"You alright?"
Kateryna glanced at Raiden, startled out of her thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." She struggled to keep her voice light and cheerful, but failed.
After Seraphina had told, and shown, Kateryna Avalon's story, she ordered Raiden to show Kateryna around. So they left the headmistress to reminisce the past, and were currently walking through the main building of the academy, towards the dormitories.
Raiden looked dubious. "I don't think so. Usually when people say they're fine, they're really not. You don't have to pretend around me."
He was greeted with a moment of silence.
Kateryna gave him a small, rueful smile, before looking away. Her voice was soft, nearly inaudible. "I've been caught."
"What did the lady tell you?" Despite Kateryna's reluctance to talk, Raiden couldn't help but be curious.
Kateryna was hesitant, giving a vague answer. "...She told me about my mother, the celestial competition, and... how she disappeared and left only a wind message."
Raiden seemed to understand, and decided not to push her for any more information. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Kateryna smiled gratefully. "Thanks."
She stopped walking and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, then opened them again, back to her normal state.
She grinned. "Let's go, we don't have all day."
Though Raiden could see right through her, and wanted to point out that they did have all day, he decided to go along with it.
"Alright then, Ryna, follow me."
They walked into an outdoor hallway that connected the main building to the dormitories.
"Anyway, once I drop you off at your room, I'll inform the lady about the prophecy situation... Hey, you listening? Kateryna."
At the sound of her name, Kateryna snapped her head to look at Raiden. "Wha... oh, yeah. I'm listening. It's just, the view is so beautiful."
The sunlight shone through the large arched windows casting pools of light on the ground. Gold vines wrapped around the pillars and across the ceiling of the hallway. Griffin statues stood on either side of the entrance.
Outside, birds chirped merrily, and a few students bustled around. Kateryna reveled the sound of nature in the background. A breeze made her hair billow out to the side.
Raiden laughed. "This isn't even the most beautiful scenery here. This is just the academy."
"Oh, well, from what I remember of the human dimension, nothing is as beautiful as this place. So naturally, this must be the most beautiful scenery I've seen, besides the lake."
They entered the dorms, Kateryna turning her head this way and that, trying to take everything in all at once.
"This is the lobby, hangout, whatever you want to call it. The dorms are separated by gender. The hallway and stairs on the left leads to the girls' dormitories, the right to the boys'. Clear enough?" Raiden gestured around the room, looking bored.
Kateryna nodded.
They were in a room with high windows, a fireplace, and many couches and armchairs, along with coffee tables. The normal lobby room.
Raiden went up the stairs on the left, and Kateryna furrowed her brows.
"People can just go to the other gender's dormitories?"
"No. But I'm showing you where your room is, so it doesn't matter." Kateryna could tell by his tone of voice that he had rolled his eyes.
She scoffed. "Okay then."
Rows of doors lined one side, and windows on the other side of the hallway, which branched off into another hallway, which had doors on either side of the hallway. It was a maze of hallways, doors, and windows.
"Huh. I see why you wanted to show me where my dorm was." Kateryna looked at the numbers on the the doors. "These numbers are getting pretty high. How many people attend this academy?"
He shrugged. "A lot. We're not even on the highest floor."
"Are there elevators?"
"Yes, but walking is good for you," he said cheekily.
Kateryna huffed in annoyance. Looking out a window, she crashed into Raiden's back when he stopped abruptly.
"Hey!" She rubbed her nose resentfully.
Raiden ignored her. "This is your room. Most people share dorms, but you get your own room. Lucky you." His voice was monotonous, obviously wanting to be anywhere else.
He gave her the key and started walking away.
"Wha- hey! Wait, where are you going?"
"To talk with Lady Seraphina. When you're done cleaning up, or whatever, go to the training field."
Kateryna glared at his back and went in her room.
There was a queen bed on one side of the room, a dresser with a large mirror, and window on the adjacent wall, and a bathroom and walk in closet opposite from the bed.
Kateryna stared in awe at her luxurious room.
"All to myself..."
Glancing at herself in the mirror, she realized that she was still in her emerald ball gown, her hair no longer in its elegant chignon, but rather tangled and matted.
She blushed in embarrassment. Gosh, I've been walking around like this? No wonder people stared.
She looked at the fresh pair of clothes folded and stacked on her bed, grabbed them, and hurried into the bathroom.
_
Kateryna walked along the hallways, trying to remember how to get out.
Her hair was still damp from the shower. She was wearing the uniform she had found on her bed, which was plain white.
It seemed that she would get a more specific uniform once she properly settled in and identified her level.
She fingered the plain gold ring strung on a chain that was around her neck. She tended to do that a lot. It had belonged to her mother.
When she finally found her way out of the labyrinth of dorms, she was still thinking about her mother.
Who was Avalon? Why was she in the human dimension? What was Kateryna? What was Avalon's mission? What was her sin?
Kateryna was so deep in thought, as she was about to exit the lobby, she ran into a wall.
She was about to fall to the ground when a hand wrapped around her wrist, keeping her suspended above the ground. She looked up to see a boy instead of a wall.
"You okay?" Asked the wall. Sorry, the boy.
"Erm..."
Kateryna's heartbeat suddenly increased exponentially, and she involuntarily shivered.
The boy looked at her with concern.
"Uh... oh, yeah, I'm fine."
The boy pulled her upright, and smiled at her. She stared.
He was about a head taller than her, had black hair, and blue eyes so dark they looked black. His gaze was piercing, as if they were looking right through her soul.
Goosebumps rose along her skin, and she shivered again.
She took deep breaths to try to calm her racing heart, but to no avail. Adrenaline released into her veins.
The boy cleared his throat, making her blush when she realized that she was staring. "Glad to hear that."
She thought back to what was said before, before it clicked. "Oh, um, yeah. Thanks for catching me...?"
"Liam. And you're welcome...?"
"Kateryna."
"Well, nice to meet you, Kat." He shook her hand, making her flush an even deeper red when she noticed that she hadn't let go of his hand. She shook it and immediately let go.
Before, she wasn't much of a blusher, but now, she seemed to be embarrassing herself a lot, lately.
"Um, yeah, nice to meet you too, Liam."
"So, you new here?"
"Err, yeah."
"Cool."
They stood there for a moment, silence filling the air between them. Suddenly, Kateryna remembered.
"Oh! Would you mind doing me a favor and show me how to get to the training field? I think I'm late to meet someone, and I don't want to get lost, which I probably would."
"Of course not, I'll walk you there, no problem."
Kateryna exited the lobby, almost running. She really didn't want to embarrass herself further.
She didn't know why her body was reacting this way to the boy, Liam.
_
Hmm, new character... Who should be the actor for Liam?
Sorry for the wait guys, I was busy writing and finishing a new teen fiction short story, Hey December. I would appreciate it so much if you checked that out. Haha no shame.