Elora Bates- Past
"What did he mean? When he said I had a strong connection to Eromen?" The joy and acceptance returned to my face, the man's voice from the MIC lingering in my mind. I sat down on the sling chair next to him, the chilly wind hitting my face on the balcony.
"Eromen is associated with roses" He watched me, "Rum?"
When I shook my head, he scoffed, "You're legal already". He smiled sadly, "You'll be great one day, written on the pages of history. But I won't be there." I watched him gulp down the glass without flinching, his hair flying. He sighed, "Tomorrow I'll be having dinner all alone."
"You won't be staying?" my shoulders fell.
"Of Course not." He said like it was obvious.
"Elora, I must..tell you.." His words wandered, the alcohol began to take its toll on him "when youh go to the academe, have fun...make mistakes. But one thing I would not tolerate would be you messing with two types of boys; one.." he looked at the stars in the sky, his neck muscles loose so that it just hung. "Men who are complete workaholics. Two, men who want royal jobs. Okay?" His head rolled forwards so that it now hung down, his eyes at the edge of its socket looking at me. He was drunk, I made no move to place my argument and agreed but still questioned him, "But, why?"
He sniffed twice through his red nose, suddenly looking sober. "Our world is a living place for three creatures." He raised his forefinger to the sky "One, us. We live on land.", raised his middle finger "Two, the forest, spiritual beings live there" and then raised his ring finger, "Three, the residents of the sea. Before Maldeus fell into his sleep, He challenged the Queen of the Soul forest, the most powerful being known to exist, second to Eneas; because he knew he wouldn't be able to defeat King Rayan of the sea." Slashing his hand, he continued "The Queen had his back. He stood with a legion of over 6,000 royal soldiers. The Queen stood alone with her long holy white staff; one of the triumvirate staff. She saw the men and warned 'Leave or Perish' but none of the men could leave, they were under their king's orders. So, they stood. The queen merely raised her staff and struck the ground." He paused, pained "All perished. She then vowed to him if he tried to invade her land again. He would perish by her hands."
"And your father and she were among all?"
He nodded; his eyes red but not watery. "Why didn't she kill the King?"
"Maybe as a warning," He shrugged, "the truth is I don't know. Her Majesty, Queen Frigga is said to not interfere with affairs of the living unless it puts her people in threat but months later the king went into a deep sleep."
He said rising to go to bed. "But that was after we went to the ordinary world"
I slept with these thoughts in my head and probably, so did he. The only difference was that I felt nothing because I couldn't relate to war but I'm sure, memories of the past haunt him even today.
The following morning was much different from the night, Mrs. Anderson didn't forget to fill me with hugs and kisses despite only a few days of acquaintance.
"So how do we get there?" I asked, taking gradual steps to the spenua.
"The school is located far from civilization, within the Soul Forest."
"A forest? You mean the place where there are trees and wild animals." I stopped dead, waiting for him to declare this to be a joke.
He only chuckled and said, "Well it is protected by her majesty, Queen Frigga."
"That doesn't make it any better...." I rolled my eyes.
At the spenua, Cassiden inaudibly muttered 'Silverstring station' and a swirl began to take form, the next step we took was in a gigantic station that had glass panels in place of a ceiling and the same sun above the glass roof shone its homely radiance. The tiles were brown with several benches lying in an orderly manner, The station had no means of transport, with only light laughter and distant conversation all mingling to form noise.
"Good afternoon, I'm Aldroy. Silverstring new batch, are you?"
"Yes, I am"
"Please follow me, Collect your identity card. The spirits of the forest will be here any moment now." He then led us to a desk that looked like a miniature compared with the extremely tall metallic walls of the station.
Suddenly, the station grew silent, the small crowd of students and parents watched the door keenly for the sound of the wind. The sound of my anxious heart began syncing with the wind growing louder and louder. The air in front of us started twirling, we took slow steady steps backward, unifying with the crowd. The leaves joined in with the gale that was forming, it paused mid-way and so did my heart, and then from the wind a long piece of cloth flowed onto the floor. From it emerged a translucent green woman, she wore a green sleeveless A-line sleeveless dress, the torso of the dress was formed from leaves that were woven together, it had here flowers randomly fixed over it and below her waist, green fabric flowed continuously. It was cut in the front which showed her pale green translucent legs with the breeze.
She was barefoot but wore a crown of flowers upon her emerald hair and behind her came into sight an army of creatures alike, they looked less majestic as compared to the lady onto whom my eyes were fixed, wide open. She caused fear to build in me but at the same time, her beauty moved my spirit.
"I am Frigga, guardian, and queen of the soul forest. I am here to escort you to the Academy." The moment she said 'escort' the hall presented with echoes, love-filled goodbye, kisses, parents giving last-minute precautions and advice for their journey ahead, but my eyes remained glued on her, such dangerous beauty. Her mere presence radiated power and glory. The king should have been out of his mind to challenge her. Her eyes fell on me, watching me carefully before she narrowed them, and my contact faltered after a few moments of blinking.
"So, I guess it's goodbye here, I..." Cassiden smiled that didn't reach his eyes.
"I'll send you messages in whatever way possible," I said in a pacifying tone and wrapping my arms around his shoulder, tiptoed.
"There's no contact to the outside world-"
"One of us will now stand beside you, and you shall hold hands with us as we take you away to our part of the world" Frigga stated. The Nymphs and Satyrs gladly followed the Queen's orders, taking place beside me and the others. The rest of the crowd automatically took a step back like they were experienced.
"I'll be right here when you return.."
A girl with blue streak and freckle, almost shrieked in excitement breaking the solemn silence, leaving all the eyes in the room on her and even the queens which must have been frightening but the Queen dismissed it away, surprising me.
"Hi, I'm Ziva.....woo-"
Her voice disappeared, the had Queen nodded and the escorts pulled us along the airstream, towards the door, and into the greenery, The people behind us growing distant by each second.
We traveled by the speed of light and whenever it felt like a tree would strike me, the nymph would immediately pull me away from it. We moved with such precision and speed that within time, I could only see green and brown colours around me.
After quite some time, we halted before a black wrought iron gate, its double door gate carrying the written words 'Silverstring Academy' in eye-catching silver. Nausea and headache that followed seemed unrealistic, our bodies were not made for such movements, and I could hardly grasp what had happened. With great difficulty I managed to keep my feet straight, my bones felt replaced by gello. One of the boys puked at the back, breaking the breath-taking silence but the satyr beside him comforted him by rubbing soothing circles on his back.
"Sorry about the bad introduction" The same girl began again, "Hi, I'm Ziva", she raised her hands towards me. I looked at her, finally taking her hand.
"Elora"
A satyr soon joined us from behind the gate, he genuflected at the sight of the queen. He wore a simple tunic made of leaves that extended till his knees and was tasked with checking our identity cards and noting down the number so that when the luggage came, it could be sorted easily.
"We must have caught the stars for the Queen to be escorting us today" I whispered into Ziva's ears who tittered and warned, "She can read your mind, be careful".
Those words caught my gaze at the Queen, despite the new surroundings. She walked with unusual, majestic ease with the rest of us following behind her. She was scary yet welcoming. The only time my gaze broke was when we came across a two-tier fountain. The top tier held the view of three women with hands raised towards the sky together, their expressions looked rather pleased, their hair waving with the non-existent air. The second tier had nymphs and satyr surrounding with joined hands raised towards the three women. One of the nymphs facing the three women had a crown of flowers and was taller than the other mythical creatures. They were sculpted from clay and were detailed finely, with only the mark of the curse radiating colour, the three women were from the three significant tribes.
Surrounding the fountain, a few meters away in a clean circle on the ground were alternate purple and green fountain grass and beyond the fountain, a tall mansion loomed, its huge glass doors were guarded by two pillars on each side, looking like a modern built version of the pantheon in Rome. The walls were covered in cheerful white, and the floor was done in grey glazed porcelain tiles. It was tall enough that when Ziva tried to look at the roof, she almost fell back.
"This is where I leave you all," Frigga said, right at the start of the stairs that led to the door. Everyone was too awed to take note of what Frigga had to say to them, everyone but me who was more lost in the all-powerful being. How I would kill to be her, an unknown thirst lurked within me, and she turned to me like she knew, watching me with those partially closed eyes of superiority.
My eyes faltered away; her aura was unbearably strong. Ziva, the girl with freckles looked at me, "Ready?" she asked, joyfully. I felt eyes on me, it made my throat feel thick, it would be wrong to challenge her, she could read my thoughts. My hands subconsciously went to my neck. I swallowed, smiled, and replied to the girl with blue streak,
"Yeah"
I turned my head to have one final glance at her, even though I felt eyes on me. But she wasn't looking at me, she was engaged in conversation with one of her own. I kept cautioning and reminding myself that I would have to learn to control my greed in her presence. If she could read minds, she could access weak spots without any barriers and use them against me, although that didn't seem like something she would do.
We entered the entrance hall, standing in front of the partial glass door of the academy there was another flight of stairs that divided into two and led to 'Magic zone' and 'non-magic zone'. Two large doors were present at either side of the entrance hall from where we stood. From the door to our left that read 'Hall of Bonding', a man called at his peak voice "In here, children ''.
The hall was bright, resembling a bright spring day because, despite the light coming from the painting mosaic windows, the ceiling chandeliers were switched on. A single long wooden dining table covered with a white table runner, lined with gold lace was present in the centre of the hall, the plates, glasses, and cutlery were sparkling clean, laid in a manner to display etiquette. The table faced a raised platform where another table was placed with three royal chairs where two men and a woman sat.
The Enchanter sitting in the centre was stout, had a heart-shaped face, and brown curtain hair with a band of red. His beard and moustache were stubble, he had amber eyes and was in his late 60's, wearing a white shirt with a black overcoat.
The Enchanter sitting next to him had a square face, his hair was shoulder length and was a jet black colour with the streak of emerald hair, braided to the back forming a half-crown of emerald and black. A strand of hair fell over his skin, He had a long nose and a well-defined jaw and wore a black turtleneck top with a black overcoat. His face looked familiar, I watched as his eyes drifted across the room, dully taking in the students, passing over me, and then stopping at the boy standing next to me. The boy was tall, at least a good 6 feet, pretty tall from me a 5'2 who had to bend my neck slightly to look at him. He was well built as compared to any other male student present and had a diamond-shaped face but with a wide jaw that would make people question whether his face was rectangular or diamond, defined cheekbones, and downward-facing lips; Very beautiful. But then his green streak came into view and then his grey eyes, squinting back at the professor who was looking back at him. A smirk appeared on the face of the boy, Rebellious and seemingly unkind, very unlike my ideal type.
The professor wore a neutral expression, keeping his eye contact firm with the arrogant boy, his stare fell to me, and it moved back to the boy and then suddenly returned to me, eyeing at me with eyes of scrutiny. To avoid the already escalating tense situation of uncomfortable eye contact, I turned to look at the only woman among the men.
The Enchantress standing tall had a triangular face, her blond hair was tied into a sleek ponytail, a band of blue shined through. She wore a white shirt and black fitting skirt with an overcoat.
"Come on in, children." The man in the centre welcomed us. We moved towards the table, breaking the silence, and began eating whatever the nymph and satyrs brought without any invitation, we didn't even need one; we could pig away after such a journey.
I sat watching everyone just talk and mingle, occasionally joining in to give my option to open discussions but mostly zoning out and watching because I was still new to this world.
"..my father works at the SAC."
"What's that?"
"Science approval committee" He looked rather proud,
"And what's that for?" The girl next to him asked,
"I believed Zocians were actually smart!", he fell back on his chair, "Where do you think the facts in textbooks at basic level education comes from?"
The girl shrugged; her lower lip upturned.
"Why can't you at least pretend to be from your tribe, you foolish girl. SAC approves scientific facts not discovered in our world." The rebellious boy, who out-stared the professor interrupted, the girl released hot air, turning away.
A boy with a round face caught my eyes in a deep stare; it wasn't a coincidence, but I continued to look at him. Maybe he knew me? But how could he? His face glowed and his bushy eyebrows and dark brown hair allowed his features to be appear defined. I came to note the green mark on his hair through my peripheral vision, a wave of consciousness blocking my way, making me realize every movement I made.
"Now that you are all done. Welcome to Silverstring Academy, we are your headmasters and headmistress, I am Solomon Sherwood, this is Professor. Celestina Orson and this is Professor. Intimus's Iving." He said looking at his fellow colleagues. "...let me take a moment to inform you that today evening you will have the official housing ceremony at 6 pm. Your presence is highly requested at 5:00 pm, in your respective uniforms. The other students will be arriving in a few more hours from now. You may eat, freshen up and get familiar with the academy grounds, sleep..." He waved his hands, "Usually, the first-timers do not feel great after the speed, Do not however leave the academy grounds. You are now dismissed" He paused, remembering. "Acacia, the academy's caretaker will show you to your houses and should you need anything our offices will be in the magical zone on the third floor."
Acacia, a brown nymph at her name, emerged from the door to the far right- the kitchen, presuming from the noise of clashing and clanging that came along with her when the door opened. We rose, chattering continuing in our midst, all excited to see our new academy and home for the next few months.
The brown nymph led all of us out of the main academy building, we went down the stairs and passed by the fountain, moving right to walk on a roughly made concrete road. On both, sides of the road were a low-built fenced garden. These gardens had flowers and plants so countless vast that they reminded me of the deepest parts of the unexplored ocean, where the possibility to find something unusual was high. At the academy walls that marked the boundary to the forest, there was a small glass plant house, its glass walls were foggy which could give me a dense idea that it had plants from all the green and its location. There was no way of possible entry except through the locked door which carried a sign 'keep-out'.
"Plants that are illegal in the land kingdom are grown there." I moved away from the voice that whispered in my ears, turning back to look at the boy. He had a black quiff-styled hair which was curlier than the curliest of hair, his diamond face giving a stalker-like feeling. The moment I saw the curse of Andronicus on his hair, a thin, disinterested line appeared on my face. I was going to take Cassiden's advice very seriously and keep an eye out for Andronicans.
At the end of the garden were three paths, divided like a fork, separated by cleanly trimmed hedges that were so high that one wouldn't be able to peep at what laid through the other paths.
"So? Both your parents are Eromen?" Ziva asked me,
"Yes maybe..." I hesitated at the question, bending my neck at the overgrown plant blocking my face.
"Maybe?" She asked, clearly taken back at my answer
"Yeah, they're...umm.. dead. My mom was an Eromen, and my dad worked at the palace who died with an identity that cannot be revealed so, I don't really know. War tragedy. Don't." I added when I saw the horrified look of grief on her face, "I haven't ever met them. There's only a certain amount of time you can grieve for the people you don't know." The unblinking look in my eyes deceived my words, causing us to continue walking without any conversation.
"Only Eromen will follow me now." The nymph stated with the same smile that never faded. She led us through the path on the right, it has recessed floor lights that were closed with a metallic shutter but otherwise, the path had nothing worth mentioning. At the end of the path was a double door gate, a miniature version of the main academy gates but with 'Caritas' written, guarding the gates were two satyrs, dressed in white tunics, keeping a watch on all who entered.
"This is the Caritas House," The nymph said in her sweet melodious tone, opening the gate with just a sway of her hands.
"These glow at night..." She pointed at the ordinary-looking large pebbles fixed on the pathway, like floor markers. House E was like those luxurious cabins, built of wood, having an attached veranda, a large swimming pool next to it. The balcony had pink-flowered vines twirling over its wooden railing like the ones marking the edge of the buildings in Mooncity. The remaining plot of land was grass with swings at one end, tables, and chairs, like those placed within the balcony and a small camping area, and a whole load of plants, making it look like a tamed forest.
The hall of the house was basic, it had a set of armchairs and settee present near the huge fireplace- It must be frozen here during the winters. And despite the expectations I had while walking into the academy, it had a twist of its own. I was expecting a set of huts when I first heard it was in a forest, but this place is a dreamland in its own way.
The nymph pointed at the room towards our right "Snacks are placed in the kitchen for timeless hunger." Straight ahead was a large stair that led to the upper floor, leading on either side were two long corridors.
"The left side is yours; the right side is where the professors live. Each housing unit has two rooms so you may go and find your nameplate fixed to the door" She then turned to face us and pointed to behind us.
"There's the balcony for any time you need a break from your daily routine" The banister continued to flow along the wall, leading to the balcony from both sides, leaving the floor hollow in the centre from where the main hall could be seen. The balcony was open, it had no door; just an opening in the wall. A faint sound of stridulating insects and sibilant buzz came, filling the inside.
"This is where I leave you." She said, leaving us to ourselves. I walked into all rooms just like everyone else, looking for my nameplate on the doors, finding mine in the third housing unit from the stairs. I turned to look at the nameplate next to mine, I should make a good impression if I were to spend the next eight months with her comfortably, she was 'Bexley Weber'.
The door to the housing unit opened. A girl with soft facial features, wide green eyes, and long brown hair entered. She looked very feminine and classy. After reading her nameplate, she turned to look at me and then at my nameplate.
"Ms. Bates?" She pointed her finger at me with raised brows. Her voice was soft, like the grand piano to my ears.
"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry...Yeah," I closed my gaping mouth, at the girl that made me realize my insecurities. I smiled, we all have insecurities don't we, I took her hand, welcoming her into my life. My smile faded the moment our hands broke apart, I shut the door, standing against it. I was going to have a hard time with such a perfect person before me. Maybe she was just pretty, maybe she was unintelligent and fragile on the inside. She would be those girls that walked with pride because she had her looks to brag about. What a great start! I hope I almost never run into her.
The baggage arrived in another few moments, and I began placing everything accordingly. In the end, it was already around 4:30 pm. I'd spent over an hour just fixing things and now, I couldn't leave for the hall of bonding with... sweat and muck on over me from all the travelling, I saw my ugly reflection in the mirror. Oh, dear. I took a quick shower, shampooing the sand in my hair; watching my strands fall with the roughness and after readying myself, began running down the stairs like Cinderella, only with wet hair and partly untucked shirt and uneven socks on my feet. What a great start!
I made it till the fenced garden when I spotted another boy walking hurriedly towards the main building. He spotted me too, grinning widely, it was the same boy who had whispered into my ears, the boy with curls that fell onto his face. We paused looking at each other, a gleam of the same notion visible in both our eyes. If I made it before him, I'd seem less miserable before him and with that, we both began running, tugging, and pushing which made us delay more. We ran up the stairs, but his long legs allowed him to skip steps and overtake me, I was going to lose.
He stopped abruptly at the main door.
"Together is better." He watched me take the last few steps,
"Why?" The streak was the only part of him I could see. What plots did he hold in his mind?
"Trust me." He said and we both stood outside the hall of bonding neatening ourselves up, walking in together.
Professor Iving had already begun speaking, we were late.
"Oh no," Bran muttered,
"Well done, the two of you are much disciplined." Iving quirked.
"I'm sorry-"
Iving raised his finger at me, "No, time for that."
The hall was already decorated for the evening, the wall behind the dais was covered with white curtains, and on them were balloons of three colours, Red, Green, and Blue. The balloons looked like they were attached to the curtain, but they were not, they made small movements, that were not easy to see unless if focused on, as though the curtain was the roof where they had no escaping. The ceilings were covered in gold hanging swirls and three large flags hung above each table, they danced lightly. The table has a white runner, but they were laced with the colour of the flag above.
"There are three houses, Caritas, Imperium, and Prudens. As you can see the flags." He pointed at them, we followed his fingers, turning to look at them. The first was pale red in colour with a crown of roses, it was placed above the table towards the far right of us, "The symbol of Caritas is a crown of roses, the crown of Eromen". The flag above the table in the centre was pale blue in colour with an open book and from the rib of the open book a bulb of light- like the sun emerged. "The symbol of Pruden's is the book of Zocia......And lastly, the symbol of Imperium is a dragon, derived from the green dragon stone that lies within the staff of Andronicus." He said, pointing to the last pale green flag to our left with his eyes rather than his hands, which he had now placed behind his back.
"When the academy was first founded, students were sorted based on what they personally believed to be of highest order, Power, Love or Wisdom but now sorting is based on which tribe you belong to, and the ceremony remains to uphold the tradition of the campus. So-"
"If you don't mind me asking sir, why was the older system changed?" Bexley Weber interrupted, her chin pointed at Iving, who rolled his eyes before speaking, "The Former system was created for the sole purpose of uniting the three tribes but such eye-bleeding scenes would occur between the students of Eromen and Andronicus in the same house because they were raised with their tribe's stereotypes that in order to prevent such catastrophic events one of the previous headmasters renounced the former ways." He had said it all in a single breathe that he allowed air to fill him through his mouth, "Anything else Miss..?"
"Bexley Werber, sir and no"
Iving nodded, keeping his eyes at her like she was a little bug to be squished for interrupting, before continuing,
"Today when you get sorted which will be in about thirty minutes from now, you will be put into the houses based on your tribes, Eromen go to Caritas, Andronicans go to Imperium and Zocians go to Prudens''
"During the officiating, you will have to pick up the fluff, the fluff will officiate you entering your house as its colour changes...."
Iving then spoke about the classes we were to take, handed us a set of papers that had the timetable; Enchanter History, Planta Concoction, Defensive magic, Basic Law and Health for Enchanters, Skill Magic, Power Magic, Creaturology. Behind that was a pinned sheet, listing the rules of the Academy and a list of other housing instructions including curfew time at 11 pm, no littering of the grounds, no graffiti, avoid overcrowding Silverstring street, library book time limit- 2 weeks maximum and, so on.
Our discussion was done, a few minutes before the start of the officiating ceremony when our seniors and professors began pouring in. We were seated at the same table as it was in the morning that was laid horizontally as compared to the table of the houses that were laid vertically. The crowd took a while to settle after which Professor Sherwood rose to speak, He gave a brief introduction about the housing ceremony, its history and stressed that unity must rule regardless of differences. I was too anxious to listen to him, my thoughts kept slipping to extreme ideas even though I was confident of my fate, and given that Bexley was wringing her fingers, I knew I wasn't alone. The officiating ceremony began as Professor Orson began reading from a list and I couldn't help but notice that when Sherwood stood to speak, sharp silence prevailed among the crowd, no matter how dull his talk was. But that wasn't the same as when the other professors spoke.
"Bexley Werber" She went forward, tottering a bit on the steps. Once near the tank, she began submerging her hand slowly into it, which was filled with something that resembled water. She lifted the hairy fluff from the bottom of it, And the moment, it came in the air, it turned dry like the sand in a desert.
Orson then handed her a needle to prick her finger and when a drop of blood was visible, she was asked to wipe it onto the fluff and drown it back into the liquid along with her hand till her elbow reached the level of the fluid.
Nothing happened, and then suddenly, a suppressed explosion took place limiting to where the water was without disturbing its stillness, Bexley flinched. The liquid had turned red, leaving us all first-timers caught off-guard. The liquid then climbed up her hands and body and even wet her hair until she was all red, she looked so horrified like this was a terrible prank played that she began breathing through her mouth and her eyes were blinking rapidly, ready to cry.
The crowd laughed at her reaction; Sherwood raised his hands to silence them. Orson then motion her to leave the fluff and pull her hand out of the liquid, The fluff dissolved the red dye in the tank, like charcoal's adsorbing action- turning it transparent. The moment she pulled her hands out of the liquid, she was as dry with only her tie having the red symbol of Caritas and the lacy outline of her uniform red.
She broke a laughing sigh of relief and wiped her watery eyes, now grinning widely.
It was wonderful, nerve-wracking but eye-fixating. I released my held breathe.
"Caritas." Professor Iving said, congratulating her. The students of the Caritas house cheered as she approached them with her already existing pride.
"Bran Becile" The boy with curly hair went forward and held the fluff within his hand, he seemed to be carefree and didn't have a single ounce of worry within him. The liquid turned green and then drowned him green.
"Imperium." Professor Iving stated, congratulating him. The Imperium's cheered as he walked towards the table.
"Ziva Anson" She seemed to tremble when she drowned the fluff into the liquid, but it exploded blue.
"Prudens." The Prudens cheered her entry.
Orson took several names, including Maurilio Iverson, the boy who stared Intimus Iving down at first sight, and Liam Sprague, the boy who caught my eyes at the table. Both landed in Imperium, as expected.
One only had to see the face of Maurilio to see of his true nature, he wore a smug and seemed despicable for the attitude he walked with. Liam on the other hand was completely the opposite, he wore a smile, walked with confidence, seemed well-manned and well-brought-up.
"Elora Bates." I looked up at the woman who called me and then at the man standing beside the fluff, but he happened to be already looking at me, looking at me with the same look in his eyes as when he first saw me, thinking deeply.
I walked up, stumbling like I was about to be skinned alive by Iving's look, but his stare didn't break, not even for a moment, even when I pricked my finger and drowned the fluff. This made every inch of me uncomfortable in addition to the already existing nervousness.
I look at Orson all the while, waiting for her next words to follow with a heart beating so loud that it wouldn't surprise me if someone claimed they heard it. But Orson's face turned expressionless, she squinted, and her face then turned white. Her eyes grew as wide as her orbits would allow her to reach, my eyes automatically followed to where her eyes were pinned, I was already breaking a sweat without even knowing the crime I'd committed, then I saw green. The liquid had turned green.
There was a solemn silence like someone had died and reality dawned upon my soul as the colour drained into my uniform.