Chapter 4

     I never realized how much I really cared about Tyler until now.  Now that I see him dying right in front of me.  We were in the midst of a storm and he was fighting the Extended and they were winning.  He was bruised badly and blood was seeping out of several wounds.  I comprehended the bruises, but was confused about the blood.  Then I saw a glint of metal seconds before it protruded through the middle of his chest.  His emerald orbs went wide as the knife was retracted from his chest, along with a rivulet of blood.

 

     Tyler fell forward and hit the wet grass hard.  Grass that was now being smeared with red as my brother lay in a pool of his own blood.  The Extendeds dissapeared after speaking quickly with each other.  It was too low for me to hear, but I didn't care.

 

     "Tyler!" I screamed, rushing to him. "Tyler!  Get up!  You can't die!  Please!  Tyler!"

 

     I knelt next to him and tried to turned him on his back.  Only my hand went right through him.  I pulled my hand back in surprise and I reiterated the gesture even though it was pointless.  Blood began to dribble out of his mouth now and I sat on my knees and stared at my bloody hands.  I realized that it was Tyler's blood and started trembling uncontrollably.  Trembling and crying, knowing I couldn't do anything to help him.

 

     "Tyler!  No, please!  Don't leave me!  Tyler!  Tyler!"

 

 

     My eyes flew open and I jerked upright and screamed, startling a black haired woman.  She was dressed in a white attire and she held a clipboard in her hands.  She was sitting in a chair next to the bed, examining me.  Panting, I began recalling the past events and climbed out of the bed, but the woman pushed me onto my back, then placed a cool washcloth on my forehead.  It felt so nice against my skin and I closed my eyes for a few moments.  The cloth was removed as minutes passed and I frowned and opened my eyes.  The nurse saw that my eyes were opened and she smiled warmly at me.

 

     "How are you feeling, Dialla?" I was surprised that she knew my name, but didn't question it.

     "Fine, I guess," I replied, sitting up. "And, not to be rude, but, uh, who are you?"

     She laughed suddenly, like she was embarrassed. "Oh, how silly of me.  I'm Yolande Perraudin, the medical sorceress here at the Tower of Swords."

     "The Tower of...Swords..." Now I was confused.  I was on a plane with Dimitri and....

     "Dimitri!" I cried.  "Where's Dimitri?"

     "It's okay," Yolande said soothingly. "He's right outside.  Do you want to see him?"

     I nodded.

     "Alright, I'll get him." She stood up from her chair and dissapeared out of the infirmary.

 

     I heard murmured voices and the door slid open and Dimitri treaded inside and shut the door behind him.  He was now dressed in a black cloak with short sleves.  There was rope tied around his waist and he had a hood tied around his neck.  He sat down in the chair and I relaxed a little more, knowing that he was here.

 

     "You alright?"

     "I'm better, I suppose, but I wouldn't really use alright.  Especially all that's happened to me in the last ten hours." I paused. "How did we get here?  Last I remember, we were on the jet."

 

     Dimitri nodded in assentment. "Yeah, well, I had to teleport us here after you started screaming bloody murder." He looked directly at me. "What was that about, Dialla.  What happened?"

 

     I averted my gaze and didn't answer.  At least not right away.  His fingers brushed my chin and tilted my eyes back to his.  His voice was normal and sedated as usual but his eyes were something else.  Worried, perhaps?  Concerned?  Well, whatever it was, it broke me and I did my best to explain what I saw in my dream.  I wasn't sure whether he would believe me, so when I finished, I broke eye-contact with him.  I didn't like looking in his eyes; It felt like my heart was jumping in my chest and I couldn't control it.

 

     "The dream did occur, but Tyler is alive.  He has been severly injured and is now receiving medical attention."

     I looked up in ecstacy, and to check if he was serious.  He was.

     "So Tyler's going to be okay?" He nodded and I shrieked with joy. 

     Tyler's alive.  He's alive!  My mind repeated those words over and over.

     "Oh," I exclamed arbitrarily. "What about Gilbert?  Where's he?"

     "Headmaster Gilbert," corrected Dimitri. "is currently in a meeting with some of the teachers, which by the way you call Master.  Although, I'm glad you brought him up." He reached into his cloak and pulled out some clothes and a set of shoes. "Change into these."

 

     I took the clothes and gestured for him to leave.  I slipped on the black cloak, hood and shoes and was checking myself in the mirror when he returned.  Without looking at him, I spoke.

 

     "I never said you could come back in.  I could've still been changing,"

     He ignored me. "Here's your schedule.  You have four classes, then lunch, then four more after lunch.  After school, you are to meet me in the gym immediately."

     "What for?"

     "Training sessions.  You are relatively far behind your peers and the Headmast wants me to mentor you."

     "Lucky me," I muttered. "I'll do fine on my own."

     "We'll see about that."

I scoffed and turned to face him.  He handed me a piece of paper and I took it from him.  I read over my classes:

 

1st Period        Basic Combat Techniques

 

2nd Period       Basics of Elemental Magic

 

3rd Period        Weight Training 

 

4th Period        Basics of Non-Elemental Magic

 

                     ~Lunch~

 

5th Period         Anatomy Level 1

 

6th Period         Algebra I

 

7th Period         Bodyguard Training

 

8th Period         Psychology Level 1

 

    

     "Anatomy and Psychology?" I questioned looking at him.

     "The study of the body and mind." Dimitri said bluntly.

     "I know what it is.  Why do we need to learn it?"

     Dimitri directed his eyes to the ceiling as he contemplated, then said, "It's important to know different ways to take down your enemy."

     A shiver went down my spine and I shuddered.

     "Anyway, classes don't start for ten minutes.  If he is awake, would you like to see Tyler?"  I was out of the infirmary before he finished.

 

 

     Tyler was awake when we visited, but his voice was hoarse.  He had bandages on his torso and a few band-aids on his face and arms.

     "Hey, kiddo.  How you feeling?" he whispered.

     "Forget about me.  You stupid idiot!  Why would you do something like that?  You almost died!" I didn't realize tears were in my eyes until they slid down my cheeks.  I hastily brushed them away and Tyler smiled weakly at me.

     "I had to protect you no matter what."

     "Well, I'm safe now.  So, please, don't do something like that again."

     He nodded. "Hey, what classes do you have?"

     I handed him my schedule and he chuckled lightly.  I opened my mouth to question him but a loud bell interrupted us.

 

 

     "Time for class, Dialla." Dimitri reminded me and I swore.  I didn't want to leave him, not while he was like this.  Tyler placed his hand on mine and I looked at him.

     "Go on, I'll be fine.  I won't be going anywhere for a while." I nodded and got up to leave but he spoke again, stopping me in the doorway. "And don't let any other kids or teachers mess with you, okay?"

     I nodded and Dimitri gently pulled me away.

 

 

     I was grateful for Dimitri that he showed me around because I would've gotten utterly lost in about five minutes.  There were so many stairs and corners and hallways.  To make matters worse, every hallway looks alike.  It felt like we were going in a hugeass circle.  Dimitri said it was in case someone miraculously broke into the school to confuse them.  Upperclassmen often stopped and stared.  Some even made faces and winked at me.  Mostly the guys those. 

 

     I sneered and returned the gesture with a nonchalant wave.  I knew better than to get involved with older guys because they only want you for one night.  Maybe two if you're lucky.  Arriving at the gym caused people to stare open-mouthed at us.  I wasn't fully sure if it was because of me or Dimitri and frankly it was annoying.

 

     "Dimitri!" a feminie voice squealed.

     A blonde blur rushed towards him and buried her face in his chest.  He didn't move in the slightest.  She giggled giddly and snuggled into him like he was a teddy bear.

     "I missed you!  Where have you been?" she asked, ignoring me.

     Dimtri pryed her off gently. "I had to retrieve a new student." He nodded at me to introduce myself.

     "Oh, uh, I'm Dialla Reinhart," I said precariously.

     "Roselia Everlasting," she smiled and extended her hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

 

     I went to shake her hand but stopped just before my hand touched hers.  There was something emitting from her.  I couldn't tell what, but my instincts told me it was dangerous.  I pulled my hand away and stared at her hand.

 

     "Something wrong?" Roselia asked innocently.

     "Ah, um, nothing.  I--" 

     "Roselia,"

     Both Roselia and I stiffened in surprise as a short-haired girl appeared behind her.  Her hands were on Roselia's shoulders and she pulled her arms away from me.

     "Are you really going to use your ability on the new girl?" the enigmatic girl insinuated.

     Roselia jerked out of her grip and glowered at the ebony haired girl. "You stay out of this, Kettoshi."

 

     The Kettoshi girl stared at her amused, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Dimitri tread silently to the back of the room where he leaned nonchalantly against the wall.  All they did was stare at each other, blue clashed with violet-red.  Roselia sneered at her and turned on her heel and headed over to a group of girls who I presumed were her friends.  The violet-eyed girl stared at me, as if I had just appeared. "Sorry about her.  I'm Asalie Kettoshi.  Our Master is currently unable to teach so I'll be leading the classes today."

    

     She turned away and started walking towards the front of the gym.  I stopped near the end annd listened to her explain what we were doing.  We were going to be doing one-on-one spars.  She listed off pairs and I was matched with some person named Lance Finradi.  A black haired boy grinned at me and motioned me to come over to him.  As I drew closer, I realized he reminded me of that werewolf guy in that vampire movie series.

 

     "Lance Finradi?" I questioned.

     He nodded. "You're Dialla Reinhart, right?" I gave him a curt nod. "Alright, well let's see how good you are."

     As the hour passed, I got knocked to the wooden floor at least fifty times.  The last time I got thrown down, I feigned being unconscious.  He rushed to my side and knealt over me.

 

     "Dialla?  Hey are you--" I kicked at his feet.

    

     Before I made contact, he fell to the floor, but kept himself raised by his hands.  It was like he was doing push-ups but his feet weren't touching the floor.  Almost like he was straighting himself, he brought his legs forward.  But they kept going and his foot smacked me in the face, sending me flying back.  I slid on my back, bounced and rolled backwards onto my stomach.  I got to my feet and a small rivulet of blood trailed down my face.  I touched it, absentmindedly, and the crimson liquid got on my fingers.

 

     Then the flashback occured.

 

     I was covered in blood.  So much blood.  I looked down and saw Tyler laying in a pool of his own blood.  It clicked to me now that the blood on my hands, the blood on my body wasn't my blood.  It was his.  I squeezed my eyes shut.

 

     Tyler's okay.  He's alive.  This isn't real.

 

     I gasped and opened my eyes.  Lance and Dimitri were both in front of me.  Lance was bewildered and Dimitri shook my slightly.

 

     "Dialla.  Dalia." I shook my head and blinked.

     "Did you just call me Dalia?" I questioned snidely.

     Lance cracked a smile and Dimitri had a look of relief on his face for a moment, then it vanished.

    "She's fine," he assured Lance. "Go to your next class."

     Lance gave me an apologetic smile then left the gym.  It was then I realized we were alone and it was the next period.

     "My next class!" I exclaimed, startling Dimitri. "I'll be late!"

     I managed to escape his hold but only took two steps before he caught my wrist and dragged me to the bathroom.

 

---

 

     Dimitri brought the irascible girl to the bathroom and began to clean the blood from her underneath her nose.  The bathroom was small so they were merely inches from each others.  She sat down on the toliet while he wet a cloth and knelt before her.  She complained for a few moments but eventually succumbed to his politeness, though it wasn't nessicary.  There were a few minutes of silence until she spoke.

 

     "You don't have to do this.  It's just blood," she mumbled.

     "We can't have you going to your next class looking like a mess, now can we?" Dimitri commented.

     "Just forget it.  I don't want to be late.  The teacher's going to yell at me."

     "Relax.  He won't yell at you so you don't have to be scared."

     She snorted. "I'm not scared of any teacher.  I just don't want to get screamed at on my first day being a sorceress."

     "You won't get screamed at."

     "How do you know?  Do you know the teacher?"

     A smirk threatened to spread on his lips.  He was the teacher.  For today, at least.

     "You could say that."

     "Who is he?"

     "You'll find out."

     "Can't you tell me?"

 

 

     Dimitri shook his head then proceeded to stop the bleeding.  He ordered Dialla to squeeze the bridge of her nose and tilt her head back.  She obeyed instantly.

 

     "Why did you call me Dalia back there?" she questioned.

 

     Dimitri pondered that. Why had he called her that?  He needed to think of something. "I called you that, because it is a name in Italian that is similar to your very own name.  Does that bother you?"

 

     A slight pink flushed her cheeks. "No, I was just curious."

 

    Dimitri nodded and took a step back and watched her.  Dialla interested him.  She was similar to her brother in a few ways, but also completely different from him.  They were both sardonic at times, but Tyler was more serious while she was bubbly.  Though that was probably due to the dramatic age difference.

 

     "Hey, who was that girl that hugged you earlier?" Dialla questioned, snapping Dimitri out of his thoughts. "Aside from the obvious."

 

"Roselia Everlasting is ... I suppose you could call her my sister.  Her family and my family are very close so she thinks of me as an older brother."

"I see." She hesitated for some reason. "Her ability.  What is it?  When I went to shake her hand...I don't know, it felt like...electricity was flowing in her hand instead of blood."

"That's partially right.  Her ability allows her to conduct electricity and it flows through her body but blood still flows in her veins..  If she needs to, she can focus all the electricity to a certain point in her body.  In this case, her hand.  If you had touched her hand, you'd most likely be unconscious by now.  You were able to sense it, weren't you?"

 

She nodded. "How do I find out what my ability is?"

"It varies for everyone.  Some people are born with it, others have to be in certain situations for it to activate."

"As in?"

"Life-threatening situations.  You're brother and I almost died trying to activate his."

She flinched at that and Dimitri hastily changed the subject.

"Let me see your nose," she removed her fingers and leaned forward slightly.

 

Dimitri leaned in and his hot breath fanned her neck.  Dialla's face slowly began to turn red and she looked down at Dimitri while he examined her nasal.  He was so close to her he might as well have been sitting in her lap.  There legs were pressed together and if she moved an inch, her lips would touch his forehead.  She wanted to - badly - but she extinguished the thought. 

 

Dimitri's hand moved slowly upwards from her shoulder and up to her cheek.  She winced and removed his hand and looked in the mirror.  A bruise was beginning to form and she scowled.  Dimitri straightened himself and pulled Dialla up along with him.  She stumbled into his chest but rapidly got off as if he shocked her.  He gave her a puzzled look, but didn't ask any questions.  She left the bathroom and the gym quickly.  Dimitri fell into step with her easily.

 

Dimitri strode into a room so abruptly that Dialla slid to a stop and nearly fell.  Dimitri gripped her upper arm and straightened her.  The students were in there seats but they were talking and laughing.  She percieved some girls looking at her and whispering.  She recognized them as Roselia's friends.  Dialla ignored them and Dimitri ushered her to the front of the class along with him.

 

"Alright, settle down," he said. "Master Dragon is absent, as you can tell, so I shall be substituting for him.  But first..." He gave Dialla a coy smile and she stiffened. He clamped his hand on her shoulder and she buckled slightly. "We have a new student.  Would you please introduce yourself and tell us something about you?"

 

The look in her eyes told Dimitri he was going to pay, but, nonetheless she obeyed.  Dimitri watched as she spoke, a blush forming on her flawless cheeks.

 

"Okay then, I'm Dialla Reinhart and-" she turned to him. "-I hate you."

 

Several kids snickered and amusement flickered in his eyes.  Dimitri had a hard time taking her seriously when he face was red as a tomato.

 

"Now, now, take a seat and pay attention," He took a peice of chalk and began the lesson.