While classes were in session, the first tremors came suddenly and unexpectedly. For the first-year Zeta group of freshmen students who had just had their Initiation and were full of hopes and dreams, it came as a rude awakening.
While students were focusing on solving a problem in their notebook in silence, first came the echoing clanking of glassware in the artefact cabinets. Everyone could feel an unnerving sense of foreboding even moments prior, but then it hit.
The initial tremors tore through the classroom like the roar of an angry beast. The ground shook violently while chandeliers overhead swung from side to side in a frightening discordant dance. Plaster rained down on them like confetti, mixing in the panic that overtook the students below like a sudden storm. All together creating chaos that drowned out any attempt at rational thought.
In the scramble to escape the unpredictable wrath of the shaking ground, desks collided with desks, chairs toppled over, and a swell of gasps and cries filled the air. Each student became a frantic piece in a disorganized puzzle, fumbling over furniture and each other, propelled by a primal instinct to survive in the erupting chaos.
The classroom transformed into a battleground of confusion. Once quiet, now was suddenly so loud and overbearing with groans of the building intermingling with guttural growls of fear that one would want to cover their ears.
Caught in a whirlwind of terror, Maya, never having experienced an earthquake before, found herself frozen in place. The ground beneath her feet, once solid and dependable, had become a traitorous force, and the dreadful seismic waves still reverberated through her trembling body. She felt her mind racing, having millions of different thoughts all at once, but yet the moment still passed too fast to act on just one.
The moment, that felt like it lasted for an eternity, ended abruptly as it started. Meeting them like a wave that quickly retracted, even the ones that were fast to react hadn't yet made their way toward the exit by the time it was over. The pale faces of the students looked at each other. All they knew it could've been a moment of respite before it struck again. Now, only with the lingering creaking of the swinging chandeliers, the voice of their teacher instructing them to seek shelter outside could be clearly heard.
Students pooled out in the corridor, meeting with groups from neighbouring classrooms, all automatically making their way together to the nearest courtyard. Maya was among them. However, thinking of that space being quite narrow and cramped, sitting under one of the academy towers, Maya couldn't help her instinct warning her to be cautious. Slowing down, she quietly mumbled to herself:
"Is it safe for evacuation?"
At her question, Leo, who was always right by her side, sharply turned his attention toward her. He received the confirmation the question was meant for him when Maya's usually avoidant gaze was looking straight at him. He nodded in quiet understanding, unable to hide a glimmer of genuine delight in his eyes, before vanishing.
Maya nervously awaited while he scouted out the courtyard. Still moving with the crowd that was approaching it, she was thinking back to how this sudden urgent situation impacted Leo.
When the chaos ensued, a fleeting expression of confusion crossed his face, almost as if he, too, was grappling with the unpredictability of the situation. However, unlike the tangible world, Leo struggled to mimic the erratic movements of the earthquake. It was as if he was caught off guard by a different sudden upheaval.
Only a moment passed, but he was back with information. "Tower's roof is on the verge of collapse!"
Maya froze in her tracks. There was a cause for concern. Biting her nails while trying to think of a solution, she didn't notice Elena, who was walking among the crowd nearby, had stopped with her.
"The back gardens…" Maya started timidly.
'No. Now is not the time to get insecure. Lives are at stake!'
"We need to go to the back gardens! Courtyard could be dangerous!" Maya's voice finally found strength and she yelled out, intercepting people making their way toward the courtyard.
Students looked at her strangely, but she fought her way toward the front of the line, stopping as many people as possible.
"Hey, stop pushing!"
"What? It's this girl again."
It had to happen that it was the two girls whose friend Maya inadvertently had sent to the slums. Most students weren't happy she was standing in the way of them evacuating to safety, but those two had a lot of reserved malice toward Maya.
"Please, make your way to the back gard—"
Maya couldn't finish her sentence as she was rudely shown away.
"Stop with the attention seeking. Are you looking for a way to ruin more innocent people?"
"She did kill her own parents. What would you expect?" the other one added to her.
"…Fuck."
Maya heard Elena's mumbling curse from behind, and the next moment all three were startled by Elena suddenly slamming her hand into the opposite wall, obstructing the way toward the courtyard.
"The courtyard's off limits! Go the other way!" Elena growled at the people who, suddenly intercepted, bumped into her.
Maya looked at Elena blinking, unable to understand what had suddenly gotten into her. Only when Elena shot her a glance did Maya realize she was helping her. Lacking crucial information, Elena was going off her instinct, and right now it was telling her to trust Maya's judgement.
Their behaviour caused a commotion. It was hard to believe any action of Elena would be for people's benefit, however, she was just following Maya's lead.
"What the hell?"
"Hey, who are you to decide?! We need to get to safety!"
"Why is this lunatic acting out, now?"
To no one's surprise, they were met with resistance. However, Elena's action succeeded in stopping people from passing through. No one felt ready to directly confront the girl who was daring enough to put a knife to someone's throat not too long ago.
"What's going on?" Kasper's voice suddenly reached them as he was breaking his way through.
As a year representative and a member of the student council, he was promptly let through in hopes of resolving the bottleneck in the corridor.
"It's not safe. We need to go to the back gardens," Maya voiced her concern, her voice pleading, fearing she would just end up being called unreasonable.
After briefly assessing the situation, to Maya's surprise, Kasper nodded and calmly directed everyone to the back garden. With the year-rep authority, students listened and things proceeded without much issues.
Before they knew it, they were in the academy back gardens waiting for further instructions where students of other academy wings were being evacuated. Maya didn't get a chance to properly thank Elena right away. As soon as they met with other academy students, Elena was already in Keith's loving embrace. He was holding her as they were weathering out the crisis and waiting for authorities to make a decision.
While Maya was contemplating if it was a good moment to interrupt them to thank Elena, Leo, who was standing beside her, leaned down, resting his head on Maya's shoulder in a quiet comforting gesture. Only after he had done that did Maya realise how much tension she had in her body this entire time.
It felt ridiculous as there was a significant height difference between them but it made it all the way endearing. Maya wanted to pat him on the head but restrained herself aware of being watched. Even in this corner part of the gardens, as long as she felt the presence of other people even such a small gesture would make her feel insane in other people's eyes.
"Did you see? The west tower collapsed."
Maya flinched, overhearing a conversation of students nearby.
"What? Really?!"
"Yes. I heard the roof fell on the courtyard. There are injured students."
"My gods! We were supposed to be there!"
"Yeah. Thank gods we were redirected here or we could've gotten crushed. Why did we change direction?"
"I heard some students were making a fuss in the corridor, gatekeeping the place for themselves."
"Some people… Serves them right. Who would use a crisis for such a thing… Well, good thing no one died."
Maya gave a sigh of relief. It sounds like some stragglers made their way there, but it could've been much worse if they all piled up in that narrow courtyard. It would be hard to move out of the way even if they could see the rubble hurling at them. People could have been dead.
Maya felt shivers down her spine. She… prevented a catastrophe. No one may thank her for it, but in her heart, she felt as if she had made up, even if just a little, for being responsible for someone ending up sent to the slums.