Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space
Solana walked through the elegant corridors as she fixed the Prefect band around her arm. She sighed as she took in the silence of the deserted hallways.
"Time to make my rounds!" she yelled. She fastened her pace, and she proceeded to check on the rooms, glancing inside if anyone chose to stay late for the day. The entire floor filled with the sound of doors opening and slamming shut. A couple of minutes later, she wiped the beads of sweat which formed on her forehead. Just when she thought that the entire level was empty, she saw a boy sitting on the sill of one of the large arching windows. He sat sideways, with his back leaning on the sill, and one leg drawn up to his chin, while the other dangled close to the floor. Her feet brought her closer and the frown on her face vanished when she saw who it was.
"Knox, what are you doing up here on the seventh floor?" she said. "I thought you were only going to be on the second and third floors." Knox gave her no answer as he stared out through the clear glass of the window. His stone face caused her brows to fly to her hairline, even though she was used to her brother's behavior.
"Kosmiks to Knox! Hello! Your beautiful twin sister is talking to you!" she said. Her hands flew to her hips, as she narrowed her gaze at him. This seemed to get his attention, but only for a moment, when he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Solana sighed as she plopped herself on the wide windowsill across from her brother. She crossed her arms over her chest, as she faced him. "Okay Knox, what has you deep in thought? Normally you'd only ignore me like this if something's bothering you," she said. She heard him sigh, as he turned away from the window and fixed his gaze on her. He seemed to contemplate, as his brows knit together for a brief second, before he spoke.
"I was just thinking about three things," he said. "I was thinking of that strange blue egg, Alec's sudden appearance, and the larger number of guards situated in the entire skyland."
One side of Solana's lips pulled back as she stared at her brother, while holding in a chuckle. She failed though, and Knox sent her a glare as her giggles rang through the silent halls.
"Do you really have to think of all those things?" she said. "I thought you said you were going to stop that habit of yours, which is thinking of big reasons behind little things."
"This time, I can't help it," he said as he leaned forward toward her. "That egg may literally be little, but it's something to really talk about. And aren't you curious why somebody would just transfer in the middle of the school year, and Grandfather would allow it? Plus, haven't you noticed the increased number of security all over the campus? Tell me if those things aren't worth pondering on." Solana scratched the back of her head, as she yawned at him. While shaking her head, she spoke.
"Sometimes I wonder why we think so very differently even though we're twins," she said. "You have such a complicated way of thinking things.
First off, I was curious of the first two things you mentioned. But answers come as they please, and forcing yourself to find those answers just brings up more questions, and the cycle continues. The egg will soon hatch, and we can always ask Grandfather Donovan to tell us why he made an exception for Alec to transfer here. But I just don't know what the 'increased number of guards' you're talking about. It seems to me that security is just the same as before."
Knox sighed after her lengthy speech, as he seemed to register her words with knit brows.
"Sometimes I don't get why you're so logical, despite that most of the time, you're the insane one between the two of us," he said. Solana's cheeks puffed out as she sent him a glare. She crossed her arms over her chest, and jerked her head away with an audible "hmp." A smile fitted his lips as he watched her sister's change in behavior, before a chuckle escaped his lips. His serious mask though, returned not a moment later.
"I am still worried why the number of the Academy guards has risen, this week. From here, I can see that there are 50 more men who are stationed at the Edges of the skyland. At night, when I stare out the balcony, the numbers also rise."
"I wish I had your ability of powerful sight, and not this hearing ability I got from Grandfather. It would be so much more amazing to see really far off things, than just listen to them," she said. Knox laughed at her, as he reached out and patted her head, making her smile.
"But on serious note, you're right," Solana said, "because Grandfather won't just call on more guards, just like that. He was always sure that this place was safe, and we don't need too many guards."
"Want to go bust into his office, and ask?" Knox said with a raised brow and a big grin.
"And you said, I was the crazy one," she said, and gave him a blank face. Knox's eyes widened when she jumped on him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Let's do it!" she yelled near his ear. She felt him wince, as a light groan of pain ripped through his throat before pushing her off.
Once she broke away, she sprinted down the hall and to the stairs. She heard him yell after her, but she just chuckled and raced down the steps, not sparing him a glance over her shoulder. A few minutes later, she reached the ground floor panting and gasping for air, as she bent forward with her hand on her knees. She clutched her chest, as chuckles erupted from leaving her brother behind. She looked up and saw no sign of him, and a grin flew to her face. She opted to wait on the bottom of the steps, but froze when she saw three people enter the narrow grey hallway leading to her grandfather's office.
"What are they going to do there?" she whispered. She stood there staring, but she jumped when she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder. She whirled around in panic, only to see her brother with a big smirk on his face.
"How did you get here so fast?" she said, as she looked up at the stairs then back at him. Knox titled his head to the side as he gave her a raised brow.
"I was walking like regular person, and was following the rule that no student should run in the school corridors unless it's an emergency," he said as he narrowed his eyes at her. "When I was on the second floor, I saw you there standing like a statue." Solana shook her head at herself, when she realized she spaced out from seeing those three people from earlier.
"I saw Gael, Mr. Kreis, and Alec enter Grandfather's office," she said. Knox knit his brows at this, and he moved first to the direction she talked about. She followed after, and they soon stood in front of the hall, staring at the large double doors on the other end.
"We should just wait for them to come out," Knox said. A smirk made it to her lips when a thought popped out of her head.
"I have a better idea," she said as she raised her right arm. She pulled the sleeve down and revealed a silver bracelet, with a pinkish-white teardrop-shaped crystal on the center.
"Oh Kosmos," Knox whispered as he massaged his temples. "Sentires are not allowed to loosen the seal we have on our powers, unless necessary." Solana only grinned at him, as she placed a hand over the sealing crystal. She closed her eyes, and spoke to him.
"It would only be for a few minutes," she said.
"Grandfather is going to kill me," she heard him whisper.
She ignored him, and focused on all her thought on the seal. She thought of a gold key, and imagined it partly opening the crystal on her wrist. She felt a small surge of power course through her body, and soon she heard sounds coming from different directions. Her head buzzed from the number of sounds, but soon she grew accustomed to it. She opened her eyes, and saw her pink crystal, which now turned red. She heard the thuds his brother's boots made as he paced back and forth in front of her, but ignored it and focused her ears on one direction only. Soon, all the other sounds vanished, as male voices entered her ears.
"I'm doing fine," she heard Alec say.
"Encountered any problems?" this time, it was Gael's voice. She heard no response, so she assumed Alec must have gestured.
"What are they talking about?" her brother's voice brought her out of her concentration. She narrowed her eyes at him, not happy with the interruption.
"Now you're interested," she said as she rolled her eyes. "Be quiet, will you. You're disrupting my concentration, and Grandfather might hear you," she said with a whisper. She went back to closing her eyes and her ears quickly found their conversation again.
"There's still no sign of him," This time she heard Kreis' voice.
"And this is where my help comes in, am I right?" Alec said.
"We need your description of him. You're then only one who saw his face," Kreis said. She heard a sigh, and she assumed it came from Alec.
"His eyes were pale grass green, with flecks of black on them," he said. "He had a square shaped face, an upturned nose, and a scar running down on the right side of his lips. He looked to be around you and Professor Gael's age, along with the same body build and height."
"Green eyes and a scar on the right side of the lips..." she heard her grandfather whisper thoughtfully. Hearing no response from the other three, they mustn't have heard him.
"Remember the deal," Alec said, as she heard a scraping of the chair. "I'll take my leave."
"Drae's shit!" she cursed as her eyes flew open.
"Solana, watch your language," Knox scolded, with a frown. She paid no attention to him but instead grabbed his arm. She dragged him away from the grey hallway, and to the corner of the wide hall which led way to the cafeteria.
"Hide, hide, hide," she chanted as she pushed him behind the wall. She titled her head, and peeked from their spot, only to find Alec walking out from the hall, and passed the lounge between the two large staircases. Not a few moments later, he left through the large open doors, and disappeared into the bright rays of the setting sun.
She released the breath she held and took in much needed air. She looked up only to find her brother glaring down at her, and pointing to her hand covering his mouth. She chuckled nervously, as she removed her hand.
"Sorry," she said. Seeing that her brother stilled glared at her, she decided to speak.
"So, you said you wanted to know why Grandfather approved Alec's transfer in the middle of the school year, am I right?" She did a silent happy dance in her head, when he saw his glower vanish, and her brows knit in curiosity. The look he gave her told her to keep going. But before that, she enclosed her hand over her seal, and closed her eyes. She imagined the key from earlier once more, and visualized it turning the lock back onto the crystal. When she opened her eyes, the crystal turned back to pale pink, and covered it with her uniform sleeve.
"Well, I heard that Alec seems to have entered a deal with them. That's why he's here," she said.
"And what's this deal, if you don't mind me asking?" Knox said.
"They're looking for some guy, and Alec is helping them," she said. "I would have heard more if you didn't interrupt me earlier!" But when she looked up, she found her brother staring at the open entrance, with a deep crease between his brows. Feeling angered, she raised her hand and hit him on his arm, with a loud snap ringing through the halls.
"You're not listening to me," she said through gritted teeth. Knox didn't seem to have flinched from the impact at all and kept his gaze on the doors. She sighed and shook her head at his behavior.