Icefall Academy
Arktis Skyland
Northern Space

There was nothing but silence in the hallways of Icefall Academy. Solana walked through it, scratching the back of her head and looking around with brows scrunched in confusion. Every now and then, she would hear noises of the students from behind the classrooms' closed doors.

"Where's the infirmary again?" she whispered to herself. When she told Alec that she had a lousy sense of direction, she wasn't lying even by one bit. I should've waited for Knox, she thought.

She continued to walk through the corridors, admiring the paintings of green landscapes and the swirling patterns craved onto the grey walls. As minutes passed, the urge to barge into the classes and ask for directions grew. With a huff, she decided to do just that. However, she paused on her spot and her brows rose to her hairline.

A butterfly with pink and green wings fluttered around in front of her, looking so out of place in the cold and dull hallways of the academy. Her feet moved toward it and she reached out. The insect settled on her finger and she smiled while watching its wings flap. Her exhaled breath must have scared it because it flew off down the corridor. She followed after it, curious why such an insect was present in Arktis.

It took a few moments before the butterfly disappeared through a gap between black metal bars. She went to stand before it and she noticed it was a gate. However, her breath caught in her throat when she saw what was beyond it.

A glass arched tunnel led to large dome also made of from the same transparent material. The dome was filled with lots of trees, flowers in many colors, and other plants that she had only seen in Saggaran and Cetrulis. More butterflies and other insects flitted about the area.

"A greenhouse," she said. "This is amazing."

She strained her ears when she heard a female voice coming from inside the greenhouse.

"Oww," she heard. "Why does this have such a strong stem?"

Her brows knitted and she looked down to find that the gate was ajar. Curious as she always was, she slipped through the gate and followed the sound of the voice. The warmth of the glass structure engulfed her and she opted to take off her coat and gloves. She stuffed the gloves inside one of the pockets before draping the jacket over one arm.

With her steps quiet, she stood behind a tree and peered at the girl bent over a patch of plants with yellow flowers. Compared to most female Arktis she has seen so far, her body was wide and curvaceous. Also, Solana was sure that if the girl stands to her full height, she would be a few inches taller than her.

"Are you all right?" Solana asked.

The girl gave a startled squeak and she fell back on her rear from her crouch. Her head shot up in a frantic motion, and Solana met her beautiful purplish-blue eyes. It was then that she recognized her as Sierra, a Sky Games delegate from Icefall.

Taking note of her still wide-eyed look, Solana stepped out from behind the tree and rubbed the back of her head rather sheepishly.

"Sorry for startling you," she said. "I'm also sorry for entering."

For a moment, Sierra was quite. All of a sudden, she look down and shook her head. As she stood and dusted herself, she gave Solana a small smile.

"You're Solana, right? No need to apologize. I was just too immersed in what I was doing to not notice you," Sierra said. "Everyone is welcome in the greenhouse, so you don't have to be sorry about entering too."

"Thank you Sierra," Solana said with a sigh. Her eyes roamed over to the plot of plants Sierra was tending earlier. It was then that she noticed the knife next to a pile of the same plant lying on the earthy ground. She raised a brow at Sierra when her gaze went back to her. "What are you doing?"

The corners of Sierra's lips turned down and her cornflower eyes went to gaze at the pile of cut plants Solana was looking at.

"You remember Ticca?" she asked.

Solana smiled. "I don't think I'll ever forget your Drae."

Sierra laughed a bit before bending back to her initial position and taking the knife. "She was healing fine since the arrows were removed. But yesterday, she had a fever. It keep going down then up again," she said. "Because there aren't any Drae's Vigor, I'm getting these herbs."

Solana nodded as she watched Sierra cut through another stalk with a lot of difficulty. She looked closely at the plant, trying to remember what it was and what she knew about it. Once she did, she dropped her coat next to where Sierra's jacket lay and bent next to the girl.

"Is this a Februs patch?" she asked as she took hold of the bell-shaped yellow flower. Sierra looked up and nodded at her with a smile. "Then, you don't cut it by the stem."

She bent closer and reached for the bottom part of the Februs, while Sierra looked at her with confusion. With a tug, she pulled the plant out of the ground, dirt dropping to the ground from the roots. "You pull it out of the ground. After that, you get rid of the roots with a knife and a chopping board. It's much easier that way."

"Thank you," Sierra said. "I have very little knowledge about plants. It's not really an important subject in Arktis."

"I have no interest in the subject too," Solana said. "My annoying brothers, Alec and Knox, kind of forced me to study and stuffed my brain with a lot of information for Knowledge Hunter. I'll end up forgetting it in a few months, I'm sure."

Sierra chuckled before pulling out too herbs from the ground. "I noticed that you and Alec are very close, but I didn't expect it to be sibling kind."

"You thought it was the romantic kind, didn't you?" Solana smirked. Sierra smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Who wouldn't?" the young lady said. "You two look good together. Even Lord Cyanz, who doesn't always assume, deemed you guys a couple. Giving him his very first heart break."

Solana grimaced for an odd reason. Another plant left the ground when she tugged it out before placing it on the pile.

"Honestly, at first, I had girlish interest in Alec," she said. "But later on, it was much easier to like him as a brother." They had stopped pulling out the Februs. She looked at Sierra and found a deep crease between the girl's brows. She chuckled.

"Any girl will end up falling for that guy. He's not perfect, but he's amazing just the way he is," Solana said. "Stopping the feeling was much easier for me when I only saw him as a brother."

"Why would you stop your feelings?"

"To prevent heartache. For me. For Alec. And for the other people around him," Solana answered not a second later. "Alec has a lot of issues in life that he needs to resolve―whatever they are. I feel sorry for the girl that will be involved in his problems. I think he knows that. That's why he's doing his best not to take an interest in anyone right now."

He's failing though, she thought with a snigger when an image of Areisha appeared in her mind.

She stood and dusted her hands, while Sierra copied her. Her body bent to pick up her coat, however she froze. She spun on her heal and knitted her brows at Sierra.

"Why did we suddenly talk about Alec?" she asked.

A red hue covered Sierra's fair complexion before she shrugged her shoulders and rushed to take the herbs they gathered. All the while, Solana had a smirk on her face.

―――

The gate made a creaking sound as Sierra closed it behind them. The girl turned to her and they smiled at each other.

"Can you direct me to the infirmary? I got lost earlier," Solana asked with shy smile.

"Sure," Sierra said. "Thank you for helping me, by the way."

"Happy to help," Solana said. Her hand outstretched for a handshake. Sierra gave a light laugh before taking her hand.

The moment they touched, pain shot to her brain. Her knees connected to the cold grey floor while her hands flew up to her chest. From her peripheral view, she saw Sierra lean back against the gate to the greenhouse.

Another bout of pain engulfed her brain and she gave a silent cry. Images flashed before her eyes, the grey floor disappearing from in front of her. An old woman with long white hair stood before her, donned in ragged brown clothes. The leaves of the forest rustled around her as the wind blew. She knew it too well.

"No..." she whispered. She saw the woman's mouth opening, and she knew what she was about to say.

"The day the sky weeps a river

"Under the protectors' kind eyes

"With warmth from the arms of those loved

"Death awaits―"

"No!" she shouted. At her yell, the image of the old woman was replaced by the familiar grey floor of Icefall Academy. Her hands went down to her cheeks, and wiped away the tears which she knew escaped her eyes. She took deep breaths and looked up at Sierra.

The young lady looked dazed as she leaned on the gate. It was a minute later before her eyes focused and fell on her. Sierra pushed herself away from the gate toward her.

However, Solana stood up as fast as lightning and stepped away from her.

"What's your Sentiral Power?" she asked, almost as low as a whisper.

Sierra was silent as she took a step forward, but Solana took another step away from her. She then released a sigh and spoke with her eyes to the floor.

"Sometimes, even though my power is completely sealed, I can see glimpses, of someone's past and future," she said. "I'm sorry, Solana. I didn't mean to see...your past."

"Whatever you saw, please don't tell anyone about it. Especially my family," Solana said as she calmed. "Forget it too."

"You mean nobody knows that you encountered a Seer?"

"Nobody needs to know," Solana said with clenched fists.

"But they need to―"

Before she could hear Sierra finish her sentence, she dashed away from her. She heard her call after her, but she ignored it and turned a corner. Turning another corner, she wiped away the tears which didn't stop flowing.

It had been three years since that incident when she ran away. Ever since then, she had buried it deep in her mind but it still managed to resurface. It was something she never wanted to remember.

Through her musings, her Sentiral Ability caught on to a familiar voice.

"How long until we can get the file Kreis?" Gael said. She followed the direction of his voice.

Kreis voice drifted to her ear, but it was rougher, sounding like it was coming from commu-crima. "Since August Gayus didn't give the last name, it will take at least a couple of weeks before we find it. There are a lot of recruitment files in the Special Regiment Archives because more than a hundred men come and go in just a half a year."

She continued to run as she listened into their conversation. When she burst from the corridor and turned left, she saw Gael first before he did.

The man's eyes widened at the sight of her, but the expression changed to confusion a few seconds later.

"Lana, are you all right?" Gael asked.

She didn't speak and ran toward him. Almost immediately, she wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her face on his chest. Her silent cries were muffled further. When she was younger, she used to hug Gael every time Knox would upset her. He was always on her side― except the times she was in the wrong.

"I'll call you later Kreis," she heard Gael say.

A few moments later, Gael returned her embrace and rubbed the back of her head. She cried further and tightened her embrace.

"Just cry," he said. "You can decide later whether you'll talk to me about it or not."

She nodded. She also knew that she would never talk about it to anyone, even if they force her to.

####

I'm so so sorry for the long wait. However, please be ready for the next chapter soon. "RITUALS"