Kiefer watched sullenly as Yaritza and Leopold spoke together as their eyes flickered in the glow cast by the reflection of the iridescent necklace placed inside the glass case.
Lately, he had seen much of that very necklace that left him wondering the untold history behind it.
As the tour gradually came to an end, Kiefer decided to find out where the academy's library was situated.
There he would open up the numerous books of history and uncover the secret behind the mysterious amulet.
Rounding up, the students left the Grand Museum and headed to have lunch.
For the rest of the day, the quest to understand the history of the necklace and reason he had only seen them on two people lived rent-free in his mind.
********
Kiefer sat atop his chair in front of a wide mahogany desk, busy with a few notes, charts and books he had borrowed from academy's library.
He ruffled through papers and academic clips of facts, connecting pieces of information upon dozens of things he later found quite unimportant for clues he had omitted.
The information he had garnered so far was basic knowledge of everyone who studied the ways of the Weave.
The Leading Levels and their various attributes caught his attention but weren't as much of a line breaker as he had thought.
There was not much useful information he could really peruse.
He soon found out that the books in the Qichi Lake Academy's library were very superficial of mayhaps, made to appear such way.
For what reasons, he couldn't place a finger on.
In a few dozens of minutes, his desk was cluttered with files, opened textbooks and charts.
That was when his roommate opened the door to the room and walked inside.
Kiefer's chest heaved.
He quickly regained his composure and acted out like he was just studying.
He couldn't risk his roommate finding out he was uncovering any mystery bordering Qichi Lake Academy and its students.
Closing the door the door behind him, Leopold took off his shoes and socks, storing them inside the shoe rack and the socks inside the shoes.
Kiefer looked on as his roommate took off his clothes and hung them up in the wardrobe.
The room was silent and the tension grew to so much that one could slice it with a knife with just a few dozen seconds of Leopold stepping in.
Leopold didn't say a word to Kiefer and Kiefer never spoke one to him.
It was after a while Kiefer decided to cut the tension.
Kiefer decided to break the silence with a simple statement.
The statement bordered on what had boggled his mind for a while.
'I didn't realize you knew Yaritza,' he said.
Leopold froze as he was about to pour himself a glass of water.
He immediately recollected himself and downed the glass of water as quickly as he had poured it.
Turning slowly to face Kiefer, he started;
'Good evening to you too, Kiefer Edmund,' tucking a bouncing curl of golden hair behind his ear, 'it's a pleasure to meet you.'
The response from Leopold hit Kiefer in thousand folds how childish he had just behaved.
He opened his mouth to speak but only a few stutters could be heard.
The boy who had been so cold and distant a while ago now appeared sarcastic with his speech, delivering subtle lashes of passive aggression.
Contrary to Kiefer, Leopold was having a great time.
He had the ability to really throw people off-balnace, cutting them with his words, rendering them speechless.
Kiefer, sadly, was not an exception.
Leopold's cold and aloof disposition allowed him the genius to manipulate other individuals to playing in his infamous game of emotional rollercoasters.
'I don't see how my relationship with Yaritza concerns you, Kiefer,' Leopold said as he began arranging his space.
Turning back to look at Kiefer,
'Unless, of course, you have your eyes on her.
I'd warn you, Kiefer, she's not of the same breed as you,' Leopold said, taking the last words.
********
It was later that day, not quite deep into the fleeting evening, Kiefer sat on a bench made of stone with a desk just alike.
The weather wasn't so much as dark that he couldn't see.
The gentle cool breeze that brushed against his cheeks offered him a calm feeling he hadn't experienced in a while or rather he had experienced but didn't care to bask in it.
His mind flashed back to what Leopold had said to him earlier.
'...she isn't of the same breed as you,'
He wondered what exactly he had meant by such statement.
Did he mean she wasn't human?
Or perhaps she was an alien? He had no way to know that.
Leopold had put in his headphones immediately he had said that.
There was no way for Kiefer to know what he meant without asking him.
Kiefer could clearly recall his constant feeling on edge he always experienced in the presence of his roommate, Leopold.
It was as though he was treading on very thin ice with every move he made to speak to him.
He wished his roommate were to have been someone else or even better, none at all.
That would have been a much better scenario, he decided.
But fate, cruel fate had its plots.
Plots so mischievous one could only wonder if fate itself were a human being or maybe, a being not so much a human, but with a mind so vile and corrupt.
Currently, he was taking in the immaculate scenery before him.
The carved stone he sat on was one of the many that scattered the lands Qichi Lake Academy was located on.
This one overlooked the Grand Museum in the distance, its façade glistening under the golden sun that sunk into the horizon.
The fountain could be seen as well, bringing forth rivers of water that flowed with precision so life-like.
One could only marvel at the untold ingenuity of nature and mankind combined, a sweltering bond of forces to be reckoned with.
An Apple iPod Classic rested on the carved stone that served as a desk, connected to Kiefer's ears with a 1997 MDR G61 headphone.
It was a calm, smooth song that played in his ears, giving him that nostalgic feeling of raw peace and solitude.
As Kiefer bathed in the silky song, allowing it's slow and soothing beats wash over him like rare honey, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Turning to the side, Kiefer found out it was Grayson.
He took off his headphones and offered a bright smile.
'Look who it is, my guy, Grayson,' Kiefer chided friendly, receiving a clasp of hands from Grayson.
'Very nice to see you here, Kiefer,' Grayson said, sitting next to him on the seat that was carved out of stone.
'You too, you too.'
Grayson glanced at the headphones and back at Kiefer,
'I never thought I'd find you out in nature, enjoying something so soothing, didn't strike me that you were that kind of person.'
Kiefer laughed.
'What do you know? A person's nature can't really be explained in just a few meetings, am I right?'
He paused the player.
'I guess so, ' Grayson said, 'what's new with you? I almost forgot to ask, what room do you stay in? I'll need to come over sometime.'
Kiefer returned the gaze, he answered;
'Oh, that, my room's CDR17, top floor, last room down the hallway.'
Grayson's face paled.
He seemed to realize something. Kiefer wasn't sure what was going on with his friend.
'Excuse me,' Grayson said, very slowly, 'your roomate is Leopold, am I mistaken?'
Kiefer received the question with mixed feelings, his mind a rollercoaster.
'No you're not, that's my roommate.'
Grayson's face seemed to pale even more.
'There's been a lot of rumors going around about that guy and some other girl named Yaritza.'
He smoothed a finger over his eyebrows as he spoke.
'Oh, Yaritza, I met her too,' Kiefer said, recollecting,'what about them? Is there anything wrong with them?'
Kiefer continued his gaze directly at Grayson, trying so hard to hide his increasing anxiousness from Grayson.
'You've met Yaritza? I heard from an acquaintance that they aren't normal, they're kind of like outliers within us.'
Kiefer rubbed his temples briefly, clearly disengaged.
'Gray, we all here are essentially outliers. If we weren't, the Weave wouldn't have picked us as ones to protect mankind.
Think about it, the very reason we are here is mostly because each of us is unique in one way or the other.'
Grayson's eyes sidetracked and fell upon two people walking towards the Qichi Lake Academy Cafeteria.
Not looking away, he replied;
'I understand, Kiefer, but those two are probably more mysterious than you make them out to be.'
Yaritza and Leopold strutting next to each other.
They both wore tweed coats of ash by Yaritza and black by Leopold.
They seemed to be in a hurry. In a hurry to where both Kiefer and Grayson were oblivious to.