CHAPTER 2

(Revised edition)

The scratching of pencils against paper echoed through the room while Michael sat in class. That was the only sound filling the room. After all, they were taking a test.

Michael didn’t feel all like taking a test. Probably because he was so tired. Waking up early and going to the grocery store was the reason. Last night Harmony had forgotten to remind him that they needed to grab some groceries.

He could have gotten them after school, but Michael didn’t feel like putting it off. If he put it off he might procrastinate. Besides, Michael needed to grab more paper. They were starting to run out.

In an attempt to wake himself up Michael looked out of the window. Light filtered through them creating a glare on the floor that was almost unbearable. Right now the light, and the coffee that he drank in the morning, was the only thing keeping him awake.

Once Michael felt awake enough he went back to work on the quiz that he was taking.

The instructor of the class, Caleb, walked up behind Michael and looked down at the quiz Michael had on his desk.

Caleb often felt imposing, especially to the other students, and especially when he was teaching the class. This didn’t deter Michael though. Ever since their parents disappeared Caleb acted as their guardian.

As long as you had good grades and didn’t talk in class you would be fine. Michael felt that he was doing good on the test, so he had nothing to worry about.

Eventually Michael finished up and put his paper onto the pile of other test papers.

***

A ringing sound of the bell signaled the end of the class. All but a few students managed to finish the test. Harmony was one of the ones that cut it close, but managed to finish in the end.

During class Michael wanted to take a nap, but he ended up doing the assignments that he needed to get done. It was better to work on something rather than to do nothing. That’s the way Michael viewed it anyway.

“How’d it go?” someone asked from behind Michael.

Turning around Michael saw Steven behind him. As always he had a beaming smile on his face.

“I’m pretty confident that I aced it,” Michael stated walking out into the hallway.

“Pretty sure that I didn’t ace it, but I’m sure that I got most of the questions correct,” Steven declared.

“I hope so,” Michael said, “you did end up sleeping for roughly half the class.”

“We don’t have to talk about that,” Steven said, then tried to change the subject, “let’s go get some lunch.”

***

Michael sat down at one of the tables in the cafeteria. Students were lining up to get their lunch, but Michael had brought his own lunch, and so had Steven.

Harmony had also brought some home lunch. In fact she was the one that had made their lunch. It was one of her specialties.

“Michael, you need to get some rest,” Harmony said, “it looks like your eyes are trying to fall back into your head.”

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“Sure, when I get home,” Michael said, focusing on other things.

He had many things that still needed doing. None of them were resting. His swordplay still needed some practice, some of his previous teachers had assigned him some more homework, and they still needed to weed the garden. All things that needed to get done.

Standing up Michael put his trash in his lunch box, as well as his bag. Time to head to the next class.

“I’ll see you all later,” Michael said, then looked at Steven, “we need to find a time to get together. Tell me when you're available and I’ll try to find one that works with my schedule.”

Without response Michael moved out of the cafeteria towards the common room while waiting for the bell to ring. While one might say that walking around the hall was better, Michael preferred to sit down and work on things with his remaining time. Better to stay ahead then fall behind.

Many students obstructed the path to the common room. Weaving in between their backpacks wasn’t easy. It didn’t help that they formed blocks while trying to talk to each other.

Trying to distract himself from the wild rabble Michael looked inside the glass cases that line the wall. Each one contained trophies from a different club in the school.

Despite being a little more than twenty, the Eclipse instituted their schools the moment they were established. This allowed them to have their competitions and gain trophies. Then again, a school could get a reward in many different ways.

Michael recalled seeing an article that another school had received a reward for fending off invaders from the Organization of Control and Security, and the O.C.S. was no laughing matter.

Schools were zones that were safe from the wars that were going on. Thanks to some conventions you couldn’t build a military base in the same sub-dimension as a school. Despite being the major enemy, the Unity at least knew how to be civil.

Trying to stuff the thought that the Unity might not be as bad as he thought, Michael focused on getting to the common room. Once there he would be able to do all the contemplating that he wanted to do.

While trying to walk faster Michael saw something rather peculiar. Someone wearing the grayish black service dress of the Eclipse military appeared in the corner of Michael’s eyes. When he looked back they were gone, disappearing around the corner of the hallway.

Almost all of their teachers that were military had been deployed in the war against the Unity. The only one that was left was Caleb, and even then he had to go to the base on occasion.

Being a strategist had the perk of being able to work from home, but it also meant that his schedule could be pretty volatile.

Pushing through another bubble of students Michael finally made it to the common room. The room looked far more extravagant than any other of the rooms that were in the school. This could be seen in the amount of niceties that were contained within.

All of the tables and furniture made it the ideal place to study and learn. It was also the best place to meet up with friends.

In the middle of the room were foosball tables. They attracted the attention of the hardcore players, so most of the time you wouldn’t be able to play a game without being defeated. It was quite a fierce competition.

Michael sat down and started to open up his bag before he heard a voice.

“Hey Michael, what have you been up to recently?” A girl asked calmly standing in front of Micheal.

Looking up at her Michael recognized who she was immediately. Maya was staring down at Michael with the same imperious look that she always wore. Michael didn’t flinch when he saw it while other students might have. Then again they had known each other for a long time.

“Studying, training, and talking to your brother,” Michael explained, continuing to pull the folder out of his bag.

“Steven is still trying to convince you to relax?” Maya asked, taking a seat next to him.

“Yes, but I don’t really feel like I need it,” Michael replied, “until I physically can’t keep going anymore I’m going to keep trying to improve myself.”

Maya sighed, and started to give Michael a look that he had never seen before.

“You need to get some rest sometime,” Maya explained, “at least give it some thought.”

“This war has already been going on for twenty or so years,” Maya continued, “it will still be going after you’re done taking your break.”

The second Shrine War had been occurring for quite some time, and it was true that it could end at any moment. That’s not what Michael was thinking about though.

When their parents had died the only thing that Michael could think about was joining the Eclipse’s military. That way he could fight back against the people that took almost everything from him and Melody.

“At this point I don’t know if I could take a proper break,” Michael explained, “I’ve been going for so long that I don’t know if I’ll be capable of taking one.”

“Then at least slow your roll,” Maya compromised, “you won’t know that you’ve gone too far until it’s far too late.”

Before Michael could respond the shrill trill of the bell rang through the common area. It was time to head to their next class.

“See you later Maya,” Michael said, packing his things.

“Later Michael,” Maya said, waving as she started to walk away.

At some point Michael planned on slowing down, but that day wasn’t today.