Lucia stepped off the shuttle that took her to the Tier 1 residence area.
As she walked down the smooth pavement she admired the grandeur of the mansions she passed.
The cool night breeze brushed past her curling its cold breath around her.
Shivering slightly she increased her pace as the beams of moonlight shone down upon her.
As she reached her assigned mansion, she crossed the freshly mowed lawn.
The yard was relatively empty as it was winter and the flowers had withered.
Brushing her long white hair behind her ear, she unlocked the door to the mansion and entered.
A dark entryway greeted her, tapping on her holophone the lights turned on.
As the lights came on, Lucia jumped in fright.
Sitting on one of the black couches in the living room was an Elf.
Calming herself she looked at the intruder.
"What are you doing here Cyrus?" she asked as she made her way over to the kitchen.
"What do you think I'm doing here?" he asked back.
"Green or black?" she asked, as she began heating up a pot of water.
With a small smile on his face, he answered.
"Green."
Lucia nodded and began setting up the tea tray.
They sat in silence for a few minutes before the tea heated up.
Grabbing a couple of ornate silver teacups, she carefully poured the tea.
After pouring both cups she set them on the tray and brought them to the couches.
"So what are you doing here?" she asked carefully, taking a sip from the steaming tea.
Lifting her gaze to look at Cyrus she couldn't help but be surprised by how much he'd grown since she'd last seen him.
His long light brown hair glinted in the soft glow of the light.
His red eyes stared at her as he took a sip from the tea.
His attire was social which caused her to believe it wasn't anything serious.
Crossing his legs, he said.
"Delicious, as always." a small smile beset his pristine face.
"Enough brother, why have you come here? And how?" Lucia asked, pursing her lips.
"Well, how was easy enough. The royal family holds some influence and I managed to sneak in for a few hours," he answered, his eyes crinkling slightly.
Lucia's eyes narrowed and she set the teacup down.
"You didn't do anything that can trace back to me I hope?" she said with a threatening edge to her tone.
"Of course," he said, waving his hand casually.
"However as for why I'm here, there are 3 things," he said, his voice getting serious as his eyes regained their focus.
"The first is that I come bearing some information," he said, setting his own cup down and folding his hands over his lap.
"There is a vampire amongst the students," he said with a warning tone.
'A vampire?'
"Hmm… that's troubling," Lucia said, her lips forming a thin line.
"Yes… unfortunately, we do not know who it is or we would've attempted to dispose of 'it'." he said evenly.
"Hmm, while I'm thankful for the warning I must ask why you have told me this," she asked.
"Father wants you to dispose of it. before you ask, there is no need to kill it. Getting it expelled or taken out through some other action is good enough. After all, we can't risk blowing your cover." he said, sipping from the tea again.
Lucia nodded slowly.
If this information was true then she would have a tough time.
"The second thing I came for was to give you this," he said, handing her a necklace.
The necklace was made of a small gold chain that ended at a tree-woven gem holder.
Inside it was a small shiny pearl.
Its smooth creamy white exterior looked like any other pearl however Lucia realized what it was.
"A SoulStone?" she asked with a trembling voice.
"Yes, father found it appropriate to give it to you now that you have left the house," he said, his lips pursing and eyes narrowing in disapproval.
"The necklace is also enchanted with a protection spell so keep it on you at all times," he said, leaning back into the couch.
"And the last thing?" she asked absentmindedly as she caressed the necklace.
Suddenly the temperature in the room dropped considerably as her brother leveled a serious and threatening gaze at her.
Sensing something off Lucia raised her eyes to stare at him.
"I hope you haven't forgotten your purpose in coming here," he said with an edge to his voice.
"Father only agreed to send you here on the condition that you spy on the things we ask you to."
"I remember," Lucia said solemnly, eyes resolute.
Staring into her eyes, Cyrus nodded and stood up with a smile.
"Well I'll be off then!" he said before vanishing from the spot.
Looking at the empty spot on the couch, Lucia couldn't help but be reminded of the oath she took before coming here.
Sighing heavily she stood up and began to clean up the tea tray.
She will have a lot of work from now on.
***
Getting off the shuttle I stared up at the tall building in front of me.
This was where I was to stay from now on.
The tall building made out of shaded glass stood proudly.
It was the Tier 2 residence.
Stepping through the sliding glass doors, I walked over to the receptionist.
My footsteps echoed on the cold white marble floor.
Aside from the receptionist, I was the only one in sight.
"I came to get my room key," I said politely.
It was good to have a good relationship with your receptionist.
"Student Card, please," he asked me, holding out his hand.
Handing him my Student Card, I waited as he scanned it.
"Here," he said, handing it back to me before flipping through a drawer.
After finding what he was looking for, he pulled out a sleek black card and handed it to me.
"Room 207, 15th floor," he said.
"Thank you," I said before nodding and heading toward the elevator.
Pressing the button I silently waited while looking around.
Expensive reinforced lacquered dark wood made up the interior walls of the building.
-Ding!
The sleek black doors of the elevator slid open, stepping in I pressed the button for the 15th floor and I waited silently as it traveled upwards.
To be honest I was a bit paranoid right now.
My hand was hovering by my subspace in preparation for a fight at any time.
At this point, I didn't know when danger would suddenly find me.
I was also worried about who my roommate would be.
I really hoped it was someone I could get along with.
Sighing, as I was worrying over something I couldn't change I stepped out of the elevator as it opened up.
Arriving at my door, I knocked twice to give a warning before I swiped my card and opened the door.
Entering the apartment I was pleasantly surprised.
The walls were made of the same wood as the walls from before and cool black marble tiling greeted my feet.
"Hello?" I called out.
"In here!" came a shout.
Following the trail of the voice, I could help but be happy at how big the room was.
I was expecting much worse.
As I passed by the living room and arrived at the bedroom junction in between our two rooms I saw my roommate's door ajar.
"I'm coming in," I said.
Pushing open the door I was surprised by what I saw.
The first thing that stood out was the giant bed covered in the most heavenly-looking linens I had ever seen.
Next to the bed was a soft gray carpet that someone could easily sleep on.
Along with a polished wooden desk and wardrobe, there was a VR machine.
"Hey!" called my roommate drawing my attention to him.
With soft wavy blonde hair and striking blue eyes, his overly excited face beamed at me.
"Nice to meet ya roomie!" he said, extending his crumb-covered hand.
He was munching on a bag of potato chips.
Noticing I wasn't shaking his hand, he looked down and his eyes widened.
"Sorry!" he said before wiping it on the panda PJs he was wearing.
"Here," he said, extending his hand out again with a smile on his face.
Feigning a smile, I extended my hand and tentatively shook his.
"I'm Eric Von Claire, you?" he asked as he sat back down on the bed.
Eric Von Claire?
"Emilia's brother?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yeah! Are you in her class? My sister is so cool isn't she?" he began speaking excitedly about his sister.
"Ah, yes I'm her classmate. My name is Isaac Moreau," I said.
"Oh, that's an interesting last name," he said with a pondering expression.
"Oh?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah. in one of the old languages from before the invasion. I believe it was called french, it means dark one."
"I like languages and history so I studied about it a while ago," he said.
"I see," I said, my brows furrowing slightly.
"Well I think I'll turn in for the night," I said to him.
"Oh, okay!" he said, continuing to munch on his chips.
Closing the door to his room I went to my room which was identical to his.
It couldn't be a coincidence that my name meant dark one, could it?