do that?”
“I guess…because they don’t like Familiars.” I sighed softly. “They’re conscious of their social status.”
I noticed Siobhan shrug lightly.
“That’s understandable,” she said, and walked down the aisle looking at the book titles.
Alistair shook her head ever so faintly. “Don’t mind her.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m not going to take it to heart….”
Alistair remained standing beside me. “You said your family and his was close.”
I nodded faintly.
Alistair asked, “But if Caelum Desanto’s a Familiar, weren’t his parents Familiars?”
I looked at Alistair. “No…they were Regulars. They worked for an Aventis shipping company in Island One.”
“Hmm,” the girl uttered. “Yeah, you told me that before. Sorry, I guess I just forgot.”
I went back to regarding the book shelf in front of me.
Caelum’s family were Regulars, yet both he and sister became Familiars.
When Celica became a Familiar, it didn’t bother me at all, though I remember my parents were a little unnerved. It was around this time they began privately expressing their sentiments against Familiars.
Did it bother me that Caelum also Awakened like his sister had?
No, not in the least.
But what would my parents say if I told them he was a Familiar just like his deceased sister?
I snorted inwardly.
They’d tell me to stay the Hell away from him.
For the remainder of the lunch break, I wandered aimlessly down the aisles, but all the titles I read failed to capture my attention.
I tried putting the matter of Caelum Desanto out of mind, and barely succeeded when classes resumed. Nonetheless, I had to dial the headset’s learning aid up to max in order to focus on the lecture.
But when classes ended for the day – a day which felt like it had been stretched to breaking point – there was another surprise in store for us.
A Student Council announcement was made.
Caelum Desanto, and two others were called to the Student Council President’s office.
I peeked at him over my shoulder and caught the look of surprise on his face.
Then Caprice touched his arm, and gave him an unreadable look.
Well, it was unreadable to me, but Caelum appeared to read meaning in it.
He nodded faintly and stood up after collecting his school issued carry-bag.
I watched him walk out of the classroom on his way to face the Student Council.
#
(Caelum)
I followed the map on my palm-slate and arrived at the Student Council President’s office after a five minute walk.
Galatea was a big school.
Very big.
In fact, Galatea sat on the equivalent of four district blocks.
From overhead, its various buildings were shaped like the letter ‘H’, lined up side-by-side across a very big patch of land.
There were three such buildings.
One for middle schoolers.
One for high schoolers.
One for administration and other duties, and it was the smaller of the three buildings.
In fact, when viewed from high above, the buildings of Galatea Academy spelled out the word, HIH.
Surrounding the buildings were various plots of land designated for sporting activities. Track-and-Field had its own sporting field, as did the tennis, basketball, and soccer clubs. There were two large gymnasiums – one for the high-schoolers and the other for the middle-schoolers – and each was adjoined to an aquatic center that sported a fifty meter pool.
Last but not least were the student dormitories on the north side of the school, and the various clubroom facilities east and west of the sporting fields.
Galatea had everything the young, future prospective leaders of the eight Prides could ever hope for in a school environment.
It even had two mini-malls, each built adjacent to the two cafeteria buildings.
The Student Council rooms and the President’s office were located on the fourth floor of the west wing of the high-school building.
Standing before the President’s office, I looked at the sturdy double doors made of real wood – not the synthetic variety, but real, honest to God wood – and trembled a little at the thought of what awaited me beyond those doors.
I knocked on one door loud enough to be heard without sounding like an ogre beating down a dungeon gate.
The door opened automatically a few moments later, and melodious voice called out, “Please enter.”
A melodious female voice.
My stomach lurched. Was I stepping into a lioness’s den?
What greeted me was a room adorned in opulent, antique furnishings.
Along opposite walls hung the painted portraits of former Student Council presidents.
I looked at them, noticing the majority of past presidents were women.
All damn, fine good looking women.
I scowled inwardly at the handsome faces of the few male presidents.
I guess it was to be expected. Appearances seemed to carry a great deal of weight around here.
It was a known fact the Symbiote had a habit of enacting cosmetic changes to the bodies of those it inhabited. Those changes took place in the first few weeks after the Symbiote entered the host’s body. The changes ranged from weight loss, muscle build-up, fuller lips, smoother skin and a near perfect complexion.
I found it all unfair to Regular humankind who had to resort to a plethora of creams and treatments as they struggled to remain on par with the Aventis.
I glared openly at the portraits of the male presidents.
“Ara ara, aren’t you making a scary face.”
I turned in the direction of the wide, antique desk that would have been perfectly at home in the manor of some rich company CEO. Again, there was no doubting the shine and luster of real, varnished wood. It probably cost more than my parents earned in a year before they passed away.
I stared at the occupant of the high backed leather chair that sat behind the desk.
Her legs were on the table, cast in sheer white stockings befitting the white skirt she wore. The owner of those impressive pins stood up and walked around the desk, choosing to prop herself on its edge. Her crossed legs swung back and forth slowly like pendulums.
My eyes followed her feet like a cat might follow a ball on a string.
She was the second person I’d seen wearing non-regulation footwear within academy grounds.
Prissila Ventiss Raynar was the first.
I looked up at the girl.
Ash grey hair – what a peculiar color – azure almond eyes, and a heart-shaped face. She appeared to have inherited the best of a mixed heritage. I was certain the Symbiote had subsequently played a hand in enhancing her natural beauty.
She had a fine figure, a real work of art. It was hard to ignore her slender yet shapely legs, as it was to ignore her impressive bust line.
After studying her for a few moments, I asked, “I do apologize, but might I ask you a question?”
“Oh?” She raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows at me. “Ask away.”
I frowned at the beautiful girl before me. “Who are you?”
She laughed softly under her breath. “I’m the Student C
ouncil Vice-President. My name is Simone Alucard Raynar.”
It was my turn to raise my eyebrows. “Alucard? You mean as in ‘Dracula’ spelt in reverse?”
She looked briefly embarrassed. “Eh…yes. Unfortunately so.”
I allowed my gaze to wander over her once more. “Another Raynar….”
Her azure eyes widened slightly. “Oh…I see.” She sighed softly but I still heard it. “Caelum, please understand, my family—the Alucards—had no part in what happened to you that day. There was no Alucard involved in the actions taken against you.”
“How much do you know about what happened?”
She folded her hands over her midriff. “I know that it was foolish for those individuals to strike at the Lanfears.”
“Why did they break the agreement between the Prides?”
I almost missed the shrug she gave me. “Caelum, I don’t know.”
“Could it have something to do with my sister? Did she do something to them—to the Raynars—that convinced them I was a danger?”
For a long moment, Simone was very still and quiet. “You know about your sister?”
I nodded just once. “Yes, Arisa Imreh Lanfear told me the truth after I became a Familiar.”
“I see….” Simone looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry Caelum, but I don’t have an answer for you.”
I swallowed as lightly as I could. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked because now I felt as though what happened seven months ago was not put to rest.
I remembered the hungry look Prissila Ventiss had bestowed upon me during lunch break.
No, the matter was definitely not put to rest.
But if it wasn’t, and something happened her on school’s grounds, how would Caprice react to it? I worried that somehow I was dragging Caprice into a fight in which she had no place.
A really bad feeling crept up my spine. I tried shaking it off by changing the subject.
Let me describe it as a hard right turn in the conversation.
“Simone…that’s a lovely name.”
She blinked a few times, before breaking into smile. She pushed off the desk, and stepped up to me.
I have to admit, her scent and her beauty made my heart flutter.
I didn’t feel it was fair for an Aventis to be as pretty as she was.
I didn’t think it was fair on mankind.
Seven months ago I told Haruka I hated the Aventis.
Yet here I was in a school full of them, and completely helpless before this girl.
Reaching up, she pressed a fingertip to my lips. “Silly boy. Don’t get ahead of yourself.” Then her eyes narrowed. “Did you know that Arisa Imreh and I have known each other for years?”
I shook my head.
Damn that Arisa for not warning me about this girl.
Simone smirked. “Well, she’s been like something of an older sister to me. The Imrehs and Alucards have a long history of co-operation between them. I’ve known Arisa since I was a child.” A playful smile curved her lips. “She spoke to me about you.”
I felt disoriented. Despite her fingertip running along my lips, I blurted out, “Huh? She did what?”
Simone’s smile grew a little stronger. “Arisa told me to be on my best behavior around you.”
I felt her fingertip separate from my lips.
Best behavior? Yeah, right.
She leaned forward a little more. “However, she never told me how tempting you would be.”
This time I felt my heart jump.
For just one moment I’d forgotten this girl was an Aventis, an entity enhanced by the Symbiote inside her.
For just one moment, I forgot I was supposed to hate her kind.
Simone smiled and spoke in a breathy voice that made my knees weak.
“I fear you’re going to bring out the bad in me.”
A knock on the door saved me from falling to my knees.
I felt ashamed at how quickly my body had fallen under her spell.
Simone smiled and took a step back.
“Come in,” she called out musically.
#
(Haruka)
“We’re wasting time, Haruka. You’re wasting time.”
I ignored Siobhan at first, but now I was tired of her harping. “Go home, Siobhan.”
“Not without you.”
“I’m waiting here until I talk to him.”
“How do you know he’ll come out this way?”
“Because the shoe lockers are here. He has to come out this way.” With my arms crossed I shifted my weight onto a hip. “I’ll wait another half hour.”
“Uggh, you’re impossible,” Siobhan exclaimed. “This guy broke up with you. Why are still so hung up on him?”
“We didn’t break up. We were never together.”
“That proves my point even more.”
“Another half hour. That’s all I’m going to wait.”
Siobhan found herself a spot on the steps outside the building’s entrance. “Fine, then I’ll sit here in the meantime.”
I stood with my back against a support pillar.
Alistair had run off to get snacks from a vending machine. She sure was taking her sweet time.
The torrent of students leaving the building eventually petered out into a trickle.
I glanced at my wrist watch.
Half an hour and not a minute more.
Siobhan’s words caught my attention. “He’s a Familiar, Haruka.”
“I know that.”
“Why are you so hung up on a Familiar?”
“I don’t see him as a Familiar. I see him as Caelum Desanto, my childhood friend and someone I really care about.”
“You have someone else to care about, or are you forgetting about him?”
I froze for a heartbeat, then narrowed my eyes at her. “Why do you hate Familiars so much?”
Siobhan glared at me for the first time in many months.
A really, hard glare.
I watched her swallow down her anger. “I don’t hate them. Okay? I just don’t like them.”
“Why?”
She turned away. “Because they’re…they’re not human….”
For a moment I really felt like punching her, or at the least slapping her.
I pressed my back against the support pillar behind me.
“Shut up, Siobhan. You don’t know anything about them. You have no idea what Familiars are.”
“I know more about them than you do.”
I clenched my hands and straightened. “Siobhan, just leave. Go home!”
“Fine, then I will.” Siobhan grabbed her carry-bag, flung the straps onto her right shoulder and stormed down the steps.
I watched her stride down the path heading to the east side gate some distance away.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
I turned my head and saw Alistair walking toward me while carrying drinks and snacks.
She had a confused look on her face, but in moments she seemed to realize what had happened.
Alistair stepped up to me. “Looks like I bought too much.”
I looked at the collection she carried in her arms, and laughed softly.
I picked a couple of cans of juice and a snack bar from the bundle.
Alistair sighed and muttered, “So, I guess Siobhan finally hit her limit. Ah”—she frowned as she peered eastward into the distance—“what the heck?”
I looked in the direction she was staring.
An angry blonde girl was walking toward us.
We watched the angry blonde girl stomp up the steps leading to the building’s glass entrance.
We watched her dump her carry-bag at her feet, and drop herself onto the top step.
Siobhan wrapped her arms around her bent knees, and glared at Alistair. “Is one of those for me or not?”
Alistair huffed loudly. “You never change, do you?”
“Humph.” Siobhan turned away, but still stuck out her right hand toward Alistair. “Giv
e me one.”
I watched Alistair shake her head slowly, then step over to Siobhan and hand her a drink.
“Like I said, you never change.”
Reflections – 3.
Let me explain a little more about Fragments.
We already know Fragments are pieces of what the Prides refer to as Artifacts, and they are objects recovered after the Cataclysm from deep inside the Hurakan Nebula.
Who made them is a point of contention, because Fragments – and Artifacts – are simply too advanced and amazing for humans to have created, and there are no records of Fragments and Artifacts existing before the Cataclysm during humanity’s First Golden Age.
However, if they were not created by humans, they were at least created for humans.
Specifically, they were created for Familiars.
On this point, there is overwhelming agreement in the scientific community.
Another point of consensus is that the majority of Fragments are designed for conflict.
They’re weapons. They’re not toys. They’re meant for chaos and destruction. They’re meant to kill.
As I explained before, when the right pieces are combined in the right order, they form a complete Artifact – a complete weapon. And, as stated earlier, the Prides were reluctant to put an Artifact together, but that did not mean that completed Artifacts did not exist.
In fact, many of them were already being used by Familiars in their service to the Prides.
And many more were held in super-secret high security facilities.
I say many…but not all of them.
The whole story behind Fragments and Artifacts would undoubtedly require a separate volume. I’m not privy to all the details, just a fragment of them, so I have no intention of writing such a book.
However, what I know is that my Fragment – the one I had most compatibility with at that time – was clearly a weapon.
When I wore it on my right forearm in its reduced form, the Fragment was shaped like a wide bracelet about three inches across. I had to wear it over bare skin otherwise the bracelet ring would refuse to close over my forearm. Also, I couldn’t wear it on my left arm. Again, the bracelet refused to close.
When I first received it, the Lanfear researchers explained that the remainder of the Fragment existed in something they called Pocket Space.
In other words, the rest of the Fragment was inside a ‘pocket’ of folded space that had no visible interaction with the space I was able to perceive around me.
Pride x Familiar Page 5
