Paradigm: Seekers, Chapter 1: Reach [REVISED]

First Chapter of Paradigm: Seekers. Revised once, as of February 27th, 2013

Reach (Chapter 1)

Linos sat, waiting for Grey to finish his class. The front lobby was quiet this time of day, making it the perfect place for him to catch up some reading, since he didn’t have class at this time. Only the sound of the two desk clerks chatting quietly, and the patter of feet across the tiled floor, resonated in the large and open room. He glanced up each time he heard footsteps to see if they were Grey’s, but it was just another student making their way to cafeteria, their reflection on the glossy tiles like a mirrored ghost.

Flipping the page in his book, Linos smiled as he reached a new chapter. He moved the bookmark from its last page and slid it into place, marking his new milestone in his book. He set it down next to him on the bench and stretched his arms, and wings, out wide as he stood up. He’d been sitting for quite a while. As he opened his eyes his gaze traveled upwards towards the deep ceiling of the lobby. The ceiling was a vaulted dome with a few skylights around the apex, letting pillars of golden light shine down onto the floor and eastern wall. He’d always liked the architecture of buildings in the Sygna sector, such as this Guild.

He sat back down, and brushed his long bangs out from in front his face. As he did he noticed Grey making his way down the steps from hallway on the far side of the lobby, his foot steps echoing through the room. Grey was tall and muscular, with short, messy black hair. Linos was tall as well, but he had very little bulk, which made him look even skinnier while standing next to Grey.

“What took you so long?” Linos asked, poking fun at his tardiness as he walked over to him.

“The teacher decided to hand out an assignment at the last minute,” Grey sighed, “sorry.”

“Really? Make sure you get this one done on time, okay?” Linos reminded him.

“I plan to start it tonight, once we get home.” Grey smiled.

“Sure you will,” Linos said sarcastically, “now let’s go get some food before next class.”

Grey gasped, clutching his chest, as if Linos’ stab at his bad habits had been a literal one. He laughed, shaking his head at Grey’s gesture, and the two of them made their way towards the cafeteria together. Late afternoon light poured into the hallway through the large, ceiling to floor, windows that displayed an always beautiful view of the open skies of Miria. Their shadows were stretched across the floor, barely reaching the far walls. The light was warm on Linos’ skin, sending a tingle across it, making him smile.

Linos stared off at the softly gold tinted clouds that filled the sky around the Guild complex, and stretched endlessly towards the horizon. He’d always found the sky beautiful, and it was easy to, since there was so much of it. One of his favourite views was the one from the rooftop courtyards. From there, Linos could see the entire panorama of sky that surrounded the floating island the Guild was built on. He could even see his home-island from there. The clouds, like drifting bastions, created an every changing land scape of colours and shapes, one he never tired of looking at.

Suddenly his view was cut off, and his attention sharply redirected, as they passed the doorway into the cafeteria. It was like a sea of people, sat around tables and in line next to the kitchen, as they entered. The loud sounds of so many people all together in one room was a sharp contrast to the silence Linos enjoyed back in the lobby. Grey didn’t seem bothered by it at all, he enjoyed the energy, an interest they didn’t share. The line up was long, but today’s special of Baphyn salad and pasta was well worth it, to Linos.

They each grabbed something to eat and started looking for a seat. Finding a table was difficult, as most of the tables had been taken. The rows around the kitchen were all occupies, as well as the long tables in the central pit. Grey managed to spot a table near the back by the windows, and even though the cafeteria was packed and noisy, Linos enjoyed the scrap of solitude it offered. They sat down and started eating, chatting over small things, until something caught Grey’s eye over Linos’ shoulder. He lost focus on the conversation, so Linos traced his sights, Linos found what he was staring at.

A small group of people, adorned in the long, heavy, brown coats were scouting the cafeteria. Over the heart of the jacket, on the left side, was a crest. Linos squinted, trying to focus on what kind of crest it was. He raised an eyebrow when he figured out they were Nyph City officials. Grey wasn’t the first to notice them, either. It seemed most of the cafeteria had become aware of them. It was a strange sight to see Nyph city officials all the way out here, without any warning. However, the one thing made them seem especially out of place were the metal rings that hovered above their heads. Linos had never seen anything like them before.

He, along with most of the room, watched as they strolled slowly and silently through the cafeteria, weaving between tables, checking out each group of people. They passed by Linos and Grey, giving them a each a once over before rounding back up and leaving the cafeteria. Even the kitchen staff seemed off put by their unmentioned visit. Slowly things went back to normal, and the room filled with loud chatter once again, making Linos feel as though he were getting a headache because of it.

“What do you think that was all about?”  Linos asked Grey, turning back to the table.

“Who knows?” Grey shrugged, “It looked they were looking for someone, too me.”

“I haven’t heard about any crimes happening around here, or in Nyph city.” Linos pondered.

“Maybe it’s confidential?” Grey laughed.

“Maybe…” Linos said.

Linos checked the time on the large clock, hanging above the kitchen. Class would be starting soon, so they packed up their things and made their way out of the cafeteria. Grey seemed to had already brushed off the Nyph city official’s visit, like everyone else had. However, it remained on Linos’ mind. It wasn’t exactly their visit that bothered him, but the metal device above their heads. In all his time studying artifice and mechanics, here at the Guild, Linos had not come across anything like it in his text books.

How did they hover in place like that? Linos wondered. Even the metal bothered him, with their sleek silver face and soft cobalt shine. It didn’t even look like a metal he’d seen before. It didn’t look like steel, or even soul metal. He stopped, shaking his head and taking a deep breath. He was reading into it too much. Yes, it was strange, but there had to be some reason for their visit today, and the strange devices.

Picking up his pace, Linos caught up to Grey again. They kept walking, carrying on small talk until they reached Linos’ classroom. He waved goodbye and walked into the long, curved room, and took his seat near the back. He took out his books, setting up his desk, and opened his note pad. Noticing some notes on todays lesson up on the board, he began to write them down, and soon enough he’d stopped thinking about the officials and their strange visit.

Cloy sat at his desk, checking over some neglected paperwork. Being a Guild leader meant many things, and one those things was that you had to do a lot of paperwork. It had been a busy week, what with mid term exams starting soon. He had felt swamped all week, and this leftover work wasn’t helping. His concentration was broken by a knock on his office door as one of his assistants entered the room. He waved him in, and the assistant nodded, walking up to his desk. Cloy set aside his papers and gestured for him to go on.

“Sir, two things.” The assistant said.

“Yes?” Cloy asked.

“First, the girl who wished to transfer over is here.” He said, “Second, there’s been a slight disturbance around the school in the past hour, it seems.”

“A disturbance? What do you mean?” Cloy asked, confused.

“It seems that a few officials from Nyph city are investigating the Guild.” He explained.

“Investigating? What for? Why haven’t they come to speak with me?” Cloy asked, even more confused.

“I honestly have no idea, sir,” He shook his head, “we tried talking to them but they’re being non responsive. It’s up to you how we should handle this.”

Cloy sighed, “Send in the girl, then. I’ll tell you what to do afterwards.”

The assistant nodded and exited the room. Cloy buried his head in hands in frustration, letting out a sigh. He tidied up his desk a bit, stacking the papers at the edge of his desk and gently pushing the chair opposite him out from the desk with his food, so his guest had somewhere to sit. The assistant returned only a minute later with the girl, and closed the door leaving just the two of them alone in the office.

“Reva Capella, is it?”Cloy said, gesturing at chair, “Take a seat, would you?”

Reva nodded, shyly, and took her seat. She wasn’t as tall as most Mirians, but the heels of her boots made up for that. Her hair looked to be about shoulder length, but she had it tied back in a loose pony tail. Her wings were a soft, sandy brown colour, and speckled. She was dressed quite casually, wearing a light canvas jacket and jeans, which made Cloy pause for a moment when seeing her. The dress code at this Guild were fine dress clothes, or work overalls. He said nothing, though, as this was her first time visiting the Guild.

“So, you wish to transfer to our school?” Cloy asked.

“Yes, sir,” Reva nodded, her manners didn’t reflect her attire at all, “I’ve been studying medicine under my father for just over a year now.”

“Yes, I got his letter detailing what he’s taught you so far.” Cloy nodded, “You are aware that mid term exams start in just under a month, right?”

“Yes, sir, but I believe I will be prepared, I know a lot already.” Reva said.

“A letter and your word isn’t enough to convince me of that.” Cloy said.

“Just give me a chance, I know I can do this.” Reva said, leaning forward in her seat.

Cloy looked up at her from the letter from her father, his look was sharp, as if to say ‘watch yourself’. She flinched and sat back in her seat, looking away from him. She wasn’t used to such formality, not yet anyways. He set the letter aside and took a deep breath, brushing off her little outburst. She’d understand how to act and speak soon enough.

“I am prepared to give you a chance, Reva, I just don’t want this to be a waste of our resources…” Cloy said, “Or your time.”

“It won’t be a waste, sir.” Reva said, retaining her formality this time.

“Well, we’ll see.” Cloy nodded, “I’ve already got my assistant going to get one of my students. He will be your tutor until mid terms, he’s very smart. In the meantime let’s discuss payment for your enrolment here at the Guild.”

“Thank you!” Reva smiled, shaking Cloy’s hand with glee. Cloy coughed, and she sunk back into her chair, trying to get back into formality.

Linos worked quietly at his desk, running over his notes from the lecture. The soft whispers of students talking amongst themselves came and went, and whenever it got a little too loud, Linos would look up from his papers at the teacher who seemed to pay no mind to it. There was going to be a test next class, nothing big though, just some medical magic theory. He skimmed his notes, making sure he had it all figured out.

He was enrolled in the Guild college’s medical artifice course for a doctorate, to become an artifice surgeon. He’d always had an affinity for working with metal and artifice, and it was a job of high status that required a lot of knowledge and patience to achieve, which was enough of a challenge to pique Linos’ interests. This was only the first year, and it had been somewhat easy so far, but he know it would become more difficult as time went on.

Grey was taking Law in hopes of becoming a City official, a law enforcer. He claimed to have some interest in the law and justice, but Linos always figured it was just an excuse to swing his sword around and get paid for it. Still, it was a job that somehow suited him. Yes, Grey was probably the least academically motivated person Linos knew, but he was also a very kind person who respected the rules and understood their purpose. He knew he’d be happy with his decision.

The two of them had been long childhood friends since grade school. When he was young, Linos had been bullied in school for being so shy, Grey was the first person to stand up for him. Since that day they’d stuck together, and that bond had carried them all they way to college together. Linos had always had his eyes set on this Guild college, but Grey had lacked any clear direction. Somehow he had managed to convince him to take the Law course, so it made Linos very happy to see him enjoying it.

As Linos flipped back to start of his notes to review them once more, there was a knock at the classroom door, and someone walked in. It was one of the Guild Leader’s assistants, who walked right up the teachers desk. They spoke quietly for a few minutes, too quite for Linos to eavesdrop in on. He had always been told by Grey that his curiosity would be the death of him, but he couldn’t help himself once something got his attention. To him, when something was kept quiet, or secret, it was like a shining beacon calling out to him to be discovered.

Linos watched them quietly, his head tilted down towards his notes. Suddenly the two of them both looked up at him and he froze. Lifting his head, he watched at the assistant walked over to his desk. At this point, he didn’t know what to think. He couldn’t be in any kind of trouble, he always stayed out of it. The assistant wore a sleek, white dress shirt, and matching black dress pants. His sleek, short black hair was combed back, and tightly tucked wings made his entire appearance seem very high-brow. Linos knew they had to have been expensive, judging by their quality, which must have meant he was one of the Leader’s top assistants.

“Linos Stari, right?” The assistant asked.

“Yes, that’s me.” Linos nodded.

“Cloy would like to talk with you,” The assistant explained.

Linos looked around to see the entire classroom staring at the two of them. He’d never made any kind of scene, and rarely talked to anyone, so surely this was confusing more than just himself. Again, he thought to himself, there was no way he could be in trouble, so what could it be? He looked back at the assistant, who’s attention seemed solely fixed on Linos.

“What is it about?” Linos asked.

“The Guild Leader would like to ask a favour of you.” The assistant said.

Now he was just intrigued.

“Alright.” Linos nodded, rising from his seat. 

Now he simply had to know what this was about. What would the Guild Leader possible want to ask of him? He wasn’t a senior here at the Guild, just a first year student, if not for his high grades he was practically nobody. Still, he’d been called out by name, which meant something. As he followed the assistant out of the classroom, and down the hallway, he pondered every possibility.

Cloy and Reva’s conversation was interrupted when the office door opened, and the assistant, followed by Linos, walked through. Reva eyed Linos, looking him up and down. She thought he seemed nice at first glance, if not a bit stoic, and certainly was well dressed. He was well composed, and he had a calm feeling about him, which made her feel more at ease about meeting him. Her gaze trailed up to meet his, and he was staring right back at her. His eyes were a vivid teal, and the way he looked down at her seemed almost judgemental, causing her to tense back up again. She turned away as he took the seat next to her, and looked back at Cloy, who was shaking hands with Linos.

“Thank you for joining us, Linos.” Cloy smiled.

“Not a problem,” Linos asked, “what’s this all about?”

Reva cocked her head at his question. Did he not know? It seemed a bit strange, Cloy had made it seemed like this was already planned out.

“I want to ask a favour of you,” Cloy began, “and you’re one of the best in your program right now.”

“Alright?” Linos raised an eyebrow, brushing off the compliment.

“This is Reva Capella,”Cloy said, gesturing towards the girl sitting next to him, “she will be entering the same program as yours, and she needs a tutor.”

“Isn’t it a bit late in the semester for new students?” Linos asked.

“Which is why I’m asking you to tutor her.” Cloy smiled, his comment laced with flattery.

Linos looked at Reva, examining her a bit. She seemed normal. She had brown hair, tied back in a small pony tail, the rest covering her ears in loose waves. She wasn’t dressed formally, nor did she have any kind of professional atmosphere. She was, as far as Linos could tell, normal in every way. Guilds had rarely been known to accept students late in the semester, unless they were special, talented, or otherwise from a family of  wealthy academics.

“Why?” Linos asked, flatly.

“Why?” Cloy mimicked the question, “Because she’ll need someone to help her catch up to the rest of the class.”

“Why her.” Linos asked again.

Reva blinked, sinking back into her chair a bit as both of them turned to look at her. She felt bad, Linos was making it clear to her that he didn’t want to do this. She wanted to back out, but unfortunately the papers had already been signed, and the money was in Cloy’s hands now. Cloy looked like he was contemplating the question, one she didn’t quite understand the meaning of. Why her? Why not? What was wrong with her? Linos, however, stared her dead in the eyes with scrutiny, watching her every reaction.

“Because I see something in her.” Cloy finally said, after a long silence, “I believe she is going to go far.”

“Then you see something I do not.” Linos said flatly.

He didn’t look back at her after his comment, but she stared right at him. Such a comment was unnecessary, there was nothing wrong with her. She could catch up, it had only been two months in and there was still three until exams. It wouldn’t be easy, but she wasn’t dumb, or at least she didn’t think she was. She was upset, but on the other hand she understood where Linos was coming from. She knew good grades and the praise Cloy had given him hadn’t come easily, he was probably a very busy person, and now she was another burden he had to deal with.

Suddenly he turned to look at her, their eyes meeting again. Her eyes and cheeks were every so slightly reddened, and her eyebrows narrowed into a half scowl. While his comment had been plainly rude, her reaction was even more so plainly painted on her face. His stomach dropped with guilt at this, but he maintained his serious attitude. He knew he wasn’t that well with people, and his academic success had resulted in something of a pretentious ego that had cost him more than a few potential acquaintances along the line.

“Fine, I’ll do it.” He said. Reva perked up instantly, and a smile cracked her quivering lip. He held his look, but turned back to Cloy, “But on one condition.”

“Name your price.” Cloy said, clapping at his decision.

“Next years books and supplies are free.” Linos said with a smirk.

“Done, and you’ll have it in writing!” Cloy said, sprawling out something of an I-owe-you on a loose piece of paper, then passed it Linos.

“Tomorrow, after school, we begin.” Linos said, looking down at Reva as he stood up.

“Of course, thank you.” She smiled.

He exited the office room, entering the hallway. As he walked, he folded the paper and tucked it into his back pocket. Despite his fuss, having to tutor her wasn’t that big of an inconvenience. He had been on top of his projects since the very beginning of the year, and he was sure the professors would be more than alright with giving him an extension on due dates if need be, considering the Guild Leader himself had issued this favour.

Grey would be happy for him, too. He’d always said he needed to make more friends, and while Linos wasn’t really a people person, even he felt lonely at times. The tutor roll suited him, and the idea of being one flattered his ego in ways it really didn’t need to. Smiling as he walked back to his classroom, he imagined how fun it would be having someone look up to him for the answers and advice. This would be fun, and besides that, she was kind of cute.

Linos and Grey walked through the front door of the house and into the hallway. Linos took the time to undo his boots, while Grey just kicked them off into the general direction of the shoe rack, before waltzing into the den. Linos shook his head and placed his own, and Grey’s, shoes on the rack. He hung his school bag up in closet and followed him into the other room. Grey had managed to take up the entire sofa by spreading his wings and arm out wide. Linos gave him a look of disapproval as he walked towards the kitchen table.

“You know it’s impolite to take up so much room using your wings, right?” Linos commented.

“Yeah, my mom taught me just fine.” Grey laughed.

“Well, you had me fooled.” Linos said.

“Oh, who cares? It’s not like we’re at school, or whatever.” Grey said, waving his hand at him.

Linos said nothing and put the kettle on for tea, and grabbed a slice of bread from the basket on the counter. Grey noticed, and held his hands up in the air. Linos rolled his eyes, and tossed him a slice, too. He laughed, stuffing the whole thing in his mouth. It was a wonder the two of them even got along, really, since they were so different in nature. The kettle began to whistle as the water came to a boil, so Linos prepared his tea, letting it steep.

“How was class today?” Grey asked, mouth still full of bread.

“Normal.” Linos nodded.

“Good, good. Anything interesting happen?” Grey asked.

“Yes, actually.” Linos said, sipping his tea to test the temperature.

Grey suddenly spun around on the couch to face him, his eyes wide. “Did you make a new friend?” He asked.

“Swallow you food.” Linos smirked, turning away from him to hide his smile.

“You did too, didn’t you!” Grey exclaimed after swallowing his food.

“I’ve been asked by the Guild Leader to tutor a new student.” Linos explained.

“New student? What?” Grey said, mirroring the same confusion Linos had earlier.

“Yes, I know.” Linos sighed, “He sees potential in her, apparently.”

“Whoa, wait, her?” Grey’s jaw just about hit the floor, “You met a girl?”

 Grey leapt off the couch and ran into the kitchen, a look of awe plastered onto his face as if it’d never leave. Linos tried even harder to hide his smile behind his cup of tea. Sure, it was hot, but maybe Grey wouldn’t notice his red face behind it. Grey had always joked that it would take some kind of miracle for Linos to ever meet a girl. Admittedly, he’d never tried very hard, but his apparent abrasiveness and conceited attitude was’t typically something that girls enjoyed being around.

Grey tried to see his face again, but Linos turned away. He laughed, and this time grabbed a pen instead. He turned to see what Grey was going to do with it, and saw him heading for the calendar where he promptly wrote on the current date “Linos met a real girl”, with “girl” underlined multiple times. Grey turned around to see Linos glaring at him over the rim of his cup. He buckled over, laughing too hard to compose himself. He took a second to catch his breath, and pulled himself up, supporting himself with the counter top.

“I never thought I’d see the day.” Grey laughed.

“Are you done yet?” Linos asked, setting his cup down on the counter now that he had no more tea.

“Let me revel in this, please.” Grey said, putting his hands out in front of him, “This is truly a glorious day, a miracle, really! ”

“Tell you what,” Linos added, “if you do your homework now, I’ll let you make whatever comments you want.”

Grey froze in spot and looked at Linos, completely perplexed. He nodded, indicating that he was, indeed, serious. With that notion, Grey flew into the hallways and grabbed his school bag, bringing it back to the table and got right to work. Linos stood there, blinking, trying to confirm if what he had just seen was real. He’d never, in all his life, seen Grey start his homework that fast. Come to think of it, he’d never seen him do anything that fast before.

“Wow.” Linos said.

“I am going to milk this for all I can, my friend.” Grey chuckled, not even looking up from his notes.

“I’ve created a monster.” Linos laughed.

“What have you done?” Grey said, sitting back from his work, realizing what Linos had gotten him to do.

“Looks like we’ve both got something to laugh about, now.” Linos smirked as he poured another cup of tea, shaking his head.

Evening light poured into Cloy’s office through the large round window at his back. His shadow stretched across the floor towards the door he wished he could run through at this moment. Unfortunately, the two other figures in the room were inclined to prevent that from happening, as they stood in between him and his only exit. Sadly, his toppled chair behind him, and the painting that lay on the floor, adjacent to him, were a testament to this. Sweat ran down his forehead as he backed up against his desk.

The two figures, dowsed in the strong orange light, were adorned in the brown, long coats crested with the Nyph City official’s badge over their hearts. On the left stood a man, he was tall and burly. Even under the sleek brown coat, his muscles were clearly defined. He had his sword drawn to stop Cloy from trying to run again. A girl stood opposite him on Cloy’s right, her hand raised, prepared to cast what he knew would an arresting spell if he tried anything different. She was far more slender than her partner, and much shorter, perhaps shorter than Cloy without the thick heals on her boots. The two of them were both ornamented with strange metal rings, like halos, that hovered in place over their heads. They were clearly magical in some way, but Cloy couldn’t discern what that way was. This wasn’t their first visit to see Cloy.

“We have checked the other guilds. You will give us the box, Cloy.” Said the man in a strange, flat tone.

“I’ve told you already, I don’t have it!” Cloy pleaded.

“It was supposed to be in Nyph.” Explained the man, “It is not.”

“So we checked everywhere else, acquiring information from other Guild leaders.” The girl continued, “We have turned every other guild upside down and it was not there. This is where it must be.”

“Well then you have to look harder, because it’s not here!” Cloy tried to explain.

“We gave you one chance, your assistance and advice was for naught.” The girl stepped forwards.

Cloy flinched, trying desperately to back up further, hoping he would phase through the desk.

“We were generous, but you have lied. Where is the box?” The man asked.

Last time had nearly been a disaster, last time they nearly trashed his office. Almost every other Guild had already been dealt with by them, and Cloy was all out of luck for another close encounter. The Guild Leaders had talked best they could about figuring out the situation, but letters and messengers were becoming intercepted more and more lately, making contacting non-neighbouring Guilds impossible. All anyone knew was that they were looking for some kind of box, and no one knew where it was.

There was nothing he could do, nothing anyone could do. Nyph City, the seat of Miria, was where the Guild of Law governed every remaining sector of Miria’s skies. They were just, they were infallible, and most of all, they were unquestionable. But now they had been compromised, and by what? No one seemed to know. The only evidence they had to this claim were the special metal halos, which no one knew what they did, but everyone wagered some degree of mind control. The only action they could take was hiding this from the civilians as best as they could until they figured it out. But right now Cloy couldn’t abide that anymore, not while his own life was potentially on the line.

“There’s a girl who came to my Guild today looking to enrol,” Cloy began.

The two officials looked at each other for a moment, then the man sheathed his sword and await further explanation. Cloy tried not to let out a sigh of relief, knowing he had their attention now.

“She came from Nyph City about a month ago and has been staying with family here in the Sygna sector.” Cloy explained, “It seems to me like she’s the one you might be looking for, since none of us know where it is. Perhaps a Guild leader isn’t in possession of it?”

“What is her name…” The girl asked.

“Reva Capella.” Cloy answered.