"I believe you've been told what goes on in this building." He began as they walked up another flight of stairs. Their knees were already hurting from all the walking and stair climbing. They stopped in a hall and walked to the room at the end of it.
"If you have any complaint of any sort that you feel should get to the hearing of the elders or anyone for that matter, Ms. Lucia here can help you." He said gesturing to the lady seated in a desk, though not everyone could see her, they could hear him and now knew where to be. She was busy snoring away on a pile of papers, some of them looking to be letters.
"Lucia!" He called out.
"I'm up!" She jolted back in her seat. " I'm up!" She cleaned her eyes and stared awkwardly at the number of eyes looking at her. A strand of her hair had fallen in her mouth while she slept, she pulled it out and wiped off the little drool off her face with her sleeve. She almost melted under the severity of the man's gaze while trying to smile, she still hadn't understood what was going on.
"Why are there so many children with him?" Was the only question she had in her mind.
"I'm sorry you have to see this." The man apologized to the students and led them to a different room entirely, meaning they went up another flight of stairs. "In all these rooms, every one of them is to assist you to pass on whatever message you have to whomever." He said and they walked past the hall and into another flight of stairs, this one was thankfully, the last.
"Here, you get your belongings. My time with you ends here." He said and just like Chadwick, he too vanished. Out came from a room was a lady this time. Unlike the the two men who had carried them so far, she had a welcoming smile on her face.
"I see the new ones have arrived." She said to herself. " I am Ms Karina. You being here, means it's time to get your bags. But first," She spoke while twirling some green fog in her hands and in-between her fingers. letting her arm out, where they stood suddenly became vastly spacious. The wooden floor extended into a place much larger and had four lines separating it.
"This will make things much easier for me and you." She continued. "Now, I believe four kingdoms are here." Gesturing to one part of the line she said, "Everyone from Ordalf go left. Tyrunne, go to the right. Chronlin, right next to Tyrunne but do NOT cross the line." She said and they all obeyed leaving those from Mulgard standing in place.
"Good. Now two persons each, from Ordalf go into the first room, Mulgard, into the second, Chronlin into the third room, and Tyrunne, into the fourth." The kids did as she said with one person each from the four kingdoms leaving their position and going into the rooms and while it looked like it would take a lot of time to get this done, everyone who went in came out rather quickly.
Karina stood in front of them making sure there was no scuffle for who would go next and would tell those who came out where next to go. Getting bored, Simran decided to pick up the pace, sending four people in at once.
The twins, always standing so close to each other were the next two picked from Mulgard to go in. They and two others were met with a dozen of bags in a huge room and didn't know where to start from.
"Stretch forth your arm." A lady seated on the desk said. She had her head rested on her palm while she spoke clearly bored and tired of her job. Doing as they were told, they stretched forth their arms. Li fting her arm, she tapped the crystal on the staff which sat next to her and muttered some inaudible words. Their palms suddenly lit up and bags floated out of the bunch in their direction having their palm prints in some places.
The bags floated over to their owners and they all searched to make sure it was the right ones before stepping out. Now they understood why the were asked to place their palms on every bag that belonged to them when entering the dome, it was so this would be made easier.
Exiting the room, they were directed to the other staircase leading downstairs where they were told what room to go to, to get their room numbers. The same going on where they just left was happening here as well, except this time, there were chairs and no specific room entry for different kingdoms. There were six rooms and again four students each would go into them.
When they got in, they met a similar sight of someone in a desk, looking regretful about life decisions. They would tick their names on a list showing they had collected their belongings and get a paper with numbers on it and also handed some clothing. "That's your room number, and your uniform. You will be required to wear it at all times during school hours." The man at the desk said and they stepped out to be teleported outside the tower.
"Go into the tower in front you." A voice suddenly spoke from behind, startling them a bit.
They looked at the distance between them and the tower and though it was very little, it looked very great in the eyes of the tired and hungry.
"Kiyan, I swear I'm going to die of hunger before getting to the tower." Raten said to his brother dragging his feet across the tile.
"We're both going to die, this is too much!" Another cried from beside them. Raten turned to see who was sharing in his pain and saw a dark haired skinny lad.
"Well, you both are here and are still alive." Kiyan said as they reached the tower.
"This is impossible, I am beyond weak and you are moving just fine." Raten said to his brother looking at him as if he were some mighty being.
"This is because, unlike you, I am strong." Kiyan boasted and was about to step into the tower when his knees buckles and he fell face first to the floor.
"Mr. strong what are you doing on the ground?" The skinny boy said in between gasps almost crawling inside the tower.
"I just, I just tripped." Kiyan was obviously lying, he couldn't even breathe properly and looked like he would collapse.
"Why act so dramatic? You're not the only ones here." A familiar female voice said as she walked past the three on the floor. Raten turned and saw who it was, Little.
"Who knew small people had so much energy." Raten said and held one of her ankles. "Give me strength, Little." She wasn't ignoring him this time as she kicked him hard on the head and stomped off.
"Ouch!" The skinny lad and Kiyan said in unison. They could feel the pain from the kick Raten just received. He looked to be passed out in the floor with a big bump on the head.
"You asked for it." Jarett who was close by seeing and heard everything said and picked up Raten over his shoulder, right after giving the other two a hand up first.
"Where do you get so much strength from?" The skinny lad asked looking at Jarett in awe.
"This one's a beast." Kiyan replied and placed his hand over the boys shoulder. The four of them then walked in. Jarett dropped Raten on the floor when they neared the next person the help him
"He's really out, huh?" The skinny lad said.
Kiyan not buying it went closer to his brother and could hear the subtle snore that came out from his mouth. "He's sleeping." Kiyan said and raised his hand off before landing a slap on his brother's face. "Wake up!"
It was so loud everyone heard it and looked in their direction. Raten held onto his cheek and stood up in anger. He would have retailiated but everyone's eyes were already on them.
"Is everything okay?" The lady before them asked.
"Everything is just fine." Kiyan grinned from ear to ear. In front of them were two paths and a wall. She had shown them where the bathing place was and now they had to find their way to their rooms.
"Boys to the left, girls to the right," She said. "Locate your rooms with the numbers you were given."
They walked to the left only to be met with more stairs. "Why?!" Kiyan cried out.
"This is outrageous!" The skinny lad added.
"Kiyan, it is obvious my demise will be today. Please go send a letter to Father, tell him the sad tale." Raten said to his brother.
"Oh no, not again."
"More stairs?!"
"This school hates me!"
Others who came in also complained about the flight of stairs they had to climb.
__________
Author here,
I apologize for the delay in updates. It will be consistent hereon out.
I have a new book out named "A foe for the devil." It is currently participating in this month's WPC. Kindly check it out. Your support is highly appreciated