Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space

"Come on, Alec," Solana said. She grabbed his arm and tugged him forward down a hall with Knox laughing behind them. He did his best to keep his emotionless façade even with the tight and painful hold the girl had on him.

Kosmos, how strong is she? he thought.

"Solana, I think you need to give Alec his arm back," Knox said, as he placed a hand on the door handle. The blonde rolled her eyes at her brother, before turning to Alec. She smiled and let go of his arm, much to the young man's relief. He resisted the urge to soothe the pain, when the twins entered the room in front of him.

He slipped inside as well, and a table brimming with different kinds of food greeted his eyes. He looked down on the marble floor, and trailed after the twins.

"Isha, I hope you don't mind if Alec sits next to you?" Solana said. Areisha whirled her head toward them, with her mouth slightly opened, and eyebrows tossed to her hairline. Their blue gazes locked before Areisha broke away, with a distant look in her eyes. When she nodded, the blonde Prefect pushed Alec down on the chair, and sat on to his right.

From the corner of his eye, he watched the brunette with slightly knit brows, before he turned his attention to Solana who had let out a shrill yell.

"Can I lead the prayer?" she asked. Her grey eyes sparkled like a child's and Alec was unable to stop himself from smiling at the way she acted.

"You always lead, so why do you even have to ask?" River said with a frown etched on his face. He reached out to grab for a piece of meat, but the dark-tanned lady, Muriel as they called her, slapped his hand like fly.

"River, be patient," she said, with a smile. "It's not like you don't eat more than thrice a day, unlike others who can barely even put one meal on their plate for week."

The boy slumped back in his chair, and stared at the table with an unfathomable expression on his face. Muriel did have a point, and Alec had seen enough at Arktis to prove what she said was true.

Solana clasped her hands together, and tapped her forehead twice with her thumb before intertwining her fingers once again. He and Knox did the same, and Alec took note that the rest, except Muriel, made a different gesture. So they worship the new gods, he thought.

"Oh great beings that watch over our realm, we thank you for the blessings we have received. Food on our table, a safe roof to sleep in, our great health, and...a new friend that we hope to consider family soon as well," Solana said. A smile tugged at Alec's lips, as his eyes remained closed. "May you give us strength throughout the day, and help us so we do not stray away from our chosen paths and give us wisdom to make decisions along the way."

The twins gestured once more, and so did Alec and Muriel. River on the other hand though, came first at forking a thick piece of roasted meat covered in sauce and placed it on his plate.

"Pig," Alec heard Areisha say.

Throughout breakfast, they talked, well mostly Solana, for the rest were busy in their own worlds, like Areisha and River.

"To, Alec," Ceiver called. He looked up at him, a bit surprised to finally hear the boy speak to him. Earlier, when Ceiver came down the stairs, he went straight to the kitchen after seeing him sitting in the common area. He noted how his brown eyes went wide like the rabbit's he hunted. He knit his brows in silence when he thought for sure he meant to say "so."

"Yes, Ceiver?" he said, as he wiped his face with a napkin.

"How did you get that tcar, on your brow?" the blonde boy asked. He pointed at the corner of his right brow.

Alec froze first, before he reached out with his hand, and his fingers ran over the spot where the scar was. I think he meant scar, he thought. He realized the room fell silent as eyes fell on him for his answer. He sighed.

"I was walking through my hometown once, when I was 10," he said. "A couple of big kids came around, and threw rocks at me. A particular rock managed to leave this mark, while the rest of the scars just faded."

"Why would they throw rocks at you?" Solana said. One of her brows arched and she crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned back on her chair.

"They wanted me to leave the town," he said. Not wanting to say more, he picked up his utensils and he resumed eating.

"Why are you being so vague?" River asked.

"Why would I be?" he countered. The black-eyed boy huffed out an air of annoyance as a frown formed in between his brows once more. Silence reined over them with the exception of the silverware clanking as they ate breakfast. When they were almost finished, Knox broke the silence.

"What about the scars on your back?"

The utensils fell from Alec's hold and fell on his plate with a loud clatter. His hands slowly curled into fists as seconds ticked by.

"You saw them?" he said, breaking the defeating silence.

"You have scars on your back?" Solana asked. They ignored her though.

"Yes," Knox said. "When you fell into the lake, I assisted Professor Gael and Nurse Jemial in looking after you."

"Please forget what you saw," Alec said. The air seemed to chill, as he spoke with his voice as cold as ice. His stoic mask came back on, and when he faced Knox, the boy seemed to stop himself from speaking anymore by clamping his mouth shut. Solana though had other plans.

"Can I see them?" she said. Unlike her usual jolly expression, Alec couldn't make out what face she was trying to pull. Her face was somewhere in between serious and neutral. It was as if he was staring at a different person, someone who was contrasting to the Solana he met.

"They're ugly," he said.

"You can't be the only judge of that," Solana said. "Let me see." She stood and went behind him. When her fingers touched his shirt, Alec stood abruptly. The chair fell back and he heard Solana hop back to avoid it.

"Please excuse me," he said. "I'll be heading back to my room and catch up on the lessons I have missed before my transfer here."

Without looking back, he left the silent room and pulled the door open. When he stood outside in the hallway, he sighed and leaned against the closest wall.

"They're scars from a horrid past I can't seem to remember," he whispered. But at the same time he hoped Solana heard it so to make her let go of the subject.

―――

Alec broke his gaze from the book in front of him, when he heard a knock. His brows knit, before he decided to check who it was when the person knocked again. Once his door flew open, small hands connected with his chest, and pushed him back into his room. He looked up with wide eyes and saw a familiar brunette shut the door behind her. When their gaze met, he glared down at her dark blue eyes, and his fists clenched at his sides.

"What the Blazen are you―"

"Shhh...someone will hear you below," Areisha said. "Good thing Solana went off to the Incubation Chamber." When he blinked, Areisha stood a mere foot away and pushed him till he sat on the edge of his bed.

"Roselintine, what are you...doing?" Alec's voice fell into a whisper, when his bed bounced as Areisha hopped on top of it, and went behind him. He stiffened when he felt her arms slip around his waist. His jaw fell open and his eyes widened, when his long-sleeved t-shirt came over his head with a tug from her. Her soft hand ran across his bare back slowly, and he jerked away from her. He swore to the heavens that his face was warmer than Parythian Skyland.

"What the Blazen is going on?" he whispered-yelled. His eyes darted around looking for his brown top when Areisha's words made him pause.

"Your scars," she said. He picked up his shirt when he spotted it, and looked up at her.

"What about them?" he said. He saw how she quickly looked up at his face, as if she was staring at something else entirely. She gathered her hair and swept it over her one shoulder. With a reddening face, she turned her back to him while her fingers fumbled to pop open the buttons of her shirt.

Alec's eyes grew bigger than usual, and he scrambled to pull on his top, while walking towards her. Before her shirt could slip off her shoulders, he grabbed the clothing, and firmly held them in place. None of them spoke, and remained in the same position for only Kosmos know how long.

"I have scars like yours." Areisha shattered the awkward silence with a heavy breath. "I thought you wouldn't believe me so I should―"

"Stop, please. You could've just told me. There's no way I would've asked you to...." A cough escaped his lips, as he moved away from her. He turned his back on her and took a deep breath. "Please make yourself decent."

He heard his bed creak, assuming that she got off of it. He heard her cough, and he took it as a signal to turn back around. While trying to put on a face of nonchalance, he spoke.

"Why do...this?"

"I had to make sure first that you indeed had those scars. You wouldn't have shown it to me otherwise, so...I'm...I'm so s-sor...ry for coming in like that," she said. She said, as her faced turned beet red, while playing with the hem of her shirt. Inevitably, Alec couldn't help but think she looked adorable in her flushed state. Inappropriate moment, for inappropriate thoughts, Alec, he chided himself.

"What of these scars?" he asked. "They seem rather important to you.
How did you get them?" he said with a raised brow.

"Exactly," she said, "I don't know. I have no memories of how I got I injured like that. If my...father...knew, he would've told me otherwise or he's just hiding it from me. It's probably the later."

"Didn't it cross your mind, that this is just a coincidence?" He neglected the way she addressed her father. She shook her head at him, and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Six longs scars, three on each side of the back. They cross over each other," she said. "Do you think it's a coincidence that you have it too, and a few more others from Saggaran and Cetrulis Skyland?"

He shook his head, hiding his surprise behind his mask.

"So, you came here to ask how I got these scars, am I right?" he said. Before she could nod, he spoke again. "The answer you'll be receiving will be the same as the answers the others gave you.

"I don't remember," he finished.

"How do you know that they answered that?" Areisha titled her head to the side.

"You wouldn't have come asking me if you got a satisfying answer."

He saw how her cheeks turned red as they puffed out. She crossed her arms over her chest, and stood.

"It was nice talking with you," she said. Detecting distaste in her tone, he titled his head to the side, as an amused smile appeared on her face.

"Why suddenly look so annoyed Roselintine?" he said. "Between the two of us, I should be wearing that frown etched on your face."

"Why?" she said.

"Why?" a laugh escaped him. An idea popped into his mind, and even knowing it was ridiculous he went through with it.

"You were the one who barged in here while I was studying," he said. He advanced toward her, and she inched away with every step. When her back hit the wall next to the door, he bent down. She was short, shorter by a few inches than Solana. He placed an arm above her head, and leaned in.

"Someone like you, who obviously has a noble upbringing, shouldn't go entering men's bedrooms, and try showing them―"

She pushed him away, and he began laughing at her red face. His laughter filled his room, as he hunched over from the growing pain on his stomach. He was quick to calm himself down, and wiped the tears that threaded to fall down his face. He faced her, who looked at him with wide eyes and mouth ajar. He walked back towards her, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched, and seemed to have been brought out of her reverie.

"Look," he said, "sorry about just now, okay?"

She shrugged his hand off, and mustered a glare he couldn't believe someone her size could make.

"For now, you're forgiven," she said. "I'm sorry also, about what happened."

"Wow you apologized twice. This time you did it without cutting the word in half."

"Damn you to the deepest pits of Blazen, Arden!" she said through gritted teeth. She soon left out the door, and Alec chuckled at her sudden outburst.

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Please tell me that didn't turn out weird. Personally this chap is weird...haha. I guess that's what happens when I write at 11 to 12 in the evening