“I should have known when the Solus Sanctum called me over to perform mending for a broken arm and a broken nose it would be you two,” Dr. Loo said as she placed her hands upon Rom and Suke who were sitting in a room.
Rom could feel her shattered bone be mended back into place while the doctor’s extended arm contorted with a snap and dropped. Seconds later, the same arm which was now dangling by the doctor’s side suddenly straightened itself.
“You didn't even flinch,” Rom said, looking at Dr. Loo’s arm.
“I had to mend broken arms many times in the past so the pain is nothing for me now,” Loo replied. “Also I am surprised you allowed me to attend to your arm. I figured you would want it to heal naturally.”
Rom stood up from the chair she was sitting in and chuckled. “I would have but I am right handed and it would have been a pain trying to take notes and tests with my left.”
Suke who was sitting still and waiting patiently for her nose to be mended did a slight cough causing Loo to turn to her. “Don’t worry. I didn’t forget about you.” Not even three seconds, Suke’s nose was no longer broken.
“Thank you Dr. Loo,” the girls said before they started to leave the room.
“I don't know what you girls did but being brought into the Solus Sanctum is not a good thing. You both need to be careful from this point forward or else your freshman year will be cut short here at this school. Keep about yourselves.”
Keep about yourselves…what the hell does that mean?
Before Rom could even ask, the door to the room slammed open. “Get out,” a man crudely said with the same black and white outfit as the people who brought the girls in. However, instead of a sash, the man had a security guard badge on his shirt. As he led the girls out, Suke asked about James but was ignored.
“Hi. Excuse me sir. You might have not heard me but I wanted to know if we can see the boy who was brought in with us named James. He was taken through the door over there.” Suke pointed to a door off to the side which had word restricted over it.
“I heard you the first time,” the guard replied harshly.
“Well ok then. That was rude,” Suke whispered to Rom who said back “Yeah that won't do.”
A commotion broke out between Rom and the man which surprised Suke.
“Why can’t we see our friend? What have you done with him!”
Suke could see the concern within Rom’s eyes and decided to join her in getting some answers and see James. “Yeah! Tell us why we can’t see our friend!”
The girls became so loud that Dr. Loo came out of the room into a waiting room of Rom and Suke shouting at the guard.
“You can’t see him! Now get out of here before I make you, ” the guard said.
Dr. Loo rushed over to calm everyone down but the frustrated guard accidentally raised his voice at her and the real noise began. While the guard was getting chewed out by a doctor and student, Rom brushed past him and swiped his ID card attached to his pants. From there she snuck off to the locked door that James was taken through, used the ID card, and entered into the restricted area.
“This place is so creepy.” Rom felt as if she was walking through a hallway of no return.
Shade poked her head out of Rom’s hair, noticing closed metal doors. “What do you think is behind the doors?”
“More like who,” Rom said, reading different names by doors she was passing. “I am guessing the people behind these doors are students who have been infected with hauntings and if it is then it will make the search easier.”
“The search?” Shade thought for a second. “Who are you looking for and why is this the first I am hearing about it? I should have been able to know you were searching for someone when you thought of it.”
While Shade was in a state of turmoil, Rom found the name she was looking for. “Found him,” she muttered to herself but was startled the next second by “Who is him?”
Rom jumped back, turning to professor Hash who was behind her. “Professor. What brings you here?” What brings you here? What kind of silly question is that, Rom thought to herself.
“Well I am here to evaluate the students who have fallen victim to unconsented memory manipulation. Why are you here in an area you are clearly not supposed to be in and how?” The unemotional face of Hash gave an eerie feeling to Rom that if she lied, then she would end up on the ground and down the hall unconscious like the student during her first class of the semester.
“I stole the guard’s badge so I can enter into the restricted area and chat with the victims.”
“Smooth,” Shade said.
“Hush.”
“No you hush.”
“I know what I did was reckless and probably broke tons of rules but I needed to clear my name before I get kicked out of school and lose my future. Being a student at The Exalted City of Noire has trudged up a gloom like me to skies I never thought I could reach alone.”
A tear started to come down Rom’s eye before Hash signaled her to stop. “Please don't cry. I can't handle someone crying. How about I answer what I can about the victims while escorting you out of the sanctum.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Rom immediately shook her head yes before Hash could change his mind.
Back in the waiting room, the guard was finished getting yelled at by Dr. Loo. “No respect some people have. Ms. Backson you should go before I truly get angry.” As Suke started to leave, Rom and Professor Hash walked into the waiting room.
“Ms. Dorfmure. It looks like your friend is heading out and I suggest you join her while I give the guard back his ID.”
Rom did just that, leaving the Sanctum with her roommate.
“Where were you?”
Rom took a moment before answering Suke until they walked some distance away from Solus Sanctum. “I was able to get that guard's ID and used it to enter the restricted area James was taken into.”
“Sneaky you are. Ok so how is he?”
“No idea. Professor Hash caught me before I could even talk to the victims of the memory manipulations that’s been happening on campus.”
Suke looked perplexed. “Why was your professor there?”
“He was there evaluating the victims and luckily because of that he was able to tell me everything about them. Well not everything but enough like how each victim are taking Ruin during the summer.”
Suke stopped walking. “I had no idea Ruin could be taken earlier than sophomore year. Wait. You didn’t sneak back there to check on James?”
Rom, who was just two steps ahead, also stopped, but instead of turning around to face Suke, she kept her back turned with no response.
“So all that talk earlier about you wanting to see him was all fake? Can’t even look at me. So instead of checking up on a person who you got infected, you tried speaking to other people, and have no idea if James is cured or not?”
“You must have found a way to hide your thoughts from me but why would you do that?”
“Why does it matter?” Words that were meant for Shade, were accidentally said out loud.
“It matters because it shows how little you care. James could have gotten seriously hurt or even died and yet you don’t seem to care.”
“Why are you hiding your thoughts from me?”
“Do you care about anything?”
“Do you not trust me?”
“Are you really that heartless?”
“Yes! Yes to all!” Frustration from being bombarded with questions took over causing Rom to suddenly turn to Suke. “I only care about myself and if you think what I did was heartless then spend a day down in the Nile then get back to me.”
The two stared at each other without blinking as if the first to close their eyes would lose. If not for Shade fluttering so close to Rom’s face, she would have never blinked anytime soon.
“You only care for yourself huh?”
Rom could hear the contempt in Shade’s voice but was too hardheaded to care. “I am getting blamed for something I didn’t do and I saw a chance to gather information in order to clear my name, so I took it. I will not feel bad for that, especially since James is probably already cured and will back out to take classes in no time. Also why do you care so much for an Exalted? You're a gloom like me.”
“I’m both Exalted and a gloom.”
“You really believe that? If you have any ounce of gloom in you then that’s all anyone will see. Being of both worlds doesn’t make you better, it just makes you a little less worse than the people you don't want to fully claim.”
“Fully claim? What is that supposed to mean?” Suke knew exactly what Rom meant. She heard it so many times during her trips down to the Nile to visit her father’s side of the family. Friends, cousins, and even strangers who knew about her Exalted mother and gloom father always seemed to fixate on what side she fully claimed. As if both couldn’t have equal declaration.
Rom rolled her eyes before saying “Whatever,” and started to walk away until she was shoved from behind. “Fuck you!” Suke shouted.
“Fine have it your way,” Rom said under her breath while clenching her fists, “I owe you a punch anyways.”
Just as the girls were about to come to blows, “Stop!” Shade flew in front of Rom and Suke hoping to stop what was about to happen but instead was moved aside by Rom. However, before any fists could be thrown, a figure appeared in between them.
“Professor Hash,” Rom uttered before a single finger plucked her right on the forehead.
“You two can follow me,” Hash announced as he started walking.
That hurt, Rom thought while rubbing her forehead and following behind Hash along with Suke to an open field. The girls watched as Hash took off his blazer, folded it, and placed it on bleachers off to the side.
“I had an interesting talk with Dr. Loo who told me you two were brought in with another victim of memory manipulation. Thankfully the young man was cured due to the manipulation being shallow.”
Rom shot a boastful look towards Suke. “Oh James is ok. I wonder who could have predicted that?” Suke returned her own look of disdain with the added sucking of her teeth.
“Rom. Were you the reason the young man got infected?”
Hash’s question wiped the smirk off Rom’s face. “Yes. He was helping me with an assignment on altering a memory.”
“Why didn’t you use a trained volunteer that is offered by the school in which you could have practiced your memory manipulation on? The professor who gave the assignment should have told you about it.”
“Professor Nest must have forgotten to tell me,” Or more like she purposely didn't.
Hash stared at Rom as if he was trying to detect any sort of fabrication. “It seems you are telling the truth but what about your friend?” He looked at Suke with the same discerning eyes and asked “Does Ms. Dorfmure have any grievances with the young man?”
She couldn’t escape his gaze and within two seconds “Yes,” came forth from Suke’s lips. Rom would have been mad at what her roommate informed her professor but she knew first hand that his eyes seemed to tear out the truth.
“But the reason for that is—,” before Suke could explain the reason behind Rom’s grievance, Hash just waved it off.
“I don't need to know the reason. What I need to know is if Ms. Dorfmure tried to stop the haunting she caused?”
“Yes I did,” Rom immediately answered. “Shade tried to switch out the memory that was bleeding but couldn’t. There was some kind of invisible force preventing it.”
“Once an altered memory begins to bleed then it can’t be changed out, hence the invisible force preventing it. The memory must be reverted back to its original state and then it can be changed. This is something else Professor Nest should have taught before giving you the assignment.”
Hash started to rub his chin while walking back and forth leaving Rom and Suke in wait of what he was going to ask next. “Your first mistake in altering that young man’s memory with his bullies was the timeframe. You changed his bullies into being nice and apologetic for that particular moment but didn’t take into account that it wasn't the last time they had bullied the young man. Your second mistake is not understanding how your alteration could affect other memories.”
Rom thought for a few seconds and then a light went off in her head. “Me altering a memory means nothing if the memories after would contradict it. Like those evil kids being nice to James one afternoon but the days after they continue to bully him. He was probably completely caught off guard the next time they started to bother him.”
“Good. You were able to understand your mistakes quicker than most. Now your third mistake was not using a provided volunteer from the school. James could have easily pressed charges which could have caused your expulsion but he claimed that he volunteered to help and so no repercussions for you. He was actually quite adamant about you not getting in trouble and said that if you get expelled then he will drop out also. Other than having two new open spots for students, the school wouldn't care if he left or stayed.”
“That was nice of him,” Shade stated.
“Why? Why would he even go that far for me? A gloom. Who infected him with a haunting.”
As Rom was pondering James’s vindicating act, Suke decided to use that time to ask Hash a question of her own. “How are the freshmen being kept at the Sanctum, able to take the Ruin during the summer?”
“A freshman cannot participate in the Ruin but once the school year is completed, that student is considered a rising sophomore. So instead of waiting for their sophomore year to begin, a student with a recommendation from a professor can participate in Ruin during the summer. Any other questions young lady?”
Suke shuddered her head with a “No sir, I mean professor.”
“What is Ruin?” Rom asked.
“A task that has taken the life of many students who believed their family name will carry them. Ruin is a test in which students have to face off against an infected. The first three students to defeat their assigned infected, will each win a one hour entry into one of the three Seraphic floors. The invaluable knowledge located on each of those floors can easily shoot a student to the top of their class and it is also highly sought after in many cleaner positions.”
A thought entered Rom’s mind. “If I enter into Ruin and become one of the three winners, will that up my chances as a spectra to be selected to be a soul cleaner for the Seraphic Sept?”
“Becoming a winning contestant of Ruin will grant you an automatic meeting with a scout from the Seraphic Sept. If the scout believes you will be a great fit within the Seraphic Sept and you graduate from one of the Exalted schools, then you're pretty much in.”
If I can get Professor Hash to recommend me for Ruin and I win, “Can you give me a recommendation to participate in Ruin during the summer?” Usually Rom doesn’t get excited for things yet to come but she couldn’t help herself this time. Especially since she thought her dream of becoming a soul cleaner for the Seraphic Sept was slim to none.
A sigh was let out from Hash in which Rom took as an opening to a reply of no but the actual answer that followed she would have never guessed. “I will write you a recommendation but first I want you to land one hit on me.”