BAM!
Noah hit his head on the cold, wooden floor, waking up immediately. He saw his naked legs dangling, against the side of the bed, his entire torso on the floor.
First day in and I already fall out of bed... Isn't this precious...
He sat with his legs crossed on the floor and scratched his head, still aching. His dreams were filled with strange whispers and blurred visions that he couldn't identify. Thinking back to his first memories in the cold, dark place, the images were hazier than ever. Was he already forgetting something that important? Man, what a space-head...
He stood up slowly and spotted, on top of his little desk, folded very nicely, some clothes.
Must be the ones that Mercedes girl said she'd do.
He picked them up. They weren't as flashy and nearly as diminutive as Lucy's . They consisted of a checkered green, thick turtleneck, some rough brown pants, a black belt and a pair of sturdy brown boots. He quickly put them on and, when he reached for one of the shirt's two pockets, his hand touched something smooth. He took the object out and it turned out to be a pair of leather gloves. He put them on. They covered his entire hand, unlike Lucy's and they weren't too warm, and not too cold. They felt resistant like the rest of his outfit, good for fighting--
How did he know that? He never fought before, right? How did he know the obvious use of those clothes? Maybe it was something he forgotten long ago. Maybe some hidden instinct that kept ticking even if he didn't know it was there.
Noah decided to go and talk to Mercedes and thank her for the clothes, maybe even try to give her something else in return (although he had absolutely nothing on him). He reached for the doorknob of his room's door, but when he tried to turn it, it didn't budge. It didn't take long for him to notice a small key under the knob, inserted into an also small keyhole. He didn't remember locking his door. Did someone else do it? He reached for his window and saw that his room was quite high, with no mean to walk over from one window to another. How did he get a key, then?
He tried not to think about it much. It would only worsen his headache. He unlocked his door and walked to the vast hallway.
He tried going to Mercedes' door but when he knocked on it, he got no response. She must had left already. Now, were was he supposed to go? He decided to try and find Lucy, so he went down some floors.
Suddenly he heard someone knocking on something really loudly. Like, so loud it'd wake up everybody in the dorm if it was nighttime.
He looked around the corner of the hallway the sound came from and saw two boys around his age knocking on a door. One of them was tall and had stylish, swept to the left, gray-ish hair, not like Lucy's silver, more like a faint lilac and the other was short, rounder, his jet black hair brushed backwards, the end of it spiking up a bit behind his neck. They were both wearing similar clothes: a pair of blue pants, a white shirt and a blue jacket. On their feet they had black shoes. The lilac-haired boy's clothes were spotless and he had a long red tie around his neck, under the open jacket and over the white shirt; while the blonde boy was holding his jacket and his own red tie was clumsily tied. The lilac-haired boy was shouting at the door.
-Zeke, wake up, you lousy snooze ball! You're gonna be expelled if you get to school late again!
There was no answer from the room.
-Axel, what are we gonna do? At this rate, we'll get late too...- said the short boy. His mouth seemed filled with something. Noah looked better and saw a whole "bre-ad" sticking out of his mouth. The boy had chocolaty eyes.
-Guy, talking or eating. Choose one.- said the taller kid, his black eyes sharp, but not exuding any hostility- I don't wanna get my precious curriculum tainted by something this stupid, but I can't just let Zeke get expelled. Looks like we're gonna have to bust this door down.
-Oooooh, I see what you mean...- the short kid named "Guy" swallowed his food and, with a smirk, lifted his index finger at the door. Suddenly, a flame sprouted out of his finger!
How did he do that?!
-G-Guy, please, let's resort to simpler methods. You do know what happens if we break dorm property,ya know...- said the taller kid, called "Axel".
Guy shivered.
-I've heard of the rumors. If you break anything in this dorm, an e-evil...g-ghost...comes shouting across the hallways with an horrible voice. Last month, a toilet was broken and the guy who did it spend an entire week hearing: "You bastard! You're not the one who's gonna have to pay for that! I'm gonna look so bad in front of the Academy if they know something's broken under my responsibility!" And then the g-ghost starts bawling a whole bunch...
-Yeesh...- gulped Axel - Let's try avoiding that. Forever.
-So, what are gonna do to go in Zeke's room?-asked Guy, the flame vanishing off his finger.
-Well, we could pick the lock or disassemble the door, by taking it off its frame.
-That sounds like hard work....- suddenly said a third voice.
-Yeah, but it's for Zeke's sake so we gotta do it, Guy.- said Axel.
-I didn't say anything, Axel.- answered Guy, looking at him, confused.
-Um...you didn't? Who did,then?
-It was...me...-the door opened slowly and an ever taller guy, with brown hair, tied in a spiked-up ponytail that made his hair look like a pineapple, walked out of the room, yawning. His white shirt was wrinkled all over and he didn't have a tie nor jacket on him.- Hearing you talk about hard work is too much for me...
-For gods' sake, Zeke, we gotta hurry up or we're gonna be late for class!- Axel grabbed his arm tried to run off.
-Let go...-he sounded so drowsy it looked like he was getting out of bed that very moment, his amber eyes barely open- I can walk by myself.
-You'll crawl if we let you stay here long enough. But, c'mon, let's go Guy!- Axel ran off at Noah's direction. The blonde pressed himself against the wall to let him pass, but he didn't notice him. Neither did Guy, who soon followed after Axel. Noah sighed and started going down the stairs again. Suddenly, he heard a slow voice behind him.
-Who...are you?
Noah turned back, startled and saw that Zeke fellow behind him, looking at him, rubbing his eyes. He looked like he was about to fall asleep right there!
-I-I'm Noah Eon...I'm new here...
-I can see that...I remember everyone around here...It's one of the few things I don't have to make any effort to do...- he yawned.
-Oh...that's good...
-You going to the Academy?
-The...Academy? I-I don't know...
-You don't know? Man, you're clueless...Good for me, another goofball around these parts...nice...knowing yooooouuu....-he let out another big yawn.
-Yo, Zeke, hurry up!- sounded a voice from downstairs.
-I'm going, geez..! I guess I'll see ya later...Noah Eon...- he dragged himself downstairs.
Noah looked down at his feet. A... goofball? He sighed and went downstairs.
*
At the bottom floor, a ton of people were zooming on and off the stairs, doors, in a complete hurry to go to class. Noah looked around, at a complete loss. He was without a goal, nowhere to go...He felt like dirt, all of the sudden, being separated from the world around him.
-Pre~tty busy around here, huh, kiddo?- sounded another voice behind him.
He turned around and saw Lucy. She was looking at him, smirking, her hair slightly messy. She looked drowsy too.
-G-good morning,Lucy...
-Had any good sleep last night?
-Y-yeah...how about you...you look...messy...
She gritted her teeth.
-Yay...Glad you noticed...Totally didn't spend my entire night watching soap operas...-she looked to the side with a shaky grin.
-You could have spend it trying to find out more about me!
-Well, well, someone's pushy today! - she ruffled his hair- That's Eldus' duty. My only duty around here is to run my gig in this town. The gig you're in too, ya know!- she winked.
-That aside, what am I gonna do now?
-Well, you said that you wanted to enroll at the Academy,right? Yours truly used a lot of her influence to get you in right away. Now I've only got...-she counted her fingers- ...five favors from that stinkin' place left. You've cost me 3 favors, mister! You better be the very best over there, like no BladeMaster ever was!
-R-right...
-Well, the school board should have your stuff ready. You just follow the group to classroom 2...E and you should be good. Well, I've got stuff to do. Toodles!- she then pushed up into the current of students, and from there he no longer had any control.
*
-Students, pipe down!- shouted class 2-E's professor. The students took awhile to quiet down before all staring to Noah, who stood at the room's front, straight as a board, red as a tomato. They all dressed in the same blue jacket/white shirt/red tie/blue pants or skirts combination the three boys from the dorm wore. - Our new student is called Noah Eon. - he was reading from a scribbled note that was probably from Lucy and raised his eyebrow.- W-where did you come from again?
-The...sky...?- answered a strangely flustered Noah, given that he never was that embarrassed before.
-It says so right here too...um...what does that mean?
-He's the thing that fell out of the sky yesterday, teach!- yelled a student from the back of the classroom.
Thing?
-Who knew that that weird light was carrying someone?- said another student. - So creepy!
Creepy?
-Is he an alien?!
A-li-en?
Suddenly, the class went to a big uproar. Noah felt even smaller than before. And miserable, on top of that.
He looked at all the students and suddenly spotted them: the lilac haired kid, looking at him, silently, like he was analyzing him; the black-haired one, obviously eating from under the table; and finally, the brown haired one, face first on the table, sleeping. Axel, Guy and Zeke, right? They weren't talking about him like the other students. Why?
The professor soon gave up trying to calm down the class. He ordered Noah to sit in a vacant table, right on the middle of the room. Looking at his feet, Noah walked to his seat and sat on it the whole class' eyes on him. The class went silent, watching his every move like an eagle.
Seeing as he wasn't doing anything crazy all of the sudden, the class looked back at the teacher and class soon started normally. The teacher started his lesson. He grabbed a piece of chalk and started drawing on the blackboard.
-All right, let's start with some basics: the four Elements that cover this world. Can anyone tell me them all?
-Pyre, Aqua, Mistral and Tera! - the whole class shouted at once.
-Hey, weren't there other two?- asked Guy swallowing something.
-Yes, you're right, Mister Muncher.- said the teacher. -There was once a time, way back in Gaia's first days where there existed two other Elements: Lightus and Darkus. Those are known as the Legendary Elements.
-So "legendary", in fact, that they disappeared from the face of the world. - added Guy.
-Not really, Guy. - said a reflecting Axel- I've heard rumors that there are people out there that have Lightus and Darkus.
The teacher chuckled:
-Axel, you're our top student, right, Axel? You should know how someone's Element is chosen.
He tsked:
-It's not much as "chosen" as it is "passed down". It comes from our genes, our parent's Element. Both my mother and father were born under Mistral so I'm obviously Mistral. But, if my father was born under Pyre like, per say, Guy over there, there is still a big chance of me getting Mistral, because the mother's gene is stronger than the father's.
-Textbook explanation, Mr. Axel, very good. But, for someone to be born under Lightus or Darkus, at least one of the person's parents must be born under one. Could you tell me why that is impossible, Mr. Axel?
-Tch...Because all of the Lightus and Darkus' BladeMasters died in the fights against "the darkness", in the first days of Gaia...
-See, it's impossible for someone to be born under either on them.
-Fine, fine...- he sighed- But Guy still forgot one thing: the correlation between Darkus and Lightus, which would lead to---
-Axel, I think it's better for you to stop there. Don't wanna get in trouble with the more religious people, right?
-But...! With advances in science we can...!
The teacher banged his palm on the table, startling Noah.
-Axel,no one likes a know-it-all. Especially with such delicate matters.
Noah looked around and noticed that pretty much all students were staring at Axel with irate looks on their faces.
Axel grunted and didn't talk for the rest of the class. The teacher started talking about the history of the Elements throughout mankind's history. Noah tried listening to it but his mind was adrift. The "Legendary Elements" and the thing that Axel was trying to say but was stopped also bothered him. He seemed pretty smart, why couldn't he talk about what he wanted,then, if it was about the subject at hand? As that wasn't bad enough, something was bugging Noah at the back of his mind, he just couldn't put his finger on it.
Suddenly, the bell rang and everybody was packing their things to leave the classroom. Suddenly Noah's name was called.
-Mr. Eon?- it was the teacher again- I'm afraid we skipped a very important matter at your presentation.
-We...did?
- Yes, it's very important for your future classes. I must ask you what Element were you born under.
-Oh,sure! It's---
Wait! What was it again?
-It's...um...
-Yes..?- asked the teacher. Again, everybody in class was staring at Noah.
-Um...I'm afraid I can't answer...Since I arrived to this town I...have been suffering from amnesia...I can't remember anything...my name isn't even real...Lucy Crow made it up for me...I'm sorry, I don't know my Element.
-Oh, that's too bad.- said the teacher, confused- But I'm afraid I--
Suddenly the classroom was on an uproar again.
"He doesn't know his own Element?"
"Who the hell doesn't know that?! It's the basis for your entire existence!"
"Amnesia? I don't believe it!"
"Wait, did he say "Lucy Crow"? He knows her?! The strongest BladeMaster?"
"It must be a joke!"
The teacher tried to put calm them down but the students left the classroom in a hurry, leaving Noah suddenly alone and feeling kinda bad, to be honest. He didn't say another word to the teacher and left the classroom.
*
Walking in the Academy hallways, Noah felt more uncomfortable than walking down the streets the past day. At least, there he was with Lucy, but now he was alone. Everybody was talking about him, this "mysterious kid", how he had no memories and, to top it all off,no knowledge of his own Element. It seemed that was what bugged most students out.
Elements must really shape people's lives...Especially BladeMaster's...Geez how can I be one if I don't even know this basis?!
These thoughts mixed with the whispering, so Noah's head was pretty much filled with doubt when he saw Mercedes at the door to a classroom. They didn't exchange words about the rumors. Noah just said "Thank you for the outfit" and Mercedes answering with a quick "No problem" and left.
The rest of the day passed very slowly with Noah trying to remember something, anything, to help him remind of himself, but to no avail. The memories he did have before arriving at Soula just kept getting more blurry as Noah thought more about them.
Finally, the last bell rang, and the school day was over. Noah dragged himself, out of the school. But, suddenly when he was going through the main entrance, his collar was grabbed and was pulled towards a corner. There, he faced the munching face of Guy, who was accompanied by Axel, who was carrying a drowsy Zeke.
-It seems you're pretty much an outcast too, man.- said Axel with a warm smile. Noah felt no evil intentions coming from any of those three.- I mean, you're not even wearing the Academy's uniform! I mean, it's not obligatory, but you'll get a free side-eye pass from the other students for the rest of the year.
Oh, so that's why everyone dressed similarly...Did Mercedes make his outfit so different in order to differentiate the "alien" from the rest of the students? He tried not to think about it.
Axel kept speaking.
-Well, if you didn't know already, I'm Axel Rhodes, munchball here is Guy Vermilion and the hibernating human being on my back is Zeke Truesdale.- said Axel, shaking Noah's hand. - You're a very curious person, did you know that, Noah Eon?
-First time I've been called that. But I've heard worse today.
-I imagine...-said Guy. - Axel here is too smart for his own good, so he gets a lot of crap from all the jealous people too.
-Tch, and people say you're gonna burst someday, too.- answered Axel, smiling sadly- Now, if Zeke here could hear the stuff people say to him, hoooo boy...
-I guess everybody gets that...- said Noah, a little happier to know he wasn't the only one getting picked on.
-Nah, we're a special case. There are a few students who got accepted into this school because of its new scouting system.- said Axel- For those whole live very far away from Soula, the Academy's teachers come to those remote schools, in order to look for fresh faces among the country boys. They are then enrolled here, among the richy rich people who buy their way to school but can't actually count up to the amount of money they just spent.
-Gee, that's harsh, Axel...!- laughed Guy- I'm putting that on the list of "Axel's Outbursts at the Commoners"!
-Well, we're the ones that are the commoners here. - chuckled Axel- And I do try to keep my voice down most of the times.
-Except today, it seems.- said Noah,smiling.
-Indeed.- he answered.- I still stand my ground, though...
-Oh, about that, Axel (if I can call you that).- said Noah, reminded of one of the things that was bugging him- What were you going to say after talking about Lightus and Darkus, back in class?
Suddenly, Axel's smile vanished and he looked around.
-Sorry, Noah...I can't tell...
-W-why? You were about to in class!
-Slip of the tongue, I'm afraid. You're new here and don't remember anything so I'll advise you: Never talk about that subject anywhere. It's...taboo...
-"Ta-boo"?
-Yeah, something forbidden.- said Guy- It's a big no-no to talk about that subject or you'll get the whole town chasing you out, especially the more religious folk.
-You mean 99% of the world?- asked Axel, ironically. He then sighed- I'm sorry, Noah, but we really can't talk about it.
-Oh, it's OK...
-Axel...Guy...I'm hungry! And sleepy..!- mumbled Zeke.
-I'd be surprised if you weren't...-sighed Axel.- Sorry, Noah, but it seems that this is our cue to go. I'll guess we'll see each other tomorrow at Fencing. -with this, they started to walk away.
-F-fencing?
-Yeah. You can't hope to be a BladeMaster without knowing out to fight, right? Well, we'll see ya when we see ya!- Axel and Guy waved goodbye and walked away.
Once again Noah was left alone, but he didn't feel like that anymore. It was strange... somehow warm...and strangely familiar.
Did everyone, not just the amnesiac people, but the students, the sages and the strongest BladeMasters feel just the same when they've made friends for the first time?