We finally arrived at what appeared to be more like a castle than it did a school. The dark, grey coloured building sat on top of a cliff; a set of stone stairs led to its entrance. The intricacies of architecture appear to tell a story, but one I didn’t quite know yet, and I am determined to find out. On the pamphlet, the building looked like a regular castle owned by any royal of the 8 kingdoms, but up close, I realized I was wrong. No, this was something else entirely.
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I walked carefully up the stone staircase, as one misstep would send me tumbling down the cliff, to a simple ending of my story. That was not the way I wanted to die, not in this life after all, there was something I must do before I go.
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“We’re here,” he announced as we finally reached the steel gates that marked the entrance. He got close to the gate and covered his mouth so I wouldn’t be able to see. Now he’s being all secretive. I rolled my eyes as the gates creaked open.
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As soon as we entered, rows of students wearing the same, if not similar, attire as Damion stood waiting in the courtyard. “Here, take this.” he took off the grey cloak that covered his hair and tossed it to me. His onyx hair lay in a mess due to the gesture, the scar showing once again. And those eyes. The scarf was still covering the lower portion of his face, and it looked almost glued to his face. I was curious to see what lay beyond it. “To help you blend in, if it wasn’t for your resistance, we could've gotten the first-year uniform.” He pointed to the line of students, covered in navy blue, unlike the grey of the second year’s beside them.
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“Thanks,” I replied, pulling the cloak over my body, concealing the irreversibly grass-stained outfit underneath.I would still stick out as a grey among the sea of blue, but at least they couldn’t tell who I was this way.
I rushed to the back of the line, hoping that if I was in the back, I would draw less attention, and it surprisingly worked, except for the occasional side eyes and whispers. From the corner of my eye, I saw him; he was back.
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He slowly approached me, with an annoyed expression written on his face, as he stood directly in front of me. “You’re back,” I whispered, hoping I wouldn’t draw much attention, but if the others weren’t looking before, they sure were now. I mean, I couldn’t blame them, for them, it looked as if I was talking to myself, but how I wish that was the case.
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“Really?” he questioned. “A school for Assassins,” he nodded his head in disapproval, and his face scowled in disgust. “If the Crown knew about this, they would publicly hang you all for the world to see,” he smiled, thinking of the possibility.
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“What are you going to do, tell them?” I smirked, letting out a slight giggle, knowing that wouldn’t be possible. I mean, how could a dead person tell the Crown anything? “As if they don’t know already, you really think they would tell soldiers about their private businesses?” I smirked, knowing that this would get him riled up. For a twenty-year-old soldier, he prided himself on being the future of the nation, to bad for him it was cut short by a nearly homeless orphan girl who desperately needed the money.
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“You know, you’re so lucky that you killed me when I was already injured,” he scoffed and pointed his middle finger at me. “If I were in top shape, I would’ve killed you on the spot.”
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“Don’t you have to go now?” I pretended not to hear him as I looked up at the position of the sun, and stuck 4 fingers out measuring the distance from the sun to the horizon. A trick you learn when you don’t always have access to clocks. It was roughly 8:30, meaning it was time for him to go.
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“How did you… Never mind,” he turned around and disappeared into the shadows. I’ve asked him where he went, but he never told me. All I knew was that every day at 8:30, he would disappear, and only in the morning would I see him again. Not that I wanted to see him again, he was a nuisance. I mean, who would want to be haunted by those they killed?
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After the nuisance left, I drew my attention back to the center of the courtyard. There seemed to be a crest, but no one was standing on it; everyone’s eyes were fixated on it, as if someone would magically appear if they weren’t paying attention.
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“There in the trees,” a boy, with a heavy voice, directed, and everyone’s gaze shifted sharply to the left, including mine.
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I couldn’t see it at first, but a roar of claps erupted from the students from both the first and second years. I squinted my eyes, wondering why everyone was cheering, but then I saw her. Her silver hair, shining in the dark, her face fully concealed by a mask, unlike the half-hidden scarf that Damion wore.
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“Congratulations, Ronan,” a mature yet oddly powerful voice announced. “You’ve earned a point, Section B”. I turned my attention to the boy, and he nodded with approval. As soon as I looked back at the trees, she was gone.
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“Welcome all,” the same voice greeted. I followed my gaze back to the voice, and there she was, standing on the crest of the courtyard. “Welcome to Aldroch.”
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Once again, a burst of cheers erupted from the crowd, and this time I joined in. Since I am forced to stay in this school, I'd better make the most of it. She took off her mask, revealing a woman with hazel eyes underneath. She looked younger than I expected. For a woman with pure silver hair, she looked no older than 4 years old.
“My name is Silvia Calhorth. You’re Principal,” She smiled, and the cheers intensified. “For the first years that you don’t know who I am, you may be more familiar with my other name, “The Reaper.”
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No, it couldn’t be. I shook my head in disbelief. During my long stay in Azeltar, I had heard rumors that the famous “Reaper” who had killed the crown princess of the nation had been executed in private, to prevent anyone from knowing the identity of him or her identity in this case.
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I heard a few gasps from the first years, but the second years smiled in acknowledgement, as if they reacted the same way when they first were met with the news, as well.
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“I’m saddened to see such few first years this year,” she pointed to us, and scanned us one by one. “Only 50,” she whispered, but everyone was so focused on her that we all heard anyway. “Well, I hope that all 50 of you pass the Initiation this year,” she smiled, but her voice lowered and her expression hardened. “Well enough of that, tomorrow will be your last free day before classes resume. First years, make sure to attend orientation at 8 am. As soon as you enter the dorms, your name with your assigned room will be posted on the wall,” she announced as she let out a sigh. “ I welcome you all once again, and I hope that I see you all soon,” she waved goodbye and disappeared.
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As soon as she left, the second years began dispersing, some going in one direction, the others going in another. I scanned the courtyard looking for Damion, but he was nowhere to be seen. I guess he has more important things to do than show me around this big ass school. I scoffed and turned around when I noticed a girl around my age standing right behind me. I stumbled backwards in shock and almost tripped over the hood in the process.
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“Sorry to frighten you,” the girl removed her navy blue cloak, revealing a set of wavy ginger hair and brown eyes. She removed the scarf from her mouth to reveal a freckled, tiny face. Not one I expected to find here. “ I know, you’re a second year, but you appear to be lost.” She tilted her head down and shifted nervously as if by suggesting the idea, she would be punished severely.
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“I am,” I chuckled, taking off Damion’s grey hood, revealing my wavy black hair and deep blue eyes. “To the part about being lost, not to the second year,” I smiled while taking off the cloak, completely revealing my disastrous outfit underneath.
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“Oh” she replied while looking me up and down, and I could tell that she was judging me. Not that I would blame her, I would judge someone with grass and mud stains on their outfit, too. “Well, I could show you where it is,” her expression relaxed as she let out a soft smile.
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“That would be great. Thanks,” I smiled and followed her as she led the way.
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“Did you know the school was founded only 40 years ago?” she asked as she looked directly at me. “Oh, sorry,” she muttered as she continued walking.
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“Do continue. I want to know as much about this place as I can,” I smiled as we continued walking to the left past a huge sign that says “FIRST YEAR DORMS” on it.
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We continued walking till we reached a big building with a light blue sign labeled First Year Dormitory. From this walk alone, I learned more information about this school than Damion ever told me. This school was supposedly founded by the First Leaders of the Four Major Assassin Guilds. They wanted a way to teach the future generations about the proper way to be an assassin, whatever that meant.
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“How do you know so much about the school?” I questioned as I looked her in the eyes.
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“My dad went here,” she responded. My eyes widened with shock. For some reason, I expected all the first years to be as clueless about this place as I was, but I was clearly mistaken.
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We entered the dorm to see about 20 first years scanning the wall for their name. We joined the crowd and began scanning but my name was nowhere to be found.
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“Here,” she pointed to a name called Clara Tempest. With all the chaos, I completely forgot to ask her for her name. “What room are you in. I’m on level 3, room 2.
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I scanned the walls one more time, and that's when I saw it. “Aeriline Reyes,” Right, my name was Aeraline here. Is Aeriline here.I looked beside my name to see which room I was in. Level 3, room 3, it read.
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“I’m in the room right next to yours,” I squealed with probably more excitement than I should of. I mean, I just met the girl, but she was already the closest thing to a friend I had in this place or ever for the matter .
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“Yay, we can walk to classes together. By the way, it’s Clara,” she squealed in response, and I smiled. It couldn’t hurt to have a friend, even if this was a school for assassins.
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“Aeriline,” I responded as she motioned for me to follow her up the stairs.
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We finally reached Level 3 and parted ways. I expected our rooms to be closer together, but they were quite far apart. At least we are on the same floor . I tried turning the doorknob, but it wouldn’t open.
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“Hey, how do I open this?” I asked Clara as I noticed her door was open and she was already greeting her new roommate.
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“You’re key, you should’ve picked it up in the morning along with your cloak,” she answered while looking me up and down. “Oh, right, you can try knocking really loudly to see if you’re roommate’s inside. If not, just knock on my door, I can walk you to the main office to get your keys,” she smiled while waving me goodbye as she went into her room.
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I knocked on the door softly at first. I didn’t want to make a bad impression already. When they didn’t open, I knocked harder, hoping that I didn’t have to take the long walk to the main office just for me to sleep for the night. Just as I turned around, accepting my fate, I heard a slight noise.
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Click.
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The door creaked open. I had to share rooms with all kinds of people: middle-aged women with babies, elderly women with snoring issues, and women with serious crack issues. But none of them is a shirtless 17-year-old boy.
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I froze in shock. The dorms are co-ed. The dorms are fucking co-ed.
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and then Add to home screen.