Chpt. 32) Nexus Academy
Leila and Shersha woke up and saw everyone had gone without them. Without a word spoken between them, they got out of bed, got dressed, and left. Scarlet’s fighting match was today. But they didn’t know when the match started. “Do ye nu whaen Scarle’s match starts?” Leila asked.
“No, I don’,” Shersha answered. They both looked at each other, nodded, and waved at the hovercraft passing by. It’s what all the adults do to get a hovercraft. But none stopped for them. They both pouted, mirroring each other.
“We nade to walk to the Colosseum,” Leila grumbled.
“Aye, though ‘aze wud proobably—”
“Make us run,” Leila finished Shersha’s sentence. As they usually do when not talking to people. Leila and Shersha sighed and began running toward the Colosseum. They ran and ran, always heading toward the Colosseum. And then they quickly got lost.
They were still near the hovercraft that flew by every so often and always ignored their attempts at waving at them, or they would wave back and keep going without stopping. People were rude, and they were tired of running.
The twins sat down and gasped for air. As they caught their breath, a hovercraft flew by, with master Haze, Zeana, Cami, Scarlet, Jax, Xiao, and Shiro in it. They both got to their feet and tried to scream for their attention but couldn’t get their breath back in time, so the call came out weakly.
The twins looked at each other and said, “We ‘ave to follow them.” Stumbling to their feet, they began running again. Then they got even more lost. The sun was setting, and they didn’t know where they were or anybody around.
Shersha grabbed Leila’s hand and squeezed. Leila squeezed back, feeling just as scared as her sister. ‘Where do we go? What do we do? We need to be found,’ the twins thought as they looked around wildly for someone to help them.
“My goodness, Leila! Shersha! What are you two doing this far from your master?” a slightly familiar male voice said behind them. They turned slowly and looked up at the concerned face of a man wearing a white suit and fedora with golden eyes and holding a black cane.
“Who are ye?” Shersha asked, holding back tears.
“You don’t remember my name? As much as it wounds my pride, it is okay that you don’t remember me. We only met once, after all,” the man said before giving a slight bow, “I am Orrin Orre Wong Shi Tong. We met when you arrived at Nexus. Are you lost?”
Leila and Shersha’s lips quivered, tears streamed down their faces, and they began to cry loudly, “WE’RE LOST!! AHAHHHHAHHH!”
Orrin got uncomfortable for a second before getting on his knees and hugging them. “There, there. It will all be all right,” Orrin whispered in their ears as he rubbed their backs. The twins cried into his jacket for a few minutes as they tried their best to get their breathing under control. Once they finally calmed down, Orrin pulled out a handkerchief, wiped the tears from their faces, and had them blow their noses with it before throwing it away.
“There, are you feeling a little better now?” Orrin asked. The twins nodded. “Good. Master Haze has taken a mission and will leave in the morning. The mission is not suited for young ones such as yourselves. So, how about I take you to a place you will feel safe and comfortable for a while?”
The twins looked at each other, then looked back to Orrin before asking, “Where?”
Orrin tapped their noses and said, “I will take you to school.”
***
The following day Orrin brought the twins to a big, ornately built building. It had hundreds of windows and massive doors that towered over them. Leila and Shersha took in the building with awe all over their faces. Orrin chuckled at their expressions, “Young ladies, welcome to Nexus Academy. The school I talked about last night and your home for the next month. Let’s go inside and introduce yourselves to the staff.”
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The twins nodded and followed Orrin into the school. He pushed open the front doors, and a boom of noise followed as everyone within the school hustled and bustled past, talking animatedly. Then a bell rang, and the people in the halls began to file away down the halls, and within five minutes, the halls were empty, leaving only grey lockers and the occasional scrap of paper on the floor.
“Ah, it seems class has started. Follow me,” Orrin said as he turned left and walked down the hall. The twins did as they were told, and two minutes later, they stood at the door of a classroom. Orrin knocked on the door and waited patiently.
The door opened slowly as a plump woman with blond, greying hair, a yellow sweater vest, and glasses popped her head out. The woman brightened and said, “Oh, Orrin, what brings you here? I’m about to start classes.”
“Yes, I know. But I have a small favor to ask of you. Would you be so kind as to take these two under your wing?” Orrin asked, gesturing to the twins.
The woman looked at the twins and sighed, “They aren’t students, but I will for today. And you will be expected to participate in class,” the woman said to the twins.
The twins nodded, “We ‘ill.”
“Good. Now I’d better introduce everyone,” Orrin said, clapping his hands together and gesturing to the woman, “This is Mrs.Evenson. One of the runes and grammar teachers here at Nexus Academy. And these two,” Orrin said, gesturing to the twins, “are Leila and Shersha Sucrose.”
Mrs.Evenson extended a hand with a smile, “Hello, nice to meet you two.”
The twins shook her hand before mumbling, “Nice to meet ye too.”
“All right, get in class, and I’ll find you two a seat. And you best be going,” Mrs.Evenson said, opening the classroom door further.
“Very well, have a good day,” Orrin said before leaving.
The twins walked into the classroom and saw twenty students of all races sitting at high tables, and all wore green gis and looked to be about thirteen to fourteen years old. But what caught their eyes was the large owl with glasses and a green tie perched on a podium. It was Olli! The twins rushed forward, exclaiming, “Olli! Where ‘ave ye been!?”
Olli hooted in surprise, “Hoo, hoo! Leila! Shersha! What are yooou doooing here?”
“Master ‘aze is on a mission.”
“So, Orrin broot us to school.”
“Now, you two,” Mrs. Evenson chastised before turning to the class, “Class, we have two new students today. Please give a warm welcome to Leila and Shersha.”
The class droned a very bland response, “Welcome, Leila. Welcome, Shersha.”
“Why don’t you two sit next to Jimal and Jessica over there,” Mrs.Evenson said, pointing at a pair of students at the front of the class with two free seats between them. The boy, Jimal, was a dark elf. He had purple skin and violet eyes that sparkled like a galaxy. And the girl, Jessica, was a demon. She had red skin, golden eyes ringed with black sclera, and small black horns protruding from her head like a crown.
The twins did as they were told and sat down between the two. They looked slightly upset that the twins had to sit there but said nothing. Then Mrs.Evenson said, “All right, let us start with a small quiz.” The class groaned, but the twins looked confused, “I know, I know. It’s not your favorite thing to do, but I need to see where you are before we continue. Olli, would you be so kind as to pass around the quizes?”
“Hoo, hoo. Of course, I will,” Olli hooted, picked up a stack of papers, and flew around the room, dropping the papers onto the students, who grabbed them out of the air with no trouble. Except the twins had trouble catching the papers as they fell, which made the class laugh at their clumsy attempts at catching them. The papers landed on the table before them, and the twins slammed their hands on them to stop them from moving anymore.
“Good. You may begin,” Mrs.Evenson said, and Olli flew over and placed two quills on the table for the twins to write with since everyone else had one.
The twins thanked the owl and flipped over the paper. At the top of the paper was where they had to put their names which they did, and then they read the first question.
1. How many runes are there?
2. How many runes can fit in one spell circle?
3. How many spell levels exist? And how many circles are required for the highest level of spell circles?
4. Draw as many runes as you know.
5. Draw as many spells as you know.
The twins answered the questions quickly. Thirty-two runes, five runes per spell circle, ten levels, five-hundred and twelve circles, and they had already learned and drew all the runes. But the last question felt like a trick question, so they answered it differently.
All runes count as one spell, and the chakra used to cast the spell will change the effects of the spell.
Once they finished writing their answers, they raised their hands and said, “We’re done.”
Mrs.Evenson looked surprised for a moment and came to collect their papers. A slight murmur went through the class as Mrs.Evenson took the papers and returned to the podium to start grading them with a pleased smile. Olli flew over then and whispered, “Just wait a moment for everyone else tooo catch up. Then we’ll begin class. Well done, ladies.” The twins smiled slightly and waited patiently for the class to start.
***