Beyond Isolation

Chapter 2: Posceales Academy

The moon is at its highest in all of Cenfold. The halls of House Orian were quiet and dim. The only sounds made were footsteps as Thoren walked to his room. All the rooms were locked–the meeting room, living room, storage room, and several bedrooms. As Thoren walks stealthily through the halls, he spots Aerith out of the window. He figured he was still irritated at Evander, judging by his sharp actions. As much as Thoren wanted to meet him in the open space, he couldn't since it was twelve in the morning, and the academy's opening ceremony was tomorrow. He walked past the window and continued on his way to his room.

At last, Thoren arrived at the doorstep of his room. He reached for his pocket to search for his keys, but it was empty. He checked his bag, but there was nothing as well. Seeing that he lost his keys frustrated Thoren since he would have to go all the way back down to the first floor to search for his keys. He didn't have much of a choice since he can't go in his room without his keys, so he went down the stairs looking just as irritated as Aerith.

It took over five minutes for Thoren to reach the first floor of his home. Given his exhaustion, he doubts he can even make it back to his room as soon as he finds his keys. The open space was quiet. Aerith was nowhere to be found. Thoren figured he gave up searching for Evander and went to his room. His accompaniment would've given him a slight sense of relief. Regardless, he began searching for his keys. He first inspected Evander's car. He looked at the windows and found nothing but an empty water bottle at the front seat. He banged his head on the window as he let out a loud groan, seemingly giving up when he hadn't even searched a quarter of the house.

'Figured you'd be looking for this,' said the person right behind him.

Thoren was startled and immediately turned around to see Aerith twirling a set of keys with an Orian signet.

'Oh, where'd you find it?' Thoren asked joyously.

'Near the fountain,' Aerith replied. 'Now... Do you know where Evander is?'

Just as Thoren thought, Aerith was still mad at Evander. Unfortunately, he didn't know where he went since he warped right after he said goodnight. He shook his head without saying anything. Aerith became suspicious, thinking Evander bribed him to stay quiet.

'How bout I take you to your room?' He suggested.

'That would be nice,' replied Thoren as he yawned.

'Alrighty... hold on,' Aerith grabbed Thoren by the neck, and one of the streams from the night sky came down to him. The two started glowing bright blue, and particles were being scattered around them.

'Wait, what are you-' just as Thoren panicked, they disappeared from the parking lot. Thoren opened his eyes to see bright blue lines traveling at high speeds. Two seconds passed, and they arrived at his room's doorstep. Thoren felt nauseous but eventually recovered.

'Goodnight now,' said Aerith. He turns around and sees Evander frozen in place.

They made eye contact for a few seconds, then warped around the house, making a ruckus. Thoren, who was far too exhausted to deal with the situation, opened the door, crawled to his bed and went straight to sleep.

The sun is shining through Thoren's window, signaling the start of a new day. Thoren was awakened by his alarm, but he is having trouble getting out of bed. He can hear several footsteps outside his room, but he won't dare to look outside. He went back to sleep as the footsteps got louder. His door opened, revealing the bandaged Evander. The light from the sun made his eye bags and several other wounds visible. Seeing that Thoren was still asleep, he lets out a sigh and goes up to his bed.

'Wake up Thoren, we have an hour of breakfast left.' Said Evander in a monotonous tone.

'Master, please grant me ten more minutes...' Thoren replied softly.