She lingered about in the hallway, processing, when she saw Zen heading towards her. She gave him a wave as he reached her.
"Hey," he greeted. "So what happened?"
"Uh, I had to see the Head Master about disobeying orders," she lied.
She didn't want him finding out about this, especially since it would most likely amount to nothing. Best not to worry him.
"Ok," he didn't entirely believe her but figured she would tell him when she was ready. "I'll walk you to your next exam."
"I'm going to the library instead; I've got nothing until the afternoon," she told him.
"I'll walk you there then," he smiled.
She nodded and they fell into step beside each other.
"What do you have next?" She asked him.
"Hand to hand."
She rolled her eyes. "Fun."
He flexed his bicep in front of her face. "Kiss my guns for luck."
She could only laugh and elbow him in the side. "You're a dick."
Zen filled the silence of their walk with idle chatter, most of it gossip about their classmates. Before coming here, she never knew he was such a gossip fiend. When survival wasn't the predominant task of the day, it turned out he liked to know all the juicy details of the lives of those around him. Well, the salacious stuff at least.
Zen left her at the entrance to the library, calling out a 'see ya' as he jogged off to class. Sunny waited until he was out of sight before disappearing into the library. The place was huge; three storeys of books, maps of the known world adorned the walls, there were sculptures and paintings. It was like a cross between a museum and a library. Natural light streamed in through the domed glass ceiling where a model of the solar system hung from. Out of the whole of Perdition, the library was her second favourite place. Her favourite being the gardens.
She wasn't sure where to begin looking up information on the Winter Clan. Well, she figured she could rule out the fiction sections. And language and agriculture. Browsing through the subdivisions history or local studies seemed like the best bet. Maybe politics?
After about a half hour of searching, she had amassed quite a few books that referenced the Winter Clan. Sitting down and flicking through the pages, she was able to garner a little information. The four Clans - Winter, Summer, Spring and Autumn, and the only people capable of manifesting the ability to control the elements.
Oh.
They'd called her hydrokinetic because she could control water and ice...
Could just be a coincidence, there were plenty of people that slipped through the cracks. They didn't know everyone in Nostravan and what they were capable of. She wasn't even very good with water and ice. She may as well not have it at all.
The Winter Clans power lay in it though. Fire for Autumn. Air for Spring. Earth for Summer. It didn't go into too much detail about their abilities, but there were hints of something more, other powers.
Each clan had certain physical traits that ran strong in them, mainly the eye colour, hair colour, and skin tone. There were plenty of instances of inbreeding as well to try and keep the traits and powers strong. While birth defects cropped up from time to time, statistically they were less likely to manifest in the four great houses. A cynical part of her figured they probably just offed any defective babies quietly and secretly. She had figured nobles were just people who claimed their place and kicked others down so they could keep it. But in another book she found there were distinct differences in the genetics. Not being much into science or biology or anything like that, most of what she read went over her head.
But in one book there was a painted portrait of an Illusen from thousands of years ago, long before the invention of tintypes. His right eye was ice blue, just like hers, just like the Illusens she'd met earlier. It could have been a trick of the painting or in the printing maybe, but his left iris looked black.
She rubbed her eyes. If this was common knowledge here, then everyone treated her the way they did because they thought she was some kind of bastard child? That was hardly fair; it wasn't like you could decide your parents. Was being a bastard worse than being an orphaned street rat? She had two strikes against her regardless.
She slammed her head on the table and let a hard laugh escape. Why her? But then it might not even be true; there could be another reason for her eye, an injury perhaps - she couldn't remember her infancy or toddler days. Or maybe it was a side effect of her ability. It didn't have to mean anything.
She sighed as she packed up the books; she was done with this. If she turned out to be related to these people, it didn't matter; she decided she wanted nothing to do with them. And them being such high-ranking nobles, they probably wanted nothing to do with her as well. So researching up on them seemed pointless, interesting, but ultimately pointless.
"Sunshine?"
She looked up to a smiling Nick standing over her. Their height difference wasn't too much when they were side by side. Unlike Zen, Nick hadn't shot up at any point in their lives; he only had an inch or two on her.
"What are you doing here?" He asked her, taking a seat beside her as he pushed some of his white blonde hair out of his eyes. His light green eyes were always warm and friendly when they were upon her and Zen; it was a smile and warmth just for them. She returned it with one of her own.
"Just researching," she told him. "Studying?"
Being as smart as he was, they expected a lot from him. And he was hoping to get a good placement once he graduated. There was talk he might be able to go straight into a tiered position if he continued down this path. And he wanted the higher pay; they had a house to save for after all.
"Yeah, but since I've found you instead, want to go for a walk in the gardens? It's a nice day."
She got up from her seat and they made their way outside. They walked in a comfortable silence, and she basked in the warmth of his presence. She was still feeling off kilter from last night and now this morning.
The gardens were usually empty most of the time, and completely barren in the colder months, but there were a few other faces out and about enjoying the sunshine today.
"You did what you had to," he suddenly said, looking at her with a gentleness she didn't feel like she deserved right now.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I know killing doesn't sit right with you, and I'm always here when you want to talk."
Nick himself had killed before; both he and Zen had. She'd never seen it, but she could always tell when it had happened. They were so young back then that the few times it had happened, they'd been wrecked for ages afterwards - mood swings and nightmares. But they'd only ever done what they'd had to do and she would never fault or judge them for it. They had all had to do things they would never consider doing now.
"I know," she said softly.
They walked in silence for a while before she could bring herself to break it. "Hey, Nick?"
"Mm?"
"We'll always be together, right? No matter what? You, me, and Zen?"
"Of course."
"Even if we found out something about one of us? Something huge? It wouldn't change anything, right?"
Nick frowned, concerned. She'd never expressed any kind of insecurity in their relationship before. Did she really think having to kill some random guys he didn't even know would change that? She could kill a million people and he would still love her.
"Yeah, wouldn't change a thing," he affirmed. "What's going on, Sunny? Are you in trouble or something?"
She shook her head. "Just needed to hear it."