Cold

"You can ask any questions, Selis." Skald said with a smirk, that showed he was proud to be the tutor in charge here.

The naming Ceremony had taken place in the morning and now it was extremely warm. The light outside made all the eyes either narrow or shut due to its sheer brightness. It was afternoon. The trio was currently having food in the Pavilion. The seating place was circular nested on the ground floors of the three towers wherein the residents of the towers ate. Where the boundaries of the Pavilion ended the grass began, dancing in the wind as if teasing the children for staying sheltered from the sun. It was quite windy within the Pavilion too as it, for the most part, was open to the outside world. The three of them had seated next to each other on the marble slabs at the periphery of the pavilion. Selis sat facing outside while the other two were next to her and looking at her.

"Why from S?"

Selis asked. It was still strange to her, being called a name she didn't even know existed an hour before.

"Because they put Neophytes into groups alphabetically. That is if our assumption is correct. We did a little research about the groups that exist in this camp." He answered.

Oh, their names are Skadi and Skald so…

"The so-called research was just talking to people in other groups and knowing their names." Skadi cleared the question Arca hadn't even asked.

"Come on, talking to people is hard." Skald defended his use of words.

Selis had learned that Neophytes were what the uniformed children were called in The Institution.

Why not use a simpler word like…noob?

Guessing from the structure of the Institution and the antics of Peryton and The Spectres, they must have wanted to use a word as flamboyant as them. An image of people crossed her mind. Peryton in the vintage clothes she had seen him in and the masked ones in black suits calling all the children, including her, noobs in a serious tone.

Neophyte. Neophyte is better.

"So you guys aren't in a group yet?" Selis asked unsure if two people could make up a group.

Skadi shook her head, twirling an impaled carrot on her fork.

"What are the groups exactly?"

Selis thought she saw something. It was extremely subtle but Skadi's eyes narrowed at her.

I think…she wants me to shut up.

They must've been annoyed by all the questions I'm bombarding them with.

But she really needed answers right now.

I'm sorry, bear with me for a bit.

Even though Skadi had not communicated her annoyance, Selis couldn't help with the quiet apologetic expression that descended on her face.

Skald answered this time, taking over for Skadi, perhaps sensing her annoyance too. "The institution gives us tasks in groups."

Tasks?

Before she could ask, Skald interrupted.

He had been cleaning his knife with a cloth and then brandished it in the air, the knife glinting.

"Isn't it a beauty? I honed it to perfect sharpness and glint."

Selis was a little worried by the eerie joy on Skald’s face. She wondered if it was okay to keep a knife here and sharpen it that way. Perhaps her discomfort was visible and Skald explained.

“They take away these things, but I keep it hidden.” Skald explained with a proud grin as a reaction to which, Selis only looked more alarmed.

“He likes to carve out of wood.” Skadi explained with a sigh.

Oh.

Selis didn't know if Skald was actually enjoying confusing her or he genuinely thought he didn't come off as unnerving as he had the same self-important expression on him all the time. Somewhat relieved about the purpose of the knife, she turned her gaze to look back at the plate in her lap to dismiss the thought of them lying. Salted Salad, boiled eggs and bread. She didn't know how she knew the names of the food but not her own real name. A void yawned in her head, as if some parts of her memory were sealed somewhere far away.

Huh.

Chomping on the tomato in the salad and then finally managed to ask, "Missions?" before continuing to dine. Even a simple meal felt like a luxury after a whole day of having very little food. It had been probably a whole day. She wasn't sure about how much time she had spent in the forest after all.

"They make us do the work they'd rather not do. For instance, gathering food, setting up a fire, cooking meals, inspecting an area to be clear of dangers and so on. They send us into the forest at times." Skadi said looking more annoyed however it was clear that the annoyance this time wasn't directed at Selis but at Skald who was still smirking at his knife.

"We're assuming we'll soon be sent on missions too, now that you're here. We think the authorities didn't have enough people so far named from 'S' to form a group." Skald said. He'd already finished his meal a while ago.

"How so? Practically all the names from S were taken."

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"And most of them were striked through weren't they?"

"Yes, I was just going to ask about that."

"Those were the names of those who never returned after going out to the forest. Or died because of some reason or the other." Skald's eyes darkened, however, his voice hadn't wavered, rather he spoke it absolutely normally. It sent a chill down her spine.

Died or disappeared? Just like that?! And nobody cares?!

Selis looked at the canopy forest below the Institution. It looked like a perfectly normal forest, cheerful birdsong emanating from it. The forest’s liveliness made it even more ominous. She had been there and had managed to get out alive thanks to the two. But as far as she remembered she hadn't encountered anything dangerous in it, except maybe having no known food or water source.

Strange.

Abruptly Skadi got up and left.

Selis was concerned that Skadi had enough of her but the reason Skadi had walked away was as simple as Skadi's plate was empty and she'd walked off towards the plate disposal counter.

The three were now walking outside, "So what do we do now? Please nothing that revolves around more knowledge." Selis said. All of the new information shared with her in the past few hours felt like it was cascading on her, sweeping away what she had learnt before.

Skadi tapped her chin with a thoughtful expression. “I think we should look for the other Neophytes from S. They could soon be grouped with us since you're here.’’ Her hazel eyes turned to Selis. "Even if no group is formed, we may learn something new. "

"Sounds good but how would we start looking for those who are named like that?" Selis asked.

It was a valid question, for even now there were about twenty other Neophytes dining among them. It was brought to their attention that asking for each and every one of their names would come off as being very odd.

"Hmm," Skald looked like he was thinking hard, the expression reflected on the others. After a few moments of silence and looking around,

Selis quietly suggested, "Do most Neophytes already have their groups?"

The other two nodded.

"If so, they would prefer to be with their own group. There would be very few who would be alone or in pairs like you two so I guess we could ask them."

The two looked at her with a contemplative expression before Skald raised his fist, "Yes let's do that!"

Skadi nodded, agreeing.

Selis smiled. She was glad she had contributed in some way after all the help she had received from the two. Though she didn't let it be known, she felt quite in debt to the two.

In the following hour, the trio were all around the Institution, peeking in open rooms, going up and down the stairs, asking in passageways and talking with solitary Neophytes. It was all to no avail. They hadn't come across a single person fitting the criteria that they were searching for so far. It was mostly Skadi and Skald who were doing the talking gladly for Selis. The place still felt alien to Selis and she had been nervous all the time. Strangely enough, nobody cared if she was new to the place when she was introduced by the other two.

Are there newcomers all the time?

The three were now at the entrance of a dorm. Selis had thought the dorms would be something different but it was exactly like the Newcomer's Room with a few exceptions. The dorms at least had someone in them. She looked at the cabinets beside the beds of the Neophytes, at their belongings placed on the cabinets to be precise. It fascinated her how every single cabinet looked unique, some scattered, some neat, some covered in cute things, some scribbled and vandalised, while some didn't have anything on them at all.

As her eyes looked over every unique customization, there was an extremely loud and terrible cough that startled the three. None of the others in the dorms had reacted, perhaps used to the coughing.

Two kids were sitting beside the pile of bed sheets from which the sound had seemed to originate. Their large eyes were fixed on whoever was underneath the bedsheets in concern.

This caught the three's attention too."Hey something wrong, man?" Skald said, walking to them. She and Skadi followed.

One of the little boys answered in a trembling voice, "Brother's caught a cold."

The boy called 'brother' had a lifeless face as his hands clutched his bedsheets in desperation. He was evidently shivering and his eyes were teary from the sickness. The tissue box on the cabinet was empty and crumbled tissues were scattered about. The other younger one wiped the 'brother's' face with a cloth.

Sensing the atmosphere everyone turned dead quiet and solemn. A deeply concerned Selis asked.

"Surely that's not just a cold?"

There was no answer to her question and neither was anything comforting. One does not often know how to react to someone's suffering in a way that could coax. Others fear saying something would produce a contrary effect hence they choose to be silent. Yet the silence seemed worse than an answer.

The brother was surely older than them. He had a thin but tall frame now frail from the disease. His jaw had scattered facial hair. The only sound in the dorm was of the sneezing and the coughing of the unwell young man.

Skald had a grave expression on his face.

"It's…just a common cold right?" Selis asked hesitantly again, trying to save herself from the discomfort of ignorance and silence.

"You don't know? A cold can kill you."

Huh?

An awkward chuckled escape Selis. Surely he was joking? She observed Skald's expression.

Skald's looks so grim that Selis wasn't sure of it being a joke anymore.

The two younger boys looked up at Skald for he had spoken the forbidden words.

"Mind what and where you say something, Skald." Skadi warned from beside him.

Selis was still trying to process what she'd learnt.

Can a cold kill people here?

It didn't feel right.

Was it always like that? Is it like this everywhere?

The tinier boy who looked to be about five years old, started to cry upon hearing Skald’s words. The older one patted his head.

"Isn't there…a cure or…or…or…something?" Selis asked now in a hushed voice to Skadi and Skald. She knew her questions were the cause of the crying. Yet she wanted to know.

There must be something!

The older boy looked at them, having heard it. "I have heard that there is a herb out in the forest that can help brother.” His eyes drifted away to the ground again. “I am not sure what kind it is or how to find it though. It could just be a rumour."

"Oh." That was all Selis could muster the courage to say as much as she wanted to comfort the two little kids. But hollow promises would do no good and she knew the kids knew it too. They must have heard it a lot of times before. She looked at the diseased boy struggling on the bed and she felt frustrated and as helpless as the little kids. The others looked at Selis quietly with a strange look. A hopeless look as if they had been through this before. Everyone of them. Arca felt a shiver run down her spine.

What's up with this place?

"Why don't we try to ask around for it?" Selis suggested fighting against the tired look.

The boy shook his head slowly, "We've tried before but all of them just shake their heads. None of them try to look for it. They think we're just making things up.I don't like the pitying glances and I cannot face the hopelessness in their eyes.” Yet as the kid said so, Selis saw the same look he seemed to be describing in his eyes.

The boy curled on the brother's bed with his back to them. A feeble hand reached out and barely touched his younger sibling's arm. The brother tried to say something but the words erupted into coughs.

The brother is trying to tell the kid something.

"We will get it for you!" Skald suddenly announced the idea that had appeared to crash in his head out of nowhere. He ruffled the younger kid's hair with a confident smirk. Selis froze.

Eh?! Will we?