"What the hell? You can't be serious?" Hayden yelled. "You're telling us that we can't go home because it's only been a week?"
"Look, it's not that we're excited about this either. It's school rules," Hyrad said calmly but her tone sounded a little irked. "You're not allowed to go home after a week. In fact, you're only allowed to go home after the first month. You know, because it usually goes by getting used to the school and the place. Usually students don't get this excited about going home after just one week."
It was the first time since the 'incident' that I had seen Hyrad. Not that it had been a long time. But Shade had still been missing from the regular morning meetings. Not that I cared if he was there or not. Why was I even thinking about it? Or him? Push it out of your head, Nyla. Push it 'all' out!
I scooted closer to Hayden as he fumed at the news of not being able to go home. Somehow, it didn't bother me. And I didn't know why? Maybe it was because I kind of guessed that this would've happened? Well, it didn't matter. I wasn't too stoked about going home either. I was still pretty mad at my mother and my uncle. Though I was glad to see the bubbling face of my little sister as she approached me with a bounce in her step. I wondered what got her so happy. Was it because she was joyful to see me as much as I was to see her?
Annabella darted Daxton and hugged him tight and the gesture made me frown. What the hell? I turned towards my twin, who was giggling like a child, ruffling Belle's hair, before tilting his head towards the daggers I threw his way with my gaze. Daxton grinned sheepishly and put Belle down. Belle looked at me and grinned even brighter. With that, my annoyance melted and so did my heart.
"Nyla!" She cheered sweetly.
I opened my arms wide and she ran into them. Her familiar smell of vanilla and chocolate soothed my heavy heart. She was my only ray of sunshine in this gloomy, steely situation that I didn't realize I missed so dearly. "How are you, my little Anna?"
"I'm not little!" Belle pouted. "I'm twelve."
I chuckled under my breath. "That is true. You are twelve. I should stop calling you my little angel now. Maybe, I should stop sneaking candies to you too. You're too old for that now, aren't you?" I sighed. "I think I'll just share them with Daxton."
"Hey! Don't you dare give my candies to Daxton! He doesn't even like them. He'll just throw them away. Such precious things should be cherished not discarded," Belle huffed, crossing her arms against her chest. "So, do you have them?"
Raising a brow, I smirked. Shoving my hand in the pocket, I pulled out a pack of Sour Candy. Belle squealed in delight, making everyone turn their gazes at us. Clearing her throat, she stood straight as though nothing ever happened.
Hayden looked at me and smiled before turning back towards Hyrad. "So, what are we going to do this weekend? Are we going to stay in the dorms the entire time?"
Hyrad smiled while pursing her lips. "We're going to City Square."
~*~*~*~
City Square was the largest marketplace of Astral City. It had everything over there. Theater halls, museums, high-end retail stores, fine-dining restaurants, and the tallest clock tower in the country. It was said it was built during the second era of the Kingdom of Astral, the first and the largest monarchy of Eybosnia. There was a small sect in the Eybosnian's military that safeguarded the historic monument.
Sitting beside Avery, I turned around to see Annabella talking animatedly to two girls, one of whom was an Eybosnian. I was glad that Belle was doing better than us and could make friends with them unlike us, who still looked at each other with irritation. Belle's roommate, Laverne Libena, was a tiny girl with bright blonde hair and startling blue eyes. Even though she had small freckles across her face, she was cute as a button. While the Eybosnian girl, Samia Eveneux, was an extremely translucent girl. And I wasn't even exaggerating. I could see the lines of the seat that she sat on through her. Her Nalin was unlike others I had ever seen.
As soon as the bus shuttle landed at the bus stop, everyone hurried outside. I, for one, was quite looking forward to it. I had heard about the picturesque square from everyone who had ever been there. And they weren't wrong. The trees that lined up at the side of the pavements flourished flowers of different colors and sizes, lifting up the ambience of the square to another level. The rainbow colored trees stood on a pathway that led the way to the main square that had the statue of the Goddess of Peace, Atia.
"Now that we're here, there are some ground rules. You're not allowed to go by yourselves anywhere. You must be with your buddy at all times," Hyrad said. "Lexin, pass out these papers, will you?" She handed Lexin a stack of papers. "This will be our itinerary for this weekend. Think of it as a field trip. A trip for you to understand the history of Eybosnia. Before we check into our accommodations, let's do some sightseeing."
"Accommodations?" Erik asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We're going to tour the city this weekend. That means we'll have to board somewhere close by. It's all in your itineraries," said Zerakh, looking half disgusted.
Everyone scowled at the forced field trip. It was bad enough that we couldn't go home, now, we had to be stuck in a hotel as well. This was a bad idea. Truly, a bad idea!
However, everyone's mood changed as we walked deeper into the square. I walked alongside Avery and her Ebosynian buddy, Venea Crypta as my not-so-beloved buddy, Shade, had still not turned up.
The square was packed. It definitely felt like it was a whole different planet. It was like none other I'd ever seen. The trees were changing colors as the breeze passed through them. There were flying cars above us and billboard signs that telecasted 3D advertisements. A group of performers enacted some type of street play in the middle of the square. It had gathered a crowd as they swayed and cheered for the performers.
I looked past the people to notice the buildings. The architecture was similar yet different compared to Earth. The tall skyscrapers created a Lothalt jungle but it all seemed to look minute compared to the famed clock tower. It stood just offset just a midge from the center of the square. A large dial rested upon a concrete gateway. A motorized wheel was loaded in the middle of the gateway that rotated a stream of water gliding down a canal that split the square into two. Accent lights lit on either side of the canal. The performers had been performing on a stage-like platform that hovered above the canal.
The clock tower looked like a mix of Gothic architecture with postmodernism. It was truly a beauty. It was connected to a small chapel that I presumed was the House of Atia, the Church dedicated to the Goddess of Peace. As grand as the clock tower was, the chapel paled in comparison. At least in terms of the exterior façade. It might have been a different story inside.
My heart beat fast as I began to get excited. As the Eybosnian-Earth baby, I had never seen the world outside our compound. I had only seen pictures of our home back on Earth and some stills of places in Odrone from our Eybosnian textbooks. I was slightly thrilled to venture into the big city.