Haven showed Lydis the cla.s.srooms for cla.s.s one through three, the cafeteria, training hall, the outdoor training grounds, and how to find her counseling office. After doing a huge loop Haven brought Lydis back to the branch in the road."And over there on the left side of dorm one is a small garden for growing vegetables as well as a place to play." Haven pointed to a small greenhouse. As they reached the road for the cla.s.s one dorms Hal was already outside, in his hands was a white box. Lydis saw Hal and hoped that Haven wouldn"t kill him.
"HAL! You really have the guts to show yourself to me again!" Haven was already sprinting down the paved path. When she was about five meters away she suddenly kicked off from the ground, propelling herself forward, her foot outstretched in front of her. Hal saw this and didn"t move, instead he just slowly opened the lid to the white box. At first she was filled with rage but the moment Hal opened the box Haven panicked. If he really had "those" then she might forgive him…
A sickly-sweet smell erupted from the white box making Haven"s stomach ache. Having been swayed by the smell, in mid-air Haven twisted her body so that her foot barely grazed Hal"s hair. Shooting past him Haven"s foot collided with the building but, to not cause any damage to the building she quickly brought her other foot forward and ran on the wall for a few feet before springing off in a backflip. Her back in a arc, Haven landed nimbly on the path. Lydis walked at her normal pace to greet Hal.
"h.e.l.lo dorm head Hal." Lydis gave Hal another cadet"s salute.
"You don"t have to do that yet. School starts tomorrow so you"ll learn everything there." Haven b.u.t.ted in and tried to swipe the box from Hal"s hands. "I guess you know what these are?" Hal looked at Haven mockingly. Conflicted and angry Haven was about to punch him again but Hal reached his hand inside the box and pulled out a fluffy pastry. Covered in soft sugar the fresh jelly oozed out of the hole slightly. Crisp and lightly tanned, it looked perfect. On the top, hidden behind the white powder was a pink baker"s crest.
"T-those aren"t Fair Bakery"s jelly buns… The extremely hard to get early bird special buns… Right?" Hal shrugged and took a bite, the fluffy bread bounced back slowly, steam escaping from the bread. The translucent pink jelly lined Hal"s lips which he licked away. Haven"s jaw hung open, drool pooling on the floor.
"Want one?" Hal had stuffed the rest of the bun into his mouth and was now waving the white box around. Haven"s eyes followed it hungrily. Left, right, left, right. Like a cat and a laser.
"I do. I do!"
"Then you can"t beat me up this time." Haven didn"t even hesitate. She nodded her head so fiercely Lydis was sure it would pop off. Satisfied with her eagerness Hal grinned in victory.
"Then you can take it." He tossed the box for Haven. She caught it and instantly began to stuff her face with the sweet buns, not even caring that the sugar powder had fallen on her clothes. Lydis looked at Hal.
"Smooth move." Hal smirked at Lydis and motioned for her to come closer. Lydis looked at him warily but gave in when she saw Haven"s face full of ecstasy as she shoved in another jelly bun. Lydis couldn"t help but feel that all the so-called adults she had met so far were all children! Her faith in adults shriveled.
"Haven, you"ve already done your job so I"ll be taking over for now." She lifted her jelly smeared face and saw Lydis being swept away by Hal. The large doors to the dorms slammed shut.
Inside the building was a wide s.p.a.ce with a skylight, stairs for all three floors lined around the walls. In the middle were numerous chairs, benches and tables. Hal led Lydis up to the second floor, three doors in the left and stopped in front of a large wooden door labeled two-thirty nine.
"Press your hand on that pad." She raised her hand and touched it to the steel pad.
"New user recognized, Lydis Fawn, welcome home." A small speaker next to the pad replayed the message one more time before the locks in the door clicked open. Lydis turned the handle and pulled the door open.
Inside the room looked to be about fifteen feet by twenty feet. On both sides were two bunk beds. The room was identical on both sides, two small drawers each, one desk on each and a rectangle rug in the middle. A single long window in the middle let in the evening sun.
"This will be your new dorm room for the next year. There are only a couple of students here at the time but the rest will arrive when school officially starts tomorrow." Lydis set down Valfafer on a low bunk bed.
"Will I meet my roommates tomorrow?"
"Yes and you don"t have to worry about sharing with a boy or anything. Boys live on the right half while girls live on the left side. It"s split in the middle between room numbers twenty-one and twenty-two. Leave your stuff on whichever bunk you and I"ll show you around the inside." Lydis got up and surveyed the room. Should she take a top bunk or a bottom bunk? Seeing as Valfafer would have trouble getting up a ladder Lydis was debating between the left bunk or the right bunk. Lydis looked at her right arm and decided on the left bottom bunk. She didn"t want people touching her arm and this way it would be facing the wall.
Tossing her bag on the bed Lydis followed Hal out of the room. Valfafer woke up from the beg shaking slightly and his head bounced up. He saw Lydis leave the room so he hurried after her before the door shut behind his master.
In the halls Hal showed Lydis the girl"s bath and the cafeteria area. As well as where the restroom was and the study on the third floor. He also led her to his office located on the first floor. In Hal"s office he handed her a student pamphlet, two uniforms, and a her cla.s.s schedule.
"Don"t forget. These dorms are six rooms by seven rooms. Each can hold four children and there are three stories. That"s five-hundred and four kids all in this dorm. Don"t forget your end of the deal."
"Thank you dorm head Hal."
"I"m only doing this now so I won"t have to do it tomorrow when there"s chaos." Hal ushered her out of his office. "And don"t pick a fight with the kids already here. Last thing I need is some brat crying about a b.u.mp." Hal ma.s.saged his forehead and closed the door to his office. Lydis stood outside Hal"s door for a moment when she saw movement on the second balcony.
Lydis looked up and the small figure turned around sharply, fleeing into one of the many rooms. A loud bang followed meaning that whoever was there already hid in their room. Valfafer was prancing around the halls sniffing everything. He was excited to be at a new place and it smelled funny there, like a mix of food and pee.
Ui crawled out of Lydis"s pocket. When they left the caravan port Ui had insisted on hiding in Lydis"s pocket in case anyone tried to attack her. It"s red eyes scanned the area. Ui flapped it"s wings and hovered over Lydis"s shoulders before landing gently.
"Master Lydis. It seems that this building is made out of very st.u.r.dy metal. Are you certain this is a place of learning and not for restraint?" Lydis smiled at Ui"s question
"In the past it used to feel like that, sitting in a cla.s.sroom all day but, for the first time I"m not dreading cla.s.ses!" Ui tilted it"s head at Lydis.
"Past? Could you elaborate more Mater Lydis?"
"Past? I said past… because…" Flashes of the bloodied cla.s.sroom stung her eyes. A happy family, her mother, the blood, pain, sorrow. Kill. Kill! A sharp pain in her head caused Lydis to stumble onto the wall. Valfafer stopped and rushed to Lydis, concern in his eyes.
"I-I"m fine. Just a little dizzy from the caravan… We should, go and… unpack…" The walls seemed to distort and wiggle. The floor suddenly too close. Lydis felt her hand slip from the wall. Another sharp pain reverberated at the back of her head. She looked left and her hand was so close to her face. Somehow the uniforms had fallen to the floor as well.
Her eyelids heavy, black dots flickered in and out of sight. The pain in her head never stopped but seemed muted when she closed her eyes. Valfafer"s whine was so far away, even Ui"s voice was getting lost. She blinked once, twice. The intervals between each getting longer. The last thing Lydis saw was a small pair of calloused hands reaching for her sprawled out arms.