Kingdoms United Academy [DRAFT ONE]

15. The Sea Had Water, Last I Checked

Three Days Later-

     "Woah, where'd all the grass go?!" Loretta pressed her face against the bus window.

     Laia sighed and slouched further in her seat next to the aisle. "Trilobites ate it. That, or it died to the heat. We've had a drought for a while, now."

     "Trilobites?" Cinder put her feet up on the back of the seat in front of her, only to be met by a blank stare from Harris, the seat's owner, before she put them down again. She nibbled on a strawberry frosting-covered biscuit stick.

     Laia gestured exasperatedly out the window to Cinder's right. Barely visible on the horizon was a giant crater.

     "Is that where the tether is? Mont Brine?" Linnea asked.

     "Yep," Laia muttered. "The source of all our problems."

     They sat in silence for a while. Laia popped in their earbuds and listened to a glitchcore playlist for a bit. Harris read some manga. Cinder just made herself into a blanket cocoon and ate more snacks.

     "Want one?" Cinder suddenly asked Linnea. She held out the box of strawberry flavored snacks.

     Linnea looked at it for a moment, then took a stick. "Thank you."

      "Can I have one?" Harris asked, turning around to face Cinder again and peeking over the back of the seat.

      "No, I only have a few left," Cinder replied.

      Harris sank back down.

      Laia paused her music. "Linnea's a special friend."

      "Ohhhhhhh." Harris popped back up with a grin on his face, then sank back down slowly again.

      "Don't make me kick your chair again," Cinder threatened.

      Harris chuckled.

      After a couple more hours of mostly silence, they finally arrived at Anemona. It was a large city. On the horizon was a mixture of modern-looking segments of buildings dotted with skyscrapers and whole city blocks of limestone, brick, and plaster buildings crested with art deco details or the occasional old, floral accent.

      The class hopped off the bus to enter the hotel lobby. There, they regrouped while Madame Talon checked with the man at the front desk.

      "Woah, Laia! Your country's so cool!" Loretta exclaimed. 

      Bunches of students crowded around Laia. Cinder was pushed aside. Linnea got out of the way, while Harris was also surrounded. 

      "Guys, I've literally never been to this city," Laia cried.

     The crowd quickly dispersed.

     Laia whipped out some pink tinted heart sunglasses and popped them on her face. 

     Madame Talon then returned to the class. In her hands, she held two things. 

     In one hand, she held many tiny circular devices. One side of each device had a button. The bottom had a hole in it to act as a whistle. Each device had a key ring on it, so each could be attached easily to a bag, wallet, or even to a phone charm. 

     In the other hand, she held a few room entry cards. There appeared to be way less of these than of the devices.

     Madame spoke as she handed a device to each student. "These devices are signals to call our specially trained guard forces if anything goes wrong. In case the buttons don't work, you may also blow in the hole at the bottom to use as a safety whistle to alert anyone nearby. You may also dial 112 at any point to contact emergency services."

      She then also handed out the key cards, one for each group. "These are the keys to your hotel rooms. Don't lose them. Have the group member who is best organized hold them."

      "Finally, today we will stay mostly in the hotel because it's getting dark, but tomorrow and the next two days after that will be yours to explore the city. Do not hesitate to contact me with questions. I aim to make this a safe, educational, and, above all, fun experience for all of you."

     No student spoke. Though Mme. Talon's expression remained somewhat blank, Cinder could feel slight disappointment radiate from her. 

     Laia's group found their way to the hotel room. Upon seeing only two beds, Cinder panicked, but Linnea quickly examined under the beds and found two more beds on wheels that pulled out from under the other beds. Cinder took a moment to calm down. 

      After Linnea set up Squishy's cage on the desk, the games were to commence.

      "Now it's time for... card games!" Laia exclaimed cheerfully. They slapped down a box of cards labeled "The Game of One." The objective of that game was simple: start with seven cards, yell out, "I have one!" when you have one card left in your hand and end up with zero cards to win.

      But Cinder had something better. She would wait until the rest were done for maximum impact. 

       Harris pulled out a deck of "Cards Versus Humanity." He said, "I removed all of the gross cards. Now it's just gore. Cards like 'stealing your kneecaps' and such."

      "I didn't bring any games..." Linnea sighed.

       Cinder smirked. She opened her bag. "I brought the best game."

      Silence fell across the room as Cinder pulled out four custom-built "Magic Duel" decks that she had made specifically to teach the others to play.

      "Right. I forgot. Cinder's a gamer." Harris said this while smiling.

       His demeanor seemed to have changed since Cinder had met him. Harris sounded slightly more chaotic and much more relaxed.

       Cinder unfolded a massive battle mat. "Bam. The greatest game known to man."

       "All in favor of 'The Game of One'?" Laia asked. They raised their hand. Linnea also hesitantly raised hers.

       "Well, that means it'll win," Harris concluded.

     Cinder didn't say anything, and just put her game away. She was embarrassed. Why did she not bring anything normal? She'd messed up again.

      "We can play that one later, but we only have about twenty minutes until dinner right now," Linnea reasoned.

     Cinder nodded. "Fair."

     And so, they played cards. Cinder lost the first few games, then won the last one. There was barely any strategy to it, and it was mostly luck. Cinder, of course, had never been able to recall an instance in her life where something did not go wrong when it could have.

     Dinner was large and extravagant. Unlike most of the hotel food Cinder had eaten, this hotel served soup and sandwiches. The soup and the sandwiches were mediocre, but the dining room was decorated thoroughly and very heavily guarded. Cinder also noticed that the room was well lit, that pockets were checked, and that the tablecloths were short.

     After dinner, the group took turns getting showers and getting ready for bed, then promptly went to sleep to rest up for the next day.

     Cinder laid awake at night for a while.

     Don't look over there, she thought. It's weird to face them while sleeping, right? Don't look at Linnea.

     It's not like some freaking bunny themed pajamas are scandalous, but I would feel wrong.

     She rolled herself up in her blanket like a burrito and faced the wall. She thanked the others silently for giving her the bed closest to the wall, and cursed them for giving Linnea the adjacent one.

     Were they forgetting, or were they like Criss and just wanted to see Cinder suffer?

     Probably the second, Cinder concluded.