Chapter Thirteen: ( Playing Catch Up)

Chapter: 13(catching up)

 

“This is Guild History. Mr. Rosamond teaches this class. It’s pretty easy so no problems.” Nicholas said as he waved goodbye to me and disappeared down the hallway towards his next class as well.

            My heart sank as I remembered Rosamond, the man who verbally attacked Jackson at the council meeting. If he didn’t like Jackson, I was sure to be on his bad side as well.

            Sure, the first part of the day was easy because I had nick but now I was on my own, with people I didn’t know and who didn’t know me but knew my family history. Well whatever they had been told anyway. The worst part about the whole situation was that I was not even sure what they had been told. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly in preparation.

            I opened the door and walked in. The room looked exactly like any other classroom I had been in and out of for my entire academic career. The walls were still made out of that heavy and overbearing stone but besides that, there was nothing unusual.

            There were a few kids sitting down in seats or lined up against the walls talking. I scanned the faces looking for someone who looked friendly.

            “Addison!” I sighed. He was sitting down in a desk towards the back of the room and there were a few other kids sitting around him listening intently to whatever he was saying. Thankfully, he glanced up and saw me standing by the doorway by myself.      He waved me over and I sat down in the seat beside him.

            “Everyone this is Madison, my sister.” He told the small group as soon as I had gotten comfortable.  I looked up at the group of faces staring down at me and smiled as I raised my hand a short ways off my lap in a “hello.” I could feel my face growing warm. I hated being the center of attention.

            “Hi!” a shorter small petite blonde smiled at me. “I’m Jennifer, Nice to meet you.”

            I grinned back at her. She was beautiful and definitely my brothers type. She was wearing cut off short jean shorts and a light pink tank top with a bit of white lace around the edges. Her skin was milky white but you could see her slim muscles under her soft flesh. Her hair had a lovely straw colored highlight underneath. I may have just met her but I knew she may be the kind of girl my brother would find himself chasing but she was the kind of girl that normally would never even speak to me.

            “I’m really excited to meet you. Not many other girls around here.” Jennifer giggled as she sat down in the desk on the other side of Addison.

I looked over at Addison to see if he had already had her in his sights. It took me a moment to place what was wrong with him and then I noticed a deep purple bruise running along the left side of his face that I had not noticed at first.

            “Addison. What happened? Are you alright?” I asked as I stretched my hand out to grab a hold of his chin and turn his face so I could further inspect his newest injury.

            “Oh man! It was awesome!” exclaimed a boy from behind me. He came around to stand by Addison and where I could see him clearly. He was tall and lanky with just a hint of muscle mass anywhere on his body. He had dark hair that hung across his eyes obscuring his line of vision. He brought his arm back and thumped Addison on his back making him smirk at me.

            “Addison here was cornered four to one in the pit. They almost had him too. If it wasn’t for the fact that Addison triggered a booby trap he would have been taken down.”

            My heart skipped a beat and I clenched my hands into balls, my nails biting into my flesh. Addison had only been here a day or so and he was already getting into fights? This wasn’t like him. I stood up and nodded towards the door.

            “Addison, can I talk with you in private?” I glared down at him. He shrugged and stood up as well.

            “Excuse me guys. Ill be back in a second.” He told the group surrounding him as he squeezed his way out and towards me. As he neared where I stood by the door, I started to let my frustrations out. My short moment of happiness during my run that morning had began to thin and vanish all together as I looked towards his dark and swollen face again.

            “What happened? Why were you in a fight? I thought you said to lay low?” Questions and accusations flew out of my mouth before I had time to even process what I was thinking. Addison put his arms up in the air like a man being mugged.

            “Slow down sis. It’s not what you think.” He came to stand right in front of me. “Calm down.” He explained, “It was my first class, Combatant Training. Jackson and Nicholas weren’t joking when they said it was like the movie Gladiator. It was incredible though. I really made an impression on everyone.” Addison’s chest puffed up like a proud rooster.

            My anger dissipated as I had listened to him boast. I was glad that Addison seamed to be getting something good from this place. At least that made one of us.

            The door behind me opened and then banged shut making me turn around. A young looking female walked in wearing the same black robe as the people we had encountered in the council room. I assumed that was mandatory attire for the adults on premises.  Around the room, students began to quiet down and find seats. I turned to face the woman and one stern look from her sent Addison and me scampering to our seats as well.

I guess I would just have to talk to Addison about what happened this morning later then, I thought as I took my seat.

            “Hello everyone, as most of you know I am not the normal educator of Guild History, Mr. Rosamond usually is here but he has been called out on an important meeting and will be away for a short time.” She looked across the rows of seats to where Addison and I were sitting.

            “For those of you who I have not had the pleasure of meeting, I am Ms. Floridian and since I do not know exactly where Mr. Sawaya left off I am just going to briefly touch off at the beginning.”

            I had the feeling that this class was going to end up being specifically aimed towards myself and my brother. I sat up in my desk and tried to pay close attention. I couldn’t afford to be left in the dark with anything that had to do with the disappearance of my parents. As she began to speak to the class, Ms. Floridian lightly perched on the edge of the desk in the center of the room.

            “Back when the earth was young and as fresh as a baby there were magical entities everywhere. The world itself was a living being and the earth sheltered the creatures living upon her flesh. There was beautiful essence everywhere. And as with all things, there is an opposite darkness to all things bright. As man began to walk the earth, they lived and thrived off of the earth and its magical components.

            The earth began to feel her magic disappearing. She knew that man was never meant to hold onto so much power and that surely they would kill her and themselves if she continued to allow them to feed off of it. She withdrew all the magic into the center of herself. When the magic was condensed into her core it began to harden into gems; the essence stones that you all know of. She then flung the gems far away from each other scattering them in different locations of the world where no one should have been able to find them.”

            Ms. Floridian Stood up and walked between the aisles as she slowly whispered her story to the class. Her voice was light and wispy to the touch. As she spoke, I could feel goose bumps rising against the skin on my arms.

            “When the mother earth hid the stones from the humans it broke her heart. She knew that it was a shame that humans would be missing out on such a wondrous creation and it saddened her to her core and she closed her eyes in grief. She has been like this ever since. Mourning the loss that her children have had to endure. Human beings have since forgotten of the great sacrifice mother earth did for them and they have forgotten about magic almost completely as well. Only the Guild remembers its powers and wishes to protect it. The rest of the world who remembers its power wishes to steal the stones and use them to their own devices.”

            I thought about Zavion and how he was so possessed with wanting the stones he seemed to have been willing to do whatever necessary to get his hand on them. I knew that the only thing standing in his way was the Guild and the Protectors and Hunters. Who knew what he was capable of? I felt the fear from last night creep back up my stomach like a hot venom. I thought back to Jackson’s story in the café of the airport. Before I had known I had even done it I was aware that my hand was in the air and Ms. Floridian was staring intently at me.

            “Yes? Madison?” She pursed her lips in my direction. Obvious dislike was smeared across her face. I didn’t remember seeing her face at the council meeting and I didn’t remember introducing myself to her. But I assumed just about everyone knew me and my brother by now.

            “I um,” I choked the statement out. “I heard that the four stones each have a different property? What are they?”

            She narrowed her eyes at me. “That is normally taught in our advanced classes Madison.” She began to walk around the desk.

            “But what do they do?” I heard my brother ask from beside me. He was leaning forward in his desk intently. Addison was never one for being the best student but maybe things would change now that he was in the Guild.

            “Yeah, I’m in mostly advanced classes and I don’t even know that.” I heard a voice from behind me speak up. I turned around in my desk to see the boy who had boasted about Addison’s first class experience looking stiff jawed up at Ms. Floridian.

            The substitute instructor sighed and sucked on her bottom lip for a moment before coming back to the front of the room again. She sat on the edge of the desk again before speaking.       

            “Since the subject is creating so much interest,” She looked at me smugly, her eyes turning into slits as she drew out the last word.

            “I guess I can go into some detail about the Essence Stones.”  She began to pace in front of the class Giving us small details and not much more about the stones.

            “There are four essence stones, which each hold an enormous amount of power within each one. There is the glacier stone to the north that has the power to freeze time if you will it to do so. There is the vale stone that can mask any lie to look like the truth. The abyssal stone to the east enables the holder to disappear and reappear in a way. The blood stone is the most revered stone of the four. Enabling the holders to possess the essence the world held within itself.”

I didn’t quiet understand what she had meant by any of it but I knew that if Zavion got a hold of any of those stones it could be bad.

            With that, Ms. Floridian clapped her hands briskly twice and spoke loudly to the class.

            “Okay this discussion if over for the day I will see everyone presently after the weekend. Now go get some lunch!” She ordered as she walked out the door and disappeared. Everyone began getting up and gathering their things. I turned to Addison as I stood up.

            “Addison, I need to talk to you about something that happened this morning.” I spoke softly across my desk towards him. He looked up at me and nodded.

            “What’s up Maddy? What happened?” He asked as he came around the desk to stand closer to me.

            “Addison! My man! Let’s go get some grub I am starving!” The boy who spoke up earlier in class came bounding across the desk to clamp his arm around Addison’s neck.

            “Yeah, I could use a sweet tea for sure.” Jennifer smiled sweetly as she came up beside us.

            “Marcus! Stop!” I heard Addison yelling and scuffling around. I turned back to the boys to see Marcus putting Addison in a headlock. Both boys were laughing. Addison forced Marcus’s hands apart and looked down at me smiling.

            “Mind if it waits till tonight Maddy?” he grinned.

I sighed. I couldn’t say no.  He always had a way of getting his way. Golden boy had many hidden talents that we normal mortals could never even dream of possessing. I shook my head and laughed. Of course, I caved.

            “Yeah, later bro.” I half smiled. “Enjoy lunch. Meet you there