A dark glove picks up a small black orb amidst a mound of them in a room illuminated only by a single overhead light. The small cone of light only illuminated the middle of the dark room.
The person had a long, thick black coat, wearing the hood to conceal their identity in full. Even though there wasn't a soul for a few hundred meters in all directions, the figure decided that safe was better than sorry.
The person tapped the dark orb twice on a small surface, the surface lit up with a white light. The person sat down before tapping the small surface once more, slumping after the white light glowed neon green.
***
Rain. It fell towards the ground surrounding the clouds that shrouded the sun. Gravity was strange in the Heart, it was inverted; the ground was upside down, the sun was below them, yet above.
In certain areas, the rain was gentle, like a slight sprinkle, making one's skin glisten; in others, the rain was disastrous, it attempted to drown the eleven students.
Bell felt lucky that she was able to simply conjure an umbrella whenever she needed one. She hoped that the others felt grateful for the gift that she had made them.
The Solace brothers apparently hadn't prepared umbrellas for their trip to the Heart. It was only natural that they had assumed that the weather was light.
After all, there wasn't even a lick of information on the operations underwent in the Heart. The United Government decided that all military and Terrarium activity is to be kept entirely silent from the populace.
Well, Bell had access to the information now and had zero intent to do anything with that information.
'Actually, there might've been a clause against spreading that info to outside of the Terrarium.' Bell thought to herself, having just ascended the stairs.
Soon, the group had reached the doors of the cafeteria. The doors of the cafeteria didn't budge when Magnus attempted to open them. Afterward, an automated message rang into the air, its volume just overtaking the torrential downpour.
[The next meal period is at-]
An unnatural cut was heard.
[Five, thirty, P.M.]
Then, another unnatural cut to the rest of the message.
[Please come back then.]
Under the heavy rain, Bell and the rest of her group were denied access to the delicious food of the campus cafeteria.
Bell mourned this unfortunate event internally. Her heart slightly broke, and her high spirits were brought down a peg.
'Aw man.' She thought.
The silence that the group held allowed for the sound of peppering rain hit their ears. They spent minutes in this silence, all knowing exactly what was going on, and not liking the situation.
"What time is it?" Mona broke their silent lamentations.
Bell, as well as a few others immediately pulled out their pathfinders and found that it was only two in the afternoon.
"We have to wait four whole hours before dinner?" Pyralis asked.
Wren shrugged before turning around and heading down towards the dormitories.
Bell followed suit, then Mona, and slowly the rest of the group.
***
As it turned out, Bell and Mona's room was across the hall from Aramine and Wren's room. The pleasant surprise slightly alleviated the slight annoyance that the four felt at the fact that the cafeteria was closed.
Bell wasn't willing to spend any money at the small shop near their dormitory building, electing to simply stay hungry for a short while until dinner.
'I'll devour ten plates of food!' Bell thought enthusiastically.
Unfortunately, Bell failed to realize that due to the severity of the eternal storm, her clothes had gotten slightly damp. Upon entering her room, she had nearly failed to resist the urge to toss them into the hamper.
'They'll dry in a few minutes, don't toss them...' Bell reminded herself.
Finding herself with nothing to do, and no bright ideas finding their way into her brain. Bell elected to continue reading her novel at the desk in her room.
A sour taste was left in her mouth.
'The Pope nearly dies, we can't get food, and my clothes are wet...' Bell thought to herself, a slight scowl acted as her expression. 'At least I get my books.'
Her favorite character died in the next chapter.
Bell stared blankly at the character's final words at the end of the chapter. White space was left underneath the passage, and a single tear found its way to decorate the space.
'I'm losing it.'
Bell gave up on the book, placing her bookmark right next to the character's final words. Calmly placing the book at the corner of her desk, Bell haphazardly flopped onto the sheets on her bed, the sweet comfort of her bed soothing her simmering fury.
Soon, Bell felt her breathing slowly calm down, her heartbeat feeling just a bit calmer. The bags under her eyes felt a bit heavy for a few moments before sleep gently caressed her body, mind, and soul.
It had been a long while since she had been able to enjoy sleep without the plague of her nightmares.
***
When Bell awoke, it was gradually to the sound of Mona gently tapping on her closed door.
With a raspy voice, Bell announced, "I'll be right there..."
Her mind was foggy and her body was warm. Bell saw that she had drooled. Hard. With a slight flush, Bell wiped the drool from her mouth with a sleep-lined forearm. A strange feeling emanated throughout her chest, similar to when she was properly rested and relaxed.
She hadn't even noticed falling asleep, and could probably fall asleep once more...
'No... I gotta eat dinner.' Bell thought to herself. Her stomach rumbled in response, as if saying "Eat! Fool! Eat!"
The ravenousness of her stomach slightly steeled her mind just a tad more awake.
Bell sighed as she slowly dragged her legs off of the bed, lightly tapping against the floor as she found her way to her shoes. Within the next few minutes, Bell freshened up, using the bathroom and rinsing her face after washing her hands.
Upon getting ready, Bell checked the time on her pathfinder.
[5:45 P.M.]
Bell announced the time to Mona, "We're fifteen minutes late."
"We should hurry up, then." Mona replied. "We don't want them to wait on us, right?"
Bell nodded in reply.
The two stepped out of their room to the quiet hallway, nothing of note occurring at the time.
***
They arrived at the door of the cafeteria, opening them and entering the rowdy room. It had been mostly empty in the morning, but was filled now. Nearly all the tables were filled with students in groups talking to one another over food.
Bell had picked up the scent of delicious food from a mile away, her stomach slowly growing more and more insistent on making its hunger known. As they had been walking to the cafeteria Bell's mind also slowly succumbed to hunger.
Within the next few minutes, Bell and Mona found their way to a large round table where Jude and Torm sat.
"Nobody else here yet?" Mona asked.
Torm looked up from his plate and replied after chewing, "Nope, you're the first to follow us."
Mona nodded in understanding, turning around to find Bell had already found her way to the buffet line.
Bell looked at the selection of food available to all of the students and was in awe of the sheer variety.
The tens of dishes lining the counters were heated by metal plates underneath, keeping the food all safe for consumption. There was enough food for at least a few thousand people; well, there was only enough for a couple hundred as of now, but Bell assumed that there would be more to come as food depleted.
Bell was intrigued by some sort of strange spaghetti; the color of the noodles was deep blue while the sauce was a mixture of aquamarine and teal. With only a single large plate in her hand, Bell was contemplating if she should simply return when she emptied a plate.
'I had a huge breakfast, though...' Bell thought, wondering if she should choose a balanced meal or if she should fill up on the spaghetti.
Mona appeared beside Bell and spoke, "Ooh! Are those real Kraken tentacles?"
Bell turned to face Mona and then the blue noodles. 'What.'
"Yeah, they are!" Mona scooped up a large portion before pouring it on her plate. "They're really spicy, apparently."
Bell didn't need to be convinced twice, immediately filling her plate with the strange spaghetti.
Bell grabbed a cup and filled it with strawberry milk at a dispensary. There was a myriad of other types of drink to pick, but Bell felt like drinking strawberry milk. Soon, she was sitting back at the table next to Torm and Jude.
It was a round table, so Bell couldn't pinpoint exactly where she was in relation to the orientation of the table. She did know, however, where the other three were sitting.
Mona was to Bell's left, then Torm, and then Jude. The four were sitting next directly to one another, and there were at least eight other open seats at the round table.
Bell took a slight whiff of the food on her plate and found herself drawn more and more into the alleged spiciness of the Kraken meat. With a fork, Bell stirred the spaghetti into a small ball around to fork before devouring the food.
Mona wasn't lying.
'It's so spicy!' Bell thought to herself, pleasantly surprised. 'It isn't entirely spicy, and there's a lot of flavor!'
Bell relished in the meal made of monsters.
'Actually.' Bell wondered before asking Mona, "Do you know why the Kraken is so good? The sauce isn't anything special."
Mona smiled politely, finishing a bite of food before answering, "That's just the nature of monsters. When they get more powerful, their flesh is tastier."
Bell nodded in satisfaction, standing up to get some other foods.
When she returned with a plate of mysterious meats and spices, she found that the Eriksons had sat down at the round table.
"Yo." Michael greeted.
"Hi, guys." Bell said, sitting down.
Bell had picked out a piece of grilled dragon, which turned out to taste like superb chicken. There was Dire Wolf, Werewolf, Griffin, and even the essence of a spirit. They all tested spectacular, the succulent meat mixing in one another's juices.
They were tender, crispy, and most of all, plentiful. Well, the meats and spices had a strange, mystical sheen to the air around them, like a rainbow was shimmering around them.
'How do they get so much monster meat?' Bell thought to herself. The question was soon thrown out of her mind as she distracted herself by devouring a third plate of food.
As she sat down, Bell took a quick mental note of the foods that the others were eating.
Mona, Jude, and Hilia were eating balanced meals, with all the nutrition that a person should eat at dinner. Michael, Torm, and Magnus were devouring a myriad of meats, most looking to be sourced from Earth.
Oh, yeah, Aramine, Magnus, and Wren appeared sometime while Bell was grabbing more food. In any case, the only reason Bell was able to deduce that was due to the mundane colors and look of the meats, however delicious they looked.
Aramine, Pyralis, and Strella, surprisingly, were eating only salads, which Bell found strange. 'I didn't think them to be the type of eat only grass...'
Wren had finished her food, which was a plate of Kraken spaghetti, a choice that Bell respected. Wren had chosen a spot directly next to Bell and Magnus.
Soon, Wren struck up conversation with Bell through rapidly typed out texts that were then displayed via. Pathfinder.
The two spoke of the forging class, which was another pleasant surprise to Bell.
[Who do you think the teacher is?] The Pathfinder displayed.
"Honestly? No clue, but I hope they're cool." Bell replied.
They had covered what types of metal that they would use, and if they were sourced from the Domains. Bell knew that humanities hyper-large structures were nearly only able to exist due to the mythical metals and materials from the Domains, but she had no clue what those materials were.
'A mystery for another day.' Bell thought.
Wren then typed up another message before the Pathfinder displayed it to Bell: [How many other students do you think are taking Forging?]
This, Bell was able to take a guess. "I'd say around... fifty other students?"
Wren nodded before typing: [I hope we have the same class period.]
Bell nodded in agreement. However, her stomach knew no bounds, so she stood up and went to grab some dessert. When she returned with some ice cream and a slice of cake, Jude and Torm were leaving to the door.
The two said their farewells to Bell as well before heading to the dish retrieval machine, a big box that had a few slots for plates, bowls, and cups, then heading to the door.
Bell had eaten her fair share and was feeling a bit tired, she felt as if she were in the cafeteria for most of the day, despite the fact that she had only been in it for around two hours.
'Six thirty... hmm, definitely doesn't feel like it.' Bell thought, absentmindedly taking a bite of the cake.
It was sweet and spongy, slightly moist, too. The taste drowned out her burning tongue, as well as another cup of strawberry milk.
Slowly but surely, as time drew forward, Bell was getting full, and a bit tired, too.
After she and a few others finished their meals, they decided to head back to the dorms. Their conversations carried further until they said their farewells at the middle of the small conglomeration of buildings.
Bell and Mona bid farewells and goodnights once more to Hilia and Strella, who went up the staircase, and then to Aramine and Wren, who entered their room across the hall.
As the door closed, Mona spoke, "Hey Bell, you use black flames, right?"
Bell imagined the black flames that came after activating Ruination, "Yeah. What about it?"
Mona shook her head, "Probably nothing, I was just thinking about what Pope Joan said earlier."
Mona then headed to her small section of the dorm and closed her door, leaving Bell on a couch with her thoughts.
'He said something about someone wielding black flames, right?' Bell tried to remember.
She racked her mind for the memory of Pope Joan's speech. Bell cursed the shock of him passing out onto the ground, the event scared away her immediate memory of his final words.
'Damnit...' Bell cursed. 'Oh, there's probably a video of it somewhere, right?'
With a semi-satiated mind, Bell returned to her room.
The fatigue of getting less sleep than normal was catching up to her. With a full stomach and nothing to stress about, Bell decided to skip reading for the night and swapped into a set of pajamas.
'I need to do laundry soon.'
Bell then crept underneath her sheets before slowly falling to sleep.