The Seventh Secret

Chapter 5: The Legacy

Upon waking up, the children left the room and saw a big stack of outfits waiting for them. Rhiassa frowned, knowing that she had woken up several times during the night because of the unexpected noises she had heard. (Her years spent in the orphanage having watched over the other orphans and looking for any gang members had led her to watch over Nevyn while he was asleep.)

As for Nevyn, he barely slept as well, as he kept on waking up waiting to see Trevor beside him. But Trevor was not there; Nevyn had no idea if Trevor was still alive. After all, he had taken care of his brother during the last two years, and Trevor had no idea where he had gone.

Rhiassa wore a turquoise dress, which was covered with little pink roses and outlined with gold dragons. It seemed to be made for a little girl instead of a 14-year-old girl. Rhiassa frowned when she first saw the dress; she knew that only the upper class families in Senzacion were allowed to wear gold-decorated garments. Many of the urban poor, including Raul and Vic, typically wore rough clothing. The orphans in the children's home usually wore white and blue clothing, while the priests and church staff wore silk. She put on the dress, intending to deal with her past later.

As for Nevyn, he wore a purple cashmere tunic and a pair of coral pants. The outfit was intended for a dwarf instead of a 17-year-old boy. Nevyn frowned as he saw the outfit; it was a similar outfit that the servants wore when they worked for the wealthy families in Ebis. He wondered if he would have been a servant if he was not taken to Greywyn.

Rhiassa and Nevyn went to another room after they were dressed. The floor of this room is a patchwork of small rugs. The walls were a utilitarian greyish blue with a blue border in the middle. The dark mustiness reaches your nose, although the pleasant breeze from the open window in the corner of the room temporarily helps to reduce it.

Salvatore was sitting at a table. Skefan was with him. There were plates of cakes and mugs filled with tea waiting for them. Rhiassa and Nevyn were standing in front of the table, not knowing what to do.

"Sit down and join us," Skefan said, pointing out two seats in front of them. The children reluctantly take their seats. "Now that the two of you are settled, I must now describe the history of the school to you so that you can understand and remember it."

"What about our lives?" Rhiassa cried out. "Why are we here?"

"In time, you will understand," said Salvatore. "For now, know this: a long time ago, we once lived in harmony with the people of Earth. But it all changed when a global catastrophe happened."

"What happened?" said Rhiassa.

"It's not a good story," said Salvatore. "You know, the people of Earth had stopped at nothing to destroy the world where they lived. They cut down all the trees in the forest and built dull, colorless buildings in their place. They destroyed the world to the point that an apocalyptic war had occurred and that many people were killed." He stared at the children and said, "You two knew all too well the evils of the world. That's why I had to get you from your dying world and bring you here."

Rhiassa frowned as she struggled to turn the story in her head. She knew about the wars and diseases that had destroyed the world from history books, but the evil was almost impossible to detect in her city. Nevyn looked around him, expecting for some proof of past events to pop out.

Then Salvatore said, "It's time for you to understand your place here at Greywyn."

"What are we going to do while we're here?" said Rhiassa.

"It has been arranged," said Skefan. "You two are going to be enrolled in classes as regular students. Even so, there is something that only you two should know." Salvatore nodded his head in agreement, as Skefan said, "I have to tell you why you're here at Greywyn."